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Book a Week in 2014 - BW 44


Robin M
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Not quite caught up to Rosie but I have read through Chapter 53 of HoAW.  Slow but steady progress.The same can be said for Women's Work.

 

It even surprises me that I have not read Lawrence Durrell until now.  I am loving Bitter Lemons and want to travel to Cyprus.  Tomorrow.

 

I am also listening to The Sunday Philosophy Club with mixed feelings.  Some of the rambles are entertaining but others bore me.  On more than one occasion I have told the CDs to get on with it.  Perhaps this is the problem of listening to the book as opposed to reading it?

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I'm rather finicky lately and on a tight book budget, so I'm only spending money on author's I'm pretty sure of and trying to use my library as much as I have the patience for.  Recently I finished the following:

 

Tempt the Stars: A Cassie Palmer Novel by Karen Chance 

Archangel's Shadow (Guild Hunter Series Book 7) by Nalini Singh

Seal Team Six: Hunt the Falcon by Don Mann

 

I started Wounded: Book 8 (Rylee Adamson Novel) by Shannon Mayer, but I just can't get into it and have set it aside for now.  I have the latest Seal Team Six book in my stack from the library so I might try that.  Right now I'm hoping some of my requests come in soon so I'll have something new to pick from.

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Finished Tales of Old-Time Texas today. There was a marvellous ghost story about Mexican gold buried under the banks of the creek that runs near our house, where we often go fossil-hunting, and I read it to the girls as an early Halloween treat. Now everyone is eager for another trip to the creek, to see what we might see. The story comes from William Sydney Porter, aka O. Henry (the source of the "Violet Crown" sobriquet), so it must surely be true.

 

One more excerpt from Dobie's book, from the tales of a famous Central Texas outlaw:

 

-----------------------

 

A deputy sheriff named Caige Grimes walked up to Sam Bass in a store at Round Rock and asked him for his pistol.

 

"I'll let you have both of them," Sam Bass said.

 

---------------------

 

Great stuff. Highly recommended. Now, I think, some Fitzgerald.

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Not quite caught up to Rosie but I have read through Chapter 53 of HoAW.  Slow but steady progress.The same can be said for Women's Work.

 

It even surprises me that I have not read Lawrence Durrell until now.  I am loving Bitter Lemons and want to travel to Cyprus.  Tomorrow.

 

I am also listening to The Sunday Philosophy Club with mixed feelings.  Some of the rambles are entertaining but others bore me.  On more than one occasion I have told the CDs to get on with it.  Perhaps this is the problem of listening to the book as opposed to reading it?

 

Oh, goodie I have this on my tbr list. I loved, loved, loved The Alexandria Quartet. I also read a few of his brother's books, and enjoyed those as well though they are vastly different from Lawrence Durrell's work.

 

As to listening to the Sunday Philosophy club, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it that way.

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Ohhh, for the Flavia de Luce fans... I know one thing ds will be getting for Christmas -- a pre-order of the next Flavia book!

 

https://www.goodreads.com/questions/143757-when-will-we-have-a-new-addition-to?utm_medium=email&utm_source=author_blog_post_digest

 

 

 
f_100x100-460ef30eea5fc2eb0347f86a923711
Denise Norwood asked Alan Bradley:
When will we have a new addition to Flavia's adventures?
  •  
1074866.jpg
Alan Bradley "As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust" will be published on January 6, 2015.

And an all-new Flavia short story in ebook format will be published on December 6th, 2014.

 

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Last night I finished Virginia Kantra's Carolina Blues (A Dare Island Novel Book 4) which is a contemporary romance (some adult content).  I've read the other books in the Dare Island series, and I've enjoyed them all.  I came to this series since I'd previously read the author's paranormal romances; I prefer her writing in this genre.

 

"Jack Rossi is Dare Island’s new police chief. The laid-back North Carolina community is just what he needs to recover from a rocky marriage and a big-city police department. He’s learned his lesson: no more high-profile women or high-pressure jobs. The last thing he wants is an unconventional alt girl rocking his world.

Grad student Lauren Patterson made headlines when she kept a bank robbery from going bad. She’s fled to Dare Island to clear her head and focus on writing her story. However, sexy Jack Rossi is a distraction that’s too hot to ignore, and it’s igniting an affair too combustible to resist—or quit.

But when their pasts come looking for them, Jack and Lauren find themselves fighting for the future they deserve, whatever the price."

 

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

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New York Review Books & NYRB Classics, upcoming events in various cities around the US...

http://www.nybooks.com/events/?category=nyr-related&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NYRB+Events+November&utm_content=NYRB+Events+November+CID_8012071c7634e48554ca69b7af16d5f0&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=events%20page

 

 

nyrb.png  

Upcoming New York Review Books and
NYRB Classics Events

 

Join us for a celebration of Stoner, and for events with Ian Buruma, Darryl Pinckney, Fritz Stern, Elisabeth Sifton, John Ehle, Ari Larissa Heinrich, and Ruchama King Feuerman

Please visit our events page for more information.

       

Ian Buruma at the 25th Chicago Humanities Festival
Saturday, November 1st, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center, Cindy Pritzker Auditorium,

400 S. State Street, Chicago, IL

 

Kristallnacht Program: Resisters Against Hitler, with Fritz Stern and Elisabeth Sifton
Monday, November 10th, at 1:30 p.m.
Central Queens Y

67-09 108th Street, Queens, NY

 

A Celebration of John Williams’ Stoner, with Daniel Mendelsohn, Honor Moore, 

Ruth Rendell, and Liesl Schillinger
Tuesday, November 18th, 7 p.m.
Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library, Dweck Center,

10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY

 

A Discussion of Last Words from Montmartre, with translator Ari Larissa Heinrich

Thursday, November 20th, at 7 p.m.

Bluestockings

172 Allen Street, New York, NY

 

An Evening with John Ehle, Author of The Land Breakers

Tuesday, November 25th, at 7 p.m.

McNally Jackson Books

52 Prince Street, New York, NY

          PinckneyDarryl_creditBeowulfSheehan.1131

 

 

Upcoming events with Darryl Pinckney, author of Blackballed: The Black Vote and US Democracy

 

Darryl Pinckney’s first book in over ten years covers the participation of blacks in US electoral politics, from Reconstruction to the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and what it may mean for the political influence of black voters in future elections.

     

Harvard Book Store

Monday, November 3rd, 2014, 7 p.m.

1256 Massachusetts Avenue,
Cambridge, MA

 

Enoch Pratt Free Library
Thursday, November 13, 2014, 6:30 pm
Central Library, Poe Room,
400 Cathedral Street,
Baltimore, MD

 

          Ruchama_IlirBajraktari.120318.jpg

 

 

Celebrate Jewish Book Month with Ruchama King Feuerman, author of In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist

 

This novel, set in Jerusalem, is the story of two expatriate Americans—a kabbalist’s assistant and a beautiful motorcycle-riding woman—and an Arab janitor, whose lives become intertwined in a variety of ways in the courtyard of an elderly kabbalist and his wife.

 

     

The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Book & Arts Fair

Tuesday, November 4th, 10 a.m.

Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston

5601 S. Braeswood,

Houston, TX

 

The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton Cultural Arts and Book Fest

Wednesday, November 5th, 7 p.m.

Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton

525 Versailles Drive,
Dayton, OH

 

The Dallas Jewish Book Fest

Tuesday, November 11th, at 7 p.m.

The Aaron Family Jewish Community Center of Dallas

7900 Northaven Road,
Dallas, TX

 

Congregation Agudath Israel of West Essex

Sunday, November 16, at 10 a.m.

20 Academy Road,
Caldwell, NJ

 

Stroum Jewish Community Center

Thursday, November 20th, at 7:30 p.m.

2618 NE 80th Street,

Seattle, WA

 

Congregation Beth Israel

Sunday, November 23rd, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Pollin Chapel, Schnitzer Family Center

1972 NW Flanders,
Portland, OR

       

 

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Happy Halloween!!!!

 

 

247088_900992813251995_87217992950881524

Courtesy of Books Rock My World

 

 

A few links for your pleasure ---

 

When Edward Gorey illustrated Dracula

 

Barnes and Nobles blog - 7 bad witches we adore

 

 

 

 

Not Halloween related ---

 

5 small publishers who are changing the face of the industry

 

Archipelago books -  Our Lady of the Nile made Publisher Weekly Best books list of 2014

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Yes, Happy Halloween!

 

vamp07.gif

 

Happy Halloween!!!!

 

 

247088_900992813251995_87217992950881524

Courtesy of Books Rock My World

 

 

A few links for your pleasure ---

 

When Edward Gorey illustrated Dracula

 

Barnes and Nobles blog - 7 bad witches we adore

 

 

 

 

Not Halloween related ---

 

5 small publishers who are changing the face of the industry

 

Archipelago books -  Our Lady of the Nile made Publisher Weekly Best books list of 2014

 

Fun links. Thanks, Robin! My library has the version of Dracula with Gorey's illustrations. I had fun checking out that version a year or two ago.

 

I like B&N's list of scariest stories. I've always been too chicken to read Stephen King, agree with them putting Helter Skelter on there (I couldn't read more than a few pages before feeling entirely freaked out), hated Perfume (creepy & then had the worst ending ever), & like In Cold Blood (like it because it's well-told, not because I like the story -- it is very unsettling).
 

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First we took a four-day family vacation, leaving right before a storm that set middle one's schooner vibrating, sent the lake into the basement, poured water through the roof, upset girlfriends when transformers exploded (and burned down a bulding, fortunately not ours), and put the power out causing panic over the tropical fish tank.  Oldest now has a generator.  The vacation was damp and cramped.  We read and slept for two days in our sleeping bags (which we all needed) and then went and got lost on the other side of the lake.  Then I had jury duty.  Then I was away migrating my mother-in-law from Maine to Florida.  I had a lot of posts to read when I finally got through all that!

 

Jane - I think listening to a book is different than reading it to oneself.  Until you listen to a book, you don't realize how much you, the reader, alter the book by altering the pacing, deciding on the voices, cicling back, skipping ahead, peeking, etc..  Some books are better aloud and some books are better read silently, for me.  I always wonder when I recommend a book I've listened to how much the reader or the aloud-ness influenced how much I liked the book.

 

Amy - Wodehouse is a great favourite here.  The Adventures of Sally got me through a bad patch a few years ago.  I'd never read it before.  Have you read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome?  If not and you like Wodehouse, you might like to try it.  You also might like Angela Thirkell, if you like that style of writing.

 

Whaling - Thank you for the Melville list.  My impression is that those 10yo's were often shipping with an uncle or friend of the family or older brother or something, not just randomly being shipped off with strangers.  I thought it was more a matter of finding a berth for one's son when he was old enough?  Sort of like finding an apprenticeship your son?

 

I read Ella Enchanted, a book I've been meaning to read ever since my niece told me I had to several years ago.  For the same reason, I am now in the middle of Fairest.  She's probably outgrown them by now.

 

I also reread Murder at Madingley Grange.  It was just as much fun as I remembered.  Thank you, Jane.  And thank you for taking the trouble to post the cover.  I couldn't have identified it from the title alone.

 

I finished Persuasion and started Sense and Sensibility.  Both of those I've read a million times.  I especially enjoyed the shipping details in Persuasion.  It is amazing how many of the comments still hold true.

 

I read all the Childe versions of Tam Lin several times each and thought about the differences.  I'm cobbling together my own version to learn.  My sisters have agreed to learn it with me.  Hopefully, they will like what I come up with.

 

I read Graustark.  Have you read this romance, Kareni?  It was my grandmother or grandfather's.  You have to suspend your current social moral sense in order to read it.  (My grandmother also gave me Her Father's Daughter, Freckles etc., The Rover Boys series, Daddy Longlegs etc., Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Emily of New Moon, Little Women etc., The Secret Garden etc., Round the Corner at Gay Street etc., Five Little Peppers etc., Two Little Savages etc., and The American Boy's Book etc..  The etc is more books by the same author.  Many of them require the same suspension of one's morals, although I have to say that as unPC as Two Little Savages is, I've met a bunch of Caleb's.  They made nice romances to read when I was old enough not to think romances were boring or silly.  My great grandmother told my mother never to let me read A Little Princess because it was too scary.  I suspect there is a story behind that.)

 

I am in the middle of an Agatha Raisin - The Quiche of Death, which I am enjoying very much.  I don't always enjoy Agatha Raisin.

 

Nan

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I read Graustark.  Have you read this romance, Kareni?  It was my grandmother or grandfather's.  You have to suspend your current social moral sense in order to read it.  N

 

No, I haven't read it, and in fact, I'm not familiar with the author either.  I see it and a number of sequels are available free to Kindle readers, so I've downloaded the first.  It can join my towering electronic to be read pile.  I'll link them here in case others are interested.  I appreciate you thinking of me, Nan!

 

Books by George Barr McCutcheon

 

 

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Today I read a book which my library had in the young adult section.

 

Like No Other by Una LaMarche

 

I see it's quite the prize winner --

 

**Publishers Weekly Best Book of Summer 2014**
**A Summer 2014 Indie Next List Pick**
**A 2014 Junior Library Guild Selection**
**Los Angeles Times Summer Reading Guide Selection**
**An Entertainment Weekly YA Novel to Watch Out For**


"Fate brought them together. Will life tear them apart? 

Devorah is a consummate good girl who has never challenged the ways of her strict Hasidic upbringing. 

Jaxon is a fun-loving, book-smart nerd who has never been comfortable around girls (unless you count his four younger sisters). 

They've spent their entire lives in Brooklyn, on opposite sides of the same street. Their paths never crossed . . . until one day, they did. 

When a hurricane strikes the Northeast, the pair becomes stranded in an elevator together, where fate leaves them no choice but to make an otherwise risky connection. 

Though their relation is strictly forbidden, Devorah and Jax arrange secret meetings and risk everything to be together. But how far can they go? Just how much are they willing to give up? 

In the timeless tradition of West Side Story and Crossing Delancey, this thoroughly modern take on romance will inspire laughter, tears, and the belief that love can happen when and where you least expect it."

 

I enjoyed it very much.  Eliana, I wonder if you've read this.  If so, I'd love to hear your opinion of it and whether it accurately reflects an Orthodox lifestyle.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

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No reading for me lately, inner ear issues. :sad:  Yesterday I couldn't even briefly get on a computer without feeling ill. One bonus: the house is now cleaner, at eye level. Didn't realize how much dust I'd been collecting.

 

Can't "like" your post for obvious reasons. Feel better!

 

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Hope you feel better soon, Onceuponatime!

 

I finished Fair Game by Patricia Briggs, it was the next in her Alpha and Omega series for me. Actually enjoyed it more than I expected to. I may just have to read the rest of that series now! :lol:

 

I also started Refining Felicity by MC Beaton, the first in The School for Manners series that I posted about earlier this week. Very light and rather silly fun.

 

We went on an interesting walk to the original (pre 1106) Church for our area in honor of All Souls Day. We had never been there because it rests on a very picturesque hillside belonging to an area farmer. We were joined by several really disappointed horses who stayed with us even though we had no treats (farmer told us not to). Interesting but not much to see, apparently it has been surveyed, Saxon, with no real village around it. Served a wide area, in the Doomsday book.

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For those who might enjoy wearing the text of a favorite book, I give you

 

Text skirt

 

Regards,

Kareni

Want!!

 

I'm loving Deathless.  I'll admit I'm woefully ignorant about how to pronounce Russian words, so I spend a fair amount of time saying some of the names and words aloud and looking like an idiot. 

 

OMG-yes, Harold on that list of scariest stories! I was fairly traumatized by that as a kid. 

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Onceuponatime - I do hope you feel better.  I hate it when I can't read.  Would crystalized ginger help?  I eat that for seasickness and it seems to work about as well as bonine or dramamine but without the side effects.  I know it wouldn't help with the dizziness, but it might help with the nausia associated with it.

 

Graustark is "wrong" in so many ways that there is a good chance you won't like it when you get around to reading it, Kareni.  I'm not sure why I like it but I do.  If you do read it and like it, you might try some of the other romances from my grandparents:

 

Red Pepper Burns series

Frances Hogson Burnett (mangled spelling, probably) romances

Daddy Longlegs and the sequel

Round the Corner in Gay Street and others by the same author

Freckles and others by the same author

Five Little Peppers All Grown Up

Little Women and Jo's Boys and the sequel to Eight Cousins (Rose in Bloom?)

 

You can read many of these for free on the Guttenburg site, either on your laptop or downloaded into a tablet of some sort.

 

Nan

 

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I finished Fair Game by Patricia Briggs, it was the next in her Alpha and Omega series for me. Actually enjoyed it more than I expected to. I may just have to read the rest of that series now! :lol:

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the book.  I enjoy the author's Mercy Thompson series, but the Alpha and Omega series is by far my favorite.

 

 

Graustark is "wrong" in so many ways that there is a good chance you won't like it when you get around to reading it, Kareni.  I'm not sure why I like it but I do.  If you do read it and like it, you might try some of the other romances from my grandparents:...

 

 

You're making it sound more and more intriguing, Nan!  Thanks for the other book titles.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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You're making it sound more and more intriguing, Nan! Thanks for the other book titles.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Well, it isn't,t really that special. Just typical for that time period. I,m just used to reading from then. It was one of the many things I didn,t have in common with my fellow classmates, part of my odd family world, so you can imagine how strange it was to find that Marian Zimmer Bradley had put St. Valentine of the Snows in her books. In her Darkover series, of all things lol.

 

Nan

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I came across something amusing today which I might repost tomorrow in the new thread.

 

Literary Starbucks

 

From the About section: 

 

"This page is run by two English majors and one History major who have WAY too much time on their hands.

One day we thought, what would all of history’s famous authors and characters order if they lived in modern times and went to Starbucks?"

 

Some of my favorite entries include

 

Marius Pontmercy

 

Noah Webster

 

Homer

 

Alcott

 

It's easy to spend way TOO much time at this site!

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I'm glad you enjoyed the book.  I enjoy the author's Mercy Thompson series, but the Alpha and Omega series is by far my favorite.

 

 

 

You're making it sound more and more intriguing, Nan!  Thanks for the other book titles.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

Just discovered that my Alpha and Omega was the last one until a new release in 2015. I thought I had seen more.......I even like the fairy storyline. Maybe I will finish the Mercy Thompson's. I did see a couple other Patricia Briggs storylines/series while patiently searchly catalogues. Has anyone read these.

 

Nan, I downloaded Graustark also. It sounds rather different which is a good thing especially in romance books. :)

 

 

Happy November everyone! The Free Kindle books for November are out and none of them look particularly appealing to me. Anyone know these authors?

 

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

 

End of Secrets by Ryan Quinn

 

The Unimaginable by Lisa Silver

 

and Shadow Boys by Harry Hunsicker

I just went and looked at the kindle first list. Can't say any of them looked irresistible. ;) Not familiar with the authors. Sorry.

 

 

I am a bit embarrassed to say I finished the first in MC Beaton's (Marian Chesney) School for Mannors series and really enjoyed it. Hooked on the old ladies running the "school" although they are my age (finding that a bit odd.....they seem seventy at least but have just, gulp, passed the half century) anyway charming. No descriptive adult content, simply mentioned. Already have Perfecting Fiona on the kindle. Most likely reading it next because I doubt I will be able to resist..

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Ohhh, for the Flavia de Luce fans... I know one thing ds will be getting for Christmas -- a pre-order of the next Flavia book!

 

https://www.goodreads.com/questions/143757-when-will-we-have-a-new-addition-to?utm_medium=email&utm_source=author_blog_post_digest

 

:hurray:  I can't wait!

 

I finished Catching Fire in less than 24 hours.  I am obviously a little late to the Hunger Games party.  But hey, I can't be blamed, dystopian is not my genre, and the first movie didn't exactly grab my attention.  I'm still not feeling the heavy dystopian feel here.  I can't put my finger on why, exactly.  Anyway, I really enjoyed the second book, just as I really enjoyed the second movie.  I do feel that they got the casting right for the movie.  The character development had me hooked in this book.  Though I know some aspects of Mockingjay, I'm anxious to see where they are heading.  

 

I have already started Mockingjay, and it is not going as quick as I would like.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

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Happy November everyone! The Free Kindle books for November are out and none of them look particularly appealing to me. Anyone know these authors?

 

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

 

End of Secrets by Ryan Quinn

 

The Unimaginable by Lisa Silver

 

and Shadow Boys by Harry Hunsicker

 

I saw this in my inbox this morning and went with 'Ticker'. It looks to be a kind of steam-punk fantasy/mystery. The cover is what drew me initially and the sample caught my interest enough to want to read further. I liked the heroine in the little bit I read.

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I saw this in my inbox this morning and went with 'Ticker'. It looks to be a kind of steam-punk fantasy/mystery. The cover is what drew me initially and the sample caught my interest enough to want to read further. I liked the heroine in the little bit I read.

 

Ticker drew my interest with the cover as well - I just don't think I'm a steam-punk kind of gal. I'll be curious to know what you think of it. Last month I chose The Glassblowers based on the cover but that was historical fiction which is right up my alley.

 

One thing I thought interesting was the regular price of these books is $4.99 and the low price actually makes me think they must not have much literary value. I know that's an awful way to think, especially when I think e-books are usually way over-priced. I hate to think I'm so easily manipulated by marketing strategies.

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I did see a couple other Patricia Briggs storylines/series while patiently searching catalogues. Has anyone read these?

 

I read Masques and Wolfsbane some time ago.  I've also read a couple of the author's Raven books.  They were all fine reads but did not grab me as the Alpha and Omega books have done.

 

You can read sample chapters at the author's website.  See here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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OT, but dh & I went to see Birdman tonight. Really enjoyed it. It seems to be garnering a lot of critical praise & we can see why. I think part of the appeal is that it is so different than what is typically out there as movie fare. Quite a few layers, great cinematography, & fabulous acting. The cast was just incredible.

 

The NY Times review of it: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/17/movies/birdman-stars-michael-keaton-and-emma-stone.html?_r=0

The Telegraph review: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11056160/Birdman-review-spectacular-star-powered.html

 

(FYI, the movie has quite a bit of profanity & there is some in the trailer, if that bothers you.)

 

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I came across something amusing today which I might repost tomorrow in the new thread.

 

Literary Starbucks

 

From the About section: 

 

"This page is run by two English majors and one History major who have WAY too much time on their hands.

One day we thought, what would all of history’s famous authors and characters order if they lived in modern times and went to Starbucks?"

 

Some of my favorite entries include

 

Marius Pontmercy

 

Noah Webster

 

Homer

 

Alcott

 

It's easy to spend way TOO much time at this site!

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Fun! Thanks! I do disagree with their entry for Bram Stoker, though. It sounds like the entry for Count Dracula or Vlad the Impaler, but not for Bram Stoker himself. :blink:

 

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 So, I was up at 4:30 this morning because my internal clock has not changed with the times. I needed something quiet to do that didn't involve scrolling pages.(my head is still slightly wonky) So I watched some TED talks.

 

 

You guys have got to see this: http://www.ted.com/talks/mac_barnett_why_a_good_book_is_a_secret_door

 

Thanks to all the commiserators. I haven't been able to catch up completely on this thread yet, but I think the worst is past.

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So, I was up at 4:30 this morning because my internal clock has not changed with the times. I needed something quiet to do that didn't involve scrolling pages.(my head is still slightly wonky) So I watched some TED talks.

 

 

You guys have got to see this: http://www.ted.com/talks/mac_barnett_why_a_good_book_is_a_secret_door

 

Thanks to all the commiserators. I haven't been able to catch up completely on this thread yet, but I think the worst is past.

How cool! Loved the phone calls. :lol: I had to use YouTube

for anyone else with technical problems.

 

Glad you are feeling better...

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Ticker drew my interest with the cover as well - I just don't think I'm a steam-punk kind of gal. I'll be curious to know what you think of it. Last month I chose The Glassblowers based on the cover but that was historical fiction which is right up my alley.

I chose The Glassblowers last month, too, though I've yet to get to it. I wouldn't call myself a steam-punk kind of gal either but I'm curious about this book. Until I finish my 5/5 challenge though everything else is on hold.

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So, I was up at 4:30 this morning because my internal clock has not changed with the times. I needed something quiet to do that didn't involve scrolling pages.(my head is still slightly wonky) So I watched some TED talks.

 

Thanks to all the commiserators. I haven't been able to catch up completely on this thread yet, but I think the worst is past.

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I'd forgotten it was 'turn the clocks back' night and I awoke this morning feeling pleased that I'd slept to almost daylight only to remember the time change...a 4:00 a.m. wake-up for me.
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For the Gail Carringer fans a reminder that Waistcoats and Weaponry, the third in the Finishing School series, will be released on Wednesday. Dd and I are already on the hold list.

 

Our time changed last weekend. Still not adjusted. It is now getting dark at 5pm. Seriously why do we still do this????

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Glad to hear you're feeling better, onceuponatime.  Inner ear induced dizziness is The Worst.

 

 

 

Thank you!  I just downloaded In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist; now to convince one of my book groups to do it.  It looks great.

 

 

First we took a four-day family vacation, leaving right before a storm that set middle one's schooner vibrating, sent the lake into the basement, poured water through the roof, upset girlfriends when transformers exploded (and burned down a bulding, fortunately not ours), and put the power out causing panic over the tropical fish tank.  Oldest now has a generator.  The vacation was damp and cramped.  We read and slept for two days in our sleeping bags (which we all needed) and then went and got lost on the other side of the lake.  Then I had jury duty.  Then I was away migrating my mother-in-law from Maine to Florida.  I had a lot of posts to read when I finally got through all that!

 

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Jane - I think listening to a book is different than reading it to oneself.  Until you listen to a book, you don't realize how much you, the reader, alter the book by altering the pacing, deciding on the voices, cicling back, skipping ahead, peeking, etc..  Some books are better aloud and some books are better read silently, for me.  I always wonder when I recommend a book I've listened to how much the reader or the aloud-ness influenced how much I liked the book.

 

 

Re: storm-induced mishaps...  :grouphug: In our family, we always refer back to Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation under such circumstances.  The comic value of the retelling almost redeems the experience.  (My poor son got LICE this summer from his rental bedding  :banghead:  :ack2:  :banghead:  :ack2:  an experience which, uh, at the time, none of us found any silver lining in.  Today, though, the sequence of photos -- me cutting his hair, me stomping off to the laundromat with armloads of bedding, a still life of Product from the pharmacy, daily comb checks with a LED headlamp, him parading around for a week with a swimmers' cap on... 

 

well. Priceless....)

 

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re: audiobooks v. printed:  The bolded is so true for me, and once I figured this out I have gotten much better at picking books that are likely to work for me on audio (for me -- fiction not non-fiction; lots of characters and dialogue).  Of course the quality of the narrator makes a huge difference as well.

 

 

I chose The Glassblowers last month, too, though I've yet to get to it. I wouldn't call myself a steam-punk kind of gal either but I'm curious about this book. Until I finish my 5/5 challenge though everything else is on hold.

Sigh.  I have to get on this too.  I haven't updated in a while, but I think I'm in OK shape in everything except Philosophy.  Which.I.am.dreading.

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Re: storm-induced mishaps...  :grouphug: In our family, we always refer back to Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation under such circumstances.  The comic value of the retelling almost redeems the experience.  (My poor son got LICE this summer from his rental bedding  :banghead:  :ack2:  :banghead:  :ack2:  an experience which, uh, at the time, none of us found any silver lining in.  Today, though, the sequence of photos -- me cutting his hair, me stomping off to the laundromat with armloads of bedding, a still life of Product from the pharmacy, daily comb checks with a LED headlamp, him parading around for a week with a swimmers' cap on... 

 

well. Priceless....)

 

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Sigh.  I have to get on this too.  I haven't updated in a while, but I think I'm in OK shape in everything except Philosophy.  Which.I.am.dreading.

 

So many things are nice to have DONE.  We get quite a lot of story milage out of our disasterous vacations, although I seldom am in a position to get photos.  Or think to.  Sometimes I do accidentally and they are so much fun that I wonder why I don't do it more often.  It reads like a comic when you do.  I have a great one of my poor over-observed youngest happily making a driftwood tower, notice by Grampa and offered advice, then his oldest brother noticing and coming to help and altering it to make his initial, then the middle one noticing and altering it again to be HIS initial...  It so clearly exemplifies youngest's complaint about growing up in our tight family situation.

 

Our vacation was actually very nice.  It was the chaos left behind at home that caused most of the problems.  The girlfriend valiently dealt with them but needed much comforting and coaxing to join us afterwards.  We walked a bit farther than some of us would have chosen (I was happy), and I didn't get ot paint with my mum, but we found some watercress, which was interesting.  I've been reading our largish collection of Berenstain Bear books to the nephew I mind two days a week but we don't have a vacation one.  I'll have to look for it next library visit.

 

Well, you could join me reading my Nipponzan Myohoji book for your philosophy lol.  That is going to take me at least a year to get through, I think, so perhaps not.  You could cheat and listen to Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar grin.  Our library has that in Overdrive.  Or there must be some interesting more cultural anthropological stuff out there that would count as philosophy.  I keep wanting to investigate Shinto-ism.

 

Is it snowing where you are?  It is here.  It is now obvious why my hands froze when I was bailing boats this morning.

 

Nan

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re taking Berestain Bears on Vacation photos...

So many things are nice to have DONE.  We get quite a lot of story milage out of our disasterous vacations, although I seldom am in a position to get photos.  Or think to.  Sometimes I do accidentally and they are so much fun that I wonder why I don't do it more often.  It reads like a comic when you do.  I have a great one of my poor over-observed youngest happily making a driftwood tower, notice by Grampa and offered advice, then his oldest brother noticing and coming to help and altering it to make his initial, then the middle one noticing and altering it again to be HIS initial...  It so clearly exemplifies youngest's complaint about growing up in our tight family situation.

 

______________

 

Well, you could join me reading my Nipponzan Myohoji book for your philosophy lol.  That is going to take me at least a year to get through, I think, so perhaps not.  You could cheat and listen to Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar grin.  Our library has that in Overdrive.  Or there must be some interesting more cultural anthropological stuff out there that would count as philosophy.  I keep wanting to investigate Shinto-ism.

 

_____________

 

Is it snowing where you are?  It is here.  It is now obvious why my hands froze when I was bailing boats this morning.

 

Nan

It's exactly like a comic when we do!!  It doesn't necessarily lighten the grumpy factor at the time, but it's soooo great to have them once the ordeal is past.

 

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Re: Plato and Platypus Walk into a Bar - loved this book.  Would that Spinoza and Wittgenstein were so accessible... I'm not even going to *look* at Nipponsan Myohoji la la la la la

 

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Not snowing, but 40 degrees and really, really WINDY.  It's been a leisurely fall but it'll all be over by the end of the day.

 

 

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