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Book a Week in 2014 - BW47


Robin M
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Pocket knives are still common in my family (one in my pocket right now lol) and we use them to sharpen our pencils, many of which are wood. For math, we tend to prefer mechanical pencils. I loved my mechanical pencil in school, but I find it seems to stifle my creativity when it comes to writing or drawing. I dislike pencil-sharpened pencils for some tasks. With a knife sharpened pencil, the point lasts longer and I have more options when it comes to thick or thin, depending on how the pencil is rotated. And it seems to write more easily, somehow.  My father taught me how to sharpen a pencil.  He was really good at it and showed me how to sharpen it different ways, depending on what you wanted to do with it.

Shukriyya - Did I get the spelling anywhere near right? I don't think I've ever written the word or seen it written before. The first thing my grandmother taught us to do was flip the knife like a pancake on our hands, left or right. I remember asking her what happened if I missed and it stabbed me. She just said that didn't happen. She was right. I don't know whether it was because the knife wasn't landing with much force or because we didn't let it land on us point in, but it didn't. Then you flipped it like a pancake and flipped your hand too so you caught it on the back. Then you flipped it and let it land in the ground. You had to be able to fit two fingers under it for it to count. And so forth. The game worked like jacks or plainsies-clappsies, cummulatively. I think I was probably 10 when I learned and my sister 7. We both had knives by then. Wow - what a trip down memory lane...

Nan

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 Abbott's Flatland, (about the most bafflingly under-read books ever written imo,  which I read with both her older siblings to great acclaim when they were a little bit older -- I think I timed it with them just before they started geometry) which I think will work well with it.

 

 

Ugh. Flatland reads like a political allegory to me. Have you read it, Sadie? 

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A question - When do you do your reading? You all seem to be reading so much. I am jealous. I want more escape time. Or maybe you just read faster than I? I read pretty slowly and I am totally not interested in changing that because books are too short as it is grin. Anyway, I'm just curious how other people manage...

 

Nan

I don't watch much TV. We dvr 3 or 4 shows and watch them at our convenience.  I can't watch live TV, commercials drive me nuts.    I read during lunch, after lessons are done and mainly in the evening.  Listening to an audio book works better for me while cooking since don't really want to carry a book back and forth to the stove. 

 

So clearly if I learn to multi-task while reading then my book count will go up, right?  :smilielol5:  Seriously how do you all read and do something else? Reading is an area where I can only do that and nothing else except for perhaps drinking tea and nibbling chocolate. Even audio books require me to be focused primarily on the book.

 

Which brings me to Shukriyya's question.  I can only listen to an audio book while I'm driving or drawing, sometimes while cleaning the bathroom. Can't be anytime I need to concentrate or when I'm around another person.  Too many interruptions. 

 

 

Does anyone else find it disturbing that more waiting rooms are adding television sets?  I cannot read while these idiot boxes blast away. 

 

The other day when at the car dealership for a quick service thing, I found a quiet table outside of the service area (which had a television) where I wrote a paper letter.  Yes, I am your archaic friend.

 

Even doctors' offices have televisions.

 

The world has gone mad, I tell you!  (Saying this for Stacia's benefit so she can post my curmudgeon emoticon again!)

Yes, count me amongst the ones who hate it.  If I find myself alone in the waiting room, such as at sears automotive, I just turn it off.  And also sit as far away as I can from the stupid tv monitors in the airport.  I can't stand constant noise.    Although at James dentist, they have video screens in the ceiling above the dental chair and they know he loves Wreck it Ralph, so the minute we walk in the door, the movie is started. 

 

I'm wondering if the scene you're referring to is the one with Alma and Tomorrow Morning; it was somewhat unexpected but given Alma's fondness for the binding room (how's that for a new euphemism?), I wasn't terribly surprised by it.  It was certainly a fascinating read all told.

 

I think I only rarely notice an author's writing style; I suspect I read solely for the story.  Anyone else here do likewise?

 

Regards,

Kareni

I do notice author's writing styles and there are some authors, like James Patterson, whose books I can't read. I used to hate first person pov until stumbled across one author whose writing was so good, I got past the 1st pov angst.  Have since discovered a few more who do first person POV really really well.

 

The only kind of clicker one needs...

http://cornfieldelectronics.com/tvbgone/tvbg.home.php

 

(Yes, they do actually work. Ask me how I know. ;) )

I want. I want!!!

 

Back when I was in grad school, I took advantage of the free hearing tests that the Audiology lab at the university gave. When it was over and nothing wrong was found, the doctor asked me what led me to have my hearing checked.  I told him that I was having difficulty processing conversations at gatherings when surrounded by other conversations, music, etc.  He commented that he found there were certain personality types who wanted not just to hear everything around them but to process everything as well.

 

The older I get, the more challenging it is for me to process the single conversation in a world of distraction.  NPR may be on but if I am reading this thread, I don't hear it. 

 

On writing styles and plots: Reading Jacqueline Winspear's new novel, The Care and Management of Lies, has reminded me why I quit reading the Maisie Dobbs series. I think Winspear is a good story teller. While I particularly appreciate her passion for WWI on the homefront, there is something in her writing that is just lacking for me--or is too much for me.  Perhaps I prefer some subtlety.

 

So, yes, writing style is important to me.  Probably more than plot.  But as Nan pointed out, some of my favorite books are those in which nothing happens. 

I have difficulties processing a conversation if there are more than two or more people talking around me or someone is trying to talk to me across the table while other folks at the table are talking across the table at each other.  Nor while watching television.   One cancels out the other and all I hear is garblefarb.   I have to concentrate on one thing at a time and often times when hubby starts talking while we are watching tv, I'll turn it off or all the way down or just tune him out if it's something I really want to hear on the TV.    I also will walk out of store if the music is too loud or obnoxious, even if I wanted to buy something because I can't think.

 

I also have given up on the Maisie Dobbs series. Have tried it several times but just can't get into it.

 

 

I remember sharpening pencils with knives way back when.  Now I wouldn't even consider doing it that way. 

 

 

Gave myself a birthday present today and added Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden and Dean Koontz Dark Rivers of the Heart to my stacks

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Happy birthday to our fearless leader!

 

 

 

Gave myself a birthday present today and added Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden and Dean Koontz Dark Rivers of the Heart to my stacks

 

I read that for my book club last year and then we went to see Kate Morton speak.  She's a fascinating person.  (What authors aren't though?!?!  I can't name a single boring author.  :laugh:)  I'm interested in your opinion on the book.  I thought it took awhile to get started and then the plot got twisty.  

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Once again I come to the experts for a book recommendation.  I'd like to get my aunt a book for Christmas.  She kinda enjoys reading but she says it makes her fall asleep.  She's been reading the sixth Harry Potter book for a year.  My DD still can't believe it because she read it in a sitting.  She keeps asking Lori how she can put the book down.  Then Lori tells her she falls asleep while reading and DD is shocked. In the past she's read six or seven books a year but hasn't finished a book in over a year.  She's in a long term reading rut.

 

Anyway, I was thinking she might like a graphic novel.  She's going on a cruise after Christmas and that would be a fun things to read on the boat or on the plane.  She hasn't read any graphic novels ever.

 

Here's a list of interests:

  • Star Trek TNG
  • Star Trek DS9
  • Cats
  • Beaches
  • The ocean
  • Bowling
  • She has read and enjoyed all of The Cat Who ... books
  • She likes mysteries on TV
  • She has read romances in the past and enjoyed them.  Adult scenes in books don't bother her.  
  • She doesn't like anything too scary/creepy/violent

Any graphic novel suggestions?  Or any other book suggestions?  For Christmas I'm also getting her the new series of Sherlock, Firefly, and a cat calendar.  

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Thank you! The guys got me Dean Koontz Frankenstein: Lost Souls, Sena Jeter Naslund's Fountain of St. James Court, Jayne Castle's The Hot Zone and Thomas Merton's A Book of Hours.  John cooked lamb chops and sauteed mushrooms, plus we had a bottle of excellent Bordeaux wine.   Tomorrow night, we are going out to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. One of my sister's, who is so age conscious, called to advise not to feel bad about feeling old now that I'm 55 and of course, my dad had to tell me I'm now a senior citizen.  I don't feel old. Age is just a number.  I like blowing people's mind when they find out who old I am since our family genes are blessed and we all look younger than we are. I didn't appreciate it when I was 21 and folks thought I was 12, but now....   Anyway, just got my new driver's license and going to have to lose it, because the picture is awful.   Last year was a bummer, because my mom had just been moved into hospice and the day was very emotional.  Today was nice and lazy and full of laughter and good memories. 

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Thank you! The guys got me Dean Koontz Frankenstein: Lost Souls, Sena Jeter Naslund's Fountain of St. James Court, Jayne Castle's The Hot Zone and Thomas Merton's A Book of Hours.  John cooked lamb chops and sauteed mushrooms, plus we had a bottle of excellent Bordeaux wine.   Tomorrow night, we are going out to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

 

That sounds like a wonderful birthday. A well deserved one for a wonderful lady.

 

Thank you for taking the time to start these threads on Sunday and herd all of us unruly readers into one place so we can chat and enjoy each other's company. I just love this thread and find myself checking it multiple times during the day. I consider you a friend Robin.

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That sounds like a wonderful birthday. A well deserved one for a wonderful lady.

 

Thank you for taking the time to start these threads on Sunday and herd all of us unruly readers into one place so we can chat and enjoy each other's company. I just love this thread and find myself checking it multiple times during the day. I consider you a friend Robin.

Aw, thanks!!!!   :grouphug: :cheers2:

 

We really need a wine clinking icon. 

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Thank you for taking the time to start these threads on Sunday and herd all of us unruly readers into one place so we can chat and enjoy each other's company. I just love this thread and find myself checking it multiple times during the day. I consider you a friend Robin.

 

Perfectly worded, Amy. Robin, I echo Amy exactly!

 

We really need a wine clinking icon. 

 

sdrinking_100-156.gif

 

:laugh:

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Some of the BaWers have been hanging out on the easy cookie thread and I just posted this link http://grandmaabson.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/try-famous-anzac-biscuits.html to not necessarily easy but authentic British bake goods and thought I should probably post it here also. For the golden syrup, I would use karo syrup with a tiny bit of molasses.

 

The Anzac Biscuits are the only ones I have actually made but the author brought loads of her baked goods when I heard her speak. Everything was great even the marmalade cake was excellent and I don't like marmalade very much.

 

The author has spent the last few years assembling her Grandmother's recipes from her years in service at a large estate slightly south of my house. The house no longer exists if I remember correctly. She donates her profits to charity and is an enjoyable speaker.

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NO! You can't make Anzac bikkies with Karo syrup! :svengo: :svengo: :svengo: :crying:

Then what should the Americans use? No golden syrup......I use golden syrup in place of karo syrup(none here) sucessfully all the time. Most (OK pretty much all) my recipes are better with golden syrup but I don't think you can buy it there unless there is a specialty shop. I am open to ideas.....honey is my only other idea. No idea what kind of honey and all BaWers know and like a HUGE variety of honey. :lol:

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Ugh. Flatland reads like a political allegory to me. Have you read it, Sadie? 

 

 

When I read Flatland many years ago, it was because it had been described to me as a religious allegory, the sphere being a metaphor for a god. I guess the reader can make of it what she wishes. I've recently become aware that there are spin-offs by other authors. Sometimes I momentarily consider reading one, then I ask myself "Why?" There is no answer, so I forget about it again

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When I read Flatland many years ago, it was because it had been described to me as a religious allegory, the sphere being a metaphor for a god. I guess the reader can make of it what she wishes. I've recently become aware that there are spin-offs by other authors. Sometimes I momentarily consider reading one, then I ask myself "Why?" There is no answer, so I forget about it again

 

How fascinating!  I read Flatland as a math nerd in order to gain some insight into other dimensions but saw the political allegory, never a religious take. 

 

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Once again I come to the experts for a book recommendation. I'd like to get my aunt a book for Christmas. She kinda enjoys reading but she says it makes her fall asleep. She's been reading the sixth Harry Potter book for a year. My DD still can't believe it because she read it in a sitting. She keeps asking Lori how she can put the book down. Then Lori tells her she falls asleep while reading and DD is shocked. In the past she's read six or seven books a year but hasn't finished a book in over a year. She's in a long term reading rut.

 

Anyway, I was thinking she might like a graphic novel. She's going on a cruise after Christmas and that would be a fun things to read on the boat or on the plane. She hasn't read any graphic novels ever.

 

Here's a list of interests:

  • Star Trek TNG
  • Star Trek DS9
  • Cats
  • Beaches
  • The ocean
  • Bowling
  • She has read and enjoyed all of The Cat Who ... books
  • She likes mysteries on TV
  • She has read romances in the past and enjoyed them. Adult scenes in books don't bother her.
  • She doesn't like anything too scary/creepy/violent
Any graphic novel suggestions? Or any other book suggestions? For Christmas I'm also getting her the new series of Sherlock, Firefly, and a cat calendar.

No graphic novel suggestions but I did think of good old Flavia as a possibility.

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How fascinating!  I read Flatland as a math nerd in order to gain some insight into other dimensions but saw the political allegory, never a religious take. 

 

 

Hmm. Certain elements in my life at that time may have persauded me that it had religious parallels. Now I might have to read it again to see the political angle. I will be assigning it to my geometry boy this year, for the math concepts.

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I know I should multi-quote but I am just too lazy so I will spit all out as it comes to my brain.

 

I do appreciate writing style over story and characters for the most part.  Case in point: I just finished Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeymi.  This is the most bizarre book I have ever read.  My Winnie the Pooh brain cannot understand what this book is about but I finished it and, yes, I would say I even enjoyed it, because of the beautiful writing.  Oyeymi is a gifted writer.  I am looking forward to reading her other books.  I tried to read The Fault in our Stars but the writing prevented me from doing so.  I am not a John Greene fan as a result.   But there are times when I just need a good old comfort story (writing be darned) that will take me away from where I find myself at that moment.  A comfort story, for me, is one where I can bury myself in a good story and not come up for air until the book is done.  I don't read many of them but I do love it when they come upon my path.

 

I, too, have sensory sensitivities to noise, smell and other things but they aren't popping to mind at the moment.  My sister has these has well.  She cannot abide oranges because of the membranes.  If she eats an orange, it takes her more than an hour to ingest it because she has to take off all of the white membrane things off.  She cannot sleep in a bed with wrinkled sheets.  If there are wrinkles in the sheets, she makes her husband get out of bed so she can smoothe the wrinkles out.   She also can't handle it if the seams on the toes of her socks do not match perfectly with her toes.   I am not that bad but my sensitivities do put me in the curmudgeon status.

 

There was something else I wanted to comment on but I forget now.

 

Oh,  Happy Belated Birthday, Robin!  Yay for good genes!

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Julia, so thrilled that you loved Mr. Fox. It is one of my favorite books & it's always so fun when a friend reads it & enjoys it too! :hurray:

 

Flatland -- I ordered a copy from PaperbackSwap after Pam mentioned it, thinking it will be good for ds this school year. Looking forward to reading it now w/ all the comments made about it. (Pam, thanks for recommending it!)

 

 

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Maidentrip?  No, I haven't seen it.  I know about the trip.  When she left, I participated in arguments about whether her parents were crazy to let her do this or not.  (As someone who grew up sailing and who brought their children up sailing and who let her children do things, I am on the depends-on-the-child-and-equipment-but-if-those-are-right-then-yes-of-course side.  I certainly remember how I felt reading Dove when I was 12.)  I didn't know there was a movie.  I will have to investigate.  Thank you!

 

Nan

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Then what should the Americans use? No golden syrup......I use golden syrup in place of karo syrup(none here) sucessfully all the time. Most (OK pretty much all) my recipes are better with golden syrup but I don't think you can buy it there unless there is a specialty shop. I am open to ideas.....honey is my only other idea. No idea what kind of honey and all BaWers know and like a HUGE variety of honey. :lol:

 

Oh, I don't know what you should use, but I feel a deep seated wrongness about Karo syrup. :p

 

Actually, I think using a mixture of honey and molasses would be best. Honey doesn't work by itself, though I can't say I've tried using a dark honey like buckwheat. (I bought some buckwheat honey last week because of this thread!)

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Then what should the Americans use? No golden syrup......I use golden syrup in place of karo syrup(none here) sucessfully all the time. Most (OK pretty much all) my recipes are better with golden syrup but I don't think you can buy it there unless there is a specialty shop. I am open to ideas.....honey is my only other idea. No idea what kind of honey and all BaWers know and like a HUGE variety of honey. :lol:

 

I was thinking corn syrup would do the trick nicely. We could easily get Lyle's when I was a child in Canada. I think I've seen it in a few WFs here. A quick internet search reveals that Karo is actually....corn syrup :blush: Not to be confused with high fructose corn syrup which is a totally different product...

 

"But the truth is that corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup are two different products. Both products are made from corn starch, but regular corn syrup is 100 percent glucose, while high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has had some of its glucose converted to fructose enzymatically."
 
ETA This is the brand that sat on our table for pancake breakfasts. We much preferred maple syrup but back then that was only available during sugaring off season.
     
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Anyway, I was thinking she might like a graphic novel.  She's going on a cruise after Christmas and that would be a fun things to read on the boat or on the plane.  She hasn't read any graphic novels ever.

 

Here's a list of interests:

  • Star Trek TNG
  • Star Trek DS9

 

 

I'll suggest my favorite Deep Space Nine spin off novel:
 
Fallen Heroes by Dafydd Ab Hugh

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I did some reading on the train yesterday and while in a government waiting room.  One enjoyable read was Joan Wolf's The Rebellious Ward which I don't think any would find offensive.  It's a historical romance set in England.

 

"Catriona was no stranger to scandal – but she was an innocent in love …

Only a girl as captivating as Catriona Maclan could have overcome the scandal of her birth to shine as the most sought-after young lady of the London season.

Only a girl as daring as Catriona would have played with the fiery attentions of suitors as different as the eminently eligible, handsome and proper Lord Wareham and the notoriously worldly and wicked Marquis of Hampton.

Only a girl as stubborn as Catriona would have persisted in adoring the one man she could not have – the brilliant and iron-willed Duke of Burford, the guardian who saw her every fault and was so blind to all else …"

 

Regards,

Kareni

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The talk of karo syrup sent me to dig out my mother's pecan pie recipe.  She was very particular about the type of karo syrup to use, insisting that a proper Southern pecan pie (she who grew up in Alabama) only uses light Karo syrup.  All those imitation recipes out there call for dark syrup.

 

Next I had to look up the difference between light and dark, as I wonder if the Anzac biscuit recipe would work with the proper Karo, as in the light.  Here's the answer I found (though the google search turned up many versions of this.

 

 

Robin -- many happy returns to you on this birthday weekend!!  I'm right behind you in age, and it is a good age to be!  And, yes, many thanks for keeping this forum alive over the years.  I know we all start checking in on the forum on Sunday mornings, wondering if the new thread has started or not!  Thanks to facebook I'm still connected with Kay, btw, who started this thread way back in 2009 or so.  I do wish she would pop in for old time's sake just to see how lively a place it is.

 

 

I'm nursing a small cold this weekend so am making myself sit and read, and nap, too.  I've got the perfect fluff to keep me engaged:  Fool Moon, the second Dresden Files book, and a breezy Rhys Bowen novel on audio, Her Royal Spyness.  But I've got to head out in a few minutes to rehearse for a bluegrass Christmas concert, practice later for a community symphony concert tomorrow and finish arranging music for a memorial service on Monday. I wish my formal black attire had pockets -- I'm going to need cough drops at the ready!  And I wish kleenex came in black -- those white tissues just stand out against a sea of black clad musicians.  Or that I played cello so I could hide things behind the instrument.  Ah well.

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I was thinking corn syrup would do the trick nicely. We could easily get Lyle's when I was a child in Canada. I think I've seen it in a few WFs here. A quick internet search reveals that Karo is actually....corn syrup :blush: Not to be confused with high fructose corn syrup which is a totally different product...

 

 

"But the truth is that corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup are two different products. Both products are made from corn starch, but regular corn syrup is 100 percent glucose, while high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has had some of its glucose converted to fructose enzymatically."

 

ETA This is the brand that sat on our table for pancake breakfasts. We much preferred maple syrup but back then that was only available during sugaring off season.

My father actually used Karo Syrup in place of imitation syrup on pancakes. We actually made our own Maple Syrup for a couple of years when I was around 10. Yummy, but very labor intensive. It was a Daddy/ Daughter project which felt like I was doing all the work--looking at it from the other side I realize how much he was doing behind the scene.

 

Not a fan of dark karo syrup and not sure that I ever tasted it as an adult. Obviously my Pecan Pie Bars had the light version and work fine with golden syrup. I think golden syrup makes things softer then karo syrup. Someone here told me to replace a bit of the sugar in cookies with a couple teaspoons of golden syrup for soft cookies. Tried it, possibly worked but no one liked them enough to continue. :) Totally subjective since no side by side experments.

 

Not sure what you guys should use. Let me know how it goes if anyone tries the recipe.

 

Good night all. Hopefully I will make some progress on my book so I have something to report tomorrow.

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