Rosie_0801 Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 We once gave up on our Australian history spine when we opened the book and found we were up to an entire chapter about the invention of the stump plough. You see, Lady Florida, it's not just me. It's a conspiracy, possibly. :lol: 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negin Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 I really hated the Cider House Rules, too, for a very specific reason: I worked as a CNM for many years, and people who do OBGYN just don't talk about it in the way he does. I wondered if he did any kind of research or if he invented his character's experiences. For example, a woman's c----x does not look like a cherry lifesaver. It just doesn't! Who does the author think he is??? Sorry if that's gross. But I dislike an author who pretends to know about something and he really doesn't. Blech!! Oh my goodness. I don't even remember the cherry lifesaver description :lol:! Now I'll remember the hilarity here every time I see a cherry lifesaver. :D I haven't read the book but went to see the movie with a friend of mine. It was so depressing the only thing she muttered on the drive back was, "It's a good thing there's not a bridge on the way home." And mind you, I've heard that the movie is so much better than the book. I can't even imagine. Now that Jenn has guessed where I was, I guess I can reveal that the only book I read while traveling was Petroglyphs of Hawaii by L. R. McBride. I love seeing petroglyphs & this was my first time seeing some in Hawaii. Stacia, your pictures are fabulous. Your vacation sounds perfect! Glad to hear that you had such an interesting and good time. :grouphug: 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi all! QUiet Saturday morning here. DS12 went to Key West and received his scuba license and participated in a coral reef restoration project--he just got home last night and he is exhausted. I can't wait to hear how it went when he wakes up. I stayed up late reading a Flannery O'Connor story called A Good Man is Hard to Find. I am going to read it again this morning, as there were a lot of nuances that I think would benefit from a second (or third!) reading. We finally finished the Audible version of The Ender's Game. While I liked it in the beginning, the endless Battle School training and fights wore on me; by the end, I was really ready for this book to be over. And the voice of Valentine was unbearable. I also didn't like how Ender constantly felt sorry for himself, for the Buggers, and for everyone except the human victims of the war. Sigh. Anyway, we're back to listening to Jane Eyre and we will also begin the Audible of I Will Always Write Back, which looks wonderful. I am on the hunt for another "immersion" novel--you know, the kind that you can't put down. Something in the vein of The Goldfinch, which I loved. Today I am going to read, do laundry (darn kittens keep peeing on the bedspreads!!), go for a long walk with the dogs, and bake something yummy. That's the plan, anyway! :) 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Well for a contribution from the ignorant to the Australian history discussion - the most fascinating book I've read about Australian history (ok, it might be the only one ;) ) was Tim Flannery's The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People. If you want to throw a little prehistory into the mix! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesamin Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Beautiful pictures Stacia! Every couple weeks, Dh brings up moving to Hawaii and I always wonder how we could make it work and so the dream is put away for a couple weeks again. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Thanks to a disruption in plans several books have been finished. Left for Dead by Kevin O'Brien https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/783498.Left_for_Deadwas interesting. The latest victim of a serial killer wakes up in a hospital with no memory. Can she identify the killer...... this was good but not great. 3* The Naked Earl by Sally Mackenzie https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236684.The_Naked_Earl?ac=1was fun. These books are a great escape. Adult content. Edge of Evil by J.A. Jance https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/338374.Edge_of_Evil?ac=1is the first in the Ali Reynolds series. I don't think I ever resd this one before although I have read a couple in the series. I liked it and plan to read the rest. The main character is a feisty 40 something woman who loses her high paying news anchor job and her marriage on the same day she learnd her best friend is missing. She returns to the small town she grew up in. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 I haven't read it, but this (currently) free Kindle book sounds enticing ~ Ghosts of Tsavo (Society for Paranormals Book 1) by Vered Ehsani From an interview with the author: "Could you tell us a little about your novel?" "My most recent novel is the first in a series concerning dead husbands, African legends and the search for a perfect spot of tea. I wrote it for those readers who adore “Pride & Prejudice†and would love to experience “The Parasol Protectorate†set in colonial Africa. So basically I wrote it for myself." From the Amazon link given previously: "African Mythology meets Victorian Manners Armed with Victorian etiquette, a fully loaded walking stick and a dead husband, Beatrice Knight arrives in colonial Kenya desperate for a pot of tea and a pinch of cinnamon. But she’ll need more than that if she’s to unravel the mystery of the Ghosts of Tsavo without being eaten in the process. All this while surviving the machinations of her best friend’s dashing godfather and the efforts of her safari guide to feed her to any lion willing to drag her away. What is a ghost-chasing widow to do?" Regards, Kareni OK, I think you sold me on this one. I loved The Parasol Protectorate series! Thanks for this. :) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Beautiful pictures Stacia! Every couple weeks, Dh brings up moving to Hawaii and I always wonder how we could make it work and so the dream is put away for a couple weeks again. Well, if you're a jack-of-all-trades & know how to build, you could always build a house out on the lava flows. The land there is cheap & has ocean views. We went to visit a friend of my sister's who has built on the flow. I was surprised at the number of houses out on the flow. My sister was last there two years ago & she was shocked at how many more houses were there vs. last time. I guess the pluses are things like affordable land, ocean views, quiet, great nighttime sky viewing, & so on. The downsides are that you need to know how to do construction & be willing most everything yourselves, you're quite remote (better not depend on emergency services being able to get there quickly), there are few plants (if you do want some, you have to have dirt hauled in), no city services (water, sewage, electricity), uneven terrain to live/walk on, etc. Here is one of the views from her friend's house... 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Wow! Stacia! That just looks beautiful and fun! So did you actually have to hike up the cliffs from the green beach or was there a path? Looks a little precarious to me ;) 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Wow! Stacia! That just looks beautiful and fun! So did you actually have to hike up the cliffs from the green beach or was there a path? Looks a little precarious to me ;) You had to hike down/up the cliffs to get to the beach. (Plus, you had to hike out to the beach or have a local take you off-roading to get out there. We met a local guy that we had drive us out there. It was about 20 minutes of off-roading to get there.) The cliff was steep, but it wasn't a hard climb, imo. It's not a path really, but there is a route for going down/up. Even my ds (who is scared of heights) decided to give it a go (after I scoped it out for him). My dad also did it (but he's a very physically fit 71 yo). My mom did not (she doesn't like heights & she has asthma, so the climb back up might have been too much for her). 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 I finally finished Eragon by Christopher Paolini this week. This is a reread though it has been many years. I needed a book for my Book Challenge that was written by someone under 30, and since I never finished the Inheritance series, I thought I’d choose Eragon. I actually listened to over 85% of it (that’s a big deal for me!). I finished reading the last 80 or so pages since my loan expired and I didn’t want to reload the whole thing. I’m pretty sure I enjoyed the book the first time I read it because I went on to read the 2nd and 3rd books. This time I felt that there were some great parts and some very not so great that they should have been cut parts lol! And I must be having a thing lately with selfish and immature characters because this is the third book that I’ve had one or the other or both! (Treasure Island’s Jim – immature & Pygmalion’s Higgns – selfish). I really wanted Eragon to listen to, not just hear, what Brom was saying, and to think about somebody else instead of himself all of the time. There were just so many parts where I felt the story could have been written better. SOME GOOD PARTS BUT OVERALL JUST OK. Quote: “These books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life.†-said by Jeod I also finally finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night. Another reread. I can’t remember if this was my least favorite of the books or if #5 is my least favorite. It certainly took me long enough to read! Of course, I haven’t had a huge amount of reading time in the last six weeks so that may just be it. There is so much to this book, so many little side stories. It’s a shame that they didn’t include them in the movie. Winky, S.P.E.W., a lot more about Rita Skeeter! I believe this was the worst book to movie adaptation! There are tons of tidbits and nuggets of things to come in this book! I love catching those on a reread. Some of my favorite parts included Malfoy getting turned into a ferret, Hermione and Ron at the Yule Ball, Mrs. Weasley and Sirius with Harry in the hospital wing (made me tear up). I guess when I think of all the little things I loved, I really can’t say that this is my least favorite! THE PIVOTAL HARRY POTTER BOOK for as Hermione says at the end of the movie, “Everything’s going to change now, isn’t it.†My list as I haven't posted it in a month or two... *01. As You Wish by Cary Elwes (non fiction, memoir) *02. The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami (January Author, BaW rec, Japan) *03. The Princess Bride by William Goldman *04. Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman (BaW rec) *05. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (England, February Author, reread, classic) *06. Archimedes and the Door Science by Jeanne Bendick (biography, Greece) *07. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (England, classic) *08. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (England, reread) *09. A Murder for Her Majesty by Beth Hilgartner (England, reread) *10. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers (England) *11. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley (Canada) *12. The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag (England, BaW rec) *13. 101 More Devotions for Homeschool Moms by Jackie Wellwood (non-fiction) *14. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (March Author, reread, England) *15. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (England, reread) *16. Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury (England, reread) *17. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (England/Caribbean, classic) *18. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (England, reread) *19. Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw (England, classic) *20. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (reread) *21. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (England, reread) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 You had to hike down/up the cliffs to get to the beach. (Plus, you had to hike out to the beach or have a local take you off-roading to get out there. We met a local guy that we had drive us out there. It was about 20 minutes of off-roading to get there.) The cliff was steep, but it wasn't a hard climb, imo. It's not a path really, but there is a route for going down/up. Even my ds (who is scared of heights) decided to give it a go (after I scoped it out for him). My dad also did it (but he's a very physically fit 71 yo). My mom did not (she doesn't like heights & she has asthma, so the climb back up might have been too much for her). I, too, am afraid of heights! But it looks like so much fun! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 <Raised eyebrows to deciding the efficacy of someone's genre output based on one novel...but you realize what you're saying.> ;) Delta Wedding is better, simpler, although they both follow an extended family gathering. Losing Battles is more of a farce IMO. I'm not really a fan of farce, but I rated it a bit higher then you did. Probably because I didn't see the clan's life as a mud-wallow, but an equally-valid, very human, lifestyle. Think of the Miss Julia section as being one of the reaches of that farce. It winks at you, definitely. Welty isn't down on backwoods' folk. There's a lot of love in her descriptions. She loves people. But people are ridiculous, even the progressive, upright ones like Miss Julia and most definitely the rest when we're ignorant or clannish. What I enjoyed about that section was how equally she projected the two sides' ignorance of each other. Miss Julia, we feel for her, but she did not understand the people of the county. She came to save them, and most of the time people do not want to be saved. They resent it. Miss Julia never became one of them because she was too busy telling them what to do. Not that the local clans let anyone in easily. Watching orphaned outsider Gloria maneuver after marrying in to this family is painful, but it's also obvious that she wants to belong and if nothing else a clan makes you a part of something. Eudora Welty was a city kid from Jackson, MS with some extended family ties in the country. She's more like Gloria or Laura in Delta Wedding. She belongs, but is the outsider. She loves it, but she sees its ridiculousness. Off topic, but Welty has some excellent biographical stories. I think we had to read parts of One Writer's Beginnings in high school. I love her description of childhood and books and the library. You make a compelling case for trying Welty again. I think I just kept wanting her to be Flannery O'Connor. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I finished another book I picked up in Hawaii: Yesterday in Hawai'i: A Voyage Through Time by Scott C. S. Stone. At first, the choppiness of it threw me a little, but once I got used to it, it was fine. I saw this book often displayed in gift shops & other areas with tourists (I picked up my copy in the Honolulu airport as we traveled between islands), & I decided it does a good job serving its audience: giving a tourist a big-picture, chronological overview of some major highlights of Hawaiian history, along with many nice photos & illustrations. Each chapter is just a few pages (including plenty of photos/art/white space), making it perfect reading for a tourist who might snatch a few moments to read here & there but who doesn't want to concentrate on a lengthy tome or long storyline. (Maybe it helps to think of each chapter as a separate magazine article since they stand-alone more than they flow together.) Some of the topics mentioned might prompt the reader to seek additional, more in-depth info from other sources. Worth reading if you're traveling in Hawaii & are interested in a quick overview of Hawaiian history. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I read "The 13 Clocks" by James Thurber and my 8yo read "If You Were a Chocolate Mustache." :) 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I read "The 13 Clocks" by James Thurber and my 8yo read "If You Were a Chocolate Mustache." :) We were absolutely enchanted by The 13 Clocks. Loved it! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I just finished reading 'Rich Kid, Smart Kid: Give Your Child A Financial Headstart' by Rovert T. Kiyosaki. Lots of interesting stuff in there, but I still seem to be missing the most important key- actually knowing stuff myself! I will have to research and think some more. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Hi ladies! Just popping in to report that I'm about to go off the grid entirely for a while -- my son and I are doing a 3 WEEK language immersion/service trip in Guatemala. I'm really psyched that he agreed to go with me -- we've never been alone, together for this long and I'm really looking forward to spending the time with him. (Similarly my husband has never manned the fort alone, this long... I have a certain degree of anxiety on that front, but I'm forcefully pushing it out of my mind.) The only hard cover books I'm taking are White Masks (thanks Jane) and All My Children (thanks Eliana); other than those I plan to read off the long pile that's accumulated on my Kindle... Also, dh and I are doing this challenge for the rest of the year. I like the variety! I'm sure many have seen it: Brilliant! I didn't end up posting the past couple weeks... I was spending all my time on the Duggar thread... :leaving: Ahem. :leaving: Thank goodness SWB finally closed it. 52 pages????? I read an article, I think in Commonweal magazine, that gave an hour-by-hour comparison of 24 and Ulysses. It was something like, Hour 4: 24: Jack Bauer does this, that and the other, while driving fast and shouting into his cell phone; his wife and daughter do all these other things; his colleagues do more things; the villain does many villainous things. Ulysses: Leopold Bloom buys a kidney for breakfast. Maybe 24 is Ulysses for the modern age. :lol: I just finished reading 'People Like Us: How arrogance is dividing Islam and the West' by Waleed Aly. Waleed Aly is a well known figure in Australia. This book was written 10 years ago and is just as relevant today as it was then, which goes to show how many more copies he should have sold back then. Perhaps if he had, his book would be obsolete by now. I am very glad to have read this- it shows a way to further the Conversation instead of playing the same one over like a broken record as we do. Thanks for this -- will check it out. We once gave up on our Australian history spine when we opened the book and found we were up to an entire chapter about the invention of the stump plough. :lol: See y'all later... 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Pam, I am sure you will have a wonderful time. Enjoy yourself and try not to think about what dh is doing. My dh always reorganizes the kitchen...... :lol: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Wow, Pam! How awesome! I spent (mis-spent? ;) ) 4 months in Guatemala studying Spanish and generally having the kind of adventures that would have stopped my mother's heart had she known about them. Where are you guys studying? I can't wait to hear about your trip! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Link to week 23 - please continue conversation in new thread 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Oops. Wrong week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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