aggieamy Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 (Unfortunately, I have had too much time spent lately at appointments, today's being one of our beloved cats starting chemo for lymphoma.) I'm sorry. ((HUGS)) 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 I saw a recommendation elsewhere for this currently free Kindle book ~ Talking to the Dead (Fiona Griffiths Crime Thriller Series Book 1) by Harry Bingham “Gritty, compelling . . . a procedural unlike any other you are likely to read this year.â€â€”USA Today“With Detective Constable Fiona ‘Fi’ Griffiths, Harry Bingham . . . finds a sweet spot in crime fiction . . . think Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander . . . Denise Mina’s ‘Paddy’ Meehan [or] Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. . . . The writing is terrific.â€â€”The Boston Globe“The mystery-thriller genre is already so staffed with masterminds that it’s hard to make room for another. But along comes a book like Talking to the Dead, and suddenly an unadvertised opening is filled. . . . [This] has the feel of something fresh and compelling.â€â€”New York Daily News“A stunner with precision plotting, an unusual setting, and a deeply complex [female] protagonist . . . We have the welcome promise of more books to come about Griffiths.â€â€”The Seattle Times“Recommended highly . . . [a] riveting procedural thriller.â€â€”Library Journal (starred review) Regards, Kareni 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 (edited) Stacia, I am so sorry. Holding your furry one in the light. Hugs Edited November 17, 2016 by Nan in Mass 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastweedpuller Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 National Book Awards were given last night. What a list! Can't help but think they're trying to tell us something with their suggestions. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 National Book Awards were given last night. What a list! Can't help but think they're trying to tell us something with their suggestions. Indeed. Timely topics. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 Book Awards...no comment. Reading to keep sane these past two weeks. Listened to a fab interview with Zadie Smith, she of White Teeth fame, done by Eleanor Wachtel. If y'all want a great literary podcast series to subscribe to the CBC's, 'Writers and Company' with Eleanor Wachtel is wonderful. A full day ahead with various doctor's appts for dh and keeping the surge of despair over our the political situation from rising too far out of the gullet. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 :grouphug: all around... and to further soothe... Here are some gifts for Austen fans: https://www.neuronsnotincluded.com/collections/jane-austen-collection :001_wub: 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 (Sorry if that link has already been posted. It was the first time I'd seen it.) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 Stacia :grouphug: I hope the vet appt. goes well Once I am pretty sure I never said Happy Birthday! :grouphug: to all the sick BaWer's. Feeling a bit off today myself. Hoping not to come down with something nasty. I am currently reading Dog On It, A Chet and Bernie Mystery. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5600151-dog-on-it?ac=1&from_search=true. It was on a list a couple of months ago and my hold finally arrived. I can't say I love it. It's an OK cozy narrated by a dog. Seriously I think I prefer cats as narrators. Never thought that statement would be part of a post here. The dog is portrayed as an impulsive fool which is a bit over doing it. I have considered abandoning for most of the 50 percent I have read but keep going because as a middle of the night book it works well, very easy to put it down! Also started The Hanging Tree, the latest Rivers of London. Good so far but early stages. (Sorry if that link has already been posted. It was the first time I'd seen it.) Many of us love looking at the lists etc that get posted here. Always fun to look. Thanks for posting it. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 (Sorry if that link has already been posted. It was the first time I'd seen it.) I don't think I've seen that link before. In fact, I just spent a happy half hour browsing the site. (That sounds so much better than "I wasted half an hour.") I added a number of math, science, and English gift items to my thread ~ Have you spotted a unique gift? Post it here. Regards, Kareni 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 I am currently reading Dog On It, A Chet and Bernie Mystery. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5600151-dog-on-it?ac=1&from_search=true. It was on a list a couple of months ago and my hold finally arrived. I can't say I love it. It's an OK cozy narrated by a dog. Seriously I think I prefer cats as narrators. Never thought that statement would be part of a post here. The dog is portrayed as an impulsive fool which is a bit over doing it. I have considered abandoning for most of the 50 percent I have read but keep going because as a middle of the night book it works well, very easy to put it down! I read the first few books in that series several years ago and found them entertaining. It seemed like Hank the Cowdog for adults. Regards, Kareni 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 Hugs to Stacia and all feeling under the weather. My minor complaint of the moment is an aching arm from a Tdap vaccine. No wonder why babies get so cranky after their jabs! I finished readng Hypothermia, an Arnaldur Indridason novel featuring Inspector Erlendur. I skipped #5 which was checked out of my library for an Erlendur fix--Hypothermia is #6. Wow--what a compelling book but not one that stands alone in my opinion. You really need to read earlier volumes to understand what draws this brooding man into cases of missing persons from long ago. The library copy of Hypotermia features a few pages from a stand alone novel by the author, Operation Napoleon. Another added to my list... 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 Yesterday I finished Emily Gee's fantasy Thief With No Shadow which I quite enjoyed. I'd be happy to read more by this author. I think this would be appropriate for all readers including teens. "Nominated for two RITA® Awards in 2008: Best First Book and Best Novel With Strong Romantic Elements."Dark and compelling. Emily Gee is a storyteller to watch." --Nalini Singh, New York Times best-selling authorAided by the magic which courses through her veins, Melke is able to walk unseen by mortal eyes. When a necklace she has stolen holds the key to both saving her brother's life and breaking a terrible curse, she must steal it back from a den of fire-breathing salamanders. Things are about to get very tough for Melke, especially when she comes to realize she may have to trust the very people who were out to kill her.Thief With No Shadow is a rich, romantic fantasy tale set in a world where the ordinary and extraordinary co-exist, where nightmarish creatures live alongside men, and magics runs in the blood of mortals." ** I also read a couple of short novellas; they were pleasant, but I'm not sure I'll read more by the author, Cate Rowan. Swords and Scimitars (Alaia Chronicles: Legends, #1)and Sword and Lute (Alaia Chronicles: Legends, #2) Regards, Kareni 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 National Book Awards were given last night. What a list! Can't help but think they're trying to tell us something with their suggestions. And here's an article if you'd like to know a bit more about all of the nominees: We read all 20 National Book Award nominees for 2016. Here's what we thought. Regards, Kareni 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 #113: The Odyssey by Geraldine McCaughrean. It was a really good children's version. Everything was there, but it was easy to understand. My 8-year-old read it out loud to me. He handled everything fine until Odysseus's old dog died of happiness right in Odysseus's lap. Adrian burst into tears and sobbed and sobbed. Also, I WILL BE WATCHING FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM IN THREE HOURS!!!!! My 10-year-old is currently in the 5th Harry Potter book. We don't usually take the littles when we go see stuff on opening night (or, rather, the night before opening day), but this time we are taking them. He has been practically vibrating with excitement and then he got his second migraine of his life this afternoon so he's working hard on getting rid of that with ice and dark because nothing will keep him from that movie! 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 (edited) Book Awards...no comment. Reading to keep sane these past two weeks. Listened to a fab interview with Zadie Smith, she of White Teeth fame, done by Eleanor Wachtel. If y'all want a great literary podcast series to subscribe to the CBC's, 'Writers and Company' with Eleanor Wachtel is wonderful. A full day ahead with various doctor's appts for dh and keeping the surge of despair over our the political situation from rising too far out of the gullet. Hugs. Sometimes things have to go to extremes in order to be recognized and fixed. Sometimes it takes a catalyst to get a reaction going. Nan Edited November 17, 2016 by Nan in Mass 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted November 18, 2016 Author Share Posted November 18, 2016 Hugs to all. We've been geeking out over all things Star Wars at our house. James has discovered all the you tubers who analyze and theorize and summarize the legends and canons. I'll probably know everything there is to know before we even see the new movie - Rogue One. KarenI - Thanks for the link to Thief with No Shadow. Read the first few pages on amazon and had to get it. Stacia - Hugs and good thoughts for your fur baby! Heather - I must have been living under a rock, because hadn't heard of Fantastic Beasts until now. Just watched the trailer and now I want to see it. :lol: Have fun! Jane: Coming in to say that the kindness, generosity and open mindedness of the BaW group should serve as a demonstration of the Possible to the rest of the universe. :iagree: 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I have found something that should cheer us all, particularly Stacia. It is a lovely letter that Vonnegut wrote to some high school students who invited him to visit their school in 2006. He declined the invitation, noting I don't make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana. He challenges the students to "make your soul grow". The letter is lovely and can be found here. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Thanks for all the good wishes for Toby (our cat). He (& we) will need many of them in the upcoming months. :grouphug: Jane, thanks for posting the Vonnegut letter. Love it. He's so straightforward, fun, & succinct. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 (edited) I finished the whole Bingo card! B: Female Author: We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo. Zimbabwe. (Choppy & hart to connect with the characters. Disappointed.) Historical: North to the Orient by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. North America/Asia (Diary-like entries of stops as the Lindberghs try to map a new flying route to Asia.) Pick Based on the Cover: An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel. USA. (The old-school vampires are back! No glittery, Twilight-y vampires here.) Translated: The Expedition to the Baobab Tree by Wilma Stockenström, trans. from the Afrikaans by J.M. Coetzee. South Africa. (Haunting, strong, strange, & lovely.) Epic: The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. India. (Feminist retelling of parts of the Mahabharata, focusing on the viewpoint of Panchaali.) I: Published 2016: Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel by Tom Wainwright. Latin/North America. (Analyzes illegal drug trade as if it is any other global corporation. Fascinating.) Revisit an Old Friend: The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli. Mexico. (Garrulous auctioneer Highway tells his story in a charming, offbeat tale. “Dickens + MP3 ÷ Balzac + JPEGâ€) Over 500 Pages: The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay. USA & Italy. (Mix of thriller, historical fiction, magic/alchemy, & philosophy.) Banned: Smile as They Bow by Nu Nu Yi. Myanmar (banned there). (Fiery & feisty natkadaw [spirit wife] Daisy Bond performs during a nat festival.) Nautical: The Island of Last Truth by Flavia Company. Unnamed island off the coast of Africa. (Small, smart, mesmerizing nautical tale.) N: Number in the Title: Ajax Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan. USA. (Mini-novella; light reading about tracking down the single-surviving copy of a very old book.) Fairy Tale Adaptation: What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi. Various European countries. (Somewhat interlinked short stories; slightly sinister, fun, & compelling.) Library Free Space: The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Óscar MartÃnez. Mexico. (Front-line reporting of the dangers migrants face when crossing Mexico while trying to reach the US. Required reading.) Mystery: An Exaggerated Murder by Josh Cook. USA. (Entertaining, untraditional, modern noir detective romp; like a mix of Thomas Pynchon, Sherlock Holmes, Edgar Allan Poe, & James Joyce.) 18th Century: The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole. Italy. (First/early gothic story. Clunky & a bit silly, but gave rise to a wonderful genre of literature.) G: Dusty: The Three Trials of Manirema by José J. Veiga. Brazil. (A mix of rural-life naturalism & the Kafkaesque in an allegory of life under [brazilian] military rule.) Written in Birth Year: Trout Fishing in America/The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster/In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan. USA (Surreal Americana with trout & mayonnaise.) Classic: Kokoro by Natsume SÅseki. Japan. (Explores mind/emotion shifts between Meiji era into modern era. Low-key, compelling, simple, & melancholy.) Color in the Title: Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes. Ghana (CSI-type criminal investigation mixed with traditional Ghanaian village life & folklore form a unique police tale.) Arthurian: The Death of King Arthur, Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a retelling by Peter Ackroyd. England. (Dull rendering; repetitive; a slog to read.) O: Picked by a Friend: The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez. Columbia. (Brilliant & bittersweet story showing the impact of the rise of the Colombian drug cartels on an entire generation of people. Picked by idnib.) Play: Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. France. (Whether it is just a tale of the absurdity of life or if there is a deeper meaning, at least I can now say I’ve read it.) Non-Fiction: Gnarr! How I Became Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World by Jón Gnarr. Iceland. (Easy, fun, & inspiring with an emphasis on being nice & promoting peace.) Nobel Prize Winner: The Stranger by Albert Camus. Algeria. (Camus’ famous tale, clipped & clinical, about malaise & murder on the beach in Algeria.) Set in Another Country: Good Morning Comrades by Ondjaki. Angola. (Charming child’s-eye view of life in Angola during revolutionary changes & civil war in the 1990s. Semi-autobiographical.) Edited November 18, 2016 by Stacia 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I finished the whole Bingo card! Yay! *cheerleading jump* Yay Stacia! 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Go, Stacia! 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Stacia, Congratulations!!!!! Kareni, I finished the Chet and Bernie book during the night. The end was better than the beginning. I would read another but won't go hunting for another. We weren't big Hank the Cowdog fans either. I used to like the Midnight Louie serieshttp://carolenelsondouglas.com/book-series/midnight-louie/ and the Mrs. Murphy https://www.goodreads.com/series/41273-mrs-murphy series. I have tried to revisit both in recent months and had to give up in both cases. Might just be me. I find that I still enjoy The Cat Who books......but the cats don't narrate. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Has this been posted before? I'm browsing and saw this. Candle for book lovers There are lots of neat candles on the site 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Congrats, Stacia! I just abandoned The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, as I found it too bizarre for my current frame of mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I finished the whole Bingo card! Congratulations, Stacia! Your fellow BaW non-conformist rebel is reading a book to fill in a square on the Bingo card, a book from my year of birth. I figured I couldn't use Green Eggs and Ham for that square, as wonderful a book as it is, so am using the birth year bingo square as an incentive to read more Nevil Shute. I've started Trustee from the Toolroom, and the library book has that wonderful old book smell (I'm thinking of that candle Mom-ninja linked), complete with the soft paper. The quote that opens the book is "An engineer is a man who can do for five bob what any bloody fool can do for a quid". It is a story of an unassuming engineer with sailing and world travel thrown in, all described through Nevil Shute's concise, beautiful writing. Nan, within the first few pages I thought of you and your family -- have any of you read it? I've totally lost my voice, thanks to this insidious little cold!! I'm going to have to spend the day reading and drinking tea. Oh and mumto2 -- my book stack now includes Julia Spencer-Fleming's In the Bleak Midwinter. Really looking forward to it! 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 KarenI - Thanks for the link to Thief with No Shadow. Read the first few pages on amazon and had to get it. I hope you'll enjoy it, Robin. The letter is lovely and can be found here. That was indeed lovely. Thank you, Jane. I finished the whole Bingo card! Congratulations! ** A currently free Kindle book ~ The Midnight Sea (The Fourth Element Book 1) by Kat Ross "A spellbinding fantasy with some moral weight and a meatier narrative than usual, one likely to leave readers quite satisfied... Ross conjures an epic of demons and daevas, family, loss, and the turmoil of a kingdom in peril."-Kirkus Reviews "For a world of shifting alliances and trusts, fully realized and multi-faceted characters, and a fantasy that takes place in a little touched upon setting in young adult literature, The Midnight Sea delivers on all fronts and starts off a new series of romance, magic, and a well-written and captivating story." -Bibliobibuli YA "They are the light against the darkness. The steel against the necromancy of the Druj. And they use demons to hunt demons…. Nazafareen lives for revenge. A girl of the isolated Four-Legs Clan, all she knows about the King's elite Water Dogs is that they bind wicked creatures called daevas to protect the empire from the Undead. But when scouts arrive to recruit young people with the gift, she leaps at the chance to join their ranks. To hunt the monsters that killed her sister. Scarred by grief, she's willing to pay any price, even if it requires linking with a daeva named Darius. Human in body, he's possessed of a terrifying power, one that Nazafareen controls. But the golden cuffs that join them have an unwanted side effect. Each experiences the other's emotions, and human and daeva start to grow dangerously close. As they pursue a deadly foe across the arid waste of the Great Salt Plain to the glittering capital of Persepolae, unearthing the secrets of Darius's past along the way, Nazafareen is forced to question his slavery—and her own loyalty to the empire. But with an ancient evil stirring in the north, and a young conqueror sweeping in from the west, the fate of an entire civilization may be at stake…" Regards, Kareni 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Congratulations, Stacia! I've totally lost my voice, thanks to this insidious little cold!! I'm going to have to spend the day reading and drinking tea. Oh and mumto2 -- my book stack now includes Julia Spencer-Fleming's In the Bleak Midwinter. Really looking forward to it! I loved the Julia Spencer-Fleming books. I just wish she'd hurry up and write the next one already! Feel better soon and, in the meantime, enjoy your reading time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Some posts that might be of interest ~ I Love Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. What Should I Read Next? The Realm of Fairy Stories by Susan King Regards, Kareni 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 My dd just walked through the kitchen & I heard her saying, "Why on Earth do you have a book called My Best Friend's Exorcism?!" Then, I hear my ds (in an adjacent room) laughing while turning to me (in a third room) & saying, "That sounds exactly like the kind of book you would have!" So, I'm reading My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. :lol: This is the author who did Horrorstör (a book I read last October that was a good creepy/gross horror book but an even better out-take on Ikea catalogs). This latest one is an homage to the '80s (I'm a proud Gen Xer) & the end flaps look like school yearbooks. I absolutely love his attention to all the details that create perfection. And, this story is set in & around Charleston (SC), a place near & dear to my heart. Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act…different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil? This is probably as close to Flufferton that I'm going to get. I just hope I'm brave enough to read the whole thing! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Congratulations, Stacia! Your fellow BaW non-conformist rebel is reading a book to fill in a square on the Bingo card, a book from my year of birth. I figured I couldn't use Green Eggs and Ham for that square, as wonderful a book as it is, so am using the birth year bingo square as an incentive to read more Nevil Shute. I've started Trustee from the Toolroom, and the library book has that wonderful old book smell (I'm thinking of that candle Mom-ninja linked), complete with the soft paper. The quote that opens the book is "An engineer is a man who can do for five bob what any bloody fool can do for a quid". It is a story of an unassuming engineer with sailing and world travel thrown in, all described through Nevil Shute's concise, beautiful writing. Nan, within the first few pages I thought of you and your family -- have any of you read it? I've totally lost my voice, thanks to this insidious little cold!! I'm going to have to spend the day reading and drinking tea. Oh and mumto2 -- my book stack now includes Julia Spencer-Fleming's In the Bleak Midwinter. Really looking forward to it! I haven't! I recognize the author,s name, though, so someone else in the family might have. I'll have to look it up. Love the first line, although it tends to be backwards from the way I often think of engineers - doing a wide variety of things out of necessity or curiosity that other people do for a lot more money. I can see it being true for a different variety of engineer, though. And the book sounds like lots of fun. Is there snow on snow on snow in your Spencer-Fleming book? Maybe honey and lemon for your throat? Nan 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 I haven't! I recognize the author,s name, though, so someone else in the family might have. I'll have to look it up. Love the first line, although it tends to be backwards from the way I often think of engineers - doing a wide variety of things out of necessity or curiosity that other people do for a lot more money. I can see it being true for a different variety of engineer, though. And the book sounds like lots of fun. Is there snow on snow on snow in your Spencer-Fleming book? Maybe honey and lemon for your throat? Nan Neville Shute is most known for A Town Like Alice, so that may be where you've heard his name. The author himself was an aeronautical engineer, and the protagonist in this gentle book is an engineer who is wide eyed at all the engineering marvels he is exposed to on his first trip out of England in the late 50s. Airplanes and sailing ships and hydraulic works at a lumber mill all catch his attention and the reader goes along with him as he inspects it all. It is a gentle book, with a positive view of the goodness of humankind and without a cynical note in the whole 300 pages. It is dated, though -- the need to identify characters by ethnicity, the abundance of men with one smart female character, a secondary character, whose back story is that she plucked from running a large operation in order to become her grandfather's personal secretary. Things were quite different back in the olden times of my birth year! There is a section of the book that took me straight back to The Plover. At one point our engineer sails out of Honolulu on an unorthodox sailing boat -- with red sails -- built by a Oregonian who had decided to sail West. When Frigate birds briefly entered the scene I thought for sure I was back in Brian Doyle land, but that it was only a temporary touchstone between the two books. I'm starting the Spencer-Fleming book tonight, but the title is not conjuring up snow and short days. For one thing it is so hot and dry here that it does NOT feel like mid November. And for another, In the Bleak Midwinter is a musical punch line for my piano trio this season. We're preparing a program of fun arrangements of Christmas tunes, one of which randomly has "In the Bleak Midwinter" woven into a tango version of Let It Snow. I kid you not. It works, but the first time we played it we started cracking up. I will never be able to think of "In the Bleak Midwinter" without hearing a tango in my mind. I'm swimming from all the tea consumed today -- some of those cups did indeed have honey in them. It's far, far easier losing my voice now that I don't have kids at home. It was the worst when the kids were little and I couldn't use my mommy voice when things got out of hand. Now I can be completely silent for hours on end. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Some currently free books for the Kindle ~ These are classics: The Confessions of Nat Turner (Illustrated) by Nat TurnerBenito Cereno by Herman MelvilleThe Republic by PlatoAt the Mountains of Madness by H.P. LovecraftHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradThe Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde ** Ordained Irreverence (Elmo Jenkins Book One) by McMillian Moody "An Amazon Kindle 'Christian Fiction' Bestseller with over 500 "Five Star" reviews!Elmo Jenkins is about to graduate from seminary with a masters degree in religious education and a minor in cynicism. When he lands an internship at a large metropolitan church, he quite literally stumbles his way through as he learns to baptize and bury, visit and marry the faithful flock. Think Ferris Bueller Goes to Church with a side of Holden Caulfield thrown in for good measure...." ** These books by Melissa Haag look appealing to me: Clay's Hope: Judgement of the Six Companion Series, Book 1 and Hope(less) (Judgement Of The Six Book 1) Regards, Kareni 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 (edited) Better late checking in than never.... Jane, I finally located our Steinbeck stash yesterday but then I couldn't remember the title you mentioned. Nor find the post. All I can (will) say about the election is that this should be an interesting Thanksgiving, with relatives at opposite ends of today's horrifically polarized political spectrum, two of whom are at an age of not filtering very well. We plan to put them at opposite ends of the table and trust to their hardness of hearing and our deft topic diversion skills. Stacia, I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. And sympathies to all the sick BaWers. Re: Wodehouse: I've also only read one, and it was okay... but I confess to liking the Fry and Laurie series better. Maybe it's because dh owns and has read I swear every Wodehouse ever published; some of them twice, when he didn't realize the UK title differed from the American. Blackadder is the most amusing thing ever put on a screen, though. I can't watch the Samuel Johnson episode enough. Or the Beaumont and Fletcher episode. Books? STILL working on Devils, and hoping to be done by tomorrow. I've actually been reading non-stop; but it's all in small uncountable* chunks for homeschooling or for the little English seminar I'm running. So this week I've read (and discussed) Stevens' "Fifteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"; Frost's "The Pasture" (one of my students explained that it was a poem about an inefficient farmer); Twain's "Journalism in Tennessee"; Hazlitt's "On People One Would Wish to Have Seen"; an excerpt from Claude Bernard's Experimental Medicine; and a chunk of The Prince and the Pauper. All together those might make up a book for the week, yes? *ETA: Not uncountable in the one sense, but in the other sense. Edited November 19, 2016 by Violet Crown 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Kareni, when you get one of these free kindle books, do you get to keep it? Where does it live? Nan 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Jenn, that is a very strange mix. Hard to believe it would work but music is an amazing thing. You all must have been rolling! We are so warm it is hard to believe in snow, also. I am still wearing sandals. I guess it is good for my poor bulbs, which I got planted very late, but this fall has been a struggle and I am so ready for the brightness and soothing stillness of snow. You are right - maybe A Town Like Alice is why I recognized the name. Thank you for all the reassurance about the book. When I linked the two I would have decided not to read it afterall. Red sails are pretty typical on the funkier, kludgier boats, at least around here where many traditional boats have tanbark (no idea how to spell that) sails, so that bit wouldn't surprise me. The book sounds lovely. I do dated just fine. Many of my old favourites are. I just finished Persuasion and am finishing up The Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson. I still can,t decide if I like or dislike these books. It varies by bits. They are very easy to escape into, though, I like the characters, and despite the gore and violence, don't seem to leave me with scars, which is weird. Nan 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 VC--The Short Reign of Pippin IV is the title of Steinbeck's political satire which I am suspecting would amuse your husband. (It amuses me that I recommend books regularly not only for our BaWers but also Nan's mum and VC's husband!) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 VC - Sometimes deafness is a blessing, hunh? Maybe they would find it entertaining to be seated together? Do they secretly like arguments? But then I guess the rest of you would need to be deaf. Good luck! Nan 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 VC--The Short Reign of Pippin IV is the title of Steinbeck's political satire which I am suspecting would amuse your husband. (It amuses me that I recommend books regularly not only for our BaWers but also Nan's mum and VC's husband!) You and he do seem to have identical reading tastes! We definitely don't have Pippin IV. Do you read Verne? He's been reading every obscure Verne ever written lately. I have nothing against Verne but find him somehow unreadable. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Jane, I am grateful. Keeping Mum fed with books now that walking is so painful is a challenge. Fortunately, she rereads a lot. Nan 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Kareni, when you get one of these free kindle books, do you get to keep it? Where does it live? Nan Not Kareni but I will give an answer on how it works with my Kindles. When I download a free book it only appears as downloaded on the kindle I "bought" it on. On my other connected Fires the cover might appear but I can download if I want to win th or without the cover. Simply search your books. If I don't want to read it now I simply remove it from my my device and it still exists in my kindle account. When I want it I can search and download for free because I own it. Better late checking in than never.... Jane, I finally located our Steinbeck stash yesterday but then I couldn't remember the title you mentioned. Nor find the post. All I can (will) say about the election is that this should be an interesting Thanksgiving, with relatives at opposite ends of today's horrifically polarized political spectrum, two of whom are at an age of not filtering very well. We plan to put them at opposite ends of the table and trust to their hardness of hearing and our deft topic diversion skills. Stacia, I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. And sympathies to all the sick BaWers. Re: Wodehouse: I've also only read one, and it was okay... but I confess to liking the Fry and Laurie series better. Maybe it's because dh owns and has read I swear every Wodehouse ever published; some of them twice, when he didn't realize the UK title differed from the American. Blackadder is the most amusing thing ever put on a screen, though. I can't watch the Samuel Johnson episode enough. Or the Beaumont and Fletcher episode. Books? STILL working on Devils, and hoping to be done by tomorrow. I've actually been reading non-stop; but it's all in small uncountable chunks for homeschooling or for the little English seminar I'm running. So this week I've read (and discussed) Stevens' "Fifteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"; Frost's "The Pasture" (one of my students explained that it was a poem about a horrifically inefficient farmer); Twain's "Journalism in Tennessee"; Hazlitt's "On People One Would Wish to Have Seen"; an excerpt from Claude Bernard's Experimental Medicine; and a chunk of The Prince and the Pauper. All together those might make up a book for the week, yes? Still chuckling over deaf relatives on opposite sides of the table. :lol: I hope it works! Still listening to The Twelve. I had to renew it. I am enjoying it but I have no idea where the story is heading. Background and more background on everyone. I am keeping characters straight so maybe I need all the backstory. ;) Good narrator. I also started my Flufferton, Mrs. Tim of the Regiment. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 You and he do seem to have identical reading tastes! We definitely don't have Pippin IV. Do you read Verne? He's been reading every obscure Verne ever written lately. I have nothing against Verne but find him somehow unreadable. It has been ages since I have read Verne. My initial thought was "not a fan" but then I stopped in my tracks and said, "Hmmm..." Maybe I'll pick up a Verne at the library in the weeks ahead. Thanks for the idea. Does your husband read Verne in French? I fear this would be beyond me. I'll send Pippin your way. Jane, I am grateful. Keeping Mum fed with books now that walking is so painful is a challenge. Fortunately, she rereads a lot. Nan Well I may have found a book for the two of you but let me finish it before I make the pronouncement. As some of you may have noticed, I am on an Icelandic kick at the moment. The novel I am reading is Butterflies in November by Audur Ava Olafsdottir. It is a zany ride starting on a day in a dark month when a free spirited woman, a linguist, is dumped by her husband and her lover, then hits a goose with her car. But instead of being depressing, this book is all about the ride and its possibilities. Very whimsical with a touch of magical realism. But let me reach the end before I say yeah or nay to our gentle readers. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Robyn Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 (Unfortunately, I have had too much time spent lately at appointments, today's being one of our beloved cats starting chemo for lymphoma.) :grouphug: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 In honor of Flufferton, I pulled a Georgette Heyer off the shelf - I've recently liberated my large hand-me-down collection from a box and made room for them on a shelf. I picked Cousin Kate, which is slightly darker and more Gothic than most of her other Regency romances, but still plenty Fluffy. I like Kate very much, she's a favorite Heyer heroine. I think I always liked the older heroines (the ones that are "on the shelf" at 24!) better than the very young ones, and that has only gotten more true as I've gotten older, of course. Anyway, I'm enjoying it immensely and relieved that I still like GH as much as I did in my teens. Not all authors travel with you through your life, but apparently this one does. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Kareni, when you get one of these free kindle books, do you get to keep it? Where does it live? Nan I see that Mumto2 has already addressed your question, Nan, but I'll add a few more words. The title is linked with your Amazon account. You can keep a purchased title in "the cloud" or you can download it to your Kindle, your computer, or some other device (some phones or tablets) which have ebook reading capability. Does that help? With my Kindle, I can read a title, delete it from the Kindle, and then retrieve it at a later date from the cloud to re-read. If I should be totally done with the book and have no desire to ever re-read it, I can remove it from the cloud. If I were then to change my mind and wish to re-read it, I would need to buy it again. Regards, Kareni 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 I've finished Charity Girl. It was very fluffy. I will send it on to anyone who might want it. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 I see that Mumto2 has already addressed your question, Nan, but I'll add a few more words. The title is linked with your Amazon account. You can keep a purchased title in "the cloud" or you can download it to your Kindle, your computer, or some other device (some phones or tablets) which have ebook reading capability. Does that help? With my Kindle, I can read a title, delete it from the Kindle, and then retrieve it at a later date from the cloud to re-read. If I should be totally done with the book and have no desire to ever re-read it, I can remove it from the cloud. If I were then to change my mind and wish to re-read it, I would need to buy it again. Regards, Kareni I wonder what happens to your books if Kindle is bought or goes out of business? Or Amazon? Nan 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Some book-ish posts ~ For Jane Austen fans ~ Goodnight Mr. Darcy: A BabyLit® Parody Picture Book by Kate Coombs and Alli Arnold Regards, Kareni Karen, my older dd bought this for a friend's baby girl last Christmas! It is just darling! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Oh, and Angel, I finally got to read Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan for our picture books banned books reading. Lol. While heartbreaking, it's also inspiring, & hopeful. I'd definitely recommend it for kids. I also liked the style of the illustrations and the layout of the pages -- almost like a book within a book. I enjoyed this one too! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 #113: The Odyssey by Geraldine McCaughrean. It was a really good children's version. Everything was there, but it was easy to understand. My 8-year-old read it out loud to me. He handled everything fine until Odysseus's old dog died of happiness right in Odysseus's lap. Adrian burst into tears and sobbed and sobbed. Also, I WILL BE WATCHING FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM IN THREE HOURS!!!!! My 10-year-old is currently in the 5th Harry Potter book. We don't usually take the littles when we go see stuff on opening night (or, rather, the night before opening day), but this time we are taking them. He has been practically vibrating with excitement and then he got his second migraine of his life this afternoon so he's working hard on getting rid of that with ice and dark because nothing will keep him from that movie! Hugs for the migraine! I hope he recovered and was able to enjoy the movie! I started having migraines young so I sympathize. And we saw Fantastic Beasts last night. We all thoroughly enjoyed it! In honor of Flufferton, I pulled a Georgette Heyer off the shelf - I've recently liberated my large hand-me-down collection from a box and made room for them on a shelf. I picked Cousin Kate, which is slightly darker and more Gothic than most of her other Regency romances, but still plenty Fluffy. I like Kate very much, she's a favorite Heyer heroine. I think I always liked the older heroines (the ones that are "on the shelf" at 24!) better than the very young ones, and that has only gotten more true as I've gotten older, of course. Anyway, I'm enjoying it immensely and relieved that I still like GH as much as I did in my teens. Not all authors travel with you through your life, but apparently this one does. I enjoyed Cousin Kate! Definitely creeped me out a bit, though :laugh: I'm going to reread Venetia over Thanksgiving break. I need a fluff read and it will fulfill my "V" spot in the A-Z Challenge 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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