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Book a Week 2017 - BW24: Happy 20th Anniversary Harry Potter


Robin M
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I finished "My Mother Was Nuts" by Penny Marshall.

 

I've been reading or listening to quite a bit of fiction and wanted to switch gears so I chose an autobiography. I wish I hadn't. This book was disappointing to say the least. I wanted to read some of the funny stories about her life or at least get to know her. The majority of the book contained lists of famous people she knew (she grew up across the street from Calvin Klein), who she partied with, or who she helped get started in the business. She knew a lot of famous people from the get go and every single one of them became her good friend and trusted comrade. If things didn't turn out all rosy and happy, the movies she directed in particular, she blamed other things (execs, timing, not listening to her, etc) then she claimed she didn't care. Why mention it?

 

I wanted to get to know Penny better but, after slogging through page after page after page of people she vacationed with, did drugs with, shared a house with, all I know is that she was social. I don't know anything about her heart, her hurts, her triumphs. 

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Hey everyone,

 

Could we rally together to send some support, love and prayers to Stacia?  She told me in a PM that her other elderly cat (a few days shy of 19 years old!) had to be put to sleep this morning. She and her son are just devastated.

 

This second loss of a long time friend/family member within a week has been particularly painful in a year or two that has brought too much misery to our dear friend. Let's all hold Stacia in the light.

 

Thank you,

Jane

 

 

 

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Hey everyone,

 

Could we rally together to send some support, love and prayers to Stacia?  She told me in a PM that her other elderly cat (a few days shy of 19 years old!) had to be put to sleep this morning. She and her son are just devastated.

 

This second loss of a long time friend/family member within a week has been particularly painful in a year or two that has brought too much misery to our dear friend. Let's all hold Stacia in the light.

 

Thank you,

Jane

 

 

Stacia,

 

Thinking about you and your son today. I am so sorry for your losses.

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Last night I finished  Wake Up Call (Porthkennack Book 1) by JL Merrrow which I enjoyed.  It's a male/male contemporary romance set in Cornwall.  (Adult content)

 

"South London mechanic Devan Thompson has gone to Porthkennack to track down someone he’s been waiting all his life to know. But Dev’s distracted from his quest by Kyle, a broodingly handsome local of only a few months, who’s already got a reputation as an alcoholic because of his strange behaviour — including a habit of collapsing in the street.

Kyle Anthony fled to Porthkennack to escape from the ruins of his life. Still raging against his diagnosis of narcolepsy — a condition that’s cost him his job as a barrister, his lover, and all chance of normality—the last thing he wants is another relationship that’s doomed to fail. But Dev’s easy-going acceptance and adaptability, not to mention his good looks, have Kyle breaking all his self-imposed rules.

When disaster strikes Dev’s adored little sister, Kyle steps up to the plate, and Dev sees a side of his lover he wasn’t prepared for: competent, professional — and way out of Dev’s league. With one man determined that they don’t have a future, and the other fearing it, life after Porthkennack is starting to look bleak for both of them."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

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This week's reading is thanks to BaW posters. :)

 


Oooh, I might just have to read one of my mom's old Nancy Drew mysteries, "The Moonstone Castle Mystery."

 

Nancy Drew: The Moonstone Castle Mystery, for the June birthstone -- right after Ali posted this suggestion in the BaW23 thread, I ran across my own copy, given to me on my 8th birthday by a beloved aunt. So I took that as a sign I should Oh, how my sister and I adored Nancy Drew back then! Well, it was a hoot, reading "down memory lane". Favorite laugh-out-loud lines on re-reading this week:

 

 "That pesky Drew girl and her friends searched the castle and found Suggs."

[sO Scooby-Doo-ish -- first, "Suggs" is so clearly a "henchman" name, and second, I expected it to read: "If it hadn't been for that pesky Drew girl and her friends, I would have gotten away with it, too!"  :laugh: ]

 

" 'Police!' the man shrieked. 'You ain't goin' to take me to the police! I ain't done nothin'! This girl was too snoopy. I had to keep her quiet.' "  [i love how you know he's the bad guy due to his "accent". :lol: ]

________________________

 

Alas, I can't remember who (or what weeks) shared about these, but I got these titles based on BaW reviews:

 

Love Lies and Spies (Cindy Anstey)

The first 4-5 chapters were hilarious and frothy and well written; after that it fell in to way too much of a romance novel with none of the fun of the mystery/spy/intrigue that I was hoping for, but it was a fast summer "fluff"read. I was hoping the heroine would become more of a spy by the end of the book, which would have been a great device for a series -- Jane Austen meets Napoleonic Wars intriguing. ;)

 

Katherine (Anya Seton)

I'm 2/3 of the way through. VERY stout book. Mostly enjoying it. I do find it tiresome how frequently the author seemed to feel the need to keep coming back to describe how Katherine's wide innocent eyes and beauty "save" her, and how frequently there are "romance novel scenes"... sigh... Let's get to the good stuff -- the cultural, social, political and historical stuff!  :tongue_smilie: The best parts are the descriptions and laying out of the political situations and social upheavals of a truly remarkable century that were the birth pains of not only a nation, but the whole Western world moving from Medieval toward Renaissance times. On the whole, thumbs up.

________________________

 

Thanks, fellow BaWers! Keep 'em coming! :)

Edited by Lori D.
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Proud Mom Alert: My 15-year-old son tested for his second degree black belt in taekwondo this afternoon.  He rocked it!  He scored 9/10 (minimum 7 to pass).  He broke boards that are one difficulty up from where he is required to at his age all four breaks on the first try.  He got kicked pretty hard between his temple and jaw during his second sparring match.  He ended up with a bump even through his head gear.  That made the fit test very difficult for him.  He felt fine until he started with the pushups and the pain I guess from the increased pressure was so bad he started blacking out.  The fit test is 30 pushups, 50 sit-ups, 10 reps of 6 kicks, 10 reps of 6 punches and kicks, and 10 reps of 10 punches.  His vision kept disappearing and he was feeling really horrible, but he kept at it full power.  I was ready to run out there and see if my "little" boy needed me to call 9-1-1 to be honest because it was clear there was something very wrong because Cameron never acts like he was acting (he looked like he was in serious pain and possibly about to throw up).  But he made it through and insisted on finishing the whole thing holding the kicking shield when his partner did his fit test even though the instructors offered to let him sit down.  He's a pretty amazing kid!

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I can't stop the tears that just keep leaking out.

 

My ds has not actually known a day in his life without this guy around. And, our beloved family member always slept with either my ds or me, so it will be very hard to sleep tonight.

 

:crying:

 

Big%20Guy_1.jpg

 

(My dd's friend took this lovely photo of him in the past year.)

:grouphug:

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Shaking my fist at the cosmos on your behalf, Stacia. It all really does suck.

 

Sending warm, comforting thoughts to you and the family.

I was struggling to find the right words to say to you Stacia. Jenn said it best. I'll stand with her, fist raised. :grouphug: :grouphug:

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Life has been kind of hectic but I've finished a couple of books partly due to a couple of days in bed sick.

 

The razors edge - thanks for the recommendation it was my first by this author and it was really enjoyable.

 

Songs of a war boy - story of Deng Thiak Adut - a child soldier in Sudan - who eventually became a lawyer in Australia - somewhat inspirational but also well - books like this leave me with a kind of sense of helplessness at just how big the worlds problems are - and a bit of despair at the far to common Australian attitude towards refugees and immigration

 

Most of 1q84 though I skipped some of it as I love the writing style but some parts are just "way too much information" for me. I know that's inherent in the author now but I still really like the dreamlike and repetitive writing style.

 

Read aloud with the kids - the mysterious howling - from the incorrigible children of Ashton Place - I should hate this style because it's modern but historical at the same time but I'm loving it and so is dd8. Even ds10 sneaks in to listen.

 

I'm currently reading La's orchestra saves the world and How to teach your children Shakespeare. We're going away for a while and I've done all of war and peace once and a re read without the analysis parts so I'm going to skip the read along though I might dive into some favourite parts. I love Princess Marya and Natasha and the way they kind of balance each other's attribute out. My English teacher who said "don't bother to read war and peace - just read Anna Karenina was so completely wrong. But maybe it was all a plot to get us reading it - who knows?

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