Author Topic: The Library  (Read 1961040 times)

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18040 on: June 03, 2017, 12:15:11 PM »
What a great gauge, Pat. It really gives me a super perspective because I am 5" 1.5".

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18041 on: June 14, 2017, 08:30:44 AM »
:) It's hard to go almost anywhere without something Roman to investigate. Even in the US where the Romans never trod, the museums will delight...am still trying to get over that vase in the entrance to the Chicago Museum when we went there for a Bookfest eons ago. You were not allowed to take photos!!  I'm going to have to go back and see it (and innocently be talking on the  iphone at the same time)...they probably will run me out of the thing now. And the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a huge anniversary thing about the Temple of Dendur (remember our old friend Thomas Hoving who brought that to NYC?) and the inscriptions about the pharaohs on it (who were all Augustus)...finally revealed. Very exciting.

What interesting conversations here! I'm about caught up on the discussions here in our various Book discussions,  which I always enjoy for the sheer diversity of thought and taste, and new ideas, and am doggedly trying to read all the magazines which came while I was gone.

Nice quote in one of them today: "You don't get old until you stop learning." I like that one and put it on a clipboard to quote later.

One of the magazines I just finished  was Time and an article I just read this morning on Bill Gates and his reading habits. I did not know he is a voluminous reader, he reads every day of his life. And his wife is, too, and they discuss books  over dinner. What an enlightened pair they are, I should have known but didn't. Apparently he has a blog of the books he recommends, too. He's a real READER.

I find that extremely exciting for some reason. I'm going to find and follow his reading blog. For starters, tho,  I just finished this short list in Time (and a lot of other places) and see him thoroughly recommending Jimmy Carter's short 250 page book  "A Full Life." 


Have any of you read it? I am impressed by Gates's reading lists and thoughts and thought I might try one,  and here's another one he recommends:

 "Hillbilly Elegy," by J.D. Vance.   I've heard a lot about that one, and I think some of you here have mentioned it, but am not sure, are any of you or have any of you read IT?  I did not think the subject matter would appeal to me, but he makes it very compelling.

Here's the same list on a different site:  http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/5-books-bill-gates-suggests-you-read-this-summer.html

So what are you reading and why?

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18042 on: June 16, 2017, 05:26:44 PM »
the other day read a great quite from the ancients - Cicero said, "If you have a Garden and a Library then you have everything you need."
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18043 on: June 23, 2017, 01:27:16 PM »


A “Parthenon of Books” has been built at the site of Nazi book burning in central Germany. The monumental temple by Argentine artist Marta Minujin is made of banned books as a plea against all forms of censorship.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18045 on: July 01, 2017, 06:07:28 PM »
Love these - just had to share them with someone - hope you get a giggle - they are called The Hats as a take off on the British proclivity towards hats called Fascinators that often are more like a Dali work of art.

 
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18046 on: July 01, 2017, 06:19:23 PM »
You got your giggle, Barb.

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18047 on: July 01, 2017, 09:37:08 PM »
They are so cute Barb.

ANNIE

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18048 on: July 02, 2017, 09:52:18 AM »
PatH, have you moved yet? I have started! Wednesday, the movers pick up large furniture but I am still packing small stuff which family is helping to deliver to my apartment. Had to set up installation of new TV, internet,& phone service. That happens on Friday! I should be totally moved in by Sunday. With everyone in family working at their regular jobs, this is taking far longer than it should.

I read the same article about Biil Gates and his wife (online.).  And like you, I will be seeing what he recommends on his blog. Have not heard of the books you mentioned.

Barb, I saw that building that is at the Crystal Nache sight in Germany. What an unusual idea!
And I got I giggle at the hats!😄😄😄
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18049 on: July 02, 2017, 12:07:04 PM »
Annie, it's going to be a slow process.  I'm in Portland now.  In the course of doing work to make the building more earthquake resistant, they drilled through my wall, and the vibrations caused other superficial damage.  I came here to make sure the repainting was done with a paint I could stand.  I suffer from sensitivity to many chemicals and perfumes, a legacy from my career as a chemist, and had to abandon one apartment when theyrepainted with something intolerable.  Good thing I did, because they weren't going to use the paint I specified.

It looks like you are doing very well in your move, even without much help.  Good luck.

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18050 on: July 02, 2017, 10:18:43 PM »


Happy Birthday,
America!

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18051 on: July 03, 2017, 04:16:39 PM »
Did we lose MaryPage? She hasn't posted for some months, neither here nor on SeniorsandFriends.

Tomereader1

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18052 on: July 03, 2017, 07:44:04 PM »
Yes, Frybabe, I was wondering that also.  Hope someone can help us with this question.
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies.


André Maurois

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18053 on: July 04, 2017, 12:42:11 AM »
Sent out my July 4th card and of the email addresses I have my list includes Mary Page and she did pick up - no note back but she did pick up the card - or someone did for her - if she was no longer with us I have a feeling someone would let us know. If I remember correctly I think she is now abut 91 and something - maybe arthritis - but there was something and I forgot what that had really slowed her down - last few posts I am sorta remembering she had moved back with a son or son-in-law who was in business for himself and she was doing some computer work for him and was pretty much housebound. 
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

maryz

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18054 on: July 04, 2017, 10:04:37 AM »
MaryPage is okay.  I hear from her occasionally.  She's just "resting" from discussions for a while.
"When someone you love dies, you never quite get over it.  You just learn how to go on without them. But always keep them safely tucked in your heart."

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18055 on: July 04, 2017, 11:31:07 AM »
Oh, I'm glad to hear that MaryZ. Thanks.

Tomereader1

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18056 on: July 04, 2017, 11:45:20 AM »
Wow!  I am glad to hear that also.  When you talk/correspond, tell her hello from me.
The reading of a fine book is an uninterrupted dialogue in which the book speaks and our soul replies.


André Maurois

PatH

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18057 on: July 04, 2017, 01:29:00 PM »
Hello from me, too.  I miss her.

Barb, I don't always respond to your ecards, but they always give me a smile.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18058 on: July 04, 2017, 02:09:27 PM »
Thanks Pat - I'd send out a some to a few more on Senior Learn but I do not have email addresses... needs to be an email address other than what Senior Learn provides.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18059 on: July 04, 2017, 04:12:30 PM »
Well, I finally did it. My Kindle refuses to download any more books. I looked at the space I have left and there is only 1.6mb left. I really need to clear out some of the Gutenberg titles I haven't got to yet. Meanwhile, it is a good thing I have both my Fire and the Kindle app on my computer.

My Kindle Fire is also giving me a low storage message and refused to let my buy and download a new jigsaw puzzle pack. Since the app does not support PC, I went directly to the company and downloaded it to my laptop. Anything new, I will buy directly from the company. I love the puzzles, but it does heat up my Fire after a few puzzles, so it must be hard on the processor. My laptop has more power and more memory, so I shouldn't have that problem on it.

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18060 on: July 04, 2017, 05:09:06 PM »
Ginny, I was just perusing the Bibliography for Anthony Trollope and noticed that he wrote quite a bit of non-fiction as well as fiction. Included in the list are The Commentaries of Caesar and The Life of Cicero (Gutenberg has this last one in two volumes).

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18061 on: July 04, 2017, 06:43:24 PM »
Frybabe, that's a super find. The introduction of that book alone is worth the download, as it tells what eventually happened to all the protagonists of the Civil War. Great stuff.

I saw a riddle in Sunday's New York Times. It's really not a riddle, it's a joke,  but it's a lot of fun,  let's see if any of you can answer it without looking it up. If you do get it don't put the answer here so others can puzzle over it. :) (I'll give a hint: the answer involves two states not yet mentioned).

If Mississippi gave Missouri her New Jersey, what did Delaware?

Happy Fourth!

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18062 on: July 04, 2017, 06:58:07 PM »
...what did Delaware?
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

CallieOK

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18063 on: July 04, 2017, 07:46:53 PM »

I saw a riddle in Sunday's New York Times. It's really not a riddle, it's a joke,  but it's a lot of fun,  let's see if any of you can answer it without looking it up. If you do get it don't put the answer here so others can puzzle over it. :) (I'll give a hint: the answer involves two states not yet mentioned).

If Mississippi gave Missouri her New Jersey, what did Delaware?

Happy Fourth!

Still working on the answer ....but remembering the old camp song......"If you'll wait,  Alaska".    ;D

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18064 on: July 04, 2017, 10:58:38 PM »
 :D love it Callie - Alaska
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18065 on: July 05, 2017, 06:05:09 AM »
Good for you, Callie, that's half of it.     :)


bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18066 on: July 06, 2017, 01:20:47 PM »
I started reading a book called Here's To Us by Elin Hilderbrand.  Have any of you ever read anything by her?  I am finding this book very difficult to read, so many characters and she jumps all over the place.  The cover showed three women on a beach so I was hoping it would be just an easy summer read.  Not so much.

PatH.,   I'm glad to hear you are in Portland, but sorry about the paint issues.  I suppose it is all worth it to finally be near family.

Annie,  good to know you will have gotten your move completed.  You have to let us know how you like it once you are all settled in.

Calli your riddle brought this to mind...  http://www.lyricsdepot.com/perry-como/delaware.html
I get a kick out of the response... Idaho (i dunno know)   Alaska (I'll ask her)
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

CallieOK

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18067 on: July 06, 2017, 01:43:15 PM »
BellaMarie,  I just started "Here's To Us" and agree...too much jumping around without identifying the character to whom she's referring as the chapters change.  I read her "Winter Street" series (3 books)  and found them easier to follow.

LOL at the response to the state question.   One song verse I remember from summer camp days was "What did Idaho?  She hoed her Maryland (merry land)".  There were quite a few other Q&A along the same line and I remember the two sides of the dining room singing back and forth for quite a while.

Frybabe

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18068 on: July 06, 2017, 01:50:07 PM »
The library was swamped with children this morning, more than I have ever seen in there at one time (around 18-20), and there wasn't even a children's program happening. Our library manager is pleased with our increase in patrons since we moved downstairs and got ourselves a direct outside entrance. Patrons in and out have greatly increased as have new memberships for the kids. New adult patrons is close to breaking last years number.

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18069 on: July 06, 2017, 02:22:16 PM »
Calli,  Good to know it wasn't just me feeling this way.  I sat the book down for a bit,  I am going to see if I can finish it since I really hate not seeing a book til the end.  I'll go out by my pool and see if I can muddle through some more of it and hope it peaks my interest.  If not I'll be giving up on it.  I read The Matchmaker and loved it!  I'll have to try her Winter Street series.

Frybabe,  It's always good to hear a library being swamped with children.  I must admit this is the first summer I have not joined the summer reading program and have not taken my grandchildren yet.  I guess it says a thing about how busy my summer has been so far. 
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18070 on: July 07, 2017, 12:27:51 PM »
Callie,  I am on page 128 of Here's To Us and it's finally getting a bit interesting and less confusing.  There is hope for this book afterall!
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

CallieOK

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18071 on: July 07, 2017, 04:45:47 PM »
Bellamarie,  I'm reading the e-book and not sure what page I'm on- but the story lines are beginning to merge and I agree it's less confusing. 
May have to put it aside for a bit because  I'm also trying to finish "The Summer Guest" by Allison Anderson, which is due back before "Here's To Us". 
 I think someone here mentioned "Summer Guest".....about a translator working on an 1888 diary of a blind woman  re: the summer Anton Chekov and his family spent with her family in Crimea.   Another story with several plot lines - lots of Russian names - and NO quotation marks where needed - but too good to stop before the ending.   ???

I need to make Charts!!!!    ;D

 

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18072 on: July 07, 2017, 09:30:20 PM »
Summer Guest sounds interesting, but a bit much for me to take on while also reading Number Our Days with the discussion group.  I'm currently reading three books.  I may have to check it out at a later date. 
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

CallieOK

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18073 on: July 07, 2017, 09:35:22 PM »
I wasn't able to get a copy of Number Our Days but I'm enjoying reading the comments by those who are participating in the discussion.
There are actually four books on my e-book "bookshelf" (borrowed from the library) and several more on my "Hold List" (will be automatically added to my bookshelf when they're available), as well as on my "Wish List" (will be notified when they're available but will have to ask to borrow them).

So many books....so little time   :)

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18074 on: July 12, 2017, 05:25:10 PM »
Calli,  I finished Here's To Us, and I am glad I stayed with it to the end.  It would not rate it among my top twenty-five best reads, but I did like the ending.
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

ginny

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18075 on: July 21, 2017, 10:50:12 AM »
 Not much conversation here but I know most of you are reading more than ever.  I took my grandson for our trip to B&N yesterday and we could hardly get in the store, (and no they weren't all in the Cafe),  signs that reading is still flourishing. And I do hear that the paper book is now edging out the I readers. That's interesting. I need the tactile effects of a book, that part is important to me too.

There was an entire table labelled Escape Reading. Now that's just what you need when the temps are 101 as they were yesterday, to curl up with a good book in a cool place.

I love Escape Reading in the summer and I don't feel too bad about it because I combine it with "should" reading and then I feel  quite virtuous sinking into a good escape book, almost as good as eating. My current one has all my requisites: the Museum of Natural History, NYC, downstairs, the tomb of Senef, long forgotten (written by a person who used to work in that museum) lots of descriptions of the 38 buildings and the long forgotten corridors below, a plan to put that tomb on exhibition and of course a curse and of course the Mummy's Revenge. It's  Preston and Childs in their last leg of the Diogenes trilogy,  The Book of the Dead.  I love their NYC books. (I've actually gotten half way thru this one without a gory lot of graphic description, which is most unusual).. but I expect it's coming. Actually they could really just allude to that like Agatha Christie used to do,  and it would be so much better. Horror in the Museum type stuff. It's a paperback but beautifully done with little Egyptian illustrations on the tops of the pages and strange typeface for the Chapter titles. Whenever I see somebody has bound and presented  a book with love and thought about the presentation of it, it makes it even more of an experience for me.

Amazon has a new list out called What People Are Really Reading, vs What Publishers Say People Are Buying. It's very interesting.

Camino Road by John Grisham  is #2, replacing the last list  showing  The Gentleman in Moscow in that place.  I've got them both and the reviews are out of this world for both, but I've got 2 going at the mo, combining The Book of Death (the museum one)  with the wonderful MacArthur Biography, Douglas MacArthur American Warrior by Arthur Herman. I knew NOTHING of Douglas MacArthur or Inchon or the Philippines or anything whatsoever of that war except hearing the "old Soldiers never die....,"  something about Harry Truman, and seeing the film of MacArthur's landing on the beach. But he keeps coming up in classes of Caesar and it seems everybody EXCEPT me knows a great deal about him, and so this book was recommended to me by a student and it's wonderfully written. I had NO idea of his background, he was actually alive when Geronimo was a threat, and his father and family were  posted to that region.... but it's a  BIG book,  SO I am reading it one chapter at a time (they are short and marvelously interesting). That way I can remember more of it.

Everybody seems to think if you're a certain age you know a lot about  XXX or  YYY, even IF you were a child when it happened, and so now I hope to fix that.  (It would be a wonderful book for somebody interested in that period as a gift, if they are strong enough to lift it.) It reads like a novel, it's very intersting with short chapters.

I've got Camino  Road by Grisham and it's about books and stolen manuscripts and looks wonderful, are any of you reading it? I'll start it when I get through with the Horror in the Museum.

A new book (April 2017) everybody is talking about is Make Your Bed:  Little Things That  Can Change Your Life and Maybe Your World, short little book, "Should be read by every leader in America...a book to inspire your children and grandchildren to become everything that they can." --Wall Street Journal 

I saw something on it on TV and it's a little bit different than the other self help books, written by an Admiral and former Navy  Seal, and I've ordered it, it looks the perfect stocking stuffer for adults, new graduates and children alike. I recently read something about if you make your bed in the morning you sleep better at night, and apparently it has some psychological effect...isn't that interesting?

I picked up a book on the Must  Read By New Authors shelf called The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Sundberg, a Swedish author, called "The funniest book of the year," by Familien Magazine, Norway, about a 79 year old heroine in a retirement center who, fed up with cutbacks in service and mandatory regulations at the retirement center, decides to engage with her friends and stand up for themselves, by taking up white collar crime.. It sounds unlikely but Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin  just did it successfully in their movie Going in Style,  and it sounds fun. I used to love the Corrine Holt Sawyer books  on Camden sur Mer, a retirement home at the sea (based on her own mother's place) and a delightful set  of geriatric  detectives who solved crime.  Now in this new  book  they are committing it.

And finally, I keep seeing no end of press on the new season of Game of Thrones. I have never seen the TV series  or read one of the books. Have any of you read the books or seen the movie,  and do you recommend any of ?  Is it some kind of Armageddon thing? Or?

It looks like most of the books on the best seller lists are either versions of Harry Potter or shoot em up spies/ thrillers/ types of books.

So, what are YOU reading? OR what's in your TBR stack?



BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18076 on: July 21, 2017, 11:41:41 AM »
The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules is fun - laugh out loud fun in spots - there is a squeal that I will order probably next month. Far different than the gang at the Center.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe


CallieOK

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18078 on: July 21, 2017, 07:30:04 PM »
The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules has just appeared on my e-book "Bookshelf" and I'm looking forward to reading it.
It sounds similar to a book I read years ago (so, of course, can't remember the title) about a group of Senior Citizens who "broke out" of a Home, stole "borrowed"  ;D  a van and went on a merry vacation.

Another book I read years ago and have borrowed again is Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady by Florence King.  I remember thinking that could be me!!!   

Oklahoma is in a stretch of well over 100 degree temperatures so I'm very happy to have some fun reads while I'm staying indoors.

bellamarie

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Re: The Library
« Reply #18079 on: July 21, 2017, 10:47:46 PM »
Ginny, I love escape books as well, especially in the summer.  I always read books that take place in Nantucket, or at least at a beach house during summer.  I just finished Here's To Us by Elin Hilderbrand, and have begun her book Summerland.  I am also reading We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han.

I will be going to Barnes and Noble and my local libraries tomorrow searching for some bargain books.  Our libraries usually have sales like all the books you can fit into a brown bag for $1 or $5 at this time of year.  I love B&N's bargain tables and shelves. 
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden