Books on my Bedside Table ~ 9/01 Export

Hi Booklovers. I always try to read something uplifting. I have on a desk by my bed usually some book of poetry, my bible,and a selfhelp book of somekind. The poetry I have right now is an anthology of women poets in modern America. Then I have the King James Version of the Bible, and my book is Why people dont heal and how they can by Caroline Myss, PhD. I chose at the moment and read for a short time only as I am usually sleepy. Most of the bedtime reading I do is to help calm me from the day, resolve a particular problem from the day, or just uplift me. If I have been watching TV and seen some of the awful stuff in order to see the good stuff then I need to "cleanup" my thoughts before sleeping. I wish I could censur just the bad language as many good movies are ruined for me by rude and ignorant swearing which adds nothing to the dialogue. Yet I like the movie other than the rude words. Violence I can just turn off if I cant stand it. Sexual content doesnt bother me if it is well done and not mixed with violence. Then it becomes a turn it off quickly. I love a book for if it does have bad language that isn't overdone it is much different reading the sentence than hearing it. I wonder why. Of course I hated Norman Mailers introduction of foul language into books and then all authors followed suit for awhile. I think a lot of young men always used such language dealing with each other and so did my husband but never in the house and never in front of me or the children. That is old fashioned and I liked .

What I am getting at is that as I prepare for bed I take off makeup and wash my face and it seems like a good idea to take off the stuff of the day that was bothersome, wash it away and put instead a lovely poem, an uplifting thought, a boost to faith, I like to read portions of the Song of Solomen;Psalms chosen at random;A poem of adulation of nature; these things calm me and then I can sleep well. If health is bothering me I return to Carolines book which is a self help book and has many good tips for relaxation and healing in it. Faith

On my bedside table is my Bible, Time magazine, Newsweek and a pad and pencil for jotting things down. I never take a book to bed unless it's a boring book. If I get too involved in a book, I'll read well into the night. This is my quiet time and I don't want anything to disturb my thoughts including the blasted TV.

On my bedside table is John Adams (has not, of yet, been touched) ICE BOUND by Dr. Jerri Nielsen (gets moved all over the house in the daytime), Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth (bought for 50 cents at a cute little store in Yellow Springs near Antioch College, that radical liberal college in Ohio), and a thriller by Phillip Margolin titled Wild Justice. I'm in different moods when I go to bed.

I think I'll be like Robby: I'll set my alarm for 5:30, climb into bed and go to sleep, sleep all night, and when my alarm goes off at the crack of dawn I'll stretch a bit and get up. What a dream! ........elizabeth

On my bedside table beside the clock radio, the lamp, a pad of paper and pen, is Newsweek, the morning's paper, and today, a Joan Hess light mystery.

š jane›

On my bedside table is my Bible, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer and The Songcatcher by Sharyn McCrumb.

Brumie

ON my night table is a lamp, the phone, a noteblock with pen, a china framed notecard from my daughter and a Dresden dish that was my mother's. On a shelf below is a clock radio and a copy of "A Countrywoman's year," "In and Out of the Garden," and a Meditaion book.

I admire folks that get up at 5:30 but alas I am not one of them! Never read in bed, I find it too uncomfortable, but when I get up I like to sit at the bottom of my bed with one of my bedside books for about 15 to 20 minutes. When I read I prefer to curl up in the corner of my sofa with my dictionary and other back-up books on the sofa beside me.

If there isn't 15 fiction softcover books by women authors...I'm unhappy. I stack them up and feel excited about what awaits me.

I have a bottle of water, a flashlight, a wonderful reading lamp, clock, controller for the overhead fan, a box of tissues and a toy to play with the cats.

Sage

My bedside table looks chaotic. It is my constant duty to change out books like I change out clothing. Almost every night my stack of books changes. I feel good about this activity because I think of it as becoming more organized.

So, last night on my bedside table I had 'Meeting Lily' by Sarah Woodhouse, Little Dorrit by Dickens, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King.

Tonight will be different. I am going to bed with 'The Shipping News.' So, I will have to reorganize everything else. Reorganization of books is my constant fun chore, but I am never organized. I am glad my books don't have a voice. Surely, they would groan.

Both my husband and I have stacks of books on our large bedside tables. Mine are more organized. Currently, my table holds Raphael Patai's The Arab Mind (which I use as a reference book and it is well read and underlined); Fuad Sha'ban's Islam and Arabs in Early American Thought; The Jews of Arab Countries (forgot the author's name; Jehan Sadat's A Woman of Egypt; my Bible and Holy Qur'an, as well as several multilingual dictionaries, a Concordance for the Bible and Koran. My husband's reading selections are primarily English literature, especially Shakespeare.

I also am an early riser for prayers and reflection. It is a very special time of day in our household.

My bedside table has one lamp, one alarm clock and frequently one or two cats. Lately one of the cats has moved over to share my pillow. My book and Bible and some needlework are on the floor because they would get pushed off of the table anyway.

The books I am currently reading at night are _Personal History_ by Katharine Graham and _The Quilters Apprentice_ by Jennifer Chiaverini. Which one I select is determined by my mood. Other books on my table that I sometimes from at night are, _The Wind Done Gone_ by Alice Randall and _Eudora Welty_ by J. A. Bryant. Regular and ongoing morning reads are the Bible - a chronological read through - plus a scripture/devotional study from the New Testament called _A Time With God_ and a small daily devotional book by Oswald Chambers. I have just added a journaling book and pencil for morning prayers/reflections. My night reading is never very heavy because it is a time to wind down and lasts only about 30-45 minutes. Morning reads (I awake around 5am) last about 45 -60 minutes. There are other books on my bedside table but are currently just taking up space.

My lamp, my radio, my glasses, watch and ring, and tissue box - all within close reach. Next shelf: BAS (Book of Alternative Services) Anglican Church of Canada (my favorite devotional book at the moment), NIV Bible, 2 or three paperback mysteries, a copy of the national directory of my favorite motel chain (to keep it handy for the trip coming up), a notebook and a coaster for a handy drink of water. Bottom shelf - wastebasket made of rags, sorta like a rag rug, and there to keep out to the reach of my cat, who likes to lick/eat it! Why is that??

I don't keep any books on my bedside table because I almost never read in bed (and besides, with the jar of Vicks, the earplug container, the nosestrip box, the kleenex, etc., who has room for a book!<G>)

Of course, I normally stay up so late reading (including sitting on the, ah, throne till my tush gets sore!) that by the time I hit that bed, my eyes wouldn't focus on the print.

A companion question would be: what books do you keep in the bathroom?! I love those "trivia" and quick fact books. Amazing what you can learn in small snippets!

Barbara

I have a new book for my bedside table: Aging with Grace; The Nun's Study. It's a book about the epidemiologist who has done a study of the nuns in a convent in Mankato, Mn and their community's members who have and have not developed Alzheimers'. The things the author found about education and life habits and their effect on later life are very eye=opening. I reccommend this book.

Isak

It is a constant amazement to me what riches exist here and how I could possibly have missed so much !

Many thanks to Charlie, who is taking pity on this technical ignoremus (me), and whose link guided me here. I am grateful.

Lately I have been pushing for room on my bedside table .Could'nt put the 'Bronze Horseman' [Paullina Simons]' down.'Plain Truth' [Jodi Picoult] story about Amish life. Great read. My book at the moment 'The Bonesetter's Daughter'[Amy Tan]a story with humour & warmth. Amazing how sometimes one book at the bedside is just not enough. I almost panic if I'm getting through the last one & have'nt stocked piled ?? Thanks 'Book 'Bytes. Happy reading Estell.

My bedside reading is always light, generally short story collections. Just now it is Murder British Style and has all sorts of famous authors in it. I also keep a backup of some sort of older book. Just now...Dodsworth, which I have decided to reread after all these years. I have a good lamp, my clock and eventually my glasses. I try hard to only read about 15-20 minutes. That way I do go to sleep. The short story helps, since that is what it takes to read one.. Hate to use books there that I dont want to stop reading.

My current supply of library books includes 3 by Sue Grafton which are mysteries with titles that follow the alphabet. What is interesting is that one of the readers of 2 of them was apparently a pipe smoker. They a still bear the scent.

I have also discovered a new cat sleuth. Her name is Mrs. Murphy. She has a cat named Pewter and a Corgi named Tee Tucker to help her. The books are written by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown. I have 3 also near my bed. The books are not on the table because Kimba has taken possession of most of it. Julio is often at the foot of the bed. He loves it when there is a new clean top sheet folded up there.

On my bedside table awaiting my bedtime reading pleasure are:

London by Edward Rutherford
Depths of Time by Roger MacBride Allen
Dune: House Atreides by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
O Jersusalem by Laurie R. King

I pick up whichever one looks the most interesting to me on any particular evening. Sometimes I may read for a while in one of the books and then switch over to another one.

And I have no problem with reading a Stephen King book just before going to sleep. What I cannot do is read a book that gets me to thinking like the Bible for example, because my mind gets so busy thinking about what I have read that I can't get to sleep.

Louise:

Maybe if you would read a little of Mrs. Murphy's adventures along with her cat Pewter to your Kimba, she might give up your table.

"Sneaky Pie Brown?" You gotta be kidding!

Lorrie

because I don't read in bed. Instead I read in my office. Now in my officeit is hard to see the shelves of my bookcases because of the books on them. There are books on the table by my reading chair and on the shelves right next to it. The 'regulars' are my copy of Reading God's Word: Daily Mass Reading - Church Year C 2001 published by Living Faith. My current issue of Living Faith (daily devotions and prayers based on the Mass readings for the day, and a copy of The New Jerusalem Bible. . Currently on the table next to my reading chair are many library books including one by Janet Evanovich, two by Sandra Brown, one by Nora Robert's writing as J D. Robb, and some Harlequin Intrigues. Also some books on different crafts such as card making, painting and other creative endevors (sp).
I read almost every night after turning off the computer. Day time reading is ussually the non-fiction and at night fiction. I do not get up early in the morning to read because I have read so late into the wee hours of the day that when I get up I must start all the stuff that needs to get done before I put on the computer or sit down to read a book!. lol

My bedside table has a light, clock radio, notepad and favorite pen, carafe of water, and a stack of books. No reading glasses. I've worn glasses all my adult life, then passing age 50 I found I didn't need glasses anymore! Of all that I've lost or changed over the years as a natural part of living, this is the one thing I should be happy to lose. However, my face feels naked and unprotected without glasses.

I read mostly in my well-worn leather chair and the choices change frequently. I flick through impulse books I've checked out from the public library to see if they were worth hauling home, I read novels, life stories, poetry, books about Greek theatre. Anything I'm currently reading and studying has it's place beside my leather chair.

Now the types of books at my bedside are different. I want to pick up a book, read for a while, and be able to set it down when I'm tired. No great emotions or complex problems to solve. I have:

-- a book of short stories or essays, currently "Elvis Monologues," edited by LaVonne Mueller,

-- "The Zebra Storyteller: Collected Stories" by Spencer Holst (absolutely wonderful, fun, creative, humanistic)

-- "Crazy Horse in Stillness" by William Heyen (OK, some strong, beautiful emotions here)

-- "The Poet's Story: An Anthology of Stories," edited by Howard Moss

-- "Arctic Dreams: Imagination & Desire in a Northern Landscape" by Barry Lopez

-- usually a volume of stories by Flaubert, or Maupassant, or Chekhov, or Poe. Lately it's been Maupassant.

-- a collection of poetry. This week Dickinson, last week Yeats -- the two greatest poets IMO.

-- an RLT book - really light reading - which for the past month has been "The Hemingway Cookbook" by Craig Boreth. I love to look at Hemingway's bars, both personal and public, and try to fathom how he managed to write as much as he did with such distractions.

-- usually a book of detection, whether real or imaginary, but this week none.

I can choose which book I want to read and how much of it I wish to read for the night. A book still has to have beautiful writing and imagery, it still has to have meaning of a kind, but it should be enjoyable and not too taxing for a tired mind. Wonderfully taxing books are destined to rest by my leather chair.

-- Marvelle

I like having Kimba on my bedside table. I can reach out and touch her during the night. Sometimes if the book is laying on the bed she moves over and sits on it.

What is it about animals and books. Our older Corgi, who has just left us used to love to lay on your current book. Dudley would patiently wait until you laid it down and the quickly lay on it and smile his wonderful smile..Its hard to look at the empty books just now.. Our younger female is not into reading. She adores her toys and leaves yours alone.

What is Kimba? .........elizabeth

Kimba is an overweight tabby cat. I also have a grey male tabby named Julio. Kimba keeps him in line by spitting at him. When Kimba isn't on the bedside table or a book she is beside my head on the pillow playing with my hair.

Thanks Louise. I must have been reading too fast when you first mentioned Kimba. .........elizabeth

My bedside table holds 7 childrens' books(Uncle David, Harry Potter and The Socerer's Stone, The Teeny Tiny Woman plus others) for reading to grans who spend the night. Plus what ever I happen to be reading before sleep interferes. At the moment, I am reading a Honig book on Baseball, a book honoring Sisters, A Word Lit Only By Fire by Wm Manchester, Blackberry Winter by Margaret Mead and others. I also keep a box of tissues and the phone(which is unplugged). Ten minutes and I am usually zonked!! Unless, of course, its a mystery!!

How do you like A Word Lit Only By Fire by William Manchester? I read it awhile ago and really liked it.

LIGHT is the keyword for me, literally and figuratively, for reading in bed. Thank you, Louise. Softcovers/paperbacks are just so much easier to handle with arthritic fingers and carpal tunnel syndrome-afflicted wrists. But short stories have always been a favorite. Re-reading some of them - i.e. those by Alice Munroe, for instance - has been enjoyable as well as a comfort.

This is a great place to learn about other people. The little things that make our lives pleasant.

Blackberry Winter.. You have sent me on a search.. I read it years ago and could swear I kept it, but cannot find it. It was a wonderful book and made me want to be a part of her family.

World Lit Only by Fire has been on hold for while but when I do read from it, I enjoy it immensely. Once when we touring one of the largest underground seas(in Tennesee) and they told us about the Civil War soldiers living in there, I wondered how they could stand being in the dark for so long with only candles to see by. And, then they showed us some hierglyphics from Indians who lived there long before that. And now we are all seeing videos of the caves in France that go back 10,000 years? Aren't we lucky to be able to see all of these wonderful sites, and in our own living rooms.

Isn't Blackberry Winter a delight, Steph? I, too want to belong to her family!!

Your experience in Tennessee is most interesting. That underground sea sounds like a great place to visit. I wonder how many people have ever heard of it.

Here in Miami it is raining and we are under a flood watch. Last night I finshed reading my supply of library books and decided that if I were going to be flooded in I needed some more books. So this morning I donned my sneakers and rain poncho, wrapped my books in grocery bags and waded to the nearest branch of the library. This branch is small and doesn't have everything the larger ones do, but I managed to find 7 more books by Sue Grafton. Checked them all out and brought them all home. Now they are in my bedroom waiting for me to read them. Couldn't find any more by Sneaky Pie Smith. That'll have to wait until I get back to the regional branch.

Sneaky Pie is by Rita Mae Brown.. One of my favorites.

This is cute, to share what we read at bedtime! I usually just read the same book I've had going during the day. It does not take long for my eyes to close and the book to fall on my face!

I do keep a couple of "backup books" on my bedside table. Generally these are books or magazines I have started and may never finish--they belong to me but I found them disappointing for one reason or another. But there they are just in case I'm desperate for something to read at bedtime!

Jeryn I do that too, with unfinished books. I have had the experience of not "getting into" a book for a number of chapters and one was "The English Patient" I bet I started it 4 or 5 times and one night in desperation I stuck to it, in fact got out of bed and went into the living room as it is easier to see with bifocals sitting up, and all of sudden I was trapped. I read until all hours. I can think of several others like that. fp

Hi, folks. I'm new to this group, and your easy sharing of favorite things is a pleasure.

My bedside table holds a lamp, prayer beads, and always books. I have to get out of bed to turn off the lamp because the books are in the way. I usually have the Bible, books on prayer, meditation, hard sci-fi, historical novels, feng shui, and of course, gardens. I seldom read more than 20 minutes in bed before falling asleep. If I can't bear to put the book down, I get up and move to the living room.

I, too, have to fight my cat Aslan for pillow space. And he loves to mark every book I bring home from the library with his jowls while I try to read.

My bed books are usually things that have been demoted to then. Just not compelling enough to want to read in a hurry. Also of course the short story collections. No cats, my corgi Bridget would not like it. She does not like the bed, preferring the walk in shower as a sleeping place, but the two 17 year old cats prefer the outside porch. They are incurably nosy and at night can watch the neighborhood in peace

I read all seven of Sue Grafton's books that I had on my bedside table so today I went to the library to get some more. I brought home 2 more books by Sue Grafton - G is for Gumshoe and F is for Fugitive. These were not in the library the last time I was there so I am reading them out of order.

I also got 2 more books by Sneaky Pie and Rita Mae Brown. I think I am reading these a little out of order also.

I dont think that Sneaky Pie and Rita will care. They are sort of sequential, but not enough to care. The very best bedtime books for me are older ones. I like to reread and often do that at bedtime.

I just found this discussion. May I join you?

My bedside table contains a telephone (ringer turned off), a touch-on lamp, tissues, windup alarm clock (rarely set), glass of water and my glasses.

Reading material may be the current issue of Time, Newsweek, or Southern Living, and a book from the stack on the desk across the room.

Currently, I have just finished A Painted House by John Gresham, and Elvis In The Morning by William Buckley, Jr. I have just started Spytime by Buckley and have a Leona Blair novel waiting - but I think I've read it.

I, too, read far into the night - but know it's time to stop when I realize I've read the same paragraph for about the fourth time and still don't know what it was all about.

Callie: Is the Buckley one another Blackford Oakes (sp?)spy story???

š jane›

JANE: No, the agent in Spytime is James Jesús Angleton. The full title is Spytime, The Undoing of James Jesús Angleton. I'm only on page 18, so haven't found out very much about JJA yet, except that he's telling the story. Publication date is 2000.

Thanks, Callie. I'm looking for another book now that I've finished Back When We Were Grownups .

I'm waiting for "Back When We Were Grownups", which I have on reserve at the library.

I'm not familiar with JJAngleton, but according to the jacket blurb, he was a real CIA agent in the 40's and maybe the 50's. Buckley seems to be taking real people and weaving a fictional story around a portion of their lives. This is what he did with "Elvis In The Morning", which I recommend even if you aren't (as I am not) an Elvis fan. It's a 'good read'.

I guess I am an Elvis fan. The other day they were playing one of his songs in the grocery store and I was thoroughly enjoying it and VERY ANNOYED when they kept interrupting for those "store commercials."

LOUISE: I think more people agree with you than with me! LOL

My late husband was originally from Tupelo, Mississippi. His aunt lived close to the Presleys, but didn't think much of them because they (the Presleys) lived on the "wrong" side of the highway! (*_*)
My husband and Elvis were in the same 3rd grade class - but that was 'WAY before Elvis became ELVIS!!

Well, I lived near Boston, Mass. until I was twelve. When we moved to Louisiana I some how learned to like country music. I didn't really like Elvis until years later.

I am happy as a pig in slop.

I DROVE my self to the library. I looked among the NEW mysteries and there before my wondering eyes appeared 2 new books.
#1. A bran new Cat Who Book by Lilian Jackson Braun called The Cat Who Smelled a Rat.
#2. A bran new book by Sneaky Pie called Claws and Effect.

It's going to be tough deciding which to read first.

And I finally got my car back. It looks so good. You would never know it had had its front end smashed. This is thanks to the Honda Body shop folks. The insurance company wanted to consider it totalled. So today I went to as many of my favorite places as possible whether I needed to or not.

Move over, Louise! (*_*)

Because of suggestions by you good people, I have checked out "Murder At Monticello" by Rita and Sneaky Pie, and "Blackberry Wine" by Jo Harris (I didn't realize she wrote "Chocolat"!) As soon as I finish "Spytime", I will close my eyes, pick up one of these and begin reading.

Hope you enjoy "Cat Who Smelled A Rat". I did.

Glad you got your car back. Happy Travels!!!

I have not been in here since sometime in September but I noticed that there are mystery lovers here and a few southerners,too. I wondered is any of you are familiar with the authors, Cynthia Sprinkle and Kathy Trochuk? Their mysteries are fun reads and all set below the Mason-Dixon line. Also, there is Celestine Sibley, who was a journalist for the Atlanta Constitution for many years and who has several mysteries out there. All of their books are light, humorous and fun mysteries and I haven't read them all yet.

Does anyone remember the author of the Scottish mysteries with McTavish, the police inspector? I looked him up here in our library and was able to get the author's name and now have lost it somewhere in the night!

Louise, yes, that was an unusual cave and lake but well publicised along the highways of Tennesee. Even the back roads! Similar to the billboards for "See Rock City"!!

Hmm. Blackberry Winter was a biography of Margaret Mead and her family. That is the book that I adored and have read and reread over the years. So.. if you got Blackberry Wine because of me,, its the wrong book. Am reading the new Sneakie Pie book.. Funny and good, but the new illustrator is terrible.

Ann, I don't know about McTavish, I know Hamish McBeth, if that helps?

ginny

STEPHANIE: I did look at "Blackberry Winter", but decided I wasn't in the mood for a biography of Margaret Mead. I must have stumbled on to "Blackberry Wine" while I was roaming around the shelves.
May I give you credit for Word Association leading me there? (^_^)

Ginny, I love Hamish McBeth! Love the countryside & the people. Who was the author?! I've forgotten which is so frustrating. Is Hamish to be a bachelor forever?

Marvelle

It looks like it, Marvelle! hahahaah It's MC Beaton who does the series of Hamish and Agatha Raisin, I always buy the new ones, some of them are uneven lately but I don't care, I want to see where the characters go!

ginny

Thanks, Ginny. I'll add MC Beaton to my list of books to check out from the library but now I have to find time to read them all!

Marvelle

The other day when I was at the library I soaw some books written by Carl Hiasen. I knew he has a column in the Miami Herald but I didn't know he wrote books. I checked a couple of them out. These are mysteries set in this part of the world and are fun to read because I know the places and things in it. I know where places like the Everglades, the Orange Bowl and South Beach are. Did you know that there are Croccodiles here as well as alligators? I did but I have never seen one. They prefer salt water and are meaner.

I have added our Library Discussion book to my bedside stand for the month and am liking it. Maybe someone here would like to look it up at the library and read it. An interesting premise! Titled "One Thousand White Women", can't think of the author right now, its about the Cheyenne Indians and their approach to assimulating into white society. Funny, piquant and pretty well written. Its certainly different!

Ann Alden, your suggestion for a book does look interesting. Next time I visit our library I shall look for it.

I've fallen back on EF Benson for some reason, I finished the new NYTimes lauded book of short stories, Darling? and idly picked up the Mapp and Lucia series again and immediately was swept away by Benson's skill as a writer and the light, airy, humorous enjoyable world where about the worst thing that happened was to "cut" (snub) somebody in the street. These novels were the basis for the PBS series Mapp & Lucia, but there are 5 of them and two sequels, written by Tom Holt, son of Hazel Holt the mystery writer and a writer in his own wise of Sci Fi as well.

I used to carry them with me on trips, reading one of them sweeps you away from drudgery and anxiety into a fun fey world, but it's based on truth. Benson was the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, entertained the Queen, and was in society himself.

His gentle skewering of the "types" in a typical English village is priceless and so is his take on pomposity.

Two warring EF Benson serious Societies still exist in the little town of Rye (Tilling in the books) where they take Fred Benson very seriously indeed.

A delight, all the books are equally fun. Sort of a cross between PG Wodehouse and Agatha Christie. Your only problem is you will laugh and find it hard to go to sleep.

In all the books there is only one objectionable term and it's in the first book but is itself ironic as to character and shows the use of the times.

ginny

Ginny,, I know that I have been tempted to buy the Lucia tapes from PBS. They are for sale and so I put them on my Christmas List.. My sons are always complaining about what to get me.. So that would be something I would like. Lucia is my friend and I do turn to her periodically. She is a good choice just now with all of the ugly things happening.

Steph, I got hooked on the books from the series. I was idly passing thru the channels when this awful shrill voice stopped me up short. It was Lucia, as played by Geraldine McEwan. I thought it was awful, just the most camp. Just awful but could not tear my eyes away as Nigel Hawthorne (later of Yes Minister and starring in The Madness of King George) entered and began his marvelous portrayal of Georgie. Then Prunella Scales (of Fawlty Towers) did her fabulous thing and I was hooked, would sit up into the wee hours to get it on PBS from other states, snow, etc....

I don't think they could ever have assembled a better cast, tho McEwan is still sort of jarring to the nerves, but once having seen her I can imagine no other. The delight was that the books were so much better and more detail.

There was a sequel series only shown in England, which is very strange, Georgie has a beard, the entire focus of the thing is different? I hear the British like the sequel better, I like the first series better but I am intriqued by the second as well. The price has fallen drastically on both series tho they are still high. It has fallen on the Agatha Christie series as well, and THAT one I must now have, I really admired Joan Hickson who played Miss Marple. She stopped doing the series when she was 85 because she did not want to be "typecast." What a spirit. She's gone, now, unfortunately.

Last night as I read the episode where Georgie thinks he hears a burglar downstairs I was actually afraid for a moment too, Benson writes SOOO well. I recall he wrote ghost stories which he was almost as famous for, I believe I will try to find some and give them a whirl, but, not at night, he's too good.

Always glad to find another Benson enthusiast!

ginny

Hi Ginny - ages ago you mentioned _Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God_. I have been trying to locate a copy & finally did through an interlibrary loan. What a fun, wonderful book. I can't get over that a male author could have such insight into women's personalities. Thanks so much for the recommendation.

Books at my bedside - I read about 8-10 at a time. One of the good ones is the _Godforsaken Sea_ about the single-handed sailing race in the southern hemisphere. Talk about incredible people those sailors are.

See you in the _Bee Season_ discussion tomorrow, Ginny!!!

Kathy

OOOO Kathy, you TOOO, no kidding, in BEE? YAY!!

ginny

I have spent that last couple of days getting ready in case Michelle decided Miami was her destination. Cuba is under hurricane watch. I did get the recommended water, eatables that don't require cooking and making sure I had enough books on my bedside table. Right now our weather is breezy and sunny and I don't think anyone is home. They are out enjoying it while they can. Even the library was full of people. It is good to see mommies and daddies with their children checking out big stacks of books. One person was checking out some audio casettes to learn English. Some of us could use something likee that in Spanish. Now it is a waiting game.

I'm over here on the other course awaiting Michelles presence too, Louise.

Yes ALF, I hope she takes that sharp turn to the right and stay to the south of us. That would put us on its dry side.

I am reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.It is a quick read, and my library chose it for the monthly book discussion. Maybe i am missing something, but other than being quite imaginative, I cannot see what all of the hoopla is about.

Welcome, dkamins@msn.com, we are glad to have you. I have not read any of the Harry Potters and had not planned to see the movie, it's interesting, isn't it, how some things just take the imagination and some don't?

I usually avoid reading what everybody else is raving about and because of that I have missed some really good books, which , thanks to our wonderful Books & Lit sections, I can now make up for lost time, like American Tragedy. We also have a new Lord of the Rings Trilogy starting up soon (another one I have not read).

In one of our discussions I got so tired of hearing about Waiting for Godot, I read it, too, and when I was finished, I said huh?

So THAT'S what all the "shoutin" was about? But once you read it, it sticks with you and it's easy to pull it out later on, someday I would like for us to read it here, too.

I'm currently alternating on my bedside table between Simon Brett's newest mystery Death on the Downs and the Mapp and Lucia series, just whatever that night seems to appeal.

ginny

I am just finishing Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris, who wrote Chocolat. It seems to be set in/around the same French village. The story flips back and forth from the mid-1970's in London to 1999 in France but, once I got used to that, I have enjoyed it.

I read the first Harry Potter book and thought "children will love these". Don't really understand all the adult excitement, though. I agree with the anti-hype attitudes, but have reluctantly accepted that "Marketing Majors Rule". (smile)

WELCOME dkamins@msn.com to this discussion. I hopw you enjoy talking about books. I don't plan to read the Harry Potter books nor go to any of the movies. They involve what seems to me spiritism.

I live in Miami. This is the week for our bookfair. So for me it is only a bus ride away so Saturday I will treat myself. It was a few years ago that I was first introduced to Webtv (now called MSNTV) at our book fair.

I read all of the Harry Potters and loved them. However they are not that unusual in the fantasy field. The nice thing about the Harry Potter series is that she keeps a strong sense of right and wrong in there and that is good for the kids. The best thing is that the seriesi gets children reading and anything that does that is a good thing as far as I can see.

I'm not sure that this post belongs in this area, but I couldn't find a better place to put it. Please let me know if there's a more appropriate place for this type of thing. This is an edited copy of a note I recently sent to someone who asked about what kind of books I like to read.

You asked what I liked to read. I like to read fiction. I enjoy a story that has a good "hook" to it and at the same time is written in a good style. I don't enjoy aimless reading. Reading for the sake of enjoying good writing, with no apparent plot or storyline, is not enjoyable to me. Of course I appreciate good writing, but it has to have a "hook". I'm not sure that I'm expressing myself well here. What I'm saying is that I like a book which COMPELS me to read it, the type of book you hate to see end.

I don't enjoy sophomoric writing. I think Danielle Steele is this type of writer. I enjoyed the first Steele book I read (don't know which one it was), but the next one I tried was very unsophisticated, and I never tried another one.

I don't like ambiguous, non-linear literature such as "The English Patient." Even the movie wasn't enjoyable for me. I agree with Time Magazine which said the book was "unreadable." Of course, not everyone agrees with that. There were some beautiful passages in the book but that didn't make up for its vagueness. It was difficult to follow the plot and to me the characters weren't sharply defined in the book.

I believe the modernist writers are a considered non-linear and ambiguous. This includes James Joyce and Wm. Faulkner. I tried Joyce once, but didn't get far. Since then, I haven't even attempted to read this type of writer. I don't like struggling when I read (even if it's good for me.) (ggg).

I don't like having to plow through a book with dense writing. This applies to books like: "Age of Innocence" and "House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton and "Middlemarch" by George Elliot. I've read them, but I don't think the struggle was worth it, even though I know enough to realize that the writing was of fine quality. When I was a teenager, I loved Thakeray's "Vanity Fair", probably because it was the story of unrequited love.

One of my favorite writers is Anita Brookner. Have you read her? Wonderful! I believe she's a prize-winner.

I enjoy some mystery writers, like Robert B. Parker and Lawrence Sanders, both good story tellers with appealing styles. Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax series is precious.

You never know about Margaret Atwood. I couldn't get into "Robber's Bride."

Anne Rivers Siddons has given me some enjoyable reads.

Wallace Stegner's "Angle of Repose" was marvelous! I'd like to see SeniorNet read something by him. He's a powerful writer and I've wanted to sample another book by him for a long time.

I didn't particularly enjoy "Like Water for Chocolate" (by Esquivel) or "Pigs in Heaven" (by Kingsolver) or "Sea Road"(by Ursula LeGuin).

Grisham's "The Firm" was compelling, but too tense. I almost had a heart attack reading it. LOL

I enjoyed "A Thousand Acres" by Jane Smiley, a prize winner.

I indulge myself with the romance genre at times. Judith Krantz has written some good ones.

Joyce Carol Oates is intimidating and not particularly uplifting, IMO. I've tried to read a bit of her writing, but never got too far. Even the reviews of her writing are hard to understand.

Ann Rice seems to be all about vampires. I don't see what people see in her writing.

I've enjoyed reading some of Anne Tyler's work. A very thoughtful writer.

I finally got around to reading Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" and found it surprisingly easy to read and enjoyable.

I went on a Graham Greene odyssey and enjoyed many of his books immensely. Then I hit one of his I didn't enjoy. I'm glad I hadn't read that one first! LOL

"The Giant's House" by Eliz. McCracken was wonderful!

Loved John Irving's "Cider House Rules" but found his others only fairly interesting. He rambles too much.

Couldn't get into Ellison's "Invisible Man."

I absolutely adored "The Remains of the Day"by Kazuo Ishiguro and thought it was better than the movie. I'm so glad I read it first. I enjoyed the movie. Anthony Hopkins was marvelous (as was Emma Thompson), but I thought the book didn't treat the love story as well as the book did. The book seemed to focus on the political mood of the time instead of the romantic mood which the book evoked. The movie almost made the romance enjoyable, but the ending of the movie didn't evoke in me what the ending of the book did.

Well, that's a *very* random sampling of my reading experiences and opinions. I hope I haven't disappointed you. Of course, you must realize that I didn't pull these names and titles from my memory. I had to refer to all my scribbled notes which I copy down whenever a writer says something I don't want to forget. That slows down my reading, but I'm absolutely compelled to copy these things down. I keep my notes on 6"x9" looseleaf paper (folded as book marks) and store the finished pages in loose-leaf binders. It's sort of a hobby. It's cheap and doesn't take up much space. I don't usually buy books, but get them from the public library.

I wish I had done more reading when I was younger, but I was so busy studying, working and raising a family that there was no time. Now in my retirement, I'd like to make up for lost time. But I have to admit that the interactive nature of the Internet has stolen many of my reading hours away. I enjoy expressing myself too much! LOL

Please write and tell us what kind of writing you enjoy or don't enjoy.

Best regards, Rita

Hey, Rita! I think we posted at the same time, but isn't that a great list, people?

Not that anybody asked me, but on my bedside table I like to keep a copy of John Sandford's books, ususally the latest one. Most of the titles have to do with the word "Prey" of some kind.

I've liked this author ever since he won a Pulitzer prize as a columnist here for a local paper, where he used his real name, John Camp. When he went on his own to devote his time to writing novels, I was delighted, and more so now that he is making a name for himself.

Lorrie

This is a good place to come into and rest your mind, just like in as feet, isn't it? Thank you for keeping it going, Louise! Whatever would we do without people like our Louise, who volunteer so readily when asked.

Lorrie

Hi Lorrie, Is John Sanford a mystery writer?

What genre would you include him in?

Rita

Aha! Here is our new reader Miss Rita. Welcome aboard. You have a wonderful variety of interests that you've listed. Have you had the chance to check out what we're reading now and will be reading in the future? Do any of those books appeal to you? This is the perfect site to say whatever you wish to say about books.

Thanks, Alf. I'm glad I posted in the right place.

Yes, I'm considering reading some of the suggested prize-winning books which will be discussed soon, the ones by Theodore Dreiser and V.S. Naipaul. I think Dreiser is scheduled for January and Naipaul is scheduled for February. Am I right?

I'm also involved in a local "real-life" book discussion group. So I think I'm going to be doing a lot of reading of books which are up for discussion. I'm glad to be focused for a change. I have so many books on my books-to-read list, that it had become much too daunting to even look at. LOL

Rita

Rita, have you read Anne Rivers Siddon's The House Next Door, by any chance?

ginny

RITA: Welcome! I read for pure enjoyment. Unfortunately, I did not have a good literature background in either high school or college, so am severely lacking in the ability to dissect and analyze an author's "deeper meaning". I remember being praised for doing a book report on "Anna Karenina" in high school, but no one bothered to tell me I was reading Tolstoy, nor why that was special!! I just thought it was a tragic love story - probably wept buckets.

I agree with your opinion of Danielle Steele - and other popular writers who, IMO, have tacked a basic plot outline over their word processor and just change character names and locations when their agents say "We need a book"!

I enjoyed Jane Smiley's "A Thousand Acres". Have you read "Moo" (takes place on the campus of an agricultural college), "The Travels & Adventures of Lidie Newton" (pioneer Kansas) and - oh, thunder, CRS here - the one about horse racing?

I have several notebooks of outlines, quotes, etc. from non-fiction but don't usually do this with fiction. However, I do try to list authors/titles that I've read so I can look for new books or help myself remember what I've all ready read. (Obviously, forgot to put Smiley's horse book on the list! LOL)

I often "read an author" - that is, I note the list of books in the front of whatever I'm reading and then try to read all the rest.
So - I have read ALL of Anne Rivers Siddons (including "The House Next Door", GINNA - which I didn't care for as much as her others), All of Jeffery Archer, Lillian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who...mysteries,", Susan Howatch, Colleen McCullough (except the "Rome" series, where I've bogged down with Caesar's Women), and lots of others.

I also get my books from the libary. Have just picked up Anne George's "Murder Boogies With Elvis" and I'm on the reserve list for the latest Diana Gabaldon book, "The Fiery Cross".

An Oklahoma author who writes good "general" fiction is Judith Henry Wall. Unless she has a brand new one out, the three she has written are "Love and Duty", "Blood Sisters" and "Handsome Women". L&D is about military wives. HW is about 'the aging process' (grin).

Right now I am reading the first of John Sandford's Kidd books. I accidentally read the middle one first. He is a great writer of the 'con.' I haven't tried any of his 'Prey' books yet.

CallieK I agree with you about Danielle Steele's work. She used to tell a good story even if the writing wasn't as good as I would have liked, but now I just don't even try her books.
Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres was a great read. Wasn't it based on a Shakespare play?

I think it was the same theme as King Lear?

I read her MOO and I was disappointed. I live in Iowa, she was at Iowa State, and I've worked for the Univ. of Iowa, so a lot of it was very familiar (;0)), but I didn't find it memorable. I guess I'd expected more from her.

GINNYANN: See the first paragraph of my last post! I have NO idea! <G>

JANE: I didn't particularly care for "Moo". Thought it was a really dumb title, for starters - and had a hard time getting into the story. I had forgotten it was set in Iowa (wasn't it??).

Has anyone seen the Hallmark book with the Coca-Cola Santa? The title reads:
TWAS
The Night Before Christmas

I immediately thought of Andrew McCourt's novel, "Tis" and wondered if this title was done deliberately. "Tis"...."Twas". LOL

No, Ginny, I haven't read Anne Rivers Siddon's "The House Next Door". The book I enjoyed the most by her was "Outer Banks". Is that the right title? As Callie says...CRS! LOL

I sometimes do as Callie mentioned, "read an author". That's when you realize that even though you enjoyed one of his/her books, you may not enjoy another by the same author. Always a let-down.

I've heard that Margaret Atwood's style seems to change with each book. You never know what you're going to get.

It's great fun reading everyone's random comments here about various books.

BTW, how do you all feel about audio-books? Pros and Cons? There was a period when I tried to "catch up" on my reading by listening to audio-books when driving or riding in the car. Sometimes the person doing the reading is so terrific that the book is enhanced by the reading. (This was true of a book by Margaret Atwood. Can't remember the title. It was the book about the girl accused of murder. The reader was a wonderful actress, Elizabeth somebody.) (I also enjoyed the audio-book about the geisha girl. CRS) Other times, I think something is lost by listening instead of reading, because when one reads there's more time to savor the words.

Rita

Rita said, ", I think something is lost by listening instead of reading, because when one reads there's more time to savor the words."

I agree. I have only tried one book on tape and couldn't get into it at all. I probably could if I tried one in the car if I were going on a trip or a long drive in the country. I guess holding the book and savoring the words is a big part of reading for me. I like to take notes sometimes, too, or underline and make a comment. Linda

Callie: I've assumed she was referring to Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa) where she was a professor. ISU is a well-known agriculture school so it has sometimes been called Moo U by non-ISU types.

Jane Smiley is no longer a prof there; I don't know where she is now.

JANE: I didn't know about the Moo U nickname for Iowa State. My dad, a born-and-bred OU Sooner, used to refer to Oklahoma State as "that udder Oklahoma school".
It's been a while since I've read anything by JS, so I've forgotten the bio info on the jacket cover.

The Atwood book was Alias Grace that you listened to, Rita.. I loved it so much I am now reading the book as well. Still excellent, but at this point, I must say the audio is better than the book. The book goes into more detail than I like about her early life. I loved Smileys book about horse racing. She is involved in the sport and really makes you feel involved as well. Excellent. I like Moo, but I dont live in Iowa. Susan Howatch.. someone just mentioned her. I loved her early stuff, then got bogged down in the Church of England series of(4, I think) they were a bit more religous than I had in mind and to involved in how that particular church works. A shame, because she is excellent at fiction.

John Sandford book --the Kidd books. He writes so well I underlined one of his discriptions of a minor character. Now I will read something real light before reading his latest Kidd book.

Stephanie, yes the audio-book by Atwood was "Alias Grace". Thanks for refreshing my memory. Now if I could only remember the name of the reader...a sweet-looking actress, Elizabeth somebody. I think her last name begins with M, and I always confuse the name with Elizabeth Montgomery. CRS!

Rita

I thought the following might amuse some of you.

The Reader's Bill of Rights:

1.The right not to read.

2.The right to skip pages.

3.The right not to finish.

4.The right to reread.

5.The right to read anything.

6.The right to escapism.

7.The right to read anywhere.

8.The right to browse.

9.The right to read aloud.

10.The right not to defend your tastes.

-From "Better Than Life" by Daniel Pennac

Rita... PS-How does one post a list like the one above without skipping lines? If I don't skip lines, it all runs together.

LOL! Great Rita and I enjoy each one of those rights. Including, but not limited to:

Remember the five simple rules to be happy

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

To not skip lines I think you could put "br" after each line only with <'s around them, not quotation marks.

one 'br' in <> takes you to the next line. two br <> skips a line.
I used one br here.

two here. Hopes this helps

Yesterday I went to Miami's International Book Fair. I did come home with one book for my bed side table. It is a new paper back book by Carl Hiassen. I had to leave the fair early so I didn't get to meet him in person. It is called "Lucky You." I have glanced through it and don't see any of the characters of his previous novels. Just a couple of familiar locations Like Krome Avenue and Hooters. The other books are 2 cook books for vegetarians.

Lucky You.. I loved it, laughed, howled and generally made a spectacle out of myself. Hiassen is one of my favorite Florida authors. He tells it like it is.. He nails the middle of the state in Lucky You and Lotteries all over.

I enjoy Hiassen, too. His columns are good, too, in the Miami Herald. I watched Jeffrey Toobin and Dave Barry at the Miami Book Fair today. They were quite a pair. It was a good, funny session.

Linda

Did everyone see the picture of Stephanie and her husband???

Good looking couple!!

Oscar Dorr "Photos--Then & Now #49~New" 11/18/01 12:45pm

Jane for posting the link! It is always nice when you can put a name with a face. Or vice versa. lol

Hairy and Ginny Ann, Thanks for the tip about line breaks.
I'll try it.
1.
2.
3.

Stephanie and Hairy:
I've never read a Carl Hiassen mystery. One of these days I've got to try one.
Nice pics, Stephanie!
Rita

To skip a line, as you did before, you can put <> and p inside it. I assume it means "new paragraph."

Alf, you wrote: "...Free your mind from worries."
That's good advice but hard to do. Someone once gave me the following helpful advice on how to do it:
"One can never get rid of a thought. One can only replace it with another thought, hopefully a better one."

Of course there's nothing like a really good book to distract us from our worries.

Hairy, thanks for the HTML instructions about creating a new paragraph. Usually I find that if I skip a space in my writing here, it will give me a new paragraph. But I'm trying your instructions just for the fun of it. It's about time I learn some HTML! (g)

Rita

Rita: Reading has always been my panacea for all, especially getting rid of thoughts that I don't care to dwell on.

Well thank you all for being kind.. Chalk it up to joining weight watchers two years ago, meeting goal weight and staying as a lifetime member... Hey,, hows this..."Nothing beats a hot bath for solving the worlds problems" I just read it somewhere and they do have a point. Even a nice hot shower improves my mood 100%..

helps me fall asleep at night. If I try to go to bed without reading, I lay in bed thinking about eeither the day I just had or the one I will live the next day. I find that nonfiction in the evening doesn't work, so I do that in the day time.

Reading helps me, too. A few years ago I read somewhere to never let a negative thought stay in your mind longer than a second. If you push it out or get rid of it, it will not stay and grow as those thoughts tend to do sometimes. i like the idea. I wish I could remember it more often before anger or fear get out of control.

Never hang onto a negative thought.

I'm reading "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham. It's wonderful! Such a sensitive writer!

I've been sick with a virus this week and this book has helped me forget my discomfort. Thank goodness for books!

BTW, did I read here that this SeniorNet group has already discussed "The Hours" somewhere?

Rita

Sure hope you're feeling better soon, Rita. Back in 1999, The Hours and Mrs. Dalloway were read. The discussion is still in the Archives:

Click HERE for "Book Club Online: Hours/Mrs. Dalloway" 10/24/00 7:10pm

I am reading The Songcatcher by Sharyn McCrumb. It is from the library, but is a book I wish I had bought. There are so many lyrical sentences that I would highlight.

Thanks, Jane for the info. I'll go back to the archives as soon as I finish reading "The Hours".

GinnyAnn, thanks for telling us about "The Songcatcher". Is the story a good one? When was the book published?

Rita

That is the title of one of Sneaky Pie Brown's books that I have just finished reading. What is interesting about it is that it puts one of Thomas Jefferson's sons and a female slave into a fictional setting. Some of the comments regarding slavery in this country as compared to that of other civilizations were thought provoking. Sneaky Pie's coauthor must really do alot of research. Sneaky Pie figures that his ancestors (cats) kept the mice from eating Thomas Jefferson's parchment and drove the moles from the gardens and the rodents from the stables.

Are there any Iris Murdoch readers here? I have a question or two. But first I must explain.

In Murdoch's "A Severed Head", on p. 172, Murdoch writes:

"Behold her bosom and half her side, a sight to dream of not to tell."

Those words rang a bell in my head as I read them. I did some research and found that these words were taken from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem: "Christabel". When Iris Murdoch used these words in her book, she gave no attribution at all. She did not use quotation marks. It seemed as if she had made them up herself.

My questions: Is this part of Murdoch's style? Does she make a habit of throwing esoteric classical lines into her own paragraphs without indicating in any way that they are classical lines written by other authors, and not herself?

Is this ethical?

Rita

PS-Where else might I post this note in order to get more information about this type of thing?

You may want to try the New York Times on-line book discussions. I will think and try to come up with other areas to look.

Personally, I think Iris Murdoch should have given credit to Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

I found this at the Copyright Office on-line.I have added the color and and bold to help clairify the information.

WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT? Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others:

Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)

Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents

Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration

Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)

Thank you GinnyAnn.

I posted this same question at:
http://www.glyphs.com/forums/paradise/

There are a couple of interesting replies there as well:
===================================
A fellow there named Russ wrote:
"I think it's safe to assume that Murdoch would expect a majority of her readers to catch the allusion to 'Christabel,' or at least to think it sounded familiar, like Alice did, and pursue it if interested. Murdoch was writing mostly for an educated British public, many of whom would have had Coleridge's poem drummed into their heads at an early age.

"I don't have an ethical problem with it at all--writers have been borrowing (and stealing--was it Eliot who said 'bad writers borrow; good writers steal'?) from each other for millenia. Though this allusion is lost on some (many?) of us, let's take a better known example. Imangine a discussion in a book where a character responds 'there's the rub!' Would we want the author to write 'As Shakespeare said, 'There's the rub'' or worse: 'As Shakespeare said in the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy of Hamlet , 'There's the rub.'' Obviously that is going too far, so I think it is fair to expect that readers catch some allusions. Now, if the author is going to make the entire plot turn on a literary allusion, then it probably deserves more explanation. Otherwise, I think it's OK to leave it without attribution, quotations, etc."

Another poster there named Susan wrote:
"In my experience, some authors do quote others from the viewpoint of one of the characters, and often there's no attribution because it would break the stream of consciousness of the character. One could imagine some character saying in their head, for example, what a tangled web we weave!, and then not stating where it came from.

"Did it seem she was doing this in the part you're quoting?

"If she's doing it as a third-person omniscient narrator, it would appear problematic, I would think. However, in a character's head, in my opinion, it would be all right.

"I doubt Murdoch would intentionally rip off Coleridge. Perhaps she's so familiar with the passage she assumes the reader would make the jump to the attribution."
=============================

I guess I have to agree with Russ and Susan, even though I wasn't familiar with Coleridge's poem before I did the research. Murdoch's words had originally reminded me of similar words in another quote. By asking questions about that, I learned about "Christabel".

The similar quote (one of my favorites) was:

"Don't you ever try to go there-
It's to dream of not to find.
Lovely things like that is always
Mostly in your mind."
-John Van Alstyn Weaver (1893-1938)

Coleridge's poem "Christabel" said: "a sight to dream of not to tell"

That is so similar to Weaver's: "It's to dream of not to find".

Rita

Wow what a different opinion from the strict copyright law. What they wrote sure makes sense though. Thanks for sharing what you found.

I visited the above site and found it interesting. I wonder how many sites dealing with books and reading there are on the Web? It is always fun to find a new one

GinnyAnn, there are so many good websites which deal with books and literature. The following may be of interest:

READING GROUP GUIDES
The Online Community for Reading Groups - HOME:

http://www.readinggroupguides.com/index.asp

Browse here thru the categories (also listed by title and author's name):

http://www.readinggroupguides.com/findaguide/index.asp

Rita

Just want to mention a "Must Read!" I just finished reading "Waiting" by Ha Jin (1999). It's a compelling story, one of those books you cannot put down. Not difficult to read either. A fast read. It won The National Book Award.

The Chicago Sun-Times wrote of it: "Extraordinary...A remarkably austere love story, suffused with irony and subtlety."

Don't miss the pleasure of this book.

Rita

Hi, Rita: Gee, I wish you'd been here at SeniorNet Books and Literature when we read Waiting. It was a good book discussion. If you're interested, you can see the discussion still in the Archives, where we store all the past discussions. Here's a link to it:

CharlieW "Book Club Online: Waiting By Ha Jin ~ National Book Award 1999" 10/24/00 7:25pm

š jane›

Hello Everyone, I have just joined here, and I thought I would go to the Book Club part first, as I love to read. Since this is the Bedside Table List, I will post what I have on my bedside table right now. "A Fine Balance," by Rohinton Mistry, which is Oprah's latest book announcement. So far, I am not really into it even though I have read about a fourth, in fact, I may not even finish it, as I have already started a book by an English Author, " Fred & Edie, by Jill Dawson. And last but not least, "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas," by James Patterson. I have requested "The Collector," from the library, which is supposed to be an old book, but was recommended by a friend. Has anyone read any of these book that I have listed, I would be interested to know?

Jane, thanks for the link to the archive of "Waiting". I wish I had been here for the discussion too. I'm going to try to read the archived discussion when I get time. As usual, there's so much to read and so little time.

Welcome, JimsGarbo. I'm fairly new here too. I haven't read any of the books you suggested, but I've heard of them. I'm happy to hear that there's someone else who "can't get into a book" ("A Fine Balance"), which so many other people think is read-worthy. This always puzzles me because I can't understand what people find so interesting when I'm completely bored. I guess it only proves how different we all are from each other. I always find it encouraging when I find someone else on the same "wave-length" that I'm on, like being "in-tune".

Tell me, are Patterson's mysteries complicated? What do you find appealing about them?

Rita

I always read in bed - so finding a group of people who can describe what they read at night & what pleasure they get & also name the books as well, is brilliant. I've a really good list here thank you everybody. I only just joined. I have always been looking for a group of readers with well-developed tastes in reading who - many like me - are always looking for a new author or another good read - recommendations with no strings attached. (I suppose we have all been given a 'marvellous' book to read that was either unreadable or we knew immediately it wasn't our sort of author?) I'm really impressed with the number of readers & the range of their reading & their obvious addiction. I like several books going at once - one slow, one medium & one rattling good yarn. I read a lot of the new science books on research into DNA & yucky life, like parasites. I like poetry - Anne Carson has just written "The Beauty of the Husband" which is atmospheric & spare & thats on my bedside table. The last 'rattling good yarn' was a big thick slow read about China & Tibet - a whodunnit called "Water Touching Stone" by Eliot Pattison & I couldn't put it down. Thrillers are not always a fast read. I've now started the new Thomas Perry "Death Benefits". There's a great science book called "Emergence" by Steven Johnson - only half way through that one. He mentions how slime mould can 'think' & that the life of ants is a perfect democracy. Thank you again for all the new titles I found. I'll give you some more of mine if you like?

Viogert, what a fabulous post, I have copied it for our Great Quotes section you may see it again sometime hahahahaa.

What interesting choices you have and I'm not familiar with any of them and of course that's very intriguing, Water Touching Stone by Eliot Pattison, I'm going to look that one up!

Wow you should take that Emergence over to the Science and Technology section they are always looking for great reads.

Yes I sure have been given books that were just the "BEST," and could not get a chapter into them, have gotten so I kinda tense up when somebody starts out, oh you MUST read this book!!!

It's funny, tho, I have missed a lot of good books that way, being TOO cautious, I guess.

But people are so different and what appeals to one might not to another. It's been a really really long time since I was just immersed in a book that I could not put down. I think...Joy Fielding's See Jane Run filled that bill for me, you literally cannot put it down and it reminds me a lot of Margaret Yorke, another author who is hard to put down. Unfortunately Fielding's next book was on the same pattern so I stopped reading her.

Having read it once.

If you like spare prose have you read any Penelope Fitzgerald? I really like her, her The Bookstore was really good, and spare is the word, sort of like Grace Paley? I like spare in writers since I can't seem to bring it off, myself. hahahaa

We would love to hear more of your recommendations, I'm going off to look up Water Touching Stone.

So glad you're with us!

ginny

Any Irving Wallace fans here? He wrote: "The Prize", "The Man", "The Seven Minutes", "The Word", "The Fan Club" I believe all his books begin with the word: "The". Right now I'm reading "The Guest of Honor" (1989). Looks like a good one.

Irving Wallace writes such a good story, always sprinkled with interesting facts. I can't understand why he hasn't won any prizes. He's consistently entertaining. Well, maybe he has won prizes which I'm unaware of. I'll have to research this.

Any opinions on Wallace? Where does he stand in the book world, rating-wise?

Rita

I meant to comment on Viogert's post. I enjoyed it. I liked her words: "I like several books going at once - one slow, one medium & one rattling good yarn." I feel this way too. Our reading should accommodate all our moods. I like having reading alternatives. Life seems fuller this way.

Loved those words..."rattling good yarn".

Rita

Such a kind - & enthusiastic response to a waffling message about bedside reading Ginny. Before you look for Eliot Pattison's second novel, his debut with "The Skull Mantra" introduced the new detective & is a good place to start.

Yes, I have tried Penelope FitzGerald. To my utter humiliation, I discovered she had won the Booker Prize the very day I was returning "The Blue Flower" to the library as 'unreadable'. Readers are cranky people & I'm no different - she just seemed to be a 'twittery' writer. Grace Paley though, - like Alice Munro is in another league. Both gifted writers with a strong sense of humour.

I used to think the best novel in the world was Margaret Drabble's "Realms of Gold" - mostly because it dealt with DNA & genetic heritage. (Not that she mentions it). I re-read it again recently & it holds up beautifully. A bit like Anne Tylers "Searching for Caleb" where the family characteristics emerged in different guises - too subtle to be mentioned by the author, but enough to nudge the reader into looking around at her own funny kinfolk & understanding why careful selective breeding doesn't really work.

What is really valuable about book opportunities that are given in SeniorNet's book departments, is a place for the individual crackpot whose taste is just off kilter. Reading the reviews Amazon's customers write, I wonder if it's the same book as the one I read. A few people who contributed here, mentioned Sue Grafton - who is an excellent writer of prose & with a quick comic gift - but from many of the reviews, (mostly UK), they nit-picked & whinged. I don't know what you do about this, but I usually weigh in with both fists writing a five-star review, righting the wrongs & keeping the balance for authors I think deserve it. We are all interdependent. I really ought not to get so crabby - I think I'll go have a little lie down.

please accept my apologies Rita - I appeared to leap-frog right over your messages - I think we were writing simultaneously so it looked rude. Didn't intend to be.

Irving Wallace's books have been showered with praise in the past, but he died in 1990 so he is probably categorised as an Old Master now. A recent publication of "The Man" was reviewed as "flawless" by one Amazon reader. They reported that an Afterword by Irving's son revealed he'd been a screenwriter by profession which maybe accounts for his clarity. I've ordered "Waiting" by Han Jin because everybody here liked it so much; (& one reviewer in Amazon said she usually only read crime novels, but she had enjoyed this book very much).

Viogert! I see you must be from the UK. One of the best books I've ever read and actually bought from Amazon UK was The Place of Execution by Val McDermid. I loved her fullness of characterization, the careful structuring of her plot. I have never been much of a mystery buff, but when I finished that one, I was out of breath, held the book to my heart and thought, "This is what a mystery should be...this is what a BOOK should be!"

Welcome to our boards here! My, you have a way with words!

Linda

Welcome viogert! I am so happy that you found your way to Books on My Bedside Table. Don't forget-- if you have any questions feel free to jump right in her and just ask. Welcome aboard.

Andrea

You're right Hairy - I live in London, but I buy a lot of used books from US bookshops- all of them have been quick & efficient. If I'm in no hurry, sent surface they cost no more than inland dispatch here. For a person with gammy legs, I was born just in time to benefit from www. What a boon eh?

Hello again ALF - I found a rich seam to mine here, didn't I? All these great readers & all these great books they've read?

viogert

Rita Russ and viogert Welcome to Books on my Bedside Table.

The other day when I went to the library, I brought home a couple of mysteries that seem to have a new writer as their author. The author's name is Shelley Freydont. She is a dancer and the mysteries are set around that life. One is Backstage Murder and the other is High Seas Murder. I liked them and hope the author will write some more.

Viogert,, Welcome.. Like you I have several books going at once.. Mostly Sociology and fiction.. Your mention of Anne Tyler brought me out of hiding. I love her sly notices of family and relationships so much. I find myself agreeing with her female characters and see why they do what they do. Margaret Atwood is another writer who fascinates me as much by what she says as what she implies.. I find myself like Ginny,, not reading as many best sellers any more. I owned a used book store before retiring and that taught me that if I dont like the first 50 pages or so... I am not going to like it period and I have no compunction about discarding it nowadays.. Hooray for growing up.

Viogert, I actually have not read The Blue Flower, as the subject matter did not commend itself to me; but other than that, I'm a big fan of Penelope Fitzgerald. I found that she is different in every book she writes.

I loved her The Bookshop, about nastiness and snobbery in an English village, and Offshore, which did win the Booker, The Blue Flower having been shortlisted for it, as well. I absolutely loved her The Golden Child, which is actually sort of a mystery. All different and all spare of prose.

But then I've got kind of quirky taste. I like Elisabeth Spencer too who has a new book out of her old stories (Light in the Piazza) and six new ones.

I have never read Margaret Drabble but have certainly heard the name, so I think I'll look out for that Realms of Gold, it's so nice to get recommendations, and, Louise, have not heard of Freydont, either, but that High Seas Murder does sound good.

Stephanie's post stopped me up short! I was about to say I really like EF Benson and Elspeth Huxley when I realized they were not current, too, and that got me thinking how I would answer if somebody came running up and thrust a million dollars in my face and said "QUICK QUICK, what is the last really GOOD book you read?"

That's a good question!

We read a LOT of books here in our Books & Literature sections and are approaching our 6th year of doing so. Not all of them were saved in the Archives.

Is it when you read more that you find you enjoy less or do you develop better or more picky or less tolerant taste? How many pages do YOU give a book before you close the covers and ship it off to our Book Exchange? Does it matter how fast you read? If you're a "speed" reader?

I, too, like Stephanie, have thrown off the "shoulds" of book reading. I'm not as bad as most editors who say if the first sentence/ paragraph does not hook me, forget it, but I no longer force self thru 100 pages like I used to, either.

ginny

and liking what I read these days. When I went back to finish my degree I took a course in modern literature. Since then I have learned that just because a professor suggests a book to be a 'classic' that I am going to like it. Since I am no longer required to write papers or take tests on what I read, I choose my reading by what I am in the mood for at that moment. Some books may be helpful for students to broaden their outlook of the world of literature but I am well past needing to be broadened. lol

The worst kind of book-pest is the one who doesn't check their sources before exposing just how dreadful their memory is.

Penelope FitzGerald DIDN'T win the Booker with "The Blue Fower". Nobody did. But Penelope Liveley won the prize in 1987 with "The Moon Tiger" & THAT was the book I slipped back into the library unread. It was later that all the critics & reviewers mentioned Penelope FitzGerald's "Blue Flower" as one of the best books they had read that year, & I couldn't read that one either. I apologise for muddling everything up & promise to watch myself in future.

Doris Lessing is always a comfort in her advice to readers who find books difficult. She says that there are so many good books, we should read only those that we like - some are just not written with us in mind. She has also mentioned the upward curve in the quality of reading if we read a lot. Writers that delighted us 10 years ago become less delightful, & though I always feel disloyal crossing them off, they go on pleasing thousands of other people just the same.

Is there anybody here who has the same trouble as I do with some novelists who publish both fiction & non-fiction? Writers like Virginia Woolf & Doris Lessing; I can find nothing of interest in their fiction, but their non-fiction is full of gold nuggets? Marina Warner & Joan Didion as well - the first pages of the non-fiction books are full of promise, but the novels suggest 'yawn/snore' before I've read the dedication. It's so unfair, but I have tried & failed to correct this. (Joan Didion's "The Last Thing He Wanted" has the best first page of any novel I have ever read - but I lost interest afterwards... makes no sense).

Hmm. Well I used to love Doris Lessing and read all of the early stuff. But no more.. The last few have simply been too preachy for me. I must confess that I adore Dorothy Sayers, but not her religous stuff. She considered that her good stuff, but I adored Lord Peter at first glance. Susan Howatch wrote some wonderful English type stories.. Cashelmara and Penmaric.. I devoured them and liked also the Wheel of Time and another, but later she wrote a 4 volume series, that has a plot, but is basically about the church of england and it was just awful .. At least for me. Never finished it . Just could not be less interested.

Yes, Viogert, I know what you mean about fiction and non-fiction from the same author. Virginia Woolf's fiction does deserve to be within the top 100 novels of literature, where her To the Lighthouse or Mrs. Dalloway usually is found, but her diaries and letters, books and books of them, is what I love.

Do I keep reading what isn't that much fun or meaningful? Well, I have been, for a few years, at least. I only "discovered" "literature" 15-20 years ago, so I've always felt I was playing catch-up. One summer I read almost everything Dickens wrote. In the fall, all of E.M. Forster (Passage to India, Howard's End, A Room with a View, Maurice, etc.) Then, all of Woolf, fiction and non-fiction. I'm still doing that, to some extent (reading to "learn"), but with so much less enjoyment, so I must be close to a point of amending this goal of "learning." Penelope Fitzgerald's Blue Flower....well, I guess I finished it because I said I would, as we were discussing it, but I certainly wanted to raz Ginny about her favorite author while I was reading it. THEN I read The Bookshop and loved it, couldn't fathom it was the same author.

All this talk of mystery makes me hungry for a good whodunit. (wheeeee, like a bag of chocolate!!)

Let me suggest Leslie Forbes - she writes these big thick, unusual & well-written mystery stories. Her first won a lot of praise called "Bombay Ice" & her recent one "Fire,Blood,Fish" was another good read. I can't get Eliot Pattison's books out of my mind at present - I just finished the second called "Water Touching Stone" they are long & with complex plots set near Tibet. The first book "The Skull Mantra" haunted me for months. The hero is endearing. (I just wish you hadn't mentioned chocolate. . . . )

On your recommendation Betty, I ordered a used p/b of "The Bookshop" from a bookshop near Scunthorpe who described it as VG - & quite cheap too. I've heard other people enthuse about the book, & the reviewers in Amazon all praise it so I'm looking forward to it. Another good thriller I've mentioned already & not as forbidding-sounding as 'a big fat thick book', is Thoman Perry's recent "Death Benefits' - very good in p/b. I really enjoyed that one.

My bedside reading is different from my day time reading, am I the only one?

Now I have "evening reading," the way I'm going I think I will probably have hourly readings every day. haahhah

In the evenings, my husband will build a big fire and I drag out Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol which I read every year. I've got the annotated version and have really enjoyed learning about some of the strange customs and what Dickens meant by XXX and YYY.

Then for bedtime reading I've got EF Benson's Lucia series and am now in the book where Lucia runs for Mayor of Tilling, I love this series and have read it innumerable times, I carry it with me on trips abroad, it's just the perfect thing to end the day with, but NOW I'm reading Simon Brett's Christmas Crimes at Puzzel (and yes that's spelled correctly) Manor and it's as good and fun as you can get, see the Welcome Center for more details.

It almost seems that my bedside reading nowadays needs to be light clever and well written, the carefully crafted wry turn of phrase. I went on a PG Wodehouse kick once and read all of his books the same way but only at night. I went thru all the Miss Reads, too, at one time, very blah for me I'm afraid.

I'm not sure what it is, but watched Gormenghast (sp) on BBC America the other night and had nightmares all night long, it seems that I need something light and well written to go gently into that good night and the strong stuff by light of day.

Do you see any difference in your nighttime reading and what you read by day?

It has to be a REALLY good book for me to carry it to the bedside table, and it's been a LONG time since I had one. Maybe this A House for Mr. Biswas in February will fill that bill.

What are you reading right before you drop off and am I the only one who wakes up in a bed with books everywhere on the covers? hahahahaha

ginny

Well now Ginny, I guess my daytime reading is somewhat different from my daytime reading. I usually figure recreation reading at the bedside. However, I do have a Bible there. My goal is to complete reading it in a year. I also must study a couple of other publications. Sometimes I do it before sleeping and sometimes in the morning. Now that our temperature was a little lower than it has been I put my comforter on the bed. One of my cats just loves that comforter so last night there she was right beside me.

This morning I needed gasoline and since I do live alone except for my 2 cats I decided that I needed a new supply of books for next Tuesday. All restaurants and stores will be closed and I don't suppose there will be anything good on TV so I am prepared. I also got to see that lovely exhibit of Russian Art again. There are several sets of nesting dolls. The largest one has 30 and the smallest one is so tiny. It is smaller than my little finger nail.

I read older stuff at night. I think that familiar is helpful for me to go to sleep to. I am reading an older Laurence Block just now. I also like short stories before bed.. My car book is usually also short stories.. That way, while waiting I can complete a story.

I do keep some magazines and leaflets in my car, but usually I keep my radio on for music and laugh at the other drivers when I am at the stop light. When I am at the doctor's office I find it hard to concentrate on reading so I do seek and find puzzles. I keep little puzzle books in my purse.

I started years ago.. keeping a book in the car. I had sons who were going to orthodontia.. on the swim, wrestling, cross country, teams etc. I seemed to spend a good deal of time just waiting, so I kept a bag in the car.. Book,, some sort of needlework project, a cookie or two, something chocolate for stress.. Still do to this day.. Just habit, but it does come in handy upon occasion.

Stephanie, The car does seem to become a home away from home. I do sometimes have to wait for friends.

I also spent many years waiting on sons at various school activities and kept a paperback book and some stationery in the car pocket.

My nighttime reading is the same as my daytime reading, except I do keep current magazines on the bedside table until I finish them. Since I usually fall asleep as I'm reading, I do not keep my Bible there; I want to concentrate fully when I'm reading or studying that.

I just read non-generic novels! I don't care for most mysteries, but have enjoyed all the Ann George "Sister" books, Margaret Truman's "Murder In The (Pick a Washington location!)", and William Buckley's "Blackford Oakes" books (also like his others). NEVER read sci-fi or "cookie-cutter" romances (like Danielle Steele). I'm so impressed with those of you who read and re-read The Classics. Somehow, I always feel as if I'm back in a Lit Class and will be tested on the "right" interpretation (which I never seemed to have!). I do enjoy watching t.v. presentations of them, though.

I read Miss Read (smile) when I'm tense and feeling overwhelmed - which, fortunately, doesn't happen often these days. At one period of my life, they were an escape to a simple lifestyle that I found calming.

I've just finished all 956 pages of Diana Gabaldon's newest - "The Fiery Cross". Yes, I managed to prop it up on my tummy in bed! I had put it on reserve and, of all times, my turn came about two weeks ago. Since it's new in the library system, I couldn't renew it, but gladly paid the overdue fine in order to finish it. I have enjoyed this series, but I do think she's about "out of story". I don't know if there's another one planned.

LOUISE: Although I won't need any this Tuesday, I, too, have stocked up on reading material for holidays when I will be alone. Good idea!

I just noticed this folder and read the questions at the top --- suddenly I had this feeling of good-heavens-what-does-my-late-night-reading-say-about-me. And did the geriatric equivalent of dashing upstairs!

I'm golden as a friend used to say. I'm finishing up the last volume of Durrell's "Alexandria Quartet" (this is the fourth time I've read the series, I think.) "Our Town," which I have never read before. "Shinto in History." And the "Numerical Discourses of the Buddha" (an anthology of suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya), of which I try to read one of a day.

Jack

Kevxu, You do read books that really sound interesting. Isn't it wonderful that there is such a variety of things to read?

Right now I am reading a bran new Star Trek book. It is called GATEWAYS. Actually it is several novels in one book. One for each of the previous TV shows and one for the series called "New Frontier" that is all book and no television. (The new TV series "Enterprise" isn't represented. I guess it's too new.)

What always fascinates me about Star Trek is the number and variety of people that want to get in on the writing of episodes.

When my grandsons were very young they would scooch up next to me on the couch and tempt me into reminicence by opening with, "Grandma, remember when . . .?" And I would always say, "Is this a trip down short memory lane?" They would say, "Noooo. It's all the memory we've got, but YOU have LOTS" Then I would tell them stories about the "olden" days. After a while their eyes would begin to droop so I'd sing them "The Owl and the Pussycat" and then they'd go off to bed. It was the sweetest time.

Memories get in my way when I'm reading, too. Some books evoke so many related thoughts that I make slow progress getting through the author's material. This synapsing of the nuerons in the memory areas of my brain tend to wake me up rather than make me sleepy. I try to read something like "The Pencil" by Henry Petroski (the invention and evolution of the pencil) or a John McPhee or a good mystery (although if it's really good I tend to stay up too late.)

Now that it's colder, I have to wear a sweater to bed so my arms won't get cold holding the book out from under the covers. I have even taken to wearing a knit cap to keep my head warm. I never imagined I would end up like this, but then I never really imagined getting old. Did you?

HOWZAT

I get cold, too. Wonder what that is. The other morning I was reading with a full length heavy robe and a warm, fuzzy hat from the coat closet that had a neck scarf attached to it. Mmm, cozy!

Linda

I have also found the need to wrap up in an afgan or get into warm clothes when I read at night. My office is in the same temp zone of our bedroom. Since we like a cool room for sleeping my office tends to get cooler at night. Now my being cold can't be because I am not as young as I used to be, can it? Nah, it has to be the rooms temperature. lol

You're right - not many of us seem to be ending up as we thought. It's better than I expected though - especially in my head. (I wondered if I should send for "The Pencil". I saw it recommended some years ago.)

There's the story of Ava Gardner, who had a stroke - her housekeeper of years, became arthritic, so the pair used to take their exercise in Hyde Park at night. One night they walked too far - there were no seats, so they sat on the ground under the trees in the dark. When they tried get up, they couldn't. Then they could get up for laughing, then they wanted the loo urgently. Ava said "Did you ever think we'd end up like this Renee?". Renee said "No maam - I never did".

There is another mysterious comfort to be found in Sherwin B. Nuland's "How We Die" where he reported brain cells that GROW in old age. These are situated where high thought takes place, he writes. Could we assume these are one of the sources of wisdom? Since I turned 70, I seemed to know more than I remember learning - if you know what I mean. Like Howzat raising her eyes from her book to contemplate - it's at these times we make complicated connections, or raise new questions - the elderly brain seems comnstantly on the move - probing & unravelling.

Many thanks to the person who commented on Clyde Edgerton. I have just finished "Raney" and will be reading my way through the rest of his novels.

VIOGERT: Very good comments on brain usage in later years. I find myself nodding knowingly as I read because I have either experienced, or know someone who has experienced, similar life-happenings to the character I'm reading about. Then I smile as I read how the character deals with the situation - realizing (in my..ahem.."older wisdom" <smile>) that life is, indeed, an adventure and there's a new one around every corner - but sometimes you have to watch for traffic and cross the street.

CallieK, I envy you reading through Clyde Egerton's books for the first time. I have read my set three times, already.

Hairy, my dear, I chuckled at the picture of you bundled up indoors with a knit cap and scarf, reading. I went to the doctor once and was left waiting, alone, naked, with only that paper gown they give you for cover. The room was cold. And it got even colder when the air conditioning came on. I was desparate. I took a cotton sheet that was lying on the examination table and put it over my head, draped down over my body. After a while I heard this hearty laughter coming from several people! I peeked out from under my sheet, and there were the nurses and the doctor standing in the doorway. It seems the air conditioning ducts funnel more air to the room I was in than any other room in the office suite. They all told me they were sorry I had gotten so cold, but that my solution had been unique. No one else that they knew of had thought to use the sheet as a tent.

Viogert, your story about Ava reminded me of one I read many years ago about this magazine editor telling of trying to get his elderly mother to either come live with him or have someone live in with her. I don't remember who he was, but he was just out of his mind with worry about her coming to some sort of misadventure between visits. Finally, she agreed to hire someone. He was aghast when he found out the lady was even older than his mother! But the arrangement seemed to work.

However, one day he stopped by and both ladies seemed to be a bit disheveled and flustered. Over tea, the story came out. It seems they had been walking in Central Park that blustery day. They had been holding hands to steady each other against the wind. Suddenly, a wind gust blew the two of them right over backwards. They struggled like two ancient turtles on their backs, calling for help. But no one was about. They finally got turned over, crawled to a park bench to get leverage to stand up, brushed themselves off and scurried home. He said his mother opined that she would not go walking on windy days ever again and her elderly companion shook her head in agreement.

HOWZAT

Oh what a lovely story about age and solutions. I have no good answers in my family. My mother died relatively young and my mother in law had alzheimers, so she had no solutions, no name, no anything at the end. Ever since, every night, I say,,, take me all at once, dont take the brain first. Oh please.. So I love hearing about elderly who have a functioning brain and use it.

Bless your heart, that is my wish, also. To just go. I have a great, constant fear of developing Alzheimer's. Such a cruel, cruel disease. They say it has probably been around longer than we think, that it was often misdiagnosed as senility. HOWZAT

Now there's the sound of indomitable women determined to hang on to all their marbles - obstinately determined to cope with anything at any age rather than be thought incompetent. (Even with a sheet!) It's always the attitude that works for us. I cannot remember one person who expressed a fear of dementia who ever became demented. Can you?

VIOGERT: No, I can't. But I do remember how sorry I felt for my mom when she was hospitalized because her electrolytes were all out of whack. That made her act 'crazy' and, after the electrolytes were stablized, she was very frightened that she was losing her mind. (She wasn't!)

Oh CallieK,,, I would have been terrified. My kids laugh at me because I am so independent. I am told that they worry that I would move far far away if I thought my mind was going so they would not know... They are probably right.

Your children should be grateful to have a mother intellectual enough to plan her own future. It's sensible for us to monitor our head health in private.

The schoolboy Marcus Plautus Molesworthus wrote:

"As any fule kno, akquire culture and keep the brane clean".

That's what you are doing here isn't it?

A clean brain.. Now thats a thought. I must really worry that one to death. It is such a different view on thinking..

Indeed, Alzheimer's is a terribly cruel disease. It can begin in a person in their 40's. It is diffucult to diagnose and really can't be until post mortem.

Alzheimers is genetic - there is treatment against it developing if caught in time. I don't know what the tests are but struggling for words & being dithery are not true signs. I remember being absent minded in my 30s. Women frequently feel ga-ga because their heads are full of other people's appointments & birthdays & when to plant the asparagus. When they forget to remember things of their own, they are accused of senility. Not funny.

I do hate the fact that I have problems remembering specific words sometimes. I have always had a large vocabulary and even though I still know the word, it slips into some little pocket, then pops out about an hour later. Darn.

Stephanie. Happens to us all -- we all fume over it. People with a decent word-bank, subconsciously add to it all the time, so there's no room to maneouvre by the time we're grown-ups. Har har.

It is what ever I happen to be reading at this time it's A Fine Balance Oprah's pick for this month and it very good.

Lately I have been reading mystery novels by Marian Babson. She has written almost 30 and they are very easy and quick to read. She does not use the same characters in each book. The author was born in Massachusetts but lives in England so her books are all set there. What is interesting is the differences in spelling and even some words between American and English. But then I went back in my memory and do remember my grandparents and even me when I was little using some English spelling. I am originally from Mass. so I suppose at that time we were still reflecting our motherland.

Louise J.Evans The American Philological Association reformed around 3,500 English words - getting rid of a lot of useless letters to make spelling easy & pronunciation simpler. The Russians did the same with their language in 1917(?) & cleared out Cyrillic characters they didn't think were any use.

As a result of the American reform, the English spelling looks cumbersome & though I try to weed out some useless letters if I am writing to the US, a lot of our English gets through. I have three dictionaries because of this - one modern one full of the new words, one Shorter Oxford English Dictionary & one Macmillan American.

I'm still grateful English is my mother tongue -- fancy having to learn this:

"The mill-wright on my right thinks
it right that some conventional rite
should symbolise the right of every man
to write as he please"

Since Christmas when I began hoarding books & ordering books as if setting up for a siege, I have a tall stalagmite of started or unread books as a result. Because I was chasing the early Thomas Perry books, if one came in, I stopped what I was reading & started it - not very disciplined, but there you are.

So among the Fiction:
Waiting by Ha Jin
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Metzger's Dog by Thomas Perry (A caper - not like his others)
Girl from the South by Joanna Trollope (new)
> Pursuit by Thoman Perry (new) half way through.

Non-fiction:
The poetry books - Anne Carson & Carol Ann Duffy.
The autobiog of Tony Hillerman (unread)
Global Soul by Pico Iyer
Then under the clutter for if I feel like a laugh, I have the letters of Kingsley Amis (I know I know - he's a misogynist bigot), also "Which Lie Did I Tell?" by William Goldman (further adventures in the screen trade).

I am in a mid-life crisis of my old age & my taste in reading is changing fast. You assume at 75 you will stay the same, but apparently you don't.

Viogert, I have a suspicion that we continually change all our lives. Even the things we like or dislike. Now that I am retired I feel like I can enjoy some of the things I couldn't do while I was working.

I now have time to go to the library and get as many books as I want. I find that when I find an author I like I read all of the books until I come to the end of them. I also find that I really like salsa. I get it by the large jar full.

Salsa and books - life can't get much better than that.

Kathy

Salsa.. Love every different flavor and started making my own fresh.. Wow.. totally different taste when you do that. Pineapple.. Mango, Jalapena, Apple. lovely lovely Salsa

What's salsa then? I thought it was a dance. Different flavoured dances already?

Have either of you a quick cheap easy recipe. I can't wait for a new experience of eating & reading.

Salsa is to eat. Stephanie I have not as yet learned to make my own. Some of your suggestions really sound good.

Viogert I am not sure ho to describe salsa except that there are things in it like tomatoes, onions, vinegar, fruits especially citrusy ones and jalapeño peppers. It can be mild or hot. You can use it with meats, fish or in tacos or anyway you like. The thing that makes the stuff so is that it turns our it is good for you. If you are trying to lost weight it helps and it is so low in calories you can have as much as you like. The other day I was at Pollo Tropical (Miami's newest fast food restaurants). I had salad and got 2 small containers of salsa. I didn't have anything to put it on. I just ate it as is.

Salsa almost always has tomatoes, onion,coriander and some form of peppers. I like fruit ones, so I add in pineapple or mango or watermelon ( one time) and peaches( my favorite). I also use a mixture of pepper,, Jalapeno, Habanero, chilies, chipotle, etc. Fresh salsa has fresh tomatos, but the canned uses cooked ones as well as chunks. I started with it when I went to Weight Watchers and was losing weight. It is no fat at all. I love it on Baked Potatoes, in a dip. On Turkeyburgers or grilled chicken. I cook fish ( poached or baked) and then use the salsa as a sauce. Infinite sort of thing. Someone remarked that it is the answer to catsup. spicier, but used for everything.

And it does wonders for a big, hot bowl of Bean Soup!

Thanks Phyll & Stephanie It sounds brilliant - a strongly flavoured healthy sauce then? It's puree'd & smooth? (Or lumpy with bits in it?) It's like Pesto? All this stuff has come into fashion since I moved on to cheap monotonous food several years ago so I could pay my book bills. I missed all the fashionable foods like sushi & all the new salad veg too but I read about it & look at the pictures.

LOL. I sure agree it goes great with books and a bowl of chips and a warm bed! I make mine with half canned tomatoes and half fresh tomatoes, white onions, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Since I don't like it hot I skip the hot seasonings. Sometimes I chop in little bits of avocado, if I can get one in this tiny town I live in. But I chop it all fine and mix and voila! Great salsa to go with the chips. Low in calorie too. Will have to try the apples and other ingredients mentioned. Never thought of that, but I bet those are good too. Yum! Now I'm hungry and will have to go make some, and then curl up in bed, in flannel PJs with big warm sox and with the kitties and my dog and a good book. It's raining furiously outside---so it's a perfect night for all that.

No bread or chips in the house and you've made me raving hungry. How rude! I can't concentrate on what I'm reading for thinking about it. AAAGGGHHH

HOWZAT

Oh Howzat, did not mean to make you hungry. Fly off to Florida and I will make you all sorts of Salsa.. Smooth or rough. My bedtime reading this month as been "Savage Beauty" since in March we are going to discuss it and it is a long long book.. Still I loved Edna St. Vincent Millay, so I am slogging through.

Hi, HARPER...and welcome to SeniorNet Books! You're not only welcome...but invited...to join in any and all discussions that you care to join.

I picked up an old author...P.D.James today at the Library. I like mysteries, and I like the new people, but the oldies kind of draw me back, too.

š jane›

Jane: Thanks for the welcome. I like mysteries too. I have P D James' Death in Holy Orders, but I haven't read it yet. I like Robert Parker, especially his new ones about Paradise. I enjoyed Dennis Lehane - Mystic River. And the quirky authors - Donald E Westlake, Elmore Leonard. What fun. Anybody down on my level who thinks Evanovich is the funniest thing going? I try to intersperse such fun stuff with something relatively serious. Just finished Studs Terkel's "Will the Circle be Unbroken". Fascinating. He really fills a niche. It's really great to find kindred souls who couldn't live without books. By the way, I also have a cat, Frannie, who helps me read.

Harper...be sure you come on down to the Mystery Corner discussion, too.

Click HERE to get to the Mystery Corner discussion

. . . how many of us eat in bed? I don't count the bedridden - among whom I will shortly belong - but the ones who have a permanent tin of butterscotch, or make supper of fruit - or something that doesn't need spoons or forks. (Or even something that DOES need spoons & forks!), or makes crumbs, or makes drips, or attracts cats. . . .?

I have a container of dried apriots at my bedside to snack of. Once in awhile some nuts. On occasion I take a "cup of soup" to sip on as I relax. None of these attract cats or require a spoon. I'll never forget the time I had a cup of hot chocolate in my hand and was about to set it down when a cat collied with it. That was mess!!.

I'll occasionally sit down at the dining room table with some popcorn and a diet coke and enjoy my reading. No food in bed though. Dogs and husbands, yes, but no food!

reading and eating are two of my absolute favorite things to do, what can I say but that I'm guilty of eating in bed with a good book propped up too? And since I also enjoy sleeping, well --- it seems like eating and reading in bed is the Life of Riley!!! I don't like breakfast in bed though, just a snack that's not too messy (like popcorn or nuts or CHOCOLATE) while I'm reading. My cat likes to check out whatever it is I'm eating and she will beg to share anything, including popcorn. But I draw the line at chocolate, 'cause I LOVE chocolate, and I refuse to share it with her. LOL.

I stumbled onto this site and am sure I will visiting it frequently.

On my bedside table there resides no less than 20 books at any one time. Along with the books is a tv remote and vcr remote, snacks, glass of liquids (one kind or another) kleenex, and 2 doggie bones (It's either there or I'm lying on them). I have 2 more stacks of books on my telephone table next to my bedside table.

And yes, I do actually sleep in there sometimes. However are other times I read for hours. And once in a while, I get lazy on a Sunday and spend most of the Day there. Why NOT? Got Food, water, companionship (dog), reading material, tv, vcr, and sitting room. I have different types of books although many of them are love stories. I read enough horror and violence during the day and I really need something uplifting prior to bedtime.I have too vivid an imagination for horror stories. Stphen King is a bright sunshiny day type of reading.

yoda606, I would call your style the Life of Rley,or should I say the life of yoda. I too like my tv with its vcr in my bedroom. Usually I also have the hand set to my cordless telephone nearby as well as my assortment of books and my 2 cats. The other night I woke up to find that there was a rerun of the Olympics opening. It really was beautiful to watch.

Good heavens, I thought as I read about the 20 books on the night stand, but then I counted the ones I have waiting on a TV tray halfway between my bed and my desk (where I am sitting now) and there are 21. The laws of physics says that eventually I will add one too many and the X legs on the thing will collapse, oh me. Then there is a stack sitting on the floor at the foot of my bed, also waiting, of some 17 books.

I prepare food in the kitchen, but I eat everything at my desk in my bedroom. My dining room table top has not been seen for years; it has 2 feet of stuff stacked on it, stuff in transit to somewhere else, stuff at the bottom I may or may not remember ever having.

I do not eat in my bed. I am a stickler for clean, smooth 250 thread count 100% cotton sheets, pulled tight, four pillows and a down comforter. A bed good for reading, by a prairie style lead glass lamp made at the turn of the century.

I'm reading Ma Jian's "Red Dust" and May Sarton's "At 70" both memoirs. I am especially fond of memoirs.

HOWZAT

I must not be a bed person. I have whatever book I am currently reading at bedtime ( never a day time book) and generally a backup in case the one I am reading gets boring. No food, water in the bathroom, not next to the bed. The cats get the bed in the day and we get it at night. Solves a lot of problems that way. Our dog will get up if she is up before us in the morning, but only to get us up. ( keeper of the food, you know) I get up early and make the bed within the first hour of being up. I guess I like the living room ( where my beloved computer is) and a comfortable chair. Now I do love to eat there, the chair that is.

Hello Rea788, welcome to the Books!

Have you a big pile of books on your bedside table like I do?

I hope you come back. I remember the first time I tried to post something on a discussion here on SeniorNet. I didn't know what to put in that first little line. And, after I decided what I would put there (you don't have to put anything if you don't want to) I hit "enter" thinking the cursor would jump to the big message box. Oh me.

The other night, I had a big, perfect (LOL) post going and hit something (I don't know what) on my keyboard that made the whole thing disappear! And, you know you can't ever "bake that cake the same again".

So, jump right in. We really do want to know what's on your mind.

HOWZAT

Welcome. We do lool forward to hear from you soon. Right not quite near my bed is a really bad leaki. One thing about leaks is that when it is sunny there is no leak.

howzat, I think we have all had strange things happen to our posts. My favorite is when by some mirace you get 2 identical posts.

Hi Nellie and Stephanie.

it brought back memories of my father and his philosophy. If there was a leak in the roof he claimed that when it was raining it couldn't be fixed; and when the sun came out it didn't need to be fixed. My mother would always want to throw something at him when he said that. LOL.

Ah leaks, We had a flood last November and even thought it was supposed to be a very unusual storm, etc. the first drop of rain, and I am down stairs where the water came in, staring at the wall. Silly but true.

Well here I am again, so sorry, all of a sudden my message took offand I had'nt written a thing,oh well, will try again.Someone told me about this discussion board and have been reading for quite a few weeks. Everyone sounds so nice and fun. I love to read fiction,am just about through with Dance upon the air,then will read Heaven and earth by Nora Roberts, Second Silence and Stranger in Paradise by Eileen Goudge, also a couple of computer books. These are all on my bed side table,besides a telephone,radio,and thats about it.Must get a bigger table. I have so many books I doubt if I will ever get them all read,but I am trying, I belong to the Book of the month club, and just cant resist. Rea788

Jack Higgins book! A Fine Night For Dying It was printed in Great Britain in 1969. I must have bought it in Canada. does anyone else read his work? He is one of my favorite authors.

I'm glad you made it back, Rea788! Those all sound like interesting books -but then all books interest me -you could say, if it has words on it or in it, then it will interest me. But my favourite genre is Science Fiction.

I've never understood Science Fiction. They seem to have the same problems, in other deminsions (Sp?) and galaxys as we on Earth do. And the good and evil is the same, except the "tools" for fighting each other are futuristic. I keep hoping we will evolve into Peace, but I suppose Peace is not really very interesting, no conflict.

HOWZAT

Like Nellie, I love science fiction. Many of the authors build a quite complete alternate world. I am always fascinated by the concept of alternate. I also enjoy turning a fact upside down. I like fantasy better than hard science, but in my youth I adored Isaac Asimov and he is quite a big hard science type writer. If you want to read about a very complete world. Try Anne McCaffreys Dragon series.. or the Ship series from her. In both cases, an unusual idea becomes a complete world. Very interesting

Howzat I agree with you - science fiction misses me somehow. Like "Lord of the Rings" doesn't grip either. I liked "A Woman on the Edge of Time" by Marge Piercy - a woman who discovered other civilizations could pick up her thoughts, but was so poor & had too many problems to take much advantage of it. It was heartbreaking. I used to like John Wyndham - "Midwich Cuckoos" etc. Unfussy, simple plotting.

A good example of the SF I find impenetrable, was spoof a long time ago in The New Statesman by Watson Weeks. It starts:

"It came about that the second year of the tenth decade of the fifth age of the second millenium was waning when Kelnoit, son of Ilnekot, well beloved of Toilnek & Lord of the Notelki set forth from Lintoek early in Lotinek, expecting to reach Iltoken in 112 days by mid-Koilnet"

I was so impressed, I clipped it out as you can see (N.S. Jan 13 1989). My sister is like Stephanie & Nellie - she enjoys Azimov & Anne McCaffrey. She likes Ursula le Guin as well & has re-read Tolkien several times - she has all the trekkie videos. A real aficionado.

viogert, I like that spoof LOL! But it seems to be more of a spoof of Fantasy than Science Fiction to me. There are some pretty bad Fantasy books that start like that and keep going like that -those are not the I buy or read.

Stephanie, it is the alernate worlds and alternate futures and all those other feats of the author's imagination that have me enjoying Science Fiction, and Fantasy.

I used to read a lot of Sci. Fic. but kind of drifted away from it,dont know why, should get back to it.I just finished reading Dancing upon the air, very good,for a change there were very nice witches in tis book. Now must start on the second book,they are a trilogy.I have know idea about the third one,haven't heard a thing about it. Rea788

John Wyndham - Mmm - The Day of the Triffids - Delicious.

Hairy . . . .I just checked, & all of Wyndhams books are in print - all with 5 gold stars - "The Day of the Triffids", "The Kraken Wakes" & all. Authors who are supposed to be similar, they named Neville Shute, H.G.Wells & Ray Bradbury. And also, Philip Pullman who I've not read, but my friend raves over him - he has won prizes recently too.

I like Science Fiction especially Star Trek. I always figure that since the writers are actually earthlings they have to use what they know along with great imaginations. I remember the original series wove alot of the problems of that into the stories. (I forgot - I am really thinking more of television than books - but there are plenty of Star Trek books including some written by William Shatner himself.)

has also written a series of Sci/Fi books. All have Tek... . I didn't like them as they were very misogynic. In reguards to the Star Trek TV programs -- I loved them!

I have never been able to finish the Rings cycle. Just not into Gandolph, etc, but I do love some fantasy writers. Lynn Abbey wrote a series years ago on a horse clan woman that was absoluttely shattering. It seemed to h ave taken the element of bedouin culture and transfered it to an alternate world.. Frank Herbert's original "Dune" was quite wonderful.. But he kept writing the series and am not overfond of the later ones.

Stephanie. I had forgotten all about the horse-clan women - I didn't realise there were more than one, but I couldn't have named it - or the author if I'd tried. They rescued women who escaped from The City (was it?). It left understains on the heart though. Another I read at the same time was called "Wanderground" by Sally Gearhart. It swiped me sideways it was so powerful. Lives of the Hill Women - no machines or weapons would work outside of cities. I'll look for the horsewomen now I have an author - thanks for that Stephanie.

There are several writers all women who wrote about horse clans. I suspect you are talking of another book. Wish I could remember the author or title. I know she is Canadian and writes extensively for Sci-Fi.. A wonderful author. Oh darn.,. to remember her name. She has won several awards and writes almost exclusively about women and the worlds they have created. Lynn Abbeys horse clan woman was thrown out of her tribe for surviving an attack on the clan as a mere woman. She journeys to find another tribe or way of life.

On my bedside table i have 1 a copy of King James bible,2 a copy on the lifework of Alfred Adler 3 a copy of the latest Harlen Coben fiction Tell No One 4 Peter Hoeg's Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow [read reread and reread!] Not into sci-fi or fantasy but has anyone tried Marion Zimmerman Bradley, she did some good stuff i believe according to my chief librarian.Louise, i don't have a problem with Stephen King but don't you think one "outgrows"certain authors?[noticed few were commenting in another discussion, maybe film/video, about how excellent S.K's Green Mile was. I read the book before i saw the video and thought it excellent, not in the least like his earlier scary books. ]Just goes to show you? At the moment i am into a guy who used to live here ,Lee Child, and i have to say i am always waiting for his next book.Likewise Michael Connelly. You may think i have a bizarre reading selection [ for a woman] perhaps, but i grew up with The Brontes,in fact i live quite near to where they lived,,and Dickens . Always awaiting something new by my favourite female Canadianauthor Margaret Atwood.She can do little wrong in my opinion!.Also another favourite Canadian Alice Munro .

Yes, I have an online friend who has raved about Pullman, too. He says his 85 year old grandmother said his latest is tremendous.

I have never read him, but I might break down and try him out. Seems like they should be read in order though.

Neville Shute wrote On the Beach - another of my all time favs.

H.G. Wells - one of his lesser known books is "Down and Out in Paris and London" - was a powerful read for me.

Linda

Stephanie. The Canadian writer looks more likely than Lynn Andrews - (who I looked up but looked too romantic to suit me). The book I remember was realistic, unhappy & all about women coping in an unfriendly climate. Was that the one? Where would I find her - or will it come to you do you think? I can wait - no hurry after all this time.
Roidininki. I agree with you that Canadian women write really well - both Atwood & Munro have a lovely sense of humour. One of Margaret Atwood's non-fiction books "Good Bones" is full of it. There's another Canadian called Joan Barfoot who writes good novels - not so well known. I'm pleased you brought up Lee Child though - I thought his "Killing Floor" was the best thriller I'd read in years. Straight narrative line, bit of limited love interest, & the most unusual & amazing crime. But he shouldn't have killed off Jack Reacher's brother, should he? Child has written four more books since
Hairy.The only reason I haven't bought Pullman is because I thought he wrote for children. I'll risk it if you will? I think you might have mixed H.G.Welles with George Orwell who wrote"1984" but both are very good writers - Welles wrote "War of the Worlds" & "The Time Machine" - that stuff. Orwell was a Leftie & political.

P.S.
I found an expert called Laura Quilter in Canada who is encyclopedic about women's s/f so wrote to ask her. Had a reply this morning - she tells me the book I remembered must have been "Motherlines". I remember the title now --Suzy McKee Chamas -- who has written a series of books. Place to go for any other specialist genre is:
www.feministsf.org/femsf/authorsc.html

http://www.feministsf.org/femsf/authorsc.html

A nice useable clickable link
Many thanks for that beautiful conversion! I sat looking at it wondering why it worked at home but didn't work here, but didn't know what to do. Very grateful.

just add the "http://"

Pat Westerdale

Duh! Blub-lubble-lubble-lubble.. . . . .

Pat's been at this longer than we have. Just don't use the quote marks (" ") Pat used to set the instruction apart. The first time I did a URL in a post, it broke into two parts when I submitted the message and I thought, "well, so much for what I thought would work." But it did. I clicked on the site myself and went right to it. Tee Hee. I was so proud of myself you'd have thought I'd invented the electric light bulb.

HOWZAT

viogert ... sorry I confused you... but the software here on SN turns an ordinary URL (that gibberish in the address box above) into a clickable link.

AND if you have any questions at all... just ask and if I can't answer you, I'll try to find someone who can. But I don't have HTML for Dummies on my bedside table... I'm reading the the "Unfinished Tales of Tolkein."

Hi Everybody, I just finished reading a great new debut novel called "Angel Fire" by newcomer author Lisa Miscione. I wanted to share this with you because I found it to be a real page-turner and I would highly recommend it! Check out her website at http://www.lisamiscione.com for more info...

Howzat + Pat Westerdale.

Thanks for the help, explanations & kind friendliness. I really AM as gormless as I look.

Beachbum333767

It's a great website, but not quite my sort of book..

I've been trying to remember the woman who wrote the series about cave people. Finally. It was Jean M. Auel--CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR was the first title. Talk about a rush to the bookstores, it was like Harry Potter is now. People were gobbling her books up as fast as she could write them. Anyway, she has one called, VALLEY OF THE HORSES. Some one, I can't remember who, was trying to recall a Canadian who wrote fantasy horse culture?

HOWZAT

Suzy Charnas.. That was her. Motherlines was excellent. A woman named Lynn Abbey also wrote to books about a horse clan family.. Very grim, but good. There is also a french Canadian who is excellent. I have been gone for the past week, but will rummage in the books to see if I can come up with her name as well. She wrote a wonderful book about female societies.. Each village had its own rules. Some allowed men in the villages, so made the males live apart. Some villages were organized and others were strictly creative societies. You could live where you choose. Very interesting.

BEACHBUM 33767 sounds like another interesting find .. Lisa Miscione.. i gave it a look as i was passing a store ..must get it.VIOGERT glad you approve of Lee Child.. i have read all but his last.. like to get the p.b.´s to take on holidays.I wrote to Lee c.o. his publishers.... he lived near to me in England ... imagine my surprise to get a reply from him in America where he lives now? He is glad Reacher has interested women readers.. as you said ... not too much female interest but just enough? Have you visited Lee´s website ..it´s pretty interesting.

Roidininki - Thank you . You wouldn't believe how gormless some people are. Even though Lee Child's website is printed on the jacket of his last book, I just didn't see it. What a nice surprise to log on to his site this morning & have a good read. I'm going across to MYSTERY CORNER, (from "Books on My Bedside Table"), because I want to go droning on about Lee Child - seeing as how he's a crimewriter. Lucky old you - getting a letter from him! I knew he was a Brit but not where from.

I have been away from here for a week or so..very busy. ANyway, I find that much as I enjoy watching Sci Fi on TV or movies, I have never really enjoyed READING it...guess I just don't quite have the imagination or something.

Surfing around on the discussion boards is sure to produce something else to subscribe to. And here I am.

I have two books on my nightstand, neither of which I am reading...yet! One is Irvings "A Widow for a Year" and the other is a book of Russell Banks' short stories, called "The Angel on the Roof." What I am lugging around with me, back and forth from room to room, is Richard Reeves' "Nixon, Alone in the White House." I can't put the book down. It is fascinating.

The one I just finished was a real corker. It is brand new -- called "You Got Nothing Coming, Notes from a Prison Fish" by Jimmy A. Lerner. If you can get past the prison gutter language, (which offensive as it is certainly at least rings very true given the environment), the man has a real story to tell. I bought it on the basis of the reviews posted on Barnes & Noble, after seeing the fellow interviewed on the Today Show, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. It isn't a book for everyone, but I am very glad I read it.

That's it. Gonna go crawl in bed and see what mischief Nixon is up to now!

I read the Widow of One year.. Vintage Irving, although there are others by him that I enjoyed more.

My favorite of all time is Hotel New Hampshire. In spite of its darkness, I found places that were so funny I howled -- especially about grandpa and the stuffed dog in the closet.

I still love Garp,, but the Cider Mill movie was excellent.

My night side table has only two right now. "A Country Doctor" by Sarah Orne Jewett, which I have been meaning to read for years. Just started. And "Looking for Alaska" by Peter Jenkins, which I treated myself to a hardcover copy of. I read his first book Walk Across America, years ago and was hooked on him. If you like personal adventure stories that are well done - you will like Jenkins.

Pneneedle, that book, Coutry Doctor, sounds good. I think I'll look for it the next time I go to the library.

A book I am reading right now is called Miami Heat by Jerome Sanford. It has nothing to do with the famous basketball team. It's actually quite scarey. It is about spies, FBI and CIA agents and Cubans both anti Castro and pro Castro. If there is any basis of truth to this book it is scarey but perhaps not that surprising. It's still interesting when they mention places I know about like Mercy Hospital, Coral Gables and Little Havana.

Miami Heat by Jerome Sanford sounds like my kind of read. Does it follow one character or a central theme? I just finished Last Man Standing by David Baldacci. It mostly followed one man (Web London), but also followed some of the other characters to sshow the reader what was happening in other areas.

I've got two going right now: Stephen J. Cannell's book "The Viking Funeral." He writes terrifying books, and this probably should be a living-room book inside of a bedroom book. He wrote "The Tin Collectors" and it was really good and scary. I'm half-way through this next one, which has the same characters in it (except for the old bad guys - now there are MORE rogue cops!)

But this book is sharing time with "Private Demons - the life of Shirley Jackson" which I am devouring in readiness for a SrNet discussion starting on April 1. Such fun!!!

gaj In Miami Heat, There is a maim character. His name is David Knight and was a former FBI agent who failed his last lie detector test. He became suspicious of the doctor who ended up in the bay. There is a plot to kill Castro. As the story continues he visits Spain and Mexico to check out leads. Just about everyone he has talked to ends up dead. In the background is JFK and the Bay of Pigs. One of the characters was a body gaurd for Bobby Kennedy. Of course there is a girl. Her name is Jennifer she is Cuban and formerly a police officer and the daughter to Bobby Kennedy's body gaurd. It's impossible to know where reality leaves off and reality begins. David and Jennifer are being followed but so far they are still alive.

I am going to reserve Mimi Heat from my library! Thanks for suggesting it.

I have just finished reading (for the second time) Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells, and the "sister" book, Little Altars Everywhere. I LOVED these books, I guess because I am a Southern gal, and can identify with the locale. Has anyone else read and liked these books. Joy

I also just finished Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, which I enjoyed very much . I didn't know much about the Cultural Revolution in China. Am reading The Secret Life of Bees now, and it is about the South (Georgia) and am enjoying it. Joy

Lajoy I loved The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells. Having lived in the Midwest (Ohio) all my life, I enjoyed the view Wells provided into southern life.
:GinnyAnn:

Does everyone know that "Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood" has been made into a movie that is due out soon? I too loved both books and can hardly wait for the film.

Paige: I JUST found out that it is being made into a movie. I CANNOT wait to see it!!!!!! Joy

Has anyone else read Joan Meddlicott's "The Ladies of Covington Send their Love" and "The Gardens of Covington"? I found them to be just what I needed for a good "read", and for a real change of pace after a lot of mysteries and police procedurals. Also, does anyone else get kick out of Monica Ferris's series of Betsy Devonshire mysteries, elegantly set in Excelsior, MN??? I pick them up every so often, just for a change of scene, and to get a quick dose of "Minnesota" doings. Isak

I see the names of 4 very interesting books I'd like to read. I had never heard of the YaYa Sisterhood until this past week when they started advertizing the movie on T.V. I have written the titles in a little notebook that I keep by the Webtv. I have also written down the titles of the 2 books by Joan Meddicott. I am in the process if getting ready to sell my house. I don't dare bring any books home from the library right now. I would be afraid I'd lose them.

On my bedside are a couple of books by Effie Leland Wilder who published her first book at age 85 and is now 92 and has published her 5th book. Look for these in your library if you like humor and good natured fun. I also listen to praise and worship CD's if I can't fall asleep or when I wake up too soon. Kayray

Kayray, those suggestions do sound good. Isn't it wonderful that age is only a number that doesn't limit abilities or talent?

looking forward to the movie. I marked pages in that book with post-it notes where there were especially wonderful lines, like the one gal who said "her mommy radar" was working, or the one who liked her "pretty pink and blue thoughts". I later typed them out and printed them to keep in a notebook where I gather interesting thoughts and sayings as I'm reading, and even now when I run across that page I remember the wonderful "feeling" of the book, the heat and the sweaty dampness of the South and the relationships of these women to each other. Wonderful book. Can't wait to see how they cast the movie.

On my bedside unit is my radio CD alarm clock,tissues,a pottery elephant,a phone,a lamp,a fluffydog (small)and any book by Catherine Cookson,Rosamund Pilcher or Patricia Cornwell.I am starting on Maeve Binchy tonight though and have just read a very thought provoking book called,"Tuesdays with Morrie".

Don't know who all reads Carl Hiiason's books but his latest, Basket Case, is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. It is a murder-mystery, but one that will have you laughing on every page. His protagonist is a newspaper reporter who got himself demoted to writing obituaries, causing him to obsess over the age of everyone who dies - all the way through the book, whenever someone mentions a famous person, the reporter always tells how old he was when he died.

This is a great story, a well-crafted book and just downright enjoyable.

Oh Goody!!! - another book to add to my list of books to read. Yes, I do read Carl Hiaasen's books because living in Florida is a fun place to live. Did he keep any of his old characters like the one-eyed former governor?

I love Hiaasen and read them all.

I haven't read enough of Hiaasons to get a feel for his "old" characters. But there was no one-eyed governor in this one.

I also read (and have for a long time) Elmore Leonard, and I assume you and Stephanie do too, since they go together like peas and carrots.

These guys are just SO creative.

I LOVE funny books, ones where you can just get some good belly-laughs. I think my favorite author of all time when it comes to "funny" books was Peter DeVries. Can't remember the book title but he wrote one where a man lived next to a firework factory, which exploded one night with booms, bells and whistles. The protagonist thought the world was coming to an end and being lapsed in his religion, stuck his head under the sink faucet and baptized himself in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost! I laughed for days over that one!

All his books had a little religious strand running through them and DeVries was particularly adept at finding humor in religious situations without it being objectionable. The book MIGHT have been Tunnel of Love, but I am not sure after these many years.

Also, John Irving's Hotel New Hampshire had a particular funny section where old Grandpa came unexpectedly upon the family dog (stuffed by a taxidermist) in a dark closet. As dark as that book was, this particular scene alone has caused me to keep the book permanently in my collection.

Irving has a dark dark sense of humor in all of his books. I love them, but have to be in the exact mood to read them. Only like some of the Elmore Leonard. He has several types of books and some I simply do not get. I never use them on my bedside table because I laugh too much at that type of book. Go for quieter mysteries, Never serial killers either.

No serial killers nor Steven King for me!

I certainly hope the movie follows the book, and the producers do not "slaughter" it. Joy

Found a nice story while browsing at the library. It's called "Pay It Forward" by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Just into a couple chapters but its about a adolescent boy who is given an extra credit asignment to do some thing that might change the world. He is being raised by his single mom in California. So far I am interested. Reading will wait today while I try to do some gardening. Late getting started this year because of cold spring here in Maine

Pineneedle, a movie has been made of that book. I believe it is now out on video.

HOWZAT

My nighttime reading table is upstairs next to my glider chair. If I read in bed I fall asleep after a few minutes.

Recently I read "A Thousand Acres" by Jane Smiley. It is well written but I felt ambivilent about it- not sure I can accept the recovered memory syndrome as believable. Am I the only person in existence who didn't like "Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood"? I brought it home with the same armload but ended up just skimming through the last half. The third book, "Remember Me" by Laura Hendrie, was a wonderful read and I loved it. Now I am into "The Bonesetter's Daughter" and know I will like it- Amy Tan hasn't disappointed me yet!!

A really funny book that I liked was by Nora Eprhron- I think it was called Crazy Salad.

I have found an author that is new to me. Her name is Barbara Parker and she writes mysteries with Maimi as the setting. Ms Parker is an attorney who once worked the state attorney's office and lives in Coral Gables. Her main character is Gail Connor who has a relationshi with another attorney named Anthony Quintana, a Cuban-American. It really is fun to be able to identify the various locations mentioned as well as some of the people and events of this area that are woven into the stories.

Just read LONG LOST by David Morrell, and I finally finshed it by 1 a.m. There were so many twists and turns and I kept changing my mind every page. Liked it very much. I am now reading Jean Auel's new book and enjoying it as much as her others. She certainly brings to life the people as they search for ways and means to survive in the Stone Age. For a funny series of books Donald Westlake's series that contain John Dortmunder as the main character, I laugh until tears run down my cheeks, they are funny. A number of his books were made into movies but you would never recognize them (as usual), which reminds me, watched HANNIBAL this morning, why did they bother making it into a movie when they changed the main plot? If any book is good enough to make into a movie for goodnes sakes don't rewrite it!!!!

Hello Fran. I was reading your comments about if a book is good enough to make it as a book, why change it to make it into a movie. Some producers have said that making a book into a movie is impossible without changing something. I differ with them on that. I believe, if the director takes the book to heart, he can pull all the same storylines and emotions from the actors and duplicate from page to film.

Dennis H. Christen

Dennis I agree with you 100%. I read the Harry Potter book #1 and saw the movie. Rawlins had tight control of the project and it showed. It was a great adaption of a novel. This shows it can be done!

Why remake a movie that has already been done well?

HOWZAT

HowZat, Oh boy do I agree with you. I cannot believe the number of bad movies in the last few years, that there was an excellent version already in existance. Is this an ego thing for the current day star types? I do wish they would quit and I never ever go to see them and pay good money. Would rather rent the older one. Amazing what ego can do.

Dennis, I agree that a movie can be made from a book without changing anything. If it can't be done that way, then it shouldn't be done at all! It is a wonderful thing to see a favorite book come to life. That is the way I felt when I saw Women in Love (with Glenda Jackson) back around 1970. It seemed to me that it was perfect to the last detail- right down to the green stockings Gudrun wore in the cow pasture.

Other excellent efforts were "The Beans of Egypt, Maine" (Martha Plimpton and Rutger Hauer), "Rambling Rose" (Laura Dern and Robert Duvall) and "Cold Sassy" (Faye Dunaway). Two secondary characters are sometimes combined into one- a loss of course, but better than not having the movie at all. They did that when they made Island in the Sun into a movie starring James Mason and Harry Belafonte. Belafonte also recorded a song by the same name. Those were all fantastic books by the way.

I was disappointed in the H Potter film. I loved reading it - was completely transported in my imagination. And thought the film took away that feeling.

~Marj

I'm reading an excellent book right now, that was on the New York Times bestseller list. It's called "Moment of Truth" by Lisa Scottoline. She has written several books but this is the first one I've read. When I finish this one, I will definitely read more of her books!

Ruth

Hi everyone. Just stopped by to say hello. It is very warm in south Florida. I did visit the library and brought home 5 mysteries to put on my bedside table. Last night I replaced 2 new light bulbs in my lamps so I can enjoy them.

Good evening. Quiet here. So maybe a new voice can re-stir some activity. Currently on the bedside: Oldest Confederate Widow Tells All, a masterpiece by Allan Gurganus. This is a book I absolutely loved when I first started it more than a half dozen years ago. But at the time, I just didn't have the concentration for sustained reading and so, love it or not, never finished it. Now...I'm back for a second try and I am loving it again, from the opening sentence. I can just hear this woman's voice in my head, the 'southern' comes thru so loud and clear, which is part of the author's mastery, I think. Recently finished are a number of Elizabeth Berg novels, which I enjoyed, and Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer, which was WONderful! Fighting for room on that bedside table is a bottle of water, the little timer that stands-in as an alarm, the erstwhile box of kleenex and other jetsam.

I loved the Confederate Widow book. Read it several years ago. A wonderful book with many nuggets of very southern behavior.

They made a movie from the Confederate Widow book but I can't remember who the actress was that starred in it.

At my bedside now is Jan Morris' "Fifty Years of Europe: An Album", where she goes back to a lot of the places she had visited and wrote about in her younger days (she's in her early 70s now) and looks at them again. Such an intelligent and lively writer, I so enjoy running across one of her books I've not read. I never get tired of her writing.

I just finished "Rising From the Plains" by John McPhee, another writer of extraordinary talent, both in writing and having the ability to pull history and present local color into the telling of a thing. He frequently writes about geology, and this book is about the geological history of Wyoming (which at one time used to be the West Coast, west of Rawlings), an area that was under the sea for most of geological time. At the same time he tells of a Wyoming rancher and his family that settled there in 1905 and just happened to produce a world reknown geologist named David Love. Fasinating book. It's hard to imagine that a book about geology could be a page turner, but this is--I was sad to see it end.

HOWZAT

HOWZAT, have you read Jan Morris' "Lincoln: A Foreigner's Quest"? Morris turns a brash and skeptical eye on Lincoln and comes to admire the older Lincoln, not out of habit like many people in the U.S. but after careful examination.

The book is part travel narrative, part history, and part biography. She makes you see Lincoln freshly, stripped of traditional views and assumptions.

Marvelle

Marvelle, I have read Morris' "Lincoln" and was amazed at what I did not know about him. I enjoyed it very much. The critics panned it, however. I have no idea why. They jumped all over her last book, too, "Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere". No reason that I can see for such tacky reviews on that book either. Go figure.

HOWZAT

Howzat: the wyoming book sounds really interesting. I heard the other day that McPhee has four daughters and ALL have books coming out this year...? Want to check that out on Amazon.

Will also keep an eye out for the Lincoln/Morris book. Sounds good.

The movie version of "Confederate Widow" was for TV, I believe - and not very good. (As noted earlier in these posts - how seldom a book is well translated to the screen.)

I'd like to invite you to subscribe to Book Bytes.. but an email to you is returned as "<raveledtraveler@netscape.net>... User unknown".

Send me an email so I have the correct address..

patwest1@winco.net

A bedside book I have is "The New American Bible". It is a Catholic bible. I've been told to help in my study of the bible I should get a concordance book of the bible. Can anyone suggest a specific concordance book I should purchase for the Catholic bible I have. I want to be sure that I do not buy something that is intended for a Protestant bible, e.g., the King James version.

Hi, Larry, and welcome to our Books and Lit, I wish I had a good concordance, myself, maybe someone here can advise you, are there stores where you live which only deal in religious books? Sometimes those, regardless of their seeming orientation, have a good selection of the different concordances available, you would want to get the right one.

We're glad you're with us, what else are you reading?

ginny

Hi there Larry a welcome letter from Books and Literature is on it's way, Hope it helps find a concordence of You choosing.

Ginger

Larry -- I will look and see if I have one. I may have borrowed the one I was using. I found this a Barnes & Nobel

The New American Bible Concise Concordance Usually Available in 1 - 2 weeks. Manufactured by Oxford University Press / Hardcover / Oxford University Press, Incorporated / August 2002 Our Price: $11.99, You Save 20%

I noticed no one has posted in awhile. As I am relatively new to seniornet, I should like to post my reading habits.

Morning is my best time for reading as I am most alert then. I either read what I need to for one book discussion or another, or I pick out something that involves thinking.

Currently I am reading Giants in the Earth for a book discussion group. It is fiction that tells of the first Norwegian settlements in North Dakota. I am also reading The Man who Heard the Land. It is written by a woman who claims native American heritage. She is having a book signing at the bookstore where I work. I wnat to know why the man who heard the land does not reveal his name.

At night I read junk-usually about the rich and famous who overdose on drugs and alcohol. Currently I am reading The Season which has to do with Palm Beach, Florida, residents. I also am reading A Gentle Madness which deals with people who are obessed with collectiong books.

I read about the rich and famous because I am not. I read about bibliomania because it makes me feel better about my obsessive-compulsive book buying behavior.

How delightful to have someone admit, right out in public, that they can't help acquiring more books and more books, and that they read a bit of junk now and then.

I read and buy lots of non-fiction. I go on binges of reading fiction, but I usually get my fiction from the library (unless it is by an author I collect, then I buy it). I have been reading, steadily, non-fiction for over a year and am a bit burned out. A trip to the library is what I need even though it is extremely difficult for me--I have a bad hip and both knees are very painful.

Have you posted in any of the other discussions listed under Books and Literature? Do you click on the "subscribe" button that is at the bottom of each page so each discussion you select will automatically come up, each time you log on, when you click on "check subscriptions"? You only need to click once to subscribe to each individual discussion. You can unsubscribe at any time.

I read lots of essays, biographies and memoirs, and any travel writer that went somewhere and later sat down and wrote a book about it--especially Norman Lewis, Dervla Murphy, Jonathan Raban, Isabella Bird, Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson, Ian Frazier, Pico Iyer, James/Jan Morris, Colin Thubron and Jeffrey Tayler.

HOWZAT

showdog - interesting post, especially the nice reminder of Giants in the Earth which I remember reading so long ago - back in high school, I guess. I couldn't tell you much about it now but I do remember being really caught up in it. One of those (many) books I've thought so much of that I feel I'd like to read them again. But when?

Right now, on my bedside table, is a book about Ishi, the last "wild Indian" in North America. I've just begun and only know a little about him from hearing about him locally. Sounds like a fascinating (true) story and being new to the area, I'm anxious to learn about the local lore. Also stacks of books on natural and alternative healing methods which is my passion.

For many years now I've been reading mostly non-fiction although, like howzat, I burned out on that a few years back and got engrossed in fiction again, once in a while, and now prefer more balance.

After seeing Larry King's interview with Paul McCartney's new wife, I'm anxious to read her book, A Single Step.

I'd love to participate in one of the many book discussions here on SN but it seems that every time I indicate interest in participating in one, things go crazy and I wind up reading the subject book before or after the discussion. One of these days I'll make it!

Glad you got the discussion going again.

Oh, and a book you'll both just love - Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman. All about loving books and words and coming from a very literate family but in a loving and humerous style. And about knowing when you've stepped into a fellow book-lover's home by the stacks of books spilling off counters, by the bed, in the hallway, etc. etc. YOU know! This was just a neat book and despite my recent self-promise to really cut way back on buying books (thank goodness for a good library!), this is one I may just have to buy to keep around for a someday re-read.

Showdog, Howzat, Diane...I also read a lot of books from the library and usually prefer fiction. The librarian has been ordering scads of new books, and I'm carting them home two or three at a time. Lately I read a well written but rather odd book called Good Hearts, by Reynolds Price, and took back a couple of stinkers half-read (Bad Girl Creek and Deception). I should say, rather, they turned out not to be my type of novel.

But I felt richly repaid for these disapponents when I brought home the next pair. These were: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire...my advice would be READ 'EM!!!

Now I'm starting on New Passages by Gail Sheehy and enjoying it. Wow, talk about feeling GOOD about getting older! Once this is finished it's back to fiction again. I plan to tackle a biggish-sized read called The Years of Salt and Rice.

Just checking for opinions here---has anyone read Fannie Flagg's newest book, Standing in the Rainbow, and what did you think about it?

Showdog: yes, I read "junk"--that's the stuff my Mother would have sniffed at and said "I don't know why you waste time on books like that"......and yes, I'm compulsive about buying books. I think gray clouds and light rain give me an attack. I hit Barnes and Noble yesterday and was surprised to find myself interested in Native American topics again.

Howzat: I think every library should have 'driving books to you' volunteers. I can reserve them on the library system computer--the system will even deliver them to the library of my choice within the county, but I still have to go there to pick them up. (Love Bill Bryson)

Diane: Maybe you'd be interested in "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown. It's a classic on the history of Indian-non-indian relations. Written in the 1970's, it was used in our high school by the English teachers for the seniors.... (no, I was not a student then..

) I've read "Ishi", and it is a heart-breaker. Also glad that I am not the only one who gets all revved up for the book discussions, and then my life zigs when I planned to zag..... to all of you who counted on my participation---I'M SORRY!!!!!---I'LL START TRUMAN ANY DAY NOW....after I finish "Galileo's Daughter" and "April 1865", etc.

High Cedar: I added your mentioned titles to my "investigate" list- right now, I have to get some of my books off the floor to see what's there that I haven't read, or read but won't remember until I'm half way through, at which point the whole rest of the book will come back to me....

Sharyn McCrumb's "Zombies of the Gene Pool" is the current mystery. I like to read during commercials while watching news, or a selected TV program....also have a hand-held solitaire game, which is a godsend when waiting for anything. I mute the sound and use cc as I am working on deafness.....the cats don't mind...enough for now!!!

Howzat - Thanks for the tip on subscribtion. I just started doing that. I have posted a few things under books and literature. I am enjoying it quite a lot. I go in streaks as to what I read but I prefer fiction from other countries. I have Michael Moore's book Stupid White Men on loan from the bookstore but I am not sure I'll finish reading it.

Diane - We had our discussion on Giants tonight. People suggested reading it because they remembered it from their school days; also they had lived in North Dakota at one time. I had a hard time getting into the story but by the end of the book I was really excited about discussing it. However the discussion didn't go excatly where I wanted it to go.

I read Ishi a long time ago. I also read Ex-Libris. Ann Lamont's (spelling may be wrong) Tender Mercies-along the same lines as Ex-Libris-is also an excellent book.

Highcedar - I am continually amazed at what people read. I am even more amazed at how many books are mentioned that I have never heard of. Our group tried to pick out some titles for next year. A hard task as there are so many we want to read. We settled on Lovely Bones for January.

Catbird - if anything of note comes out of the Diane Glancy book signing tomorrow night, I will post.

Excuse me for jumping in here. Showdog, may I ask who is the author of "Giants in the Earth?" My husband is Norwegian and I would like to buy him this book for Christmas. Thanks...

Showdog, why are you having trouble with "Stupid White Men"? I have this book on my "list" to look into, but I can't remember, now, why I put it there.

HOWZAT

Showdog and Howzat, DH and I both read Stupid White Men and loved it! The guy is a terrific social commentator. I won't say anymore as this is NOT the place for social and political observations. I will say, though, that S.W.M. was so interesting and revealing, as well as fun, that I could hardly put it down.

Paige

Giants in the Earth by Ole Rolvaag is considered a classic. It is very easy to read. The story is of the early settlers in a part of America that only the most hardy of people could settle without going stark raving mad. I don't want to give the story away but, for me, the story was uplifting because of what these people endured through some very tough times. For others the story is a tragedy because it is not an "everyone lives happily ever after type stroy".

Rolvaag wrote the book in his native language and had it translated. Some say the book says more about the Norwegian spirit than it does about American pioneers.

Howzat

If highcedar and DH loved Stupid White Men, I say let's read it in its entirety. The problem I have is that Moore is a steamroller. He says what he says and doesn't mind him manners. He is too irreverent and I am too old for that much irreverence. His book is of social and political commentary. He is gutsy and probably will continue to be so as his way of putting things is loved by many. Last year he won some prestigious award (I think the Cannes Film Festival award) for his documentry, Bowling for Columbine.

showdog - am I thinking of the right book, Giants in the Earth, when I remember a large haystack at the very end? I won't say more but if this is the same book you will know what I mean. Gosh, what a scene!

So glad to hear the comments on Stupid White Men as, like howzat, it's on my to-get list also. I think the kind of things that Michael Moore writes about just about demand a healthy sense of irreverence. I'm glad we have someone like him.

catbird, terrific suggestion about drivers for delivering books to those who can't get there. I really do love that and perhaps, if we EVER get settled from our recent (well, in March it was) move, I'll talk to someone at our library about doing that. And thank you, too, for the suggestion about Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. It's a book that's been floating around the back of my mind for a while and this may be just the nudge I needed. You know, this may be just the kind of book discussion we need - no schedules to stick to, nothing to have to reserve at the library or buy, just happy recollecting of thoughts about books we have read or are reading.

showdog, don't you just love A.Lamott? At one time I read all her books, one after the other, and am anxiously awaiting another.

There's a book,and author, I'd love to mention here but can't think of the name of either one. Darn! The author was something like Coombs or maybe Mc Coombs. OH - it's coming - maybe Searching for A Shipwrecked God, something like that. Somewhat flimsy plot but there was something about that book that I deeply loved. Had something to do with living on a boat but what made such an impression was the way it just brought the ocean, no maybe it was just a harbor or dock, but anyway, I could smell the salt air, hear the lapping of the waves against the wood, feel the dampness, be aware of the in-and-out of the tides. Well, THIS description probably hasn't made anyone interested in reading it. Sorry about that.

Diane, if anything could make someone interested in reading Searching for a Shipwrecked God, THAT description would do it! I can almost smell the salt air.

If I come across that book in one of the libraries that I frequent, I will check it out.

highcedar, I love you for that! Please let me know when you find it.

Diane

You are absolutely right, there is a haystack in Giants.

I love A. Lamott. She has a new book out, a novel titled Blue Shoe. I glanced at it but I'll pass for the present. I also glanced at Tom Arnold's biography, How I Lost 5 Pounds in Six Years. It is funny or at least it starts out that way--with about 4 pages of acknowledgements of people who aided him in getting his biography published.

I went to a book signing this evening. The book was The Man Who Heard the Land by Diane Glancy. The man in the story is never named. Diane wrote the story by answering the question (she is of native american heritage) what is the worst thing that could happen to a man? Her story answer was: to be brought into this world by an indian mother and then dropped off on a minister's doorstep to be adopted by this Lutheran minister. Then at maturity to only suspect an indian heritage as no reference to it is made. In effect to survive the erasure of one's cultural roots.

The man is a reflection of a culture that is lost to him.ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

showdog, I think I'll never forget that ending. Thanks for confirming my sketchy memory. That left such an image but it would not have if the rest of the book hadn't been so well-written.

A. Lamott has a new book out??? And you passed on it (for the moment!)? I'll be heading right over to amazon.com to see what they say about it.

Diane Glancy's book sounds intriguing - will you be reading it?

Um, do you have a cat? That might explain the row of "d's" at the end of your post!

Diane: that was my immediate thought too---cat on keyboard.

Showdog: Diane Clancy's book sounds interesting. Will try to get it and read... I have an interest in things Native American.

Marcia Muller wrote a mystery fiction book, "Listen to the Silence", in which the main character Sharon McCone finds out about her Native American history. I think it is one of the best that Muller has written.

Showdog--hope that wasn't you getting up from the computer in an emergency, and pressing the D key with your finger as you rose.... Please let us know...okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk?????

Showdog, thank you very much for the information and the author of "Giants in the Earth." By the way, I love Anne Lamott too and I am in the middle of her new book,"The Blue Shoe" and I think it is very good.

Joe Coomer wrote that book. If you like books about the trials of having a boat, his "Sailing in a Spoonful of Water" is also extremely good. He also wrote "Dream House: On Building a House by a Pond", a lovely book about him and his wife building their house outside Azle, Texas. Joe Coomer is such a good writer, he keeps his sense of humor close at hand. You also might like "The Loop" and "Apologizing to Dogs".

HOWZAT

Diane

Sorry about the d's and some other flubs in my last post. I wonder what else I was going to say. I was so tired I fell asleep at the computer. When I woke up, I shut the computer off without opening my eyes. At least I think that's what happened. I know I don't have a cat or a bird for that matter.

I live in Minnesota, Rochester to be more exact, and one of my groups reads books authored by Minnesotans. We read Glancy a couple of months ago. Another thing we do is complain about the weather a lot; now that it is getting colder, we complain about it even more. Hence, the reason for reading Giants--to remind ourselves that it could be worse. It dosen't work for me though; maybe I should move out to Northern California.

Catbird

Thanks for your concern, no emergency, the ending in d's due to being dead tired. More thanks (I think) for the bit on Muller's book. I want to read it right now; but, I better get some sleep first.

Paige

Now you got me wanting to read A. Lamott's newest. I can only take one book out at a time (from the bookstore) is why I passed on it for the time being.

showdog, whew - glad you're OK. Computer typing is not exactly like typewriter typing, is it? So easy to get those rows of letters when you think you're just sitting there, thinking (or sleeping, as the case might be!). So you're way up north, looking into a bit of winter? If you want to read something to make you feel not quite so cold, at least relatively speaking, read "Icebound" by Dr. Geri forget-her-last-name if you haven't already. I loved the book, really, really loved it - so much so I think it was my raves that got it selected for a discussion and then wasn't able to participate. The writing itself wasn't so terrific but the tale, the experience of living at the south pole, was something I wouldn't want to have missed. That place is COLD! I recommend it highly.

Paige, how are you liking The Blue Shoe? I checked the reviews at amazon.com and was sorry to read that most reviewers thought that this book wasn't up to Lamott's standards. But, I think her standards are so very high that I can't wait to read it anyway.

howzat, thank you, THANK you - yes, Joe Coomer it is! And I was delighted to read what enthusiastic reviews he had over at amazon. I must admit to having read one other of his books, none of the ones you mentioned, and didn't enjoy it nearly so much. It had a baseball theme which is probably what lost me. Also another one that was quite good, can't remember the name, but about a young married couple starting off in life - somewhere in the Appalachians, I think - maybe not there. Reading the reviews reminded me of what really great writing he does, and great characters. I remember now - it was the ending that disappointed me. But the rest of it was terrific. I'll be checking our library for some of his other books. I didn't know I had missed any!

And I'd really like to read Glancy's book but our library doesn't have it. We're new here so maybe I'll see how they are about ordering books on request.

I have to mention one more author - Helene Hanff. You all HAVE read her, right? If not, well, just wait till tomorrow and I'll tell you more. What a treat you have in store.

Now I'm off to bed to read a little more on Ishi and also a new book about Flax Oil by Dr. Johanna Budwig - probably won't have any takers on that one?

This book is definitely not a bedside-reading book, but since mention was made earlier about Indians, I thought I'd throw in a recommendation for this non-fiction piece by Evan S. Connell. It is subtitled "Custer and the Little Bighorn" and was published in 1984. One of the blurbs on the back of my paperback copy says simply, "It leaves the reader astonished." That is an understatement. Another says, "It is as if the historical figures - whites and Native Americans alike - had risen up again to tell the wrenching story of the struggle over the western plains. The Old West will never seem the same again."

I was loaned the book, and upon finishing it I had to scout one a copy for myself in a used bookstore. It is probably the most revealing book I've ever read about the old west - and I've read a lot. I was looking for some real understanding of what my great-grandparents experienced as they moved from Kansas to Colorado during the 1860's to 1880's - and this book certainly enlightened me.

I started Coomer's "Pool" book...and then it joined the high pile (for no reason of its own) of the Great Unread. (Time is the culprit, not writer-talent, nor necessarily my own tenaciousness...)So the more recent "Dog" book immediately landed on my (long) library request list.

Not to overlook some of the more interesting 'reads' that have recently been noted here, but having just come from my local book club evening, I just felt the need to share this: I am the oldest member in a small (now 6) book club that came together as the result of a clasified ad (in a very confined community) 5 years ago. One member is in her early 50s and the other four are young moms in their early 30s (we've been popping a baby, at least, a year for the last three 1/2 years!).

This evening's book was Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome and our next one is Edna Ferber's "Giant." Mention of Ferber brought forth, from the two 'old-timers' a bit of the Algonquin Round Table lore and stories, and the young four were immediately more than game to learn a little more and maybe try to make an Algonquin 'focus' for the next 2-3 months.

That just tickled me so - to find that kind of interest in names (like Kaufmann, Benchley, Parker, Gibbs, etc...) that you'd hardly expect to whet anyone's interest in 2002. So...thanks for the opportunity to share! (And am I looking forward to trying to introduce them to the wit and talent of such a disappeared era...!)

Which one was Coomer's "Pool" book? I don't remember that one.

Isn't it lovely when you run across young ones who are interested in the past? Lucky you. The other day my grandson was helping me shelve several stacks of books into a new bookcase and we were talking about the contents of the books as I handed them to him and Thoreau's name came up.

"He writes books?" my grandson asked.

"Well, yes, among other things. I guess 'Walden Pond' is his most famous book". You know that one?

"No, I guess not. Has he written anything lately?"

"

"

HOWZAT

Ooops, Howzat! I posted at the end of a long day. I meant the 'Pond" book, not the Pool book. Sorry about that. Sounds like you're starting your grandson down a worthy path.

Diane Church, I don't care what the reviews say, there is only one Anne Lamott and I love her!! I think you will enjoy "Blue Shoe." There are more characters in this book than usual and it is a bit confusing but worth it. One of the things that I treasure about this author is that she has what seem like little throw away lines at the end of a paragraph that are just gems.

LTSally, I LOVE Ferber, your group should look at So Big by her, a stunning book, can't remember what it won IF it won something but it's super, I agree with you about the new writers versus the old, I expect time will have to tell on all of them.

One book I'm afraid to reread is Arrowsmith. I loved that book so much I'm afraid to revisit it and find my hopes dashed tho I did recenly try his...is it Dodsworth and immediately bought the sequel, it's not as easy a read as Lewis's others, like Babbitt, or Elmer Gantry, but it's good in its own way, too.

Maybe we need an Oldies but Goodies series that covers old books (we did read a couple of the EF Benson ones) that seem forgotten.

ginny

My, you're a night owl, Ginny! Good to hear the enthusiasm about Ferber - it makes me more eager to get into it. I'd been kind of curious about reading Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga, after spending several weeks with the PBS production, but the story seemed to just peter out last nite - all that sturm and drang over nothing, it felt like. This morning's e-mail held a rave from a friend over Alice Hoffman's River King - anyone here read it?

Ginny.. Lewis holds up as far as I am concerned. Most of his stuff is on my once every 5 years reread list. Some of Ferber is on it too, although she does sort of overdo the strong suffering female types. I think that oldies but goodies would be a great category. There are lots of older books I adore and reread.

Edna Ferber is one of those authors I had always heard about but never read, so I got BIG at the library. Her writing was not what I had expected. I also checked out The Peppered Moth, also The Radiant Way, by Margaret Drabble.

I enjoyed the three women main characters in the Radiant Way and their long-term relationship, but gave up on Peppered Moth and didn't finish it. I kept waiting for the author to get done with setting up the scenes and characters, and for someone to SAY SOMETHING to someone else, but the author just kept talking about the characters, describing happenings- period. Too strange for my tastes.

High Cedar - I couldn't agree more - I thought "The Peppered Moth" was a pitiful book. Margaret Drabble never got on with her mother & after she died, she tried to understand her & love her more, by writing a fictional biography. But she failed to make her likeable, failed to understand how her respectable working class mother's scholarship could have led to a brilliant career, if she'd only had a patron & if the war hadn't started. After a first class degree & excellent recommendations, she just went home & taught in the local school. She married the other local scholarship boy in the town who returned from his war service. She raised a large family of brilliant children but they never understood their mother's bitter disappointment - they were 'children of privilege' by then. If you want a really good book by Margaret Drabble, try "Realms of Gold" - it's lovely.

Oh Viogert, THANK YOU for giving me some insight into Margaret Drabble's background and suggesting the other book. Ms Drabble is obviously a talented author and I would hate to quit while disappointed. The attitudes of the character about her mother in Radiant Way probably also reflected the past- very little compassion there either, it seemed. The daughter actually wanted her to die!

I will look for Realms of Gold at the library tomorrow.

High Cedar -- here's strange interview with Margaret Drabble with Suzie Mckenzie, across the time "The Peppered Moth" received indifferent reviews & her sister A.S.Byatt, was being very huffy about it. It was an unhappy time for her. Nothing seemed to go right. Since all that misery, she has recently written another book called "The Seven Sisters", which is brilliant - so besides myself, all her other old fans felt we'd got our smashing author back again.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,411937,00.html

I can't remember right now, but I think I posted this link with the "Seven Sisters" proposed discussion. If you're interested, there are a few reviews about her new book there as well.

Thank you for that link, Viogert. The interview is interesting, I think, and I've saved it for closer re-reading. Turns out the library here in our town does not have Golden Realm, so I checked out A Natural Curiosity, which is a continuation of the story of the three women in Radiant Way. One of the other libraries in nearby cities will have it though, I'm sure.

I forgot to look for the Tony Hillerman mystery series set on an Indian Reservation which I am looking forward to reading. Last Monday night his book "Skinwalkers" was on PBS as a movie produced by Robert Redford and starring a couple of my favorite native American actors. Adam Beach was in the movie I think it was called Windtalkers) about the Navajo codetalkers. A "making of" segment including a short interview with Tony Hillerman followed the movie.

My husband discovered it on PBS so I got to watch it.

I haven't read any of Hillerman, but the movie has me thinking I just might have to check him out.

I have just moved into a condo that I am renting. In order to claim it I and my friends had to help him move out. He had hundreds of books. It took us two days to pack them and transfer them to storage. I have books but not that many. As much as I like acquiring books perhaps it is best to use the library's. Just across the street from me is a huge bookstore filled with plenty of temptation. I have some in my car right now waiting for me to make a trip to the library and exchange them.

Louise, I hardly ever buy fiction books (unless I collect the author), but I have upwards of 1500 non fiction books on shelves in the livingroom, the hall, the bedrooms, the kitchen and dining room (cookbooks), and the bathroom. My deceased mother's library of Civil War and early southern U.S. history, some several hundred volumes, are still in boxes. I have twenty dictionaries. My collection of children's books are on the floor, two deep, under the sideboard, the end tables, and where ever else I can tuck them, so children who visit me can browse for something to read. I get my fiction from the library. My home is FOR having books at my finger tips. I only incidentally eat and sleep here. <G>

Howzat

Howzat, that is kind of the way I feel. My home shelves are for the VERY important "keeper" books- My Civil War and history books, my children's books, poetry, a few unforgettable novels and authors etc. but everything else comes and goes at the local library.

Fiction or nonfiction readers it doesn't matter, we all love the feel and comfort owning books brings. I Love Books

I have few books now. I ran out of room many years ago and decided to give them all away apart from a couple of favorites. I am very close to 5 library branches so I don't feel deprived at all.

Carolyn

I have many books and probably will get many more. At one time I experimented to see if I could live just as well without my books as with them. I gave them all to St. Mary's Hospital. And then when I got my next paycheck, I spent most of it on books. I needed books at my bedside. I needed books so that if I could not sleep, I could select whatever I felt like reading at the moment.

I was thinking today of how fortunate I am. As a young person my idea of heaven was having all the books I could possibly read. I am now enjoying my idea of heaven.

Books certainly are wonderful blessings whether they are our own or borrowed from the library. I, too, am fortunate to be close to many of Miami-Dade county's libraries. (I have just moved to the Kendall area so, as yet, I haven't found Kendall's Regional Library.) I also am most fortunate to live close to a shopping center that has a Publix Supermarket and a huge Borders Book store. So food for the mind and food for the body!! There is also a Pet store so food for my 3 (formerly 2) four legged roommates. It just doesn't get much better than that!!

I just finished a stack of books and took them back to the library. For some reason I feel VERY hungry to read lately and brought home three more- The Mammy by Brendan O'Carroll, The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks and The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by Billie Letts. Have not started them as I am still reading Hunting Badger by Tony Hillerman. Two that I took back were Behind the Scenes at the Museum by ?? (maybe her name was Kate Beckett or something similar) and it was a terrific book- I recommend it.

The other, The Real Life True Adventures of Lydie Newton, by Jane Smiley was a dreary disappointment. The book looked SO good and had a great story to tell but IMO it didn't follow through. I could barely finish it and found myself skimming over certain repetitive parts. It is a personal thing really- this judging of a book- but her writing style and my reading expectations just don't mesh. Still, I would love to hear what others think of it.

One reader's nectar is another's castor oil.

highcedar, I suppose what we like to read must go with our personality or mood of the moment. I have brought books home from the library that just sit on the table until it is time for them to go back to the library. Lately I seem to be attracted to mysteries written by women or have their setting in Florida. One of the books I have near by right now is a new one by Barbara Parker. It is set in Florida, has mystery and even romance. It sort of reflects the culture of Miami.

Yes Louise, I think what appeals to us at any given time is something that will fulfill some need of the moment. Whether it's an urge to immerse oneself in an era like the Civil War or the Middle Ages, or to learn something about another culture as if we were a participant.

But for sure, I can't enjoy a book if it's too grim. If nothing ever works out right, nothing good ever happens, and the main character fails at everything she tries to do then it becomes a terrible downer. The story may be one of effort and suffering, so on, but it needs at least a little triumph and success that the reader can identify with.

This is sort of how I felt about the Lydie Newton book. Somehow she failed to make me feel much of anything for Lydie or the other characters. A trilogy by Conrad Richter set around the same time (slavery era)- The Trees, The Fields and The Town made me feel PLENTY!! Rather more than I wanted to feel, so I don't blame myself for not responding well to Smiley's book.

Hunting Badger is a mystery by the way, set on an Indian reservation, and the main character is Native American. I have been interested in Native American culture lately and bought two CDs of tribal songs, chants, prayers of the Sioux, Commanche, Cherokee etc. Hoping to learn a little more from this book in between the sleuthing and the shooting- LOL.

Read the Billie Letts book. I like her very much. She has written several light reading types things and they are all excellent. I generally like Jane Smiley, but I have heard that the one you are mentioning is not as good as normal. I love Conrad Richter's trilogy. Remember years ago, they did a mini series on it.. I think maybe Elizabeth Montgomery played the central character.

There is a new discussion on Seniornet concerning Native American Indians. Drat, I can't remember the site name, and I am subscribed to it, too!. Look in Cultural and Social, I think that's where it is.

Howzat

Just wanted to weigh in with my comments on Jane Smiley's book. I have two passions in life - one is reading and the other is genealogy, and they both were thoroughly satisfied in The All True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton. I couldn't put it down and relished every word. But I suspect it was mostly because my own great-grandmother was 16 when she and her family came into Lawrence, Kansas in the year 1853. My "Nannie" could have been Lidie.

Likewise, Russell Bank's "Cloudsplitter," his wonderfully-told story of John Brown and his family, was right up my alley, since my great-grandpa (the one who ultimately married "Nannie") rode for a time with Brown when he was in Kansas.

I do tend to really enjoy historical novels anyway, and these two books probably had a thumbs-up with me to begin with, even without the other connection.

Stephanie, I also saw the movie made from Conrad Richter's book and enjoyed it. It would be nice to see it again. Elizabeth Montgomery was in it and Hal Holbrook played her husband. I can't remember his name right now, but hers was Sayward- a most interesting name.

Thanks howzat- I will search out that discussion!

Gail, glad that you enjoyed the book so much. A couple of years back I read a book (Staggerford, by Jon Hassler) was just loved it. I raved and told my sister that she just HAD to read it! Well, she did, and wondered why I even liked it. So much for sharing tastes.

The pioneering life never applied to my own forbears but they were much affected by the Civil War- some fighting, others losing property etc. Genealogy is one of my passions also, but a lot of it has already been done by other family members dating from before 1850.

My bedside table takes care of my well-loved copy of "Hearts in Atlantis" by Stephen King. I read to the end and then just start again.

cdctt...is it a horror book? I could NOT snuggle up to a scary book late at night, otherwise I will plan on reading it. One of my nieces is a major Stephen King fan and must have read everything he has written. She tried to get me to read them too and that is how I found out that some books are just TOO scary. Could you describe what this favorite of yours is about?

We were unable to get onto the internet since this morning and heard that service was down all along the west coast. Glad to be back.

This time when I visited my daughter over the holidays we took time to go to Carl Sandburg's house now part of the National Park Department. The house has thousands and thousands of his books - everyroom there is at least one wall with a simple wood built-in floor to ceiling bookcase packed with books and in some rooms the entire room is encircled with bookcases. Upstairs the bookcases are behind glass with bookcases like library stacks in the middle of the floor. This was a private home not a research center or public library although there are more books in this home than in my local branch library.

The first time my daughter took her boys over, Ty who is now 12 couldn't imagine, with as many books as is in their home, a house with as many books as there are in the Sandburg house. And what I found great is there are paper place marks by the score poking out of more than half the books - now I feel better about also wanting to note a particular paragraph with a marker - at one time I pulled them all out thinking they looked tacky - well tacky or not if they were good enough for Carl Sandburg they are certainly good enough for me. Cade age 8 had fun looking to see how many paper markers were poking out of any one book and he came out of breath saying he found one book with 14 paper markers - 14 Grama.

I also learned Sandburg was a night owl who stayed up regularly all hours to 3: or 4: in the morning reading and working. I was not familiar with the Rutabager tales and I'm having fun reading them - also I didn't realize that most of the quotes we hear about Chicago today were from his poem, Chicago.

At first I thought to shorten your name to something like "B St A", but then I thought about the article I read recently about how language lazy we are all getting because of the necessity of brevity with the use of small screen message technology, palm held this and that, and chat room chatter. No, no. I'll pass. (^.^)

Anyway, thanks for the mini tour of Carl Sandburg's home. I really enjoyed it.

Howzat

Here really is a short tour howzat CarlSandburg Flatrock, NC home

And here is the tour of the Carl Sandburg Historic Site in Galesburg, IL near where I live. Included is a virtual tour at the bottom of the page.

http://www.sandburg.org/

Great links. Isn't that odd that Sandburg and his wife's ashes would be buried in a backyard garden in Galesburg, IL, yet he lived for 20+ years on a beautiful farm in Flat Rock, NC? Neat wife. Any woman who raises goats is likely to have lots of patience.

Howzat

Sandburg grew up on the "wrong side of the tracks"... the son of poor Swedish parents. He returned to Galesburg many times during his career and his daughter is still very supportive of the community.

From what I learned evidently as a young man he had to quit school rather young and work to help support his family - then when he became aware - I forgot now the event that opened his eyes - but he became aware that he was an American and he wondered what did that mean - so he took to the rails and became a hobo for years starting at age 19 to travel America and learn what it meant to be an American - his wife had a collage education and was not very interested in him at first but all their life he was in awe that she actually married him.

Part of the reason for their moving to Flat Rock was to be deep in an out of the way area where they could be self sustaining and use all their money toward getting his work published. That is how Mrs. Sandburg developed these strains of goats - she experienced a healing, oh again I forgot not her liver but some organ when she drank the goats milk and so that is how she started. Then at Flat Rock she kept detailed records in this room filled with file cabinets and by cross breading she created these new strains of goats - she is world famous for her work with goats.

All three girls moved with them to NC although they were in their late 20s and 30s - Helga was divorced with two children and after 10 years in Flat Rock she remarried. Neither of the other two daughters ever married. The eldest, Margaret was Carl's publisher, editor and all round secretary. She was the only one in the house who knew where each and every book were located, she had created the system. The youngest daughter mostly helped Mrs. Sandburg.

His experience on the rails and in the hobo camps gave him much direction in life - he always played his guitar and each evening the family sang round the piano with him at the guitar singing all the folk songs he learned hoboing. Each afternoon he and Mrs. Sandburg sat in her bedroom, often with the girls and listened to classical music on records, read aloud or he shared his latest work. Their schedule was such that often he was going to bed as Mrs. Sandburg was rising to tend the goats and so he had a makeshift bedroom upstairs where he did most of his work, although his office was a large room downstairs.

The difference in their filing methods was fun to see - Mrs. Sandburg in cabinet after cabinet with some metal file drawers large and others very small, all complete detailed including photos. His were two old wooden milk crates holding slim folders with labels like "F" 'For Others' or "D" 'Didn't work out'...

The Rutabaga Tales picked up on Carl Sandburg's experience riding the rails since the stories are about a young families fantasy experiences while on a long train ride.

Pat did you read the stories that are linked to the site you found and shared - great short stories about the experiences of folks mostly in the 1930s. REally had me on memory lane as I read several of them.

Barbara - what an interesting post. You've whet my appetite to know more about the Sandburg family. Thank you so much.

Me, too! A very interesting read - your thumbnail sketch of the Sandburg's. We stopped at their NC home on a trip several years ago, but for some reason, were unable to take the tour. Now, I'm even sorrier! A long time ago, I had a poem by Helga Sandburg that was a real favorite...it's still around here somewhere I'm sure (throw anything out...??? heaven's, why!!)

I was delving into a volume of his poetry just recently - on my way to finding something else, you all know how that goes, I'm sure - and was surprised at how...I guess 'dark' would be the word I want..that some of his poems were. They certainly were reflective of street life in early 1900s Chicago.

My goodnes - despite winter, no one has anything to say about a good read?

I'm a little behind times, I know, but am currently into Memoirs of a Geisha and finding it fascinating - all the more so for being written by a man.

Read "Memoirs of a Geisha" some time ago, enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Just completed "Leap of Faith", by Queen Noor. Her loyalty to the King, love of family, and feelings for an uncertain world come through loud and clear. Queen Noor's strength is impressive. She continually tries out her ideas on creating a climate for peace even though she is often accused of everything but that. How she holds up and carries on in the face of adversity is beyond me.

Leap of Faith sounds like a good read. Can you just imagine living the life she's led - pulling up all stakes and entering a foreign culture...?

That 'foreign-ness' is one of the things I'm enjoying about Memoirs of a Geisha...having known next to nothing about geisha, it's quite fascinating to learn of that culture in such a well-told and entertaining way.

I read Memoirs several years ago and loved it. I recently read somewhere that Queen Noor and her daughter in law are not getting along and that she is spending more and more time in the US.. I suspect that without the motivation of love for her husband, the culture she was raised in is the most comfortable for her.

Oh dear either that or Queen Nor as even the King of Jorden now would like to get out of the Middle East - I understand they are afraid of an uprising since the people have one view and the government is sticking to its support for the US - I am sure her work is curtailed in light of the change in Jorden and her and daughter-in-law's safty is important.

I posted this in the fiction thread but it would also be a good book to have on a bedside table(VBG) Fanny and Sue by Karen Stolz I just finished (in one day)this book.The prologue takes place in 2003 and after a brief 2003 update the story reverts to the lives of twins Fanny and Sue ,from St Louis, who were born in 1920. This is a poignant,warm,funny story of the close relationship between the twins and thier family. Although they grew up in a much simpler time we are aware of the hardships of the era.The Great Depression,and illnesses there were no immunizations for,scarlet fever and polio . The author is a young person and I marvel at her ability to write of a so long ago time and with such accuracy. This book would be a wonderful read for twins and those of us not having the good fortune to have a twin sister can only wish we had!!

For the past six weeks or so, I've been in a veritable frenzy of reading - and enjoying it sooo much! Has there been chat here re The Secret Life of Bees? It's a quick read, but I thought it was excellent (and stirred lots of thoughts in me re mothers-daughters). I'm now spending a mostly indulgent Saturday morning with Clara Callan, the story of two Candian sisters, told through letters and diary entries. It too is most enjoyable - tho I'm beginning to doubt the likelihood of a happy ending. Now, I'm off to look up some info on Fanny and Sue - Thanks, Mrs. B!

I read and thoroughly enjoyed The Secret Life of Bees.Another recent read I enjoyed was Crowe Lake .Have you heard of it? I don't think you will be disappointed with Fanny and Sue.

I listened to "The Secret Life of Bees" several months ago on audiotape. Loved it!!

I have requested "The secret life of Bees" on your recommendations. I could not get the Karen Stolz book but got another one of hers.

Carolyn

I loved The Secret Life of Bees. I can't wait to read Crow Lake. The book about the twins sounds interesting too.

Is the book World of Pies?That is her first book and received much critical acclaim.Fanny and Sue is her second and was recently published.

Mrs B - Do you know you have unwittingly used a Maori word in your post. The word is Iwi and it means the tribe that you belong to. Your family is your Whanau and your tribe is your Iwi.

Yes the book you have mentioned is the one I have reserved. Thank you for the recommendation. I am sure I will enjoy it. I am reading more American Authors thanks to Books and Lit.

Carolyn

What is the Secret Life of Bees about - I take it the book is not about nature -

Kiwi lady I didn't realise I did that Thanks for the info(smile)

Kiwi lady I didn't realise I did that That is very interesting.

I have read only one book by this author. Her name is Augusta Trobaugh. I read Sophie and the Rising Sun. I loved that book. That led me to buy her two other books. The names are: Praise Jerusalem and Resing in the Bosom of the Lamb.

Are any of you familiar with this author?

Mrs. B. Your suggestion of Fanny and Sue by Karen Stol does soun like a good book. I think I'll look for it the next time I go to the library.

Mrs B the book we are were talking about is waiting for me at the library I am going up to get it today. So many books to read- so little time! LOL

Carolyn

I hope you enjoy it.I will be curious to hear what others think of this book.I liked it so very much.

I am haveing a withdrawal crisis .I read the last book of the latest batch I took from the library. I will have to get there tomorrow.

I went up to the library this morning - no parking for miles and I had 10 books to carry with a knee that was half collapsed so I drove home. Its school holidays here so they probably had an activity morning at the library. I went up again after 3 and there were three books waiting the one I spoke of this morning. The secret life of bees and The piano tuner. They all look good. I reserve my books on line and then get an email to tell me they are waiting for me. I have only one outing planned for Easter weekend- the family Easter brunch at My daughter Nicky's house - they do an egg hunt for the littlies.-I hope they put the dog away- no eggs will be left! There are five under sixes to do the hunt. There are usually 8 kids but three are away for the weekend. My SILs mum goes and his family too. Its an annual event. We all have Christmas together too- the two extended families including my SILs fathers second wife who is widowed. Family gatherings are great.

Hope all of you have a great Easter weekend too.

Carolyn

I went to the libraray and restashed my to read stack The books I took out are:
Shutter Island by Dennis Lahane(I read his Mystic River and liked it)
All I Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve
Between Sisters by Kristen Hannah(I have never heard of the book or the auhtor but the book jacket sounded interesting).
World of Pies by Karen Stolz
Since I read and enjoyed her second book Fanny and Sue I thought I would read her very first novel.

Barbara St. A - "Secret Life of Bees" is a first novel by Sue Monk Kidd. The story, which takes place in the 1960s, is about a young adolescent whose mother is deceased and father is a....skunk (for want of other, more impolite words). A set of circumstances arises where she takes off from home, with the black woman who's been helping to raise her since her mother's death. The tale of the experiences they encounter makes for an extremely worthwhile read. It's a very well-written interesting book.

I'm making note of all the others recently mentioned here.

I read "the secret life of bees" it was a good book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would never have read it but for this discussion.

Carolyn

Thanks to you nice posters here, on my bedside table at present are, "World of Pies", "Secret Life of Bees", and, thanks to other discussions here on SN I also have "Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths", and "What Went Wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response". And again, thanks to another SN discussion, "All Over But the Shoutin'". And yet another upcoming discussion, "The Little Friend". To say nothing of a book I recently bought, at the urging of a fellow natural health nut, "Patient Heal Thyself" and two more coming in from amazon, two on the nutrient depletions caused by prescription drugs and, last, one on the Metabolic Diet.

I am floored. I don't have enormous blocks of time to read, in fact, most of it is done in competition with the TV my husband prefers to reading (opposites attracting, I guess). I did not purposely take out all those library books at once - I had reserved them, several of which appeared to have quite a few in front of me and I sort of thought they would stagger in. But no. Five came in with one phone call. One more the next day and when I went to pick it up, four more were pulled for me. Oh! And while just going for a fast run-through of the shelves, I spied Anne Lamott's newest book, "Blue Shoes" - how could I resist that, even though I've heard it's not up to her others. And then (oh dear, I feel like a true addict, "Hi, my name is Diane and I'm hopelessly addicted to books. Help me.....but, on second thought, DON'T help me - I love this), but finally, really finally, a book I somehow knew about in which Anne Lamott had written the foreward (figured it had to be good), "Near-Life Experiences".

See what you guys have done to me?!!!! And, thank you.

The stack got bigger today! The AAUW had its annual book sale.

I got 20 books! Authors range from Nelson DeMille to Nora Roberts. All for $10.25.

So many women give up reading because their husbands don't read. If we have to suffer them watching sports on the TV they can suffer us reading! I have got my DIL reading now - my son is a sport fanatic - both watching and participating!

Carolyn

Why is your reading having to compete with television? Do you like watching television? Where else in the house can you read, if you feel like it, where there are no distractions?

Howzat

Howzat, I don't mean during the day. Then I'm doing household stuff, paying bills, cooking, running around, being on the internet (yay!). It's the end of the day when we like to be together, stretched out in bed. That's where Del watches TV and I do my best to read (or watch with him, depending on what's on). I could go to another end of the house but then we wouldn't be together. At this stage of life, that's important. I usually outlast him and after the TV goes off, then is when I get nice, quiet time to read till I fall asleep. Just the way it is in our house. After what we've been through, I'm so grateful to have him with me.

That's one heck of a stack of reading, Diane - good luck on plowing through it. I was tearing through books in March-April, but have kind of stalled. I am reading the book (tho it's not terribly compelling) about the American couple who moved to Wales to live in Hay-on-Wye, that little village known for its many, many bookstores. We were thru Hay on our first trip to the UK (can it be 19 years ago???), but for some reason we didn't stop. Have always regretted that...just maybe we'll get over there again sometime (but that's another forum, I guess!)

LTSally, I know what you mean, would you believe I did the same thing with Hay on Wye? Have you read All is Vanity? We're discussing it June 1, I love it, it's very subtle about friendship/ relationships and the Author is going to join us in the discussion! Here's the discussion, All is Vanity it's a very good book, hard to put down, especially in the last third, you can't read it fast enough and at the same time you are afraid of what's going to happen!

Come join us June 1, plenty of time to get on board!

ginny

Long Tall Sally, what's the title of the book about Hay-on-Wye? Is it nonfiction?

Marvelle

Those of you who enjoy discussing books, please go here immediately SeniorNet Home Page and take the Poll on Fiction and Non Fiction Reading Preferences??

Thanks for letting your voice be heard!

ginny

I voted in the poll, but there was only "do you like reading and discussing it with others or not" type questions (3). Nothing about "reading preferences". Those three questions just ask if you read and whether or not you like to discuss books with others. I'll bet no one checks the "I don't read many books" question. I mean, who'd want to admit to that?

Tee hee, when you said "immediately" I just clicked, sat up straight and said, "Yes, Ma'am".

Howzat

Hah,, The continually suspicous mind did not go to the poll.. I truly dont like polls of any type. I always feel that the questions are loaded for certain answers.

hahah Howzat for Readers they need to take into consideration the intelligence and the variability, the Reader as Thinker, don't they? Every reader I know is very independent. Thank you for reacting so positively to that "immediately" hahaha sorry about that, it IS important. (Actually I believe quite a few people indicated they don't care to read.)

Steph, like all polls, there may be some benefit on the outcome of this one, this time to our Books programs. if it appears people enjoy discussing books, so that's why we are calling reader attention to it, not all of our readers frequent the Home Page.

ginny

Marvelle - The title of the book (about Hay on Wye) is Sixpence (or Six Pence) House.

Ginny - I've made a note of All Is Vanity; will look into it.

My goodness, it's quiet here - I guess reading takes a backseat to all the other busy summertime pursuits. I've just started All Is Vanity, but in-between times, I've also finished reading The Nanny Diaries, which I found to be very entertaining and well-done. Hard to believe it is a first novel, and esp that it's written by an author duo. Now, I'm well into a book called Three Junes, that I'm finding to be very good - family relationship sort of thing, but again, very well-written. Amy and Isabelle is next up - it's our Book Club read for July. Any comments on that one?

KIWI LADY.........I don't have that problem with Alan. If he isn't working in the garage cum workshop he is reading.If he reads in bed though he doesn't last more than ten minutes usually before he falls asleep.I read every night until I read the same page twice.

I'm afraid I don't like reading factual books before sleep so I stick to the down to earth style books.Not Mills and Boone stuff as they are so predictable but I like stories about the early settlers and the trials and tribulations of the eighteen and early nineteen hundreds and the books about pathology and forensic science. Rosamund Pilcher,Catherine Cookson,Maeve Binchy,Anna Jacobs,Judy Nunn,Sarah Henderson,Colleen McCullough and Patricia Cornwell are authors that I like.You can definitely keep Stephen King as I am not into the weird and wonderful and science fiction, and I am also not all that keen on mystery books despite having the full collection of Agatha Christie.As for books on facts I do enjoy them but not as bedtime reading.For instance Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown was a terrific read but not for bedtime and the same goes for the Mary Durack books on the early settlers treatment of the aborigines and Bryce Courtney's book,Tommo and Hawk.We have a huge book collection covering all manner of subjects but not many are what I call bedtime books.Alan has in fact bought some more wood to make us some more bookcases and I don't know where they are going to go.

Guess I last posted here in May. Time flys. Howzat - I did rent the movie "Pay It Forward" and enjoyed it very much. Another book they made a movie from and did a good job - in my opinion anyway - was "Shipping News" Kevin Spacey happend to be in both of those. Right now I am just finishing up Katharine Graham's book "Personal History" It is over 600 pages but certainly held my interest and was good for understanding more about Watergate. She certainly was well aquainted with many political movers and shakers and she was personal friends of many of them. Her mother was quite a person in her own right but seemed quite ecentric. She was much closer to her father. I recommend this book if you like biographies and politics. We are finally having a great summer in Maine - after a very wet cold spring.

I have yet to read the Katheryn Graham book but I have it on my list. Right now I'm trying to wade through "The Horsemen" by Joseph Kessel (a translation from French, 1966). A door-stop novel about Afghanistan set in the early 1900s with historical flashbacks. Sort of an intellectual bodice ripper.

Except for the plot, I already know much of the information in the book from having read James Morris' "Heaven's Command" (the first book in a triolgy "Pax Brittianica) and Dervla Murphy's travels through that sad, savage, male dominated country. The fact that so much is still the same after 1000s of years is so depressing.

Oh me, I'd watch Kevin Spacey read the telephone book. And, he gets better as he gets older.

Howzat

Do you have stacks of books by your bed that you want to read, but never quite find the time because other books find their way into your hands? These aren't just books on a list...they are those that are now gathering dust in a stack by my bed!

I've got two really good books, I guess you'd say they are in the self-help category. I read the first two chapters of Victoria Moran's Creating a Charmed Life...got so excited, thinking this would make a great on-line SN discussion....wouldn't you just love to "transform your ordinary life into a set of extaordinary experiences taking simple day-to-day opportunities and turning them into almost magical experiences." It's all about learning how to make choices and forming positive attitudes in an otherwise ordinary life. What do you think? Would it make a good book discussion...or shall I go ahead read it in the solitude of my room?

I have books stacked by my chair (I don't read in bed much anymore) that I keep putting off reading. One of them I noticed yesterday is about exercises for the lower back. Maybe I put that off because I don't want to move???

Then I have a group of regency romances that keep being pushed aside for contemporary ones.

And there are non-fiction books that I get partway through and don't manage to finish. Those are in the stack also.

Woe is me.. The dreaded stack pile. In it, I tend to have books that I should ( as opposed to want to) read. They get shuffled down and I keep saying.. "If I get sick, I will have time for them" Of course I would prefer not to get sick..

You mean I'm not the only one with an ever-growing stack of books on, and dropping all around my bedside table? I think my main problem is that whenever I go to the library I find several books, in addition to the ones I have reserved, that I hate to leave behind because they may not be there next time. So, I wind up with far more than I can read in the time we're allowed (three weeks plus one renewal if noone else is waiting). And yet, I do find that stack comforting (as Stephanie said, in the event I get sick), or if insomnia should strike. Much as I get annoyed with the clutter I think it would be worse to look at that particular area and see it completely bare.

A compromise perhaps? A limit of one or two books? Well, three. Four should be OK. Five would be do-able... As Linda Ellerbee said, "And so it goes".

JOAN, I went to the library this morning and picked up Moran's "Creating a Charmed Life" on your recommendation. I hope to start reading it today.

Clutter and books go together I guess. I've tried to be organized and have 3 shelving sections for my books. Paradise: books read that're keepers. Purgatory: books waiting to be read. Hell: discard pile; giveaways

Despite attempts at organization, Purgatory is always overcrowded and to-be-read books end up leaning against the legs of my reading chair and stacked on my nightstand. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Marvelle

My "To be read again" pile grows to such an extent. I try hard to keep it down, but there are some authors that ring a deep chord and I keep them always.

Does anyone else have this problem? I cannot go to sleep without having something to read, but lately, I can't seem to get past two or three pages before dropping off with my glasses slipping and the light still on. I think, in order to finish a book, I am going to have to read it sitting up. Hahahaha

Lorrie

Joan

Victoria Moran's name is so familiar to me. I must have read something by her but can't recall what. I plan to look for a copy of Creating a Charmed Life. Along that same idea you may or may not be familiar with Alexandra Stoddard. She is one of my favorite non-fiction writers of lifestyle and decorating. She seems to be such a lovely person. She has a website you might check out with a list of her books. I just finished Katharine Graham's book and loved it. Now I am reading something very light.. Some of you may be familiar with Carl Hiaasen who lives in Florida and is very concerned with protection of the Everglades. He also writes light fiction..The one I have is called Sick Puppy -- kind of fun reading. I like to alternate a fun book in between the more serious ones. Anyone reading East of Eden? I my do that next. Gloomy summer day here today. Gray and drippy. Good day to shop or read!

Was it here that someone mentioned the book, "the ladies of Covington Send Their Love"? Has anyone read this one?

Lorrie

Read East of Eden years and years ago. Loved it then. As I remember it is a fun fast read.. Very classic plot.

Lorrie - "The ladies of Covington send their love" seemed an interesting title so I looked up our catalogue at the library and they have several copies. The brief description said - fiction - womens friendship. I reserved a copy on line and wonder if it might be like Steel Magnolias or The making of an American Quilt. There are two copies on the shelf so I should get it in a couple of days. "Oh so many books reserved so little time to read them all!" LOL

I'm thinking of requesting" Ladies of Covington" from our Library bookmobile when it comes.

I regret to say that I never read "East of Eden" but I did see the movie, and thought it was wonderful. I had never thought of it as a great classic, however, and was surprised when Oprah picked it for her book club selection.

Lorrie

Lorrie,

I have a copy of Ladies of Covington. I think it is a series. Not sure whether this is book one or two or three.

I looked at my copy. The second book is The Gardens of Covington. Maybe it is a trilogy.

Thank you, Hats! Yes, it is apparently a trilogy. So that won't do for a discussion. Someone else had mentioned it and I had thought maybe we could build a discussion around it, but not if there are three of them. I felt that about now we could use something fairly light in the Fiction department. Some of our recent discussions have been pretty heavy. I'll keep looking.

Lorrie

LTSally, thank you for the recommendation for Sixpense House, it's fabulous, come on down to the Non Fiction area and let's talk about it further: I love it.

ginny

VOTE for the next BOOK CLUB ONLINE selection! We want to hear from YOU! Come on over to the BOOKS COMMUNITY CENTER this week and nominate titles you might like to discuss with us. NEXT WEEK, we'll VOTE and discuss the winner in November. Get in on the fun!

Ginny: Glad you enjoyed SP House. I'm not sure where the non-fiction site is...and I don't get in here very often during this too-busy summer of ours. I thought it was....interesting, but sort of mis-leading, as I kept expecting them to get a house there, darn it! And then to be able to read about it...

"Saving Graces" is an entertaining read about women's friendships, picking up on the Covington thread that was going on here a bit ago...

LT Sally:

Is "Saving Graces" part of the Covington trilogy? On Oct. 1 we are going to be doing a discussion of "The Ladies of Codlington Send Their Love", and we would be dellghted to have you join us. Right now we are having a pre-discussion discussion, hahaha. Come on over. Lorrie "---Ladies of Covington Send Their Love, The ~ by Joan Medlicott ~ Oct. 1" 9/15/03 6:57pm

Lorrie

LT Sally, re: Sixpence House -- in post 409 there is a clickable to Books Community Center where we're voting on a book for the November group book discussion. Sixpence House is one of the nominees.

Marvelle

I'm reading a real hodge-podge at the moment although most of the books are at rest, waiting within arm's reach next to my bed. I can only read one book at a time, alas. Reading Charlie Chan mysteries from the heading links in SN's "Classical Mysteries" -- guess that doesn't qualify as 'bedside reading' but I'm happy that the Charlie Chan books hold up with the passage of time better than I'd anticipated. They're a little musty but not seriously so; still charming and intelligent and thoughtful.

Two other books that are not for the bedside are Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (2002) and Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of Renowned Obscurity, Famous Anonymity, and Rotten Luck, a 2002 book by Paul Collins, author of Sixpence House. These books I prefer to read on the balconey as the sun rises. Also reading:

The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New by M. Rosenberg and B. Marcowitz (2002), which is great for everyday book owners like myself. It has handy tips, like how to make a simple 'Stink Box' to deodorize books.

Dionysus, a 1962 anthology of vintage tales about wine, edited by Clifton Fadiman, with stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Dorothy Sayers, Margarery Allingham, A.A. Milne, Robert Graves, Art Buchwald, Christoper Morley ... etc etc. Lots of fun!

Paul Gauguin: A Life by David Sweetman, reading as background to prepare for the November release of a novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, The Way to Paradise, which has as a main character the radical Latin American grandmother of Gauguin.

(Re)reading books about home and sense of place: The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday, a simple, short but wonderfully relevant book for any person; Looking for My Country, a new book by Robert McNeil; Traplines another new book by John Rember; From Where We Stand by Deborah Tall; and Wisdom Sits In Places by Keith H. Basso.

Need I say that these are books by my bedside table? I tend to read the books about 'place' in one fell swoop and leave the others for different evenings. I've gotten into a reading frenzy these past few weeks and am reading everything.

Marvelle

That's quite a selection, marvelle!. One would wonder when you sleep.

Lorie

I need little sleep these days, Lorrie. Most of my bedside readings are anthology types which can be read in bits and pieces.

Marvelle

I know this sounds silly, but one of the reasons I prefer paperback books is because they are so much easier to handle in bed! Hahaha Besides, when they are dropped, they don't make the same bang! that a hardcover does.

Lorrie

Lorrie - you are SO right! One other plus is that it is easier to stuff a paperback into a purse for "emergency" reading.

Oh My, yes, Diane. And for a person who is travelling a lot, it's far easier carying several paperback books than the same amount of hardcover books.

Lorrie

I love paperbacks. I take them always when I travel. Then I can leave them after finishing all over the world.. Always try to spread the word about good ones.

Stephanie, that reminds me - we used to go to a motel in Big Sur and one of the many wonderful homey touches was a good supply of paperbacks in the bedroom. Oh, and come to think of it, the lobby of a motel in Delano, CA. It is difficult for me to get rid of any of my "favorite" (most of them!) books but growing limitations of space require me to. I would love to pass each special one along to a person/home where I know it will be loved and enjoyed as I have but, alas, not everyone's taste is the same.

Diane, I know, but I feel that I am giving each book a chance to make some sort of impression..I am still a hopeless idealist in that I think that each and every person can benefit in so many ways by reading something each day.

irapas1:

Thank you for your recommendation of the book "Piddler on the Hoof."

After reading the link you provided to the advertisement for the book, however, I think I will want to withold any comments.

Lorrie

What's everybody reading, or I guess the rush of the season maybe books are put aside. I just finished reading The Mind and Society, four volumes of it but I skipped around a lot, by Pareto. Oh my gosh it was so boring but I wanted to learn the theory of 80/20. I also read Couldn't Keep It To Myself, very interesting book. There is a discussion going on in SN now but I have trouble keeping up with it. Last night the book I read before I went to sleep was called Gifts In A Jar ... LOL ... I guess a sign of the season.

I finished CKITM and would have reread it but so many others wanted it that I returned it to the library. I am reading one of the books on writing that was recommended in the back of that book, though. It is "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott and I can't recommend it highly enough. I also have others on request, besides those on the list that I already own.

She is magnificent and also funny as anything. I can't rememeber when I have laughed so much in so short a time. But she is very motivating as to writing and does convince one that it is possible to write and how to get going at it every single day. My little grandson, who is my ward, was sick all night, so I sat up with him and got a lot of reading done.

I have also been rading a lot of good fiction laterly... Barbara Kingsolver (Pigs in Heaven, The Prodigal Summer, the Poisonwood Bible), Anita Shreve (The Pilot's Wife, The Last Time They Met, and others), and I also read a couple of the Ladies of Covington books and participated in that discussion. I won't read any more of her books, however. Those were not very well done and I thought they could have used a lot of rewriting and editing. The best thing about them was the title and the basic premise, I thought. A lot of her writing just made no sense at all.

I am also reading a lot of non-fiction, like Strong Women Stay Young (which I swear by), The Perricone Prescription (ditto), SoulCollage, and Dr. Phil's "Self Matters."

I want to read ALL of Anne Lamott's other books and have them on a list at our library.

I usually have 3 or 4 books on the night stand and pick up one of them according to my mood. Just gained some hours to read by discovering that I was really sleeping way too much and it was making me tired. Now I get the boy to bed and then I stay up and read for three or four hours, instad of going to bed when he does and getting up when he does and waking up worn out. Feeling much better, too!

I buy an awful lot of books from http://www.half.com, usually books that I know I am likely to want to keep. I also haunt the library sale room and get a lot of good finds there.

Zinnia ' Apologies for punctuation - can{t find it on Mexican cybercafe keyboard. Did Anne Lamott tell the story of theBird by Bird title in the book itself - can{t remember. She was visiting author at school where I worked and the kids just loved her. She was working on a project for science and her Dad - I think- told her when she was confused abouthow to begin....just do it bird by bird. I am a great fan of Barbara Kingsolver as well. Her essays are stunning. Her books on tape - at least the early ones - are done by a wonderful reader whose name I can{t recall. My brain seems to be mush down here. Have a wonderful holiday.

Yes, she did tell the story of her dad and her brother and the report on birds. I finished her book last night and now I want to read all of her fiction and other books. I will also read this book again and make some notes. This is a library book and I want to get my own copy because it sure is a keeper.

I got two more used books in the mail yesterday, on the subject of writing as healing, and I'm partway through one of them already. This is a good one, also, but thus far it's more into printing stories and commenting on them, and not nearly as entertaining as Anne Lamott.

Nice to find some kindred spirits here - I'm mainly referring to Ann Lamott fans, ZINNY and PAULITA. I'll tell you one thing, though - after being so swept away by Bird By Bird and Operating Instructions, and especially Traveling Mercies, I was extremely disappointed in her works of fiction. That marvelous appealing personality just didn't come through, for me, at all. But the NON-fiction - I think I'd like to read them all over again!

And Barbara Kingsolver - I've only just discovered her (Poisonwood Bible) and am happy to know that she has other books waiting to be read. Ahhh, like money in the bank, aye? Any particular favorites you'd recommend?

I read all of her books and liked each one immensly.....she also has a book of essays, non fiction out.....the title escapes me right now but you could do a search at your library.......

I read "Pigs in Heaven" first, not even realizing she was the author of "The Poisonwood Bible." I really enjoyed Pigs in Heaven and then read "The Prodigal Summer." It was well written, but I liked Pigs better. Just finished The Poisonwood Bible and it was wonderful, magnificently done, very complex, as was Prodigal, but Pigs is still my favorite.

I like Anita Shreve but wish I had started reading them in order. I could not continue with The Weight of Water because a later book had let me know what was going to happen and I couldn't manage it. I wonder if others of her books have strange endings.

I just saw a book in the library sale room that I would like to warn you AGAINST reading. It is called "Night Gardening" and I checked it out in hard copy from the library and read it several years ago. Older people romance kind of book. Most of the book absolutely wonderfully done. Threw it across the room at the end. It was like the author just got tired of writing the book and abruptly put in a horrible ending. Sad ending I can manage, but this was a lousy and very awkwardly done ending. I actually wondered if the author had died or something and someone else wrote the ending, or tried to.

I so want to put a note on the paperback in the sale room, saying DO NOT READ THIS BOOK and why, but no one seems to buy it, anyway.