SeniorLearn BookBytes Newsletter: Mid April 2009

Ransom of Red Chief by O'Henry ~ April 15 Two hoboes strike on a get-rich quick scheme to kidnap an overly-energetic 9 year old. Come join us and read the story online.

NOMINATION TIME for future Book discussions! We plan to vote on your suggestions in May. Please stop into the
SUGGESTION BOX for Future Discussions
and feel free to nominate any titles you feel would make good group discussions in addition to those in the chart in the heading.

Add these book discussions to your schedule:
Loving Frank (Lloyd Wright) ~ Nancy Horan ~ May 1st
Three Cups of Tea ~ Mortenson ~ Book Club Online ~ May 1st
Night Villa ~ Goodman ~ June 1~ The Author will participate in the discussion!
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Just read The Art Thief. Enjoyed it very much. Put to work the knowledge I gained from my History and Appreciation of Art class many years ago. ~ Mary (Cub Fan)
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The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is an engrossing study of a seminal murder in Britain in 1860. The Mr. Whicher in the title was one of only eight detectives at Scotland Yard. He was called in to solve the murder of a family which the locals couldn't do. A friend of Charles Dickens and the model of the detective in Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White Whicher reveals his methods and thoughts through original sources from that time. Historical mysteries have been an interest of mine and this is the real thing, not fiction but written in a narrative style that is sedate but captivating. ~ Jackie (mrssherlock)
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I have decided to revisit an old favorite.. The author is dead, but the books live on. Virginia Lanier started writing late in life and produced a small series of books about bloodhounds and their trainer in Georgia. A fascinating small town life with the dogs.. Fun.. If anyone likes strong women, dogs and interesting insights in bloodhound tracking.. here is a series for you. ~ Steph
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Just finished Susan Albert's new book - Wormwood. Change of place - setting a Shaker village. Two story lines - the present day and the past. Continues her emphasis on herbs. Well written. Enjoyable. ~ Mary (Cub Fan)
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Just finished Heat Lightning by John Sandford - his usual main character is Lucas Davenport and I love those books - now he has a new main man..well new to me, think this might be the 2nd or 3rd with Virgil Flowers who works with Lucas and who does appear infrequently throughout the book - excellent story line with plots going back to Vietnam in the mid 70's - liked this one a lot - will always read another of Sandfords book in a minute - off to the library tomorrow to get a few more - wish our library would let us take books out for a month but we can take them out for 2 weeks and the renew if we want - would be interested in what other libraries do. ~ peace42
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Reading my first Laura Childs book - Shades of Earl Grey. Enjoying, I'll read more of hers............jean (mabel1015j)
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Read one of Anne Perry's "quickie" Christmas mysteries last night, "Christmas Guest". Perfect when you want a short break from what you're reading. She takes one of her continuing characters from her long books, and makes them a detective in a novella. They assume you know the characters from the other books, though. This one had Emily and Charlotte's nasty "grandmama" as the main character. ~ JoanK
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If anyone is interested in reading an unusual historical novel I recommend "The Historian", by Elizabeth Kostova. It is about ...DRACULA who was a historical figure and who in Romania is regarded as a hero who repelled the Turks in the early l6th century. It is a whirlwind ride through eastern Europe and Turkey. It is fascinating, only don't read it at night. ~ Lucky
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I've never read anything by Kate Atkinson (who lives in Edinburgh), but picked up her One Good Turn at the library. Fascinating, so far. The initial focus is an event/incident, that is witnessed by a multitude of strangers. Then we learn about their lives and what has brought them to this particular place and now how this incident creates relationships among them. Kind of a fictional sociogram. Atkinson won the Whitbred Award (best first novel?) in 1995 for Behind the Scenes at the Museum. ~ Pedln
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The newest one is "The Whole Truth" by David Baldacci. I guess it would be called a "thriller". It's the first one of his I've ever read. Not sure I want to start working my way through his others - but this one is good. "Promises of Change" by Joan Medlicott is waiting. I may have to read it before finishing "...Truth" because it's a library reserve. ~ CallininOK
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Just finished a wonderful book of short stories by Elizabeth Berg, titled, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted." I'm not a big fan of short stories and I picked this book up not knowing that's what it was. But I am pleasantly surprised. All the stories have women as the protagonists and most are humorous. Many of them have food as a theme. It is a delightful, series of stories, mostly about women of middle-age or older and very introspective, but as I said, often funny. I thoroughly enjoyed it...............jean


pat westerdale, Books@SeniorLearn.org BR>