The Library

[marcie]

The Library Our library cafe is open 24/7, the welcome mat is  always out. Do come in from the heat and humidity and join us. We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not). Let the book talk begin here! Everyone is welcome!

 Suggestion Box for Future Discussions

[marcie]

I'm glad that volunteer groups help libraries to keep their doors open.

It's good to see you here, Mahlia.

[Steph]

Mahlia, everyone here knows that first the books, then anything else is the given rule.
Like many of you , since both my husband and my brother and father did not cook, I taught the boys cooking,ironing,sewing, etc. To this day, one of our sons does any ironing since his wife simply will not. I am trying to convince my granddaughter that learning to iron is a helpful skill. She simply does not get it yet..

[Babi]

 MARCIE, thanks for putting in that link to the on-line showings of the
Inspector Lewis series.  I've never tried to watch a television program
on the computer monitor, so I didn't think of it. It is a happy solution,
tho', as PBS schedules are not the same everywhere.

 JEAN, it can be amusing how differently people can take the idea of doing
as much for yourself as possible.  I was struck by this during a stay in
the hospital.  I was eager to to for myself as quickly as possible. My
roommate, however, regarded the hospital stay as a vacation from work and
happily lolled about doing as little as possible!

 Look at it this way, Mahlia. I'm sure he could find some books at that
sale that would be useful in preparing for his citizenship exam. And I'm
so pleased to hear that he is on a full year's sabbatical!

[mrssherlock]

Mahalia:  So glad to see you posting here.  Your husband will have one whole year to spend here in the US?  How lovely.  What are his/your plans?  Besides reading, that is.

[marcie]

Hello everyone.

Please consider joining THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD discussion that starts tomorrow. The book is available online, as well as in libraries and bookstores. Charles Dickens was writing this novel at the time of his death and had only completed half of it. We'll have the opportunity to figure out for ourselves how he would have ended it. I think that you'll find it interesting whether or not you're a fan of Dickens' other works. As the book progressed, it was hard for me to put down. In addition to the intrigue, Dickens provides comic relief in several memorable characters.

Another bonus of participating in THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD discussion in September is that reading this book is essential preparation for our discussion of THE LAST DICKENS in October. We have the good fortune that author Matthew Pearl will be joining us next month to talk about his book which is based on Dickens writing his final novel.

The discussion is at http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=693.0

[winsummm]

I gave it away . . . my sewig machine so that i wouldn't have to use it. threading it was something I had to relearn each time since I didn't use it often enough to build in the process to my kinestetic mind.

I have two pairs of pants waiting for split repair now for a few years. I keep looking at them as I pass bye. they even have the sewing repair basket sitting under them.

I do have a professional desiger friend who drops in once in a great while and the last time was horribied that I no longer had a sewing machine.  I feel much the same way about musical instruments, especially a piano and/or a guitar.

claire

[CallieOK]

Enjoying all the various posts.

I have just started reading "March" by Geraldine Brooks (this was mentioned in the discussion about her novel "The Book").   The first chapter was so descriptive about the blood and gore of the Civil War that I almost stopped right there.
However, Chapter Two is starting out much better so I will stay with it - at least for a while.

My sewing machine is the bedside table in the guest bedroom.

Claire, there's a pair of slacks under my sewing basket waiting to be hemmed up.  I think I bought them early last spring!

My husband didn't cook but he was wonderful with all other household duties, including vaccuming, so I didn't mind.   Although I taught both sons the "bachelor survival menus" of fish sticks, mac & cheese, canned green beans and my mother's recipe for "Quick Spaghetti" (similar to today's Hamburger Helper but using hamburger meat, a can of spaghetti, tomato sauce and a pkg. of dry spaghetti sauce mix), they are both excellent cooks today and enjoy it.  They also do household chores when needed.

Hi, Mahlia.  How nice that your husband has a Sabbatical to be with you for a year.

[mabel1015j]

My sewing machine sat in the attic for years after we moved to this house until a friend said she had to buy a new machine that hers was worn out, my husband said "NO you DON'T, we have one in the attic you may have!" .............. I haven't missed it at all. My Mother was a fabulous seamstress, but it just never grabbed me. I prefer to knit and crochet where if i make a mistake i can take it apart and not damage any of the yarn and do it all over again - unlike sewing where when the material is cut................ .........................it's done! My Mother was a wonderful quilter, also, and i've always tho't i'll try that some day - i know exactly how to do it, but...............................it's now 50 yrs later and i haven't gotten around to it yet................i think that idea has vaporized  ...................jean

[maryz]

Well, Steph, I don't iron - and John certainly doesn't.  Ironing stopped in my house when permanent press was invented.  I used to make all my clothes, all the girls' clothes, and all John's sport shirts (pre-knit) - and loved sewing!.  Then I finally got rid of my console machine.  4-5 years later, I got a small portable, and rarely use it for anything.  It's easier to mend something by hand than to mess with getting it out. 

John does the vacuuming, cleans his bathroom, and defrosts the upright freezer when it absolutely has to be done - about once a year.  The fridge/freezer is self-defrosting.

[mrssherlock]

I have a Singer that I've had for about 50 years; doesn't do much without lots of feet to put on andf take off.  Few weeks ago Kmart had a special offer on a Necchi machine, all steel, many stitches builtin, including button holes, zigzag, blindhem, etc.  So I put it on layaway (I have to plan ahead for large purchases like this for the quarterly check) and hope to have it here soon.  Its supposed to sew on leather, denim etc. 

[Frybabe]

I am now reading Carol Goodman's The Drowning Tree. Fascinating. Not into kayaking, but the stained glass and mythology is interesting. I took an instant liking to the detective; don't like the kayak instructor; no real reason, a personality thing maybe. Kay is an interesting character. There is an actress, small and thin, who plays characters in a similar manner as Kay is described. I don't remember her name or even if she is still alive, but she is a perfect match.

[ginny]

Love all the chocolate posts, it's apparently a fascinating subject and I really learned a great deal reading the Travel Writing of 2009, you just knew Bourdain would include such a fascinating subject.  The Chef de Cuisine featured in the book  , however, is not what you'd expect, but then, a lot of them don't seem to be, actually.

I can't go into a store now without checking the percentages of cacao in chocolate. The strangest little stores have sometimes the most!

------

Joan K, how fascinating!! I have heard of that book, I did not know you were related to the author!!

---------

I guess I really missed my trip this year because I'm off with Frances Mayes (Under the Tuscan Sun) for a Year in the World.

Why DOES that woman annoy me? Have any of you read it? I got so angry at her Under the  Tuscan Sun I almost threw it across the room.

Some of the stuff she's saying about Naples makes me think she's a fake, I'm sorry to say that but it's true. I mean stuff like "you can't think of it as Naples any more if you've been there, it's always Napoli, " oh for pete's sake.  I guess if I had to say honestly what I dislike about that type of writing is I keep thinking of the innocents, the hopeful, the dreamers, who have not been to Naples, the couple who carved into a bench overlooking France at the  English Channel, "Some day, Ida." And who will someday go to Naples and probably come back without feeling the need to refer to it affectedly as Napoli, and then feel they must have missed something important. Faugh.

Stuff like that. Something, just something is not right or true there.

It's quite a psychological study too, she pictures herself living everywhere she goes, but she does write beautifully, and "Ed" is revealed to be her husband (his last name is Mayes).

She also can be quite....opinionated (aren't we all) and negative, which is real, I think.

I had to skip some of her Spain writing, it was eye crossingly boring, and Portugal, but the Italy section has picked up, have any of you read it?

I'm traveling vicariously this year!

Just finished watching I, Robot and I see what you all mean by the Three Laws, now to read Asimov! Movie says it's  "Suggested by Asimov's book." I loved it. I like Will Smith. Last night The Pursuit of Happyness was on, the Chris Gardner biography and in googling HIM I find he's written a book (other than the biography, his life was somewhat different than portrayed in the movie), and I like his philosophy,  like: it's OK to fail, but it's not ok to quit. Stuff like that.

What are you reading?

[ginny]

Frybabe, we were posting together,  how does it compare to The Night Villa?

[Frybabe]

Well, Ginny, I would have to say that The Drowning Tree is my current Goodman favorite. The Night Villa was good but some of the characters were not entirely believable at times. The very best part of Villa was our super discussion and the fact that it was, after all, an ancient Roman dig.

Like all her books so far, Goodman uses the first person narrative and explores mythology in a "parallel lives" kind of fashion. In this book, she uses stained glass restoration as her venue. Her setting is Penrose College and surrounding area (confession, I haven't looked up the college or the window in question to see if they are real yet). So far, I am more comfortable with the characters being believable than in Villa. As always, you can feel the ebb and flow of the writing itself. Like the currents in the waters (this case the Hudson River) she includes in her writings, you feel the pull of the currents in her writing.

[ginny]

Whoo, that would have made a very lyrical review! Maybe we should write reviews here, I've got the book and you have made me want to read it!

[Pat]

Book Bytes goes out twice a month,  as email, to every registered person here on SeniorLearn.org.

This includes the new and returning Latin Students.  If you do not receive your copy tonight --  look in your spam folder.

The address I use is SeniorLearnBooks@gmail.com.
This you should add to your address book.

[marcie]

I've enjoyed all of Carol Goodman's books. It's difficult to pick a favorite but I'd say for me, like you Frybabe, it's THE DROWNING TREE. I was especially intrigued by the way Carol Goodman uses dreams in this one, a theme that's in most of her other books too. I love the way she creates parallel worlds in her books in the present and in a setting such as a myth or fairy tale, and weaves a story between them.

[marcie]

Thank you very much for another informative Bookbytes, Pat.

[Persian]

Good to catch up on what everyone is reading and enjoying (or not).  I've just finished David Sanger's THE INHERITANCE, which I thoroughly enjoyed since it brought back a lot of memories about my own experiences in Washington DC and how "folks in high places" (regardless of their titles) REALLY function. To me, Sanger is an excellent journalist, as well as writer, and presents the complexities of the Congress and elected officials - from the Office of the President down to the freshmen electorate - in an intriguing manner.

Mahlia

[winsummm]

I read all of Carol Goodman too and I really like the first one about the  lake of dead something or other. my memories are all tangled up amongst the books. They cowelles  spelling defeats me

all the books are in CG's voice so it is as if they are really one.  

[Babi]

My library is hunting for "March" for me, CALLIE. It's supposedly in
there somewhere! After reading  Brooks' "People of the Book", I'm fairly
confident I will appreciate it.

[Steph]

I think I want to read March, but am so far behind in the ones I already have. Sigh.
I just taught the boys emergency sewing. Buttens.. hems, rips.. I have a sewing machine somewhere... Hmm. I really dislike to sew except I used to love to make pillows and curtains, etc. Not any more, but used to love that. My mother made all of my clothes until I went to college. We lived in a little town, very few stores and I was short and skinny and nothing was small enough unless she made it.

[Mippy]

I've read March and only suggest it to others if you are ok with the bloodiness of war.  This is nothing like the Little Women  you remember.  It's about the nitty gritty Civil War and the story of a man's struggle.   I have mixed feelings about this, but read about it on Amazon and see what you think.

[mrssherlock]

Mippy:  Is March more about the Civil War than it is about the father of the little women of the book by Louisa May Alcott?
Could this story be told with anyone other than Father March as its  protagonist?  Thanks

[JoanP]

I'm kind of in the mood to reread Little Women.  Gosh - how long ago was that written?  Was it during the Civil War?  Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy - is that right?  I do remember their calling their mother "Marmy."

What do you think of this - we have one discussion of March - and Little Women.  Those opting for Little Women can bring in any mention of the absent father - any mention of the war.  And those who prefer to discuss Geraldine Brooks' March can do that too?  I think it would be quite interesting to read the two side by side.  The father fighting in the bloody war, the family of women trying to carry on without the father...  what do you think?

[Mippy]

To try to answer you, Mrs. S.:   the book March is about a man's struggle, Dr. March, who is indeed the father of the girls in Little Women,  but the entire book easily stands on its own for readers who have never heard of  Alcott's book.   The doctor struggles with being surrounded by the hardships of the War, plus the effects on the lives of slaves, but there is a very long, involved backstory which I won't go into, as it might be a spoiler for some readers.  

Thus said, I could not re-read Little Women at this moment without feeling that the mother was unaware to a great extent of what her husband's life had involved in the past.   That might always be a problem when an author writes a tie-in to a classic.   What do others think?

JoanP ~ I'd suggest you read some of March, especially the backstory section, before you decide if the 2 books could tie together in one discussion.    

[Steph]

Interesting, the discussion on March. My reading of various letters etc during this era puts Alcott on the trancendentalist side. His family suffered from his inability to be interested in actually working, so the civil war is a side of him, I did not know.

[Babi]

"March" is about the fictional father of the March family of 'Little Women', STEPH.  The book is written by Geraldine Brooks, whose book "People of the
Book" we recently discussed and enjoyed so much.  Mr. March, as vaguely
referenced in "Little Women", didn't sound like your description of the Alcott patriarch.  I'd say it's very unlikely that Brook's book reflects Mr. Alcott either.

[ginny]

One of the best articles I ever read on books and writing is in this past Friday's Good Books Don't Have to be Hard in the Wall Street Journal. Thrillingly, it's online:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574377163804387216.html

It talks about the Conspiracy Against Plot and how that came about. It mentions "Pity the poor  Pulitzer Judges in 1926" who had to choose between The Professor's House, The Great Gatsby, Arrowsmith, and An American Tragedy." Arrowsmith won, and Lewis declined the prize.

Of those books we've read The Professor's House here and none of the others. I have not read Arrowsmith in years but I once thought it the be all and end all of all books.  I have tried Gatsby many times and as many of us have noted here, heartily disliked it. I'll try again.

He addresses Dickens, too. "Say what you like about the works of Dickens and Thackeray, you pretty much always know who's talking, and when, and what they are talking about."

He says there's a revolution under way. "Books are getting exciting again."

And he lists these books which are "rife with action:"



 A selection of books that are rife with action

The Golden Compass
by Philip Pullman

Fingersmith
by Sarah Waters

The Talented Mr. Ripley
by Patricia Highsmith

Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen

The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Zeitoun
by Dave Eggers

He says the new books "require a different set of tools, and a basic belief that plot and literary intelligence aren't mutually exclusive."

This is a great article, but do we agree with it? Of his list I have only read The Talented Mr. Ripley and Pride and Prejudice (years ago on P&P).

I am thinking I'll start here with these two lists and pick up Zartoum of which I have heard volumes, An American Tragedy which I saw on Broadway but never read and the new one by Doctorow, Homer and Langley, a novel in fiction about two Grey Gardens type brothers. I don't know if you get the series Hoarders, but it's eye opening and kind of disturbing as was the real life of Homer and Langley (and the Beales).

[mrssherlock]

Wow, Ginny, what a concept.  Plot and intelligence?  AND action?  I've read P&P more than once, Gatsby after I'd seen the movie with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.  The cast reads like a Hollywood Who's Who.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071577/  I'll order it from Netflix and will reread the book.  Ripley I tried; can't remember why I didn't finish it.  Never heard of the Eggers and Waters books but I'll read them also.  Golden Compass, it rings a bell.  Fascinating article, BTW.  Not one I can fully appreciate in one reading.

[JoanP]

Dave Eggers book - Zeitoun has been nominated in the Suggestion Box   for future discussion - The title in the header is a link to some reviews.  If it sounds interesting to you for group discussion, please leave a note there in the Box.  Thanks!

[mrssherlock]

Thanks, Joan.  Sounds like a helluva story. 

[pedln]

A lot going on here.  Today's issue of the local rag include it's monthly "Relish" section, complete with ads and recipes.  And, after all our discussion of root vegetables, found that it included two recipes for parsnip bread and roast parsnip curls.  To go with the wine, no doubt.

Ginny, I never read Under the Tuscan Sun, but I did enjoy the film.

Enjoyed the Lev Grossman article in the WSJ.  So everyone is reading the YA Hunger Games.  After reading a review of them I can't imagine anyone under the age of 14 wanting anything to do with them.  Horrible sounding things.

I'm currently reading The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.  Bookstores in Seattle were touting it when I was there, and of course, it's set in Seattle  both in 1942 and 1986.  And it is a bittersweet story, about Henry Lee, a young Chinese American boy and his friend Keiko, a Japanese American girl.  The focus is on father-son relationships, separations, music and prejudices. Jazz fans will find some familiar names there. Jamie Ford's great-grandfather was a Chinese mining pioneer who arrived in this country in 1865, changed his name to Ford to be more American, and caused all kinds of confusion.

[Steph]

I just finished a Thomas Perry..Fidelity.. He is the strangest writer. I like him, but he never ever has a pure hero.. Now his Jane in the small series, he wrote was, but nothing ever again. He likes hitmen... and women who are complicated.
I loved Sinclair Lewis.. Have not tried to reread him for many years, but he is probably dated beyond belief. But I also like Fitzgerald.. Not all, but some of them..Many of our most admired writers do not really write well.. I cannot believe that John Opdyke and Philip Roth are so venerated. I certainly read them at the beginnings of their careers, but now.. totally avoid their stuff.
I like
Dickens, but he wrote in the era of getting paid by the word or serials and so overwrote fairly heavily..
OK.. now I understand about March. I was equating it with Louisas home life. She was the breadwinner in her family and the family home was stark and uncomfortable. The men believed in austerity in that part of Massachusetts.. Of course that applied mostly to their wives and children. They believed themselves above any sort of normal life.

[CallieOK]

I have finished "March" - or as much of it as I cared to read.  I simply could not finish Part One, which was about his war experiences.  Part Two focuses on Marmee and her experiences in Washington after she learned he was in the hospital there. There were enough references to the portion of Part One that I skipped to let me know why certain things were so.
 The book ends with his homecoming.

"March" might be a discussion topic if enough are interested in fiction about the Civil War as experienced from a chaplain's viewpoint (I am not). But I don't see how it would fit in a parallel discussion with "Little Women".

[marcie]

We're just getting started reading and talking about THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. The first paragraphs are a bit confusing but, as one of our participants has said, after chapter 1, it's smooth sailing all the way.

We've got a good group of people who are sharing interesting facts and observations. If you don't want to borrow or purchase the book, you can read or listen to it online.

Please join us. The discussion is at http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?board=69.0.

[serenesheila]

I haven't been online for several days.  So, I just read all of your posts, and am caught up.  All the discussion about chocolate, something to which I relate!  The best chocolate I have ever eaten, was Belgium.  WOW.  It melts in the mouth. 

I discovered it while visiting my son, and his family in Southwest Germany.  I don't think I would ever get tired of it!

Thanks for all of the great suggestions about books.  I will be ordering several for my Kindle. 

Sheila

[PatH]

It's certainly true that when I was helping JoanK and her family "delicately sample" that monster tub of Valrhona chocolate, no one seemed tired of it.

That "melts in your mouth" quality is gotten by stirring the half-liquid chocolate for 24 hours, plus not adding stuff, which adds a lot to the cost.

[maryz]

We're still continuing on with our vacation, but.......

You'll have to read the blog to get the full story.  And I did get a bunch of reading done on the Frances Perkins book.

http://zelleworld.blogspot.com/