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]

Oh, Mary! I'm so sorry about John's broken bone. What a trooper he is. It must be painful. I didn't understand the medical explanation of the surgery but it sounds like he's going to be okay. I hope you have a better rest of your vacation.

[mrssherlock]

Mary:  John sounds like a real trooper.  A finger bone is bad enough; glad it wasn't a hep, though I suppose men don't have broken hips as often as we women do.  This will be one trip you will never forget. 

[Steph]

First set of company gone, so life will get back to normal and I can finish some reading..I like company, but get so darned tired.. And this was relatives who are a delight.

[Babi]

I haven't gotten "March" yet, CALLIE, but I agree it probably has little
reference to Alcott's "Little Women".  As for the rest, I would have to
read it. I'll be at the library today, and hope to be able to find "March" ]
this time.

[PatH]

I haven't read "March", but I'm guessing that it would be a mistake to read it simultaneously with "Little Women" because the difference in tone would be too jarring.  "Little Women" should be known as the background instead.  I'll be interested to know what some of you think after reading it.

I did buy Brooks' "Year of Wonders"; the subject interests me greatly.

[pedln]

Mary, what a shame.  I do hope John is not in too much pain.  I guess the only good thing you can say about this is  thank heavens he didn't fall in the shower.  That little finger must be pretty tough.  I hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly.

[Frybabe]

Hi MaryZ,

In your blog of Sept. 2 you wondered about the origins of the name Loyalsock in PA. According to a letter written in 1961 from Genevieve Blatt, then head of the commonwealth's Bureau of Internal Affairs, to a Mr. Henry, the name is a corruption of an indian name Lawi-Saquick. Here is the letter: http://www.loyalsocktownshipbos.com/lyc-loyalsock/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=417497&lyc_loyalsockNav=
When I mentioned it to my best friend, who was raised in the area, he says that the Loyalsock looks like a peaceful little creek ideal for fishing. However, it is treacherous. Many fishermen have lost their lives because of  unseen "potholes". The other thing he said is that he has never, heard of Muncy Creek mentioned in the letter. Now all of this has me curious enough to look up both of the creeks themselves and potholes. The potholes up that way, as far as I know, were created the receding glacier at the end of the ice age. I visited one years ago in the Scranton area.

[Frybabe]

Just finished with The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman. Excellent! The bad guy was a surprise; the ending most satisfactory. Once again, the ending promises new beginnings for the main character.

Now I am on the prowl in my TBR stack to find a nonfiction that will fit in my purse. Hah! Not an easy task.

[maryz]

Thanks for the kind wishes for John.  The broken bone is actually in his hand - sort of the continuation of the little finger bones along the edge of his hand.  Anyhow, he's in a good sturdy cast.  He carried on like a trooper today, and we did all we intended to do  (Corning Glass Museum, Glenn Curtiss Airplane Museum, a winery, dinner).  But at 9, he admitted to having some pain, took one of his pain pills, and crashed.  He even asked me to set out one of the pain pills so he could take it in the middle of the night (he can't open the bottle with only one hand). 

Thanks for that information, frybabe!  A most interesting link and letter.  And thanks for clearing up our mystery. 

[Babi]

 I said this over in 'Mystery',  but didn't want to miss any of you here either.
The new PBS series, "Inspector Lewis",  has been simply great.

   Our posters have been giving these shows 5 stars! 
The actors, the writing, the scenery....all are top notch. Airing Sunday nights, tomorrows episode is "Murder to Die For".  You can see what it's about...and admire that handsome fellow in the picture..here:   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/lewis/musictodiefor.html

  If you're interested, join us and tell us what you think about this winner.
http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=707.new#new

[Steph]

Mary, Did you like the Museum of Glass. WE loved it and spent most of the day there. What a glorious place and the special exhibit of new donations was particularly gorgeous. I got some great pictures and they turned out quite well.
All of the wineries were fun.. Corning itself was a bit dreary, but we went up to Watkins Glen and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and some shopping there.

[marcie]

Steph, do you have any of your photos of the new glass exhibits online where we might take a peek?

[winsummm]

lost my post so here again

nonfiction "animal vegetable, miracle"  by barbara kingsolver about getting close to the roots of our food sources. my kids are doing that on texada island in british columbia. they even have baby pigs to raise and eat in five or six months. unable to resist they have named them as in pork and chop  or pink and spot.  that is an issue amonst home grown meat  haisers .

claire

[marjifay]

Good for your kids, Claire.  When my kids were young, I grew all our vegetables--in a rented plot from our city when I lived in an apartment, and then in my backyard when I bought my house.  Lots of fun and kept me slim.

Haven't read Kingsolver's book.  I want to read FARM CITY, a new book by Novella Carpenter .  Reviewers say it's an absorbing account of her effort to farm on vacant lots in the slums of Oakland, CA.  The story about butchering her turkey at Thanksgiving is both touching and hilarious.  The pigs she slaughters are a different story.  "Surpriseingly compelling reading," per Politics. & Prose review.  Per Pub. Wkly, Starred Review, "utterly enchanting book."

[Steph]

I grew up inthe country and we raised our own chickens, fowl and pigs.. Occasionally a steer.. and grew vegetables and fruit.. I remember my father.. No matter what, if it is bought to raise and eat.. NO NAMES.. and we adhered to that. Actually since the chickens that we raisied for eggs always pecked my hands when I went for the eggs. I was the cheering section when it came time to slaughter chickens, etc.
I raised vegetables when we were in houses. Not in the townhouse however.
No, I really rarely put my pictures on line.. One of those things that makes me nuts.. Sometimes it works and sometimes not.. I will look at facebook and see if I can add some of them there.. I like facebook and go on it close to every day.. Fun to keep in touch with old neighbors, etc.

[winsummm]

facebook:  someone I don't know keeps inviting me to oin since someone I do know and don't like is one of her  members.  I tried the block on her and it didn't work. facebook and twitter are just not my game. I do e-mails with folks I really want to talk too, which could be any of you but probably not others that you have the pleasure of knowing s.  this is enough for me.  I like the reviews and referrals I get here.

claire

[ginny]

Marjifay, thaat does sound awfully good, let us know when you finish it how you liked it?  The porch or backyard garden is really getting a lot of interest, sort of like the old Victory Gardens.

Jerry Bledsoe wrote an hilarious account of his attempts to farm  a long time ago, it's laugh out loud funny. It's called You Can't Live on Radishes, and I'm sure it's long out of print but it's a treasure if available.

I almost picked up the new Kingsolver but was undecided between it and the new Tracy Kidder which looks absolutely explosive and perfectly inspiring and marvelous. It's called Strength in What Remains, about a Rwandan refugee who came to the US not speaking English and with $100 in his pocket and how well he did. I really like  Tracy Kidder's writing, his House is one of my all time favorites. Anybody here  who has read  Strength in What  Remains? If so what did you think about it?

On Friday I got Doctorow's  Homer and Langley, my new reading programme of what the Wall Street Journal recommended, as noted I thought I'd give those books a whirl.

I love it. It remains with you, even now I'm thinking about it. I read 1/3 of it this morning without putting it down, it's new, just out this month (September) and is fiction, but the subject is Homer and Langley Collyer, whom I had never heard of but this book is not a non fiction account of their lives but a re imagining with a lot of differences. The compelling  thing is how Doctorow has made the main character so...winning and understandable and sympathetic.

Their situation was not sympathetic. 100 tons of trash were removed from their huge family  home  in NYC when they were both found dead in it. But they did not start that way. Doctorow imagines,   and portrays,  them beautifully (so far) and understandably.

I don't know where I've been all these years, am going to have to read another Doctorow, I like the way he writes. Are you all more familiar with him than I am? Anybody here read Ragtime?

I also got Zeitoum which the clerk at B&N could not find but another clerk came up and when I said it had been recommended  by the WSJ, he pulled up the very page on the internet OF the WSJ's recommendations by date no less, and displayed it and there it was and yes they had it.

And finally, I just have to mention this! I  had an opportunity also yesterday and early  this morning to see the movie Fracture from Netfliix starring Anthony Hopkins and I've never seen anything like it, ever. Had to wait till the daylight, actually to view it.

Kind of a...it's indescribable. I imagine it would appeal to those who like CSI or Law and Order but in it an older  man (Hopkins) who admits to having killed his unfaithful wife, and who is apparently a genius scientist, is intrigued by the brash young prosecutor and decides to play with him.  A cat and mouse game. I don't think anybody would ever guess the end, I sure didn't. Twists and turns.  Definitely 5 stars +. I am not sure if it was a book so did not put this in the Books Into Movies section. But it's a heck of a movie.

Or maybe I just like old actors, I also liked the one about the Clairmont and Mrs Palfrey, anybody seen that one?

[marcie]

I very much enjoyed the film, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, Ginny. Thanks for the reminder. It's based on a novel by the author Elizabeth Taylor, which I haven't read. I just looked her up in Wikipedia. Anne Tyler once compared Taylor to Jane Austen, Barbara Pym and Elizabeth Bowen -- "soul sisters all," in Tyler's words. I'll see if our library has her novels.

I've also put a hold on FRACTURE, at our library. A screenplay was written for the film but it's not based on a book.

I've not read anything by Doctorow. I think I'll start with his nonfiction, "Reporting the Universe." http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/DOCREP.html?show=reviews

I appreciate everyone's reviews and suggestions for books and films.

[mrssherlock]

I just put Fracture in my Netflix queue.  I've read Ragtime; must check out his other works.  H&L are on my library reserve list, added after I heard an interview with the author about their lives.

[JoanK]

Oh my, the Collyer brothers!! PatH and I have been talking about them for years -- whenever the mess gets too bad, we say "time to clean up before I end up like the Collyer brothers (PatH before me-- I throw things away!)

I don't know if I want to read the book or not.

[PatH]

When they cleaned out the NYC apartment of the Collier brothers, they found 8 grand pianos which had not been visible behind the mess.

[marcie]

That apartment must have been huge!

[Frybabe]

Ok, I'll bite. Who were the Collyer brothers?

[marcie]

Frybabe, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collyer_brothers. The topic came up when Ginny mentioned reading E.L. Doctorow's novel, Homer & Langley.

[Gumtree]

C'mon Frybabe - even I've heard of the Collyer brothers !

[PatH]

OK, it was a brownstone, not an apartment, but there were 14 pianos and a clavichord.

[maryz]

Steph, this was our third visit to the Corning Museum, our friends' first.  It's always wonderful.  And for them, almost too much to take in in one visit.  Tonight, we're tied up at near Macedon, NY.  The Canal is beautiful and we're having great weather so far.

[serenesheila]

Ginny, I watched "Fracture" several weeks ago.  I was enthrolled by it.  Had no idea how it would end.  It held my interest until the last frame!  "Mrs. Palfrey" is a real favorite, too. 

Sheila

[Gumtree]

Just read the Collyer link...indescribable. I must show it to DH who is something of a hoarder and wont discard anything without prodding. He's also very untidy with it which doesn't help much. I have a friend who advocates throwing out five things each and every week - even if it is only 5 old hairpins. It's a good philosophy and when things get too bad I make DH act on it. But it's the 'each and every week' that makes it really work.

It's a  practice that should never be applied to books though.

[joangrimes]

I really enjoyed " Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont".

Joan Grimes

[ginny]

Sheila, wasn't Fracture something? I  have to confess I fast forwarded thru the actual murder (in fact I got so nervous I more than sped thru it..... jumped an actual notch) , hahaha,  but was mesmerized by the movie that followed it. I see it was made in 2007 so it's relatively new. Jackie  and Marcie, I hope you like it, maybe we can all  discuss something that (still) puzzles me about the end. I missed something somewhere, once everybody has seen it.

Marcie, Elizabeth Taylor? Somehow that rings a distant bell, I've somehow missed her writing, I think I'd like to read the original. And maybe something else she's done, thank you for that!!  Me too, Joan G, who played Mrs. Palfrey? Whoever she was she was perfect. I don't know why I keep thinking Joan Plowright, I'll look it up on IMdB, I love their bloopers and flubs section.

I  watched (the woman who NEVER watches movies is riding a recumbent bicycle an hour a day...in 20 minute segments..... that's where all this movie watching is coming in) Last Chance Harvey last night,  and it, too, is wonderful, another Mrs. Palfrey perhaps, in a different way.

Pat, Joan K, Gum and Frybabe, I was really surprised in the Wikipedia article to see that even modern day firemen refer to a Collyer place. I had never heard of them, either!  I had heard of the Beales but they are more recent I think.

The Collyer house was 4 stories, on Fifth Avenue, interesting parallels with the Beales. Apparently the father, a doctor, was also something of a hoarder. It was some of his own Cabinet of Curiosities which went out at the end.

The book is very clever in how it reveals that Langley is a little mad,  it's not so much in the big things (which are astounding,  so astounding that you go along with it, Homer the blind brother acts here as a buffer foil) but rather the small things like the copper flashing on the chimney and the gutters. You read right over that and then a day later think..... hold on...

Did you see the 25,000 books? I don't consider books hoarding, myself.  Have you ever counted your own books?

A&E has a new series called Hoarders for the fall, in which,  as mentioned,  they talk to and try to help people who hoard. I just saw a notice that it's an actual series.  I've seen two of them and in one of them you really have to hold on to something because the woman, in explaining why she keeps rotten food or food past the due date in the freezer  seems to be any one of us, lucid, intelligent, ...very intelligent.  With lucid explanations as to why it's still there. It's frightening. It's...Makes you wonder, somewhat fitfully, about the various closets ONE has  waiting. I have to admit every time I see one of these things I do some major overhauling here.

Gum, 5 things a DAY. 5 Things.  Is that once you've cleaned out the closets? Or is that every day regardless?  I think in my case I'd need to get the closets first then start with the 5, I may not have that many years. hahahaa

In Homer and Langley, which I'm very sorry to say I'm in the last quarter of, and would be finished were it not for my reluctance TO end it ( gotta get another Doctorow). I keep putting it down, so that the spell won't be broken. It seems to be a sort of mentality in the book  that this item  MAY come of use some day...it's hard to explain.  I  am sort of afraid how this is going to end, tho I do know how it ended in real life.

 I guess that's the fascination,  most of us have junk I think (junk to others and maybe to ourselves) we've accumulated, if we're honest, unless we've done the deed and cleaned out. I remember when we moved to this farmhouse I said, "we'll never fill this up." That was 29 years ago, and guess what? hahahaa


There are other books on the Collyers, non fiction, I may see if I can find one of them. Doctorow is more or less making a good bit of this up to try to explain their reasoning. Jackie  I sort of saw that interview too, is there somewhere we could read it online?

 But you know what? It's so good to read a book with a real plot. The WSJ writer was right on. Good book. Doesn't seem like it, at first.  It sort of grows on you when you are not paying attention.

What are you all reading?

[Babi]

Alas, I ordered "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont" from Netflix, and was really
looking forward to it.  It came,...and had no closed captioning. I couldn't follow
the story at all and had to give up. So disappointing.

[Steph]

I just read two reviews on the Doctorow book. The Langley brothers have fascinated me.. so it is on my list.. I have been following a policy now for several years. I have a large bag in my closet. Each month, I look hard at various parts of the house and my closet and fill it.. MDH helps me with his clothes.. If it is valuable, it stays in a separate bag until our sons and wives have been told of it.. not valuable.. Habitat has a thrift store here and they get it.. Furniture.. we have a Second Chance type place starting for women and children and they need furniture so they get it.. Slowly....very slowly, I am getting down to a more manageable level of belongings.
My clothes, I am trying hard not to look at them as if they are gorgeous, but instead..DID I WEAR THEM IN THE LAST YEAR.. Hmm. and I dont mean the ones, that might fit sometimes in the future ( not going to happen)
I did get three of the glass pictures up in my facebook.. it is open to all so you can look if you want to.

[pedln]

Marjifay, I just copied your post about Farm City and sent it to my daughter who lives in Oakland. She belongs to some farm group where they bring her fresh veggies every week.  Quite a bit of food for what she pays, and she usually doesn’t know what she’s going to get.  When I was there in late March it was lettuce, asparagus, the most delicious tender cauliflower, and a fennel bulb. One of my other daughters who was visiting then made a pizza with asparagus and fennel.  Really tasty.

Claire, I’m with you on facebook, and the more I read about it, the farther away I want to stay.

Ginny, Ragtime – yes, both the book and the film, years ago.  Both excellent.  And I also read World’s Fair, some time ago, and remember it as enjoyable.  Fracture is now on my Netflix queue – it looks good, and is also in my Amazon cart, for maybe fleshing out a book order some day.  I’ve been picking up DVDs occasionally, but only if they meet my “cheap” requirements.  Picked up Sense and Sensibility yesterday at Target.

Marcie, I’m glad to know that Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is based on a book.  I’ve wanted to see the movie, but alas, no captions, so will look for the book – it’ll probably be better anyway. Will check the library.

Gum, I need to do what your friend does, but on “each and every day.”  Magazines, and only two are paid subscriptions. The rest just come and pile up.  Steph, I remember one of our teachers, taught business ed, office practices, etc. always looked like a million dollars and very professional.  She said that if she hadn’t worn something in a year, she got rid of it.  She’s now retired and the elected mayor of the town next door.

[winsummm]

trader joes has wonderful bags with handles.  I gave away five bags ful of books yesterday and have only just begun.  Theprint is  toosmall for me these days sice  blow stuff up six times on the kindle in orde tø read anything.  . .  getting tire of that now. all this old body wants even after coffee is to sleep. I have visions of my heirs having to clean up all this st¨ff when I'm gone art and ceramics and still books books books.  sigh..my friend/helper, her eleven year old and his friend also eleven  made off with the stuff.  probably not to read but maybe to the friends of the library.

i did paint a very yellow painting day before yesterday thinking about sunshine. I could do that in my sleep. Paintings happen very fast these days. they just drift through me onto paper.I've limited my pallet solving lots of provlems before they happen.

claire

[mrssherlock]

One of the best ways to trim your belongings is to move often.  When I left my house of 30+ years I was appalled.  My ex was a semi hoarder; when we divorced I found lots of his junk in the garage, neatly stored.  Since I've become a renter and I'm living in smaller quarters I find each time I move that I've allowed the "things" to accumulate again so the process of trimming begins again.  Moving itself helps; things get broken.  They also can disappear; the cheap movers I hired off Craigslist managed to steal all my Christmas china, collected over several years, and a precious souvenir.  I learned; next time I move each box will have a number.

[mrssherlock]

Ginny:  Here is the link to the story from NPR about Doctorow and the Collyers:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112346577

[Frybabe]

Did you see the 25,000 books? I don't consider books hoarding, myself.  Have you ever counted your own books?

Ginny, I agree. I haven't actually counted my books, but I do think it is a good idea to inventory them at this point.

I think I am going to send George the link to the Wikipedia article about the Collyers. He has a cousin that is a major hoarder. Her husband says they literally have a pathway through their house that is lined four or five feet high with stuff.  He tries to clear some of it out when she is not at home, but if she gets back before the trashman picks up, well, it is all hauled back into the house. She even has eight cats now.

[CubFan]

Greetings -

After cleaning out my parent's home following my mother's death,  I decided to make things easier for my girls when it's their turn.  I yearly go through my house - top to bottom - & eliminate anything that I haven't used in the past year or can't visualize using in the next year (clothes, kitchen utensils - everything - except books).  We also established the rule that if they bring me something they will leave with something.  I'm no longer in the accumulating business.

As for my books (which somehow do continue to multiply) I've done a couple of things.  I limit myself to what fits in/on my bookcases - 8 of them - which amounts to about 1000 books. I generally give away fiction (except for selected authors) after my friends and I have read them.  My one daughter takes a bag full at a time to put out for her coworkers after she goes through them.  My other daughter passes them on to ladies in retirement homes or the local senior center after she goes through them.  The non fiction that I decide in time to let go of - I donate to the local university library annual book sale.

For the books I keep - I have made a database that includes a column telling why I have kept each book.  This way when the girls have to dispose of them they can decide if the book would therefore have meaning for them or their children.  I have a collection of the books I read when I was a child - Bobbsey Twins, Mother West Wind, Five Little Peppers, Anne of Green Gables, Taffy's Foal, Mary LIzzie etc and grade school primers etc that I really liked - Tags & Twinkle (the 1st book I ever remember reading), If I Were Going (third grade) - that my grand children are enjoying reading because they are old and I read them. 

I've also indicated which book were gifts and those that are autographed to me.

I've also identified for them places that might be interested in the books they don't want to keep - I have a lot of genealogy books etc.

This all did take quite a bit of time but I sure learned what I have and the girls have both said they appreciate knowing about the books. In my part of the country this makes for a good winter project. I also ended up re-reading a lot of favorites. The hardest part is remembering to add the new titles each year.

This August I ended up replacing the carpet/flooring in every room in the house - therefore every book has been moved at least twice. Real motivation to let some go - but in reality I only pulled 6 titles.

How do you all decide which to keep and which to let go? 

Mary