Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #1 (Read 162653 times)

Steph · « **Reply #880 on:** September 14, 2009, 07:41:09 AM »

This is the place to talk about the works of fiction you are reading, whether they are new or old, and share your own opinions and reviews with interested readers.

Every week the new bestseller lists come out brimming with enticing looking books and rave reviews. How to choose?

Discussion Leader: Judy Laird

OK.. The Heroines is by Eileen Favorite. She has written short stores, poetry and essays before, but this is her first book.
I will have to reread it after the first time through.. But some of it is lovely. Scarlet made a brief.. very brief visit to the house.. Now there was a heroine I would have liked to meet. Frannie from Salinger was a favorite of the characters in the book.. Still in the nut house.. no real reason that I can quite detect..

Babi · « **Reply #881 on:** September 14, 2009, 09:07:59 AM »

"Heroines" does sound very odd. I can't decide whether I'm interested or not.
I'll continue to check out the various posts until I get a mental 'yea' or 'nay'.

Steph · « **Reply #882 on:** September 15, 2009, 08:31:44 AM »

I keep reading, but oh my, this is one odd book.. Sort of fun, but I have to read slowly on this since the plotting is truly dense.

pedln · « **Reply #883 on:** September 15, 2009, 11:23:11 AM »

I got Heroines from the library, but for me, it was difficult to get into. I'm not going to finish it at this time. Most of my reads have to be pretty realistic.

Steph · « **Reply #884 on:** September 16, 2009, 08:09:10 AM »

Yes, heroines gets further and further, but for some reason I am drawn to the fantasy part. I have a just turned 14 granddaughter and I note that that age is not quite close to what is real or not real.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #885 on:** September 16, 2009, 12:35:03 PM »

I was enchanted by the audacity of Heroines' plot. The author caught the misery of being thirteen, conveyed the message that women are vulnerable and must be able to take risks for their freedom from abuse, and left some of the magic of losing oneself in a story.

Steph · « **Reply #886 on:** September 17, 2009, 08:43:03 AM »

I am beginning to like Albie in the Heroines. He seems the most grounded of all at this point. Conor does have honor.. just of a different time. I loved Hester and Pearl.. A new way of looking at the story.

JoanP · « **Reply #887 on:** September 17, 2009, 09:19:00 AM »

Let's start the day with three bits of SeniorLearn information you may find of interest:

1. We are already hearing from the author, Matthew Pearl in The Last Dickens discussion which is scheduled to begin on October 1. Even if you haven't read Dickens' last novel, you will find much intrigue in Matthew's historical fiction which takes place AFTER Dickens death. (You'll probably end up wanting to read Dickens' unfinished novel after spending time with Matthew.) If you think you might like to participate, please stop in The Last Dickens discussion TODAY!

2. We have a proposal to discuss Pulitizer Prize winning author, Richard Russo's latest novel, That Old Cape Magic.
Described by Bookmarks magazine as "a novel of deep introspection and every family feeling imaginable, with a middle-aged man confronting his parents and their failed marriage, his own troubled one, his daughter’s new life and, finally, what it was he thought he wanted and what in fact he has."
" what it was he thought he wanted and what in fact he has" .
This is a subject that gets my attention every time.
If you think you might like to join us in November, please let us know. If enough are interested to form a quorum, we can put it on the schedule. You'll find the discussion here - That Old Cape Magic

3. Last, but certainly not least, we are nearing a vote for upcoming book discussions. There's still some time for nominating a title that you would like to see included in the vote. We're waiting to hear from you in the Suggestion Box right now! We'd love to add some of the titles you have been discussing here.

Babi · « **Reply #888 on:** September 18, 2009, 08:27:24 AM »

I have begun reading Geraldine Brooks "March". It is a pleasure to read, as
I have come to expect from Ms. Brooks. She is really, really good.
I'm still not sure if it's a book that we would want to discuss, simply because
it covers an era with which most of us are already familiar...the Civil War. I
can certainly recommend it as a book to be enjoyed. I'm withholding opinion
as to whether there is enough material to talk about for a month.

Steph · « **Reply #889 on:** September 18, 2009, 08:35:50 AM »

I have March on my list, but am so far behind on what I have just now.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #890 on:** September 18, 2009, 01:08:21 PM »

i have Help on my kindle I hope I can get around to reading it soon.
Finished Linda Howard's Death Angel and enjoyed it.

Phyll · « **Reply #891 on:** September 18, 2009, 03:36:21 PM »

Bookmarking my place.

Steph · « **Reply #892 on:** September 19, 2009, 02:28:58 PM »

Went to first.. a neat Used book store in Oldsmar, Fl. and then Haslams in St. Pete yesterday. All in all, way more books.. Sigh.. I need an intervention..The books are taklng over my chair.

JoanK · « **Reply #893 on:** September 19, 2009, 04:03:02 PM »

Should we start "Books Anonomous"?

marcie · « **Reply #894 on:** September 19, 2009, 06:25:49 PM »

LOL, Steph and Joan. You are right. We need a support group and intervention.

I have no more room for more books, even though all rooms but the bathrooms have wall-to-wall bookcases and I've even got books stored in boxes. Yet I don't want to part with any of them.... and I still go first to the book section whenever I'm in a thrift store :-(

Gumtree · « **Reply #895 on:** September 20, 2009, 02:48:04 AM »

I guess we're all birds of a feather -we have way too many books - love books - want more books - can't resist books - Perhaps intervention is required - but please not just yet - I've got a stack of new books to read first...

And Marcie... the book section is the very reason to go into a thrift shop in the first place. Never know what might be there...

Babi · « **Reply #896 on:** September 20, 2009, 08:41:10 AM »

The book section is about the only place I go to in a thrift store, MARCIE.
I also check out to see if there are any jigsaw puzzles available in a size I
can put together on my card table. Other than that, my only find/buy was a
huge box of a gourmet cookie mix. Lasted for quite a long time, I'm happy to say.

Steph · « **Reply #897 on:** September 20, 2009, 09:31:18 AM »

I love thrift shop books.. Sometimes find an oldie but goodie as well as more current stuff. But we also have a consignment shop here and that is a wonderful place to find lamps, etc at affordable prices, gently used and much much nicer than I would pay for originally. No books though, but still a favorite of mine togo through. I got a beautiful end table there last year. Oriental, black with insets of the figures covered in a thick glass top. Love it and people always remark on how neat it is.. So.. now you know my secret for shopping.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #898 on:** September 20, 2009, 10:24:16 AM »

Working for the government where everyone's pay scale is public knowledge as I did for many years we developed a kind of reverse snobism. It was a major coup to find a treasure at a thrift shop. One co-worker discovered a red silk suit with a Dior label for $20! She looked like a Vogue model in it, too. Of course thrift shops have treasures but I like estate sales the best for the house and for books. Used to be I never left an estate sale without at least one cook book. My collection was formidable!

Steph · « **Reply #899 on:** September 21, 2009, 07:43:34 AM »

Estate Sales in very very nice areas of towns are great. We once lived in a town, where when people tired of furniture in maybe two years, out it went at estate sales. The bargains were incredible. I owned a used book store then and a good deal of my books came from estate sales.. I had well over 250 cookbooks at one time of my own. But now that I am trying to make life less complicated, I am down to maybe 50..still too many, but I wont give up my Julia or James Beard ones ..

Babi · « **Reply #900 on:** September 21, 2009, 09:09:01 AM »

I didn't have all that many cookbooks, but I recently had to throw out
several of them. They were so old the covers were damaged, the pages were
yellow, and I suspected the spines of harboring bugs! I've also discovered
that some of the older books cooking times are no longer accurate with
modern appliances and cookware.

Frybabe · « **Reply #901 on:** September 21, 2009, 09:33:18 AM »

My favorite cookbook was a Fanny Farmer that I bought back in the mid sixties. It was a paperback, so it eventually fell apart from use. The only time I could make a good pie crust was when I followed those instructions religiously. I have been cruising the used book stores for a hard cover for the last three years, no luck. It would help if I remembered which edition it was. I have a newer version which has been reformatted and I don't like it so much.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #902 on:** September 21, 2009, 11:20:37 AM »

My Joy of Cooking fell apart, too, and I lost some treasures I had written at the end of the chapters where there was space. One was from an inn on the Northern California Coast, Elk Grove Inn. A wonderful eggy confection like a pancake called Eierkuchen. I would make it in summer when the strawberries were ripe and we would eat it for supper. I couldn't make them fast enough. This was BC (before computer).

Babi · « **Reply #903 on:** September 22, 2009, 08:12:18 AM »

But the crucial question, FRYBABE, is..does the newer version have the pie crust recipe?

Steph · « **Reply #904 on:** September 22, 2009, 10:04:28 AM »

I have two favorite pie crusts.. One is Julia's.. She does it in the cusinart.. Works really well. Another one came from an old old cookbook from the 60's.. It uses wesson oil for the fat and you roll it between wax paper. Foolproof.. I have a Fannie Farmer, but I think mine is from the 80's..

Frybabe · « **Reply #905 on:** September 22, 2009, 02:08:11 PM »

I don't like the format of the newer Fanny Farmer Cookbook, but I suppose (notice I never compared) they recipe itself is the same. What I do like about the newer version is that it gives ingredients for several different sizes of pie dough batches. What is missing (unless it was in my old Farm Journal book) is the recipe for a whole wheat flour pie dough. I used to make that a lot for apple pies and for spinach/ricotta pies. I have been mostly a microwave gal for at least 15 years now, since it is mostly just me. I would like sometime soon to replace the range with huge oven that is sitting in my kitchen with one of those smaller oven (perhaps convection/rotisseri style) and a two burner cook top.

I ran across this book, Icetopia while cruising around. Looks interesting. Going to put it on my to buy list. Has anyone read any Arthur Herzog books?

http://www.amazon.com/Icetopia-Arthur-Herzog/dp/0595309534/ref=sr_1_85?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253642591&sr=1-85

mrssherlock · « **Reply #906 on:** September 23, 2009, 12:24:39 AM »

That book sounds like one I would like but my library doesn't have it.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #907 on:** September 23, 2009, 12:51:18 AM »

I read cook books for recreation. That said my favorite recipe reading for several years has been Cooks Illustrated Magazine and its sister publication Cook's Country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook's_Illustrated

A recent issue described how they had tested more than 100 variations of a recipe to determine what not only tasted best but what procedure produced the best results. Another recipe was for perfect pie pastry which included Vodka as an ingredient.

Quote

Vodka is essential to the texture of the crust and imparts no flavor—do not substitute. This dough will be moister and more supple than most standard pie doughs and will require more flour to roll out (up to 1/4 cup).

If you would like to read the entire article on this pie dough it is the November 2007 issue. Most libraries carry it.

Steph · « **Reply #908 on:** September 23, 2009, 07:45:26 AM »

My Farm Journal Pie book is soooo old.. I think from my 20's at least. I still love it and make many variants from it.. Just need to cut back on the sugar.. The pie crusts are all wonderful.

Frybabe · « **Reply #909 on:** September 23, 2009, 01:49:21 PM »

mrssherlock, yes! I like the cookbooks that recreate recipes mentioned in literary works although I only have two: Dining with Sherlock Holmes, and The Cat Who Cookbook. I am sure there are more out there.

Steph · « **Reply #910 on:** September 24, 2009, 07:55:40 AM »

I have the Nero Wolfe cookbook.. Recipes are way way too fat oriented, but the book itself is fun. The most fun is Peg Bracken...she wrote several. I hate to Cook and another on housework.. Both a joy

Babi · « **Reply #911 on:** September 24, 2009, 08:30:34 AM »

I think I had that "I Hate to Cook" book. It's been a while back and no
longer survives. I think she is the one who wrote that cheese is never a
'leftover'. Cheese, she insisted, is a staple. I totally agree. I also got
a laugh out of her comment that her contribution to pot lucks was always
the cold drinks and chips.

Frybabe · « **Reply #912 on:** September 24, 2009, 10:32:18 AM »

The I Hate to Cookbook has the BEST banana bread recipe - tastes like banana, not spice cake. My Grandmother gave it to me when I got married.

I think I am in the mood for a fiction book that isn't a crime/mystery or a gooey romance. Any suggestions?

mrssherlock · « **Reply #913 on:** September 24, 2009, 12:18:40 PM »

Frybaby: Have you read Help? Some of us are reading Geraldine Brooks: March, Year of Wonders. Olive Kitteredge is a book of short stories connected only by the appearance of the title character in each one. Philippa Gregory writes historical novels about the henry VIII period and has a new one The White Queen about the Plantagenets and Elizabeth Woodville.

What do you like to read about? There are so many I could recommend but what interests you is a good starting place.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #914 on:** September 24, 2009, 12:50:16 PM »

I read "The Help" and would consider it the best book I have read for 2009. It's worth the wait if you get it from the library on request as they have waiting lists hundreds long.

Frybabe · « **Reply #915 on:** September 24, 2009, 01:23:34 PM »

I ran across mention of The White Queen just yesterday, but didn't check out what it was about. Looks interesting since I recently got interested in the period after reading Shakespeare's Richard II. I am particularly interested in the Welsh participation in the events leading to and during the War of The Roses. I think I will add that to my to buy list along with The Tudor Rose: The Story of the Queen Who United a Kingdom and Birthed a Dynasty by Margaret Campbell Barnes

On my TBR pile: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Dracula, Frankenstein, two Paul Sussman books (adventure?), and a volume of Rumpole of the Baily stories. I suppose they quallify. I should probably read what I have first.

Just found this on Amazon. Looks good. It partly about the Jewish roundup and deportations in Paris in 1942 and what happened to them and their property. http://www.amazon.com/Sarahs-Key-Tatiana-Rosnay/dp/0312370849/ref=pd_sim_b_2

mrssherlock · « **Reply #916 on:** September 24, 2009, 02:32:06 PM »

I read Sarah's Key; it was very good. Sometimes the books I have waiting just don't appeal at that particular time.

Babi · « **Reply #917 on:** September 25, 2009, 08:55:32 AM »

Oh, good, JACKIE. You have "March". Do let me know what you think of it
as a possible discussion book once you've had a chance to get into it.

Steph · « **Reply #918 on:** September 25, 2009, 03:05:30 PM »

Depends.. I am reading a mystery that is not bad, and for laughs,, A Terry Prachett. He always makes me laugh.

Pat · « **Reply #919 on:** September 25, 2009, 06:29:44 PM »

An interesting item:

On the Paperback Trade Fiction list from the NY Times
THE LOVELY BONES, by Alice Sebold. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $14.99.) A girl looks down from heaven as she describes the aftermath of her murder is #16.
Looking back I see that Lorrie led a discussion of that book in Jan "03.
http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/archives/fiction/LovelyBones.htm

News:

Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #1 (Read 162653 times)