Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #1 (Read 165240 times)

Steph · « **Reply #280 on:** February 18, 2009, 08:01:46 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

I couldnt imagine there were that many people who wanted to reread Seneca or Lamb. But different strokes. I group spices myself. That way I can go right for the ones for tomato based and broth and different things..
Right at the end of Terry Pratchetts Making Money.. Very satisfying book. Made me laugh and slyly jabbed at the current economy,, passion for gold... and inability to believe that anyone other than themselves knows what to do.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #281 on:** February 18, 2009, 02:37:15 PM »

Sounds like a good book Steph, if I go to the book store in the next month I want somebodt to shoot me. Candi is down for a couple days as Jerry had to have a medical procediure for his pilots licence that was totally unessary. She brought down one of my suit cases and I went i n to the hotel and picked it up. 25 GOOD BOOKS. Now if I can fit them into my book cases that are allready full.

I also got to see my grandaughter and her husband and my great-grandaughter. So much fun. Marsha's husband has to be the funniest man on the planet.

pedln · « **Reply #282 on:** February 18, 2009, 07:36:46 PM »

That's what I call a good daughter. What all did she bring you Judy L?

ANNIE · « **Reply #283 on:** February 18, 2009, 09:22:46 PM »

No bites on "Loving Frank" Well, I have another title that I am also considering and its "non fiction". Very timely book, about an American building schools in Pakistan and NE Afghanistan. "Three Cups of Tea" is the title. Very good reading.

Steph · « **Reply #284 on:** February 19, 2009, 08:20:36 AM »

We got to meet Judys daughter at the beach. She is funny as well.. I am trying hard to stay out of book stores, but my swap online club tempts me. I see an authors name, go there and look them up and then always seem to decide to at least try them.. Hmm. no will power when it comes to books.

Aberlaine · « **Reply #285 on:** February 19, 2009, 12:07:01 PM »

Quote from: ADOANNIE on February 18, 2009, 09:22:46 PM

No bites on "Loving Frank" Well, I have another title that I am also considering and its "non fiction". Very timely book, about an American building schools in Pakistan and NE Afghanistan. "Three Cups of Tea" is the title. Very good reading.

Annie, my f2f book club is reading Loving Frank. I haven't started it yet. I'm not much into architecture or Frank Lloyd Wright. I did read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead years and years ago. ~~ Nancy

joangrimes · « **Reply #286 on:** February 19, 2009, 12:59:53 PM »

I want ot read Loving Frank. I have been interested Frank LLoyd Wright for years and became especially interested in his life after a visit to a home that he designed in Florence, Alabama.

Joan Grimes

Judy Laird · « **Reply #287 on:** February 19, 2009, 01:10:30 PM »

Joan did you go on the tour of the Frank Loyd Wright house when we were in Chicago, I can't remember which is not big news.
Just home from work and will do a few things and then go to pick up a lady and take her to the doctor, busy busy busy

joangrimes · « **Reply #288 on:** February 19, 2009, 08:05:00 PM »

Yes Judy, I did go on the tour of he Frank lloyd Wright house when we were in Chicago and enjoyed it very much.

Joan G

maryz · « **Reply #289 on:** February 19, 2009, 09:27:29 PM »

Joan, glad you've been to see the Rosenbaum house in Decatur. IMHO, it's one of the more liveable of the FLW houses. We've been there two times.

patcook · « **Reply #290 on:** February 19, 2009, 10:09:43 PM »

May I jump in unannounced since I recognize several of your names from The Library discussions. My name is Pat Cook and I am retired from public education all the way from teacher, HS Principal and University instructor. I am loving retirement because of the time it affords me to read WHAT I WANT!

Had to jump in to say that both of the book clubs I head, The Bookies and The Renegades, enjoyed Loving Frank very much. It may be that we live in the west and have visited his home in AZ and are very familiar with his eccentric life style. My huband graduated from the University of AZ School of Architecture - so the book was my selection for our 2008 Bookies reading list. We were all bothered by his lack of responsibility in all aspects of his life, but we remind ourselves frequently that we have to remember the time that the events are taking place. Anyway, it was a wonderful discussion for a group of 15 intelligent women very much interested in discussing the role of women at different times in history. I did mention the new book, The Women, and we agreed unanimously that we had read enough about his love life with so many other good books to choose. I have to confess, though, that I will probably put it at the bottom of that huge stack of "to read books".

The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are 2 of my all time favorites; it is so good to see them still mentioned! Pat Cook

Steph · « **Reply #291 on:** February 20, 2009, 07:51:00 AM »

I loved the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.. Went to Taleisin in Wisconsin and loved that, but really did not like Loving Frank. I would guess it is the aspect of abandoning life and reaching out and taking a person when you were already married. I could not get past either of them ruining so many lives..Stupid, but true.
I still want to see the Johnson Wax Building in Wisconsin. I have heard it is magnificent.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #292 on:** February 20, 2009, 03:23:10 PM »

I loved Ayn Rands FH and AS also, I couldn't adhere to her politics, but she wrote great male characters............i think i mentioned on SN that each of her men seemed perfect until you met the next one who had something the previous one lacked, altho i hadn't noticed. And Gary Cooper was a good representation of her men. Altho, to me, at the time, he was a little too old and not much of a sex symbol, unlike the characters in her books. And the houses sounded marvelous. ..........jean

mynioga · « **Reply #293 on:** February 20, 2009, 04:46:39 PM »

Quote from: Steph on February 20, 2009, 07:51:00 AM

I loved the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.. Went to Taleisin in Wisconsin and loved that, but really did not like Loving Frank. I would guess it is the aspect of abandoning life and reaching out and taking a person when you were already married. I could not get past either of them ruining so many lives..Stupid, but true.
I still want to see the Johnson Wax Building in Wisconsin. I have heard it is magnificent.

I agree Steph. The one who disappointed me even more in that regard was Charles Kuralt. We so enjoyed his travel show and his down home air and when all was said and done he was living a double life.

We have visited FLW's Falling Water in PA also the Darwin Martin complex in Buffalo. Both very interesting and brought to life the legend of his style.

Steph · « **Reply #294 on:** February 21, 2009, 10:16:53 AM »

We visited Falling Waters many years ago and still remember the guide,,"Yes, it leaks and always has, but look at the beauty". Hmm. think I would rather live in a non leaky house.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #295 on:** February 23, 2009, 07:06:50 PM »

Just for my own quorisity (sp) do any of you versitile readers read May Sarton? I have most all of her books and if I am having a bad day or
just want to settle down I read her books. Plant Dreaming Deep is on my list for this week. She hads books like After The Stroke and Going on Eighty. I never get tired of the descriptions of her home and yard in Maine I think it is.

Gumtree · « **Reply #296 on:** February 24, 2009, 06:52:31 AM »

Judy I've read some of Sarton's books including After the Stroke - another was The House by the Sea which begins with her move to an old house on the Maine coast..loved it - her descriptions of the place and her solitude were super - I don't wonder that you go back to her when you're having a bad day. Her work is somehow comforting....

Another book of hers I enjoyed was A Self Portrait. In that one Sarton reflects on her life and work and she also comments on a selection of her poetry as well. I think I've read a couple of others but can't recall the titles just at the moment.

Babi · « **Reply #297 on:** February 24, 2009, 08:32:18 AM »

I'd never heard of May Sarton, but I have to look into a writer who can be a comfort on a hard day. Thanks, Judy.

Steph · « **Reply #298 on:** February 24, 2009, 09:30:44 AM »

I have read Sarton, but am not that fond of Maine as a place.. Spent 10 years in New England and the first thing that yells at me,,,, is cold...cold...cold

Judy Laird · « **Reply #299 on:** February 24, 2009, 01:15:25 PM »

Yeah but Steph when she discribes Spring coming and all the bulbs she has planted come up, its magical. The description of her place never leaves your heart.

Aberlaine · « **Reply #300 on:** February 24, 2009, 07:11:44 PM »

I live in the northeast and have never visited one of Frank Lloyd Wright's homes. I'm not even sure if there is one here. I'm going to give the book, Loving Frank, a good try. I hate not finishing books, but if the story is about a famous man who ruins lives, I'm not into that kind of story. I'll let you know.

But after reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and People of the Book, this one better be great! My sites have been set very high now.

Gumtree · « **Reply #301 on:** February 24, 2009, 08:46:16 PM »

Yes Judy L - May Sarton's descriptions of her garden and the way she went about developing it really stay with you. Gardening in Maine is so different from gardening in Australia - for a start we don't have snow and we don't have 'fall' - our native trees are mostly evergreen - they drop leaves all the year round but in small doses. Also enjoy her descriptions of the coastline - her writing has a kind of calm serenity even when she is facing serious issues.

Steph · « **Reply #302 on:** February 25, 2009, 01:47:44 PM »

O h , no mistake, I love May Sartons writing. Just commenting on Maine.. I love bulbs and miss them terribly in Florida. We have a lot of wonderful flowers, but no bulbs, alas.

ANNIE · « **Reply #303 on:** February 26, 2009, 11:25:02 AM »

So, in here, in the fiction folder, we have two readers of
Loving Frank". JoanG and Aberlaine, is that right??

joangrimes · « **Reply #304 on:** February 26, 2009, 11:50:00 AM »

Yes Annie I am going to read Loving Frank.

Joan G

Steph · « **Reply #305 on:** February 26, 2009, 01:51:42 PM »

Going through my to be read pile. Whew.. I really must start catching up. No idea how.. Possibly two heads to read more?

mabel1015j · « **Reply #306 on:** February 26, 2009, 03:35:25 PM »

I know what you mean Steph - every time i take books back to the library i think " i'm not going to get any new ones, i need to read what's in my stash!"

HA! - never fails! i see something on display, or on the "new" books shelf and it starts me checking out the stacks..................aaaggghhh ............go home w/ at least 3 or 4 each time................it's an ADDICTION..............but i guess it's a good one to have..................jean

Steph · « **Reply #307 on:** February 27, 2009, 07:48:47 AM »

My big weakness is hitting me this weekend. I truly have so many unread books, but the local library is having a used book sale and there is no way I will stay away.. and no matter what I vow, there is not way I will not find half a dozen or so that I cannot live without. An addiction for sure, but cheaper than alcohol and more fun than a lot of other addictions.

Gumtree · « **Reply #308 on:** February 27, 2009, 08:13:18 AM »

Steph - I think a lot of us have the same addiction. Here we have a particular charity booksale which we attend each year and come home laden with several boxes of books - his and hers - and some to pass on to son. It's a real meeting place and year after year (for 20+ years) we see the same folk turning over the bins looking for their treasures. I've bought some really good stuff there and wouldn't miss it for quids.

But that's only once a year - we frequent other sales as well but the worst nightmare occurs about once a fortnight right through the year when I meet with F2F in the coffee shop at our State Library. They have a rather wonderful Discard Book Shop which is always full of just those very books you say you can't live without...

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #309 on:** February 27, 2009, 11:20:42 AM »

A few years back I decided I should cull my collection of books - in less then 6 months it was proven to be the sorriest decision I ever made and since then I seem to have been on a tear filling my house with books - I have so many that I really want to read and still have not accepted it takes time to read a book and so they are stacked high as 'to read next' and other stacks 'to read after other stack is read' When I say stack I mean it - minimum 25 books in the stack.

I would be like a women possessed at the annual sale Gumtree - the thought is giving me chills - once, while visiting my daughter's their church had a book sale - they each found one book - I come all flushed with the excitment of the find carrying 5 books that I must have in my arms.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #310 on:** February 27, 2009, 11:48:20 AM »

I can see we need to have a "my-name-is-Jean-and-I"m-a-bookaholic" site

do you think confessing will be good for our souls? .....................probably won't keep us from those book sales, but it might make us feel better.

The Town Hall in my town had a fire about 18 mos ago. Since they are right across the parking lot from the library, they moved some offices into the library, taking up the space where books were stored for the book sales.............so they haven't had a sale for a yr. .............however, the librarian told me yesterday that they are having one in April!!!! Hooray and aaaggghhhh! ................such mixed emotions, i have! .........................jean

maryz · « **Reply #311 on:** February 27, 2009, 02:08:26 PM »

Our Friends of the Library book sale just wound up its 10-day sale this past Tuesday. I'm amazed at us - we worked the sale two afternoons, and came home with only 3 books. And this is considering Tuesday (the last day) is "Bag Day". You buy a grocery sack (the big paper kind) for $3.50, and all the books you can put in it are "free". Unfortunately, the poor orphans that are left at the end of the day go to the city's recycling center.

But the second sale of the year is around Labor Day.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #312 on:** February 27, 2009, 03:51:30 PM »

Judy Laird · « **Reply #313 on:** February 27, 2009, 03:53:35 PM »

MARY ITS HERE

I WILL NEED YOUR CELL PHONE# YOUR HOME PHONE #
EMERGENCY # SS# ADDRESS . I ALREADY HAVE IT SCREWED UP AND BELIEVE I BOUGHT A BOOK IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE HEEELLLLP

Gumtree · « **Reply #314 on:** February 27, 2009, 11:28:14 PM »

Quote from: mabel1015j on February 27, 2009, 11:48:20 AM

I can see we need to have a "my-name-is-Jean-and-I"m-a-bookaholic" site
do you think confessing will be good for our souls? .....................probably won't keep us from those book sales, but it might make us feel better .........................jean

I'm all for the bookaholic site and am happy to confess all - but I really do feel a heap better when I've done battle with the crowd, have found my treasures and struggled carrying the load to the car, dragged them inside and then...oh then...to sit down with a cuppa and sift through what I've gleaned, savouring the titles, smoothing the covers, straightening dog ears, reading inscriptions and wondering about the previous owner, glancing through odd paragraphs, getting caught up in one or another and just longing to read them all from cover to cover and all at once..BLISS - who needs therapy!

nlhome · « **Reply #315 on:** February 28, 2009, 10:29:02 AM »

We live about 9 blocks from the library, within walking distance, so my need to acquire books is not quite so intense. However, the Friends of the Library book sales always find me searching for myself and for those special books that I think might appeal to a friend, child, etc. Book stores, especially used book stores, always attract me when we are traveling.

As for books, was it this site where people recommended The Elegance of the Hedgehog? If so, what was there about the book that attracted you? I read amost half way through, more out of curiousity than anything, and am taking it back today. Not my cup of tea.

Steph · « **Reply #316 on:** February 28, 2009, 10:38:44 AM »

Hedgehog is going to be the book discussion for April and was talked about in the select books site for discussions. I have it already, but am not reading it until then. We just finished the Guernsey-Potato Peel Pie book today. I think Team of Rivals is the March one. Not going to participate.
Mexican ///// Judy.. Hang in there.

Babi · « **Reply #317 on:** February 28, 2009, 10:45:53 AM »

I'm fortunate to not only live near my library, but to actually volunteer there one morning a week. I simply do not have space for 'stacks' of books. When you buy a large batch of books like that, don't you sometimes find some that disappoint? When I go to a book sale, I'm always thinking, is that a book I would want to keep? I don't usually buy a book unless I believe it is a keeper.
Which, considering my budget, is a good thing!

maryz · « **Reply #318 on:** February 28, 2009, 11:47:40 AM »

Babi, we had any number of people at the book sale, buying stacks of books, who would say...I'll see you next time, and bring these back to go into the next sale. They consider this a donation to the library, and never intend to keep the books forever.

nlhome · « **Reply #319 on:** February 28, 2009, 12:39:11 PM »

That's the way we look at books - buy them used, pass them on or return them for the next sale - except for certain one that we intend to refer to again. We buy new books if we can't find the one we want through the library system or can't wait - then do the same, pass them on.

I'll have to check in on the Hedgehog discussion in April to see what I missed.

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Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #1 (Read 165240 times)