Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #1 (Read 165265 times)

CallieOK · « **Reply #360 on:** March 07, 2009, 09:34:30 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

Good Morning,

I did a little research and found some interesting information about "Ann Fairbairn" (Five Smooth Stones. Condensing what I read:

"Ann Fairbairn" was a pseudonym of Dorothy Tait (1901-1972), an American journalist and author.
In addition to her two novels, she wrote a biography (Call Him George -1961) of the jazz clarinetist George Lewis. Written under the pseudonym Jay Allison Stuart, the book was based on her reminiscences as GL's manager.

I didn't find any kind of biographical sketch of Dorothy Tait as "herself".

Babi · « **Reply #361 on:** March 07, 2009, 10:29:55 AM »

SANDY, the only "classes" offered here are lessons in Greek and Latin. You can find out more about those by clicking on the "Discussion Index" on the bar at the top of the page. All the book categories are simply for discussion, but I've learned a lot from the posters in all of them! You'll find all of those listed in the Index as well.
Glad to have you join us. I can guarantee you'll have a lot of fun.

JOANNE, I find myself spending far too much time sitting in my chair...reading, doing crossword puzzles, watching TV, cross-stitch, etc. I have to get up and find something active to do, or I'll get stiff as an old lady!

Judy Laird · « **Reply #362 on:** March 07, 2009, 01:18:11 PM »

Welcome Sandy we love to have new people. Out of curosity how did you find us? This is a discussion where we dicuss what we are reading what we have read and everything inbetween.
Again welcome we'r glad to have you.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #363 on:** March 07, 2009, 01:47:23 PM »

Hi Sandy - are you in the Penna suburbs or the NJ suburbs? I guess when people say "Philly suburbs" they mean Pa, but i live in Moorestown, NJ and consider myself in the PHilly suburbs also since i'm only 12 mi from Center City.

Mary - who is rising to the top in the SEC? I haven't seen the SEC in my tv listings yet. Thanks for the note about the Guernsey reader.

When i'm posting replies, if i want to change a word or letter w/in my reply, the following letter is deleted. If i press "insert" on my keyboard, it only works for the very next letter and then reverts to deleting again, anyone have a suggestion? .............it just started doing that this week..............jean

Steph · « **Reply #364 on:** March 07, 2009, 01:53:14 PM »

Babi,, Yes, Francis Parkinson Keys. Her house used to be on the historical tour list in New Orleans.. May still be. I liked her stuff. Ann Fairbairn.. read her too.. Loved the early Conroy.. Read a few of his wives, but not too crazy about them.
I wonder why it is that many southern writers are very good storytellers.. Could be bred in the blood..

mabel1015j · « **Reply #365 on:** March 07, 2009, 01:58:34 PM »

I'm reading "The Young Wives" written by Olivia Goldsmith author of "The First Wives Club." She uses the same premise as TFWC w/ different characters and situations, but it's enjoyable and funny anyway, as well as being very real, as TFWC was. ..................jean

maryz · « **Reply #366 on:** March 07, 2009, 10:18:17 PM »

jean, the SEC women's tournament is going on this weekend. Auburn beat Tennessee tonight to go to the finals, and LSU and Vanderbilt are playing for the other spot right now.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #367 on:** March 08, 2009, 12:08:36 AM »

oh my gosh, Auburn beat Tenn?!? Where was Auburn seeded? I know this is an exciting time of the year for you folks in Tenn. I saw ETennSt beat Jacksonville. That was a good win..................so much going on!............sorry about your Lady Vols...............My sons' high school b-ball team - he's a coach - is in their third round and their next game is Monday night. They played Tues (it was supposed to be Mon but it SNOWED), Weds and Friday this last week..............whewwwww...............jean

Steph · « **Reply #368 on:** March 08, 2009, 09:08:48 AM »

Basketball. Not a sport I watch or even pay much attention to. But then again I am not particularly a sport person. My sons were both swimmers and my younger was also a track and field person.. My eldest is still a triathlete.. Never did team sports.. Now the grands are doing team stuff. So we dutifully try to get down for at least one game. It is almost 4 hours away, so cant go too often.
Finally just gave up on the Friday nightknitting club.. Not my kind of book. Still struggling with Laurie Kings.. Hard to read about abuses to children.

maryz · « **Reply #369 on:** March 08, 2009, 09:30:00 AM »

jean, the Lady Vols have had a terrible year - are not even in the top 10 nationally. Auburn is the #1 seed in the SEC and has been #1 in the country. They've having a great year. Our SCFSue from SN and S&F is a huge fan. Vanderbilt is the #2 seed and will play Auburn tonight.

Sorry to digress from the topic at hand.

pedln · « **Reply #370 on:** March 08, 2009, 01:29:02 PM »

Welcome, Sandy. We're glad you found us here.

Boy, miss a few days here and you find all kinds of things going on. Steph, my f2f group just discussed Friday Night Knitting Club. We're supposed to be a mystery group, but other things do find their way in. I got a little tired of the book, quick scanned the final chapters and the ending before our meeting. The most interesting parts were those about the actual knitting itself, not about the characters. I'm not a knitter, and didn't know you could knit with all those different fabrics. Duh.

Thunderstorms coming and I've got to save some stuff.

Steph · « **Reply #371 on:** March 09, 2009, 07:48:43 AM »

Finally finished. "Keeping Watch" by Laurie King. It takes place where Folly left off. Allan is the main character this time. He rescues abused wives and children.. The twists and turns were really wild.. Loved it as I do all of her stuff. But it is hard to read about abuse.

Sandy · « **Reply #372 on:** March 09, 2009, 11:33:55 AM »

Quote from: mabel1015j on March 07, 2009, 01:47:23 PM

Hi Sandy - are you in the Penna suburbs or the NJ suburbs? I guess when people say "Philly suburbs" they mean Pa, but i live in Moorestown, NJ and consider myself in the PHilly suburbs also since i'm only 12 mi from Center City.

Mary - who is rising to the top in the SEC? I haven't seen the SEC in my tv listings yet. Thanks for the note about the Guernsey reader.

When i'm posting replies, if i want to change a word or letter w/in my reply, the following letter is deleted. If i press "insert" on my keyboard, it only works for the very next letter and then reverts to deleting again, anyone have a suggestion? .............it just started doing that this week..............jean

Sandy · « **Reply #373 on:** March 09, 2009, 11:36:35 AM »

Quote from: Sandy on March 09, 2009, 11:33:55 AM

Quote from: mabel1015j on March 07, 2009, 01:47:23 PM
Hi Sandy - are you in the Penna suburbs or the NJ suburbs? I guess when people say "Philly suburbs" they mean Pa, but i live in Moorestown, NJ and consider myself in the PHilly suburbs also since i'm only 12 mi from Center City.

Mary - who is rising to the top in the SEC? I haven't seen the SEC in my tv listings yet. Thanks for the note about the Guernsey reader.

When i'm posting replies, if i want to change a word or letter w/in my reply, the following letter is deleted. If i press "insert" on my keyboard, it only works for the very next letter and then reverts to deleting again, anyone have a suggestion? .............it just started doing that this week..............jean

Sandy · « **Reply #374 on:** March 09, 2009, 11:38:58 AM »

Reply to Mary - I live in Wenonah, NJ, maybe 25 miles from you. My very good late friend Nancy K. lived on French's Street. Did you know her?

Sandy

mabel1015j · « **Reply #375 on:** March 09, 2009, 01:19:12 PM »

I know Wenonah, my husband worked at Gloucester Co College for 30 yes, so i spent a lot of time down that way..................i know French St, it's about 8 blocks from my house............i knew that there would eventually be more people from south Jersey in here

................jean

jane · « **Reply #376 on:** March 09, 2009, 01:22:42 PM »

Quote

When i'm posting replies, if i want to change a word or letter w/in my reply, the following letter is deleted. If i press "insert" on my keyboard, it only works for the very next letter and then reverts to deleting again, anyone have a suggestion? .............it just started doing that this week..............jean

The INSERT key is the one that is supposed to toggle between overwriting a letter and adding a letter. I'm not sure why yours isn't keeping with whichever toggle you're at. It sounds as if it's reverting to the overwriting each time. I'm not sure how you can correct that.

jane

Sandy · « **Reply #377 on:** March 09, 2009, 01:42:06 PM »

Quote from: mabel1015j on March 09, 2009, 01:19:12 PM

I know Wenonah, my husband worked at Gloucester Co College for 30 yes, so i spent a lot of time down that way..................i know French St, it's about 8 blocks from my house............i knew that there would eventually be more people from south Jersey in here ................jean

Small world, isn't it nice to have representation in South Jersey?

Sandy

Judy Laird · « **Reply #378 on:** March 10, 2009, 01:36:47 PM »

Just finished Jonathan Kellerman"s new book Bones. I always jump right and grab the new ones if they say An Alex Delaware Novel

Well I never get the ones written by him and another author
This book was slow too many characters, little fun between Alex and Milo. All in all in opinion a very poor pook and poorly written. I think when people throw out a new book almost monthly something has to go and boy has his gone.

Steph · « **Reply #379 on:** March 10, 2009, 01:37:32 PM »

Many years ago, we lived in Willingboro for three years. I have cousins all over south Jersey. We come from Delaware, but everyone moved away except for one cousin.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #380 on:** March 10, 2009, 01:43:46 PM »

Oh gosh, Steph!..............that's great. My son teaches and coaches at Willingboro H.S. Our very best friends moved to W in 1969 and still live there. One of my best friends' have also lived there thru most of the last 30 years. He was the township mananger - John TEgley - in the 70's and 80's. What "park" did you live in? Levittowns were a really good idea - to have neighborhoods that included an elementary school, churches, swimming pools, but the economy has not been good to Willingboro, altho Twin Hills and Country Club "parks" have held up pretty well and are still very nice houses to live in. ...............jean

Steph · « **Reply #381 on:** March 11, 2009, 08:01:54 AM »

Pennypacker on Paddock Lane. A wonderful cul de sac.. School in back of us through the woods. 14 boys in my sons age group on the block. In the late 60's a wonderful world for the boys.. I enjoyed our three years, active in PTA, library, a little sorority. Lovely neighbors,, most of which have moved away. My cousin lived in Mt. Holly and she and her husband and daughter all taught in the school system. They moved to Lumberton out in the country, but their daughter and son in law both teach in the Technical school..

mabel1015j · « **Reply #382 on:** March 12, 2009, 02:30:25 PM »

Our friends are Curt and Gwen Edwards and have lived on Pennypacker Ln since 1969. Gwen was very active in the community, might you have known them? .............of couse, i know Pennypacker school, have been to the Halloween "parades" there, and have been to many 4th of July parades on Levitt Prkwy..........................................Let's see, i think my friend Fran Cutler lived on or near Paddock Ln........................................I love Lumberton, nice little village..........mySIL teaches at the Medford Technical School, is that the one you mean, or the one in Mt Holly?.............................smaaaalllll world, afterall!...............great to talk to you...........jean

ANNIE · « **Reply #383 on:** March 12, 2009, 10:32:36 PM »

Just a quick note. Judy called me a few days ago and wanted to know how Ralph was doing. Well, he is much better today and has been up three times to walk the halls with the much appreciated help of one of his nurses. He has recovered from living in two worlds and its nice to have him back in just our world. He is also finally starting to eat which was of concern.
Today he would like to escape the hospital but knows that this is just the beginning for him, learning how to keep his new heart pump going and how to take care of the permanent percutaneous connection from the pump to the computer. The learning curve will improve as time goes on and hopefully his strength will improve. Thanks to all who kept good thoughts and prayers going while we go through this.

I finished quite an interesting book yesterday, "Mistress Shakespeare" by Karen Harper. It historical fiction and well researched by this well known author from right here in Columbus, Ohio. Ella tells me that she has a signed book from one of Ms Harper's appearances here in Barnes&Noble. This lady has also written a long series of mysteries. I will be looking them up.

I do like historical fiction and always glad to find one that is well written. I spent many good hours reading most of Irving Stone's titles plus others mentioned here.

Steph · « **Reply #384 on:** March 13, 2009, 07:47:53 AM »

Ado Annie.. Glad to hear that your husband is recovering from all of that. I know he will keep going. My husband has eating problems as well and they are really hard to overcome.. I spend a lot of time and effort finding things I think he will like. Just recently I hit on a new one. He tried flavored yogurt, loved it and puts it on everything.. Fruit..etc. Adds calories and he loves the taste.

Babi · « **Reply #385 on:** March 13, 2009, 09:19:35 AM »

I know this must all be tiresome for Ralph, ANNIE, but I am confident the improvement in his quality of life with the pump will be worth it. Congratulations!

Good going, STEPH. When I read about your husband's difficulty swallowing, I really felt sorry for the poor guy. He's lucky to have such a resourceful wife.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #386 on:** March 13, 2009, 01:37:56 PM »

Annie - what is Mistress Shakespeare about?

I just finished Olivia Goldsmith's The Young Wives. It's the same story as First Wives Club, but very well written and fun to read. I read another of hers titled Flavor of the Month a few yrs ago, but i don't remember what it was about, but i know that i also enjoyed it.

I'm also almost finished w/ Pawley's Island by Dorothea Frank - actually it's very similar to The Young Wives. The men have been unsavory characters and there is a divorce courtroom scene where the women win. But she has other interesting characters and it is also well-written.

I hope all of your family members are feeling better today.............jean

MarjV · « **Reply #387 on:** March 14, 2009, 08:12:51 AM »

JoanK - you liked math you said - today, March 14, is official Pi Day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_day

Pi Day and Pi Approximation Day are two holidays held to celebrate the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (3/14), due to π being roughly equal to 3.14. Pi Approximation Day is observed on July 22, due to π being roughly equal to 22/7. (The symbols did not copy; came out as 'n')

Babi · « **Reply #388 on:** March 14, 2009, 10:26:25 AM »

I was reading 'BOOKPAGE', offered free by my library, and found one of those books with the captivating title. It is "HUMPTY DUMPTY WAS PUSHED"
On the cover, the 'D' at the end is shown as falling.
Apparently, the characters in the book have some odd names, too, and are described as "a bit larger than life, to be sure...", but the reviewer also says they are "a seriously entertaining group of misfits.."
The author is Marc Blatte, and this is his debut book. I'm hoping my library gets it.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #389 on:** March 14, 2009, 12:57:31 PM »

Rachel Maddow did a great piece on Pi day.............today is Einstein's birthday - 3/14, imagine!?! And Congress was trying to pass a bill that made this day officially Pi day, but one legistlator said it can't be ONE day becuase it is "infinite."! So Rachael stated that if you extend 3.14 to 7 or 8 (i don't remember which) numbers you could figure out that 3:23 and some seconds this a.m., could be a Pi second! Isn't it nice to have a smart commentator who can give us some interesting commentary. Rachael is a grad of Stanford, a Rhodes scholar and has a Phd in Pol Sc........................you might be able to find her comments on MSNBC.COM.......................she made them on last night's program..............jean

mabel1015j · « **Reply #390 on:** March 14, 2009, 01:07:07 PM »

Here's the link to Maddow's commentary on Pi Day - you may have to wait 20 seconds for the verizon commercial to end

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/29686051#29686051

for all the math geeks....of which i'm not one, but i do love smart people!.............jean

Steph · « **Reply #391 on:** March 14, 2009, 02:06:47 PM »

My older son and I are and always have been fans of math in all of its many forms. I remember years ago when he discovered in college that Greek letters also offer a form of math.. He spent all summer working that out.. and of course the famous sixth grade passion. He decided that year to keep all of the Baseball statistics for several teams and did them all himself. If he found an error in the paper ( two, I believe). He wrote to the sports section to complain.. We still play with numbers and are big suduko fans.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #392 on:** March 15, 2009, 09:28:59 PM »

Wheee a NEW DISCUSSION - in fact an whole new area of discussion - we pushed this through quickly - this was ONLY thought about the past Tuesday or Wednesday but here we are - as soon as I have links or know how to use them I will bring the links to this discussion

The discussion is a two for - yep a twin discussion - the main discussion will be to explore Humor Wit and Satire in Literature but to narrow it down we chose the short story -

Each middle of the month there will be a new short story to read ON-LINE that encapsulates either Humor Wit or Satire or all three - lots of great authors like Mark Twain and Wells and Eudora Welty - the list goes on - and so for 10 days each month we will explore one of these short stories while learning how writers make us laugh or get a message across without beating us over the head by using satire or their wits using language.

I am really excited and hope you will look in - WE START TOMORROW - can you believe TOMORROW - and sun comes up tomorrow as the song goes - we strike while the iron is hot around here - and the story is tra la la laaa a P.G.Wodehouse story - do I see a smile already? - one of his early Bertie Wooster and Jeeves tales called Jeeves in the Springtime - hope to see you tomorrow.

Steph · « **Reply #393 on:** March 16, 2009, 07:50:09 AM »

Never been a Jeeves fan, so not for me..
My granddaughter sent me several of Stephenie Meyers books. I had started her on Twilight and now she has read them all. She discovered that I had only read the first one, so sent two more with her dad for Nana.. Wasnt going to read them, but now I would guess I will since her morning email is asking me questions.. OK>>

ALF43 · « **Reply #394 on:** March 16, 2009, 09:34:31 AM »

Steph- my soon to be 13 yr. old grand daughter called me last week and was crying because she finished the Twilight series. She was aghast that I, who read so much, had not ventured into the Twilight zone. She was depressed because there were no more books in that series to read. I commiserated with her due to the fact that I know just how she feels.

Babi · « **Reply #395 on:** March 16, 2009, 10:17:56 AM »

ALF, I'm sure you consoled your granddaughter with the thought that there are many more wonderful series out there waiting to be read. All of us SciFi lovers have had to console ourselves with that resource more than once. And after a while, we can even go back and enjoy them all over again.

ALF43 · « **Reply #396 on:** March 16, 2009, 10:47:05 AM »

Babi- I sent her another book to get into. A scary one!!

Steph · « **Reply #397 on:** March 17, 2009, 07:45:08 AM »

I know Kait liked the romance part of it so much, so I need to think of what other book, I can buy and casually leave in her room here. If you buy her something and give it to her, it is not as sweet as the ones that are casually left in her room..

Babi · « **Reply #398 on:** March 17, 2009, 09:17:09 AM »

Actually, that makes sense, STEPH. If someone gives you a gift, a response is expected and the recipient may be anxious about giving a negative response. If a book is just left casually around, you can read it w/o worrying about offending someone if you don't like it. Maybe that's why my husband would never read any book I recommended. Aha!

GinnyAnn · « **Reply #399 on:** March 18, 2009, 12:01:05 AM »

Has anyone read the book Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell? I am reading it and mostly enjoying it. Had a hard time when the lead character visits the German Holocaust places, but other wise the book is sorta fun. Hard to call seeing the world through the eyes of a hit-man as 'fun' but it is sure interesting. The main setting is a hospital in New Jersey where the main guy is a is a second year medical doctor resident.

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Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #1 (Read 165265 times)