The Library

[Babi]

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

Correction, STEPH.  The big, blond guy from "Diners", etc. is a chef. He got on the food
network, like most of the others, by winning an extended cooking competition.  He does
know his stuff, and "Diners,.." is probably more fun than most of the other shows on Food
Network.  Viewers are always on the watch for a great eating place in their own area.

[mabel1015j]

Watching "Diners......." makes me hungry, so altho i like it, i generally don't watch unless the blurp about it says he's going to be someplace close by. I wish FoodTV would put all their recommended restaurants together in a geographical listing.........Diners, the show RAchael used to do in towns thru out the country, etc. Then when we were going to be traveling we could pop in and see what places they had had on their shows and check them out. .......................jean

[Babi]

JEAN, several books listing a year's 'finds' are available.  I saw some of
them at B&N.  It might be fun to plan a travel itinerary with a route that
takes in some of those Diners/Drive-Ins and Dives.

[winsummm]

hi all not to change subject although I like all the food programs for ideas. I usually make up my own recipes and never remember what i did later so  use others to work from.
I'm in the middle of a genealogy frenzy with my cousin, adopted, who has done it for years on her side and now we are looking further and also on my mothers side. the WOW that Sarah Jessica Parker kept saying on last Friday nights program is catching. I keep doing that to with new discoveries. about twenty years go I had a party of all the accessible relatives and this person was there.  she'  digging into her files for this new HUNT. WOW.

[joangrimes]

Does sound like fun Claire...Hope you have fun with it.JoanGrimes

[mrssherlock]

NPRs cooking show, The Splendid Table, features each week a visit from the authors of Roadfood, Jane and Michael Stern, who travel all over the US and write about unique eateries, usually diners.  They have a website here:  http://www.roadfood.com/Merchandise/

[mrssherlock]

Some people didn't like Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Travelers but I was fascinated by her premise.  Her latest book, Her Fearful Symmetry is another trip to the wild side of her imagination.  Identical twin 20-year-olds inherit their aunt's estate when they reach 21; their mother and aunt were also identical twins.  Elsbeth, the aunt, lived in London so the girls travel from their suburban Chicago home on their first trip  abroad.  Elsbeth's flat sounds like a place I would love to inhabit; it overlooks Highgate Cemetery, and it is filled with books - Elsbeth was a rare books dealer.  The other flat owners in the building have life stories which only add to the ambiance; one is Elsbeth's lover and the other suffers from extreme OCD.  This is a book which truly transports me into a world where nothing is predictable and I love it.  So many books these days seem to be written by formula, , even the good ones.take one female (feisty, old, young, beautiful, poor, rich, orphaned, one of six, etc)  like a chines restaurant menu: take one from Column A and two from Column B.  Be sure to tell the waiter if you want to spice it up a notch!  Suspension of disbelief is no problem when the journey is so entrancing.  http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/audrey-niffenegger/her-fearful-symmetry.htm
PS This is not the cover on my book.

[PatH]

So many books these days seem to be written by formula, , even the good ones.take one female (feisty, old, young, beautiful, poor, rich, orphaned, one of six, etc)  like a chines restaurant menu: take one from Column A and two from Column B.  Be sure to tell the waiter if you want to spice it up a notch!  

Jackie, that's hilarious.  Too true, unfortunately.

[salan]

What a great idea, Jean.  I guess the trouble would be in keeping it updated.  I know some restaurants that were good, and changed owners/cooks/chefs and then went downhill.
Sally

[Steph]

Our best book for restaurants when we were traveling in the rv... Maybe out of print.. Meat and Three ( or possibly Four).. Gives diner and old fashioned places all over the south. Jane and Michael Stern are sort of optimistic and most of the ones we stopped at from them were not as good . But the Meat, etc was wonderful.. I will never ever forget the barbecue place in Hot Springs Arkansas.. Wow.. Line all the way around the bitty little place. Found out later that regulars sneak in through the kitchen, but the food was old fashioned barbecue..White bread under to sop up sauce and all. We ate until we staggered out and did not eat again for 24 hours. Whew.. But worth every moment..
Yes, I honestly knew that Guy is a chef, but cannot imagine his type of restaurants. He pigs out to the point of silliness on the show, but there are several of his places that I made a note of. He did a really neat special one time on Sandwiches and some of those places are great. I had actually been to the one in Pittsburgh.

[Babi]

 I envy you your sandwich, STEPH.  I had visited the "Red Lion" in Houston, which appeared on
his show, but that was 40-odd years ago and I recall a different menu.  I had the Welsh Rarebit
when I was there.  My daughter assures me that Guy only takes 2 or 3 bites of each dish
he samples; otherwise he'd founder.  He has to sample them though before he can judge how
good they are. It seems to me, tho', that I have seen him finish one or two things. Must have
been irresistible.

[pedln]

Steph, did you ever get to Lambert's Cafe -- Home of Throwed Rolls, or if not -- ever see a sign for the Home of Throwed Rolls.  The original is in Sikeston, MO, but I understand that there's another out there someplace.

[ginny]

hahaha, well that shows why they need to have lots of Food Hosts on the FoodNetwork because I can't stand Guy Fieri, that HAIR, I mean please. Yes he has a good show, and he does have a book out on the places he's been, but if you've seen one show you've seen them all. Still it would be useful to find out interesting places to eat whereever you go. He also is going to host a game show on TV next.

I agree on Rachel Ray's old program about eating all over the world, that was good, on a limited budget. Loved her spunk and enthusiasm then. Now she's big business, which is good for her.

Pedln, I appreciate that report on The Children's  Hour, I think it is, the new Byatt. Apparently the reviews are all over the place, sometimes they hit it in a book and sometimes they don't.   Seems like Ishiguro has never quite hit his  Remains of the  Day level again, either, tho he's had lots of good books since.

Some books just stand out brilliantly alone and stay in memory, thinking of House of Sand and Fog which somebody mentioned to me recently.

I have solved the problem of the BOOKLESS issue!!  Here's how:

You know how you have this list of To Be Read? This giant stack that once looked good?

I chose 4 of them resolutely, sat down in front of the fire and forced self to   read 5 pages of each. One I had read already, the Candice Bushnell 5th Avenue, put it aside. Two more looked interesting, but who could not get hooked on a book which starts out with a dedication to "Kebemba and Mishumbi, wherever they are. They were Bashilele tribesmen" hired to protect the author, as she wandered thru the  forest as a child  in her native home in what we call the Belgian Congo.

The dedication also begins with her father appearing one night and saying "I think that Mommy and I might be killed tonight," but if they heard them coming, she was to crawl up into a secret alcove over the door and they would push boxes in after her and hide her.

They all survived the night.

Then the book, which is fiction,  starts with the protagonist flying into the Belgian Congo, formerly named Zaire, now called Congo.

It's,  amazingly enough,  a mystery. Each chapter begins with a small prologue of background facts about the Congo, none of which I ever heard of, so in that way you also get some background, you're learning something as you enjoy the read.

It reminds me a little bit of the Elspeth Huxley mysteries but so far there's no gruesome animal stuff as there was in one of hers.

The author is Tamar Myers, the book is The Witch Doctor's Wife, it came out last year,  and I'm enjoying it.

I see her named once here by jean (Mabel) in books about the AMISH! Golly. It's good to be reading again, especially about such an exotic subject.

But the NY Times was full of good ideas this past Sunday and the new Time Magazine is too.

Tom Hanks in the new Time lists his 5  all time favorite books. Almost all of them are on historical subjects, like Band of Brothers but one is not, it's Stoner by John Williams.

We mentioned it here before, but I've never read it. I bet half the world will now. Not about a drug addict, Tom Hanks says: "It's simply about  a guy who goes to college and become a a teacher.  But it's one of the most fascinating things that you've ever come across."

Reviews:

Review
"[T]he work deserves to be called a 'perfect novel' — there's not a misplaced word or a trace of contrivance." --Boldtype

"The best book I read in 2007 was Stoner by John Williams. It’s perhaps the best book I’ve read in years." --Stephen Elliott, The Believer

"John Williams's Stoner is something rarer than a great novel - it is a perfect novel, so well told and beautifully written, so deeply moving, that it takes your breath away." --The New York Times Book Review

"Williams didn't write much compared with some novelists, but everything he did was exceedingly fine...it's a shame that he's not more often read today...But it's great that at least two of his novels [Stoner, Butcher's Crossing] have found their way back into print." --The Denver Post


here's the blurb:From Publishers Weekly:

This reprint of Williams's remarkable 1965 novel offers a window on early 20th century higher education in addition to its rich characterizations and seamless prose. Sent by his hard-scrabble farmer father to the University of Missouri to study agriculture, William Stoner is sidetracked by an obsessive love of literature and stimulated by a curmudgeonly old professor, Archer Sloane. Sloane helps Stoner avoid service in WWI, and Stoner eventually becomes an assistant professor. He then meets and marries a St. Louis beauty, Edith, who quickly subjugates her contemplative, passive husband. As decades pass, Stoner entrenches himself deep into the life of the mind, developing into a master teacher but never finding solace in the outside world. Stoner's single joy is Grace, their daughter, whom Edith appropriates as a weapon in her very personal war against Stoner's quest for inner peace. Williams (1922–1994) won the NBA for Augustus (1973), and NYRB will republish his western, Butch's Crossing next year. Williams's prose flows in a smooth, efficient current that demands contemplation. (July)

Now THAT looks like something I want to read. Have any of you read it?

Others which look fabulous to me in the NY Times are:

The Lost Books of the Odyssey ("marvelous"...the Wall  Street Journal), ("An Absolute Delight"....NPR All Things Considered), ("Jubilant in Execution"......The Boston Globe),

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson... a gentle beautiful book about rural England where the stock characters all have a twist. According to Alexander McCall Smith who did the review, "refreshing  in its optimism and its faith in the transformative possibilities of courtesy and kindness. Although pitched toward those wanting a gentle read, it also slides a powerful moral message into the interstices of village politics."

Sounds like two winners to me!

What are you reading? Do you all still take Bookmarks and do you get any good ideas from there? I need to resubscribe to it

[mabel1015j]

I'm about to finish Earthly Joys by PHillipa Gregory. I just happened on the fact that John Tradescant, the gardener, was a real person. I assumed the "royal" persons" she had in the book were real, i knew King James and Charles were real, but tho't JT was a character she put into the royal lives.
 If you like gardening, you will probably enjoy this book, and even tho i am not an avid gardener, i found the story of JT gathering plants and seeds from all over Europe, bringing the first chestnut trees to England, etc., very interesting.
Gregory, fortunately, used only a half dozen of the events of the early 17th century to focus on. Her characters are interesting studies. The angst that JT has trying to be a loyal servant to his employers, his king and God, (notice family members are not in that list) while family members push him to be practical, is palpable. I find her easy to read, and altho i wasn't obsessed w/ getting back to the book, i looked forward to picking it up and continuing to read.
There are a couple relationships between the men that some readers might find offensive, i did not. They bro't a curious twist to JT's belief that he must always be loyal to those 3 entities and i think it would provide a lively discussion in a book grp about love, loyalty and to whom do we owe the most loyalty of our family and acquaintances. ......jean

[Steph]

I have seen the throwed rolls billboards for the one in Alabama.. Every single time we vowed to go the next time and never have.. Darn..
I hate Guys hair and I agree that he does the same sort of show, but I did enjoy some of the places.. Not all..
on the other hand,, I love Mario Batali.. Most of his food, I would not want to eat, but watching him cook is wonderful..
Rachel is just too cutesy for me.. Giggles and nicknames turn me off.. Perky, I would guess, which was mdh name for terminal cuteness.

[Babi]

 JACKIE, I forgot to ask you yesterday. What do you think is the premise
of "The Time Travelers Wife"?  I have mixed feelings about whether I
want to read it. I think it will depend on what it is actually about.
I opened a copy of it at random but nothing grabbed my attention. What
do you have to say?

Three more titles written down, GINNY.  Thanks, I think.    The quote didn't mention
the author of "Lost Books of the Odyssey", tho'.  The title should be enough to locate it
so that's all right.

[marjifay]

Glad to hear Guy Fieri (Food Network) is going to host a game show.  Not that I will watch it, but maybe he will no longer be eating so much of that awful food he was cooking that would probably kill him in not too many years.  (Too bad Paula Deen can't do likewise -- My Gawd, a stick of butter just about every recipe!)


Marj

[mrssherlock]

Babi:  TTW's premise is uniquely the authors own, as is the premise in her second book.  Basically she is writing about love, its bonds through time in the first and through circumstance in the second.  Her characters are engaging through their vulnerability to their lovers and events are imposed on them which strain those bonds.  The resilience of the human spirit is the warp and woof which these tales depend on.  I find that reading one of AN's books leaves me reflective at the end, marveling at how various is the human condition.  These are not cozies, they are somewhat disturbing.  Suspension of disbelief is essential.  Some have found them too uncomfortable to read.  I wouldn't have missed them.

[salan]

Babi, My ftf book club read The Time Traveler's Wife a couple of years ago.  My SIL loved it and highly recommended it.  She and I usually agree--but not this time!!  I did not care for it at all.  It kept skipping back and forth through times and I got tired of trying to keep track.  At the end of the book, I felt a little depressed.  The ftf book club had mixed reviews about half liked it and the other half felt like I did.  I don't plan on reading AN's latest.
Sally

[JoanK]

I liked the Time travelers Wife. Had no trouble in the book, keeping the time shifts straight, but I wonder if they'll be able to do that in a movie.

[JoanR]

The Time Traveler's Wife is on my TBR pile, recommended by several friends.  I wont be bothered by time shifts - flashbacks, magical realism etc have always  intrigued me.  Perhaps because I used to read a lot of science fiction and I am still a big fan of fairy tales, legends and myths.

Ginny - I just got Carol Goodman's new book - "Arcadia Falls".  It is somewhat reminescent of other of her work but I don't care - I love the way she writes about upstate New York - right on the button.

Have been reading "Nella Last's War".  When WWII started the British govt. asked folks on the home front to keep a day-to-day diary as a record of how the war affected the general public.  Many of these were turned in and this is a wonderful picture of life at that time for the average housewife and how it actually changed her - and liberated her too.  It's a great read!!!  I see on Amazon, that she kept it up and there is also a book called "Nella Last's Peace"  Remember that rationing in Britain  ended in  1954, so life was still not easy for many.  The original diaries have not been changed only edited for spelling and punctuation.

Have been reading The Book Thief also and following all the astute posts in the discussion.  A wonderful book, so beautifully written.  I'm having a hard time staying to the schedule and have just about decided to plunge ahead and finish it  although if I were to leave all the characters right where they are now it might be better.  I fear for them.

[Steph]

I love fantasy, etc, but could not get involved in the Time Travelers Wife.. Not sure why.

[Babi]

  Thanks, JACKIE. That helps. Overall, I think I will wait until I'm
in the mood for a thoughtful, reflective book before I try TTW.
SALLY, it looks like your book club's opinions pretty well reflected my
own ambivalence.

JOANK, they have made the TTW into a movie. You can see for yourself
how they've handled the time shifts. (If you do, let me know what you
think of it.)

JOANR, I read The Book Thief last year. Now I'm just following the
discussion and joining in when I want to respond to a post. Plunge
right ahead. It isn't all bad news, but it wouldn't be realistic if
there weren't some.

[JoanP]

Here's another offer from PBS -

IThe Diary of Anne Frank
"The most accurate adaptation of Anne Frank's account of hiding from the Nazis stars newcomer Ellie Kendrick as the maturing teenager undergoing an extraordinary ordeal. The Diary of Anne Frank airs on Holocaust Remembrance Day, 2010 - April 11, 2010, 9pm

PBS has offered us 10 copies of the diary, free, exept for the postage.  Let me know if you think you would like to read The Diary at this time and I'll put you on the list.  I can't remember the last time I read it, can you?

[Steph]

This week starts our library celebration in our county. On Wednesday we have several local authors ( not really well known) first on a panel in the morning and then slightly more experienced authors in the afternoon to chat and show off new books. Then the next week, another of the county libraries is having an author day.They have managed to get Elaine Viets, so I may trek over to the library since I do like her books.

[Babi]

 What kind of books does Elaine Viets write, STEPH.  I've seen the name before, but know
nothing about her.

[ANNIE]

Just read all the posts while looking for a newbie, but I didn't find her.  Hmmmm!

I have finished "The Book Thief" and really liked it.  Beautifully written and well presented.  I think I will look for "Nella's Last War". 

Has anyone noticed that there are a plethora of books out about the folks who lived in Europe during WWII?  Also, when I was in the library yesterday, they had a book up on the "new arrivals" display which is about a German submarine captain during WWII and what the war looked like from the other side.

Scanning the TV yesterday, I came upon one our History channels which was presenting German officers from WWII and their take on the war.

Isn't the TTW a new movie?? Just out???  Am I dreaming?

[Tomereader1]

Glad to hear Guy Fieri (Food Network) is going to host a game show.  Not that I will watch it, but maybe he will no longer be eating so much of that awful food he was cooking that would probably kill him in not too many years.  (Too bad Paula Deen can't do likewise -- My Gawd, a stick of butter just about every recipe!)


Marj

Yeah, a stick of butter in everything, and that sacchairine "Y'all" just turns my stomach.

[JoanK]

If you want a book about a caterer who puts a stick of butter in everything, try the culunary mysteries by Diana Mott Davidson. Her caterer/detective, in between catching muderers, cooks and gives us her recipes. I gain 5 pounds just by reading them.

Or Joanna Fluke, whose detective owns a cookie store, and shares all her recipes.

[joangrimes]

Yes Joan K,
They both write good books.Joan Grimes

[donnamo]

Steph, did you ever get to Lambert's Cafe -- Home of Throwed Rolls, or if not -- ever see a sign for the Home of Throwed Rolls.  The original is in Sikeston, MO, but I understand that there's another out there someplace.

There is a Lamberts here in Ozark, MO.  I've never seen it open without a long line of people out front.  I refuse to go eat there because I really hate crowds. 

I was told I can just jump right in here, so I will.  I got about halfway through The Time Traveler's Wife before the novelty wore off and I got tired of trying to keep track of time.  Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the movie, something that rarely happens after I have read the book.  The other most recent case was with Julie & Julia.  I hated the book; loved the movie.  Julie just rubbed me the wrong way and I doubt that I would like her in real life.   

I'm really curious to see how Eat, Pray, Love, the movie, turns out. 

I'm currently reading What Should I Do With The Rest of My Life, which I am thoroughly enjoying.  Before that, I finished Harry Bernstein's first memoir The Invisible Wall, which is a coming of age story set in WWI-era Northern England.  Harry grew up in poverty on a street that was divided down the middle; Jews on one side, Christians on the other.  A fascinating read that I highly recommend to everyone (I don't often do that, as people have such different tastes in books, but there is something everyone can learn and appreciate from this story).  What makes the book more compelling is that Mr. Bernstein wrote it when he was in his early 90's after the death of his beloved wife, Ruby.  Imagine my surprise when the author was the subject of the second chapter of What Should I Do With the Rest of My Life?! 

For school I am reading a borrowed copy of Schaum's Quick Guide to Writing Great Research Papers.  I'm working on a paper on the history of American Sign Language for my ASL class.  My other classes are: Anatomy & Physiology (a 6 credit class that includes a weekly lab in which we are currently dissecting a cat  ), Algebra (which just may prevent me from graduating from college at all!), Computer Applications, and a one-credit class on our state gov't, which I have already finished.  Don't know what I was thinking taking 16 hours.  I proved my dad's assessment of me to be true: I'm an all-or-nothing type of gal! 

[JoanK]

Good luck!

Recently, I had an experience with algebra. Twice in as many days, I ran into friends that were having trouble with their algebra homework. One was 10, in fifth grade, the other 30, a returning college student like you. They each asked me, as an ex math major, to help.

They were doing similar problems, although one on an adult level. But THEY WERE BOTH MAKING THE SAME MISTAKE. They hadn't tried to read the book, or their class notes and understand the examples given of how to work the problems before they started their homework. I had them do that, and then they had no trouble.

These people had learned methods in other fields, and knew that the way to learn a method was to watch someone else do it, then do it yourself. But didn't realize that was what they were doing (probably hadn't understood or paid attention when the teacher did it, and forgot that the book might also go through examples) so felt completely lost.

[donnamo]

Joan, I really do try to exhaust all avenues in my quest to understand algebra. One that has helped me the most is a tutoring site put up by West Texas A&M University, which I found when I googled a problem I could not solve.  I've come to the conclusion that I can definitely learn how to WORK the problems, but I will never understand HOW and WHY math works.  My brain is just not wired that way. 

[Steph]

Elaine Viets.. She writes two series.. Dead End Jobs and Mystery Shopper. They are both very very light mysteries. I love the Dead End Jobs even though the premise is very very thin.. The Mystery Shopper  is new to me. I have only read one of those.

[Babi]

 I sometimes watch Fieri with my daughter, but I haven't noticed that
'stick of butter in every recipe' bit.  But I definitely found the
recipes in the books PEDLN mentions very high calorie.

  No saccharine in 'y'all, either, TOMEREADER.  It's just our lazy
Southern way of saying 'you all'. 

 Oh, yes, I read one of those 'dead end jobs' books, STEPH.  That is
where I ran into Elaine Viets.  Thanks for reminding me.

[mabel1015j]

Has any one read any Russell Banks? I started w/ Cloudsplitter, maybe that was a mistake, it has about 1000 pages, and i gave it up last night. He writes some beautiful prose, but it was constant and got to be too much after a while. I must be getting impatient in my old age, I've said that about a couple books i've read over the last year. I'm more anxious to just get to the story than i have been in the past.

He spent about 5 pages talking about the grave of his father John Brown. The book is "narrated" by one of John Brown's sons who escaped being charged w/ the Harper's Ferry incident and is living in his old age on a mountaintop in Calif. He's responding to a young woman who had come to ask him about his family's lives and he had first turned her away, now he's reconsidering and writing her ........1000 pages..... ...of remembrances..............It's a fictional account. Being interested in history, i tho't it would be an interesting read, but i got bored w/ the embellished prose.

I guess what i'm asking is are all of his books written like that? Anybody know?.................jean

[Tomereader1]

I sometimes watch Fieri with my daughter, but I haven't noticed that
'stick of butter in every recipe' bit.  But I definitely found the
recipes in the books PEDLN mentions very high calorie.

  No saccharine in 'y'all, either, TOMEREADER.  It's just our lazy
Southern way of saying 'you all'.  
 Oh, yes, I read one of those 'dead end jobs' books, STEPH.  That is
where I ran into Elaine Viets.  Thanks for reminding me.

I am a born Southerner, and am totally used to saying and hearing Y'all, and I know what it means.  It's just Deen's way of saying it, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, that turns me off.

[joangrimes]

I agree with you Tomereader.  I cannot stand Paula Deen but I am on Cloud nine again today because anothe granddaughter has made me so proud.  She has been homeschooled all of her life and now needs to attend school to be able to get a high school diploma. She has been accepted to a very prestigious high school here in Alabama.  Sophia is an artist and writer.  She writes stories aalong with her paintings and drawing and animates them on her computer.The school that has accepted her is The Alabama School of Fine Arts. Floating  off on my cloud.

[maryz]

Great family, Joan!  Don't we all just revel in it when our "grands" do well!

[mrssherlock]

Joan:  The female line in your family sounds like it is exceptionally talented.  Knowing what I do about you I am not surprised.  Sounds like you did a good job when you raised your children.  Congratulations.

Domano:  For a better understanding of math basics I recommend a book written for middle-school girls who are afraid of math.  It is Math Doesn't Suck http://letsplaymath.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/review-math-doesnt-suck/
Kiss my Math explores the world of algebra.  If you are desperate, ask for a tutor and keep trying if you don't like the first one(s).