Author Topic: The Library (Read 2083958 times)

maryz · « **Reply #15200 on:** May 25, 2015, 10:19:40 PM »

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!

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*SeniorLearn's Archives

Barb, it looks awful on TV. Stay safe!

Steph · « **Reply #15201 on:** May 26, 2015, 07:32:50 AM »

Oh Barb, I will be thinking of you.Tornados scare me to death. Too unexpected.

bellamarie · « **Reply #15202 on:** May 26, 2015, 09:21:28 AM »

Praying all those in the paths of flooding and tornadoes are safe. We had a lot of wind yesterday, but it did not spoil our family cook-out, and the grandkids actually was swimming in the pool that was freezing cold. Brr....

Well, I checked out quite a few Mitford sister books over a month ago, and here they sit almost due from renewing them once already, and I haven't even gotten through with one yet. Our book discussion on Kristin Lavransdatter has absorbed me more than I intended. So, I guess I will return the books and hope to get to them in the near future. How is it since I have retired I am so much more busier than ever before? Phew....I am pooped today!

JoanP · « **Reply #15203 on:** May 26, 2015, 08:02:38 PM »

bellamarie · « **Reply #15204 on:** May 27, 2015, 12:54:38 AM »

This is wonderful! Our group means so very much to each of us, and I know for certain I speak of us to my family and friends often.

Steph · « **Reply #15205 on:** May 27, 2015, 09:21:50 AM »

Yes, I realize that I think of you all as my extended family. I don't see you in person, but can imagine how you look and talk. I grieve when you grieve and laugh with you at various points of old age.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #15206 on:** May 28, 2015, 01:13:37 AM »

now here is one to really look forward to seeing - great actors

https://www.facebook.com/moviefone/videos/10153886760788508/?fref=nf

Steph · « **Reply #15207 on:** May 28, 2015, 08:15:35 AM »

Whew, Texas and Oklahoma are suffering more and more. The weather is truly vicious this year.. It is lovely here high in the mountains. Mist in the morning, but no heat or air needed. I do love open windows.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #15208 on:** May 29, 2015, 05:05:05 AM »

Steph · « **Reply #15209 on:** May 29, 2015, 08:26:58 AM »

Needed to laugh, so dug into my Terry Pratchett stash. Equal Rights.. We have Granny,, a little girl destined to be the first female wizard, a walking stick with a mind of its own and all in all, a roll on the floor laughter book.. Ah, the joys of Pratchetts ability to poke fun at the world.

FlaJean · « **Reply #15210 on:** May 29, 2015, 12:55:08 PM »

Barb, that list is interesting! Of course, I looked right away to see what was listed for Florida. Hemingway--- I should have guessed.

CallieOK · « **Reply #15211 on:** May 29, 2015, 08:41:15 PM »

"Paradise" by Toni Morrison for Oklahoma?? I didn't realize she set any of her books here. From her biography, it looks as if the closest she ever got to spending any time in Oklahoma was teaching for two years at Texas Southern University in Houston!

PatH · « **Reply #15212 on:** May 29, 2015, 08:57:38 PM »

What would be a good one for OK? I wasn't too satisfied with MD either.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #15213 on:** May 29, 2015, 09:24:47 PM »

As the book begins deep in Oklahoma early one morning in 1976, nine men from Ruby (pop. 360), in defense of "the one all black town worth the pain," assault the nearby Convent and the women in it.

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/About-Paradise-by-Toni-Morrison#ixzz3ba4YLOLH

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #15214 on:** May 29, 2015, 09:28:46 PM »

Haven't read it but Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is a 1982 novel by Anne Tyler set in Baltimore, Maryland.

CallieOK · « **Reply #15215 on:** May 29, 2015, 11:59:01 PM »

PatH, for Oklahoma, I would suggest anything by Rilla Askew.

From her web site:

Rilla Askew received a 2009 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in a variety of journals, and her story "The Killing Blanket" was selected for Prize Stories 1993: The O. Henry Awards. Askew's first novel, THE MERCY SEAT, was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dublin IMPAC Prize, was a Boston Globe Notable Book, and received the Oklahoma Book Award and the Western Heritage Award in 1998. FIRE IN BEULAH, her novel about the Tulsa Race Riot, received the American Book Award and the Myers Book Award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights. She was a 2004 fellow at Civiella Ranieri in Umbertide, Italy, and in 2008 her novel HARPSONG received the Oklahoma Book Award, the Western Heritage Award, the WILLA Award from Women Writing the West, and the Violet Crown Award from the Writers League of Texas. Askew received the 2011 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book.

Here's a link to her six novels, all set in Oklahoma. http://www.rillaaskew.com/works.htm Click on the individual titles listed on the right to "read more about them".

I've read them all and enjoyed them very much. . Click on the links on the left side to read articles she wrote about the settings in her novels. I grew up in the same area of the state as she did, so I know her settings are accurate fictionalizations (if I may be allowed such an oxymoron

) of real places and her research is well done

Frybabe · « **Reply #15216 on:** May 30, 2015, 06:44:14 AM »

I've just finished a couple of non-noteworthy SciFi short-stories and novels. What I am still reading after a few days hiatus and a renewal, is Mary Roach's Packing for Mars.

At the library, yesterday, I had trouble finding space to re-shelf some books. On one shelf, to make space, I took out Matthew Pearl's Dante Club which, I think, many of you have already read. It was on my library Wish List. I also came home with The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bhojalian.

Now for the fun part. It wasn't enough that my car died and had to get replaced, now my bedroom air conditioner is on the fritz. It keeps tripping the breaker. For some reason I can't get that breaker reset. Simple, right? I can't believe the darn thing won't reset for me, but reset just fine for the guy that was in on Thursday. Now I have to wait a week until he can get back. I've been sleeping on the sofa. This is not doing my back any good. Ouch!

Steph · « **Reply #15217 on:** May 30, 2015, 08:34:19 AM »

Anne Tyler writes about Maryland and the eastern shore. Since I grew up in Delaware I always love her books.. Wonderful characters and so true to many of the eastern shore people..
Laura Lippman writes of Baltimore as well. Both are good at that area.

MaryPage · « **Reply #15218 on:** May 30, 2015, 09:40:28 AM »

I agree that Anne Tyler is a pretty good choice to represent Maryland; goodness knows the people of Baltimore are pumped up about her. I enjoyed some of her early work, but deriving pleasure from her waned with me some time ago now. I will be the first to admit she is a top notch writing talent.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #15219 on:** May 30, 2015, 12:55:22 PM »

I like both Ann Tyler and Laura Lippman. Good easy reads.

Getting off the subject, but so much fun..........i think i may have mentioned how much i enjoy the "animated song" videos you can see on youtube, but this takes a presentation into the stratosphere. Some genius put the animation on the walls and hung it from the ceilings. I don't know where this exhibition is but i'd love to see it. As i've said before, i love the "animated songs" we can see on youtube, but this takes them to a much bigger arena. What a great exhibition! Don't quit too soon, wait til they get to the parking garage! Yes, the parking garage! Of course, hooray for Bach's music!

http://www.openculture.com/2015/05/js-bachs-the-well-tempered-clavier-artistically-animated-with-pulsing-neon-lights.html

Jean

MaryPage · « **Reply #15220 on:** May 30, 2015, 03:40:31 PM »

Oh, Jean, thank you so much! I love it! And have sent it to every musical person in my family!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #15221 on:** May 30, 2015, 04:16:26 PM »

Fabulous for a piano student to see the phrasing - sent it onto my Piano Teacher - can't wait to hear back

FlaJean · « **Reply #15222 on:** May 30, 2015, 04:17:50 PM »

Jean, I enjoyed that--especially the parking garage.

Steph · « **Reply #15223 on:** May 31, 2015, 08:57:43 AM »

sent it to my sister in law who is musical, not the piano any more, bad wrists, but singing now.

bellamarie · « **Reply #15224 on:** May 31, 2015, 09:33:00 AM »

Wonderful link Jean! Thank you for this treat.

Steph · « **Reply #15225 on:** June 01, 2015, 08:22:23 AM »

Trying hard to get things in order. Yesterday had wild rain storm late in the afternoon. I did not hear thunder, but Daisy did and promptly high tailed it for the small bathroom..That is her go to place when she gets frightened. I am going to take her and look for a thunder shirt possibly today.

ginny · « **Reply #15226 on:** June 04, 2015, 02:43:35 AM »

I'm just looking in from my trip say I'm reading a wonderful book, in fact I just finished it, called Us by David Nicholls. It's all over the place here. I had never heard of it.

It's absolutely wonderful. It's about a 25 year marriage straining at the seams. The couple are in their 50s and suddenly she decides that she thinks she would like to go out on her own. The husband decides to book a grand tour of Europe and take their teenage son -- what could possibly go wrong? In an effort to reconnect.

In places you laugh till you cry, it's so funny. If you've ever taken a trip to a foreign country where the language is not as secure with you as it could be, you will laugh at some of the things he says. But it's also poignant and sad as well. You really can't help liking all the characters. It was long listed for the Man Booker in 2014 which Hillary Mantell won.

Of course it has wonderful reviews. I was caught when one said it was a perfect book, and another one that said I can't imagine loving a book more than this one , and one that said I was having to ration myself for fear of coming to the end too soon.

He has an interesting technique as well to get his point across in the way he sees the marriage: he does flashbacks. If the reader perseveres he will be greatly rewarded at the end of the book. It's a very good, thoughtful book.

Highly recommended.

marjifay · « **Reply #15227 on:** June 04, 2015, 05:10:28 AM »

Just read somewhere that Japan is planning to install emergency toilets in their elevators. They've had bad earthquakes where people were stranded on elevators that stopped working for long times. I wish they'd showed some pictures -- it's hard to see how you could use a toilet in an elevator with other strangers present. Oh well, I guess it's better than than the alternative -- which must have happened, with no toilet available.

Marj

That book, Us by David Nicholls, sounds great, Ginny. But, darn, my library has it only in E book form.

Luckily, I was able to put Equal Rites by Pratchett, recommended by Steph, on hold as the library has it in regular book form.

Marj

Steph · « **Reply #15228 on:** June 04, 2015, 08:38:38 AM »

I squirrel away Pratchetts.. He has been writing for a long long time ( had ,actually since he died) and I keep them in my tbr piles. Then when I am down, I dig away, find one and settle in to laugh. I am especially fond of the witches and Mort.
Us sounds interesting. Will put it on my list.
Thunder shirts. hmm, getting them on the dog if it is a corgi with close to zero legs is interesting.

CallieOK · « **Reply #15229 on:** June 04, 2015, 02:37:39 PM »

Ginny, thank you for mentioning "Us". I've checked out the e-book from my library and this is a perfect afternoon to spend reading it.

Hope you're having "Happy Travels".

My grandson leaves tomorrow with a State Ambassador Choir and Concert Band that will be touring and performing in 5 European countries. The more than 100 kids were recommended by their vocal or band teachers (vocal, in his case) and have just completed 3 days of intensive rehearsals. His parents and I heard them in concert yesterday when we went to pick him up.
Fabulous performances - considering most of the kids had never seen the music before they arrived on Sunday.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #15230 on:** June 04, 2015, 03:21:35 PM »

Thank you Ginny. Sounds like a good read, will look for it.

Steph - i had to smile at your picture of putting a thunder coat on your Corgi. Let me know if it works. We have a very nice boxer mix who was found on the streets of a small city at about one year old. She's very skittish of movements and sounds, as you can imagine having been dodging things in the streets. She's a very sweet dog, but obviously terrified at thunder.

Callie - congrats to your grandson, what a wonderful experience for him.

The library is collecting hats, shirts, sheets, small toys, etc for migrant workers. I'm off to drop off the cache i collected from family (aren't we terribly spoiled by all our materialism, this request made us all remember that many, many people are not so fortunate.) and to look for some good reads.

Jean

PatH · « **Reply #15231 on:** June 04, 2015, 05:00:07 PM »

I know I'm ignorant. What's a thunder coat or shirt?

Frybabe · « **Reply #15232 on:** June 05, 2015, 05:29:02 AM »

PatH, Thunder shirts are pieces of pet apparel, which look like little shirts, that are said to have a calming affect on pets. I have no clue as to why they work, but apparently they do.

Steph · « **Reply #15233 on:** June 05, 2015, 08:34:53 AM »

thunder shirts... they are shirts that are velcrowed.. You wrap the dog tightly around the middle in them. They are supposed to work like swaddling a baby. They are a bit tricky to get on with no legs to wrap around. Daisy is ok with hers. They can stay on for about two hours, then need to come off for a while.. but storms rarely last that long. The boxer mix should be easier to work with. long legs

Frybabe · « **Reply #15234 on:** June 05, 2015, 10:48:36 AM »

Steph, what kind of material is it? Elastisized? Neoprene like?

I wonder what it is about them that works. George's cats wear harness style collars. He never takes them off the cats. They seem to feel naked without them.

MaryPage · « **Reply #15235 on:** June 05, 2015, 12:12:43 PM »

My daughter Debi has a Bichon who has a terror of thunder and lightning storms. They have no idea why. He is not a rescue, but a breeder dog they bought before he was even born, so they know it is not based on a bad experience concerning a storm. They have had lots of dogs, always Bichons recently, but never had one like this before. And yes, they bought him a thunder shirt and it works. I wonder if the principle is not the same as swaddling a crying baby?

Steph · « **Reply #15236 on:** June 06, 2015, 09:01:03 AM »

Yes, it is similar to swaddling. Theory is that both babies and animals love the feel of the firm material on their skin. The actual material in the shirt I got is a soft jersey type, but the velcrow is everywhere and you must have it very firmly on them. Daisy does not seem to mind, but those short legs make it tough.

marjifay · « **Reply #15237 on:** June 06, 2015, 09:31:50 AM »

What's the name of that website that lists books by author' name? I'm trying to find the name of the book that J. K. Rowling wrote about the French Revolution.

Marj

MaryPage · « **Reply #15238 on:** June 06, 2015, 09:41:16 AM »

I always just goggle thusly and get exactly what I want:

"list books by Julia Spencer-Fleming"

or

"list Shetland series by Ann Cleeves"

or

"list all books by Charles Finch in order"

maryz · « **Reply #15239 on:** June 06, 2015, 10:15:49 AM »

Or go to amazon, and put in J.K.Rowling. You don't have to buy anything, but you can find a list.

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Author Topic: The Library (Read 2083958 times)