Author Topic: The Library (Read 2084253 times)

jane · « **Reply #16120 on:** October 29, 2015, 07:38:48 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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Steph · « **Reply #16121 on:** October 30, 2015, 10:35:13 AM »

ugh... double ugh.. Philip Roth.. I do hate his stuff. He is a woman hater at best.
Dont watch the debates, simply cannot deal with the lies.

pedln · « **Reply #16122 on:** October 30, 2015, 11:02:01 AM »

Thanks, Jane. I meant to watch -- at least the beginning -- and then forgot all about it. I understand it was Carson, complaining about the questions about his supplements.

Frybabe · « **Reply #16123 on:** October 30, 2015, 11:58:31 AM »

Carson wasn't the only one that hit back at the moderators (or whatever you call them). The questions throughout had very little to do with what they had said would be the focus of the "debate" which was supposed be about economics, jobs, etc. More questions trying to pit one against the other (Bush/Rubio), yet another bankruptcy question to Trump, Fantasy Football (really?), and so on. It was just nasty. It was disgusting. The next one will be on Fox Business News and you can bet the questions will be focused on money policy/economics/business.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16124 on:** October 30, 2015, 05:25:42 PM »

My take is the media is attempting anything to show Trump to be a buffoon and so they skirt the issues to feature the personalities - I also think there are too many of them to have any kind of discussion about real issues without it just becoming each making their speech that features their views leaving little to no room for candidates to react to each other without reacting to these serious viewpoints - so rather than tarnish what may be the views of whoever is selected to represent the party it is easier to allow them to snipe at each other hoping to reduce the field.

maryz · « **Reply #16125 on:** October 30, 2015, 07:27:50 PM »

Barb, are you OK? I've seen the news about the bad weather and flooding in Austin and surrounding areas.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16126 on:** October 30, 2015, 10:17:25 PM »

I am thanks Maryz - whew what a night and day - up since the thunder started at 3: in the morning - various places in town received different amounts of rain and in the last 24 hours so far in my area we received 9.3 inches - I am high on a Mesa but the downrushing of water is always a problem - the streets were like raging rivers - then there were the the Tornado warnings that I prepared a spot in the hallway and then the hail that pounced on the windows with the wind blowing sideways - that was scary to hear.

The airport had nearly 15 inches of rain, the most in its history with those waiting to get out of Austin huddled in one safe spot downstairs in the terminal away from all the glass, which was not that secure either since they lost the area where the ground crew and traffic control works - there was so much rain it was moving these giant planes that were sitting on the tarmac -

Rivers and creeks out of their banks including the two creeks, Shoal Creek and Bull Creek that are located on either side of this Mesa I live on -

There has been a lull for about 4 hours now but it is expected to start up here again within the next half hour - I did go out again and dig deeper the trench across the front of my house so the rain coming down the driveway had a way to go to the side yard - so far, no water in my garage, I've candles with matches set out in case we loose power and a pot of coffee that I can always heat up on a stand over a candle -

Everything that is happening is historic - more so than the Memorial Day flooding that hit Wimberly that has been hit badly again, and more than the Halloween flood of 2013 that was its worst on Onion Creek and Boggy Creek - Historic has been the amount of rain to the height of the rivers when they crest -

Well it looks like this year for trick or treat we were tricked. Where something was expected nothing like this and these rivers and creeks rose so fast some folks could not even get out of their houses, once it came onto the front lawn within minutes it was in the houses. All this after torrents of rain last weekend when two fronts clashed here - a norther (what we call a cold front) bringing rain and the forward push of Patricia - this time we are also expecting a norther to push through - that is what tonight's rain is all about but it pushes this over towards Houston and over the weekend New Orleans gets it.

maryz · « **Reply #16127 on:** October 30, 2015, 11:07:26 PM »

Glad to know you're safe, Barb - but terrible about the awful aftermath of storms like this.

Steph · « **Reply #16128 on:** October 31, 2015, 08:56:31 AM »

sounds like an incredible amount of rain. I have an old friend from school, who lived in Hallettsville in hill country. Have to find out how she is faring.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #16129 on:** October 31, 2015, 12:33:56 PM »

Oh! Oh! Oh! I just turned on Booktv and Pat Conroy and his biographer are talking about Pat and his works. He is so funny, I didn't expect that. Maryz - i hope you get to see it, i'm sure it will be repeated.

Barb - I've also thought of you often these last few days and also glad you are o.k.

oh, this PC interview was in Nashville on Oct 10

maryz · « **Reply #16130 on:** October 31, 2015, 02:55:41 PM »

Darn. I just turned on Book TV, and it wasn't on. I'll check the web site to see if it's on later. Thanks, Jean, for the heads-up.

Steph · « **Reply #16131 on:** November 01, 2015, 09:03:32 AM »

I talked to someone who heard him speak years ago and said he was wonderful..Funny and bright and altogether a delight .

Frybabe · « **Reply #16132 on:** November 03, 2015, 01:59:26 PM »

Just learned that Amazon is opening its first physical bookstore today in Seattle.

ginny · « **Reply #16133 on:** November 03, 2015, 02:09:40 PM »

There goes B&N

Hopefully we can have one here, we've already got the Amazon warehouse..

Judy Laird · « **Reply #16134 on:** November 03, 2015, 07:15:12 PM »

Amazon did open there bookstore today. It is in the university district.
Too bad they didn't open it in Bellevue.

Steph · « **Reply #16135 on:** November 04, 2015, 08:02:59 AM »

The nearest B&N to me closed in May. I loved being able to browse,,best way to find new authors, but alas, no moreunless I want to go to Orlando and fight the traffic.

PatH · « **Reply #16136 on:** November 04, 2015, 08:31:10 AM »

There's still a B&N near me, but they're asking for failure.They're poor at restocking, so they have gaps in things they obviously mean to keep on hand, and there's some glitch in their computer system so they think they have a book, but can't find it. I try to patronize them when I can, but I often come away empty-handed.

FlaJean · « **Reply #16137 on:** November 04, 2015, 09:44:49 AM »

We have a good sized B&N located near several retirement communities, and they always seem busy. It's about 10 miles from us but an easy commute, and I do enjoy browsing.

Steph · « **Reply #16138 on:** November 05, 2015, 08:30:52 AM »

FlaJean,, are you in Ocala?? or The Villages?? I live in Clermont and that B and N might be a good alternate for me since I-4 improvements have made Orlando a true mess for traffic.

FlaJean · « **Reply #16139 on:** November 05, 2015, 10:13:22 AM »

I'm in Ocala. It is on Rt. 200 in "Market Street of Heath Brook" next to Dillard's. The shopping center is one of those open shopping centers that was built during the economic downturn and still has a lot of empty stores, but the B&N always seems busy. We live aways from there but I visit every now and then.

jane · « **Reply #16140 on:** November 05, 2015, 01:14:22 PM »

B&N closest to me is about 1/2 things other than books...totes, games, educational stuff for kids, etc. I don't buy paper books anymore...everything is digital with me now. So much easier than trying to get to a bookstore to discover they don't have what I want...and the 70 miles roundtrip. Now, I click and it's cheaper usually than a paperback, let alone a hardcover, and it's delivered to me immediately here in rural Iowa.

pedln · « **Reply #16141 on:** November 05, 2015, 10:07:09 PM »

Amazon's new bookstore in the University area in Seattle. Judy Laird, I'm coming to your area over the Christmas holidays -- am going to try to get there -- just to see what it's like. But my favorites in Seattle are the Elliot Bay bookstore and Third Place Books. Maybe I"m just partial to bookstores that serve food.

Powell's in Portland is still on my bucket list -- maybe some day.

And PatH has that nifty Politics and Prose in her area.

I've never been particularly fond of B&N -- they are such a chain. As one of my daughters said, "you've seen one, you've seen them all." There is nothing unique about them. My knees do not like them. I once asked why they didn't have more chairs or benches throughout the store and they told me they had been given a MAP that defined where they could place chairs.

Steph · « **Reply #16142 on:** November 06, 2015, 08:12:18 AM »

For me, it is the browsing that attracts me. I love poking about and finding a new author that pleases me, and also everyone in the family gets a christmas book and it is easier to find stuff in a large bookstore.... I also have puzzle freaks in the family and they love the hand puzzles that B&N generally have at Christmas.
Thanks. Florida Jean,, will look it up on my GPS..

maryz · « **Reply #16143 on:** November 06, 2015, 11:07:30 AM »

Like the term "hand puzzles", Steph. We called them "table puzzles" or "grown-up puzzles". Our grandkids grabbed the ones that sat by John's chair. 8^)

Judy Laird · « **Reply #16144 on:** November 06, 2015, 04:32:52 PM »

Hope to see you at the holidays Pedlin

JoanK · « **Reply #16145 on:** November 06, 2015, 04:38:33 PM »

Did you know you can browse on the kindle. You can define a subject, then further refine. (i.e. history -- North America or mystery -- cozies). Unfortunately they are then ordered by most popular (which often aren't the ones I'm interested in.) So I page down 5 or 10 pages, and look for obscure little books on odd subjects (usually costing almost nothing). great to do at night when you can't sleep.

PatH · « **Reply #16146 on:** November 06, 2015, 05:07:42 PM »

What you can't do is run across a book you didn't know existed on a subject you wouldn't have thought of looking for. It's nifty when that happens.

ginny · « **Reply #16147 on:** November 06, 2015, 06:06:25 PM »

And I am really enjoying J. K. Rowling's A Casual Vacancy which I tried once before and could not get into. All 2 pages a day which is all I have at present for reading. They had it on PBS so I taped it and watched a little before it was deleted by mistake, so thought I'd read the book.

It has rave reviews, "Gaskell" and others are compared to it, but some here found the language (which is very strong with some of the characters) off-putting. I can see that, but it's not a great bit of the book. . I picked it back up and am just really blown away by the way she writes. I'm like that critic who wants to underline this or that line to return to it.

She is a GOOD writer about an English village which looks slow on the surface and is not. Of course Agatha Christie always said that in one English village you could find every type of character there was. She was right. It's slow. Or I am. I sure am enjoying it before going to sleep.

I hear her detective series is good, too, but I haven't read one. I think I might after this because she hasn't written another of these, her first adult novel.

Steph · « **Reply #16148 on:** November 07, 2015, 08:02:56 AM »

Did not try that one, Ginny, but I truly hated her detective stories, read one and wont repeat that at all.. Ugh..Not a single character that I cared about.
JoanK.. oh my, will try that on my Kindle, but I do love spending an afternoon in a large bookstore, browsing, finding neat things..
Hand Puzzles.. I guess because we had a wooden toy store for a few years in the early 90's, I think of my store and we always had a lot of older puzzles that were for both children and adults. The blacksmith series, wooden blocks to make into a puzzle. rubiks cube type.. my sons and both daughter in laws adore them and I try hard to find new ones.
Pedlin, I envy you Seattle.. I loved their book stores and went wild the one time we were there in 2009..

pedln · « **Reply #16149 on:** November 07, 2015, 03:07:45 PM »

What are Hand Puzzles? You all have me out searching and what a lot I"ve found. Google "puzzle museum" and you are in for a treat.

Ginny, I'm glad you mentioned Casual Vacancy. It's been on my Netflix queue forever, but I really didn't know what it was about. The reviews seem to be very very positive or very very negative. The first Galbraith book has been on my kindle for a long time. It'll keep.

ginny · « **Reply #16150 on:** November 07, 2015, 03:32:39 PM »

I do really like it. SO FAR, and I'm only as I said getting 2 pages a day, it MIGHT be a horror, there are a lot of secrets in this picturesque little English village of Pagford.

It's like Our Town which I hated as a teenager but which I now see has a great deal of wisdom. It's interesting in that early on there is a rotter of a man, a real turn off, whom one wants to see get his own back, kind of like the father character of the Cromwell series. But he comes and fades out and wasn't as bad in the PBS production. So hopefully we'll be spared.

The other characters are each believable and what interests me is how she's so skillfully indicated for each human being and situation emotions which you can relate to, in fact there are funny moments of recognition. It's hard to describe. But she has managed to capture the many many layers of persona perfectly.

But it's a town with many undercurrents, not all of them good.

I went to B&N today as a special trip and treat for myself. I haven't had the chance to make my weekly visit in months! It was full of Christmas stuff and lots of people eating at the Cafe (I hear they make more money on that than they do books) and I was absolutely shocked that it did not have ONE new book I wanted to read or which was on my list to get. Not one. I did pause over the new Stephen King anthology. It does look good but he scares me to death now.

They've redone half the store and it's all NOOK now in the front, all the other shelves are moved back. This is new for this particular store. I may try the ones in Greenville I normally go in but I think I am spoiled by Amazon.

At the supermarket I did pick up John Grisham's Rogue Lawyer, he's good. I always enjoy him and it was 25 percent off. Has anybody read it? It's new?

Steph · « **Reply #16151 on:** November 08, 2015, 08:37:26 AM »

My grandfather who was a master carpenter actually made hand puzzles as gifts and I have two of them.. not complicated, but much treasured.
My oldest loves the fiendishly difficult.. But then he and his wife are both engineers and enjoy that sort of complicated.

marjifay · « **Reply #16152 on:** November 08, 2015, 12:31:28 PM »

Per Barb: "I also think there are too many of them to have any kind of discussion about real issues without it just becoming each making their speech that features their view."

I agree. That's not a debate with that many participants. It's just a lot of hot air, and, as Steph says, so many lies.

Marj

bellamarie · « **Reply #16153 on:** November 08, 2015, 06:52:00 PM »

Oh my heavens, it's been a while since I have checked in and I see a few topics being discussed, the debates, poor Barb is still battling the floods and storms, Amazon has opened their first physical bookstore, and Barnes & Noble is either favorable or not depending on who likes their changes.

I did not watch ALL of the last debate. I skimmed through and saw it was a hot mess. The moderators had an agenda, and it had nothing to do with economics, or helping undecided voters gain any knowledge about these candidates. It will be nice when there are less of them so more time can be spent on learning their ideologies and policies. I am a political junkie so I have followed all of the candidates in both parties, even before they were candidates, so I know where they stand on many issues that are important to me. It is a shame how some voters seem to be apathetic, and will go out and vote not knowing anything about a candidate for either party, and just vote their party line. I've never been able to understand that.

Barb, I pray the weather turns more favorable for you in the coming days. Rain seems to be in the forecast for yet this week. You may have to begin building an Ark.

I love Barnes and Noble, our store has changed over the years as some of you have described and I love the changes. I know I will be sad the day ours may close due to Amazon. It reminds me of the movie "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, where she owns the little bookstore around the corner, and Tom Hanks builds the huge Fox bookstore that puts the little bookstore out of business. Back when the movie was made the big Fox bookstore in the movie was Barnes and Noble. Now here we are years later and Barnes and Noble is the little loved bookstore where people gather, and Amazon is going to be the big Fox bookstore to put Barnes and Noble out of business. Thank goodness my city still has multiple public libraries that have been updated and modernized and will stay here for us who love to go in and browse, sit and read a bit and take our grandchildren as I do. Speaking of which, I just took my 4 yr old granddaughter Zoey this past Thursday and while checking her books out she asked me, "Nonnie what is that smell?" I answered, "That is the smell of books, and I just love it!" She replied, "I do too!."

I was able to buy a treasure on the book rack of old books for sale....a Christmas book called "The Gift" by Nora Roberts. Two short stories in one book for a dollar! I love to begin reading Christmas books this time of year.

Steph · « **Reply #16154 on:** November 09, 2015, 08:13:17 AM »

I do so hope that we can continue to have both Amazon and then a real book store that You can browse and poke in.. I love both and need both. Our library is more and more digital, and browsing is unproductive unless you want nothing but best sellers. I love and support libraries, but ours is becoming an all things to all people.. and books , real printed books are falling to the wayside.

bellamarie · « **Reply #16155 on:** November 09, 2015, 09:53:39 AM »

Our city just renovated almost all of your libraries and they look fantastic! They now have an area with computers for children, a wonderful children's activity section, and a separate computer section for teens and adults. I especially love the fireplace sitting area with a vending machine for all sorts of different blends of coffee, hot cocoa, muffins, snacks etc. We have tons of rows of books I could get lost browsing in. I'm with you Steph, I hope we can manage an Amazon bookstore and Barnes and Noble because I still love to browse in our B&N and take my ipad and sit at the cafe.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #16156 on:** November 09, 2015, 11:38:20 AM »

Hi all,

I haven't been here in a while but I've really missed you all. I am hoping to come back now if you'll have me

Lots of things have happened in my life (most of them good). I am living in Edinburgh but my husband is now working in Paris, so youngest daughter and I have just come back from a weekend there.

And I have just read a marvellous book, Nature's Architect by Jim Crumley, a Scottish nature writer. It's about the reintroduction (official and non-official) of beavers into this country. I thought I might find it a bit boring but it was absolutely wonderful, very easy to read and fascinating. Crumley is a fabulous writer, who goes into the history of the species, looks at how it thrives in North America, but most of all sits and watches it, and asks himself questions about its place in the cycle of life. His prose is vivid and concise, and takes you on a journey of discovery alongside him. Loved it.

I'm looking forward to reading some of the other boards now.

Rosemary

PatH · « **Reply #16157 on:** November 09, 2015, 12:05:30 PM »

Welcome back, Rosemarykaye. You've been missed.

People here have a love-hate relationship with beavers, balancing their ecological importance agains the way they mess up human terrain.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #16158 on:** November 09, 2015, 12:16:20 PM »

Hi Pat,

Thanks for that

How are you?

Jim Crumley's view is that the 'damage' is all part of the eco system and provides habitats for numerous other species, some while the beavers are still there and others once they have moved on and the wood, etc starts to decay. I have no idea if he's right, but he's a great writer. He's a fan of David M Carroll and also of the painter Sherry Palmer.

I have heard Jim talk at book events on a couple of occasions; he's very modest and quiet, but what he says is always interesting.

Rosemary

Frybabe · « **Reply #16159 on:** November 09, 2015, 12:55:15 PM »

Yay! Hi Rosemary. Super to have you back in the discussions. Missed you too.

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Author Topic: The Library (Read 2084253 times)