Author Topic: The Library (Read 2085163 times)

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #17120 on:** July 14, 2016, 09:46:30 AM »

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!

*Suggestion Box for Future Discussions
*SeniorLearn's Archives

For all Francophiles... Today is July 14...

Frybabe · « **Reply #17121 on:** July 14, 2016, 11:24:56 AM »

Super! More people and books to look up. I do have, buy have not yet read, 84 Charing Cross Road .

I don't think I saw the British Museum program you mentioned. I will see if I can find it on YouTube.

pedln · « **Reply #17122 on:** July 14, 2016, 12:56:18 PM »

Enjoy the book, Frybabe, and then watch the film starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. Delightful, a keeper.

maryz · « **Reply #17123 on:** July 14, 2016, 01:03:35 PM »

Helene Hanff wrote a follow-up book to 84 Charing Cross Road. Put that one on your list, too.

bellamarie · « **Reply #17124 on:** July 14, 2016, 04:42:36 PM »

marjifay, Bringing Down the House sounds interesting I may have to go see if my library has that.

ANNIE · « **Reply #17125 on:** July 16, 2016, 02:51:36 PM »

yes, do enjoy both the book and the movie. I have all her books and have loved every one. "The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street" is one and another is about show business. Every book she wrote is worth reading. Enjoy!😋😋😋

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #17126 on:** July 16, 2016, 04:02:00 PM »

Been enjoying this triple digit afternoon - some time back medici contacted me and where I still have not joined I am allowed to watch without joining 100 concerts a year - received notification this week that today life from Munich - Valery Gergiev, the Münchner Philharmoniker and Daniil Trifonov in concert at the Odeonsplatz in Munich - oh oh oh - if you have not heard Daniil Trifonov you are missing magic - he plays as if fairies control him fingers - He did again Tchaikovsky 1 in B-flat minor - magnificent - intermission is just about over and they do Strauss The Knight of the Rose and Ravel Bolero.

http://www.medici.tv/?utm_source=Mainlist&utm_campaign=eaef5f0c28-335bis_20160716_insc_en&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ae558c6ab2-eaef5f0c28-319755925#!/valery-gergiev-daniil-trifonov-odeonsplatz-munich-tchaikovsky-strauss-ravel

Frybabe · « **Reply #17127 on:** July 17, 2016, 01:29:35 PM »

Barb, I posted that website over in the Classical Corner on Seniors and Friends and also a YouTube of Daniil Trifonov. This prompted Radioman to say that you used to be a regular there. I don't see you listed in members, so I am wondering if you got lost after that big server crash a while back. They couldn't save the forums as is so we all had to reregister like we were newbies. If you are still interested, come on over and reregister. We'd love to see you there too.

Oh, I guess this means you don't know that Don has recovered from a heart attack not so long ago, and that he and So-P-Bubble are now engaged.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #17128 on:** July 17, 2016, 02:07:54 PM »

Oh for heaven's sake - I remember when Bubble was newly windowed and later there were lovely posts from Don - I wondered why when off and on I would attempt to post and could not - will have to look into re-registering - my daughter comes in tomorrow - we haven't seen each other since Christmas before last - about a year and a half ago - so that is my big interest - she leaves for Seattle on Wednesday to see Ty, her oldest who moved there a year ago and then she will be back here after a week there. So it will be early August before I can branch out to register. thanks ever so much...

ANNIE · « **Reply #17129 on:** July 17, 2016, 02:11:29 PM »

Frybabe. What nice news about Don and So bubl! I also used to be on S&F but gave up due to so many posters missing that I had stayed in contact with. So we need to rejoin?has anyone heard from Persian lately? I emailed her last week but haven't received an answer. She had some health problems that she and I shared . I will rejoin S&F's soon.

PatH · « **Reply #17130 on:** July 17, 2016, 02:12:51 PM »

Barb and Annie, there are glitches in the registration system, so persist if you have trouble.

ginny · « **Reply #17131 on:** July 17, 2016, 02:53:00 PM »

Tomereader, I've got another recommendation for you on that choice of book, I recommend the one we are about to discuss here. Our Souls at Night would make a super point of discussion for any man or woman. I'd read it first before suggesting it, tho, so you can see what I mean, you can read it in one sitting. And it's only 179 pages. I've not seen two reviews which agreed, so that's the kind of book one wants, possibly. You might like to check it out.

Great news about Don and SoapBubble!

maryz · « **Reply #17132 on:** July 17, 2016, 03:06:09 PM »

AdoAnnie - Persian is over on Seniors & Friends. She now posts with her real name - "Molly". Her health has not been great, but she does post sporadically. I see her postings in the Bosom Buddies discussion. Come join us!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #17133 on:** July 17, 2016, 04:07:42 PM »

For the Chihuly fans among us...

https://www.facebook.com/chihuly/videos/1049770825072395/

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #17134 on:** July 17, 2016, 04:08:49 PM »

Ginny, thanks for the recommendation. I, personally, have read "Our Souls at Night" and enjoyed it. It would probably go over well with all our members, and our one guy. I will check our library, but I'm not optimistic about how many copies they have, since it is fairly new.

Surprise , surprise! The library has 13 copies, plus some in Large Print, and I have forwarded a recommendation to our Club with that info and also a Summary. Maybe we'll all agree to read this. Will let you know.

And thanks again for the help everyone here has given.

ginny · « **Reply #17135 on:** July 17, 2016, 04:44:18 PM »

Oh super! I'm so glad you've read it already and like the idea, it's perfect, isn't it?

You're welcome in our discussion of it if you'd like to come, it's only two weeks long.... It should be very interesting. I just wonder if everybody's going to see something completely different! So far everybody I've talked to does not at all see the same thing. Not at all.

If they do decide to discuss it, let us know what they thought?

bellamarie · « **Reply #17136 on:** July 18, 2016, 07:55:20 PM »

I just began The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand. I was looking for a light read that takes place in Nantucket and was excited to find this one. For me summer is for fun, light reading. Although, I have been reading the daily Sonnets of Shakespeare which has us in a bit of a conundrum.

ANNIE · « **Reply #17137 on:** July 19, 2016, 09:07:02 AM »

Thanks for the post about Persian, MaryZ. I will now for sure try to reregister today and say hello to Molly. Its so nice to know that she is still posting.

Just finished "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. Its very interesting but also depressing in many parts. And I learned a lot about how the French and German people lived through WWII. I want to try another book by Doerr as he has many awards for his writing.

ginny · « **Reply #17138 on:** July 21, 2016, 10:40:31 AM »

Oh I've heard a lot about that, Ann. I was waiting for somebody who read it to say what they thought. I am glad to see that review.

Bellamarie, I hope your book turns out fun and light, she's a good author.

I came in to say I finally (Marj is probably wanting to kill me at this point) finished Peter Mayle's Corsican Caper. Boy did it bog down. Too many characters, plots, just too much. It started out great. Apparently this is one in a series featuring these characters, that did not bother me, but....I truthfully had to make myself finish it, which is never a good sign. I loved his earlier books, this one...eh...

But it didn't fizzle until the end. About the last third or quarter or maybe I'm distracted by other things too much.

The plot line however, houses and neighbors, reminded me of another book, Nelson DeMille's The Gold Coast. I really loved that book and it's about the only DeMille I've liked. He says in an updated forward it's the most popular book he's ever written. Yesterday as my 9 year old grandson and I took half the day in a Barnes and Noble (because he insisted on sitting down and reading half of the books),

they had a paperback copy of The Gold Coast and I got swept right up in it again. A man is in a garden center and another man hails him, "aren't you XXx? I'm your new neighbor." The protagonist, a lawyer, immediately recognizes the name, his new neighbor in this exclusive neighborhood is the equivalent of John Gotti. He goes home in a lather and has to explain to his wife who has moved in next door. It goes from there. I remember it as a wonderful book and I want to revisit it again because I have forgotten what happened, but I remember it was a great read.

Also picked up Bleak House again. This time a B&N reprint in paperback. They've done a wonderful job with it. It's got the cast of characters, a nice introduction, the original illustrations, the original sequence divisions of when each chapter was published so I can pretend to read it as it appeared, AND at the bottom of every page a really good set of footnotes explaining what you need explained. Since I now have the characters firmly in mind thanks to the great 2005 TV Mini series, I am swept away in IT too, a summer sweep. Charles Dance, perfect in his part as Mr. Tulkinghorn!!! Could there ever be anybody else in that part? Maybe Ian Richardson who plays the Chancellor. Wonderful cast.

And then there's Reliquary. As I said they have opened the subway line under Central Park and yesterday my grandson and I went to see The Secret Life of Pets and it's all NYC including the supposed alligators in the sewers. Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Bridge. Sewers. Such a fun movie but the alligators reminded me again of Reliquary. I know what I'm going to be reading for the rest of the summer, those three books. None of them new. De Mille's humor (which is exquisite ) is fun and the horror element of Reliquary might be too much (and is) for a lot of people, but hey, sometimes you feel like a nut. The freedom of reading!

What are YOU reading, whether you like it or not?

bellamarie · « **Reply #17139 on:** July 21, 2016, 11:29:50 AM »

Ginny,

Quote

AND at the bottom of every page a really good set of footnotes explaining what you need explained.

I attempted The Bleak House and phew..... I just could not keep up with that book. Maybe it would have helped to have the one you have. I got so frustrated I gave up, and I don't give up on books very easily.

Today is my day with my 5 and 8 yr. old grandkids and off to the library we will be going. We saw The Secret Life of Pets a week ago and they loved the movie. It sure is fun being able to go to a kid's movie and watch it with them and share their excitement. Our favorite part is when the bunny poops out the pellets and goes "Just ignore what just happened." lolol It's our standing joke now if someone toots. Oh the joys of grandkids!!

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #17140 on:** July 21, 2016, 11:35:54 AM »

]I just finished a most unlikely find, and at this moment, I cannot remember where I saw the title (on some blog, I'm sure), but it sounded interesting: "Close To Shore" by Michael Capuzzo, published 2001. Subtitled "A true story of terror in an age of innocence". The author's note at the beginning states: "This is a work of non-fiction. All characters are real and their descriptions, actions and dialogue are based on newspaper accounts, interviews with family members, diaries, medical journals and other historic sources". Perhaps this is where Peter Benchley got his inspiration for "Jaws". Set in 1916, there are dozens of historical pieces of information about that time period, i.e., preamble to WWI, etc. Interesting especially about the "bathing" (Swimming) practices, costumes. I simply could not put it down. I was amazed by the absolute lack of information about sharks and the disbelief of the so-called "experts" that sharks would attack humans in the water. There was so much going on in the world during this time period, that is totally relevant to today (pollution of rivers, creeks).
Not your supreme "literary achievement" but interesting nonetheless.

PatH · « **Reply #17141 on:** July 21, 2016, 02:10:47 PM »

We discussed Bleak House here in 2012. The plot is indeed very complicated, with what feels like a cast of thousands, but I felt it was worth it. There's even a detective mystery embedded in it. Deems thought it was Dickens' best book.

jane · « **Reply #17142 on:** July 21, 2016, 02:41:09 PM »

Ginny: Your grandson, John, is going to be beating the girls off with a stick soon. I hope he's prepared!!:)

Handsome young man...and so nice to see him so engrossed in reading a BOOK, and not staring at a smartphone and thumbing text messages to his buddies. Your influence there is loud and clear!! Hurrah.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #17143 on:** July 21, 2016, 04:41:38 PM »

this program with the Carnegie Hall National Youth Orchestra with Valery Gergiev Conducting and featuring Denis Matsuev pianist, is free for the next 90 days on Medici

http://www.medici.tv/?utm_source=Mainlist&utm_campaign=da7389f60a-336_20160718_insc_en&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ae558c6ab2-da7389f60a-319755925#/valery-gergiev-denis-matsuev-the-nyo-debussy-rachmaninov-prokofiev

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #17144 on:** July 21, 2016, 04:43:48 PM »

Ginny - Alabama

- he sure looks engrossed - good looking boy - what a fun time in life for you.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #17145 on:** July 21, 2016, 05:09:31 PM »

Ah yes, Bleak House - one of my favorite discussions - it was long but it was a delight and then the movie came out or was it a PBS series - what ever, it gave us pictures in our heads to go with the read. I think the characters in Bleak House are the most filled out of any story by Dickens.

Still reading The Misanthrope by Moliere - it is not a play you can just read through or at least I cannot -

Looking for something light - a beach read of sorts - I picked up a copy of The Seafront Tearoom by Vanessa Greene - not sure I am going to finish this - it drags like low tide - despite the enticing cover, nothing sparkly summer seas about it.

And so I have time this afternoon and think I might just go ahead and guts up and get into The Vegetarian by Han Kang - only 183 pages but I understand not an easy emotional read - if it gets too much I will set it down and pick it up later because I am determined to read it with everyone talking about it.

And then my used copy of The Footman by O'Connor arrived - 1930s Ireland - been on my list for awhile - something about he being the messenger between two star crossed lovers separated by their family and he is instrumental in changing the local Irish family forever... sounds like a fun bit of intrigue with some romance thrown in - we shall see - O'Connor is no slouch as a writer.

marcie · « **Reply #17146 on:** July 21, 2016, 06:10:57 PM »

Ginny, It's so inspiring to see "little John" reading at the B&N. He really looks long in the photo. It sounds like you are having great fun with him.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #17147 on:** July 21, 2016, 07:05:10 PM »

This is called psyching myself up to cool it while watching TV tonight - the drama created at these conventions - oh me oh my...

Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for
a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace.

ginny · « **Reply #17148 on:** July 22, 2016, 10:56:30 AM »

Yes, thank goodness the TV has a switch channel button. I did see something on the BBC about how listening to people argue raises blood pressure. Bill Reilly should be banned, then, by the AMA. hahaha

Thank you Jane and Marcie and Barbara for your nice comments on "Little" John. His parents have done a wonderful job with him. I don't know anything he doesn't excel in, academics, sports. .. But I'm his grandmother, you know how that goes.

Yes, he's VERY tall, (of course his daddy is 6'3", and he's the image of his daddy at 9) how fast they grow. Too fast! I think his mother, my DIL, also gets credit for his reading, as she's read constantly to him from day 1, and his teacher last year, who casually remarked to me that he's always got his nose in a book, also gets some credit, because thanks to her, too, he does. I love that photo because it does show the position of books in his life, we're all surrounded by books.

(But he's on the ipad and iphone, too. )

Tome, that does sound like a super book. I must read it. I love Peter Benchley. I have all his books. He just had a new found sea creature named after him, he was a serious oceanographer. I love Beast, especially since people pooh poohed his theory there and now LOOK what they have found, creatures, giant squids exceeding what he wrote of. I wish he had lived to see that discovery.

Barbara, I haven't read Moliere since school, how are you enjoying it? I think I'd like to read it again in translation to see what I think now. We read it in French and yesterday, due to my grandson, I discovered Duolingo and boy is that effective. When I took French, the 8 years of it, we read the classics, Victor Hugo, the invasion of Alsace Lorraine, the Chanson de Roland, we never did "conversation." We never ordered from menus. I can't do it to this day. We were serious. Today I can see the result. hahahaha I LOVE Duolingo, have you all tried it?

There is a wonderful series on PBS about the Medici, I did not realize that that word is pronounced two different ways till I saw the series.

Yes I think we mentioned before the discussion here of Bleak House, and it was Deems's favorite book. We're always so au courant here in SeniorLearn's Books and Literature. Still there's nothing like a discovery in old age, is there? It DOES have a huge cast, and such strange names. Love Dickens, he's such a bath in the luxury of the English language. Fog. I will never think of fog the same way again after his opening.

And we have another one coming to PBS this fall I think, the Forsythe Saga? Or something like that. Another giant tome I have but have never been able to get into.

PatH · « **Reply #17149 on:** July 22, 2016, 01:50:42 PM »

Ginny, did you read the Chanson de Roland in the original Old French, or a translation into modern French? I've read it in English--there's a good translation by Dorothy L. Sayers--but the Old French looks pretty obscure.

Speaking a language to get along in everyday situations is a whole different skill than reading it in a classroom. Your approach has to be quite opposite. We didn't learn it in class either; I had to learn it the hard way when I lived abroad.

ginny · « **Reply #17150 on:** July 23, 2016, 09:15:33 AM »

Pat, I'm quite sure it wasn't Old French or anything like that. I don't have the book any more, and really don't recall much about it, except it seemed LONG, and we read it all.

Which is a shame, really, now that we're talking about it, I wish I had had the maturity to get more out of it at the time. Actually I wish I had had the maturity to do a lot of things differently. We read Racine, too and Voltaire; I mean, we really read French literature, but I remember Hugo the best and enjoying what we call his Hunchback of Notre Dame, that's a good book. Or maybe it's easy to read in French and so I enjoyed it? Either way it was a great read.

Here's a heresy: the further I went in French the less I liked it. I appreciate French today for its literature and its beautiful expression, it's a beautiful language, in some ways like no other, but grammatically the farther you go the more messed up and illogical it is, to me at the time, and for that I was glad to turn my attention elsewhere after 8 years.

Frybabe · « **Reply #17151 on:** July 23, 2016, 12:03:24 PM »

I have Song of Roland on my Kindle. Now I am going to have to see whose translation it is. Since I got it from Project Gutenberg, it won't be Dorothy Sayers.

I remember my Dad telling me I when I was in my teens that I would love Victor Hugo because, at the time, I loved books that had lots of discription. Don't know if I could handle "pages" of discription nowadays. I've had Hunchback of Notre Dame for many, many years but never read it.

Frybabe · « **Reply #17152 on:** July 23, 2016, 12:11:26 PM »

Right now, I am reading Mary Beard's Confronting the Classics and another SciFi (of course).

I just recieved two T.P. Wiseman books, Remembering the Roman People: Essays on Late-Republican Politics and Literature and Catullus & His World: A Reappraisal. Unfortunately the book on Roman law I had ordered is unavailable. It will be a while till I get to these two. I had started a book on Roman foreign policy, but put it aside to read Mary Beard since it is a library loan.

Oh, and I am busy getting used to my new notebook. That touchpad and I are not speaking very well as yet, and the users manual that is supposed to be posted in pdf form on the manufacturer's website, isn't. So, now I have two Kindles, my desktop and the notebook to hoard books on.

pedln · « **Reply #17153 on:** July 23, 2016, 12:28:50 PM »

That's a great picture of your John, Ginny. It could be a poster for libraries and for B&N Stores. Is he a rising 4th grader? What books top his list of great reads? Our Ruby is 9, likes the book Wonder. Count your blessings, those of you who live near your grandkids.

My dinner/movie group met last night, after watching The Martian, which everyone liked. But now I want to read the book, as I'm sure I missed a lot in the film. I'm glad to hear so many positive comments about The Secret Life of Pets. We were talking last night about how it's harder to find good new films and several spoke highly of "Pets."

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #17154 on:** July 23, 2016, 01:43:40 PM »

Hugo wrote the book entitled Notre-Dame de Paris - the English translator changed it to the Hunchback of Notre Dame

The original Youtube to the musical/opera Notre-Dame de Paris was taken down but this one includes the entire production with English subtitles that are so so -

You can see, the story is more about the power of the then ruler - the church - which even the kings in Europe were secondary - at this time in history the poor and troubled always turned to the safe haven of the church and squatted around the church buildings and in England they squatted for protection in the graveyards - this practice was still alive and well here in Texas when some Native Tribes squatted and were taken care of by the Spanish clergy at the Mission churches in San Antonio.

Before Haussmann's Paris, Île de la Cité was filled with the most wretched in society squatting and over time building ramshackle shelters surrounding the Cathedral of Notre Dame - this story is about the change in attitude towards the people because of the flood of immigrants and the plague which stretched the limits of the wealthy who were obligated to fund care for the poor and after the schism, a church that was preserving and increasing its power, re-claiming its status as more important than the kings rather than, taking care of the people.

Having attended a Catholic High School the curriculum included 4 years of Latin and 3 years of French. This is the story we translated and read in our French class - we had French in the afternoon so next day Father Lynn, O. Carm. always had his hands full during his class on Religious studies where we learned of Church government, administration and politics and its role in ruling Europe.

Here is the link to the musical - now called an Opera - once started, youtube will automatically go to the next bit - it appear to all be there just in a different format. The voices are magnificent - There is much about the story that is today...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L24vaxNH91w&list=PLFBE2C77ABC402CBF&index=1

Frybabe · « **Reply #17155 on:** July 24, 2016, 05:56:29 AM »

Pedln, I hope you get the chance to read the book. The movie follows the book closely. They left a few things out, most notable some of science sequences where Watney is trying to figuring out how to make something work and, I think, some of the trip to the other lander. The ending was expanded slightly. It seems to me the science he uses in the book is pretty much something they used to teach in high school. Anyone who remember high school physics and chemistry can correct me if I am wrong.

If you are wondering why is said "used to teach", it's because I have a dim view of that they are turning out of high school these days compared to when we were in school.

bellamarie · « **Reply #17156 on:** July 24, 2016, 11:47:05 AM »

Well, I am doing some last minute cleaning so I can leave my house spotless for my granddaughter to house/pet sit for me while we spend a couple of days at Maumee Bay State Park for my upcoming birthday. I just don't know what it is about the water that draws me to it like bees to honey. My hubby asked what I wanted for my birthday, and I said to wake up looking out of my room at the bay. So, I've packed my favorite books, ipad and inspirational coloring book with my favorite itunes and plan to sit back and do absolutely nothing but enjoy the calmness of the bay. Oh and probably a little celebration when all the kids & grands come out on Monday evening to have dinner, cake and ice cream. We are never too old for blowing out candles even if they are enough to have a bonfire on top of the cake! There may be some wine on this list of things to do as well.

I have to giggle because as I prepare to leave I am leaving my 20 yr old granddaughter her favorite cereal, cookies, snacks, VCR, and all her favorite Mary-Kate & Ashley movies we watched when she was a growing up. The last time she housesitted I called to check in and she asked, "Nonnie, where are all the Mary-Kate & Ashley movies you collected?" Some things just bring huge smiles to your face and warmth to your heart.

ginny · « **Reply #17157 on:** July 25, 2016, 11:16:23 AM »

How lovely that sounds, Bellamarie, gathering up all your stuff in anticipation, I read that twice, what a fine adventure you're going on, what fun. Have a wonderful time.

I did not say but wanted to that there's a lovely version of the Chanson de Roland in a little French book which I did keep from my childhood, called Petits Contes de France. It's like a child's Shakespeare type of thing?

We read it in high school (I see that Barbara's high school also had a rigorous program of languages, ah the good old days), and I adored it. It was easy to read (#1 criteria), written in 1916, full of culture and pathos and French legend, and although our French teacher sniffed it was for "les enfants," she was dismissive of most everything except, apparently, garlic, so I tended to ignore her but I think she was right in this case, it IS a primer, but it's a dear book. It's like reading A. A. Milne, the same sort of drawings and some...French culture (Alsace Lorraine) and history..I think it's free online in several formats. I keep it right next to my mother's old Mother Goose, which is a first edition and I did not know it but it's so beat up by my little hands and torn that it wouldn't be worth a cent I am sure. But for nostalgia's sake I like to open both from time to time.

Then of course I hit the real thing. hahaha I think I needed, personally, several gap years before going on to college to mature a bit and see the world.

Frybabe, you can't go wrong with T.P. Wiseman! If you get a chance, get the Boissier (free online in many formats) Cicero and his Friends and read the Atticus chapter, some of those chapters are out of this world. Some great reading you've set for yourself!

Pedln, thank you.

Yes he's entering the 4th. He likes anything on sports, soccer, football, basketball. That's what he's engrossed in, in the photo, 10 Greatest Sports somethings. I got him the Luis Suarez autobiography for his birthday and am trying to read it to be sure it's suitable for a child, and not full of excuses for some of the behavior Suarez has exhibited, but so far, so good. My father used to do that for me actually, as I now recall, pre-read a controversial book first. I regret to this day sneaking Candide off his shelves, I think it seared me for life, no joke.

John's school has a strange (to me) policy on reading books from their library. They have to choose books each week and always be reading. But they can't choose out of their particular current level or range, the books are graded in arbitrary (not grade) rangers by color. He wanted to work up to reading the Lemony Snicket series for himself that his mother had read some years ago, and he did. But you just can't walk in to their school library and take out Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, you have to first read this tremendous list in level whatever, and the next level, and they are every color of the rainbow, and THEN finally you have reached the desired level of Lemony Snicket, (and I mean it's a long level up) and you can read what you want in that level. I had never heard of such a thing. They have to read each night, 20 minutes I think, and the parents have to sign that they did.

I would have thought that would have killed any desire to read. It might have killed it in me, actually. I, from an early age, as he does in the public library, was used to picking out anything I wanted. But it works. He's sort of a determined child and he was determined to get to the level desired, so it worked.

I didn't know of Wonder, but I looked it up, and that's the type of book he likes, I'll see if he's read it. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm very much enjoying the Gold Coast and am well into the foibles of the landed gentry on the East Coast which seem to parallel those in England, actually, a little bit of social history here too, and the encroachment of the vulgar into their midst. Lots of subtle social commentary in this one and other than the obligatory somewhat ridiculous sex scene too early on, it's very engrossing.

What's everybody reading?

bellamarie · « **Reply #17158 on:** July 25, 2016, 03:16:36 PM »

Ginny, that sounds just absolutely horrid to control what a child can and can not read no matter what their reasoning is. The joy of going to a library and reading is to choose your own book that interests you. My granddaughter Zoey is now five years old and I have been taking her to our library for years, and her joy is to pick out her own book, even if I KNOW she can not read it, and then use the scanner to check it out all by herself. Why is it that schools are becoming more and more controlling? Not that all kids see going to school as fun, but the years I taught computers to K-8th, one of their most exciting times of their week was library, gym and computer classes. My neighbor teaches and she complains all the time about how the control is making her job so less exciting, and less fun for the students today. She teaches special needs and this school system expects far more than is capable for her students to learn.

PatH · « **Reply #17159 on:** July 25, 2016, 03:56:55 PM »

You just know there are going to be some children that get stuck, not because of ability, but because they hit a bunch of books they don't happen to like, and they will be turned off, maybe for good. It's a stupid system.

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Author Topic: The Library (Read 2085163 times)