The Library

[bellamarie]

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 

Ginny~ I share your thoughts on the Today Show.  My hubby and I watch tv as we eat breakfast and to be honest there are NO morning shows we like anymore, they have all turned into celebrity news, I feel like they refuse to report unbiased political news so they have decided to just turn into Entertainment news shows.  We keep the tv off now, and watch the birds, bunnies and butterflies in our backyard while we eat, so much more entertaining.

Yes, I have a dvr and have been watching the Olympics each night.  I am almost caught up, I love I can fast forward what I don't care for and the commercials which are plenty!  Tome~ I cried with Ali when she finished her floor exercise and she released all her emotions.  USA is surely cleaning up on the medals, we have such sweet stories of these athletes and how they got to where they are today.

I was at Barnes & Noble for lunch with hubby today and found a book I would NEVER in a million years think would interest me, and spent two hours reading it in the store. The name of it is, National Geographic Revised Edition CONCISE HISTORY OF THE WORLD (An Illustrated Time Line) Edited by Neil Kagan.  It was on sale for $14.95 and I actually ended up purchasing it.  I am enthralled with all the information it entails.  It begins with Prehistory-3000 B.C.E. and goes through to 2011.  For someone who almost failing History class in high school, I am loving this book.  I also bought Little Gale Gumbo by Erika Marks.  I have never heard of this author but the cover of the book was irresistible.   Has anyone else seen a cover and just could not pass up the book because of it?  Of course I did read the back of the cover and it sounds like a wonderful book,

"[This] is a wonderful stew, a debut novel that will fill you with joy.  Put it on your reading menu and enjoy!"__ Adriana Trigiani, New York Times Bestselling Author of Don't Sing at the Table.

Ginny~ I sure wish we could get some of that rain you spoke of.  I am praying for a day of rain & reading.  I am so very tired of the heat & humidity.

[marjifay]

Had to laugh, Ginny, when you said you almost failed your high school history class.  I hated history in high school;  it was taught by the men's football coach.  I was surprised to find I loved history when I took my first American history course in college.  What a difference a good teacher makes!

Marj

[ginny]

Marjifay, that's not me failing history, that was Bellamarie. However if you would want to talk about algebra, I'm right there, plenty of  stories Math and Me. hahahaa Am a math illiterate, no joke. But I agree with you about former high school history teachers, some of them are very poor. Of course there's nothing like learning something when you really want to learn it versus the average high school kid with a lot of other things on his/  her mind who is counting the minutes till the bell rings. The deck is stacked against the HS teacher in many ways, the raging hormones, etc.

I remember one of my high school teachers of history to this day. She was a very poor teacher, just stultifying. At least to me.  We had to memorize the battles of WWI, we never got to WWII. She, at Christmas, used to send herself cards and put them on the mantel. I've thought of that all these years. Was her telling us that that a hint to us? We were not the most sensitive kids in the world at that time. I now think it was a cry for somebody to care. At the time I thought she was nuts. What a difference a few years makes. So now when I realize what she was saying I no longer remember her name. Some of us are VERY slow on the uptake, like 60 years slow. What a shame. If I knew her name today I'd send her one. I do recall mentioning it to my mother, and being who she was, I'm pretty sure she sent her one.

Callie, oh good, we should get a pretty good perspective on it with so many able to comment on it. I'm finishing up  Fredrik Eklund's book of hints first  on how to SELL, the art of the deal. I don't know why I'm reading it, I'm very poor at "sales." It's very interesting in that he's big on physical fitness first.

Bellamarie, believe it or not I've never gotten far enough into Matt Lauer's...presence..... to see anything political, it's his attitude I find irritating. It's this kind of thing: ME ME ME. Name dropping, name dropping remember I interviewed you back in 1847, we go way back. Now that we've established what  big deal I am, let's talk about you, if I  can spare a minute or two.....  I do think it's ironic that people watch him for the very thing he derides: a program of entertainment versus hard/ real  news. I think it was an interview he did in the last Olympics which totally put me off him forever, he's just hard to watch, for me.  But I'm sure he has millions of fans, and I'm doubly sure he's laughing all the way to the bank.
 
Let us know what you discover in your National Geographic time line, they do good books.

I was also quite surprised in the movie theater yesterday to see a new movie  trailer  on Dan Brown's Inferno, I never read the book tho I did buy it. I thought  Angels and Demons was the worst book I ever read in my life, the premises totally stupid, just beyond...I mean, really... even worse than  The Liar's Club but I did sort of enjoy The DaVinci thing, even tho Langdon "chuckled" insufferably throughout. All he did was "chuckle." I wonder if he's still "chuckling." Very irritating.

I read it after an archaeological study tour of Greece. The bus we were on seemed to hang over those astonishing cliffs, you truly could not look outside (and a bus went right over the side of the mountain about a month after we did that harrowing ride),  and I noticed a friend reading it and I said how can you read that with this bus swaying, etc., and she said it was the only thing that got her through those mountains. I thought if it's that engrossing I need to read it. So I did. I will never forget putting it in the tray at the Rome airport and the guy operating the scanner looked at it, and me, and shook his head as if to say I can't believe you're reading that.


So what's everybody reading now?

[bellamarie]

Yes, Callie that was me...the student failing History in high school.  I must admit Ginny, as insensitive you look back and see yourself with your teacher, I too was a bit mischievous.  I did indeed sit a tack on my History teacher's chair.  Ouch!  He jumped up, looked square at me and said, "Patterfritz!  I will see you after class."  Out of a room full of 30 students I have NO ideas how he knew it was me.  He told me he would pass me with a D grade just to get rid of me.  I truly tried in his class but my mind could not retain dates, wars, generals, places etc.  he was a dry, no nonsense teacher, short and stout, just like the teapot song.  😂. Now look at me today! 

[BarbStAubrey]

ha we all had our favorite subjects didn't we - loved History and Geography - Math was a breeze and struggled but managed Latin and French and until we got to English Lit. I hated English - never learned all those names in English, yet, had no trouble in Latin - all this past participle and regular versus irregular verbs etc etc - somehow it made sense in Latin - and French, well you just said it and I just did not worry how it was organized - but grade school English and Spelling oh oh oh - never put it together till only a few years ago - it did not help that we spoke German at home till I was 5 - no wonder the organization of English did not make any sense and to this day, I NEED spell check.

I had a wonderful history teacher in Sophomore year when we learned the War of the Roses and all the ins and outs before Elizabeth and the relationship between Spain and England and the continued animosity between France and England - good stuff and she had a way of drumming into us all the dates and names that then were important to remember for the annual testing.

Being such the reader some of my favorite books were historical novels - mostly about early US history but also I was a fan of Thomas Costain and of course like so many young girls at the time we couldn't wait for the next Samuel Shellabarger - Captain from Castile and Prince of Foxes and The King's Cavalier and we also read Dumas and Hugo - all these authors put us front and center in history so that our day dreams had us in the costume of the times with swashbuckling young men sweeping us off our feet till we were brought back to earth, mother was calling.

Not long ago I found a copy of The Wake of the Red Witch that was even made into a movie - was I ever disappointed that I did not have that same adventurous excitement as I did those many years ago - that is when I realize as young readers we are in another place that is hard to duplicate - I guess a writer would call being in the age of innocence when our emotions are developing and most things are still new and so we absorbed history in ways I do not see in books today unless, you are reading Mantel. I wonder if high school kids read Mantel.

Thanks goodness rain is on its way - enough of the triple digit temps - this may be an early reprieve - hope so but we still have all of September which for us can easily be a triple digit month. 

[bellamarie]

Barb~  I thought of you when I found the History book at Barnes and Noble.  You impress me beyond imagine with your knowledge and clarity with history.  I have to admit you have helped me gain interest in wanting to know more about history, especially figuring it all out about when Christianity became the main religion in the America.  I would love for our book club to discuss a book covering such information.  I loved English, grammar, literature etc., and got straight A's in that subject straight through high school.  Probably why I am a novice writer today.

We got a good rain storm yesterday afternoon which made the evening bearable, but we are right back into 90% humidity today, so I am sticking in the air conditioned house. 

[ginny]

Barbara in that vein:  Ivanhoe. Has there ever been another book like Ivanhoe? I am scared to read it again, lest  I be SO disappointed. Baron du Bois Guilbert, how I hung on every word of Ivanhoe.

I thought the Olympics was glorious last night, what little I could see. It's on SO late and for some reason after I taped the Equestrian the other day the doggone timer  thing is taping ALL the Olympics and I have no space left, so I could not continue to tape last nights events.

Stayed up for Usain Bolt, what a joy, and then watched the men's  gymnastic floor finals. Absolutely loved the Brazilian silver medalist crying for joy but that was nothing compared to the Brazilian bronze medalist, he was totally overcome with shock and tears and when the silver medalist saw that, he came and laughed with him,  and then they both began to jump around holding on to each other in  circles for joy. Then when the Brazilian ran about with his flag here came somebody wearing a different colored outfit, (I thought it was)   the gold medalist, from the UK running about with him, and sharing the flag,  it was something else.  I don't know who he was but it was a lovely moment.

I just love that kind of thing. Uplifting.

Still slogging thru Living With a Dead Language or whatever it's called, have never read a book where you think today, surely today,  I will finish it and you read and read and read and think you've read at least 100 pages and are dismayed to find you've read 3 at best.  Slog is not the word. Am tempted to try one of  the speed reading methods  I took back when JFK's incredible reading speed was announced to the nation:   taking your finger and going down the center of each paragraph and in that way you get enough of the gist to suit.  Sometimes a particular type of book suits you and sometimes it doesn't, it seems to be more the reader than the author, I find.
 

[bellamarie]

My hubby and I are loving the Olympics!  I did set my dvr to tape everything and each night rather watching in real time, we sit and catch up with the days before.  I love how I can fast forward through the commercials which are plenty, and the events we really don't care to watch.  USA athletes have done us proud!!  We finally caught up to yesterday's events and nothing is more moving than to watch these athletes stand on the podium with their medal singing their national anthem.  I tear up every time USA's Star Spangled Banner is sung.  My grandkids go to private Catholic schools and before every sport event we go to they pray a special sport spirit prayer and then we sing the national anthem.  I never get tired of this special tribute to our tradition and country.

I agree Ginny, 

Sometimes a particular type of book suits you and sometimes it doesn't, it seems to be more the reader than the author, I find.

I try to force myself to read certain books out of my enjoyable genres, and lo and behold I just can't end the book.  Although I must say, there have been some authors who have disappointed me greatly as much as I wanted to enjoy their book.

I look at reading books like the scripture of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8New International Version (NIV)

A Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

Sometimes it is just not my time for reading a certain book, no matter how hard I try to slog through it.  Kind of like my signature quote:   "Sometimes books don't find us until the right time." quote Amelia says to A.J.,  from the book A Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Good luck finishing your book!

[mabel1015j]

I thought Matt L and Hoda K's commentary was atrocious during the opening ceremonies. It seemed as though they or their producers had not prepared for it. They had few stories about the incoming groups. The tv production was not good either. We couldn't hear the music, only the drum beat. Of course, it is longer every time because more countries are participating, but it was truly boring. It seems to me that at the London games they showed a map of where each country is located, a good thing since there are so many new ones and so many people know little geography any more.

I also just finished Plantation by Frank. It was enjoyable. There were at least two characters that I could throttle, that makes a story interesting. 😀 I do need HELP from you southerns here. What is "yahn." I understand that it some sort of slang like "hear?" As in "you be home by ten, hear?" But I've never see or heard it before reading Frank.

When I taught my history courses, there was little time spent on battles other than for the students to recognize those that had exceptional impact on our American history -  the battle of Trenton which saved us from drinking tea and standing for God Save the Queen; Gettysburg which kept the Union intact; D-day which saved us from Hitler's insanity. 

If you would like to read some resonably entertaining books on women's history try A History of Women in America by Carol Hymowitz and Michele Weissman; America's Women by Gail Collins and On Understanding Women by Mary Ritter Beard, that is a "world" history. MB was a prominent American historian in the mid-20th century. It reads like a novel, not like a scholarly text. Both Beard and Collins use a little humor in their narrative. Of course, all if Cokie Roberts books on the women during the Federalist period are good history as well as often good fun.

I'm preparing to facilitate another women's history series at the library in the fall, so i'm up to my ears in reading books and online about the subject. The greatest thing is there is now soooooo much published about women in history that is soooo difficult trying to decide what to leave out. I can only touch on so many women and events in 6 two hour sessions.

Stay cool - I'm so thankful our electricity has not stopped working during the last month. How did our grandmothers stand it with their long dresses and stockings and corsets???

Jean

[CallieOK]

Mabel,  I just finished "Plantation", also and enjoyed it very much.   Frank explains in her comments that one of her sources told her "yahn" was the Gullah version of "y'heah (hear)?" at the end of a sentence.

[Mkaren557]

Have any of you read And the Ladies of the Club, which is my favorite all time book?  Just wondering?

[CallieOK]

Mkaren,   "And Ladies Of The Club" was one of my all-time favorites, too.  Haven't seen it around in a long time.  Is it still in print?

[Tomereader1]

I read "And Ladies of the Club" when it was first published.  Loved it!  I still see a copy or two in our library and have often thought I would check it out and re-read it.  It is such a long book, and I have so many others to read for my book clubs and personal reading, (&Kindle reader) so don't know if I would have the time.  But it is well worthwhile if you can still get it, and don't have a TBR stack (double stack) 12" high!

[ginny]

Oh a new/old book! I never heard about it, but so many of you have!  In reading the reviews to find out what it's about,  I'm hooked. She wrote it in a nursing home? Dan  Rather interviewed her there about it?  I love things like that! There's hope for all of us, then?  The Great American Novel? How have I missed this? I must get it, thank you Karen, never heard of it but have heard of her. And as always so many of you have read it!

OK, on to the list it goes!

I used to hate the play Our Town. In my case it was a perfect example of great  literature being wasted on the young. Now I'm not so sure. I think I'll reread it and see if there are glimpses of insight/ glory I missed the first time as a teenager. I did find that in Babbitt when I reread it (and the sequels to it).

Thank you Bellamarie, I finished it, at last! At last! I am so glad to get through with it, too. With suitable intermissions for the film I Robot which I love. I also watched the director's commentary on the filming of I Robot, which was fascinating.

Now we know what happens to old male gymnasts, they turn into stunt men. In one of the scenes (which is terrifying in the movie) the robots swarm over Will Smith's car at a high speed.  They showed how they filmed  that. They used stunt men to climb over the car like ants (of course the car was not moving) and they wore those strange green suits which, when filmed against a green background,  do not show and they had these metal little round things  on them.  Then they put the CGI robots over that for the final shots.

 Well in this showing, they were swarming and so forth, and the director called cut. And they all stopped and laughed and the one on the roof suddenly went into a pommel horse routine and boy was he good. You know where they are standing on their arms and the legs are going everywhere? HE must have been, at one time, pretty high up in gymnastics, it was something else. 

He finished with a flourish, arms in triumphant pose and the cast grabbed pieces of paper and scored him all 9's. hahahaa

Not sure what went on with the French...was it a pole vaulter? Being booed on the medal stands last night? Do I have that right?  I'll have to watch the news and find out, not very nice of the host country, if true.

Oh I agree, Jean, the best thing to me is how little I actually  have to watch Matt Lauer and Co in this Olympics. He could have stayed home, for my money.

Oh and of course The Great British Bake Off here on PBS ended last week with me in tears hahahaa. I knew who was going to win, but it made no difference, absolutely love that show. Now on  the new one they just finished taping which starts August 24 in the UK, Mary Berry says they did not bond as much as the former contestants, that will be interesting to watch. When it comes here, if it does. I didn't think THIS group bonded as much as the previous one and that's one thing I do like about the show. I love the microcosm of cultures represented on that show.

The winner made a fondant icing from marshmallows, just plain old big marshmallows and I really want that recipe, apparently it's wonderful, her own invention,  and looks like a million bucks. Now that, unlike the Mystery Baskets of Chopped, is a recipe I can use.

The NY Times hardcover bestseller lists are out and Truly Madly  Guilty is #3. Here's an entry I haven't heard of which looks fabulous: #6: The Woman in Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware

A travel writer on a cruise is certain she has heard a body thrown overboard, but no one believes her.

Now THAT appeals to me. Have any of you read it?

[CallieOK]

"And Ladies Of The Club" is still available from my library. 
I haven't checked out a "real" book since I got a Tablet and began reading e-books.  May have to make an exception in this case.

I think I mentioned earlier that I was on the waiting list for the e-book of "Truly Madly Guilty".  Just checked and there are 51 ahead of me.  It may be a while!

[mabel1015j]

Book readers live longer!!! The Smithsonian says so! 😀

http://tinyurl.com/jzlmpcm

I'm reading Paris:a novel by Rutherford. Didn't we read his London as a book discussion?
As I remember, this one starts much later in the development of Paris then London started. It was a long time ago that I read it, but I believe Londonand New York started long before the 18th century.

I have it on my ipad, much easier on my hands then holding that massive book.

Jean

[Winchesterlady]

Ginny, I haven't read The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. She wrote In a Dark, Dark Wood, which was a big bestseller last year. It is a psychological thriller and I have it on my Kindle -- but I haven't read it. It received very good reviews, as this latest book of her's is also doing. Right now, I'm reading a good book, My Real Children by Jo Walton. It is about an elderly woman with dementia who is in a nursing home. She is remembering her two lives, because when she was a teenager, her life split into two separate ones. So the chapters alternate with her different lives at each different time period. It sounds confusing, but it really isn't. I found the concept very interesting because during the time my Dad was alive with dementia, he always talked about his other house and possessions...which was very strange.

[bellamarie]

I am going to be a little sad to see the Olympics end.  I have not watched one of Matt Lauer's interviews.  I seriously can not stand him, he in my opinion is what resonates the definition of, pompous ass.  I watched mostly Bob Costas and Ryan Seacrest, who are magnificent!  I would give the two of them a Gold medal for coverage.

I just finished a book I picked up at Barnes and Noble last Friday, it is Little Gale Gumbo by Erika Marks.  This is her first novel and I have to tell you that it is wonderful!!!   It is about a mother and her two daughters who live in New Orleans and have to move quickly to get away from an abusive husband.  They decide on Portland, Maine and take a ferry to Little Gale Island.  The mother is Creole and the one daughter has red hair and blue eyes like her white father, while the other daughter is what they referred to as creamy chocolate because she is more like her mother.  Imagine how they are received in a small island fishing town? It has family secrets, and a murder mystery involved with the complicated lives of these three females.   I started reading it and could not put it down.  I did not want it to end.

Jean, Good to know us book readers will live longer....read, read, read!!!

[bellamarie]

Is anyone familiar with Playster, it is the Netflix of books? It has a free month trial and has And Ladies of the Club available to download or read online.

https://6abb83c3aab17304fc0154fd23ed578309e1fff1.googledrive.com/host/0B4KGkpKHZng5WHM5aE41NlgxLWs/5975576666.And_Ladies_of_the_Club.pdf

[nlhome]

I read And the Ladies of the Club way back in the late 1980's and I loved it. I remember reading so late into the night that my eyes hurt the next day, but I had to finish it (a 7-day book from the library) in a short amount of time and it was the week after Christmas so I was able to read a lot because my husband was on vacation and could help with the kids.

It's probably a book well worth rereading, except as someone else said, there are so many other good books out there that I haven't read.

[bellamarie]

Took the grandkids to the library today since it will be the last time for the summer, they begin school next week.  I am able to have And the Ladies of the Club transferred to my nearest library so should have it in a few days.  Our libraries are having major book sales so my hubby and I picked out a bag of books for only $5.00, but like I told him next week our other library will be selling a bag of books for only $1.00.  He picked some pretty neat nonfiction titles: 

The Admirals (Nimitz. Halsey, Leahy, and King__The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea) by Walter R. Borneman
Growing Up Patton (Reflections On Heroes, History, And Family Wisdom) by Benjamin Patton with Jennifer Scruby
I Invented The Modern Age (The Rise of Henry Ford) by Richard Snow
Damn Few (Making the Modern SEAL Warrior) by Rorke Denver and Ellis Henican
Bombing Civilians (a twentieth-century history) edited by Yuki Tanaka and Marilyn B. Young

My titles I chose are:

Goldberg Variations by Susan Isaacs   (Fiction)
I'll Be Home For Christmas by Fern Michaels (Fiction - I bought this for my Christmas read)   
Favorite Brand Name Best-Loved LIGHT Recipes   (I browsed through it and am so excited to try these recipes.)
A Gift of Hope by Danielle Steele   (nonfiction - It is about her helping the homeless after she loses her son)
A Spoonful of Sugar A Nanny's Story by Brenda Ashford (nonfiction -  I bought this because I owned my inhome daycare for 16 years, and expect it will be full of stories I will enjoy and relate to.  She was a Nanny for over 100 children in London, is retired, and was 90 yrs old when she wrote the book.)

I think we are going to be very busy this Fall & Winter!!

I also borrowed Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty since we have been talking about her books.  I have never read her and wanted to see if I will like her style.  She gets rave reviews!

[Frybabe]

Anyone here use Nook? Barnes and Noble just sacked their latest CEO. This BBC article also mentions that B&N is also phasing out its Nook ebook reader. I skimmed over other articles by WSJ, NYT and a few others but this is the only one I saw mention of it.  http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37111392

[PatH]

Winchesterlady, My Real Children sounds interesting.  Jo Walton mostly writes realistic books with a fantasy twist.  I've read Farthing, the first of a trilogy set in England in 1949 in a world in which Britain kicked out Churchill  and opted out of the rest of WWII by making a separate peace with Hitler.  It's a murder mystery among the ruling class, with political implications.

[PatH]

Bellamarie, it's a good thing I wasn't with you at that book sale; I would have bought half of those on the list.  I read another Susan Isaacs and liked it a lot.  Let us know about the nanny book when you've read it.

[bellamarie]

Frybabe,  I bought a Nook Color tablet when it first came out.  I still have it, but once the ipad air came out I had to have it so I never use my Nook anymore.  I am going to cry like a baby if our Barnes & Noble ever closes.  It is truly my favorite place to go have lunch with my hubby after I do my morning volunteer work on Friday at Heartbeat of Toledo.  We eat lunch, I browse the bargain books and enjoy every minute I spend in this book store.

PatH., I may have to check out the Farthing.  Glad to hear you liked Susan Isaacs.  I have begun Three Wishes by Liane MOriarty and the first few pages have not impressed me, a bit chaotic for my liking.  I will give it some more time though.

I have to tell you all that I have a friend who posted on Facebook a picture and article of the cover of the book The Girls of Atomic City, which of course you all know we read not long ago. I'm not sure she even knew there was a book about this until I told her we read it in our book club.   Here is the article link she posted:

https://www.favrify.com/oak-ridge/

What really caught my attention is my friend who is my age said her Mom & Dad met at the plant in Oak Ridge.  Here is her post:
J. Elaine Hill

"This is where my Mom and Dad met. My Mom was a guard and my Dad worked there before he went back into the Navy. He would go through my Mom's line and flirt with her. My Mom grew up about a half hour from here and a bus would come pick them up and go through the gate to get into the town. The atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was made here. Lots and lots of history."

Then these comments followed:
Kathy Robinson Mikell

I lived in Oak Ridge for a couple years and really liked the city and the surrounding area. I was going to recommend The Girls of Atomic City, too!

LaRonda Mack

I retired from x10 one of the plants there

I told LaRonda the author of the book actually sat and interviewed women who worked at the plant.  Isn't it amazing to find people so close to this?  It gave me goosebumps!!!


 

[Frybabe]

Someone dropped off at the library a bunch of Advance Reader's copies and uncorrected proofs. Since we cannot sell them, there was a big free sign on them. I took three. The Black House, by Peter May, is the first of a detective trilogy set in the Hebrides. The Infidel Stain, by M. J. Carter, is the second in an historical fiction series set in Victorian England (the first apparently was set in India). When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashim, is modern day story an of Afghan schoolteacher's flight, with her three children, across Asian Minor and Europe to fihd freedom and refuge.

I don't know that B&N is planning to close stores. They are planning to reconceptualize the stores, and expand their restaurants to include wait staff. They are definitely looking at what sells at the brick and mortar stores and what doesn't, so we are likely to see some changes in products available for sale at the stores.

[bellamarie]

Frybabe,  It's good to know they are going to be making changes to keep up with the present demands.  I have noticed many more children's toys being shelved at our Barnes and Noble.  Here is a link about their present sales and closing.

http://fortune.com/2016/03/03/barnes-noble-results/

When I was at my library yesterday there was a lady who came in with a huge amount of books she wanted to donate to the library because she no longer wanted them.  Our library said they normally do not take donations, but since she wheeled them in they took them.  I didn't have the courage to go over and check them out. 

[Frybabe]

What our library does is go over the books to see if there are any very recent books we don't have and check to see if books we do have are in worse shape than the donation. Most of them go downstairs to the Friends of the Library bookstore. The bookstore is open two days a week for a few hours and every so often they hold a bag sale. The really big sale days are at the Pumpkin Fest. There, we combine our accumulated donations to the bookstore with those donated at the main library. We also have a shelf of withdrawn books that we keep just outside the library door that people can browse if the store downstairs isn't open.

[jane]

I was in the nearest to me B&N today and the toys and games and children's area have now taken over about 1/2 of the store. The adult coloring books also occupied a large area.   I read in the paper this morning that they've canned the CEO they put in last Sept. to try and turn things around. They've brought back the guy who founded B&N who'd planned to retire.  It said the ebook sales and Amazon have really hurt their physical store business.  That article also said Amazon was talking about opening physical bookstores.  I'm surprised at that, given the way B&N is apparently struggling and Borders closed.

I had a nice size refund from the lawsuit against the Big 5 publishers that B&N gave me a couple weeks ago. I needed to use it so it became in effect and wouldn't expire.  I had a year, but I'm concerned B&N won't last that long.  I asked the clerk and she said, yes, once I used it, it wouldn't expire..."as long as B&N is around."  That didn't give me a good feeling!  I hope the ebook division continues since I now buy books only that way.

[Frybabe]

Amazon has already opened one physical bookstore in Seattle. http://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-opens-first-bricks-and-mortar-bookstore-at-u-village/

The one in San Francisco should be open now or quite soon. http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/03/07/amazon-bookstore-open-san-diego-brick-and-mortar-second/81430768/

I wonder what is their rationale for opening a few physical stores. Shipping print books getting expensive? Need a tax write off? Want a few showcase places for people to go to? I have no clue.

Oh, and yes adult coloring books are a big seller for B&N right now. I wonder how long the fad will last.

[jane]

Thanks, Frybabe!  I didn't know one had already opened.  I can't understand it either, given what's happening to other bookstores. 

[BarbStAubrey]

to my mind B&N just does not market their assets - I have met so many friends and even clients at B&N because we can have coffee or even lunch in a calm environment, surrounded by books with no risk of loud, rude or drunk customers - also, a safe place to spend some time alone drinking coffee and previewing books - or sitting on a comfortable sofa engrossed in reading so that to finish you just cannot imagine not buying the book - and when they were young a great place to take my grands as we all sat comfortably looking at books to make our choice followed by a treat of hot chocolate - the plus of book discussions and poetry groups meeting in the store - it is a safe place for women and children that is not given it's due. 

[Frybabe]

My favorite chain bookstore was Encore Books which went out of business in 1999. Encore was one of the early chain bookstores to include a cafe, benches, listening booth, sponsor reading groups and author talks, etc. in this area.  They were here before Borders and then B&N opened stores in this area. Here is Wikipedia's history of the store.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encore_Books   The one I went to was in Mechanicsburg.

[jane]

I'd not heard of them.  We had some local bookstores in the large cities here, but B&N was the big chain one in Cedar Rapids, and then Borders was in Dubuque. It closed and Books A Million took over their space.  I think they're still there.  There is also a  1/2 Price Book Store in CR and they always seem busy. It's kind of a "hit and miss" if they'll have what you want, but the price is obviously a big draw...and the fact they buy back many books..... at a deeply discounted price to the seller.  Yet, something is better than nothing for many.

[bellamarie]

I have never heard of Encore Book store either, we too had a Borders along with our Barnes and Noble, and of course Borders closed in our mall a few years ago.  I have to drive 30 minutes to a Books A Million, so I just always go to Barnes and Noble since it's really close by.  We have an Ollie's just a couple of minutes from my home, and they have thousands of discounted books, there are plenty to choose from in all genres.  I am going to have to think about having my hubby build me some book shelves to put all these books I have been buying lately.  Jane our B&N is flooded with toys as well, but our store is so big there is lots of room for a children's section, the cafe, adult books and then music section.  I simply love it!  I have two adult coloring books and I enjoy just relaxing and coloring in them.  They have been a big hit for about a year now, and it seems all the stores are stacking tons of them, along with the colored pencils.  I want to get a journaling Bible where you have sections to write in and color as well.  This is the one I am considering:
https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Bible-KJV-Flexcover-Journaling/dp/1432114875/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1471641936&sr=8-3&keywords=journaling+bibles+for+women

[Ella Gibbons]

Just finished our club book in time for our Wed. meeting and am so depressed.  Must watch some TV to get over it.  It's a lovely book but OH, the ending. 

Has anyone else read THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY BY Rachel Joyce?  I almost wished I hadn't read it.

I loved history; so  much depends upon the teacher. I had a wonderful one who at times would divide the class and each side had to debate the causes of our wars, Civil War, and the world wars and the results.  Fascinating. 

I haven't read a historical novel in a long time.   Any suggestions?

Am going to reserve LADIES OF THE CLUB at our Outreach Mobile which comes once a month.

[Mkaren557]

Have you read the Ken Follet trilogy?  Lots of people loved them. I kept getting bogged down. My favorite WWII book is War and Remembance, preceded by the Winds of War.

[BarbStAubrey]

Just this week finished O'Connor's The Footman starts out as almost a Downton Abby and a forced bad marriage to a ruthless profiteer during WWII they are living in Paris during the occupation running an American Bank. One of the Nazi contacts, a very senior German officer is trying to seduce her and, one of the officials in the Bank, run by the husband that is laundering money for the Nazi's turns out to be Jewish that only she finds out and helps them - in the process he finds out, is about to report them and in her frantic move to stop him she accidentally kills the husband. She is on the run for 40 years.

The footman. an young Irish cottager was temporary hired and becomes a permanent footman at her childhood home. It is actually his action as footman and secret messenger for her that forces her marrying this boorish Wally that she never liked. Because of life circumstances and his concern for detail during his time in the British army he ends up going to night school and gets his law degree. He is the barrister representing her these 40 years later.

At first the story seemed slow and same ol'. same ol' after having seen Downton but that only set up this combo mystery, historical novel followed by the courtroom surprise and the footman/barrister's trials and tribulations with his own family - Once I got past the first part when I set it aside then I could not put it down - read through the night which of course messed up my sleep clock but worth it.

O'Connor has several other books that I am considering - nice writer - not over the moon but really nice. Like they say a good actor you do not realize he or she is acting well that is the kind of writer he is, you read the story and not the gymnastics of thoughts, words or metaphors.   

[Tomereader1]

Who?Oconnor?

[BarbStAubrey]

A. O'Connor - bestselling author of The House, The Secrets of Armstrong House, The Left Handed Marriage and The Footman. A graduate in History and English from the National University of Ireland Maynooth and Trinity College Dublin, the author has contributed to two collections of short stories in aid of Barnardos Charity and played a key role in A.M.D's Fighting Blindness campaign. The House has been translated into German and the Russian edition is due for publication in 2016.

https://www.amazon.com/A.-OConnor/e/B001JP7L52/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1471735501&sr=1-2-ent