Author Topic: The Library (Read 2079933 times)

bellamarie · « **Reply #19600 on:** January 01, 2019, 05:41:07 PM »

Ginny, how sweet, thank you for sharing. This is exactly what Matthew Kelly calls, "Holy Moments", and says we should attempt to do one at least once a day, but hopefully more often. He says they are contagious!!! I'm smiling as big as a Cheshire cat. I too experienced a (random act of kindness) or a "Holy Moment" today as well. I won't go into it because it is a bit too private to share, but someone did something for me today that I would never have expected. It meant the world to me. My heart was full!

I don't do resolutions or diets, because I have no will power to stick to either, so I always tell myself on January 1st, I will try to be a better person, that is pleasing to God throughout the year.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19601 on:** January 01, 2019, 06:54:15 PM »

I love it Ginny - great goal - the local bank here in Austin started something last fall that has taken the city by storm - it is called
Frost's 30-Day Optimism Challenge the first 30-days was an email to those who bank at Frost with simple kindnesses for each day - from buy coffee for the person behind you to wave to the school crossing guard and then it took off and there is a facebook page listing each day a more intense or difficult challenge - for instance, this month's challenge is about flexibility and today the challenge is, "Finding a new way to solve an old problem can not only help you complete a task, but it can change your perspective on issues in the future. Write down something you know you need to do, but never seem to have time for. Now list three new ways you might be able to make it work."

Now that is a reason for getting the book Bellamarie if I have ever heard one... "This book teaches us that we can individually, one by one, one holy moment at a time, make a difference.' Sounds like Ginny's plan to do a kindness everyday - really that is all we can do no matter how upsetting is the behavior of others.

Well I am so excited I feel jumpy inside myself - before today's Frost Bank optimism direction I happened on a site that changed everything for me - I was really wanting to do a couple of things that have sorta been goals for years and I decided if I am going to do them I better get going.

I always wanted to read a book a week - and then I would think oh I need two weeks off so it was 50 books and then there would be the weeks when something major would happen or my daughter would visit and so the number per year would be further reduced - which said to me I was not that passionate about doing this so called great idea or I would let nothing stop me - well this year I was going to do it - have had a list of 50 books for a few years now that I want to read and all but a couple I have on my shelves.

Then I have a list of places in Austin that after all these years I had not visited plus in recent years there is all this outdoor Art displays and wonderful iconic painted walls all over town and many small parks and swimming pools I have never visited, never mind a couple of small towns nearby or some of the better barbecue spots with one nearby, in Schulenburg, the pit master is an 89 year old woman - how long can she last - and her barbecue is known far and wide. And so I thought I need to really follow through and do at least one ever two weeks.

And then I really really need to get in better physical condition - the easiest, that I put off and put off is opening my front door and walking. Even just walking up and around the block would get me started.

I also had another that has nothing to do with books except it comes from a book - I like knitting socks and have several books with patterns - well one book particularly has interesting increasingly more difficult patters - I'm wanting to knit a sock a week which, once I get going usually only takes me 3 evenings a sock but, by slowing down and doing one sock a week that is still 26 pairs of socks - wow but I would really get good at knitting and learn these new knitting patterns .

Well here is where the excitement happened for me - I was looking up online something to do with reading a book a week - do not even remember my query but along the side was a blocked ad I guess for 2018 called Read and Go. It was someone's idea of reading 24 books and then going to where ever the book's characters were all about - she had a list - and a page all about her idea - here is her list.

https://thenoveltourist.com/2018-read-go-challenge/

A novel set in the woods
A novel involving a creative outlet
A novel featuring food you have not tried
A novel involving a train ride
A graphic novel
A novel involving ghosts
A novel featuring a zoo, animal shelter or sanctuary
A novel set on a bus
A novel where a main character seeks self-improvement
A novel featuring a bike ride
A novel set in or involving something industrial (factory, etc.)
A novel involving a plane ride
A novel set in a snow land
A novel set in a country other than your own
A novel featuring a garden
A novel set in a museum
A novel set in a hotel
A novel featuring an instrument you wish you could play
A novel involving an escape
A novel set underground or underwater
A novel involving a road trip
A novel depicting a sci-fi technology that now exists
A novel set in a city within 100 miles of your own
Bonus category: A novel set in your home town.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19602 on:** January 01, 2019, 07:03:10 PM »

I liked the idea but knew I was NOT going to read a graphic novel and I was in no position to take a plane ride, private or otherwise, and the likelihood of visiting another country was nill to none since there is a war going on that so little is reported about at the border between Mexico and the US.

The Government it bring in buses, photographed by local folks and just in El Paso never mind that this is going on in Arizona as well, but in El Paso 2300 illegals a week are being deposited at nearby Catholic schools and churches from the catch and release obligation) The border has become more dangerous than ever before with drug cartels having just about taken over, so that ranchers are not only arming themselves but some are leaving.

Anyhow traveling to Canada or by plane to other destinations are just not in my cards this year so that had to go - I almost got rid of a city within a 100 which just lets Waco out of the picture and the only city would be San Antonio so I just changed it to City/Town - and so with a few other changes based on weather I used most of her list.

Left ghosts since we have a hotel in town, The Driskall is reported to have ghosts
https://www.hauntedrooms.com/product/driskill-hotel-austin-texas

Also St. Edward’s University has many buildings filled with reported spirits. there was a man who fell to his death in the main building and another was trampled by a horse and carriage. Both of their ghosts are said to inhabit the campus. There’s also the theatre building, which is allegedly home to multiple ghosts, including that of a theater student who hanged himself in the building. Teresa Hall is home to St. Ed’s most famous ghost, a 12-year-old girl named Danielle, who reportedly asks the residents of the dorm if they would like to play with her.

And the nearby abandoned town for black folks that visiters have used their camera's to catch ghosts that show up as quick moving white shadows or a flash of light.

Anyhow the brilliance that is really exciting - I decided to do a novel every other week and the in-between week I would read a non-fiction book about one of the main topics in the novel and then during those two weeks visit some place that relates to the novel.

And so I have my reading goal, my Austin and surrounding county excursion goal, and my walking goal all wrapped up into this one exciting plan. My walking goal in that if I have something fun to look forward to that will require some walking of course I want to be in shape enough to enjoy it and so gradually I will want to exercise walk in the neighborhood.

Tra la - I am really pumped with this idea and have my first book chosen that I start tomorrow and the non-fiction that will go with it and I've chosen my excursion.

My list next post...

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #19603 on:** January 01, 2019, 07:14:12 PM »

Ginny, thanks for the Birthday wishes and the lovely cake. Could you send me a slice? LOL. Happy New Year!

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #19604 on:** January 01, 2019, 07:21:05 PM »

If you go to BookRiot.com they have a list which has been running for about 3 years, called "Read Harder". I will try and locate the list on my computer where I probably stashed it in some unknown folder. It is a great, and challenging list! I hope I can get some of them done!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19605 on:** January 01, 2019, 07:21:52 PM »

My Book A Week 2019 New Year's challenge

Read & Go… every Other Week read a Novel and ‘Go’…!
Follow each Novel with a non-fiction book about the subject or the location.

A year of excitement! I'll jot down the related activity or location that seem interesting and then explore!

1. Set in the woods
2. Involving a creative outlet

3. Featuring food you have not tried
4. Involving a train ride

5. Involving ghosts
6. Set in a winery or orchard

7. Featuring a zoo, animal shelter or sanctuary
8. Set on a bus

9. The main character seeks self-improvement
10. Featuring a walk

11. Featuring a garden
12. Involving a boat ride

13. Involving something industrial (factory, etc.)
14. Set in a county or state other than your own

15. Featuring an instrument you wish you could play
16. Set in your home town.

17. Set in a hotel
18. Set in a city/town within 100 miles of your own

19. Set underground
20. Involving writing or archiving documents or finding old texts and letters

21. Depicting a sci-fi technology that now exists
22. Set in snow land or on a lake

23. Set in a museum
24. Involving an escape

Set in the woods - I recently purchased on an incredible sale White Rose, Black Forest about a German women finding a soldier who had parachuted and injured near her cabin in the woods. Only read the first few pages and so I know I could read and visit a WWII something or something about trees.
https://www.amazon.com/White-Rose-Black-Forest-Dempsey-ebook/dp/B07416NFHL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546388763&sr=8-1&keywords=white+rose+black+forest

Well looking, again online, I found a book but better still, I found the web site - there are special trees in the State that something important happened under or near the tree - Here in Austin we have the 'Treaty Oak' where early settlers hammered out a treaty with the local Native Indians - there are 100 famous trees and surprising a number of them are near Austin.
https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/websites/FamousTreesOfTexas/Explore_Our_Trees/

And then without adding any more to my library I have a German history before WWII that has been on my pile forever. And so I start my plan with my first books ready and waiting.

Here is my book blog where I will note my explorations this year. Along the side of the page is my dutiful list of books I was going to finally read. Some I had even started and never finished but, this plan is so much more exciting rather than a should-challenge that you know I would have abandoned after a couple of books.
http://bookstall.tumblr.com/

Frybabe · « **Reply #19606 on:** January 02, 2019, 10:01:33 AM »

Barb, I'm up for it. I am concentrating on books I already have but haven't read. I already have several choices that I haven't read, both fiction and non-fiction. For fiction there is Shakespeare's As You Like It, or a re-read of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Eion Dempsey's White Rose, Black Forest. For non-fiction there is The Training of a Forester (Gifford Pinchot), Into the American Woods (James H. Merrill), Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America (Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata), and The Battle That Stopped Rome (Peter S. Wells). There are probably more in my pile of books, but those are the ones I easily found.

I probably can't keep up with the pace, though. We'll see. I already have three Sci-Fi borrows that I need to read this month. I don't think any of them are set in forests, though I have read some.

The second on the list I already have nonfiction books aplenty to fill that spot, but will have to find a fiction.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19607 on:** January 02, 2019, 10:35:02 AM »

Barb, Good Luck, there is NO way I could imagine attacking that much reading.

Tomereader, speaking of lists, I was watching The Five and Dana Perino, who is an avid reader suggested for her New Year's resolution she is going to make a list of all the books she has read. I love that idea and want to attempt to make a list of the books I have read, and what I own and have not yet read.

I am happy to say I began the first Mitford Years book, At Home in Mitford, and I have already fallen in love with Fr. Timothy, and I haven't even gotten through the first chapter. The town has captured my heart as well.

Okay, I have asked twice and gotten NO response, so I will see if the third time is a charm....

Are we going to decide on our next book for discussion?

We've all mentioned lots of good books over the past month or so, now that the holidays are behind us, and winter is here, I hope we can decide on something interesting and will hold member's attention. What do you all think?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19608 on:** January 02, 2019, 02:23:10 PM »

Frybabe sounds like you too are going to try the book challenge - how much fun are we going to have this year reading. We need to check in here in the library and urge each other on. I loved seeing the books you are choosing to meet a topic. Isn't amazing how a topic can bring each of us to a whole different group of books to read. This is really going to be fun.

Bellamarie since the plan was made I think in 2017 that the book club was going to do a book seasonally I'm thinking folks are still catching their breath after the holidays - i know I tucked a few more than just the seasonal read into our schedule but I need a bit of a break - I believe Pat is planning to do the next read, I will check, she too has been busier than busy - whatever happens I'm thinking we will have a plan by the end of January - there are so few of us any longer so that we can't keep up the schedule we had been keeping - But it is fun to explore a book with another - give it till mid January so that life may settle down enough for others that we can take the next step.

Sounds like you are deep into Mitford country - I'm thinking what could be fun is to bring to the library some of the meaningful or funny bits from what we are reading - we are forever sharing titles and authors but the real fun is in hearing a brief about the story line and then what hit us as we read. I know I tend to go on and on but I write as if we were meeting up for coffee and I love hearing what others have to share - why not lets start sharing more about the books we are reading.

Tomereader I found the site - but no list except a list based on your horoscope - I bet there was a time that you clicked that showed a better list than I am seeing or maybe there is another website - actually there are all sorts of lists for reading - the magic for me about the list that got me started was the 'go' part - since last summer after that last transaction I noticed it was easier to stay home and I was becoming a recluse - I know I need to make some friends and meeting folks takes getting out of this house. And so the reading list that started me was a way that would have me read in a different order the books in my collection and prompt me to get back down to the library for as many that are on a topic I do not normally read - so that was a plus - to learn about some new things - and then, the biggie is the 'go' and so I am anxious to see how this unfolds.

Now here is a site - Oh Tomereader I bet this is similar to the site you had stashed somewhere - the site if filled with one reading challenge after the other - http://www.girlxoxo.com/the-master-list-of-2019-reading-challenges/

Have not reviewed the entire list but one caught my eye and I burst out laughing - to clean up and read all your ebooks.

I do have a kindle and everyday I get, I think from Amazon but anyhow, I get a list of books that were reduced to 1.99 or 2.99 and some are free - of course I download the free ones and there they sit - well I cannot swerve and sway - I've made my plan - I like the plan - it is a good plan for me that hits on several issues I want to do something about and so I need to stick to this plan but it is a good link with all the lists

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #19609 on:** January 02, 2019, 02:44:11 PM »

This is the "Read Harder - 2019) reading list:

We’ll be publishing recommendations for each of the tasks in the coming months to help you complete this year’s Read Harder (links will be added to this post as the recommendations are posted).

An epistolary novel or collection of letters
An alternate history novel
A book by a woman and/or AOC (Author of Color) that won a literary award in 2018
A humor book
A book by a journalist or about journalism
A book by an AOC set in or about space
An #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America
An #ownvoices book set in Oceania
A book published prior to January 1, 2019, with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads
A translated book written by and/or translated by a woman
A book of manga
A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character
A book by or about someone that identifies as neurodiverse
A cozy mystery
A book of mythology or folklore
An historical romance by an AOC
A business book
A novel by a trans or nonbinary author
A book of nonviolent true crime
A book written in prison
A comic by an LGBTQIA creator
A children’s or middle grade book (not YA) that has won a diversity award since 2009
A self-published book
A collection of poetry published since 2014

bellamarie · « **Reply #19610 on:** January 02, 2019, 04:36:14 PM »

Barb, I guess I missed the decision to discuss one book per season. I'm in no hurry, was just asking. Since all of you are busy with your own reading, and there really are so few who stick with any book we do discuss, I am happy to start January's book with my other online book club.

I'm not actually "deep into Mitford country", I just began the first book of the series. I have always read two - three books at one time. No rush, I know PatH. is extremely busy, Barb needs a break and our other leaders have fallen to the wayside.

Ya'll have a Happy New Year, I'll check back at the end of January.

nlhome · « **Reply #19611 on:** January 02, 2019, 04:42:15 PM »

I counted up the books I kept track of in 2018, and I read 59. I was surprised when I totaled them, but I reviewed the list and remember them. I have one more that I started and will need to find again at the library to finish.

I just finished To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear. It is set in England in 1940, before the blitz. The author explains what she based the story on in the Acknowledgments, which made me think back to the book and appreciate what I read even more. I think I missed a couple of the earlier books in the series, and I will need to go back to the library and find them.

PatH · « **Reply #19612 on:** January 02, 2019, 05:00:28 PM »

Tomereader, it's a good thing they are going to offer suggestions. I wouldn't know how to find some of those categories.

Goodness, nlhome, I can'tremember the last 59 books I read, and I'm sure it took longer than a year.

Bellamarie, I'm afraid you are going to have to cut us some slack for a while. We're all stretched pretty thin at the moment.

Frybabe · « **Reply #19613 on:** January 02, 2019, 05:04:01 PM »

Another interesting list, Tomereader. I am already part way into Pliny's letters, in Latin. I stopped for a while and haven't gotten back to it yet. I think your list would be harder for me to find things that I already have. And what the heck is neurodiverse? Got to look that one up. And the LGBT etc. people have added a lot more letters. I just, a month or so ago, found out they added a Q.

If anyone is interested in "A book by an AOC set in or about space", may I suggest Binti by Nnedi Okorafor ? It is a very good novella and the first of a series. I plan on reading the rest at some point.

PatH · « **Reply #19614 on:** January 02, 2019, 05:13:24 PM »

I wondered about "neurodiverse" too. If you don't want to stick to current science fiction, Octavia Butler is an outstanding POC.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19615 on:** January 02, 2019, 06:04:23 PM »

Oh heavens I am so sorry for asking about the next discussion. I did not mean to begin one immediately or in the next week or so. I was just asking about possible ideas of books. I won't bother anyone any more. Good-bye!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19616 on:** January 02, 2019, 06:56:13 PM »

Sorry Bellamarie but as you know we all do our best. Hoped you saw us as a community of readers that we seem to be coalescing into a 'wild west' group here in the library - fun fun fun really to hear everyone's thoughts about what they are reading.

Wow nlhome I am not sure if I'm more balled over by the amount of books (neat, that is over a book a week) or that you could actually track them - love it if you would share a few titles and your opinion - have the grands gone home or are you still hosting/visiting?

Pat are you settled in one place or are you still flying hither and thou - Please how is Joan - is she reading - I bet if she is reading it is mysteries.

OK Tomereader - you found the list - super - do you think it is a list you will attempt? I too have a few questions to better understand - first the initials - I think AOC means women of color but does that mean all colors or just certain colors. Do Native American's (both north and south) fit or Asians and I know this will sound snarky but please I am serious, how much color since we know very few American Black Women are all black they are lucky to be half black as was discovered when Henry Louis Gates Jr. started to do genealogy using DNA with so many 'black' personalities including his own. And what about women from India or Turkey. They are not white but not black either. Really the only Black women or those with a greater chance of being Black are authors from Africa. So how are they differentiating women of color this among authors.

And then as others are asking, what is neurodiverse - also what is alternate history - and yet another, how can a book be in their own voice from Oceania - if it is a fantasy book than how does one have their own voice - is that like, as an author you enter the fantasy but then all authors enter their story and tell it from different points of view - somehow I am missing a connection and it is probably me trying to sort this out - can someone give me an example of a book from Oceania written with the author's voice - then I can get a handle on what this means.

And I am sorry folks but I fail to see how the sexual habits of a writer have anything to do with reading their creative endeavor. Maybe announcing the author or the characters sexual habits is a marketing tool for a bad book that will at least sell to those who think it is important to let the world know what goes on in their bedroom - reminds me of children playing grown up - get on with it and be the best author you can be knowing along the way you will write some bombs.

Now I can see the book description on the fly giving a clue if sex is an element of the story, alerting readers to the kind of orientation the characters will act upon, no different then if the characters are English or Ranchers or Wall Street Investors and the story will be in that environment or at least be told with the mindset or their identity. Aha is that it - maybe and it was going over my head that all these books where the sexual habits of the characters is important to know or the author's sex life is important to know is because they are graphic novels - is that it?

Ok Tomereader the list sure opened up a can of worms for me - thanks, really thanks - maybe I can get to the bottom of what evidently is now a way folks choose a book to read and knowing will be helpful when I am reading reviews so that I can make better choices.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #19617 on:** January 02, 2019, 07:18:55 PM »

neurodiversity I think that "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime" would qualify (that's a fairly old book), about a kid with autism.

AOC = Author of Color. I would suppose any color or ethnicity.

There seems to be a veritable plethora of books by LBGTQ authors, and until you pick one up, you just never know this.
Sorry, Barb, to have opened up that can of worms, LOL! The list is certainly eclectic! Currently, I am reading, for my book club, "Destiny of the Republic" which is about President James Garfield, how he came to be elected President, the nutcase that shot him, the lack of adequate medical attention, which ultimately brought about his demise. I don't even think an historical, non-fiction would qualify for anything on my list!

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #19618 on:** January 02, 2019, 07:21:33 PM »

The link for neurodiversity just won't cooperate with my pasting it here.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19619 on:** January 02, 2019, 07:49:08 PM »

Ok one down thanks Tomereader - the link says, neurodiversity A popular term for the sharing of wisdom and knowledge with people from diverse backgrounds.

Does diverse mean physical since you mentioned autism I wonder then does diverse mean seeing the world through the eyes of someone that we used to call handicapped and now the proper word is neurodiversity. Wait - neuro - that has something to do with the brain - I bet then Alzheimer's would be neurodiversive. And there are a few books now about aging folks - there is that one where they take a road trip and he has Alzheimer's.

hats · « **Reply #19620 on:** January 03, 2019, 04:55:49 AM »

nlhome, I am anxious to hear Natalie Cole sing with the other person a duet of The Christmas Song.
Barb, your bookstall is wonderful. I will make more than one visit during the coming year.
Ginny and All, have a Happy and Fun New Year. I can't believe we're headed to 2020.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19621 on:** January 03, 2019, 01:33:15 PM »

Thanks hats - it is a good place for me to add tidbits and lists and reading dreams.

Just finished looking at Goodreads where folks are listing their reading challenge - Shocked how some folks are committing to 300 and 400 books to read in 2019 - how can they do that ? Ok 300 is less than a book a day but 400??!!?? How do they do that?

I do remember reading how in order to work in Shakespeare's, the English bookstore in Paris, you must read a book a day - it is a unique bookstore with everything a jumble and narrow aisles for passageways but curious, all over you see places that look like window seats with blankets, often though with no window till you learn that employees can live there, those are their sleeping pallets.

But even reading a book a day - how do they do that - there have been many books I've read that are real page turners - what will happen next seems to be the question till the very end - and even some non-fiction I've read in one sitting or at least over several hours in one day because the information was clear and I had my ear to the ground so to speak to find out whatever it was that the book was explaining. And this is the BUT - there are more books, novels and non-fiction where I have to digest and run through my bank of knowledge or dwell on some profound statement - the idea of what happens next is further from my consciousness than outer space. Some of these books take days to digest - and frankly if I pay 12 - 16 and now as much as 21 or 24 dollars for a book, I sure do not want to read it zippo in one day - I want the read to be an event that affects me or teaches me something - maybe the deal is when books are free we do not savor then as much?

What do y'all think - do you find you spend more time with a book you have purchased over one you borrow from the Library? Do y'all spend more than a day reading a typical book - Does anyone have the idea that one day they will read 300 or even 200 books within a year?

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #19622 on:** January 03, 2019, 03:59:57 PM »

No, that 300/400 books a year is someone's pipe dream. Unless they are all "speed readers", and I don't call that reading.
I went to my Excel spreadsheet where I "kind of" keep track of what I read, I put in the titles, author, date I read it, a comment about it, or even a DNF (did not finish), but those go on the list too. I mean, golly, I made the effort!
So, I had listed 67 books for last year, and that did NOT count the ebooks on my Kindle, because I never remember to put those on the list. There would be a very, very few DNF's on the Kindle list, if I remembered, because I usually read the whole thing! Just for my two f2f books clubs, that amounts to two books a month.
Another category on the spreadsheet reads "Independent Reading" and Book Clubs are noted as such. I think a generous estimate, for me for this year, would be 100 books.
Barb, what is this about "your bookstall"? Should I know about this, if so, how do I get there? Is it a Blog?

PatH · « **Reply #19623 on:** January 03, 2019, 04:01:28 PM »

Bellamarie, I apologize if it sounded like I was scolding about the next book choice. I didn't mean it that way at all, was just trying to explain why it might take a while.

PatH · « **Reply #19624 on:** January 03, 2019, 04:13:18 PM »

I agree, Tomereader, they are kidding themselves. They may sign up for 300 books a year, but it's like new year's resolutions. Most of them will give up pretty fast.

Barb, I often take only a day or two to read a book if it holds my interest and is straightforward enough not to need time to think over and digest, but normal life and its chores suffer if I do it too often.

nlhome · « **Reply #19625 on:** January 03, 2019, 04:45:18 PM »

I'd like to read more books, but then, I like to do other things as well, plus my eyes do get tired. I occasionally intersperse now with audio books, although even good ones can put me to sleep. 100 books, Tomereader? That's a lot.

Now that the grandchildren are back in school, we are on our own for awhile. So I am reading A Redbird Christmas (a gift) and also The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams. My husband is reading a Lee Child book right now on his Kindle, after a day fishing on the ice.
Below is part of a reader challenge I participated in.
M – Murder on the Brighton Express (note, only landowners could vote in 1850 England)
Y – Yarn to Go by Betty Hechtman
S – See Also Deception by Larry Sweazy
T – Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
E – Eleven on Top
R – Raw Material, JJ Marsh
Y – Yarned and Dangerous, Sadie Hartwell

ginny · « **Reply #19626 on:** January 03, 2019, 05:32:38 PM »

I think it depends on WHAT you read, too, doesn't it? If somebody looked (can we?) at those 300 books, I bet they are not things like Great Expectations, or Les Miserables, big long saga things, long history things, complicated scientific things, etc. I mean how could they be? Are these people doing that finger down the page speed reading stuff or are they book reviewers who have to do it, or?

I am now reading Charlatans by Robin Cook, the doctor turned Medical Thriller writer. It's different from his others but it absolutely scared me to death last night trying to read self to sleep, heart POUNDING and let me tell you, you'd never ever go into another hospital if you read it. I have a feeling there's more accuracy about it than not, too, *be sure if having the least surgery if they ask you if you have eaten since the night before, that you tell the truth first!* but at any rate, I am going to finish it and I have two of his very highly rated ("perfect book!") others waiting, but tomorrow Dominick Dunne's sequel to People Like Us which I just finished, is coming, called Too Much Money and I have to see how it ends. I envision curling up in front of my fake fire for a lovely rainy day.

And what nlhome said above is true, too, "I'd like to read more books, but then, I like to do other things as well."

There you go.

Moderation, my goodness 300 books a year? That SOUNDS like a chore or a full time job, and that's not how I see reading at all, what little I get done.

However, Barbara, if I understand your project (and I may not) I don't see anything wrong with choosing a book and then trying to follow through on it through various means, trips or further reading or encounters or experiences, it would make it more meaningful. That's what I do, sometimes. I certainly don't intend to do it with Charlatans. hahahaa I am not sure of a Herculean schedule, not sure you proposed that, either, I may have read it wrong. It LOOKED like a lot, compared to what I read for pleasure reading. But then most everything does.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19627 on:** January 03, 2019, 06:37:14 PM »

Well that was comforting to know I was not way off with the idea of reading that many books in one year - whew - it did sound more like children racing each other than actually reading didn't it -

nlhome how delightful is your list - love it - MYSTERY - with all this cold weather and now your house is quiet (mixed blessings I bet) reading seems to be the thing to do - Raw Material sounds fascinating - looked it up on Amazon - about working wool in the west - now see, this is how easy it is for me to be waylaid but no, I may put it in a wish list because I am really pumped with my plan.

Wow Tomereader - impressed - not only keeping track of the books you read but organizing them in categories - love it - do your face to face reading groups meet more than once a month? As to my web site - it is not kept up but occasionally I add something and have all sorts of book lists including a list of 50 along the side of the page of the books I keep intending to read before this new plan emerged - several in the list of 50 I had started but just never finished - I was thinking along the lines of Now or Never where as the new plan opens me up to a new approach to reading.

Pat you also see the large numbers of books they are committing to reading as overkill - as you say there is more to life.

Ginny my plan was based off the plan I found where someone does this Read and Go thing but I tailored a bit since some of her topics were just not for me and then I enlarged on the idea for a plan that includes getting myself out of the house.

Each month there are two novels - each novel is a program I guess is the best way to describe it - For instance in January the first novel on the list is set in the woods - no particular novel just one that the setting is in the woods - Since part of this plan is to read what I have on my shelves I found a book on sale last fall called White Rose Black Forest by Eoin Dempsey and so that is the novel I choose -

Then from each novel there will be themes and I plan on taking one theme and finding a non-fiction that goes further into the issue -

This book I know it takes place in Germany during WWII involving an injured soldier who parachuted into the woods where she lives alone. Lots of possible themes - Germany, WWII, fighting soldiers, parachutes, trees, care of trees or the woods, a women living alone in isolation or in a forest, etc. I do have a book on trees that I never read but instead I've chosen to read another book on my shelf about German history -

Then my 'Go' will be about trees - I could do WWII but not Germany since the Admiral Nimitz museum (Pacific theater) is over in Fredericksburg. Also, I've seen it several times. While looking up places I was surprised to learn Texas has a list of 100 famous trees that are preserved and mostly taken care of by the state - further I found a web site listing the trees and where they are located, published by A&M - so my 'Go' will be to visit a couple of these famous trees that are located nearby.

The next novel in mid January involves a creative outlet. Again, on my shelf or rather actually in my Kindle is a trilogy but may only read the first book that again takes place in Germany as an American sister returns home to help out the family business that is down on its heals - the business is glassblowing Christmas ornaments- I've never actually seen a glassblowing operation and there is one in San Antonio that I plan on making an appointment with them to see if they will let me observe - as to the non-fiction book for the second week, since I really do not see myself taking up glass blowing and I do indulge in several creative outlets I may read a book that will further my knowledge and appreciation of a creative outlet that I already enjoy.

And so that will be two books in two weeks, a novel and a non-fiction, with an excursion that will be centered in something in the novel. The novel will be chosen because it fits the topic on the list. Two topics a month - and so with that I will have read 24 novels and 24 non-fiction and taken 24 excursions.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #19628 on:** January 03, 2019, 09:44:10 PM »

Barb,kindly tell me where to find your website? you didn't include a link or anything. Is it on facebook? You can private message me if you don't want to publicize it.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19629 on:** January 04, 2019, 01:45:12 AM »

Here you go Tomereader - http://bookstall.tumblr.com/

Tomereader, I googled Author of Color to see who would be on the list - most were well known authors - just an opinion but I just do not understand all this separation - these are fine authors and so, what difference does it make if they are other than Caucasian - Did it ever enter your mind while reading their books if they were authors of color - these are fine authors that it seems incredulous that a big deal is made because they were not white and therefore, in a separate category - But then what reader is that selective that they will or won't choose a book because the author is of color - Well bookriot did put together a nice list
https://bookriot.com/2014/01/16/25-favorite-authors-color/

The same web site lists lots of books written about a character that is neurodiverse - appears it is mostly autism, hyper active and Tourette syndrome - I hate it that they dumped into this category dyslexia.

My youngest was very dyslexia before professionals knew how to help - In grade school I had to go to bat for him and get the teachers to allow him to prove what he knew without writing it out, by creating an audio tape or a poster or some project since he would never write the same thing twice and writing never reflected what he knew. Used to help the teachers understand as an adult he would not be writing essays at work. He would communicate with, back then, tape recorders and charts or using the phone - In High School he had to learn how to stand up for himself because I explained how humiliating it would be for his mom to visit with each of his teachers. He took electives like photography - result - he became the school photo reporter taking photos at all the games. Did not graduate from collage but he Aced classes in design and mechanical drawing.

What really hurt - in order to get him reading help in 4th grade I had to sign a paper that said he was mentally deficient - oh did that hurt - he was smart as a whip and we learned quickly that those who are dyslexic simply see things differently - they are terrific in math and music and understanding maps, diagrams and schematics. They easily see in 3D rather then in 2D

He sure proved it in his life - took early retirement from running the Houston Fed Ex operation that included the international flights and now he is running a construction company that rehabs dialysis centers - his work is so well known folks outside the state, throughout the south and southwest call on him to rehab their centers - I forget how many crews he is running - And so it pains me to see they still think of dyslexia as a deficiency rather letting kids know the advantages of their differences and how to get around things like reading and spelling - just as there are calculators for those who cannot do advanced math in their heads there are programs that by entering just a few letters it figures out the word, spells it and gives a voice back - this devise was available back 30 years ago.

I'm thinking, if authors of color show they can produce world class literature worthy of a Pulitzer or a Noble or other awards then, regardless your issue, it is really all about proper expectation for doing your best and good training.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #19630 on:** January 04, 2019, 02:30:48 PM »

Okay, Barb. I'm ahead of the game, sort of, on the AOC's. I've already read ten of the 25. And the only one I knew was "of color" is Toni Morrison. The others I read because I wanted to and never thought about whether or not they were "of color".
I signed up for Tumblr and found your blog. This should be fun!
Last night's book club selection was "Destiny of the Republic", we had great moderator and great discussion. The book is awesome. Little did we know that so much was going on the U.S. during the time Garfield was being nominated, elected and shot by a "madman", Giteau. If you haven't read this, make time in your schedule to do so. I think you are rather a history buff, like me. I learned so much through this book.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #19631 on:** January 04, 2019, 02:31:47 PM »

Your writing about your son was great. I know you are proud of him, and I'm sure he is proud of you for getting him the help he needed in elementary school.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19632 on:** January 04, 2019, 04:07:58 PM »

thanks tomereader - to this day Paul surprises me and of course I smile - And yes, there were a few of the writers including a few black writers that while reading their books I had no idea they were not Caucasian - but then it really didn't matter - the only ones I knew were James Baldwin and Toni Morrison oh yes, and Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou - I love reading the books written by Haruki Murakami and Isabel Allende - now a few of Murakami's books can be raunchy and those I just cannot finish but he has written some wonders.

Finally - the sun came out late yesterday just before dark and it is shining bright warming things up today - I should have pulled out my big pot and been simmering water on the stove all this time even though we have had so much rain. The heat coming on everyday has dried me out so that it is one nose bleed after the other. Grrrr I really do not like cold winters at all - I can more easily adjust to the heat although, any weather that goes on and on with no break is difficult.

I notice the moms in our neighborhood facebook are all exasperated sharing how they are loosing it over socks and shirt, snacks and glasses all over the house and their children's rooms looking like a bombed out ruin - school does not start here till Monday and we have had so much rain that the vacation became a mother's nightmare with everyone trapped indoors.

Just looked up on Amazon Destiny of the Republic It does look good - I've bookmarked it for a future read - it is true, we know so little about the presidents between Lincoln and Wilson and then another hop from Wilson to FDR except that Hoover is blamed for the depression but other then that we really do not know much about the man and his presidency.

There was a book that nlhome listed the other day about wool from the west - it does not appear to be a novel and if not, I am seriously considering reading it as my non-fiction book the end of January when the topic is a character involved in a creative outlet - I need to look and see if this one about Garfield would fit in one of the topics on my list. Although, I am sure I will read additional books to those on my list.

Now that all the advent calendars are packed away everything seems so empty and with the dark sky and rain it seems drab - wouldn't it be fun to have month long calendars with windows that opened showing a book or author - I'm remembering reading how Tasha Tudor painted her own advent calendars for her children - I'm not as gifted but it would be fun.

What are y'all doing to replace the holiday centerpiece on the table. I've still a blooming poinsettia but the advent wreathe is gone and I want something cheery on the table.

ginny · « **Reply #19633 on:** January 05, 2019, 11:10:45 AM »

That sounds eminently doable, Barbara, 24 books a year, and an immersive experience. We'll be interested to hear what you're discovering.

I've just finished Charlatans which is about, of all things, what the title says: imposters, online and off. Of course the problem has been known for a long time, people tend to make themselves up online, to present themselves as a person they are not; to be who they would like to be thought to be.

It's quite interesting, actually, but not one of his best, for my part too many realistic details which now make me question any hospital or physician. hahaha Well we HAVE heard of imposters in all fields, airline pilots, etc.

Anyway it's certainly timely, and one of the few that I actually figured out what was going on before the end, which almost never ever ever happens.

Now on to Too Much Money...

PatH · « **Reply #19634 on:** January 05, 2019, 12:29:01 PM »

Ginny, you said something like reading 300 books a year would be quite a job.

What if it were your job? A 40 hour a week job with 2 weeks vacation is 2000 hours a year. That gives you 6.7 hours per book. How fast do we read books? I think I can do a page a minute on the straightforward books where you don't have to think about the language or try to figure out anything, which would fit the time frame, but not the more complex books.

I think that tells us how many people will actually meet the goal.

ginny · « **Reply #19635 on:** January 05, 2019, 03:49:33 PM »

Yep

A page a minute x 300 pages (say) is 300 minutes which is 5 hours, depending on the size of those pages and as you say, the subject's complexity. So that leaves the "lucky" reader 3 hours in his 8 hour day 40 hour week, to read another half a book for that day, assuming again he only reads Monday through Friday, and that he starts immediately on the next one.

I have not timed myself in a long time, but I read very fast. But I don't want to do it with a gun to my head of MUST READ a Book Every 6.7 Hours, Seymour, hahahaa or grab the next one if I have 10 minutes left for some reason...that would totally spoil the entire thing for me. I don't read for that purpose. I like to put the book down and think about what I read.

Since you've said that, however, I can see now why authors are told by publishing house editors to grab the reader immediately, in the first sentence if possible. as they, if not grabbed, truly don't read beyond the first page. I've read some never make it to the first paragraph.

Most people, I would think, who read for a living would not have the time or inclination to get through Dickens's first pages today, much less somebody like James Fenimore Cooper, my personal 2019 vote for the Worst Author in the World. Think of it, nobody would ever read him, or be tortured by Natty Bumpo again.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19636 on:** January 05, 2019, 06:40:52 PM »

The only books I have ever been able to read in one go, or in the prescribed 6. 7 hours by reading a page a minute, are what I call Chit Chat books. Things like books by Miss Read or anything written by Lissa See or Angela Thirkell or any of these The French do this or that or a French Woman does or does not do this or that, including evidently age - ah so... but truly can you see anyone reading any of the Russian Novel consistently at the rate of a page a minute - oh my and that is only one category isn't it.

With all the excitement we create over decorating and getting ready for Christmas I just feel so anti-climatic this year - music is not doing it for me and with all the wonderful books that surround me and my excitement starting my reading plan I still look around the house and need to replace some of the decorating with something to get through these next weeks of cold. I need to find a book I was going to use as a gift and with one thing and another it did not happen - it had to do with this latest craze from I think Denmark or maybe Sweden anyhow they call it Hygge - something about making winter a cozy experience so that being or coming home is a joy.

I laugh Ginny everytime you share your dislike for The Leatherstocking Tales - to me what is so funny is how one person just does not like what another loved - I loved those stories as a kid - never did ID with any of the women but the adventures was just up my alley. For me they were the Harry Potter of my day and the paintings used as illustrations were wonderful - I think they were by Wyeth or maybe just some publications. Anyhow differences are a chuckle.

Interesting looking up on Amazon the book Charlatan that you are reading found this in their list - sounds like what I would call a chit chat but it is evidently based in history - I guess we have all lived with the idea of Charlatan's for hundreds of years, we just did not think the media or medicine or for that matter the food industry would take up the skill.

https://www.amazon.com/Charlatan-Kate-Braithwaite/dp/1611793653/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1546731046&sr=8-12

PatH · « **Reply #19637 on:** January 05, 2019, 07:34:28 PM »

Ginny, somehow I missed that you were a Fenimore Cooper non-fan. Have you ever read Mark Twain's essay on the subject? He's even more damning.

http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/projects/rissetto/offense.html

It's kind of wordy; you might want to skim the starting lists, but he's pretty scathing.

ginny · « **Reply #19638 on:** January 05, 2019, 09:37:55 PM »

SHRIEK! hahaha Oh Pat, that is absolutely priceless. Skip? Not on your life. I needed that tonight, I really did. I copied it out first, and now I'm parceling it out like a box of candy for laughing. So far it's a tie for the two best rules which have been violated governing literary art in the domain of romantic fiction: (of 1-5) but I think 5 has won: this is pure gold:

5. They require that when the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject at hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say. But this requirement has been ignored from the beginning of the "Deerslayer" tale to the end of it.

THAT is it, in a nutshell. Priceless. hahahaha

Where on earth did you find that? Thank you!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19639 on:** January 05, 2019, 10:29:47 PM »

Wouldn't have been fun to be in the room with Twain's delivery of this critique - he sure did not like the Deerslayer did he... I'm laughing also Ginny, imagining his puffed up chest as he extols the wrongs exhibited by Cooper in his Leatherstocking Tales. OH my... a delirium tremens -

I had no idea Cooper lived such a full life and was well connected with both Cultural and Political personalities of the day. Had to read a short online bio to see if he was a drinker - evidently not - but Twain sure has fun with Cooper's character in the Leatherstocking Tales. There are a few other authors that I can see his issues would fit. Fun Pat - thanks for the link...

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