Author Topic: The Library (Read 2079818 times)

Frybabe · « **Reply #19720 on:** January 29, 2019, 10:35:39 AM »

Here you are, Hats and Pat. https://www.pbs.org/video/klondike-gold-rush-cremation-sam-mcgee/

hats · « **Reply #19721 on:** January 29, 2019, 12:29:33 PM »

Frybabe, thank you. Barb, the poem is beautiful. I've thought about memorization like we use to do in school. I might try to memorize Companion. This morning I can't remember my punctuation rules.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19722 on:** January 30, 2019, 12:02:04 AM »

Welp, I am in one of the deep freeze states, Ohio, all our colleges and schools are closed Tues - Thursday, along with our Post Office closed tomorrow. Many businesses, day cares and sports events are closed for the next two days as well. We are expected to break historical records of wind chill factors.

hats, I had to giggle when you mention memorizing something. I have been teaching my CCD 3rd grade students the prayer of Saint Michael the Archangel, which I had never memorized myself. I thought every student would know it before me. I am proud to say I have it down pat, as the saying goes. Not an easy task to memorize at our age. Good Luck!

hats · « **Reply #19723 on:** January 30, 2019, 04:19:46 AM »

Hi Bellamarie, it isn't easy. I've finally gotten the first line memorized. I almost gave up on the little project.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19724 on:** January 30, 2019, 02:15:56 PM »

How are you holding up Bellamarie in the deep freeze... the few photos on the news are very few - I'm thinking even cameras must be affected much less anyone attempting an outdoor photo shoot - although a photo really does not tell the story does it... My mind cannot wrap itself around temperatures below 0.

hats you sure have been devouring some strong stories - I never could finish The Stone Diaries and so I admire that you have read it and now another strong story with The Stone Angel - I guess I have to admit there are a few times I would review my life and without directing my thoughts I would end up dwelling on things that happened that were not helpful. Several times doing that I realized I was owning the happening that I never realized was abuse and then other times I realize I could have handled something differently.

As to stories from Canadian authors, the one I want to read is Ruth Ozeki - her novel A Tale for the Time Being sounds fascinating - something about finding a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox after the 2011 tsunami and unraveling the mystery that includes information about the owner of the lunchbox finding out about her grandmother, a Buddhist nun who lived over a century before. With all this clearing out and stripping down what we own made me think we could tell something about the story of people by what they throw away.

Found this and oh oh oh lists of books can be my undoing - however, there are several books among these 100 Canadian authors that I would like to read - https://bookriot.com/2017/07/12/100-must-read-books-by-canadian-authors/

haha frybabe it appears several of us enjoyed the Cremation of Sam McGee - that is one story that without the beat I do not think would bring about the fun we had reciting it

Slept in this morning after being so tense yesterday worrying, yes, can you believe worrying about staying warm and of course we were no where near the low temperatures in the north - but just the idea of cold air making its way into this house and it's all hands to the pumps.

Well my new Le Creuset pot arrived yesterday and so I am off to make a pot of chicken and veggies - I chipped badly the enamel interior on my old pot - this one is a tad larger but it was on sale for less than the 5 quart - this one is 6 and 3/4 quarts - so we shall see how the difference affects my usual chicken in a pot.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19725 on:** January 30, 2019, 02:48:30 PM »

We are currently at -5 degrees and feels like -26 chill factor. We have our two youngest grandkids staying with us for the next couple of days since their school is closed. We played a game of Pay Day and the youngest Zoey, seven years old, beat us! The sun is shining through my front picture window so we have been nice and cozy. Barb I'm glad your temps didn't get as low as expected. We have no warming in sight until this week end. But to be honest with you, as a northerner, I live for these type of winter days. More snow coming on Friday!

hats, So you have managed to memorize the first line, good for you! It's a start.

hats · « **Reply #19726 on:** January 30, 2019, 04:57:20 PM »

Barb, I have tried two or three times to read The Stone Diaries. Never successful, shocked this time to move forward with excitement through each page. It begins with Mercy, the mother, and continues with the daughter, Daisy's life. Their small pursuits each day lead to memorable moments. The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence is about an unexpected road trip taken by Hagar, the strong heroine of the novel. Margaret Laurence doesn't make beautiful the aging process. For a woman who is finding that what she has gained in life can so easily become swept away whether it's physical assets or her dignity is a lesson to read or hear about over and over again. How horrible to live and see a time when we have become a burden to those whom we love.

Thank you for the link and new title. I would love to get a whiff of those chicken and vegetables. I almost wrote chicken and dumplings. Bella, thank you for the encouragement. I might just settle for reading the poem again and again. Maybe it will settle in my mind magically. I am glad you had time to spend with your two grandchildren. Please don't get sick again.

nlhome · « **Reply #19727 on:** January 30, 2019, 05:36:05 PM »

-23 when we woke up this morning. -10 now, wind chill much lower. A good day for reading.
I tried to read The Stone Diaries but just could not. So I downloaded an Archer Mayor mystery from the library. I also have Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk to read at bedtime.

PatH · « **Reply #19728 on:** January 31, 2019, 10:27:44 AM »

-23, brrr. I'm glad all of you are surviving the cold spell. We got off easy here. Temperature bottomed of at 10 this morning, and the wind had already died down. That's supposed to be the worst. I'm keeping toasty warm, no doubt my next gas bill will be spectacular.

Hats, I admire your heavy reading program. Which Atwood are you going to read? The Handmaid's Tale is excellent, but kind of depressing.

A Canadian author I like a lot, though not everyone does, is Robertson Davies. As well as novels, he wrote a number of short essays and lectures, some of them quite amusing.

PatH · « **Reply #19729 on:** January 31, 2019, 10:37:24 AM »

One of the reading lists posted here reminded me of another Canadian author I've been meaning to try, Guy Gavriel Kay. He writes fantasy, some based on ancient Chinese history, some more medieval, European, Tolkienesque. (He was an assistant to Christopher Tolkien in editing some of JRR's posthumous works.)

hats · « **Reply #19730 on:** January 31, 2019, 02:26:08 PM »

Path, I'm not sure which Atwood novel is next. I have my mind on the novel recommendation made by Barb. I'm very excited to get that one. It's at the library ready for pickup. It's "The Tale For The Time Being." I don't have the author's nearby. I think it's Ozeki. I've seen the name of Robertson Davies. I've always felt his novels awful hard. Haven't been attracted to any of them yet. Yes, I agree. "The Handmaid's Tale" is sad. I didn't see the movie. I think it will become a Classic in years to come. Today, it's cold again. It's sunny. Beautiful. Nlhome, I have Lilian Boxfish on my ereader. I am anxious to look at it some time soon.

Frybabe · « **Reply #19731 on:** January 31, 2019, 05:12:40 PM »

Oh, Oh, Pat. I read Kay's Ysabel some years back and loved it. His River of Stars and Lions of Al-Rassan and my library.wish list. But hold my horses, I see that he has several books set in the same worlds as these two, but I don't think it is a series thing. I am going to have to check the others out.

I've finally sat myself down and did some serious reading in The Mirrored Kiss. Very interesting portrayal. Now I want to see if there is a bio of Klimt and Emily Floge, separate from each other. It appears that Floge taught herself to design clothing and to sew and that her decision to become a fashion designer was a spur of the moment kind of thing to try to save face and counter disparaging remarks made of a very snarky patron of Klimt's. I should be done with the book by the weekend. My next two books will be The Birdwoman's Palate and The food explorer : the true adventures of the globe-trotting botanist who transformed what America eats / Daniel Stone or The Big Oyster by Mark Kurlansky. Believe it or not, I have never eaten Oysters.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19732 on:** February 01, 2019, 08:24:13 AM »

frybabe that is what I need to do - is sit down and put in some time at serious reading - I'm finding it takes me much longer - 4 times longer to read a book of non-fiction compared to a navel - so far the novels were not all that deep and so with two reads and they are finished - I think instead of waiting to the second week I need to start in on the non-fiction and give myself about 10 days.

The German History, A Mighty Fortress, may take me several more weeks - there is so much... some of it I had heard but that only then prompts more questions and new names or places to research. In the process I did learn my father's surname goes back to at least the 9th century and the book is putting into perspective for me various leaders I've read about. I'm not yet finished with the book on wool that was suggested back weeks ago by nlhome - great suggestion nlhome - did not get any of my planned reading done yesterday or the day before - keeping warm and being tense over feeling cold has me all out of kilter and so without thinking I end up reading something on my pile - ended up reading a bit more of Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying 'Yes' to Living and a more of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and my new poetry book, an inkling hope and yet one more cookbook I just could not pass up, La Vie Rustic, yes, French cooking and living.

Today starts the first challenge for the first part of February. I'm planning to read...
Fiction: The Golden Peaches of Samarkand
Non-fiction: The Olive Route
Go - Uzbek Restaurant - 8650 Spicewood Springs

hats please keep us updated when you start to read "The Tale For The Time Being." I have a copy but have not started to read it - the book sounds fascinating - so please let us know...

frybabe is The Mirrored Kiss the basis for the movie about Kilm? Have not seen the movie but a friend says she really enjoyed it.

Pat a nice article on Robertson Davies in the Paris Review
https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2441/robertson-davies-the-art-of-fiction-no-107-robertson-davies

Frybabe · « **Reply #19733 on:** February 01, 2019, 12:50:19 PM »

Sorry, I keep insisting on calling the book The Mirrored Kiss; it is in fact called The Painted Kiss. My apologies to Elizabeth Hickey, et. al. As to your question, Barb, the is no. This book is a novel about Emilie Floge and her relationship with Gustav Klimt. The Lady in Gold, non-fiction, was written by Anne-Marie O'Connor and was focuses one specific painting, that of Adele Bloch-Bauer, and the ultimately successful fight of one woman to reclaim art confiscated from her family by the Nazis.

Adele Bloch-Bauer painting: https://www.gustav-klimt.com/Portrait-Of-Adele-Bloch-Bauer-1.jsp
Emilie Floge: https://www.gustav-klimt.com/Portrait-of-Emilie-Floge.jsp

I've been looking over Klimt's paintings, and I have to say that I do not care for his landscapes.

PatH · « **Reply #19734 on:** February 01, 2019, 01:50:54 PM »

Barb, you're obviously doing more than just keeping warm. Thanks for that Davies interview. You can see some of his sense of humor and quirky style in it.

You like to read cookbooks too. I was just finishing off one my daughter gave me--The Little House Cook Book by Barbara Walker. It's quite an interesting read. She takes all the foods mentioned in Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, describes how they were different from current varieties, just how they were cooked, what ingredients were available. Then she gives carefully worked out recipes for duplicating the old methods, obviously meant as projects for children reading the Wilder books. It sure makes me appreciate my soft life--glad that my ancestors did the pioneering, not me.

As for keeping warm, the temperature in the Ingalls house was 45-60 degrees.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19735 on:** February 01, 2019, 06:15:12 PM »

thanks frybabe on the background of both stories - it so helps to have an idea of the story for these various titles - I never have seen a real Klimt have you?

Wow what an interesting premise on the cookbook Pat for The Little House on the Prairie - I'd be interested in reading it - so many of our foods and even available foods has changed just since I was a young girl never mind even earlier.

I'm remembering most grocery stores only had basic foods that were in season. Later we had foods grown in Mexico added to our winter choices till now, glory only knows where most of our food is grown - At least our largest grocery store chain, HEB has an arrangement with many Texas farmers and ranchers so that most of the food they sell is at least grown or raised within the state. Since so many affected by Katrina came to Texas many of them have stayed so our menus even at barbecue pits have added the tastes of Cajun country. The groceries are stocking Cajun herbs and spice combos, coffee, Louisiana rice and other Cajun basics.

With Monsanto products used to spray and fertilize most of our grain I am tempted the next time I need flour to order it on Amazon from Italy where they do not allow the use of Bayer/Monsanto products.

Warmer today but I am tired of winter - enough - I am ready - usually we go through February with lowered skies and lots of rain but at least no blowing furnace heat drying me out like a prune plus all the lovely spring flowers start in February. I've noticed the branches on the deciduous trees are doing that thing where all of as sudden they are pointed straight for the sky and a couple have just the start of swelling where they will bud out - no sign yet of the Jasmin in bloom - that is one of our earliest. As forsythia starts the cycle in the north yellow Jasmine vines start things off here.

PatH · « **Reply #19736 on:** February 02, 2019, 12:04:28 AM »

Frybabe, you mentioned getting Beowulf as audiobook. It's a work I love and feel strongly about. I'd like to know who reads it, and which translation is used.

The poetic conventions are different from ours; it's not rhyme and rhythm, it's accent and alliteration. A line won't have a particular length, but will have four strongly accented syllables, and there will be lots of similar sounds. Alliteration includes vowel sounds in this system. So a well spoken version of a good translation comes out like a series of hammer blows, powerful and insistant.

It's also a strange story by modern standards. When the movie came out (yikes, it was 12 years sago.) Blake Gopnik, who was capable of reading it in the original, wrote an interesting analysis.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/21/AR2007112102353.html

Frybabe · « **Reply #19737 on:** February 02, 2019, 05:55:37 AM »

Pat, the version I have says it is a "New Verse Translation" translated by Seamus Heaney. It is narrated by George Guidall. Audible also has the same version read by Heaney himself. I rarely like an author reading his own work, but I didn't see that one, and since he was a poet of some renown, it might have been as good if not better a choice.

I finished The Painted Kiss. As with a lot of stories I've read over the years, this one has a weak ending. I think that is because of where it cut off in the historical time line, that of the near ending of WWII. I am going to have to find a good bio of Floge to find out what happened to her after the war. As with many others who lost art to the Nazis, I can only assume that she did not get her Klimt paintings back after the war. The ones she had were were the landscape paintings of the area around Attersee where the Floge family had a summer place. They are the ones I didn't care for, but they to her they would have been priceless for the memories of summers there with family and Klimt, who set aside his studio work every year to spend time there with them.

hats · « **Reply #19738 on:** February 02, 2019, 06:46:58 AM »

Good morning Barb and All, I will definitely let you know when I'm ready to start it. I need to finish one more chapter in Alice Munro's Runaway. Need to look at my notebook again. I had forgotten about your Challenge, Barb. I want to visit your blog again. I want to definitely read The Two Mrs. Grenvilles by Dominick Dunne recommended by Ginny. I hope to find a copy of it.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19739 on:** February 03, 2019, 11:49:05 AM »

Good morning all! It is Super Bowl Sunday, and since I am not a fan of either teams, Rams or Patriots, I suppose I will root for Patriots, only because I like Tom Brady their quarterback, who was also the quarterback for my favorite college home team Michigan Wolverines, back in the day.

I began listening to my very first audio book yesterday titled, Girl Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis. I never thought I would like audio books, but the narrator of this book is very calming and I'm liking it. It's a more updated book, just released February 2018.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Do you ever suspect that everyone else has life figured out and you don’t have a clue? If so, Rachel Hollis has something to tell you: that’s a lie.

As the founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Rachel Hollis developed an immense online community by sharing tips for better living while fearlessly revealing the messiness of her own life. Now, in this challenging and inspiring new book, Rachel exposes the twenty lies and misconceptions that too often hold us back from living joyfully and productively, lies we’ve told ourselves so often we don’t even hear them anymore.

With painful honesty and fearless humor, Rachel unpacks and examines the falsehoods that once left her feeling overwhelmed and unworthy, and reveals the specific practical strategies that helped her move past them. In the process, she encourages, entertains, and even kicks a little butt, all to convince you to do whatever it takes to get real and become the joyous, confident woman you were meant to be.

With unflinching faith and rock-hard tenacity, Girl, Wash Your Face shows you how to live with passion and hustle--and how to give yourself grace without giving up.

I'm guessing, I am never too old to learn more about myself. After our Polar Vortex of below sub zero temps today I woke up to the sun shining and we are going up to 50 degrees, Woooo woooo!!!! I just wish my tummy felt as good as my mind does about this. I sure hope I don't have a stomach virus after two weeks of sinus and ear infections. Oh I can't wait for Spring.

Barb, any signs of blossoms and Spring makes me excited. We have no signs and all my beautiful birds have left for places unknown. I miss my beautiful Cardinals, Blue Jays and Woodpeckers this winter.

hats, You have listed so many titles that sound interesting to me. I will have to check them out.

Have any of you read, The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton? I have a friend who just finished it, and has piqued my interest.

Frybabe · « **Reply #19740 on:** February 06, 2019, 08:15:18 AM »

Barb, I think the best I can say about The Birdwoman's Palette is that I didn't care for it. The characters did travel around Indonesia spending considerable time in various restaurants which included various regional cuisines as well as international fare, but the rest of the story didn't appeal to me, personally. Others may like it, though. The book was well written and included a mix of friendships, infatuations and romance, rivalries, and bureaucratic fumbles and incompetence.

So, now I am into The Big Oyster. I thought this was going to be about oysters. Well it is, but it is also a history of New York City, or so I gather from the introduction. Apparently there used to be oyster beds near the city, and that New Yorkers love oysters. Did they used to call NYC the Big Oyster? It also looks like it is going to be a true tale of how the Hudson Bay Estuary became so polluted as to destroy the oyster beds. I was hoping for an international history of oyster diving, farming and related things just like Kurlanky's book, Salt, did for lowly but indispensable salt.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19741 on:** February 06, 2019, 06:05:58 PM »

Interesting - I lived in NY on City Island for awhile when I was a kid and I remember clams but I think it was Long Island that was known for its oysters - we used to go clamming with our bucket and hand trowel - as you walked on the wet sand as the tide went out they would shoot up a stream of water so we knew where to dig. All the kids called them piss clams.

I am deep into cooking and reading but doing more cooking - ah so - but it will all iron out. Replaced my big oval pot and I'm trying one thing after the other - I'm thinking maybe I should replace my nonfiction about the growing of Olives to La Vie Rustic from which I am trying all these recipes. Cop out in once sense but this was supposed to be fun.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19742 on:** February 08, 2019, 07:35:47 PM »

Finished my first audio book, Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. I loved the audio, I will probably listen to more books now that I have found I could enjoy it. And one thing I think is advantageous to audio, is you finish a book way faster, not to mention it gives my eyes a rest. The book itself, I would say parts irritated the heck out of me, and other parts I could find relateable.

Spent lunch with my hubby at Barnes & Noble today, the first time since December 31st I felt like getting out due to being sick. I was like a kid in a candy store, wanting to buy one of every thing. I did contain myself and bought only two bargain hardbacks, two of $10.00 :

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova, a bit of a mystery where a young American girl goes to Sofia, Bulgaria to escape the loss of her brother, meets an elderly couple in a taxi, they leave behind one of their bags, she looks in to find a wooden box with ashes in it. She must find the couple and return this. "As Alexandra sets out to locate the family and return this precious item, she will first have to uncover the secrets of a talented musician who was shattered by political oppression. . . and she will find out all too quickly that this knowledge is fraught with its own danger."

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan. "As England becomes enmeshed in the early days of World War II and the men are away fighting, the women of Chilbury village forge an uncommon bond. They defy the Vicar's stuffy edict to close the choir and intead, "carry on singing," resurrecting themselves as the Chilbury Ladies' Choir." This book has the feel of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a historical/nonfiction/epistolary novel.

Now just to decide which one to read first.

PatH · « **Reply #19743 on:** February 08, 2019, 08:25:38 PM »

That's a tough call, Bellamarie. I'm not sure which I'd pick. It's great you're feeling stronger.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19744 on:** February 09, 2019, 01:21:48 AM »

Thank you Pat. I think I'll do the mystery Shadow Land, it's been awhile since I have read a good mystery. Ooops, my mistake in typing nonfiction for the one book, it is indeed fiction.

hats · « **Reply #19745 on:** February 09, 2019, 11:41:28 AM »

There are so many wonderful recommendations. I am definitely keeping a list. It's like falling asleep in the library with a favorite book in my hand. Barb, I have started A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. There are many of my favorite things in the novel: A cat, a diarist, a nun in the remote mountains who thinks her age is close to one hundred four. There is also Vancouver Island in Canada. There is already a found artifact. Well, back to reading. Hi bellamarie and All.

hats · « **Reply #19746 on:** February 11, 2019, 07:16:20 AM »

Nano's ten year old voice as a diary writer isn't working for me. I'm going to leave Ozeki's novel behind and move on to another novel. Good morning. Trying to write this more clearly. Nano's voice is perfectly written by the author. However, I'm not in the mood for a ten year old diary writer.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19747 on:** February 11, 2019, 11:24:54 AM »

I know the feeling hats - I'm struggling with this copy of German History A Mighty Fortress from the first reading in January I pick it up and have to back track to put the names and places together then the various times in history are calling me to do more research - I think I need to give in to my natural bent and stop kicking myself for not finishing this within the time I set up for myself but rather let it be an ongoing project that will take the time it needs even if it is all year.

I've been enjoying The Golden Peaches of Samarkand Not exactly a novel in the sense of a typical novel but not exactly a piece of non-fiction either - lots of short chapters with wisdom included in each - one bit that I thought was so right and had never thought of is - we look for the exotic in our experiences and when purchasing products. I realized yes, if the same price I will chose some flavored coffee or scented shampoo over something plain and we look for a special gift or trip to be a bit more exotic than normal. We share with enthusiasm some trip to a place we have never been versus the trip to the local grocery that we take for granted. All this is related to these Golden Peaches that are no longer grown nor do they have seeds from these ancient Peaches but have several books and scrolls referring to them as gifts to Kings ruling over small kingdoms in that part of Central Asia.

Bellamarie are you enjoying Elizabeth Kostova - I'm almost sure she wrote Swan Thieves An interesting part of the world - ha - another example of what would be exotic - but that section of eastern Europe and Central Asia around the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea I know so little about - I bet it is all new to you as well - Macedonia, Bulgaria's next door neighbor we hear of from ancient times but Bulgaria not - seems like a modern name - maybe the land area was part of either Greece or Macedonia back in the day. I have heard of the city of Sofia - I wonder if the city is named after the famous ancient poet Sofia - have a book of her poetry that is bits and pieces since the scrolls found were in tatters and they pieced together what they could. I'm thinking part of not knowing much about these areas around the Black Sea is few emigrated to the US and so their food and ways are all new

and exotic.

Really cold the past couple of days and nights but was able to keep warm - closed off several rooms and put rolled up beach towels at the bottom of the door to keep the drafts at a minimum. Hope this is the last of the really cold part of winter - there are too many trees budding and the Jasmin is starting to bloom so that another below freezing couple of days would do so much damage to all this new spring growth.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19748 on:** February 11, 2019, 01:03:53 PM »

Good afternoon to all.... it snowed last night so we have a couple of inches on the ground, after those beautiful warm welcoming temps last week melted all the snow from our last snowfall. I'm counting down the days til Spring!

hats, Good for you in deciding to stop reading a book that is not working for you. I used to think years ago, if I begin a book, I MUST finish it come hell or high water. No longer do I adhere to such strict nonsensical rules of reading. If I enjoy the book, I proceed on, if I am lukewarm I will continue and give it a little more time, if I out right am fed up with it.....I close it and say, nope, not for me. My time is too valuable to spend on reading something that I'm not enjoying. I'll never forget the first time one of our book club members, I think if my memory serves me well it was Ella, who posted she was done and fed up and was throwing her book against the wall. I remember reading that post and laughing til I cried, thinking hallelujah, I now don't feel bad giving up on a book. Oh how I miss Ella.

Barb, I have to admit I have not yet gotten into the book taking place in Bulgaria. I finished up my audio book Girl Wash Your Face, and then got side tracked with making a book journal for: Books I Have Read & Books I Want to Read. My other online book club leader had free templates to print, and so I spent my week end having fun doing this. I went back to the archives in this site and was amazed to find I have read just under 50 books with all of you here! It brought back so many lovely memories of our discussions with many of our past members who are no longer with us. Gosh I skimmed over and saw Joan P., Ella, Gumtree, Joan Grimes, Babi, Deems, Pat W., and others and felt a bit sad. We had some lively discussions back in the years. Then, I went to my Facebook page and looked at the titles I listed in there. Wow! My journal is up to four pages already, and I haven't begun to scratch the surface of checking my local library account, my own library shelves, or my book of the month club account. I am certain I will not manage to journal every book I have ever read, but it is a lot of fun doing this, remembering each book and how I felt about them. I can't wait to begin the list of which ones I want to read.

Ya'll enjoy your day and keep on reading....... I do miss our discussions, I find myself reading a book and thinking, oh what would so and so post about this. I am happy I have found two other online book clubs who I have been reading and discussing books with. It does not compare to our Senior Learn, but it is fulfilling my need to discuss stories and get others ideas as well.

I hope you all are doing well.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19749 on:** February 11, 2019, 02:07:19 PM »

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qvq99b/how-to-download-the-books-that-just-entered-the-public-domain

Books up through the year 1923 are free to read in the public domain - the link brings you to several links where all the books in the public domain can be found.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19750 on:** February 11, 2019, 05:32:55 PM »

Barb, Not sure why, but when I clicked that link you posted, it gave me a pop up and messed up my pages.

nlhome · « **Reply #19751 on:** February 11, 2019, 07:25:44 PM »

I didn't have any problems with the link, except that I didn't have time to explore it.

hats · « **Reply #19752 on:** February 12, 2019, 06:01:21 AM »

I haven't given up onA Tale For The Time Being byRuth Ozeki. I am called back again to Canada. Ruth's voice speaks to me. The origin of her name is interesting. I thought of Ruth in the Bible. I also had a beloved family member named Ruth. Of course, I looked again at the author's first name. It is Ruth too.

It is ironic. Is that the word? So far all of my Canadian travels have taken me to homes of strong women. It is not strange that women lead many lives or live many roles that take volumes of strength. Whether the man follows or not they take the bull by the horns and run with it especially when there are children involved.

I'm trying to glean from these novels what Canada is really like as far as culture and topography. It seems like it would take a strong body to live there.There is the cold. There are large spaces of land, I'm thinking, so one might have to travel far to reach a daily destination.

Quote

On all sides, massive Douglas firs, red cedars, and bigleaf maples surrounded them, dwarfing everything human.

There is poverty. There is a straight way of talking with no shilly shallying. I am reminded of Eathan Frome. That type of no frills sort of life. There is also it seems a deep bond with family. Families who say what they mean. Truth speakers.

And here is Japan. I need to leave Canada. I've stayed too long. Maybe this novel with Nao and Ruth will lead to Japan. So far I've read five books with a Canada setting. I wonder what calls people to strange places. It is a feeling of this place is telling me something about myself through its sky, flora and fauna, whether, etc.

bellamarie · « **Reply #19753 on:** February 12, 2019, 12:18:30 PM »

hats,

Quote

I'm trying to glean from these novels what Canada is really like as far as culture and topography. It seems like it would take a strong body to live there.There is the cold. There are large spaces of land, I'm thinking, so one might have to travel far to reach a daily destination.

I can't speak for Canadians, our dear Jonathan lives in Canada, so maybe he could give you a clear picture of what it is like to live there. I can tell you when my hubby and I visited Toronto, Canada we found it to be one of the most beautiful places we ever have gone to. The parking was all underground. We sat in a beautiful French restaurant looking out the window and in awe of no honking car horns and traffic going by. We shopped at their underground mall. We walked for miles just taking in the beautiful flower gardens and came upon a gated place that looked like Buckingham Palace. We visited the horticultural gardens where we had our picture taken with a perfect rainbow in the background, and our most memorable time there, was standing in awe of the Niagra Falls, one of the great wonders of the world! I would love to return some day. The cost of living I must say in quite expensive, I remember stopping into a small drug store and looking at their prices and thinking how can a four pack of toilet paper be three times the amount here than in the U.S. We also walked down a sidewalk leading to a less appealing part of the Toronto, which gave me a sense not all of Canada is as beautiful as what tourists see. But for our 10th Anniversary, I am so happy we spent it there.

hats · « **Reply #19754 on:** February 12, 2019, 04:33:27 PM »

Looking at the photos and reading the writings of those who have gone to a place is great. Bellamarie, your description of Toronto is lovely. My goodness! By the way, your earlier post about dear long time Seniorlearn members is wonderful too. I would love to hear from Jonathan. I had forgotten that he lives in Canada. Barb, I am appreciating the novel more and more along with the sad experiences of Nano.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19755 on:** February 12, 2019, 11:53:55 PM »

Good to hear hats - there are so many books and so little time - with the cold weather I had left things like the laundry go since I closed off some rooms including the laundry - Its a wonder I did not break the dryer with all the laundry I did today -

Found my answer about the Bible speaking of bread after learning recently that there no water mills to grind grain till the end of the 11th century on into the 12th century - I did not know how matzo bread is made, all I know is it is unleavened which has nothing to do with the grinding of grain to make flour - I was reading, in the typical European home gruel was served before water mills ground the grain into flour and so, what is all this with bread being spoken of in the Bible - then I remember seeing re-creations of ancient people grinding grain with a long stick with a wide round end and a hollowed out rock - so maybe there was bread - however, instead, I found the answer.

In Donald Hall's book Life Work talking about metaphors used from the Bible, the subject, work versus labor, he talks of Isaiah, who spoke of bread and then, this tid bit - "in older translations - asks, "why spend your money on foodstuffs?""

I knew there are many translations and I also knew the differences in the original languages versus a modern language holds many obstacles so this is a pleasant surprise. It was not some big difference in authors or theology - the difference was simply in the translation - lots of translations during the middle ages and as life changed so did metaphors.

My first introduction to Canada was those Nelson Eddy movies mostly with Jeannette McDonald - can see it now although, do not remember enough of the words. Nelson Eddy is marching through the woods with a large group of men all dressed in Buckskin singing something about Stout Hearted Men and then something with a canoe and the moon with Jeannette McDonald - I'll be calling you who who whoo something or other. I think it was the Indian love call. Interesting authors from Canada - Atwood, Yann Martel, Munro, Louise Penny, Michael Ondaatje and so many more.

PatH · « **Reply #19756 on:** February 13, 2019, 09:17:31 AM »

Goodness, Barb, I hadn't thought of those tunes for years, and now they're running through my head.

We're really at the mercy of translations. For some reason the other day I pulled out two different translations of Aeschylus' Agamemnon (we discussed it here) and started reading them. Quite a difference in feel.

PatH · « **Reply #19757 on:** February 13, 2019, 09:24:12 AM »

Speaking of translations, Frybabe, have you started on Beowulf yet?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #19758 on:** February 13, 2019, 12:15:06 PM »

I remember when we did Beowulf here using the then new Seamus Heaney translation - even with the group I found it tough going and never really understood what it was all about - too many other books or I would go back and see if I could dope it out - something with his mother - oh I just do not remember well enough and it was to me confusing.

I think my real confusion stemmed from who was Beowulf - never could figure out if he was man or beast or a bit of both.

Frybabe · « **Reply #19759 on:** February 13, 2019, 04:39:40 PM »

No, Pat, I haven't started it yet. I've been reading The Big Oyster, some Liaden short-stories, and started listening to Goldsworthy's Caesar: Life of a Colossus, plus spending time on Latin and watching three or four episodes at a time the last three days of The Expanse: Season 3. For all that, I really haven't spent that much time with the books this past week.

News:

Author Topic: The Library (Read 2079818 times)