The Library

[PatH]

The Library Our library  is open 24/7; the welcome mat is always out. Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

Here's our new Fall Fun Challenge from RosemaryKay:

So -  for those who would like to have a go at this, here are the book prompts for The Bibliophile's Night Out. All you have to do is think of a book to fit each category - and if you can write a line or two about why you chose it, so very much the better!



1. Pre-drinks: a prequel or novella you've read

2. The taxi to town: a book about travel

3. Trying to find a table: a book you didn't like to start with but ended up loving

4. First round of drinks: a first book in a series

5. The dance floor: a book that made you jump up and down with excitement

6. The toilets: a book you wouldn't touch with a bargepole

7. The first to bail: the last book you did not finish

8. The journey home: a book you really can't remember the plot of any more

9. The morning after: a comfort read

I really enjoyed this challenge, and I'm looking forward to reading other people's ideas.



New Categories: Our Readers Add, What's Yours?


10- Never on a Sunday:   A book, subject, or topic are you absolutely NOT interested in reading in today's times?

11. Great Expectations:  A book you really looked forward to reading  which was a disappointment. 

12. Gone With the Wind:   The best book you can't recall the title or author of. Describe a book by the plot and see if our readers can identify it.

13. The Fame Game: What famous book are you embarrassed you have not read?

14? Your choice: suggest a topic?

[BarbStAubrey]

I never could get into The Golden Notebook either Pat - it falls in line with what I call chit chat books others call them Light reads, some call them Women's novels or Beach Reads - I found a lot of Christmas stories fall into this category - when all is said and done the story includes a few thoughts of wisdom that are too often benign bits.

7. The first to bail: the last book you did not finish I gave up on The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers and Their Muses not 20 pages in and there is this insufferable male writer with an ego the size of Maine if not Texas that had a putdown for any and all... just did not find it funny or my cup of tea - very few books have I closed the cover and not finished, very few - thinking they will improve but this one got the boot.

Tomorrow is the start of the Autumn months - supposedly a cold front heading our way with Temps in the Panhandle in the high 70s so that folks have pulled out their hoodies - we are expecting temps in the 90s which actually will be a relief - what is more disappointing is, looks like the rain peters out over the hill country so instead of a good soaking it will be a sprinkle here and there - but at least we know it is a start

Two solid months till election day when my thinking is half this nonsense will end - one way or another - and so has anyone any reading plans for the next 2 months

The other day Book Bubs, not sure I've named it correctly, the daily promo for Amazon books based on our likes - well a whole slew of them were tempting to download but I am determined not to order another book till I have read at least 2 in the genre that an ad fascinates me to want another. Turns out one on that list I already own and so I will be reading it along with one my sister recommended last winter and I never did read... the first The Starless Sea: A Novel by Erin Morgenstern - I read her Night Circus that was self published and enjoyed it - a fantasy with adventure and a bit of cruel witchery. And my sister's recommendation The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht - it appears to be another magical story - this time it takes place in China

I've several others going that would bore most about making changes in your life and still working on Confessions of a Pagan Nun that brings up more questions with each chapter, in fact every couple of pages - at the rate I'm going I will be reading this and all the books explaining life before Christianity and just after in Ireland till at least Christmas or maybe even into the next year.

Not to interfere with this wonderful 9 day challenge but I am curious does anyone else have plans for a certain book you want to read by Election Day?

[rosemarykaye]

My choice for this section was a Louise Penny book - I enjoyed her first few Three Pines mysteries, but after that I became increasingly irritated by her style, and the last one I tried wound me up so much I did literally throw it down (luckily it wasn't damaged as it was a library copy...) She is very, very popular and has won lots of awards, so it must just be me! The. Short. Sentence. Thing. in particular was so overused that it lost all impact for me. Another successful author whose publisher now seems to avoid editing.

Another book I didn't finish at the time but am now going to re-read was Ian Stephen's A Book of Death and Fish - I just don't think I had the time and patience for it when my children were younger, but now I have read so many more books written in dialect and set in the Hebrides or Northern Scotland. So I have bought another copy and I'm looking forward to giving it another go.

My friend has just read Amy Liptrot's The Outrun - it's non-fiction, about Liptrot's return to her childhood home on Orkney after having lived a chaotic and demanding life in London and eventually becoming an alcoholic. The publisher (Canongate) says: 'Amy discovers how the wild can restore life and renew hope, anchor us and set us free.'  My friend recommended it and I do have a copy, so that's another one on my list.

[Frybabe]

The Night Circus is one that I didn't finish, but that was at least two years ago. The very last book I did not finish was a nondescript SciFi by an unfamiliar author, neither of which I can remember - and this was just within the last week. It lasted until I was almost half way through.

Well, that is not quite true. There was one yesterday that I had downloaded from Project Gutenberg that I took a look at and decided it wasn't of interest, but it only lasted maybe two paragraphs. Again, I deleted it, can't remember the title or author. I had in in my Westerns folder, but it turned out to be something set in Africa. There are a fair number of books I downloaded that get the same fate once I take a closer look at them. Nowadays, I usually don't download a book without reading a sample first, so this one must have been one of my early downloads, before I got clogged up with books and got smart.

Now I am in between Ebook reading until I find one that grabs my interest or the next library book is available. Meanwhile, I am listening to the last of the Legends of the First Empire series, Age of Empyre by Michael J. Sullivan. It will complete that series set in the World of Elan universe. Then I will be on to the next set in chronological sequence. The author included an interesting monologue at the beginning which was partly about how the book was produced during this pandemic situation.

 Last night I listened to the next in line podcast of The Water Margin. Each podcast is only about 30 minutes long. And I listened to another chapter in The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan.

You know what? I think I will pick up one of my neglected print books to read. 

[PatH]

Oops.  The Golden Notebook wasn't meant as a book I didn't finish, I was using it as an example of Bellamarie's point that some books have to be read at the right time.  I did actually finish it.  I didn't finish Shikasta, the only one of Lessing's science fiction books I tried, though.  It was extremely tiresome.

Frybabe, I didn't finish The Night Circus either.

The most recent book I didn't finish isn't fair, because I will finish it sometime; it's the kind of thing you can only read bits of at a time--An Introduction to Haiku, by Harold G. Henderson.  It's got history, and explanations, and theory, but mostly it's a lot of haiku, and he gives the original Japanese with a literal word for word translation as well as the final translation into a good poem.  But you can't read more than a couple of haiku at once without getting mental indigestion, because they're full of double meanings and implications, and set a sort of mood or feel, and you need time to let it sink in.

So maybe in a year or two I'll finish this tiny paperback, less than 200 pages.

[PatH]

Frybabe:

The very last book I did not finish was a nondescript SciFi by an unfamiliar author, neither of which I can remember - and this was just within the last week.

That's hilarious, Frybabe.

[bellamarie]

Barb, "does anyone else have plans for a certain book you want to read by Election Day?"

There are a few political books I am waiting to read, once I can purchase them at a very low discounted price.  I generally stay away from political books, only because I read and keep up on pretty much everything I can get my hands or eyes on through TV news, newspapers, internet, and other sources. My close friends and family call me a "political junkie".  lol  This obsession began when I really was awakened to politics in the 2008 upcoming election.  Believe it or not.....I was working to help get Hillary Clinton elected.  I joined a Puma Pact, worked phones making robo calls, went to the rally she was suppose to have here in Toledo, but couldn't make it, so Bill Clinton came instead.  Yep, I was woman hear me roar....when Hillary and Brack Obama met with Diane Feinstein in her home late one night, and the next day Hillary backed out of the race, encouraging all her supporters to get behind Obama, you can not imagine the disappointment and anger I had for her. After months of her telling us how he would not be good for our country, here she is all of a sudden, telling us to support him.  Talk about, "What Happened?" The Puma Pact had inside information, from many reliable sources this was in the making, I refused to believe it.  I truly thought she would be the first woman to break the "Glass Ceiling." Believing there would be a change with her as president. I listened to John Mayer's song,

Waiting On The World To Change,
One, two, one, two, three
Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They would have never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on their door
And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want

That's why we're waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

It's not that we don't care
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

And we're still waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
No we keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
Waiting on the world to change
Waiting on the world to change
Waiting on the world to change.
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John Mayer
Waiting On the World to Change lyrics © Reach Music Publishing

So, I ask myself, how does a Catholic, Conservative, Independent woman, go from supporting Hillary Clinton in 2008, to supporting the most controversial candidate, Donald Trump in 2016. I am going to be brutally honest, I not only got caught up in the idea of being alive, to see the first woman president in history of the United States, but I was so ill informed, with how her policies and ideology, did not align with mine.  As I got past my disappointment, I then began my political awareness of policies, politicians, and propaganda.  I mean, if now I had no option to vote for Hillary, then I needed to really start examining the other candidates.  In having to do so, I became aware of just how voting for any democrat, that promoted Pro Choice was not an option for me. I like to think God intervened, and opened my eyes. So, like Charles Krauthammer, I changed my position, I could no longer support the Democratic party.

If Helen Ready taught me anything in he song, I Am Woman, it's 

Not a novice any longer
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

I purchased the book Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics by Charles Krauthammer.

I loved Chares Krauthammer's no nonsense, intellectual thinking. A Harvard-trained psychiatrist, Krauthammer turned an unsparing eye on the nation's politics, starting as a conservative Democrat and moving rightward over time. 

I found as I began reading his book, much of the content, I had already heard him speak of throughout his commentaries, or his articles he wrote.  I sure do miss his presence, and would love to hear how he would have expressed his views on what is happening in our country today, and how he would assess the upcoming election, not only as a political commentator, but as a psychiatrist.

So, to answer your question...NO!  I am so frustrated with what is happening in this country today, with the virus and rioting, I can barely concentrate on my beach book. 
 
I just want November 3rd to come and go, and pray a decision is made, and all will accept the outcome.  I suppose that is wishful thinking....

[bellamarie]

8. The journey home: a book you really can't remember the plot of any more



When I chose to read this book, I must say, it's one of the rare times I did not read a review, or the inside cover.  I have five sisters, and so I thought, oh this is about sister's relationships.  Boy, was I in for a big surprise. I had to look up the book, to remember the plot. 

From Booklist:

Drabble's shrewd and charming diarist-narrator escaped the prison of her unhappy marriage after the death of a student led to exposure of her head-master husband's affair with the girl's mother. Candida chooses not to stay in Suffolk and strangle in the web of gossip but rather to purchase a condo in a not altogether safe yet intriguingly multicultural London neighborhood. There she determinedly explores her new world and signs up for a class on Virgil's Aeneid. When the College for Further Education is transformed into a health club, she misses Virgil and the simpatico company of her fellow students and instructor. So she reconvenes the group, adds two demanding friends from her previous life, and convinces "the seven sisters" to embark on a pilgrimage to retrace the steps Virgil took in his tracking of Aeneas. And what a transforming journey it is. Drabble's prose is lustrous and enchanting, and her play on classical themes adds dimension to her discerning assessment of our digitized, global society, and the metamorphosis of a woman poised not for the expected capitulation to age and isolation but, rather, for splendid renewal.

As in The Witch of Exmoor (1997) and The Peppered Moth [BKL F 15 01], Drabble creates a subversively witty novel that rivals works by Anita Brookner, Margaret Atwood, and Penelope Lively. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

[BarbStAubrey]

[ginny]

uh...some of us have been making some well intended political statements lately in the Movies discussion and here? We need to be aware that all of us here do not share the same sentiments whether or not we make statements about the subject? Silence  does not mean assent.

The reason I have not been here is that the recent actions of some  the Trump supporters  whether or not they are  MAGA hat wearing Bugaloo Boyz or just thugs in pickup trucks  in Portland, throwing paint bombs, etc., at the protestors and the manic demonic tweets and interviews from the White House supporting them despite the Mayor's pleas, calling the Mayor a FOOL, and it seems a million other outrages, actually depressed me. They  make one wonder what on earth this country has come to.  It has left more than a few of us in despair of ever having a civil decent gentle country again. And I am a Republican.

That's my last post on this? I am so disgusted by the current White House Orange Buffoon I leave the room when he comes on TV. In future we need to confine our comments, good or bad, to the Political folders where I guess I am the only one who can see the deleted posts, but they are gently expressed to be of the same mind.  We are all being worn down in despair. Let's leave ALL political discussion there, please!

[Tomereader1]

I second that Motion, Madame Chairwoman!  And amen to you for being upfront with your views.   

[rosemarykaye]

I third that (is that a thing?) Ginny, thanks for your forthright post. I often feel the same about the UK, or rather, England, where I grew up. It has become unrecognisable to me now, and it is indeed depressing to feel glad that you no longer live in your country of birth.

Let’s talk about books.

[BarbStAubrey]

hmm Ginny questionable it was an member of Antifa that killed the Trump supporter not the other way around - I think I better leave for the next few months...

[PatH]

I fourth it.  Books, not politics.

[nlhome]

7. The first to bail: the last book you did not finish:  The Darwin Affair, by Tim Mason. It was an Overdrive big read, or whatever that was called, and I needed a book quick and because of that it was available, no wait. I just could not get interested in it. There's a lot of violence and ugliness, and I just was not in the mood for that. I wanted to participate in the discussion, so I persevered, until I picked up my tablet one day and I dreaded opening that book so decided I'd find something else. Which is when I grabbed A Divided Loyalty off the new book shelf at the library. (We are able to visit our library to look over the new book shelves and the DVDs and special displays.)

[nlhome]

The journey home: a book you really can't remember the plot of any more.  I'd say just about any "cozy" mystery that I read. I have logs of the books I've read the last 10 years, and I looked back and most of them I remember, at least a rough idea. But those cozies that are part of a series don't stick with me. Although I must also say, as you have discussed The Little Paris Book Shop, I had to look it up because all I remembered about it was that I liked it, couldn't remember the plot.

[bellamarie]

Post in violation of Registration agreement concerning  ad hominem remarks removed

[PatH]

Nlhome, you saved me by mentioning cozies.  There's a series I read and liked whose plots I totally can't remember.  Unfortunately I can't remember the name or author either, but the next time I go downstairs to do laundry, I'll look at it.

You're lucky you can set foot inside your library.  Our library won't let you in.  You can reserve books, and arrange contactless pickup, and there are return bins outside, but no browsing, so no serendipity.  I would never have found that little haiku paperback that way; I spotted it on a library table where someone had dropped it instead of reshelving it.  It's apparently been out of print for many decades, so it's not talked about.  (The paperback is readily available used online though.)

[Frybabe]

#8: Dana Stabenow's Second Star. I think this was her first book, and now I discover she wrote to others in this series (Star Svensdotter) which, not knowing they existed I haven't read. This is a science fiction work and it didn't get good reviews. It was kind of so-so as I recall, and I did finish it. Stabenow quickly switched to writing  her successful Kate Shugak murder mystery series. I see there are two more I need to read. Sadly, she only wrote four of the Liam Campbell murder mysteries. I liked them too.

I agree nlhome. There are actually a lot of books out there that are nice while you read them, but in the end, forgettable.

PatH, my library is the same. You order your books and then make an appointment to come in an pick them up. No, browsing, etc. allowed.

Well, it looks like Oscar wants attention. I am getting a lot of head butts and purrified rumblings.

BTW,
You know what I yell at my cats? "Hey, Hey, Hey, Stop It! No Fighting!" Having said that, Ginny, you did seem a bit over the top there. But I just try to ignore it. After all, I get practice having to listen to my sister ranting on occasion. Suffice it to say my sister and I don't agree and haven't since Clinton.   

[rosemarykaye]

Well our libraries are still completely and resolutely closed!

Not that I’ve got a shortage of books, but I do miss a good browse once in a while. And i really do hope the council isn’t going to use this as an excuse to keep some of them closed forever - I can just imagine it:

‘No-one so much as put a foot in the door for 6 months - there’s no demand whatsoever!’

Rosemary

[jane]

Rosemary, I can indeed see the Supervisors / Council saying there's no need to spend money on libraries.  One of our County Supervisors who, by law, must support libraries at an admittedly low level, say that he didn't believe that many people could possibly have visited the Library in a month.  He was reacting to the monthly report the city Librarian sent them.  It included the number of people coming in, circulation figures, etc.   

jane

[ginny]

And i really do hope the council isn’t going to use this as an excuse to keep some of them closed forever - I can just imagine it:   

I  hadn't thought of that!  Or this: I can indeed see the Supervisors / Council saying there's no need to spend money on libraries       

The Libraries now have a pretty strong virtual presence, anyway,  accessing books from other branches, etc. A lot (and I bet I don't know half of it) of services online.  Is it possible in a future dystopian world as a coronrvirus result the first and lasting Institutional casualty new normal would be the library as we know it?

The last survey I saw of reader preferences indicated a preference for paper books over e readers.  That's been some time ago and I don't know what it is today. I  do have to say I was shocked at my one and only foray to Barnes and Noble since March. As I said I thought they were closed. Stock drastically reduced, shelves removed, big spaces where there weren't any before. B&N has (or so the rumor goes) always said that they make more money off their Cafes than anything else. I have never understood that).  That B&N was one of two in  the closest big city and it was huge.

Sounds like something out of Orwell.                           

[ginny]

   A book you can't remember the plot of.  I hate to say it but I am finding I can reread quite a few books that I once enjoyed, and in the second reading can enjoy them as much as the first time. Mysteries, you'd think anybody could recall the plot. I can recall sometimes hu dun it, but the actual details? They are as fresh as they once were.   I wonder why. The Zafon book, I know what it's about, I was passionately  obsessed with it but what are the details? The  Dan Brown DaVinci Code. I guess I wonder what is meant by "the plot." I mean do they mean we are to recall  every detail?  Every twist and turn? I would have to say mysteries for my part and maybe it's because I'm really zoning out when I read them for pleasure and might as well be comatose in front of the TV. But I enjoy it.


7. The first to bail: the last book you did not finish: The  book by the author of the Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware: The Turn of the Key.   I could not get into it at all. I know, however, that it's me and not her, in that when you read the next book by an author you hope to see the first again and I didn't. But I also did not give it much chance. So much in reading depends on the reader, and the mood the reader is in at the time.

Ah now HERE'S a category we can really enjoy getting  into:

9. The morning after: a comfort read

[Fran]

Our library is now opened from 9a.m to 2pm. You’re limited to 30min. Masks
a must, and hand sanitizer must be used at entrance. Before this I received
my books by placing on hold,then Iwas called when it was available. My book
Was placed in a sturdy paper bag with my name and date and left at entrance.
 
I do read almost daily the different books read and discussed here. Our Senior center. Is not opened as yet, so this is a good diversion.  Fran, a former Latin
Student.

[rosemarykaye]

Hello Fran - do feel free to join in our Book Challenge now if you'd like to! It's fun.  Not much in the way of community activities is yet open here in rural Scotland, so for me too this site is a very welcome diversion.

Rosemary

[rosemarykaye]

My 'comfort read' was The Wind in the Willows - but I can think of many more:

The Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff
Any early Jilly Cooper - eg Harriet, Octavia, Emily, Bella, Imogen
Any Maeve Binchy, especially Light A Penny Candle
Love in a Cold Climate and The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
Any Thrush Green or Fairacre book by Dora Saint (aka Miss Read)
The Treasure Seekers by E Nesbit
The Family From One End Street, Further Adventures of the Family From One End Street and The Holiday at the Dew Drop Inn, all by Eve Garnett
I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith
The Diary of a Provincial Lady by EM Delafield
The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day by Winifred Watson

Sorry, I expect we are only supposed to choose one but I couldn't resist. If I had to choose one book (as they say every week on Desert Island Discs - and 'you already have The Bible and The Complete Works of Shakespeare') I think it would have to be an omnibus edition of the Elizabeth Jane Howard series - though I suppose even that's cheating a bit...

[Fran]

May I add a post script here. My many thanks and appreciation to Ginny and Jane
for all their help and suggestions for Our Library!

Hi Rosemary, So nice to hear from someone so faraway in Scotland. I’m trying
to get the “hang of it” as to how you all go about this so am right now just
reading all the book comments. Will continue and see how it goes.

[Fran]

Two “Comfort Reads”that I can think of right now are,

 Maeve Binchy—Chestnut Street and Heart and Soul

Belva Plain—Evergreen—I love all her books.

[rosemarykaye]

Oh I love Maeve!  I don’t think I’ve read those ones yet, though I have Chestnut Street on my shelves somewhere.

I’ve never heard of Belva Plain - I’m going to look her up. Thanks for the tip!

Rosemary

[Frybabe]

I haven't got a clue for #9. Maybe....

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Depot - Carmen DeSousa. It is a supernatural detective short story, one of several she did. The detective has no clue he is being helped by a spirit. I wish she had done more.
Winter Loon - Susan Berhnard. A story of mystery and romance in a small town. Nicely done.
Greyfriar's Bobby - Eleanor Atkinson

[ginny]

Dear Fran, how lovely to see you again and to read your wonderful posts! Please DO continue to contribute!

My goodness, it takes something like this little fun game to bring out how widely read you all ARE here! I see a lot of old favorites here and quite a few I never heard of, my little LIST is growing by the minute, and one good thing about the online booksellers is many of them allow you to look at a couple of pages of the writing style before you buy or start reading it, which is really almost like browsing in a store. In a way.

Rosemary, I  bet I have bought I Capture the Castle 50 times in my life and haven't read a word of it. Maybe now's the time.

nlhome, I persevered, until I picked up my tablet one day and I dreaded opening that book so decided I'd find something else.  I found that so interesting because I'm like that, too.  I have books I so looked forward to reading (in my case)  and kept on reading reluctantly, but this is usually the end. Maybe we need to add a new category when this one is over what is one book you really looked forward to reading (that wasn't the case with yours) but had to force yourself to continue or were disappointed.

Pat, I loved this: There's a series I read and liked whose plots I totally can't remember.  Unfortunately I can't remember the name or author either, but the next time I go downstairs to do laundry, I'll look at it.  hhahaa, that is SO me, hahaha, talk about a forgettable book. Maybe we need another new category where we can't recall the book or title but we describe what it was vaguely about, and maybe somebody else can.

Frybabe, I wondered what comfort book you'd come up with and if it would be sci fi. The Depot sounds quite interesting.

I have not been able to think what might constitute comfort for me? My first thought was...you'll laugh at me...Caesar's Gallic War (in Latin) Book I. I get a lot of comfort out of reading Latin, believe it or not, and a year or so ago The New York Times recommended you take your Latin book to the doctor's waiting room. Latin is at many a bedside and doctor's office visit.   But otherwise I have to think about what i want. Caesar's prose is pure and controlled (despite being a war journal) and a wonderful antidote to the uncertainty of the times. I can see why it was a hit 2000 years ago.

I think I want humor, so  Bill Bryson fits that bill, and he's talking about travel, trying to travel optimistically and having all the pitfalls that entails and he's hilarious, just hilarious.  I think that's comforting in this time of unrest, coronavirus uncertainty,  and the restrictions on our lives, he's out to explore optimistically, to escape,  and the reality results of his adventures sometimes, not constantly, but sometimes,  like life, cause you  just laugh yourself silly. And somehow you feel a bond with him as we've all optimistically set out to do something and gotten egg on our faces.

We might add another category (I'll put these three up but PLEASE suggest more, I am enjoying this so much and learning a lot about you all, too)....What book, subject, or topic are you absolutely NOT interested in reading in our current times?

[ginny]

Next up: (Well, I asked one and put up the other, let's do both!)


10- Never on a Sunday:   A book, subject, or topic are you absolutely NOT interested in reading in today's times?

11. Great Expectations:  A book you really looked forward to reading  which was a disappointment. 

[rosemarykaye]

Great idea Ginny, the more questions the better!

I remember looking forward to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and then finding it such a lot of pretentious twaddle that I gave up and donated it to the Oxfam shop. That was a long time ago so maybe I should try it again. The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Mitch Albom) was also a big disappointment - I only persevered because it was chosen for the library book group I attended at the time (a very short time!)

I can’t believe you chose the Gallic Wars for comfort! To me they bring back the absolute horror of First Year Latin lessons with the teacher I’ve mentioned before, she who flew into terrifying rages and threw blackboard rubbers at any girl who didn’t know what conjugating and parsing meant. (It was a time when no grammar was taught in our English lessons - we just read books - and French was taught phonetically) but Miss Edmonds - a name that still strikes fear into my heart - had clearly been educated in the Dark Ages and could not accept that we actually had no idea what she was talking about. I only started to enjoy Latin when she was off for months with appendicitis.

As to what am I NOT interested in reading - there are so many topics!  Anything to do with plague, pestilence, pandemics, wars, dystopian anything, Zombies of any kind, most science fiction (sorry, that’s just me), self-help books, celebrity memoirs, celebrity anything really, anything about people’s miserable and/or abusive childhoods....I could probably go on. As you will surmise, this means I mainly read 1950s novels, village stories, bloodless mysteries/detective stories, nature writing, some history - preferably local or social - Scottish novels, classic children’s books, and some modern romances. Family sagas also good. Maybe some travel.

Yes, Mrs Narrow-Minded, c’est moi.

[rosemarykaye]

And PS, yes, yes to Bill Bryson - if I’d remembered him I’d have had him on my comfort list. Such a good and gentle writer, funny but not unkind, self-deprecating, interesting - all round wonderful.

[PatH]

Rosemary, don't forget who Frybabe's first year Latin teacher was--Ginny.  I can absolutely guarantee she never threw anything at Frybabe, and everyone I know who has taken her classes says they're delightful.

I can see that the ordered logic of Latin might be comforting.

[PatH]

The book whose name, author, and plot I couldn't remember is Devil's Trumpet, by Mary Freeman.  What I did remember is the setting and tone.  The detective is a young woman living in a small town in the Columbia River Gorge (Oregon, upstream from Portland), trying to make a go of a startup landscaping business.  They're gentle things, full of the beauty of that gorgeous area and the whimsy of a small town, and the gardening business.  Devil's trumpet is a plant, not some satanic device.

I've started rereading it, still don't remember the plot.

[Frybabe]

Ginny, I tried to avoid putting any SciFi in the "comfort" category. Much of what I read is military SciFi. There are a few, however, that might fit the bill. H. Beam Piper's LIttle Fuzzy and John Scalzi's retelling (with permission) of it in his Fuzzy Nation are two. Hugh Howey's The Shell Collector and Beacon 23 could qualify.  I am going to add the audio version of John Lithgow's Poet's Corner, I would never have thought to read it, but the audio is something worth listening to more than once.

#10. The last two novels of S. L. Viehl's Stardoc series would fit in that slot.
James S. A. Corey wrote several novellas for additional background in their Expanse series. I tried reading three or four and quit every one of them. They didn't really add to the main story sequences.

[Fran]

Right now I’m also reading light novels and most with happy endings. Looking
through a bunch of books that our going to be given to our library for their
book sale,I found two that I had not finished. Angels & Demons (Dan Brown)
and Dragon Lady-Last Empress of China—don’t remember why. I’m now
looking up some books written by Bill Bryson. Sounds like I might enjoy reading
0ne of his novels.

[Fran]

Please forgive the way my posts show up. I’m using my I-Pad and don’t
Know how to correct it.

Fran

[Tomereader1]

Your posts look perfect to me!