The Library

[maryz]

The Library Our library cafe is open 24/7, the welcome mat is  always out. Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us. We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not). Let the book talk begin here!

Suggestion Box for Future Discussions

Merry Christmas and Happy Reading to all!

[joangrimes]

Merry Christmas to all
and to all a good night 

[winsummm]

I am through 96 percent of GRAFTOPIA by Taibba a rolling stones writer. All in one day. not fiction but would make a good thriller, all about the run up to the financial disaster. A good read and explains a lot that I didn't understand.

[PatH]

A blessed Christmas to all.

[serenesheila]

Christmas Blessings to everyone.  May the coming New Year be a good one, for each of us.

Sheila

[Mippy]

  Merry Christmas !!!

[Dana]

Yes,  Merry Christmas everyone.
I'm sitting listening to the Messiah at requisit loudness, someone will be complaining in a minute, and have just been enjoying Crampton Hodnet--absolutely hilarious--all the Pyms are definitely on my list now (fortunately the library has them all--isn't it nice when you are about to embark on a new reading expedition with a Whole List just waiting for you......)  I don't think I ever read any before, altho the titles sound familiar. 
Thanks to Seniorlearn!

[nlhome]

Merry Christmas, too. I'm listening to Christmas music and setting out snacks for the family who should begin arriving in an hour - hoping the roads are clear enough for them on their travels.

[mabel1015j]

The ipad was my favorite birthday gift from my family and now i have an accessory that is my favorite Christmas gift from my dgt......the ipad case. I recommend it highly if you have an ipad and maybe if you have the kindle, altho i suppose Amazon has a specific case for the kindle. The ipad slides into a notebook type leather binder which has all the apprpriate holes for switches and plug-in. It opens to an easel position or you can hold it like a book. In the easel position it sits sturdily on my lap and does not need to be held at all- a good thing for my fibro hands.......Apple is amazing! Even the hard plastic casing it came in was easy to open and recyclable! Can't beat that!.............

Hope you are all having a relaxing, no-stress day..........Jean

[FlaJean]

Jean, I got a case with my iPad and am glad I did.  I agree Apple is amazing.  My husband said this morning that the iPad was the best gift he had ever given me and I agreed heartily.  (I'm not one for a lot of jewelry and doodads

[Babi]

 "Below the Salt" was a favorite of mine, JEAN. I believe I read all of
Costain's books.  I sometimes have 2-3 books going at a time, but I doubt if I could handle as many as you're currently reading.
  I am the delighted possessor of a book of 300 Simon & Schuster never-
before-printed crossword puzzles.  If I'm strict with myself, these may
last me 4-5 months! 

[MaryPage]

Had a splendid Christmas.  Got piles of books I'd asked Santa for, and a handful of Barnes & Noble gift certificates!  Boxes and boxes of chocolates to go with the reading.  Lots of soaps and bath powders in my favorite Nantucket Briar scent by Crabtree & Evelyn, as well.  Lovely flowers were delivered.  Daughter Debi served up a scrumptious Christmas Eve roast beef dinner, followed by a terrific breakfast prior to opening stockings the next morning.  Heaven!

One book I am looking forward to is "WAIT FOR ME."  Am old enough to have followed the Mitford sisters all of my life, and can tell you almost everything about each (and bore you to tears for simply hours and hours!).  Some of you will remember Nancy Mitford, the eldest, who wrote such uproariously funny memoirs that were made into films.  Then Jessica Mitford, of course, who left Great Britain and became a Californian and gave us a number of books including "An American Way of Death." 

Of the six, only the youngest is still alive, and she 92.  She married a young man of the same aristocratic nobility class as her own;  a second son.  Kathleen Kennedy, Jack and Bobby and Ted's sister, married the elder brother, who was slated to inherit the title.  "Kick" Kennedy's family very much opposed to the match, as he was not Roman Catholic.  They'd only been married about 5 weeks when his plane crashed, killing him.  This was World War II.  A plane she was in went down within, I think it was weeks, or at least months.  Whoops!  Deborah Mitford found herself the future Duchess of Devonshire and owner of Chatsworth. 

Well, now she is the Dowager Duchess;  her husband dead and her son the Duke.  And she has written these perfectly delightful stories down and I can hardly wait to get into them.  Saw her on Charlie Rose just last week.  Cheerio!

[rosemarykaye]

Hi all

I've just been at the Apple shop with my husband - I am supposed to be getting some sort of laptop for a late birthday present, but I have been finding it hard to know what I want.  I saw that so many of you were pleased with your i-pads, so we went to look at those, and I also saw the add-on keyboards and the easel type cases, all of which I thought looked great.

I have also, however, looked at Amazon for the reviews - some people on there seem to have a lot of complaints about i-pads, so I wonder if you could help me to decide if it is right for me?  I use the computer for e-mails, writing letters (maybe one day a novel!!), internet access (things like this site, B Pym group, booking rail and air tickets, Amazon, house sales sites (at the moment anyway)), etc.  I do not use things like spreadsheets or anything complicated.  I am very interested in the Kindle app.  One of the reviewers was saying that e-mail and word processing are terribly slow on the i-pad - do any of you find this a problem?  My husband thinks the negative reviews probably come from techno-obsessed males who are into all kinds of complicated stuff that would not bother me - do you agree?

Any advice much appreciated.  We have looked at lots of small laptops, but I must say the i-pad seems the best option.

Thanks and happy Boxing Day,

Rosemary (you will be amazed to see that my photo is finally loaded - needless to say it was husband and not I who managed that  )

[rosemarykaye]

MaryPage - I didn't realise the Mitfords were so big in the USA.  As a teenager I loved reading Jessica Mitford's autobiography "Hons & rebels", and I still enjoy Nancy Mitford's books, but I think that we in the UK have had a bit of an overdose of Mitfords, and I could not bring myself to read this latest offering, so I will be interested to hear what you think of it.

Enjoy all you books and chocolates - sounds like a great way to start 2011!

Rosemary

[bellemere]

Happy St. Stephen's Day - no shopping, no cooking, no company, no dressing up, no place I have to be, just me and my books and the Back of the Head in the T.V. room.  Snow falling outside, first real storm of the winter.  New CD of  Beethoven's Archduke Trio, playing for the third time today, just love it.
Reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, combination biography and biology lesson.  No verdict yet; but the author raises some questions of medical ethics.  Also getting ready to start The Nine about the Supreme Court.  Any comments on either?

[maryz]

I thought Henrietta Lacks was a fascinating story - what happened to the family, plus how things have changed in medicine.

[mabel1015j]

Rosemary - my email is very fast on my ipad, but some attachments will not open on the ipad bcs it doesn't accommodate "flash" drive, an Apple/Microsoft battle, i believe. I have had no problem using the "notepad". I've not come to the "end" of it altho i've filled at least ten pages of notes. So i don't know what it's limitations are. I understand that they have a new word processing-type app that's either out or coming out. I have't paid any attn bcs i use the pc for my big files. I have dowloaded the kindle app and it works perfectly. I think i use my ipad just about as you would and i'm happy w/ it. I wld recommend getting the easel/cover,it's very handy. I agree with your husband abt the geeks doing the reviews.....

We're having a beautiful snowfall, very fine and fluffy, perfect for the holidays.

Jean

[roshanarose]

I have enjoyed the vicarious pleasure of reading through gifts received etc.

Rosemary - What a gorgeous creature you are!

I was given a bottle of Chanel "Allure" by my beautiful daughter; a voucher for Officeworks to help buy printing ink; some glace fruit (yummy); a Borders gift voucher for ebooks and iother such frivolities.  My cat RoxanaTaj received a bell ball and a mouse that squeaks upon contact.  I would like to be able to relate a cutesy story, but she is so spoilt and jaded, she prodded the mouse once and the ball twice.  Ungrateful creature!

If you are planning to join our Classics Books discussion, you may be interested to know that the first ebook I bought on my giftcard was "The Odyssey".  I plan to have it read by February.  Wish me luck.  

[kiwilady]

I did not get any books but got an MP3 player which has the software compatible with downloading audio books from the library. We have a new library website which has the most unwieldy search engine I have ever come across. I need my daughter to find the downloadable book catalogue as I can't access it. I do know it exists. I have one free download that came in the player pack from a web library.

Carolyn

[kiwilady]

Gifts - money money and more money. (got the MP3 player at the sales with some of it and a new portable house phone. ). Got perfume (nice) a natural based skin care set in a wonderful cast that you can pack when you go away and hang up in the bathroom for easy access. Its made in NZ and Olive oil and olive leaf extract make up some of the ingredients. Got chocolates, aromatherapy candle in a lovely heavy based holder. Artemis relaxing herbal tea in a gift pack. I nearly passed out when I saw the price of it on the net. I thought I might buy more when I have used this lot. (Maybe NOT!)  A gift basket of NZ made gourmet preserves and Chocolate sauce but wait for it every product has booze in it. For instance, Blackberry and Rum conserve. Chocolate and Kahlua sauce ( to pour over icecream) Apricot jam with brandy and Raspberry and Fejoa with NO booze added. Also chocolates and toffees spread all round the basket. No booze in the chocolate thank goodness!

Youngest son took me to the Mall today with his youngest son. We had coffee and muffins and wandered round the stores. Graham will be away next week on my birthday so he asked me to choose a birthday present. I chose cotton sateen sheets (500 thread count) they are so soft!  My sheets are in good condition but SO old. ( and stiff) He is going camping so he bought himself a very nice camp bed.

[rosemarykaye]

Jean, thanks for all this advice - i will tell my husband about the attachments.  I think i did see the word processing app mentioned in the Apple store.

I had a look at the Gutenberg project and was amazed at how many books are there for the taking.

Some of my favourite presents were Issy Miyake and Nina Ricci scent, the new DVD of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (we have never been able to get this on DVD before, and I am scared to watch the old video in case it snaps), the CDs of the first series of Clare in the Community (does anyone else get this BBC Radio series?  It is hilarious, the main character being a very PC and very annoying social worker - but all of the roles are played brilliantly) and a Jolomo calendar from my friend.  I love Jolomo paintings. 

Rosemary

[Steph]

Happy two days after Christmas.. It  sounds quite lovely from all. I got a variety of things.. mostly books, calendars, etc.. My granddaughter found a tiny jewelbox that has Nana on top. She told me this was a special box to put remembrances of her GrandDad.. She had seen the small heart box I have with his wedding ring and wanted to add to that.. I thought it was incredibly thoughtful. We took pictures for a change, so I am busy sorting them out on the computers.
I asked for What I eat from around the world. It is large and heavy, but infinitely fascinating.
I love the IPAD, but I do have a regular pc for complicated things.. Actually Amazon is hawking the Kindle, so they would be more prone to putting complaints about the IPAD. I do all sorts of things on mine and have no problems downloading email or facebook..

[FlaJean]

I'm very happy with my iPad.  I use it for a variety of things.  We bought a better wireless router and the speed for downloading email, etc., is FAST.  I find reading the newspapers with their special iPad apps much better than on the computer.  I have the Mac app called "Pages" and have used it often while traveling then shared the info with my computer later.  Of course, I also read books on the iPad.  I use my computer for desktop publishing, printing photos, etc (more complicated things).

[Steph]

We are getting ready for our once a year book sale at the library, the end of February, so last evening, I did some rooting around and came up with a nice fat bag for them. Generally I give most ofmy books I have read and dont want to keep to a daughter in law, but she got about 8 books for Christmas, so I figure the book sale needs them worse than she does.

[ALF43]

I bought and read about Henrietta Lacks and found the story quite fascinating.  I particularly read with interest the many medical ethics issues. I then bought it for my DIL for a Christmas present.
I love my Nook and am reading a Max Lucado, the new Baldacci Hell's Corner and am waiting to start the Empire of the Summer Moon.
 I have a ga-zillion $$$ worth of B & N gift cards and am having a wonderful time searching for what I want.  I am a happy woman!

Steph- I just did the very same thing at our library with my books.  Early on they had refused to take the 2nd hand books but now with the budgets in the county being so depleted they were tickled to death to r/c them.  Plus, it made me feel good to pass them on, knowing that they will be enjoyed by others.
When I gave them the 3 bags, the librarian went through them and just smiled at me.  Eclectic reader that I am, I assured her there was something there for everyone.

[ALF43]

Has anyone read the Mark Twain autobio. yet?  Do you have any comments for me as I am still hesitant whether or not to download it.

[maryz]

Alf, I got the Mark Twain autobio on my kindle.  I've not read any of it, but John has.  He says it is really wicked, and has enjoyed it.  But he says it's not necessarily something to read all the way through, but just in sections.

[mabel1015j]

Our library hasn't had a book sale for two yrs. They were planning on having to move while therewas a major renovation of the building, but it's gotten all tied up in rad tape and budget cuts...........so i've got books stacked waiting to get them the heck out of my house! I may haveto check w/ neighboring libraries to see when they will take them. I did give the reference librarian three of the books of "readings" from my Western Civ classes. She said she would put them in the circulation and will take my textbooks, even tho they are highlighted and noted. The college changed/updated history texts about every two yrs even tho the history didn't change....lol. Unfortunately that meant the students couldn't easily use used texts and had to buy new ones......i'm sure that was the point of the publishers.....sigh....jean

[Steph]

Friends of the Library does our book sale and I joined last year. Now that I am here most of the time, I have joined a few organizations. Our library due to extreme budget restraints gets first pick. They take most of the childrens books, all of the dvd's, a lot of cd's and alot of hardback.. My Genealogy stuff goes to a section of the library run by our local genealogical society ( guess who joined that one too). I like the idea of someone reading things I loved.
I have been reading a years daily meditations on grief and loss. It has helped me such much..I have a friend who just lost her husband in November and I have decided to pass it on to her.

[Babi]

  That would be a most thoughtful gift, STEPH.  Much as we care, no
one can really understand a loss who hasn't suffered it. and so can't be as
much help as one would like to be. 
  My SIL is still mourning the loss of her husband, my brother, though after
five years some of her friends/family are trying to 'match' her up.  She is coping, but now that all the grandchildren are no longer with her, she is
alone.  I need to try and send some time with her, but my off-and-on health
makes planning so tenuous.

[maryz]

Steph, our Friends of the Library does at least two book sales a year.  We sell not only donated books (lots of those), but books that the library itself is taking off the shelves.  (Sometimes when a book is new and "hot", lots of copies are bought, but they don't need that many copies after a while.) 

[ALF43]

Thanks MaryZ.

[roshanarose]

I recently downloaded "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larssen onto my new Sony Touch eReader.  I quite enjoyed the first "Girl" but I am finding this one rather heavy going.  Did anyone else find this?

[PatH]

Since we were concerned about not having heard from Jackie (mrssherlock) for so long, I finally emailed her.  She has been having balance problems from an inner ear condition, and has been working through a lot of necessary readjustments to her life.  She hopes to be back soon.  It'll be good to see her back.

[bellemere]

Re: Jackie's balance/inner ear problems.  For many years while I was working I had Meniere'sDisease, and would get slammed with vertigo at unexpected times. The next few hours were hell, with constant vomiting and dry heaves, finally able to keep down a mild sedative like dramamine and sleep it off.  It certainly does complicate life.  I had to drive to work and through some miracle, I never had an attack while driving.  I did while giving a classroom lecture and went down hard.  Some well-meaning students thought I'd had a heart attack and were about to start giving me
CPR when I managed to fend them off!  My ENT doctor was a former air force doctor and had seen a lot of it in pilots, and I understand, in astronauts.  He was getting ready to recommend surgical removal of my inner ear, when it disappeared, as mysteriously as it had come on.  It left me with hearing loss, but no more vertigo.  It lasted almost exactly seven years, which is what the doc says is classic. 
I hope Jackie gets the support she needs; my understanding husband and children kept me going when i despaired.  This was almost 20 years ago, and there is still  no reliable treatment for it.

[kiwilady]

I also have balance and inner ear problems. I have had attacks for the past 10 years. Its related to sinus problems. I have had it for weeks on end at times and it mysteriously disappears (until the next time!) It is very very scary if you live on your own.

Carolyn

[JoanK]

My husband had occasional attacks of inner ear problems, when he couldn't move without falling. The first time it happened we were terrified, having no idea what had happened. Eventually he learned to tell when it was liable to happen and avoid driving.

I can't imagine how one could manage on ones own. Do you wear a panic button? I wear one and, though I have never had to use it, it gives me a feeling of security.

[Gumtree]

PatH Thanks for contacting Mrs Sherlock (Jackie). I've had such strong vibes about her since she stopped posting. It's good to know what the problem is - I sure hope she can overcome it in double quick time. If you're in contact with her again please give her my love and best wishes.

I sometimes have minor balance problems caused by my chronic sinusitis - it comes and goes but can be quite troublesome at times. I like to ride a bicycle for exercise but if my sinuses are bad I don't dare - too old to take bad falls at speed.

[kiwilady]

You have to manage when you live alone. Its just a fact. I had to do things like hang on to furniture when I moved around the house. I still had to care for my animals and feed myself and shower etc. I have been on my own since I was widowed at the age of 46. I have had no desire to find anyone else. My late husband would be a hard act to follow.

Carolyn

[roshanarose]

I, too, have been thinking of Jackie.  Hang in there, Jackie.  We are with you.