Author Topic: The Library (Read 2087281 times)

ginny · « **Reply #3840 on:** January 21, 2011, 04:43:34 PM »

The Library

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

We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not).

Let the book talk begin here!

*Suggestion Box for Future Discussions
*SeniorLearn's Archives

ginny · « **Reply #3841 on:** January 21, 2011, 04:45:54 PM »

Joan G! I am so sorry to hear you fell again, that's the last thing you need! I hope they can do something about what caused the dizziness.{{{{ Hugs!}}}}

Delderfield! I can't believe I never read any Delderfield, tho have heard of it all my life!

What an interesting link, Pedln!

Dana the Pearl Buck biography is an eye opener, if you like her I would definitely read it.

I started Julian Fellowe's (sp) Past Imperfect and for some reason can't get into it, so have put it aside for when I am more interested. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

I am reading the fabulous manual on baking bread: the bread bible. No caps. By Rose Levy Beranbaum. HUGE huge gigantic thing. If you can lift it, you'll marvel. It's everything you ever wanted to know about baking bread, and it's like talking to a friend who tells you what the others don't. I came upon it by baking bread like they make at Macaroni Grill, from a website called Jamie Cooks it Up, whose recipes feature picture by picture steps, kneading in the Kitchenaid, rising in a 170 degree oven, manageable sizes of flour, and on one website when I looked up using a bread hook or a food processor to knead dough, I saw a reference to the "bread bible," and it's just fabulous.

I am now also reading Gringos in Paradise which I've had for about 7 months. The author is Barry Golson and it's about a couple who decide to build their retirement home in Mexico on the coast. I thought I would hate it but figured it would be good for a trip (you know, a plane/ train book) and I find to my shock I like it, so far, it's quite engaging. Their two boys are grown and well educated and gone and mom and dad have not put enough away, after putting the children thru college, and because of their types of jobs there are no huge windfall packets, pensions, etc., it's....amazingly interesting. So far the book is honest and up front; they live in NYC, an expensive city with not a lot to sustain them in retirement in their current mode of life. I'm going to be interested in the tax question and some other items and to see if they are going to be as honest with them as they are so far. If you've ever idly dreamed of having a house in the south of France or on Aruba, this more modest enterprise might interest you. I'm not very far into it, so far the friends are shocked, and they are driving to Mexico and she is studying Spanish in the car on audio tapes and the repetition is annoying him, (he knows Spanish and has lived in Mexico) so they compromise on the entertainment, apparently he just discovered Sirius, but it's...interesting.

Stephanie, I know you will enjoy your trip to Westminster Dog Show. As it happens I have a cousin whose dog will be there too in the Rottweiler division, so hopefully you'll both have a super time.

I absolutely loved the Egg and I, Betty McDonald (sp) was it? I loved her writing, the movie with Fred McMurray, and her sequels of which there were several. They were all just as good as the first book and you laugh as hard at the last one where she moves to an island off Seattle was it as the first. Learning about her real life other than the movie made one respect her more, I won't spoil it but she did have some hard times the movie didn't quite get to. She had a lot of spirit. I admire her.

ginny · « **Reply #3842 on:** January 21, 2011, 04:55:51 PM »

Pedln, that Tiger Mother is something else, isn't it? There have been a lot of articles on it, I just read one yesterday in USA Today. Somewhat leaves one speechless, actually, or it did me, anyway.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3843 on:** January 21, 2011, 05:00:38 PM »

Fear not Rosemary - Amazon UK has used copies priced low low low and so adding shipping the over all price should still be within your budget.
Milly Molly Mandy[\u]

Was The Egg and I the basis for the TV show Green Acres -

Thanks pedln I am having great fun with the site - not only birthdays for all the family including my mother and dad but in addition the two times of my life when I had my nose stuck in a book -

Between the 7th grade and graduating from High School I regularly read 6 to 8 books a week with at least 4 going at the same time - one book on the shelf while doing dishes - one on the back porch to grab on my way to school - one hidden in my desk to read instead of doing homework - and one tucked in the carriage that I read when I took my baby brother or sister for a walk -

The second big read-in - when my older two were ages 3and4 till they were 5and6 [10 months between those two] until Paul was born I took out of the Library the limit - 6 books a week - after he was born it was non-stop school, scouts, community events - no children napping so I could read - then as the older two were in High School I went to college with all that required reading - then 70/ 80 hours a week getting my business going - its really only in the last 15 or so years that I have been reading to keep Amazon from going out of business -

Reviewing the years was a trip down memory lane seeing all the authors and titles from the past.

Yes I have helped many a 'Tiger Mom' with Real Estate - even the 'pussy cat' Asian Moms expect much from their kids - the kids become very accomplished and are so far beyond the average in school that when a neighborhood has a good number of Asian families living there the reputation for excellence in the school goes sky high.

Here in Austin, Asian children go to Chinese school on Saturday that includes learning the cultural music and dance and then on Sunday the Chinese churches [mostly Christian] have all day Sunday School with everyone bringing pot luck Chinese food and those who are Catholic all meet for late brunch at the same restaurant every week and their brunch time lasts for at least 4 hours. So the children only hear Chinese spoken or if from Indonesia they may also hear Dutch spoken.

Then in College the Asian Students meet for hours going over all their classes in Chinese to be sure they understand and then they discuss each lesson in English to get all the meat out of what they are there to learn. It is amazing to show a Condo occupied by Asian students - there are pallets all over and on a Sunday afternoon they are all napping with as many as 20 to 25 crammed in a one bedroom Condo - the only other furniture is often a huge barrel of rice in the middle of the kitchen floor with rice cookers on the counters. Amazing, astonishing and an example of dedication.

bellemere · « **Reply #3844 on:** January 21, 2011, 08:27:26 PM »

I thought Brooks must have a book coming out when I heard my son in law had lunch with him. I loved the article and will definitely read the book. This son in law has a beautiful, brilliance daughter, who studies with dedication but whose social life is limited to a few other studious girls. She is looking at colleges. I hope her mom and dad consider some of the points Brooks tries to make: that inspiring teachers make a college education worthwhile, for instance. She is so dear to me, we swap poems by email, she plays my favorite Chopin nocturnes for me when I visit, she sides with me when I have my hot politecal discussions with her parents.
When my kids were in school they brought home a fair share of straight A report cards. My husband's traditional response, after carefully perusing it , was: "This is a very boring report card. The same thing, over and over. A,A,A....." then he would grin and give them a big hug. My grandaughters , including the one above, always call him when they get a "boring" report card.

Steph · « **Reply #3845 on:** January 22, 2011, 06:33:43 AM »

O h wow. Did the birth thing and have read 9 of t he 20 books, so I must have liked older books here and there. Still it was fun. I still have the Pearl Buck biography onmy list, but I am soo far behind. I still pick up What I eat every day and read a few pages to marvel at the people all over the world and the different customs.Wow..
Delderfield.. I read a bunch of his way back.. Oh.. Roses is out in paperback and I did buy a copy yesterday.Several people here loved it.as I remember

bellemere · « **Reply #3846 on:** January 22, 2011, 09:31:29 AM »

"Gringos in Paradise" sounds like a fun book to take to Mexico. I always had an impractical fantasy about retiring to Merida, in the Yucatan. When I shared it withhusband I got an "Are you losing your mind? " look, so I like to experience vicariously.

Babi · « **Reply #3847 on:** January 22, 2011, 09:50:39 AM »

That was fun, PEDLN. I know I've read five of those books, and I
think I may have read a couple more. It was a good year.

Quote

these days I tend to think "I could read three books for that one").

OH, me too, ROSEMARY. And I'm much older than you. Nevertheless,
I just picked up the first of the Delderfield books..a hefty
volume...and the February selection for discussion, another hefty
volume. Wish me luck!

MaryPage · « **Reply #3848 on:** January 22, 2011, 11:02:36 AM »

The book list for my 1929 birth year shows All Quiet On The Western Front as the #1 best seller in fiction. Of course, I have read it. Long, long ago. Did not like it. Didn't they make a movie of it?

The Art of Thinking by Ernest Dimnet was #1 on the non-fiction list. The title rings a bell deep in the recesses of my mind, but the author does not. I am quite certain I have never picked it up.

Book #2 on the fiction list does excite me, however. Remember Sinclair Lewis? It is his Dodsworth. Oh, how I loved his books. Main Street was outstanding.

bellemere · « **Reply #3849 on:** January 22, 2011, 01:10:52 PM »

Just realized I need to busy on "No Fond Return of Love" if i want to attend the Pym Society's annual meeting in March. I went to the website and found that it is quite a hefty fee to register: $55.00
The dinners, too, are quite costly. I would not need lodgin, tho, if I stayed a couple of towns away with a daughter. Must conside. But will get the book anyway.

JoanP · « **Reply #3850 on:** January 22, 2011, 01:35:31 PM »

I'll get the book, too, Bellemere. Am considering coming to that meeting, too - can you remind me of the dates. Wouldn't it be great if Rosemary could make it? Wasn't there some talk of that possibility not too long ago?

Might the $55 registration fee include one meal?

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3851 on:** January 22, 2011, 02:11:35 PM »

On "my list" the only book i've read is For WhomThe Bell Tolls, probably after i saw the movie. Wasn't it great when they made movies of popular books? Do they do that as often now? I know there is a discussion category of "books into movies." Maybe someone who goes to the movies more than i do can give an objective answer? But, remember so many of Hemingway and Wouk and Costsin's books were also movies. The recent ones i can remember are Eat, Pray, Love, Ya-Ya Sisterhood ( maybe not so recent

) Traveling Pants, but as i said i don't see alot of movies. Yes, Marypage, there was a movie of All Quiet........i think Gary Cooper was in it......i'll check on that.

Maryz - did your dgt ever check out proofreading for Gutenberg? I was just looking at that again and remembered your saying she might like to do that. I was prompted to go back bcs i read some pieces of a book abt women in colonial America - one woman's birth and death dates were listed as B-1000 and D-1661!!!.......wow! I tho't " she's right up there w/ Methusalah(sp?)"

. Another woman's dates had her born some yrs after her death year.....that's a trick. ........i may give the proofreading a try, especially if i can do it on the
ipad.
Bellmere - your relationship w/ your grnddgt sounds lovely, cherish the moments.

Jean

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3852 on:** January 22, 2011, 02:14:58 PM »

Barbara- thanks for the interesting snippet of a look of Chinese-American culture in your town. My husband said the studying habits of the African students at his college were similar. ....jean

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3853 on:** January 22, 2011, 02:19:12 PM »

I was wrong abt Gary Cooper, i guess it was too early even for him.....Lew Ayres

See:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020629/

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3854 on:** January 22, 2011, 02:23:57 PM »

Oh my Gary Cooper - I had a photo of him from a Sunday paper on the wall next to my bed - don't remember him in All Quiet... but do remember him in Sargent York another WWI movie - the other actor who put a smile on my face was Randolph Scott - lordy that is taking us back...

maryz · « **Reply #3855 on:** January 22, 2011, 02:25:36 PM »

Jean, I don't guess she ever checked out the proofreading - at least I never heard any more about it. I certainly agree that the book world certainly needs some proofreading besides spellchecker and grammarchecker.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3856 on:** January 22, 2011, 02:35:58 PM »

I adored Randolph Scott as well and all. Nearly died when I heard he was gay. I seem to have a very special liking for gay actors.

Sargeant York was a great movie, and very close to a true story.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3857 on:** January 22, 2011, 02:36:13 PM »

I have made a New Year's resolution! As of today, i'm putting NO MORE books on my TBR list! I have PAGES on my palm pilot and they go off the list much slower than new ones come on....so i at the least, have to take one off before adding any more

..........let's see how long that lasts???.....i may have to stop coming on SL..........

......jean

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3858 on:** January 22, 2011, 03:14:57 PM »

hmmm Mary from what I researched since I had not heard of Randolph Scott as gay - he was married twice and between marriages had a string of well known woman - he has a few children which I know during those years often a gay guy would marry and have children to keep the gossip down - however, the question of sexual orientation came only after he and Cary Grant, who were both notorious tight wads lived together for 10 years to save a dime - one author who was outing everyone he could imagine wrote that there was more to their living together and the rumor mill took off - at which point both Scott and Grant took up separate quarters - so maybe - however, sounds to me like he would be 'by' and from all accounts the only possible lover known would be Cary Grant.

Jean I tried that last year - nothing was going to be put in my Amazon basket for later - then if something did end up on the list I would review it after a week before I would hit the purchase button - the resolve lasted about 3 months...but at least I seldom now hit that button without the book going into my cart for a week and then I go back to see how important the book was and when would I read it.

Steph · « **Reply #3859 on:** January 23, 2011, 06:09:41 AM »

Hm, The Randolph Scott intrigue is interesting. I read the same thing about being gay and thought that was odd.. But it was such a forbidden thing when he was a star that I can see hiding it. I remember the nine day wonder about Rock Hudson.. Now I dont think anyone ever cares.
A much healthier attitude.
My TBR list is way out of hand,but even longer is the two going on three baskets of books in my living room.. I find it so hard to resist buying books especially at book sales. .50.. oh me, I just have to have that. Sigh.
Sinclair Lewis., Now there is a golden memory. I read every single one of his books.. I tried to reread a few years ago and they are so dated, but still well written. Louis Bromfield. I came on a book in my library..It is three of his in one volume.. I picked it up, read a few pages and back came the memory of a young Mother in the 60's.. spellbound by his world.. That is the best part of reading..Remembering.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3860 on:** January 23, 2011, 08:28:35 AM »

I feel absolutely ghastly if I am guilty of spreading a false rumor about Randolph Scott. Of course, you do understand that he was just a movie star to me and I never met him or clapped eyes on him in my life other than on the silver screen; nor did I ever meet anyone who knew him. I loved his looks and his acting and his voice and remember being crushed when I read somewhere something that made it sound like an absolute fact that he was gay. I am very fond of gay men, but one cannot fantasize about walking off hand in hand into the sunset with them, and to have Scott stricken off that dream list was a bummer.

Color me still a silly girl.

Babi · « **Reply #3861 on:** January 23, 2011, 09:49:46 AM »

Spelling was very iffy in those days. There were no rules, so
everyone just put down what they thought the word sounded like.
And when they get the numbers wrong, it's anybody's guess what
they should have been. Be very hard to correct that. A best guess
for that lady's birth and death dates would be 1600-1661--pretty
old for those days.

JEAN, you remind me of a friend of mine who always has several
needlework projects going at once. From time to time she would
have to determine not to buy or start any more until she had
some of those on hand completed. It wasn't easy, but it was the
only way she could keep from being totally overwhelmed.

bellemere · « **Reply #3862 on:** January 23, 2011, 10:43:42 AM »

The Pym Society website gives the date of the conference in Cambridge as March 18 - 20, 2011
All the information is there, and the registration fee does not include a meal, they are additional.
I have a spare room in my house, open to someone, but that means a bus trip to Boston and a subway loop to Harvard for the day. I will just get back from MX on the 11. they want a decision by March 1. I really have to think about this I heard from Tom, he is hoping our group will be represented.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3863 on:** January 23, 2011, 10:49:36 AM »

MaryPage don't sweat it - gay, by or straight it matters not - all we could ever do was dream and dreams can be altered to suit the dreamer - sounds to me like romance is high on your list and navigating a dream with gays you could depend on romance.

One of my favorite books back then was 'Trail of the Lonesome Pine' and when the movie came out I wished it was Randolph Scott playing the lead - forget now who it was - seems to me maybe a very young Henry Fonda who didn't have the grit of a man from the hills of Kentucky. Oh he was gentle but there is a way of being gentle with iron in your spine that is typical of men in that part of the world.

Well like Babi's friend feeling overwhelmed with too many needlework projects going on at the same time - I have several books going - all so fascinating I cannot choose - I start on one for about an hour than I get antsy and switch - it is as if I want to quickly gobble them all down at once but then I know I am going to be disappointed when I've finished the book and have nothing to look forward to. Crazy - I know - I think it is what my father used to call 'my wants' that take over...his opinion was that having wants meant taking on a lot of risk... so far my scorecard is mixed - I did learn as a kid to keep my wants/dreams to myself - others could latch onto them and suck all the air out of them before you knew what happened and if it was a want that wasn't good for you they would urge me on by giving me all these excuses as to why I should have what I wanted.

I'm sure it is why I read so much - a book is a dream factory and sometimes my appetite for a new dream is so big I need more than one story going at a time. I've gotten to that stage in life where I need some new dreams - most of the old ones have either come true or bit the dust for good...Problem I don't have the patience as I did so that I would take the time to weave a dream - here of late I want it whole and ready to act on NOW! Result I've been racing trying to catch one that will stay lit.

bellemere · « **Reply #3864 on:** January 23, 2011, 10:51:33 AM »

OOps! A closer reading of the barbarpym.org website makes it appear that the registration fee includes Saturday lunch, and "Tea" of course. also the Sunday morning coffee - pastry hour.

pedln · « **Reply #3865 on:** January 23, 2011, 12:15:30 PM »

Quote

Wasn't it great when they made movies of popular books? Do they do that as often now? I know there is a discussion category of "books into movies." Maybe someone who goes to the movies more than i do can give an objective answer?

I think they do, Jean, but sometimes they have other titles, sometimes the books aren’t so well-known. And there are sometimes films from the blockbuster books like the Stieg Larsson trilogy. Remember when Schindler’s List was such a hit? Most of us were unaware of the book with the same title by Australian writer Thomas Keneally. And then there is Brokeback Mountain, from a short story by (I think) Alice Munro. I’ve seen the film African Queen gazillion times, but have never read the C.S. Forester book. A fantastic recent film, and one I hope gets Jennifer Lawrence an Oscar, is Winter’s Bone from the book by Daniel Woodrell.

I could go on forever, because chasing down a film’s origin is a fun game for me. Just today, an interviewee in the NY Times said he had seen Mao’s Last Dancer and it was magnificent. It’s from the 2004 autobiography by Li Cunxin.

Bookmarks Magazine sometimes lists films being made into books and whe they’re being released. I’m waiting for Kathleen Stockett’s The Help, which is supposedly in production.

In the meantime, do stop in to our SeniorLearn discussion Movies and Books Into Movies

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3866 on:** January 23, 2011, 12:55:27 PM »

I agree Pedln, i think i'm just not paying as much attention.

Barbara and Babi - you got it exactly right for my personality. I always have sev'l knitting and/or crocheting projects going and am always reading sev'l books. Right now i am listening to Andrea Mitchell's memoir, and The Dark at the End of the Street, abook abt how rape and abuse of Black women was the smoldering fuse for the Civ Rts movement and how important women were to the proceedings of the movement, a story almost lost when the press focused on the male ministers who "fronted" the movement, not tosay those men were unimportant to the cause. Some of it is a tough read, so i take it in small doses and skim those parts i am already familiar with. I'm also reading a Diane Davidson mystery and Emilie Richards "Touching Stars", which is a very good story and John Jakes' "The Bastard" which i read a long time ago but decided i wld start at the beginning and read thru the series. I also read bits and
pieces of women's history on preparation of the w's history course i'm giving in the spring.

Spme people wld call this scatterbrained, i call it eclectic interests.

Babi - yes, i agree, that woman's life line should be 1600 - 1661, which was a long life for the time. Her name is Margaret Brent and she may be cosidered the first woman lawyer in the N. American colonies. She had the power of atty for Lord Calvert, governer of colonial Maryland and acted as business manager for her brothers estates and her own, which she owned and managed independently. She plead dozens of cases, mostly for debts owed, and won most of them.

I read Main Street w/in the last two decades and was amazed at how insightful Sinclair Lewis was abt how bored women could bcm if not having intellectual stimulation and how well he understood how confining and isolating small town life can be.

Jean

bellemere · « **Reply #3867 on:** January 23, 2011, 04:39:34 PM »

Joan P., where do you live? How would you be traveling if you came to Cambridge in March? It is still very cold and windy most March days here.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3868 on:** January 23, 2011, 05:52:51 PM »

Much as I would love to go to the B Pym conference this year, I am moving out of my house on 18th Feb and staying with my friend from then till 1st April so that my younger daughter can still go to school till the end of term - so there is no way I can jump ship in March. I will be there in spirit, and maybe next year I will finally be there in body - once I have moved to Edinburgh I should be able to leave husband vaguely in charge for a few days!

Rosemary

roshanarose · « **Reply #3869 on:** January 23, 2011, 10:39:31 PM »

bellemere - Do you live in Cambridge, MA? I have a very dear friend who lives there. She is a widow and very well read, but steadfastly refuses to have anything to do with a computer. I feel that she is missing out on so much, including our discussions here. She also has a holiday house at Cape Cod. I have visited her in Cambridge, but would love to holiday with her at Cape Cod. Once again - too far away. To contact her I have to use "snail mail". Well named from Australia to the US.

Pedln - Actually the move "Schindler's List" is from the book "Schindler's Ark" by Thomas Keneally. Quite confusing.

Steph · « **Reply #3870 on:** January 24, 2011, 06:13:45 AM »

I saw The Kings Speech last night. What a really good movie.. The characters were so well done and of course my much loved Corgi were in several scenes as well.. I suspect it also captured The Prince of Wales personality to a Tee..
Cambridge will be cold in March.. I spent 10 years a little north in Bedford, Ma and it is very cold in New England almost always through March.
Wow.. Rosemary, it sounds as if you sold your house, but did not find a new anything quite yet.. Will you have to store your furniture?? I may have missed out on why you are moving fromAberdeen to Edinburgh,, We took a train when we were there, but I thought it was a bit beyond any sort of commuting.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #3871 on:** January 24, 2011, 08:40:53 AM »

Steph - I am moving because husband has been working down there for almost 2 years - he has been doing a weekly commute. We intended to move last summer - having waited for my son to finish school - then of course we couldn't sell the house - it finally sold in November. The train is fine but as you say, a bit much for a daily commute - it takes around 3 hours each way. We drove back last night and did it in 2 hours, but that was with my husband driving and me trying not to put my foot on an imaginary brake

. It would take me 3 hours.

We have seen a flat that we like but so far the seller hasn't accepted our offer - time is runningout now, so yes, most of our things will go onto store and once M has finished this term she and I will move down and live in the rented flat till we do buy. Luckily it is very handy for M's new school. I will be glad when it is all sorted, I am not good with change!

R

bellemere · « **Reply #3872 on:** January 24, 2011, 09:00:01 AM »

Roshanarose, I live in Western Massachusetts, about an hour and twenty minutes from
Cambridge, used to be an easy drive, but my macular degenerationmeans I now have to take a bus or prevail on husband to make the trip. Sheesh.

bellemere · « **Reply #3873 on:** January 24, 2011, 09:03:07 AM »

Steph, would you like a "How cold is it?" story from Massachusetts? this morning my husband's little weather station gave the outside temp as 8 below zero! Even for here, that is unusual. And I am faced with theprospect of going out to the market later.
Train trip - way to go!

serenesheila · « **Reply #3874 on:** January 25, 2011, 01:58:53 AM »

What wonderful information all of you have shared about books you have enjoyed. I had never heard of Delderfield's books. You all seemed full of praise about them, so I ordered a couple of his for my Kindle. I also, never read "The Forsyte Saga", and although I have the DVD series I have never watched it! My DVDs involve a TBS (to be seen) stack.

I did read Elizabeth Jane Howard's "The Cazelet" series. I also have, and watched the series on DVD. I really enjoyed them. I also loved "The Silver Chalice". I fell in love with Paul Newman in the movie.

PEDLIN, I will try "A Trace of Smoke", by Rebecca Cantrell. Thanks for your reccomendation. I have an abiding interest in anything to do with the period from 1906 forward. Especially the 1920s.

I never read "The Tontine", by Costain, either, or "The Awakening Land". The trilogy, "The Trees", "The Fields", and "The Town". All are set in Ohio. I have an interest there, as my son and his family live in Southwest Ohio.

These book discussions are wonderful. But my TBR stack is so high, I doubt that I can finish it, if I live to be 100!

Sheila

Steph · « **Reply #3875 on:** January 25, 2011, 06:26:32 AM »

The Awakening Land was also a TV miniseriesi many years ago. I think it was
Elizabeth Montgomery and it was wonderful.. I loved the books, but also loved the miniseries.. You might enjoy it if it is still around. I have ordered the first Hamish McBeth to see how I like them..
Again you would love The Tontine, but oh my, it is long..

Babi · « **Reply #3876 on:** January 25, 2011, 09:04:25 AM »

Margaret Brent sounds fascinating, JEAN. It's hard to imagine governor of Maryland
giving a woman his Power of Attorney. I do seem to vaguely remember knowing of a
woman who managed her own and her brothers' plantations. I there a biography of
Margaret Brent?

I've started the Delderfield book, "God Is An Englishman", and I can see I'm going
to enjoy this. No surprise to any of you, I'm sure. I've also started "Empire of the
Summer Moon", which I'm finding a little harder to get into. It's beginning to open
up a bit more, so I have hopes for it.
SHEILA, "The Trees", "The Fields" and "The Town" are all Conrad Richter books. (Just
in case there is some confusion on that.)

bellemere · « **Reply #3877 on:** January 25, 2011, 09:20:11 AM »

MORE snow here today; and bitterly cold. I half expect to see Dr. Zhivago staggering across my lawn with ice in his mustache.
Reading , reading, my gosh, what would I do without it. Finishing The Nine, picked my favorite Supreme Court justice, David Sorter, wish he hadn't retired. He was the most non-political, with the purest view of jurisprudence and the least egomania. Somebody told me that he is still working as sort of a traveling judge, up in the New Hampshire small towns. After the travesty of the Bush Gore decision, he is said to have put his face into his hands and wept. Not for a candidate, it seems he never cared who was president. He thought the court had dishonored itself with a political decision. He wanted the case refused and sent back to the Florida Supreme Court.
About to start Tipping Point by Gladwell, about 5 years old now, but always meant to read it. Waiting for No fond Return of Love to come to the library. A Christmas present was "Humorous Writings from the New Yorker" one of those collections you can turn to for something light and funny.. Typical was Paul Rudnick's essay on "Intelligent Design" which has all the deities, the Lord God, Allah, Vishnu, Buddha, Apollo, Thor - as a bunch of bitchy interior decorators, designing the world and squabbling about the color scheme, the lighting, etc, and how many throw pillows. And Christopher Buckley's satirical "College Essay" . It's a nice change from intensity and complexity of The Nine.

JoanP · « **Reply #3878 on:** January 25, 2011, 10:50:16 AM »

Whenever I think my life is getting complicated, I will think of you, Rosemary! Somehow you manage to keep your equanimity. Admirable! Here's hoping the seller will relent and you will be able to move into that flat as soon as your daughter's term is over.

Bellemere, I live in Arlington, VA. So far snow has skipped over us, though I see that you have been hammered and are expecting more in the coming week. We've been trying to drive a car to my brother from Virginia to New Jersey for the last three weeks - Each time we had to cancel because of the snow to our north.
I know about the cold and the snow in Cambridge - lived there for two years while husband was in school. I was teaching up there at the time too - loved those snow days!

I'm thinking that March is not a good time to plan a drive notrh, though I really wanted to - back in the fall when we started to talk about it. Is there another conference in May? In the SPRING?

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3879 on:** January 25, 2011, 11:46:06 AM »

I haven't seen any book bio of Margaret Brent, but here is a mini bio and also a mini-mini bio w/ the basics

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/002100/002177/html/mbrent2.html

On my ipad, i have to do this in two postings bcs if i change windows to get the. Second link, i'll loose what i've already written in this post, so to be continued.........

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Author Topic: The Library (Read 2087281 times)