The Library

[mabel1015j]

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 
 

Just starting an interesting and well written book: Sins of the House of Borgia, by Sarah Bower. The protagonist is a Jewish woman who "converts" to Christianity to bcm a lady-in-waiting to Lucrezia Borgia. The cover leads me to thinking this might be considered an historical romance by some, but the detail is very interesting. The cruelty of the powerful to the non-powerful makes me very glad i live in 21st century America. But then reading any history has always made me feel that way. At this point -80 pages in-  i wld say if you like historical fiction to give it a try. It is one of those books where i have to sit w/ my ipad near by to look up some words that are not familiar to me - usually something of the time.

Babi- were you the one who months ago gave us a link to a site that explained clothing terms? I think i was reading Pillars of Fire at the time.

I'm not au courant on new books. I have read 3 of the books on the NYT's lists. Eat, Pray, Love; The Help; Tipping Point, which was very surprised to see on the paperback list. Wasn't it originally published a decade or more ago?

[Frybabe]

BoA and GE were both right there at the trough for the TARP money, too.

[mabel1015j]

Yes, the Tipping Point copyright is 2000. There must be a reason they've re-issued the p-back now. ..... Jean

[jane]

Have you noticed that a lot of books, published years ago, are being reissued, with new covers, but as if they were new books?

 I don't mind the reissue, if they say so...but I find it misleading to present it as if it were a new work.


jane

[maryz]

I agree, jane.  I've gotten to where I check the copyright date if I have the slightest question about its being a new book.

[JoanK]

STEPH: "Washington DC celebrates something, but the idea that the Internal Revenue also needs to honor it is beyond me.. "

I assume that, since it's a holiday in DC, the people at IRS got it off. So they don't want a huge stack of mail coming in with no one there to process it. Sounds practical, to me. And, since most state forms have you copy what's on the Federal form, requiring the State form to be filed before the federal form is due is iffy.

It seems like just common sense to me.Anyway, whom does it hurt?

[winsummm]

running out of kindle books I can afford after two years and 180books read.

My new iphone is teaching me how to text and it is handy. messages can be only a few words and work well during daily life. good for appointments etc. I do send images too though since you  can via email. just take the shot and turn it into a photo and send with message via text or email.  works for me. the one finger poking is hard to get used to though. I'm used to touch typing.
claire

[JoanK]

"running out of kindle books I can afford after two years and 180books read."

Don't tell me that (sob, sob). I'm not out of books yet. But the next step is to find that they exist by using the "browse" on Kindle, then track down a library or cheap used copy on Amazon.

I did that with the last book I read.

[Judy Laird]

Just finished a book I enjoyed. It wasn't a "grocery store shelf" or Kindle best seller, forget how I got it but itis good. The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas. I was not aware of "Writing Circles" but it is like a book club but these are smaller and are gatherings of  writers and they read like a chapter from their book and the others comment and maybe try to give helpful sugesstions.

Pedlin its 49 and the middle of April.

Also read Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes and loved it. Spartanberg was even in there.
Laughed and laughed

[Frybabe]

Winsumm, I'm glad to see you posting again.

I've been downloading a lot of free books from Project Gutenberg to my computer and then transferring them to the appropriate Kindle folder. My next downloaded read is going to be George Washington Cable's Madame Delphine which is set in New Orleans. I also have downloaded but not yet read a Zane Gray, two Max Brand westerns, one called Roman Women which is apparently part of a set of volumes about women down through the ages, one on Roman Britain, a book about Lucretia Borgia and one about Catherine de Medici, several first person accounts of pioneers, several about Indians, including Geronimo's book, and more. I even downloaded a book of old knitting patterns.

BTW, For those who like music and can play, there is a section with sheet music. I wonder if they are in a format that can be printed out.

[Steph]

I dont think that how many you employ should correlate with income tax. Everyone, no exceptions should pay some income tax. We have so many loopholes it is not funny.. A straightforward percent tax would be so much fairer..And this includes businesses.

[Babi]

Must have been someone else, JEAN. (I can usually remember if someone gives me a nudge.)

 Odd titles like "Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes" always intrigue me, JUDY. I'm going to see
if I can find it; I'm up for some good laughs.

[BarbStAubrey]

  look at all the tax accountants you will put out of business with your idea Steph - I do not care what system we adopt where there is a will there is a way and folks will avoid paying taxes once they figure out the way... there is a level of virtues if you will that is different for different folks and those who see avoiding taxes do not see the damage they only see the benefit they believe they  bring to the nation's economy by hiring workers.

Problem that I can see is we are not given a good  understanding of what we buy that benefits us directly - Along those lines even the average tax payer does not see the benefit to them of their taxes - example,  the latest email junk mail makes it appear the request to rebuild New Orleans was a direct dollar to each home owner with no comparison of what the direct financial benefit to each home owner was before Katrina.

[Gumtree]

I just finished Old Filth and must say it is everything Ginny said it was - and then some. It's funny and sad and touching and Gardam held my interest right through to the final page. The protagonist 'Old Filth' held my imagination, sympathy and compassion from beginning to end. It was my first Gardam read but I'm on the lookout for others by her.

Thanks Ginny for recommending it.

[rosemarykaye]

Gum - do try Bilgewater and/or A Long Way From Verona, they are both wonderful.

Rosemary

[roshanarose]

I have just seen on Yahoo news the devastating tornadoes that have hit parts of the US. My thoughts are with you.   I truly hope that if you or any of your loved ones who are in that area  all come out unscathed. 

Nature is still meting it out here, in Australia, too, but on a much lesser scale.  We have been having minor earthquakes up north and in Perth.  I hope you are OK Gum.

[BarbStAubrey]

Just talked with my daughter who I knew was driving through the area yesterday and all is well - She picked up Cade at a intro weekend for High Schoolers interested in University of North Carolina to head north for a week of looking at some Colleges in the Northeast that Cade has an interest in - she said she drove through the hardest rain she could remember with lots of debris on the road and cars stacked up under over passes without realizing what she was driving through - she got behind a huge Greyhound bus and just followed it for over 100 miles and when they finally hit Pennsylvania the sun came out. And so she was as shocked and I was worried after she learned what she and Cade had driven through, but they are fine.

[Gumtree]

Nature is still meting it out here, in Australia, too, but on a much lesser scale.  We have been having minor earthquakes up north and in Perth.  I hope you are OK Gum.

Roshanarose: Thanks for your kind thoughts. The quake was not in Perth but about 250kms to the north east. It was only a rumble - category 2 - and wasn't even felt in Perth. There are occasionally small quakes in that region.

Some window rattling etc was experienced in Perth but that was due to a sonic boom. Dept Defence has been conducting exercises about 100 kms off the coast - the Royal Aust Navy, Royal NZ Navy and the RAAF are involved. The weather conditions contributed to the sound being felt in Perth when one (or more) F18 fighters went through the barrier.

Rosemary Thanks for those Gardam titles - I'll check out my library next time. I think I became an instant Gardam fan 

[Steph]

Mother Nature has really been furious recently. Last nights news indicated so much damage in North Carolina, etc. Florida needs rain desperately, but it seems to be very hit and miss for us..No tornados though.. I lost a dear friend in one some years ago.. They are deadly and so fast..

[ginny]

I think the weather has been horrendous and I hope nobody here was caught out in Oklahoma or Arkansas,  OR NC, 80 tornadoes was it Saturday in NC, just unheard of.

Australia has really been getting hit, too, fire and flood and earthquake.   Glad you Aussies (is that the proper term?) are OK!

Gum, I am so glad you liked Old Filth.   I am dragging out the last 10 or so pages, she is some writer. I have been afraid to finish it but now I see you ended up satisfied, I will proceed, every page is a surprise at this point. Man can she write. I understand the Wooden Hat is the sequel to Old Filth, giving Betty's perspective on the marriage.

Rosemary Kaye, thank you so much,  I am so glad for those recommendations, and I've ordered them both  and something called the Sidmouth Letters, which is short stories. I want to see what she does with them.

I am so stupid when it comes to Amazon. I first went in looking for  Rosemary's books and did not see them! I went to Amazon uk and there they were so ordered from there. Of course you have to pay shipping but as a newly minted Gardam fan it was worth it.  But Amazon has this new thing which I kept ignoring, "Amazon Books by Jane  Gardam" and I thought oh what IS that so finally this morning, with my books in shipment across the ocean I go and look and VOILA, there they all are, in all price ranges, including practically free used). Faugh!

I think (I hope) this is sort of new?

At any rate, she's written a lot more than I knew.    


Jane Gardam has been awarded the Heywood Hill Literary Prize for a lifetime's contribution to the enjoyment of literature; has twice won a Whitbread Award and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She was awarded an OBE in January 2009.

She is so GOOD.  If I were going to read her I'd start with Filth and not be afraid to finish it as I was, it's amazing.



For those wondering where the Amazon link is on the top of the pages,  there are always Amazon links on the very bottom of the pages but if you don't see them, (do you?)  please look up to the very top of the page and you should see just the word  Amazon, nothing else, AMAZON underlined and THAT'S the link. As it turns out with our old ads on top of the pages,  Nook users get a wild interactive site which flashes green and so forth and instead of being able to post they instead get taken to Amazon! (I think Amazon is trying to take over the world. hahahaa)

Marcie is trying to fix it as we need our Amazon readers, but for now that's the solution, so please be  advised.

[bellemere]

Barb, hope your young lady is going to check out the Five College area of Western Mass - some wonderful schools all within a few miles of each other, indlucing two women's colleges, Smith and Mt. Holyoke. Then again, Boston is one GREAT college town.
For Barbara Pym fans:  I didn't go to the Spring Conference, but am enjoying reading some of the papers that were presented, at www.BarbaraPym.org/Conference/papers
I am now dying to read Old Filth, once Cleopatra dispateches herself, (if that's what really happened)  These ancients seem to have put out more murdwer contracts than the Mafia.

[LarryHanna]

Do you folks who have read "Old Filth" think it is a book that a man would enjoy?  I realize that is a very subjective question but see that you all seem to really like her books.

[Jonathan]

You can count on it, Larry. If these folks reccomend a book, it's going to be good. Even the dirty ones, regardless of age.

[rosemarykaye]

Larry, I think you would enjoy it.  Some of Gardam's other books are far more female-centered, but Old Filth isn't and it's very good.

Rosemary

[Ella Gibbons]

OLD FILTH!  Yes, you would like Old Filth, Larry.  Here's a couple of paragraphs from the book:  (taken from my library site)

"He was spectacularly clean. You might say ostentatiously clean. His ancient fingernails were rimmed with purest white. The few still-gold hairs below his knuckles looked always freshly shampooed, as did his curly still-bronze hair. His shoes shone like conkers. His clothes were always freshly pressed. He had the elegance of the 1920s, for his garments, whatever they looked like off, always became him. Always a Victorian silk handkerchief in the breast pocket. Always yellow cotton or silk socks from Harrods; and some still-perfect from his old days in the East. His skin was clear and, in a poor light, young.

His colleagues at the Bar called him Filth, but not out of irony. It was because he was considered to be the source of the old joke, Failed In London Try Hong Kong. It was said that he had fled the London Bar, very young, very poor, on a sudden whim just after the War, and had done magnificently well in Hong Kong from the start. Being a modest man, they said, he had called himself a parvenu, a fraud, a carefree spirit.

Filth in fact was no great maker of jokes, was not at all modest about his work and seldom, except in great extremity, went in for whims. He was loved, however, admired, laughed at kindly and still much discussed many years after retirement."

[Ella Gibbons]

I would also recommend UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand:

"Her first book Seabiscuit: An American Legend won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2001. She served as a consultant on the Universal Pictures movie Seabiscuit, which was based on her book. Her second book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, is a biography of World War II hero Louis Zamperini. She was honored by the Turf Publicists of America for her contributions to the sport of thoroughbred racing with the 36th annual Big Sport of Turfdom award. In winning this, she became just the fifth woman to win the Big Sport of Turfdom award."

[Judy Laird]

Babi if you put Sweet Tea  and Jesus Shoes on the Amazon search. You will find lots of books like it and they are just plain fun. There is a grouop of women from the south who write them.

[Judy Laird]

BTW Ruth Levina sent me a sugestion to help things along. The book is  called The 36 Hour Day by Nancy L. M ace.  I have put it on my Kindle and will check it out when I go to bed tonight.

[Steph]

36 Hour Day is excellent in understanding what is happening. As I remember it also gives you some resources..
I can see I have to break down and buy Old Filth.. OK>>> next book to buy.

[LarryHanna]

Ella, thanks for the excerpts from "Old Filth".  I will see if I can't find it to read.  All of the book recommendations are helpful. 

[ginny]

Jonathan, you are such a hoot! "Dirty" books (Filth pun), You are too much! hahahaa

Larry I don't know if you'd like it or not. I would be interested to see actually, I'd like to hear your opinion.

 I had hoped that it was one of those "look inside" books which you could read a bit more of online but  Ella has put a good example of the writing, but apparently it's not that kind.  I've never read anything like it, it's hard to summarize.

Reading tastes are so different!   If I were unsure I'd try for a library book. I do think it's quite different from anything I have read before.  

[ginny]

We need your help here. Would you take a minute to do two things? Would you scroll up as far on your screen as you can go, and at the very top, above the very top blue bar which starts the website, do you see anything at all? Do you see an Amazon yellow box?  I am not talking  about the Amazon box next to the picture ads which rotate in the News area but one floating way above any menu? The very top?

Here is what I see: do YOU see this at the very tip top?

If you see a white box there, please only say white box and not what that box is about? There are good reasons to ask this?

Similarly on the very bottom of your screen, way way down, as far as you can go to the bottom of your screen, do you see this at the very bottom?

Notice how LONG those items are at the very bottom of the page?

Do you see them also at all?

We would very much like to know. They are ads. If nobody can see them nobody can use them. Some of us see them,  some don't, sometimes we see them and sometimes we don't on the same computer: it's a glitch somewhere in the coding of the website, nothing to do with you at all. But we can't see through the eyes of every viewer.

Again, PLEASE do not refer to the content or originator of the "white box"  ads, they will pull them if you do, and they provide a little bit of revenue to help run the site and help us not have to ask for donations, although our readers and Amazon are doing us proud. But nobody can click on them  if nobody can see them?

Please take a moment to check and let us know?

Thank you for your help.

[Frybabe]

Ginny, I am not seeing anything where you specify, including the white box at the very tippy-top. I am using Firefox 4.0.

[ginny]

Thank you Margie, that's very useful.

How are you coming along in your classes? Kudos to you for undertaking a new career!

[jeriron]

Ginny

I don't either. I use SlimBrowser. I tried switching to Internet Explorer and it doesn't show up there either.

[Frybabe]

Not real good, Ginny. I am expecting a B or a C in each class. For some reason I am having trouble remembering enough of the formulas to take a good test. Also, the homework is taking me much longer than it should. As I recall, I had that problem with the Latin too.

I, who never miss class, was out several days this semester due to Mom's death and the water line break (they still have to make another fix). Yesterday one of my classes was canceled do to a water main break that took out a whole section of Harrisburg including two of the campuses. Also, the teacher of this second class was out earlier and canceled the class for that day. The class as a whole is very disappointed in this particular teacher as he doesn't really seem to be going over stuff like he should. I discovered that he has cataracts which may explain why he seems to fumble over his notes and sounds less than sure of himself. I had him last semester. He wasn't that bad before.

Furthermore the classes, which are during the day, are interfering with finding a full time  job. Needless to say, I am pretty discouraged right now. If I can get a job this summer, I doubt I will go back to school in the fall. If that happens, the good news is that I will have time to sign back up for Latin.

[Babi]

No need, JUDY.  I was delighted to find it listed at my library. I'm hoping to pick up
that one and Old Filth on my next visit.

[maryz]

Ginny, I see the stuff at the bottom of my page, but only the small Amazon icon at the top (Not the yellow daffodils).  I use IE for my browser.

[rosemarykaye]

Ginny,

i don't see anything like this at either end of the page, but maybe that is because I am in the UK?

Rosemary

[serenesheila]

I have white box at top, but under Amazon adv.  Also, white box at bottom.  My server is att.net

Sheila