Author Topic: The Library (Read 2084679 times)

Frybabe · « **Reply #600 on:** December 26, 2009, 05:35:26 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!

Everyone is welcome!

Suggestion Box for Future Discussions

.Rich, While I did read some "girl" type books when I was young, most of my reading were things like Call of the Wild, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, the Black Stallion series, The Virginian, Red Badge of Courage, Edgar Allen Poe stories. When I got to Jr. High I was into the Civil War, then on to reading about WWI and in Senior High, I graduated to WWII. Of course I did read Little Women, Black Beauty and Lorna Doone which could be considered "girl" stories. I do remember reading a gothic romance or two, but they did not hold my interest like Westerns/Horses and adventure. After graduating high school it has been mostly non fiction until the last few years. I am catching up on a lot of books I missed when little like Kim, which we will be discussing in a week or so and all the murder mysteries and SciFi I seem to be devouring lately.

Oh, by the way, I thought I bought enough last year to last me a while and wouldn't be going on any book buying binges for a while. HAH! I got a gift certificate to B&N, so you know that is burning a hole until I spend it.

PatH · « **Reply #601 on:** December 26, 2009, 05:52:09 PM »

Quote from: Frybabe on December 26, 2009, 05:35:26 PM

Oh, by the way, I thought I bought enough last year to last me a while and wouldn't be going on any book buying binges for a while. HAH!

HAH is right. Fat chance! I reread "The Virginian" a few years ago, and though it was a bit corny, I wassurprised at how well it stood up.

JoanK · « **Reply #602 on:** December 26, 2009, 06:04:28 PM »

HAH! I got a gift certificate to Borders. I know I'll wind up spending twice as much (no matter how much it is).

mrssherlock · « **Reply #603 on:** December 26, 2009, 08:38:06 PM »

Some of those oldies are goodies. Rebecca bis one i reread a while ago and, while I kept seeing Joan Fontaine in my mind, it held up very well.

Frybabe · « **Reply #604 on:** December 26, 2009, 10:27:39 PM »

I have Lorna Doone sitting out on the side table. I am sorely tempted to reread it, but feel guilty about rereading something when there are so many books laying around that have yet to be read.

elizabeth84 · « **Reply #605 on:** December 26, 2009, 10:47:21 PM »

I consider that rereading a favorite book is like listening to a beloved piece of music again.

rich7 · « **Reply #606 on:** December 27, 2009, 09:22:32 AM »

I'm glad to see that others admit that they read comic books in their childhood. Some of them were my first introduction to "literature." Remember Classics Illustrated?

Comics were 5 cents a copy when I was a kid. A fortune! The Classics Illustrated were 10 cents a copy. You really had to want that copy of "Julius Caesar" or "Ivanhoe" to part with 10 cents.

I remember the covers of those issues would clearly say "Price 10 cents, 15cents in Canada." God, I really felt sorry for those Canadian kids.

Rich

Gumtree · « **Reply #607 on:** December 27, 2009, 11:33:36 AM »

OctaviaSo glad to see you surface again. Was worried you might be ill. We depend on the computers so much these days. You sure had a miracle after the storm surge - maybe it just needed a rest after such a fright. I was lucky today to evade an attack from a trojan. Thankfully my protection went into red alert and stopped the invasion before it started to download. It was a scary few minutes but that package just paid for itself several times over - worth every penny and then some.

Cyclone Laurence must have been huge as it started off the WA nor-west coast and wreaked havoc up around Broome area - then moved eastwards to you in Rocky as well as south into NSW & Vic. I heard both Sydney and Melbourne got a drenching too! All we got from it was hot uncomfortable humid weather and strong winds.

I'd almost forgotten Ruth Park - I have the books here somewhere - they may be worth a re-read sometime.

I can't remember when I couldn't read - and my sons started early too. I remember the eldest saying very testily - show me to read - he must have been all of three at the time. These days he's the most voracious reader of us all and has a phenomenal memory for what he reads - not photographic just a very clear recollection of the essence of a text.

FlaJean · « **Reply #608 on:** December 27, 2009, 02:48:37 PM »

I have three grandsons ages 10, 21 and 28 and the youngest is the big reader of the three. He started reading in kindergarten and in no time was reading everything in sight. He started using the computer by 2nd grade and loves games but that doesn't diminish his love of reading. He was lamenting over the holidays that an Australian writer he likes has published a new book and it wouldn't be available locally until next year. My daughter loves books and both his parents read to him when he was a toddler.

Gumtree · « **Reply #609 on:** December 27, 2009, 11:25:13 PM »

Flajean You've really whetted my curiosty. Who is your grandson's favourite Aussie writer and what's the book he's just published?

Octavia · « **Reply #610 on:** December 28, 2009, 02:17:57 AM »

FlaJean, I'm guessing it's Andy Griffiths who wrote The Bum Books and the Bad Books series. Boys love that humour. He's bringing out another Bad Book in September 2010, The Very Bad Book.
Or John Marsden who did the Tomorrow books. I read Tomorrow When The War Began. He's copped a lot of flack for being too dark and confrontational, but teens love him. Swedish teenagers got free copies, I think, because they voted it the book they'd most like their friends to read.
Still pondering my favourite Aussie book. Tim Winton's Cloudstreet would have to be up there, and We Of The Never Never. I always have a little cry over that one. There's probably a great book that's totally skipped my mind though.
I've just finished 2 very confronting and sad books. If I Should Die Before I Wake by Michelle Morris was very, very hard to finish. Father and daughter incest is a horrible topic and though it was so well written, I just wanted it to be over.
Water, Carry Me by Thomas Moran, a love story set around Ireland and "the troubles" was wonderfully written, but hauntingly sad too.
Gumtree, I can't believe Lawrence didn't rain on you. I'm on the other side of the country, and it's been bucketing down today.

rich7 · « **Reply #611 on:** December 28, 2009, 07:21:16 AM »

Just this morning heard a BBC report on digital books. Being new here, I'm not sure what the consensus of opinion among SeniorLearners is about the Kindle, but to me there's something about digital books that makes me uncomfortable. I really can't put my finger on why I feel that way.

The BBC report couldn't seem to get to the point either.

One amusing story one of those interviewed told was about a study that NASA conducted involving millions of dollars for the development of a device that could write under the weightless and sometimes perfect vacuum conditions of space. During the course of that project, someone pointed out to the researchers that the Russians already had such a writing device. It is called a pencil.

I guess what the BBC report was trying to say was that digital technology can take some things that are inadaquate and make them better, but are we obligated to change things that are already wonderful?

Rich

joangrimes · « **Reply #612 on:** December 28, 2009, 07:37:50 AM »

Rich,

We have talked alot about the Kindle here. I happen to have a first generation kindle. Since my vision is now so impaired I am very thankful for my kindle. You get us used to it as sa you use it. I would not want to convert to such a device just for the sake of being up to date but with impaired vision it is really wonderful. The first thing I do when I see a book recommended here that catches my interest is look to see if it is available on Kindle. If it is not I just forget about reading it.

Joan Grimes

rich7 · « **Reply #613 on:** December 28, 2009, 08:13:42 AM »

Very good point, Joan. I can now understand that the Kindle is a great breakthrough to those with vision impairement. Electronic books can help lifetime readers continue their love affair with literature.

One (very strong) point for the Kindle.

Rich

joangrimes · « **Reply #614 on:** December 28, 2009, 09:13:11 AM »

Thanks Rich.

Joan Grimes

Babi · « **Reply #615 on:** December 28, 2009, 09:36:42 AM »

I read Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jack London, too, RICH. An equal
opportunity reader, that's me.

A live baby alligator, ALIKI? We're not talking stuffed animal here,
are we? Oh, my. I wonder what she thought of that? Mixed emotions, I
would say, definitely!

OCTAVIA, I was more accepting of Pollyanna. After all, she was raised
that way. A poor missionary's daughter, who of necessity taught her to
look for the bright side of anything that came her way. It was engrained
in her as the right attitude to have. And up to a point, I suppose it was.
I have learned that my attitude makes a great difference in my enjoyment of life.

Gumtree · « **Reply #616 on:** December 28, 2009, 09:48:34 AM »

Quote

Gumtree - I can't beleive Lawrence didn't rain on you. I'm on the other side of the country, and it's been bucketing down

Octavia: Nope, not a drop! Laurence completely missed the south west of the continent except for giving us uncomfortable heat - I've never known a cyclone to have such a widespread reach as Laurence had - he even reached Tasmania -

Gumtree · « **Reply #617 on:** December 28, 2009, 10:39:30 AM »

Speaking of Aussie literature - I noticed in an item on TV tonight that Peter Carey's first novel Bliss has been turned into an opera in three acts with music by Aust composer Brett Dean. It's set to open at the Sydney Opera HOuse in March 2010. Carey seems a trifle bemused by it all.

maryz · « **Reply #618 on:** December 28, 2009, 12:25:49 PM »

rich7, a number of us here have a Kindle (I have a Kindle 2). I got mine for several reasons - none of which was to have the "latest thing". I have arthritis in my hands and it's hard for me to hold a heavier book - so this is wonderful. I can prop it up, and it allows me to read while knitting. I can always have a light-weight book with me when we travel, and can get new ones anywhere.

What I don't like about it is that I can't pass the book on to someone else. I rarely bought new books before - used book stores, library, book exchanges, etc.

I go back and forth from the Kindle to traditional books. I just love to read - I don't get a charge from holding an actual book in my hands (although lots of folks certainly do).

rich7 · « **Reply #619 on:** December 28, 2009, 02:28:09 PM »

There is something aesthetically (sp?) pleasing to me about a book. Especially an older book on a shelf with lots of other older books; all different colors, sizes and, when you get up close, textures. They seem to be calling you to take one off the shelf and learn what the author long ago placed for you between those covers. Books themselves, for me, are a treat for the eye and a promise for my imagination even before I open them.

Sometimes if I take a tour of a famous persons home (Edith Wharton's in western Massachusetts comes to mind), and I go into the living room or study, my eye invariably goes first to the shelves of books. I want to take one, any one, off the shelf, open it to any page and read a paragraph. There's a good chance that the celebrated former resident of that home long ago read that same paragraph on that same page. What was she/he thinking at the time?

I'm afraid that printed and bound books as we know them may be headed for extinction.

Go into any library. You may see a few people in the stacks browsing the books, but you will find a far greater number squinting into the library's computer screens.

Rich

mrssherlock · « **Reply #620 on:** December 28, 2009, 04:07:53 PM »

Ironic if the premise of Fahrenheit 451 comes true, not from the burning of books but passively as they are made obsolete. "Not with a bang but a whimper."

JoanK · « **Reply #621 on:** December 28, 2009, 05:21:39 PM »

"I'm afraid that printed and bound books as we know them may be headed for extinction.

Go into any library. You may see a few people in the stacks browsing the books, but you will find a far greater number squinting into the library's computer screens".

That is so true. And in the check-out lines, you see mostof the young people checking out CDs, not books.

I am delighted for the kindle, for so many of us Seniors with vision problems. But it makes me uneasy, too. I think it is an issue of control. Unlike the media, control of what gets printed is decentralized, so all kinds of peope can find an audience. The kindle puts control of what's available (and its cost) in one place. Now that the kindle is trying to get established, they are very accomidating. but what will happen if regular books are driven out, and the kindle holds a monopoly?

Octavia · « **Reply #622 on:** December 28, 2009, 05:37:28 PM »

Babi, that was my 8 yr old opinion. I'm much more forgiving now.
My computer is still iffy, it takes a couple of hours to start up, and I'm missing my 5 to 9am time slot. I've got buckley's chance of getting it looked at before New year, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

salan · « **Reply #623 on:** December 28, 2009, 06:09:24 PM »

Our PBS station is airing American Masters featuring Louisa May Alcott tonight at 8 pm. It sounds interesting.
I read everthing I could get my hands on as a child, but I must confess that I was a "girlie" girl and preferred heroines. I loved all the Nancy Drew, Bobbsey twins, Pollyanna and Little Women type books. I also loved books about animals, Jack London, Old Yeller, Black Beauty, The Yearling and many others. YES, I loved Pollyanna and Anne of Green Gables (still do). I never was much into super heroes (although Plastic Man intrigued me).

I think a Kindle would be nice to have for travelling. It would save room in the suitcase and keep you from running out of anything to read when you were in a location with no book store. Thank goodness it's there for people who are visually impaired, but I much prefer browsing bookstores, and touching and smelling new books. I am saddened to think of what future?? bookstores will be like. My 8 yr old grandson is in what they call a green classroom. They do have books, but most of their material is presented on computers and all correspondence to parents is sent via email. I can't help but wonder what they do about families that don't have/can't afford computers.
Ah well...the world, it is a changin'.
Sally

nlhome · « **Reply #624 on:** December 28, 2009, 09:49:12 PM »

I don't know about books - our library always has piles of them to be shelved, so someone is taking them off the shelves and taking them home. The stacks are busy, if nothing else with people waiting for their turn on the computer, but they often are checking books out as well, or reading magazines. We have audio books, books that can be checked out and downloaded for reading, used books to purchase - lots of movement of books and all ages doing it at our library.

Somehow I doubt my husband will ever be able to take a Kindle into the bathtub or carry one in his back pocket as he goes hiking or boating. Lose a paperback - not a disaster - drop a Kindle in the lake, on the other hand.....

Babi · « **Reply #625 on:** December 29, 2009, 08:57:28 AM »

OCTAVIA, "buckley's chance" is a new phrase to me. I assume it's somethng like 'a snowball's chance'. Do you know anything about it's
origin? I've always found language fascinating.

serenesheila · « **Reply #626 on:** December 29, 2009, 12:11:29 PM »

My new Kindle, just arrived. It is generation #4. I plan to give my generation 1, to my dil. The new one is quite diferent than the first. Part of me wants to give her the new one, rather than taking the time to learn how to use the new one. It came with a six page information sheet. Including a telephone number to Amazon/Kindle/support.

I love my Kindle. One of the best features, IMO, is it hardly takes up any space, at all. I also enjoy being able to get a sample, of a new book. That is usually one chapter, and it helps me to decide whether or not, to buy that book. I like the ability to bookmark my place.

I have arthritis in both hands, and this is so lightweight, it is easy to hold. I, also use the largest choice of font size.

Sheila

maryz · « **Reply #627 on:** December 29, 2009, 12:35:13 PM »

Sheila, I'm glad to hear they're putting it out with an information sheet. That was maybe my biggest complaint with my K-2 - that there wasn't an outside sheet to refer to while I worked with the features on the Kindle. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #628 on:** December 29, 2009, 02:06:00 PM »

Sheila: What are the features added to K4? I thought there were only K1 and K2.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #629 on:** December 29, 2009, 02:07:09 PM »

Babi & Octavia - i too wondered about a "buckleys' chance"............tell us, tell us........jean

FlaJean · « **Reply #630 on:** December 29, 2009, 02:28:18 PM »

Since we got our new library a couple of years ago, it is always busy. Before Christmas it was encouraging to see children in line with 10 or 12 books waiting for checkout. Off the lobby the Friends of the Library also have a store where you can buy used books.

bellemere · « **Reply #631 on:** December 29, 2009, 05:26:12 PM »

Oh, Kindle users, do any of you have macular degeneration? This is a visual impairment that defies the use of eye glasses; there is a dead spot in the middle of my retina in my left eye, and another one starting in mh right eye. I can find my car across a parking lot, but can't fill my coffee cup sithout spilling: I can recognize a bald eagle flying overhead but can't thread a needle: i can read hightway signs from a hundred feet away but can't cut a piece of meat that will fit in my mouth. It is so weird! My retina specialist says it will get worse but i wil never be completely blind. He is not encouraging about a Kindle when I ask him. Says I need large type and hight contrast. It't s hefty price tag, and I hesitate to take the plunge.
and I love books. For those of you who may visit New York City, be sure to check what is going on at The Grolier Club, a very exclusive membership club for collectors of fine books, but they have a free showroom at 47 East 60th St., just off Fifthe Avenue, where they have some marvelous exhibits, and a clean bathroom. The last time I was there it was of miniature books, which were a fad during the Victorian era. they have a website too, jsut Google the Grolier Club.

maryz · « **Reply #632 on:** December 29, 2009, 05:32:58 PM »

bellemere, on the Kindle (at least on K-2), the print can be made fairly large, but I don't think the contrast is great. I'd like it better. The best thing you could do is try to find somebody who has one to look at it. Or go to a Barnes & Noble (or maybe it's Border's) and look at one of the other brands to see if it would work for you.

Click here for a Kindle discussion board - somebody there might be dealing with a similar problem.

Good luck!

Steph · « **Reply #633 on:** December 29, 2009, 05:37:32 PM »

I will read all of the posts since November 11, but I want to thank all of the senior learn who sent me cards and notes of caring since the death of my husband. I am back home,, released from Physical therapy..My younger son brought me back and we accomplished a few things, although my orthopedic surgeons visit did not happen, since he decided to go away without notifying all of us very far in advance. Needless to say they had my home phone and I was not there.. But for the first time, I am alone tonight. A dear old friend will arrive tomorrow for a week or ten days, but I knew that I needed to know what this widowhood for me it going to feel like. I reached out and grabbed senior learn as a way to survive tonight.. Hang on for me gang. I am giving it my best try, but oh me, this is harder than I thought.

jane · « **Reply #634 on:** December 29, 2009, 05:49:06 PM »

Stephanie...
We're ALL here for you...and you're in our thoughts and prayers, Dear Friend.

Some of us here know what you're facing, and others of us can only guess how difficult it must be...but we're all thinking of you and helping you to "hang on."

jane

joangrimes · « **Reply #635 on:** December 29, 2009, 06:06:36 PM »

Stephanie, I am here for you. I am one of the ones who knows what it is like. You are in my thoughts and prayers and will remain there. If you need me please email me. I am so glad that you are hanging on to us here.

Joan Grimes

Frybabe · « **Reply #636 on:** December 29, 2009, 06:15:39 PM »

Bless your heart, Steph, I am glad you are back.

Right now I am trying to stay calm while my Mom is in surgery this very minute for a spinal fracture. I won't know how things went until after 8pm.

salan · « **Reply #637 on:** December 29, 2009, 06:19:57 PM »

Steph, my heart goes out to you. I lost my husband a little over a year ago. It was sudden and unexpected and I was searching for something to expand my interests when I discovered this web site. It has helped take me out of myself. I know what you are facing and my thoughts and prayers are with you. Having your friend there will help. Do your children live close by? It is times like these that make us realize how important family and friends are to us. May you find some comfort and peace in the new year.
Sally

mrssherlock · « **Reply #638 on:** December 29, 2009, 06:59:17 PM »

Steph There is usually someone online here anytime I log in. Seniors & friends has a couple of games going, word association and change one letter, which i check several times a day. I never feel alone with my friends here at the end of my finger tips, so to speak. We love you. We've missed you.

maryz · « **Reply #639 on:** December 29, 2009, 07:22:19 PM »

Steph, I posted a longer note in another discussion here. But we love you and are so glad that you're able to check back in here. We've missed you.

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Author Topic: The Library (Read 2084679 times)