Author Topic: The Library (Read 2090298 times)

Steph · « **Reply #6320 on:** September 19, 2011, 05:43:30 AM »

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

Scottish traditional music.. Yes, we had two entertainments and one had a bagpiper, accordian and two truly awful female dancers.. Very la ti da type dancers. Sigh.. But the bagpiper was great. Our guide played a lot of older music in the different areas.. We learned of the basis for some of the folk music, which was interesting. I really had certainly heard the old " Oh I'll take the high road"etc, but never realized what they were talking about.
Pubs were a definite disappointment.. Head banging type music in the ones we visited.. the same old jacketed potatos ( potatos are off my list for at least a month). the beef tough.. no shepherds pie or bubble and squeak or Ploughmans.. Not even a decent curry. Food definitely lacked any sort of spice..

pedln · « **Reply #6321 on:** September 19, 2011, 09:17:06 AM »

Love those bagpipes. It sounds lilke you got to see and do a lot, Steph. Welcome back.

For those who read Clara and Mr. Tiffany earlier this year, Susan Vreeland remarked on her Facebook page ---

Quote

CLARA AND MR. TIFFANY is shortlisted for the Langum Charitable Trust AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION PRIZE. It's awarded yearly to "the best book that is both excellent fiction and and excellent history." The only other book still being considered is CALEB'S CROSSING, by Geraldine Brooks. Winner will be announced late January or early February.

Babi · « **Reply #6322 on:** September 19, 2011, 09:36:59 AM »

I've got "Caleb's Crossing" in there waiting it's turn. Geraldine Brooks is an author that I can
pick up with confidence.

Gumtree · « **Reply #6323 on:** September 19, 2011, 11:08:25 AM »

Babi - Of course you can - she's an Aussie!

maryz · « **Reply #6324 on:** September 19, 2011, 11:12:36 AM »

Banned Book Week is coming up. Wordsmith on his A Word A Day is having words pertaining to books this week. Give it a look. And let's all read some banned books.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #6325 on:** September 19, 2011, 01:26:25 PM »

I've put Susan Vreeland on my "authors to be read" list. Haven't read a G Brooks in a long time.
Mary, i also like those "word of the day" sites, especially the history of the words.

Jean

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #6326 on:** September 19, 2011, 03:00:45 PM »

Won't y'all share - even if you do not stay around to chat in Talking heads it would be so great to have as many of us as possible list our favorites in 20 Questions - it really is a way we get to know each other a bit better -

Here we are http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=2510.msg129764#msg129764

Steph · « **Reply #6327 on:** September 20, 2011, 06:21:36 AM »

I printed out the list and am pondering answers.Whew..

Babi · « **Reply #6328 on:** September 20, 2011, 10:12:48 AM »

Finished Carol Goodman (master of her art, that gal) and will be starting Ms. Brooks (another
great) today. Riches!

marcie · « **Reply #6329 on:** September 20, 2011, 03:00:56 PM »

We're keeping the vote open for our November book discussion through end of day today.

If you haven't already indicated your choice, vote for your favorite at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/526QL5B

The three choices are:

THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY by José Saramago: In 1551, King João III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. The elephant’s journey from Lisbon to Vienna was witnessed and remarked upon by scholars, historians, and ordinary people. Out of this material, José Saramago has spun this whimsical yet compulsively readable tale - “a triumph of language, imagination, and humor"

SHIP OF FOOLS - by Katherine Anne Porter: The story takes place in the summer of 1931, on board a cruise ship bound for Germany. Passengers include a Spanish noblewoman, a drunken German lawyer, an American divorcee, a pair of Mexican Catholic priests. The novel explores themes of nationalism, cultural and ethnic pride, and basic human frailty that are as relevant today as they were when the book was first published in 1962.

Two Novella's by Eudora Welty: - The OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER: This Pulitzer Prize winning novel is a story of a southern girl who goes back to her home in New Orleans due to the death of her father and proves completely unable to cope with his passing. She comes to realize that she will not find peace until she deals with her own past and what it means for her father to be gone. - THE PONDER HEART –another, short novel written by Southern writer, Eudora Welty–is the story of the eccentric and eternally child-like Daniel Ponder, narrated by his niece, Edna Earle Ponder - with irony and humor.

Talk about the selections and other books you want to recommend for the future in the Suggestion Box at http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?board=52.0

Steph · « **Reply #6330 on:** September 21, 2011, 06:20:52 AM »

I have been trying to reorganize my books to be read into some sort of order, so I can find what I want rather than having to go through three boxes..Hmm. I know.. riches for books to read, impossible when you know you have the darned book and cannot find it.

JoanK · « **Reply #6331 on:** September 21, 2011, 10:14:59 PM »

The problems with organizing my books are two: the physical work involved, and how do you know how much space to leave (not that I HAVE any space on my shelves).

Steph · « **Reply #6332 on:** September 22, 2011, 05:54:06 AM »

Actually because of the library book sale, I have a number of hard covers.. Normally I buy nothing but paperback because of space limitations.. But the hardcovers take up so much space, but I cannot resist when they cost 1.00 each and less.

salan · « **Reply #6333 on:** September 22, 2011, 06:09:34 AM »

I just finished the new book by Michael Lee West, Gone With a Handsomer Man. It doesn't seem like it was written by her. Her other books were humorous and very good. This one "rings" falsely southern. Then, to add insult to injury; MLW ended it with a cliff hanger. I was just furious and would have spat on the book, but it belonged to the library!!!
She either had a ghost writer or published her rough copy. Her ploy to entice readers to purchase the next book by ending it with a cliff hanger did not work on me. I don't intend to read any more by her. So there!!!
Sally

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6334 on:** September 22, 2011, 06:36:46 AM »

jane · « **Reply #6335 on:** September 22, 2011, 08:15:09 AM »

Salan...I'm not familiar with the author you mentioned, but I think that either the "ghost writers" are writing for a lot of "popular" authors these days. There's no way some of them could be personally turning out the number of titles, and under several pseuds almost monthly that some are.

The quality of the real authors seems to vary tremendously; I'm sure the upside for the publisher is a given audience to sell more books under the "popular author's" name.

jane

Babi · « **Reply #6336 on:** September 22, 2011, 08:28:10 AM »

I would think publishing a book under the name of a popular author, tho' it was written by
someone else, would be fraud. I can at least know what to expect when the authors are
identified as "pop author and ____".

jane · « **Reply #6337 on:** September 22, 2011, 10:16:34 AM »

I know I'm cynical, so maybe that explains my opinion on this topic. I suspect the publishers view the author "name" as a "tradename" or a pseudo which a number of authors also do. Is it untruthful/fraud if Jayne Krentz also writes as Jane Castle and also as Amanda Quick, etc? How does "Nora Roberts" also write as J.D. Robb and produce books it seems almost every month. I'm also swayed in thinking this by the varying quality of the work that comes out under a given name.

It's the only way I can think of that some authors are producing what amounts to almost a book a month.

I don't think anybody can write 300-500 pages of edited plot in 1-2 weeks, get it, (even digitally) to a publisher and have it printed and in bookstores within another 2-3 weeks. I just can't get my mind around the logistics/time factor of that.

Or maybe I'm just someone who can't compose that quickly. Term papers/seminar papers in college took me more than one draft and more than a week to do to get a 4000 word work, written and proofed to my satisfaction.

Anyway, my take on the situation.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #6338 on:** September 22, 2011, 01:04:57 PM »

...and then there's James Patterson, who with his co=writers, seem to put out a book every 30 minutes.

Steph · « **Reply #6339 on:** September 23, 2011, 06:00:34 AM »

P atterson from all indications does not write the books any more, but farms them out. He gets money from their use of his name and characters..
Some writers become popular and then have published their early stuff which may or may not be good.
I agree that some of the popular authors cannot possibly turn out the number of books and do wonder about Nora Roberts in particular. She is simply turnng out more than she should be capable of writing. And I do like her J.D. Robb series.. but does she write it?? Who knows.. There are some authors who if you check the copywright, it is in the name of a corporation..Often that belongs to the publisher and they can get anyone they want to write the series.

JoanP · « **Reply #6340 on:** September 23, 2011, 11:57:31 AM »

A word about the recent run-off vote for November's in-depth discussion:

The The Elephant's Journey and Ship of Fools ended up in a tie - both times! If you would like to participate in a discussion of either of the two books in November (or both of them) please let us know soon so we can get them on the schedule. The book titles are links to the proposed discussions.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #6341 on:** September 23, 2011, 12:24:23 PM »

I'm reading a book that has a feisty 30ish woman, who has a tendancy to find trouble, as the protagonist. She has two very attentive, protective men in her life, one is a good-looking cop the other is an ex navy SEAL, an action man who dresses in black. In the first scene her car is destroyed and she next drives a big honkin 1996 Crown Victoria.

Sound familiar?
Wanna guess what it is?

No, it's not Evanovich or Stephanie Plum! But JE may have a spawn.

This is a book written by Susan Warren in 2009. The. main character is an apprentice PI, her boss is the ex SEAL and her "boyfriend" is the cop. There's no Grandma Maser, but there is a couple of Russian emigres who speak little English who are the in-laws of her sister who provide the same comic relief.

I'll keep reading to see if it becomes orginal or keeps copying JE. Based on this discussion, maybe Warren is another member of Evanovich's publisher!?!

I agree about Nora Roberts, but i like her books, don't much care who writes them. And then there is Dana Fuller Ross' "western history" series. The first DFR died in the 20th century, but apparently some one has taken on the name and continued with many, many more books. "Is a puzzlement."

Jean

JoanK · « **Reply #6342 on:** September 23, 2011, 03:09:24 PM »

I'm doomed!! My community is having aa giant yard sale this weekend, including books. I can't resist cheap books! I'll buy almost any book if it's a dollar! I meant to strip my shelves (of the dollar books I bought in the past) and donate a bunch to make roon for the books I'm sure to buy, but was stymied by the lack of boxes to put them in.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #6343 on:** September 23, 2011, 03:29:17 PM »

Joan if it is not too late I often run into the same problem and use double grocery sacks or if I have a shopping bag with handles I no longer want then again I double it with another grocery sack inside - if I have no large grocery sacks I use a small one and fold it to fit the bottom of the sack and just make sure there are not sharp hardcover edges piled in to poke a hole through the sides.

maryz · « **Reply #6344 on:** September 23, 2011, 04:25:29 PM »

Joan, at our library's semiannual book sale, we always use the plastic grocery bags (donated) to put the books in. Just needs some judicious packing, and not too many per bag...or double-bagged as Barb says.

pedln · « **Reply #6345 on:** September 23, 2011, 10:21:44 PM »

Let us know, JoanK, how many and what books you get. Happy hunting.

Steph · « **Reply #6346 on:** September 24, 2011, 05:47:15 AM »

I love giant yard sales, but mostly where I live, there are very very few books..They tend to be childrens toys and furniture.. and the big older tube type tv's that weight a ton.

LarryHanna · « **Reply #6347 on:** September 24, 2011, 10:09:20 AM »

Mabel, I have enjoyed the Dana Fuller Ross books over the years and used to have almost all of the one long series he wrote about the founding of the country as it moved westward. There is interesting information about him on the Internet.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #6348 on:** September 24, 2011, 03:02:13 PM »

The first books i read of Dana Fuller Ross were the Wagons West series, a friend loaned me the first three of the series. When i looked him up i got a biography page that talked about the series and his other historical novels and said DFR was a pseudonym for ...... I have forgotten now what name they said, i don't remember if it was James Reasoner, but the bio said that person had died in - i believe - 1987, or there abouts! Then i saw the other books "written by DFR" that are continuing to be published by James Reasoner and his wife! And i saw his current blog page.......very confusing.

So i don't know if that info was incorrect or if someone has taken oner from the original "DFR". When i looked at many sites today, i couldn't find that first bio i had seen probably two years ago.
But take a look at any of the websites that list James Reasoners books, according to a Texas newspaper writing about him there are at the least
350!?! Please! Even if his wife is now helping and he's 90 yrs old - in his pictures he looks no
older than in his 60's - and had 70 yrs of writing, that means he would have to write five
books EVERY year? The interview site below says he sometimes wrote part-time. How is it possible?

Here is an interesting interview w/JR

http://booklifenow.com/2011/03/a-hard-way-but-the-best-way-james-reasoner-on-freelancing/
List of some of his books!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Reasoner

Jean

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #6349 on:** September 24, 2011, 05:09:47 PM »

I wonder - have no idea but a thought - I get a lot of information about writing articles for magazines and newspapers - the suggestion ALWAYS includes how to take a basic article and tweak it - and they show just how - so the same article can be sold to 6 or 7 different magazines - some with an emphasis on business another on health care and yet another on travel - and so I wonder if some of these books are simply tweaked in such a way that with a couple of weeks of work the story can be altered just enough to appear as another story but without the work of starting from scratch.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6350 on:** September 24, 2011, 05:44:32 PM »

Today I was at the Edinburgh Quilting Championships show - saw some wonderful quilts and collages, and they also had a huge book stall - at this I saw a book that I would love to have, it was called "Art Making and Studio Spaces" by Lynne Perrella, and it has chapters about various artists' studios, - beautiful photos + interesting writing about how they have created their special rooms and what they like about them.

There were also some books about how quilts relate to the Civil War - I always like to read this kind of thing, where links are drawn between two subjects that both interest me.

Rosemary

CallieOK · « **Reply #6351 on:** September 24, 2011, 06:09:22 PM »

Barb, a long time ago, I decided that prolific authors have a basic outline tacked up on the wall over their desks. The plot line and basic character types remain the same - only the location and the characters' names and clothing are changed.
Have you ever noticed how many pages are devoted to detailed descriptions, metaphors and analogies? I think there must be a list of possibilities tacked next to the basic outline.
I remember starting a book that a friend had raved about. I told her I had read 25 pages and knew every detail about the house from the garden gate to the number and description of each item on the tea tray in the library, which was through the hall, the living room, etc. - and still had no idea what the story was about.

Long ago, I stopped reading Romance novels because I found myself searching for certain ubiquitous terms. Someone was always "gliding over"... either the stairs or to the window (which brought a mental picture of someone hopping on a skate board) and someone must always do something "with alacrity".

mabel1015j · « **Reply #6352 on:** September 24, 2011, 09:35:29 PM »

Yes, Callie, i hate those books that describe every thing in sight if the character and take forever to get on w/ the story. I often give up on them, but sometimes continue hoping they will get to the story. I loved the first two or three of Margaret Moran's "judge" series, but in the last one she was describing all of North Carolina, because i knew she could right a good story, i continued and it wasn't bad, but i skipped a lot of paragraphs.

DFRoss writes w/ a lot of history included, so i wonder if he might make an outline and his students might fill in the history research.

Jean

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #6353 on:** September 24, 2011, 10:17:57 PM »

Rosemary the artist studio book looks like an interesting rifle through with loads of great photos -
http://tinyurl.com/3fzn4bt

JoanK · « **Reply #6354 on:** September 24, 2011, 10:22:07 PM »

BARB: "some of these books are simply tweaked in such a way that with a couple of weeks of work the story can be altered just enough to appear as another story but without the work of starting from scratch. " Too many scholars do that: publishing tons of article, which are almost the same, with onme new thing in it.

Saved by the weather. It rained, so I didn't go.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #6355 on:** September 24, 2011, 10:43:31 PM »

ah so - food for the likes of Tom Friedman and his that used to be us philosophy

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6356 on:** September 25, 2011, 04:05:32 AM »

JoanK - don't you think that, with academics now, they are so desperate to have published more than the next person that they will churn out anything? My friend's husband is a history lecturer, he has written one book that got a very good reception, but he refuses to put out papers every 5 minutes when he has nothing new to say - as a result he says he will never be promoted or celebrated. He doesn't mind the latter at all - he is a real family man and doesn't want to spend all his spare time trying to keep up with the others, but it is sad that he has come to hate his job, which seems no longer to be about knowledge and learning, and far more about competition and money.

Re novels, that is what I felt about the last Jennifer Chiavernini quilting book I read (it wasn't her most recent) - she (or someone) was just writing to a formula and padding it out with far too much tourist board type information about the location of the quilt show, etc. I suppose many writers are under so much pressure to come up with the goods for publishers, but that doesn't really excuse the really famous ones, they must have made more money than they could ever need already.

Callie - isn't it awful when a friend pushes a book onto you then keeps asking you whether you liked it? One of the joys of this site is getting all these great recommendations but being able to say you didn't like one, or just not commenting at all. My old neighbour was absolutely determined that I should read The Da Vinci Code, which she lent me - needless to say I never did (though that is probably pure snobbery on my part

).

Rosemary

Gumtree · « **Reply #6357 on:** September 25, 2011, 04:36:01 AM »

Rosemary: Da Vinci Code - you didn't miss much.

That quilting book sounds just like what I'd like for Christmas.

Steph · « **Reply #6358 on:** September 25, 2011, 05:58:07 AM »

Actually DaVinci is sort of fun in a trashy sort of way. I enjoyed it for the fiction it is.. But I dont quite understand the tours that people go on.. I was talking to our guide in Scotland and her next tour was a Diana Gabaldon tour.. She was taking a bunch of people to the sites in Scotland where the whole series take place.. Whew..

Babi · « **Reply #6359 on:** September 25, 2011, 08:28:01 AM »

The over-use of a particular phrase was always a signal to me, CALLIE. This was not
an author I wanted to follow. And if I read two or three of an author's books and
find it basically the same thing, with, as you say, different names and locales, I
don't bother reading the next one.

You remind me, ROSEMARY, of a friend who took offense because I didn't like one of
her favorite authors. She demanded that I justify my opinion. After trying without
success to satisfy her, I finally simply told her I was entitled to like what I
liked. Being, usually, an open-minded person, she finally simmered down.

Actually, STEPH, so many of the places described by popular authors sound so intriguing,
I would very much like to have visited them. Not, perhaps, as part of a tour.

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Author Topic: The Library (Read 2090298 times)