Author Topic: The Library (Read 2325989 times)

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #9960 on:** November 23, 2012, 11:25:54 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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Dl4lHdtuizw

maryz · « **Reply #9961 on:** November 23, 2012, 11:28:56 AM »

Everybody in our family gets cash. Has for years. Like MaryPage, even the younger kids know and look forward to having money of their to spend. Plus the fun of deciding what to get. Plus they get what THEY want and not what grandma thinks they might want.

marjifay · « **Reply #9962 on:** November 23, 2012, 11:39:12 AM »

Thanks, Barb, that video was lovely and sad. Makes you think, doesn't it? And grateful for what we have.

Marj

CallieOK · « **Reply #9963 on:** November 23, 2012, 12:43:30 PM »

When my oldest granddaughter was about 14, she announced, "I don't want any Gift Cards this year because <plaintively with a pout> Nobody Ever Takes Me To The Mall". As I remember, the response was a family chorus of "Awwww."

JeanneP · « **Reply #9964 on:** November 23, 2012, 01:14:53 PM »

I only send cards to people long distance anymore. Mostly UK, Canada. Found it silly sending to people one would see all year long.

Mine are mostly New Year Cards now. Try to put a message into each one.

I have even stopped on Christmas buying. Got to be to many that I have still not met. My last time was 23 people ,what with remarriages and bringing in children. The postage got way out of line.
If I go to visit them I take a present for any under the age of 16 . That it. The grownups have all they need and I Could never come up with what I needed.

Soon the daughters will be asking what I need. The one closest I tell her and husband come over and will go to dinner. She usually goes away for the holidays. The one in Texas will be here with Husband beginning of year. We can do something then.

maryz · « **Reply #9965 on:** November 23, 2012, 02:28:59 PM »

We've asked our girls to make donations to a charity in our name. And I haven't send cards in many years. Each of us seems to find the amount of "Christmas" that works for us.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #9966 on:** November 23, 2012, 03:02:38 PM »

Well Callie, I can sort of see your granddaughter's point - gift vouchers can be a bit of a chore in this house - not that we aren't grateful for anything that anyone is kind enough to send to our children, but in truth they would prefer to receive money, so that they can spend it in the shops they like. One of my cousins very kindly sends my girls tokens every year, but they are for a shop in which everything is quite expensive and the girls don't have enough money to add to the tokens to buy anything - so of course I end up having to buy all the tokens from them so that they can buy things in Primark and Hennes.

Nowadays, I think the best vouchers are actually for Amazon, as they sell just about everything.

On the whole though, I find Christmas has turned into just one big consumer-fest, and I dislike this so much that I spend a lot of time trying to make sure that my children don't buy into it. I'm happier to buy for their birthdays, when I'm not quite so bullied into it by the shops and TV, or to send my older two a cheque if they're in financial straits.

I recently discovered a lovely website about a family trying to live self-sufficiently in Ireland. The most recent blog entry covers the making of simple alternative gifts, and I really like it:

http://permaculturecottage.wordpress.com/

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #9967 on:** November 23, 2012, 04:15:52 PM »

I saw an item in the news this morning that a big strike is threatened at WalMart, JEANNE. I
haven't heard yet if it actually happened.

ROSEMARY, it's so easy to make a mistake like that, well-intentioned, but not usable. But
one possibility occurred to me that might be easier on your pocket book. Does that expensive
store carry something that the girls could enjoy by pooling their tokens? Then they could
casually tell their friends, 'Oh, that's from ______.'

PatH · « **Reply #9968 on:** November 23, 2012, 04:25:04 PM »

There were picket lines, but sales weren't hampered. Walmart has cleaned up its act some, but still doesn't treat its employees particularly well. I stayed away from the whole mess of stores.

JeanneP · « **Reply #9969 on:** November 23, 2012, 05:00:52 PM »

I guess there were people holding up signs way in front of our Walmarts. Not workers from the store. They all showed up. These are people just paid to walk in front of Businesses trying to get the workers to join a union. Its really not right. Employees should be the ones fighting for and against things and not trouble makers trying to lead them.

We have had that in a few areas of this town. Smaller businesses. Never did good for the workers. Couple of places just closed down.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #9970 on:** November 24, 2012, 12:57:43 AM »

I think the Walton family's behavior in regard to their employees is obscene. At least two members of the family have been on the top tenrichest people in the last decade or so. They are billionaires and nitpick w/ employees, paying terrible wages, keeping employees at part positions so they don't have to pay benefits. What kind of rationale can they say to themselves that that is exceptable? It is beyond my comprehension.

kiwilady · « **Reply #9971 on:** November 24, 2012, 01:12:27 AM »

I agree Mabel. We have atrocious employment practices in our country now. I never thought I would live to see the day. Disdain for workers welfare and reluctance to pay a fair wage or give any holiday pay or other benefits. To employ people as contractors too and pay them nothing like a contractors rate so they can avoid benefits. It really is greed terrible greed.

Carolyn

marjifay · « **Reply #9972 on:** November 24, 2012, 01:45:58 AM »

Jeanne wrote, “Employees should be the ones fighting for and against things and not trouble makers trying to lead them.”

That sounds logical, but employees may be afraid that to do so would put their jobs in jeopardy. I worked as Sec’y to the Dir. Of Personnel in a company where they knew employees were organizing to get a union. They learned of a certain bar where some employees were meeting regularly for this purpose, and saw that was where they cashed their paychecks. All those employees who had cashed their paychecks there were fired.

Marj

kiwilady · « **Reply #9973 on:** November 24, 2012, 03:07:11 AM »

I have heard of employees being fired for speaking to colleagues about the low scale of their pay. (True!) It really is a disgraceful situation. Unions are banned from many workplaces. I am glad I am a senior. This situation makes me really sad. Its not the country I grew up in where employees were valued not just thought of as Labour units. Yes thats what they call them in the Company accounts. Instead of Personnel Officers they now call them Human Resources Officers. I guess dehumanising people makes it easier to exploit them.

Carolyn

Frybabe · « **Reply #9974 on:** November 24, 2012, 07:29:33 AM »

It is not uncommon for employers to tell their employees not to discuss their pay rates among themselves. I can't remember if that was actually in our employee handbook when I worked for Fry, but it was a fairly big deal. The reason, I believe, is that it breeds discontent among the employees when they discover that someone else in the same or similar position is getting higher pay than themselves, especially if that someone is a newer employee.

The manager of my department on my first job eons ago made sure that if any new employee in similar positions came in at or higher than those in his department, we all got raises to compensate. I am not sure that senior management liked it much but as head of the accounting department he was in a position to know and to argue for his staff.

Frybabe · « **Reply #9975 on:** November 24, 2012, 08:07:06 AM »

When doing my daily cruise through the latest additions to Project Gutenberg, I discovered that they have some of John Masefield's works. Masefield was Poet Laureate in the UK. He held the position from 1930 until his death in 1967, being the second longest tenure after Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Masefield also wrote some children's books, five plays, a bunch of novels and some non-fiction works.

MaryPage · « **Reply #9976 on:** November 24, 2012, 09:24:43 AM »

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

John Masefield 1902

MaryPage · « **Reply #9977 on:** November 24, 2012, 09:25:45 AM »

I've known that by heart for like forever. It has been a life-long favorite.

nlhome · « **Reply #9978 on:** November 24, 2012, 09:28:20 AM »

Sometimes people forget that the unions came about because of the labor practices of employers.

Anyway, Rosemary, your question about Evansville, Indiana and the discussion after came at an appropriate time. My husband, daughter in law and granddaughter traveled through Evansville on their way to Ft. Stewart, Georgia, to meet our son, who is returning from Afghanistan this weekend. They stopped at a motel in Evansville and walked down to a nearby restaurant (they drove 450 miles that day). They had a good meal at the Merry go Round restaurant, and when the waitress learned why a Wisconsin family stopped there on a Monday, they refused to let them pay for their meal. That was such a friendly thing to do. My husband was especially impressed, because of his memories of the lack of welcome when he returned from Vietnam. Anyway, Rosemary, another nice place for your friend to stop at when she moves to Indiana.

PatH · « **Reply #9979 on:** November 24, 2012, 11:23:32 AM »

MaryPage, thanks for reminding me of the Masefield poem. I don't quite know it by heart, but it's a long time favorite of mine, too.

Frybabe · « **Reply #9980 on:** November 24, 2012, 11:36:59 AM »

You can download a copy of Salt-Water Ballads from here:

http://archive.org/details/saltwaterballads00maserich

"Sea Fever" is from this his first published volume.

There is a John Masefield Society which was inaugurated in 1992. They have a substantial biography of him as well as other interesting links. http://w01.ies.wf.ulcc.ac.uk/cmps/Projects/Masefield/Society/jmsws.htm

mabel1015j · « **Reply #9981 on:** November 24, 2012, 01:23:01 PM »

My fifth grade teacher made us memorize a poem every two weeks and "Down to the Sea" was one of them. Thanks for the reminder.

A friend of mine works for a major drug company. To save some pennies, (they were not in any financial danger) they decided to turn off the electricity to vending machines at night - even though they have workers 24 hrs a day and some of the products in the vending machines included MILK. I just don't understand the greed.

To parody a famous Dylan song "how many houses/cars/planes/toys does one man need?"

Steph · « **Reply #9982 on:** November 24, 2012, 01:24:38 PM »

Oh Ginny,, My first retail experience was when my husband was drafted and they did not give jobs to the wives.. I worked at a entertainment center and loved it. Learned how to deal with tons and tons of cash and met so many wonderful people. I got sick and had to quit, when I felt a bit better, took a part time job in a large retail in Columbia,SC.. No idea why, but they assigned me to the precious jewelry counter. What a neat job.. When I came to work, the department head decked me out in jewelry that was gorgeous. You waited on the customers, learned to be very very careful of how many things you brought out.. ( one of at the most two at a time).. You always remarked that your jewelry came from there. I worked evenings and stayed very very busy.. Since it was only four hours at a time, di dnot expect a break or food.. so I guess I was really lucky..
When I owned and /or managed retail, you got a meal break if you worked six hours.. You could sit in the back in turns if there were no customers.. You had to dress to suit me, not you..But my help stayed on and rarely left, so I guess I was n OK boss.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #9983 on:** November 24, 2012, 02:29:46 PM »

Yep, Down to the Sea in Ships was part of my memory work in elementary school - I do not think students memorize poetry any longer - do they?

OK - think we need to look a bit deeper - when your pay and promotions are dependent upon doing your best work and your work is to 'cut costs' that bring about more dividends for investors then you hunt out and find every saved penny you can. Therefore, the company's financial manager's wife/husband and children's lifestyle is at stake.

Its a merry-go-round because if you and I want to have a few extra dollars and our meager investments will pay a few dollars more we are pleased - I hate this laying on employees and company execs a lack of virtue - I just believe as long as we think and talk that way we will never solve the problems.

My take is when the law was trashed that kept companies from investing their operating funds in any investment the attention was taken off the product and off the employees. Companies always invested their operating funds in order to cover the extra costs or if profits were down however, it was not their main activity. Maybe it is because many companies have grown so large that the operating account is so huge that they are focused on how to get it to the next level for even better returns. But that is the kind of research and reporting from journalists that we need rather than, labeling activities with a viewpoint that does not take into account the situation.

Another place to look is in the economic and accounting collage text books - there is not a whole lot of ethics about inequality or even furthering economic justice included and, to take an ethics class separately is a leap for some under-grads to apply those values into the other business classes. Then unfortunately, we have the church taking ownership of ethics and so it is not a focus in most business schools in order to keep a religious war from breaking out in a classroom. Of the three arms to a business degree, Ecological integrity and Social equity are studied more for the laws that effect Profitability then from the point of view of an ethical or public valued behavior. The ethics focus is to stay within the law.

This feels overwhelming so that a few adjectives of blame are actually easy - most of us on SeniorLearn do not shop where the product is made in China and sold for dollars less than what is available in the small shops and so, to find the ways we can affect all this is difficult - I am always amazed at the response I get when I drop a note to a CEO about an experience or product - good or bad - so that I am thinking that may be a good thing for those of us who are retired that we can do to help make a difference.

What else could we do - because I think what we are saying is we want more humane treatment and a living wage for employees and less disparity between rich and poor and more important, a more equal voice in government. Even there, seldom do we really read and understand a bill and its effect so that we can voice an opinion much less let our representative know what we think - we just hope our elected official will represent our view point - like hoping without ever entering a teenage boy's room that it is somewhat cleaned and organized and then, using him or his friends word that it is as we hope. I do it all the time except when it comes to protecting the deer in our neighborhood. Ah so...

mabel1015j · « **Reply #9984 on:** November 24, 2012, 10:17:11 PM »

All that you wrote, Barbara is true, but what about individual responsibility, individual ethics, concern and compassion for the people who work for you? Do i have to have a business ethics course to behave ethically? Most people in the U.S. are supposedly Christian....?? How many of these CEOs are in the pews every Sunday, but forget whatever they supposedly heard Mon thru Fri? I don't want to hear what a wonderfully religious man someone is whose job it is to buy up failing companies and NOT fix them, but send them into bankruptcy, so he and the investors can get massive tax breaks to keep the millions and billions that they've not paid to their $24,000/ yr employees.
The investors doing well is one thing, CEOs making 400times what their average employee makes is something else.

Sorry about the soapbox, but this has made my blood boil for decades. To get this back to books, read Nickeled and Dimed to see how hard minimum wage employees are asked to work without breaks, health care, or even availability of paid sick days. Even if the state wage and hour laws say they must get them. If workers don't know the laws, employers can take advantage and some do and know they are breaking the law.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #9985 on:** November 25, 2012, 12:05:41 AM »

Yes, Jean I read it, and I do what I can to share compassion for the poor. One initiative is supporting Mary House, which here in Austin is where a few pick up very ill street people so they can either improve or die in a bed. Among the many ways we interact we have a monthly Mass and dinner with all those who are currently staying plus those of us who help out.

My only beef so to speak is that we are blaming the wrong people and we are not looking at a system where the ethics is all about whittling waste in order to increase profit for investors - Some blame the capitalistic system - as long as we waste time and energy on blaming the few owners, heads of a company, office, department, managers of a big box outlet, none of whom can act alone, we are loosing time and more folks go into poverty.

As to folks like Romney - if what we hear during the campaign is true than why. Why would anyone who the media also shows this man to be compassionate to individuals, be the head of a group whose purpose is to destroy companies and families - I am just not comfortable with blame until we know why - sure they get rich but is that the only incentive - I have a difficult time believing that - the bit I do know is they cannot do any of this directing of resources alone - So why - How did this come to be - We have always had folks taking advantage of the many but it is so lopsided now -

We had laws from the 1930s that protected us from an abusive system but they disappeared - why did we not see and understand and go on a rampage then. If we think this can be controlled by law and we want change then we have to run the hurdle of big money and lots of lobbyists. - The cities have banded together and done a good job of silencing the Occupy Wall Street group - Most of us do not even know what they are doing and since they reminded many of us of the 1960s, many stayed away and are not anxious to see them featured in the news.

I see journalists who only want to give a token bit of information so they can smear so we have a tug of war between what is publicized as the white hats and the black hats -

I do not like this burning of folks in effigy that is the work of the media - I may not agree with many opinions and initiatives but I want to hear them and hear the real affect and the real purpose - We know this has been building since the 1950s - I know I get in a twist hearing anger as if throwing spaghetti on a wall which seems to be the mode of operations these days - I am hoping for a few journalists who are independent enough that they can find and share real understanding and solutions - but even if they did I worry that no one will listen so we can solve some of this -

Sorry Jean I am wordy - do not know how to do it in fewer words - I try but I feel so compelled to explain where I am coming from.

kiwilady · « **Reply #9986 on:** November 25, 2012, 01:53:18 AM »

So much throughtful discussion here. All I keep thinking this is not the world that Franklin D Roosevelt or our Michael Joseph Savage worked to obtain for their constituents. Both of these men made it possible for ordinary men and women to earn a living wage and even for mums to be able to stay at home with their children until they started school.

This disparity between rich and poor began with Globalisation which led to outsourcing which in turn led to the destruction of manufacturing in our countries. How can we compete with a Country that refuses to adjust its exchange rate and thereby having a totally unfair advantage in World Trade? Someone said to me the other day that the World is heading for another Dicksonian age and I cannot but help agreeing with them.

Carolyn

nlhome · « **Reply #9987 on:** November 25, 2012, 08:14:02 AM »

Nickle and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich. - a very good book and one I have recommended because it is written well and, I think, more honestly than some on the subject. I'm not a big nonfiction reader, but this one went fast and stayed with me over the years. Has anyone read any other books by her?

I had to chuckle - I "googled" the title to get the correct spelling for the author's name, and the first thing I saw was an ad for the book, for $9.71, at Wal-Mart.

marjifay · « **Reply #9988 on:** November 25, 2012, 08:27:41 AM »

Frybabe wrote, re employees not being allowed to discuss pay among themselves, "The reason, I believe, is that it breeds discontent among the employees when they discover that someone else in the same or similar position is getting higher pay than themselves, especially if that someone is a newer employee."

Or a woman wanting to know what her male co-workers were earning. One of the best books I read this year was GRACE AND GRIT; MY FIGHT FOR EQUAL PAY AND FAIRNESS AT GOODYEAR by Lilly Ledbetter. Lilly had been working for some 20 years there as a Supervisor/Manager and then found out (from someone in the Accounting Dept.) that she was earning almost 50% less than the men with whom she had equal responsibility and seniority.

Marj

marjifay · « **Reply #9989 on:** November 25, 2012, 09:09:22 AM »

Barb wrote, "sure they get rich but is that the only incentive - I have a difficult time believing that"

I don't. Not since I heard that speech Romney gave to his wealthy money backers, putting down 47% of the people in this country, as not deserving of his attention because, in his opinion, they were not paying income taxes. (not that they were working hard and not earning enough to pay income taxes...)

Marge

PatH · « **Reply #9990 on:** November 25, 2012, 09:14:20 AM »

Barbara Ehrenreich was the speaker at my daughter's graduation from law school. She was quite funny. She remarked about giving a sample for drug testing when starting a new job "That was the last time I got to go to the bathroom on that job."

Steph · « **Reply #9991 on:** November 25, 2012, 09:26:05 AM »

I liked Nickeled and Dimed and another book she has written, but I do know she also exaggerates what is happening.
Since I depend on stock dividends, I do want the companies to pay attention to the bottom line.. Not cruelly, but carefully.

ginny · « **Reply #9992 on:** November 25, 2012, 11:01:12 AM »

I liked Nickel and Dimed, too, Nlhome, but her second book not so much. She may have been the reason I got hooked on these types of books which talk about what behind the scenes in any field is really like. Although I remember really liking Up the Down Staircase, too.

I finished Heads in Beds, and honestly were it not for every other word being F....and S.... and MF....and most of it concerned with reproducing actual dialogue, I would recommend it, but it really got to the point that it became obtrusive. What did you think, Winchester Lady? The young man, I think, has a future in writing, but you keep wishing he would leave off the expletives, or is this the lingua franca of the day?

At any rate, I learned a lot. How to get one of those rooms that you know they keep aside, why not to drink from the hotel glasses, and a lot of other things of interest. You can't know too much.

I've been enjoying our little Latin break by watching movies and reading, (for some reason I have developed a fascination for Mr. Bean and am watching one of his now), and the one with the Strangers in Good Company which I heard about here in the Movies discussion. That one is extraordinary, if you've seen it, and most of their acting was actually improv so you really are seeing the real people and how they are so different. AND reading (or starting) lots of books which I was disappointed in and did not finish: Twelve Drummers Drumming, I did try with that one, it's brand new, and Maron's Christmas Mourning, both of them with huge casts of characters I found wearying. I do like Christmas mysteries but those two I'll have to wait a bit on, sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. Am reading The Invisible Man by HG Wells, in one of those B&N Omnibus type things, boy could HE write. Of course everybody knows the story, so there's no suspense. I wonder why people in the late 1800's wrote so well? Am right in the middle of Valentino, the Last Emperor, watching it again. I find him fascinating. Still going strong I believe, came out of retirement to do Ann Hathaway's wedding dress.

Still reading The King's Speech and I am enjoying the true story very much, but am almost finished and wish I had something really engrossing to read on these coming cold days.

What do you recommend? The King's Speech is not quite like the movie. Poor Albert, George VI, it seems he was sickly almost all his life, even from infancy. He really did have strength in perseverance.

Somewhere out there has got to be an engrossing, sweep you away kind of book. I'm ready to be swept but it hasn't come my way.

Any suggestions?

mabel1015j · « **Reply #9993 on:** November 25, 2012, 12:06:40 PM »

Barbara Ehrenreich was the speaker at my daughter's graduation from law school. She was quite funny. She remarked about giving a sample for drug testing when starting a new job "That was the last time I got to go to the bathroom on that job."

Good one Pat, that made me giggle, thanks fr sharing.

I've got a weird group of books i'm working my way through......The Swerve; Jms Patterson's Jackdaws; finished Wild by Cheryl Strayed, her memoir of walking the Pacific Coast Trail - i recommend it Ginny. I've just started So Big by Edna Ferber - who knew she had such a subtle sense of humor? It's been a long time since i read Ferber. I'm not sure where the story is going, but a 19 yr old young woman leaves Chicago in the 1890s to become a school teacher in a small town of Dutch settlers outside of Chicago.

Hope you are all relaxing after the Thanksgiving meal and chewing on leftovers.

MaryPage · « **Reply #9994 on:** November 25, 2012, 12:08:23 PM »

Bob Schieffer of FACE THE NATION had 4 best selling authors on this morning, and one of them was Gillian Flynn who wrote GONE GIRL.

She seemed to be someone without ego and very, very nice. Very pretty and down to earth. I liked her a lot. She admits her book is quite dark.

He also had Chris Pavone, writer of The Expats, and now I find I really want to read that. And he had David Baldacci, who I like in person but do not care for his books, and Alex Stone, who wrote that book about magic, a subject I am just not interested in.

I found I liked all 4 authors as people, and that is quite surprising as I usually find so many of them to be full of themselves. These four have, or at least seem to have, great personalities.

In line with what you are talking about in here, I have to comment on what any of you anywhere close to my age (born in 1929) know to be true, and that is that the prevailing American Christianity of today is not the one we were raised up in. We were taught we had to be good and do good deeds right up to the last moment of our lives, which included looking after the poor, visiting the sick, comforting the dying, and so forth. We had to follow the commandments and the words of Jesus. Today they teach it is okay to do everything possible to be rich and the poor are to blame for their condition and if you are "Saved", that is forever and you need worry about your behavior no more! I wish I could buy into that, but alas, my early training sticks to me.

PatH · « **Reply #9995 on:** November 25, 2012, 12:48:15 PM »

Let me know what you think of The Swerve. The reviews sounded fascinating.

JoanK · « **Reply #9996 on:** November 25, 2012, 03:13:21 PM »

"I liked Nickel and Dimed, too, Nlhome, but her second book not so much."

Nickled and Dimed was not her first book. Before she became well-known, she wrote an excellant book about women and medicine, whose name I forget.

I participated with her in a seminar which focussed on the working conditions of women in Third World countries. She is indeed very concerned about the problems of women in our society.

kiwilady · « **Reply #9997 on:** November 25, 2012, 04:28:15 PM »

I agree Mary P with your sentiments.

The Kings Speech was wonderful and I did enjoy it. I know the Kings subjects were very fond of him. It was a shame he died so young.

I am reading a huge mish mash of books at the moment. All fiction and all genres. Will give a quick review later on of one I read last week with a unique persective. The whole book was written in the first person and took the form of letters from a woman to her ex husband. The book concerned their son who was jailed for multiple murders in a high school massacre. Each letter is very long so you hardly notice that they are letters and are more like a chapter in the book. Now normally I would not enjoy a book like this but the development of the characters made the book compelling and I could not put it down for long.

JeanneP · « **Reply #9998 on:** November 25, 2012, 07:03:02 PM »

I just finished reading " Revenge of a Middle age women" Enjoyed it. A break from reading my mysteries. I like to switch around more now. Elizabeth buchan wrote this one. Going to see if I can find her other book "Daughters of the Storm". I like her but don't think she has written many.

MaryPage · « **Reply #9999 on:** November 25, 2012, 10:18:15 PM »

This was a below the centerfold FRONT PAGE story in today's (Sunday's) THE WASHINGTON POST.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-england-discovery-of-possible-royal-grave-digs-up-twisted-legacy-of-richard-iii/2012/11/24/33c34570-3314-11e2-92f0-496af208bf23_story.html

News:

Author Topic: The Library (Read 2325989 times)