Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2 (Read 776235 times)

Steph · « **Reply #1720 on:** March 26, 2011, 06:14:21 AM »

This is the place to talk about the works of fiction you are reading, whether they are new or old, and share your own opinions and reviews with interested readers.

Every week the new bestseller lists come out brimming with enticing looking books and rave reviews. How to choose?

Discussion Leader: Judy Laird

As far as I know all of her books are about the same cleaning person..
I tried and tried with Nevada Barr"s13 and 1/2.. Just flat out hated it..
I like her Anna, but this.. No..

ursamajor · « **Reply #1721 on:** March 26, 2011, 09:15:52 AM »

I gave up on the latest Nevada Barr also. I don't know what heppened to her writing skills; the earlier books are so far superior one would think they were written by someone else. I didn't much care for her biography either - Seeking enlightenment hat by hat.

maryz · « **Reply #1722 on:** March 26, 2011, 11:31:39 AM »

Nevada Barr has a new series?

I've only seen the Anna Pigeon (national parks) books.

ursamajor · « **Reply #1723 on:** March 26, 2011, 11:50:43 AM »

The new one is still about Anna Pigeon, but she has lost her fearlessness.

maryz · « **Reply #1724 on:** March 26, 2011, 12:30:11 PM »

Thanks, ursa. Well, she is getting a bit older.

roshanarose · « **Reply #1725 on:** March 27, 2011, 12:17:43 AM »

Gumtree - I forgot to tell you that I am also reading The Amber Room; The Cold Room; The Stonehenge Story; The Strain and a few more. They are all pretty light. What I meant was that the Odyssey is obsessing me. I am not seeking praise, just hoping that my synapses continue to synapse. Thanks for your thoughts.

Steph · « **Reply #1726 on:** March 27, 2011, 06:13:58 AM »

No.. 13 and a half is not a series.. Absolutely not.. It is a terror type,, my least favorite writing.. Not a fun read,, why I stopped.The last Anna Pigeon however was quite odd and a little too violent as well. Why oh why do best selling authors feel impelled to change a character so much.

Babi · « **Reply #1727 on:** March 27, 2011, 09:12:14 AM »

Maybe they're simply tired of that character, STEPH, but their publishers keep demanding more.
So long as it sells, right?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #1728 on:** March 27, 2011, 01:20:35 PM »

Talk about tired characters how about tired books - I've been using this trick for over a year now with such great success that I have to share it - I buy so many of my books used from Amazon's Market Place - first think I do when I open the package is use a plastic cleaner on the cover - now the really old editions have those cloth covers and so no, cannot use plastic cleaner on a cloth cover or on some of the rougher paper covers - however most have either a jacket or the actual cover with some sort of shiny look to the paper - Well I use Novos products but any plastic cleaner should work - I like the Novos because they even have one that reduces scratches and fine lines - anyhow the plastic cleaner does a great job cleaning them up so they are again a joy to handle -

The other I found is that gung cleaner - for the life of me I cannot think of its name - but it takes off any tape - in fact anything stuck on walls and other surfaces - well a few passes of that on a rag and those pesky difficult to remove price tags with the bar codes are gone.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1729 on:** March 27, 2011, 02:06:40 PM »

Barb, the gloss on covers of books and magazines is called "varnish" in the print trade. I never looked into what they actually use as the varnish. I never thought about using a cleaner on a book right out of the box. Thanks for the tip.

As an aside, the inside pages of some more expensive books, which look semi-glossy, are clay coated. Clay coated papers make for higher quality printing, but they also make books a lot heavier. My textbooks are mega heavy because they are both clay coated and oversized. It is no wonder students often use those wheeled bags or enormous backpacks. Try carrying several of those around along with other tools necessary for classes. Ouch, indeed.

ursamajor · « **Reply #1730 on:** March 27, 2011, 02:12:07 PM »

Wonder if Barb's cleaner would work on my face?

pedln · « **Reply #1731 on:** March 27, 2011, 04:14:39 PM »

The Elizabeth Jolley boook sounds like a good read, so I just ordered it from Alibris. And I was happy to note that my library has a large collection of Ann Purser novels. Will have to check them out.

My weekly email from Seattle Times Books has sent me to Shelf Talk, a blog of the Seattle Public Library. Has anyone read The Lovers by Vendela Vida. Both title and author are new names to me. Recently widowed after 26 years, Yvonne rents a house near the beach in Turkey where she spent her honeymoon, hoping for a restorative good time. But such is not to be. The reviews from the library and Amazon are very positive. It may end up in my TBR pile.

Shelf Talk -- The Lovers

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #1732 on:** March 27, 2011, 04:31:30 PM »

Sounds interesting pedln - here it is with a few of the first pages to read on Amazon. Amazon - The Lovers for some reason it does not appear to be a sought after book - it was only published June of 2010 and already there is a resale for only Nintyfive cents plus shipping as compared to other books with the same name that were published last year or even earlier and they are still commanding a higher used book price. .

roshanarose · « **Reply #1733 on:** March 27, 2011, 11:12:07 PM »

ursamajor - GMTA re Barb's cleaner

Gumtree · « **Reply #1734 on:** March 27, 2011, 11:37:24 PM »

Barbara: I've been cleaning used books for years just to get the grime off - sometimes I do the same with library books if they feel uncomfortable - they come up so well. I take those 'pesky' sticky price tags off with a dab of eucalyptus oil - works wonders - well it would wouldn't it being extracted from a gumtree

Steph · « **Reply #1735 on:** March 28, 2011, 06:20:32 AM »

My used books from Amazon and from my swap club are almost entirely clean and tidy..and close to brand new. Must be lucky.. now at the Library book sale.. whew.. we had so many donations, we had to dump. Why do people think that mildewed books or books falling apart will be salable is beyond me.

salan · « **Reply #1736 on:** March 28, 2011, 07:24:13 AM »

Steph, those are probably the same people who donate broken toys for Christmas and worn out clothing to the Salvation Army. Why do they bother when it would be so much easier for them to just put them in the trash!
Sally

Babi · « **Reply #1737 on:** March 28, 2011, 08:58:30 AM »

I have an even simpler solution. I wear my worn-out clothes around the house or to work
in the yard. By the time even I can't wear them, they're ready for the rag bag.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1738 on:** March 28, 2011, 02:28:15 PM »

I'm the same, Babi. And the rags, if they are cotten based, get used for cleaning until they are filthy. Only then, do they get thrown out.

ursamajor · « **Reply #1739 on:** March 28, 2011, 03:07:21 PM »

I think I can tell you why people donate books that are unsalable. They come from a former home or a friend who has died, and they figure you can throw them away with less pain than it would cause them.

jane · « **Reply #1740 on:** March 28, 2011, 04:05:05 PM »

Or they want you to give them a huge in $$ tax receipt so they can deduct it from their taxes as a charitable contribution.

One old geezer brought in books on hog raising from the 1940s and couldn't understand why we didn't want them. Others bring old print encyclopedias. DUH! Our Lib policy includes statements that we can refuse donations and/or dispose of them as we see fit. Some are so nasty, as others have said, that you don't want to touch them without gloves as you toss them in the recycle boxes.

jane

pedln · « **Reply #1741 on:** March 28, 2011, 08:01:24 PM »

Jane, I remember a university professor donating quite a few books to our high school library in January or February, then being rather put out because I would not write some receipt saying they had been donated in December, before the end of the previous year.

jane · « **Reply #1742 on:** March 28, 2011, 08:18:40 PM »

Pedln...Oh, yeah...been there, too.

Octavia · « **Reply #1743 on:** March 29, 2011, 01:38:12 AM »

Re unsalable things, there's a very fast growing problem here of people dumping their rubbish in or around charity bins so they don't have to pay dump fees. The poor charities are drowning under a sea of junk, and running out of money, as they have to foot the bill.
Dump fees are escalating rapidly, but it's so unfair to people like the Salvo's who work tirelessly giving out food etc.
Then the offenders scream blue murder if the Salvo's can't help them in their time of need.

Steph · « **Reply #1744 on:** March 29, 2011, 06:19:12 AM »

To my amazement, I had two donations of Encyclopedias to the book sale and both went quickly.. In both cases, it was an afterschool program that did not have both one or two computers and the kids could use them to do reports etc. But both sets were relatively new.

MaryPage · « **Reply #1745 on:** March 29, 2011, 08:14:35 AM »

Back in the mid-nineties, when I wanted to get rid of but could not bear to throw out my children's World Book encyclopedia set, which was quite dated, I advertized it as a freebie in my local free tabloid, which would run give-away ads for nothing. I was happy that a single mother with an elementary school daughter came by and looked at it and happily took it home. Hey, dated or not, it was better than nothing for them!

maryz · « **Reply #1746 on:** March 29, 2011, 08:42:56 AM »

Our library's book sales almost always have sets of encyclopedias for sale - and they always sell.

pedln · « **Reply #1747 on:** March 29, 2011, 12:23:40 PM »

I wonder if any editions ever become collectors items. My brother still has the Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia that my parents purchased back in the 1930's. I was always enchanted with the Woodsman's stories and Aesop-like tales of the animals.

roshanarose · « **Reply #1748 on:** March 29, 2011, 10:39:25 PM »

Pedln - My parents had bought my brother and I the whole set of Arthur Mee's encyclopaedias when we were children. I, too, can vividly remember the illustrations and the contents. They were my introduction to learning for learnings sake.

Steph · « **Reply #1749 on:** March 30, 2011, 06:10:48 AM »

When my younger son graduated from High School, we lived in a teeny New Hampshire town. The library was the old one room schoolhouse and the librarian was simply a resident who loved books.. I gave them our Encyclopedias and they were so thrilled. It was the most current set they had. I always felt as if that was a real gift of love.

Babi · « **Reply #1750 on:** March 30, 2011, 09:17:59 AM »

I didn't know any of those tiny schools still existed, STEPH. It's hard to imagine a
state schoolboard accepting a school taught by "a resident who loved books". Is it still
there, do you know?

Steph · « **Reply #1751 on:** March 31, 2011, 06:03:30 AM »

N o, I must not have been clear. It was the town library.. It was originallly a one room schoolhouse..But when they built the new schools, the town retained it, turned the original upstairs apartment into a meeting room and downstairs was the library. Very small but still a good one..The resident had gotten books on how to do the Dewey Decimal, etc and it was really a lovely litle place.. Hours very restricted. Three days a week, but the residents loved it and we had all of our meetings upstairs in the meeting room.

Babi · « **Reply #1752 on:** March 31, 2011, 08:30:49 AM »

OOPs. No, STEPH, you were perfectly clear. I just skimmed the post too quickly. I'm also
currently reading a book set in Montana in the early 1900's, complete with one-room
schoolhouses, and I think my brain slipped a cog.

Steph · « **Reply #1753 on:** April 01, 2011, 06:08:23 AM »

In that area of New Hampshire, almost all of the "one room" schoolhouses were two story with a basement..They were the center of the tiny towns. Often they had been converted into the townhall upstairs.. This town outgrew it for that, but did use the upstairs all the time for meetings. The staircase was in the hall, so the library could be closed and the upstairs used at night.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1754 on:** April 01, 2011, 01:35:39 PM »

Just read The Bridge by David Marlette. I think someone here had mentioned it which got it on my tbr list. It's a first novel by DM. It sounds like it may be partially autobiographical. A nationally famous political cartoonist gets fired from his NY paper and returns to his native N Carolina. He inadvertantly begins to learn an unknown history of his family who was involved in the textile labor strikes in the 30's. I don't like stories w/flashbacks, but i don't see another way he could have told this story. I enjoyed it....... Jean

Judy Laird · « **Reply #1755 on:** April 01, 2011, 05:56:00 PM »

I just put Lovers on my Kindle. Its way too easy, wait til the bill comes.
Alsoo ordered a bunch of cheap books from B&N I had a gift card and still have a
coupon from social living. I hope I stop getting bargins soon but I do love the social living.

Pedlin I think of you so often and wish you were here. Snoqualmie Falls is lilterally flowing out of its banks. I wish you could see it. Record amounts of rain and it just keeps coming week after week after week. It is really horrible. # 2 son is coming over tommorow mornning to bring me a new riding lawn mower and one of his dogs to keep. I need the lawn mower that is if it stops raining but I really don't need the dog. Oh well, for some of you that might remember the dog is Martha's sister.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #1756 on:** April 01, 2011, 06:32:51 PM »

how long do you have to keep the dog? Hope it's temporary!

Steph · « **Reply #1757 on:** April 02, 2011, 06:20:21 AM »

Ah Judy, the dog is for company, I would bet.. I will let you do Riding lawn mowers. That is why I live in a townhouse.. I have a small garden area and that is plenty for me.

Babi · « **Reply #1758 on:** April 02, 2011, 08:55:11 AM »

At least Martha will be delighted to have her sister for company.

salan · « **Reply #1759 on:** April 03, 2011, 04:12:54 AM »

Alas, has Alice Hoffman finally gone over to the "dark" side??? I checked out 2 of her newest books, The Story Sisters" and The Red Garden. I started with Story Sisters, read 120 pages and closed the book. Too dark and depressing for me at the current time. I am hoping The Red Garden will be better. Have any of you read either of these books? I really liked her earlier books, esp. Turtle Moon; and am hoping that The Red Garden is not dark!
Sally

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Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2 (Read 776235 times)