Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2 (Read 776313 times)

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1960 on:** June 14, 2011, 01:36:20 PM »

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

I mentioned on "the library" site that i've found a new fiction author........

"I'm reading a good book titled The Ladies Lunch! Five women in Washington D.C. have lunch once a month. They are a judge, a news reporter, a congresswoman, the WH press secretary, and a caterer. One of them has an accidental death and that opens a can of worms. It's written by Patricia O'Brien, whom i only disc overed recently and i like very much. The characters seem real, the story moves along nicely, it held my interest at every page. O'Brien lives in D.C. and has a handle on the place.

I'm also reading O'Brien's Harriet and Isabella, a fiction book about those two Beecher sisters and mentions many characters of the late nineteenth century, along w/ the issues of the time." i'm not sure about this one, it goes back and forth in time and i'm not fond of that technique of writing, so i have to get over that in order to judge how well i like the story. I do like the characters, again the behaviors seem real and i fo like books that include real people.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1961 on:** June 14, 2011, 01:41:51 PM »

Jean, I have made a note of this author, I like the sound of The Ladies Lunch - thanks

Rosemary

roshanarose · « **Reply #1962 on:** June 14, 2011, 11:48:30 PM »

Babi - I know it sounds strange that I should be rude to someone waking me at 5.30am, it is so unlike me. I am most definitely a late afternoon/night person. Or were you writing "tongue-in-cheek", cheeky girl!?

Would you believe it - that same b...... woman rang me again this morning. After what I said this morning I am almost certain I won't be hearing from her again. btw she was calling from the U S of A. If I do, Telstra will have a new complaint.

Steph · « **Reply #1963 on:** June 15, 2011, 06:17:02 AM »

I am angry because one of the web sites that keeps emailing me.. refers to facebook as who sent them to me. I did not give facebook the option of doing this. No more clicking likes on facebook.

Babi · « **Reply #1964 on:** June 15, 2011, 09:06:14 AM »

Definitely cheeky, ROSE.

pedln · « **Reply #1965 on:** June 15, 2011, 10:46:00 AM »

Jean, your report on Harriet and Isabella sent me looking at "wiki" and elsewhere. Was that scandal real? Guess so. The wife confesses, the cuckholded husband tells, of all people, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and she tells Henry's sister Isabella. Shame on who, here. In spite of it all, it sounds like Beecher came out of it okay, immortalized in many ways. Even a statue in front of the his church.

Henry Beecher

Hmmm, some have said another more current gentleman has done good things, and strongly supported his party and his leader, but I don't think I'll put a link to his picture.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #1966 on:** June 15, 2011, 10:53:34 AM »

Steph, that would be my Rule #397: "Never enter anything where you have to "Like them" on FaceBook. "

Steph · « **Reply #1967 on:** June 16, 2011, 06:00:08 AM »

Yes, it is now for me a rule on Facebook.. But I am also having a problem with people wanting to friend me that I have never heard of. I have a firm policy that I dont friend anyone that I dont know. A minor exception for one of Kait( my granddaughter)'s friends. She has no Grandma and she and Kait asked me.. so I said yes for her. But noone else.

jeriron · « **Reply #1968 on:** June 16, 2011, 08:08:01 AM »

When you have someone wanting to friend you and you don't know them they are usually a "friend" of someone you do know. I'm not use if they do it or Facebook does. I just ignore it.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #1969 on:** June 16, 2011, 09:13:45 AM »

There's usually an "X" to the right of the person's photo/name, if you click that it does away with it. But, and it's a big but...There are usually so many of these that it will take awhile, because (as Jeriron states) they are "friends of friends". You may have heard their name, but you don't know them -- so X 'em out.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1970 on:** June 16, 2011, 09:46:42 AM »

I am not and never have been on Facebook or any of the other "social networks". Yet I get strangers wanting to friend me. If I am not signed up on Facebook, how do they have my email address. Sounds mighty suspicious to me.

pedln · « **Reply #1971 on:** June 16, 2011, 10:29:03 AM »

Tomereader, I'm a Facebook newbie with very few friends, mostly family and a few others. But after clicking a few likes I'm getting inundated on my NewsFeed page. So, if I click the x next to someone's name am I unfriending someone, or just getting rid of the games that person plays? I don't want to unfriend anyone, but I'm not interested in all the game stuff.

maryz · « **Reply #1972 on:** June 16, 2011, 10:30:59 AM »

pedln, you just click the 'x' and it'll give you choices. You can do it so their posts don't show up, but the person doesn't know it. You haven't officially "un-friended" them.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #1973 on:** June 16, 2011, 12:43:52 PM »

I personally wouldn't go to face book if my life depended on it.

My DIL who is not the brightest bulb went to face book a few years ago. She didn't want to join just see some pictures on a friends site.
I don't know what happened but I recieved a e-mail saying Linda Cowin wanted me to come see her face book and her pictures ect------. I called her and said Linda are you sure you want to do this, she said no I didn't at the end of the the day some how faceook bogarted her e-mail address-all of them, some whcih were for her bisness and sent eveyone one of her address book a phony e-mail.

I was in the hosp for divertiulitisus yesterday so perhaps I am not in the best mood. hehe

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1974 on:** June 16, 2011, 01:04:00 PM »

Facebook can be a nightmare, especially for teenagers. My elder daughter had a terrible time with it when she was 13 - lots of name calling and general horribleness from her former school "friends". In the end she closed her page down (although she's now opened it again - but now she has nicer friends and they are all a bit older).

This week history has repeated itself and I have had my younger daughter in floods of tears about things being said on Facebook. Her brother and I told her to keep right off the whole site and so far I think she has done so.

I spoke to her teacher, who said that if she had her way the whole operation would be shut down. The school recently had the police in to give a talk about internet safety. The officer asked the class (of 13 year olds) how many of them had 50 Facebook "friends" (just abut everybody apparently), how many had 100, 200, etc - it ended up with 5 pupils who claimed to have 500+ "friends" each. As the teacher said, she doesn't even know 500 people. It is very scary how these children can agree to be anyone's friend just to get a higher score. My children do at least limit their befriending to people they actually know, but even then - as above - things can turn very nasty. As my son said to Madeleine last night, people say things on Facebook that they would never dream of saying to your face - they don't mean them, but that is no justification, and leads to a lot of pain and upset for the recipients.

I put myself on Facebook in an attempt to find out what my son was up to (in the mildest sense - eg how his course was going - I do not want to know details of his social life!), but I must say I find the whole thing unbelievably boring and rarely look at it - although he does post lots of photos of their ski-ing, mountaineering, etc, which are good to see - I can't imagine how people can find it interesting to know what other people had for dinner. The only good thing I have seen of late is that several of my friends' children have posted their (good) degree results, which (having moved away) I may not have found out about for some time otherwise, so it's been nice to be able to congratulate them.

Rosemary

marjifay · « **Reply #1975 on:** June 16, 2011, 01:44:39 PM »

So sorry, Rosemary, to hear about your daughters' experiences with Facebook. I looked into it once and found it so boring I couldn't see what the big deal was about. I'm with your daughter's teacher, think the whole thing should be abolished. But, then, there's that thing about free speech, etc. I think I heard recently that the number of people using Facebook is declining.

Marj

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1976 on:** June 16, 2011, 05:40:50 PM »

I love Facebook. It keeps me in touch w/ the next three generations in a way that i would not otherwise be. They are in Conn, Ga, N.C., Maryland, Pa and Va. Much of the info has to do w/ their day-to-day events, their childrens activities, and just some fun things like sharing music and comments on th e news. I would not have a sense of any of those things if not for FB and i love having them in my life.......... Jean

MaryPage · « **Reply #1977 on:** June 16, 2011, 07:18:12 PM »

Know I am being a scaredy cat of an old lady, though I pride myself in being in the approximately 50% or less of my age group who do emailing and computers and I actually have peers who are terrified of computers and would not be lead yelling and screaming to owning one and have never done an email in their lives and never will, and you are acquainted with the same types as well I am sure, BUT

I draw the line at emailing. Eons ago I was enticed into that Instant Messaging that was all the rage (seems to have fallen by the wayside) and it turned out I hated it and dropped it. Emails do the job for me. They cover the waterfront of MY existence. I do have a cell phone, which I keep in my handbag and never turn on unless I need to make a call because I am not at home or because the land phones & electricity are out. That cell phone was carefully picked by me at the Verizon store for NOT doing anything but phoning. No texting. For the life of me, I cannot figure out what in the world all these people, and most especially CHILDREN, are doing talking to others with cell phone texting and tweeting and Facebooking and so on and on and on. Does ANYone stop and sit down and read a book these days? In a Quiet Room? Scheesch!

I do not, in my heart, disparage this culture. I just flat out cannot RELATE to it. Baring my heart and emotional map here, and hoping you can relate to me; or at least that some of you can. Thanks for listening!

Frybabe · « **Reply #1978 on:** June 16, 2011, 07:42:18 PM »

I hear you MaryPage. I, for the life of me, cannot figure out why people have to be constantly plugged into their cellphone whether texting or talking. Even George wanders around with that ear piece in his ear. He used the cellphone in hands off mode in the car, but even then I think, what is so gull darn important that the average individual needs to be that connected. I am just not that interested in keeping in constant contact with the world (except here, of course

). I carry my cellphone mostly for emergencies. It is off unless I want to use it. I don't even have my voice mail set up on it.

MaryPage · « **Reply #1979 on:** June 16, 2011, 09:09:52 PM »

Thank you SO much. I really needed to hear that.

roshanarose · « **Reply #1980 on:** June 16, 2011, 10:32:44 PM »

I'm with you MaryPage and FryBabe. I particularly dislike texting, as most of the people who send them to me forget to sign them. Great way NOT to communicate. I love emails too. My cellphone (or mobile as we call them here) saved me once so now I always have it with me, although I rarely put any money in it. It is mainly for emergencies and if people want to call me if I am not at home.

For the last week I have been so tired, listless and disinterested in just about everything. I am wondering what is wrong. I think I will have a blood test.

serenesheila · « **Reply #1981 on:** June 16, 2011, 11:25:07 PM »

ROSHANAROSE, that is not good. Please do have some blood work done. Let us know the results. I am putting you on my daily prayer list.

I share the feelings about Facebook. I have no desire to have stangers know what I am doing, thinking and feeling. I do not want to befriend someone I do not know.

Sheila

CallieOK · « **Reply #1982 on:** June 16, 2011, 11:39:20 PM »

I agree with everyone who thinks this need to constantly be "in touch" is ridiculous.

I do more reading than posting on Facebook. My security choices limit those who can read anything on my "wall" to very very few people and I use the "delete post" choice often.

I will say it has put me in touch with a few friend/former students from long ago that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. The "chat box' feature (shows which "friends" are on at the time) has been helpful in contacting my family.

Other than that, I'm not a big fan of any of the "social networks".

Octavia · « **Reply #1983 on:** June 17, 2011, 12:26:23 AM »

Roshanarose, I second Shiela's advice to get yourself checked out. Perhaps you're anaemic or have thyroid problems, two of the most common contenders for feeling blah.
I refuse to get on Facebook, because I enjoy the privacy of email, and its one on oneness. Besides my family fill me on the news. One son was shocked when I mentioned something about one of his boys. He said "it only happened yesterday". His partner had updated it to FB. I told him, tell FB and you've told the world

.
My sister and I were once trapped on a train while a man told the whole carriage excruciatingly boring trivia about his life. We were hoping someone would say something, because we were too chicken to do it ourselves. Worried about train rage!

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1984 on:** June 17, 2011, 02:19:48 AM »

I must admit that I love texting. I like the way you can do it anytime and know you are not going to interrupt the recipient - they can just read it when they want to. Similarly, I don't have to respond to any texts unless I want to. Some of my friends are avid texters, some aren't. I have my friends numbers in my phone memory, so I know who is calling/texting because their name comes up rather than their number.

What I do find, though, is that each time a "new" way of communicating is invented, the old one is rapidly left behind, especially by our children - for example, my children now seeing writing an email as a huge and unnecessary effort, whereas I much prefer them because you can say a lot more - if you say too much in a text, only people with things like i-phones can read them, because the cheaper phones can't cope with too many words at once. I suppose all this really says is that i talk too much!

Marypage, you are well "switched on"! I was speaking to a friend the other day about that Prestonpans Tapestry - her mother, who is only in her 70s and very active, would love to see it, but does not travel to Edinburgh. However, she steadfastly refuses to have anything to do with any computer, so she can't view it on-line, which is such a shame. She also refuses to have a cell phone or even to think about them - this meant that when her 22 year old grandson was late back from something one day, she actually phoned the police instead of calling his mobile (which she could of course have done from her landline anyway). Luckily they live in a remote part of Northern Scotland and the local police are fairly laid back!

Roshanarose - I hope you feel better soon. My son has a 20 year old friend who is experiencing similar problems at the moment - she is having a barrage of tests, and seems to be very anaemic. However, she, being bored, googled her symptoms - and now wishes she hadn't, as of course the internet will tell you you have every disease known to man even if all it really is is toothache. Anyway, take care.

Rosemary

Gumtree · « **Reply #1985 on:** June 17, 2011, 04:29:47 AM »

Roshanarose: Sorry you feel under the weather at present. The blood test sounds a good idea. Maybe you need a new interest or hobby - In the meantime remember the mantra - light exercise, fresh air, sleep - and don't forget to drink plenty of fluids.

Babi · « **Reply #1986 on:** June 17, 2011, 09:17:22 AM »

I'm glad to hear that, MARJIFAY. I hope it's true. Fads like Facebook
do come and go, but some, unfortunately, seem to be permanent.
On the other hand, I see JEAN has found Facebook useful for keeping
up with her grands. Maybe the whole thing just needs some 'rules and
regulations'.

ursamajor · « **Reply #1987 on:** June 17, 2011, 09:59:42 AM »

I think Facebook will be permanent, athough I join others in being suspicious of it and finding it remarkably boring. I also carry a turned-off cell phone for emergencies. I use it occasionally but have determinedly avoided all the bells and whistles. I believe and hope that texting is a fad that will pass away; I get quite annoyed when my grandson texts others while purporting to converse with us. No hope for him, he is 33. I guess we who feel this way are just old grumps.

CallieOK · « **Reply #1988 on:** June 17, 2011, 10:09:00 AM »

ursamajor, my dil does the same thing - and she's in her 40's!

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1989 on:** June 17, 2011, 10:27:51 AM »

Now I do agree that that is really annoying! My son does it, of course - and although my husband doesn't actually text whilst he's pretending to listen to me, he does look at his phone every other millisecond to see if something more interesting is happening somewhere in cyberspace

Rosemary

CallieOK · « **Reply #1990 on:** June 17, 2011, 10:49:47 AM »

OTOH, texting is very useful when the family is going somewhere together but in more than one car. So simple to find where the first ones there found seats or how long the wait would be at a selected restaurant, etc.

As with everything else, good manners should go along with usage. Maybe those are "Fiction" today

. <trying to stay on topic here

>

pedln · « **Reply #1991 on:** June 17, 2011, 11:42:56 AM »

Thanks for that info, MaryZ. I didn’t want to unfriend anyone, but there sure is a lot of junk on the page.

Mabel/Jean, I pretty much agree with you about Facebook. I joined it mainly just to see what it was all about, and to see photos that my grandkids put up, which is the same reason my son joined – to see his kids photos. None of my daughters will have anything to do with it. I don’t spend much time on it, I rarely comment, but it’s nice to get back in touch with family members I haven’t seen in a great while.

My son told me the No. 1 Rule was that parents and grandparents can look at the kids’ pages, but they aren’t supposed to say anything.

As for texting, I'd need another plan because I refuse to pay $.20 per text message. However, it has it's good points, especially if you don't hear well, and you can keep also keep messages with specific information, and dates, addresses and phone numbers.

WSJ had an article the other day about cell phones now beginning to include captions, which is good, but it sounds like you need a data plan, which can be expensive.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1992 on:** June 17, 2011, 12:01:10 PM »

I agree w/ everybody!?! Again!

I love FB, BUT am very annoyed by people conversing on their cell phones, every minuite, everywhere! I have been known to suggest to people (strangers) that not everybody in the place wishes to hear their conversation, in a nice old-lady way.

i also leave my cell phone in the car to be used in emergencies, but use it about once a month. It's a joke in my family.

On the other hand my dgt spends far less time in her office than i ever did bcs she's in constant contact w/ her customers and her office. Of course, she, and all those cousins i stay in touch w/ on FB, are texting and conversing w/each other ever day or couple days. My son plays scrabble w/ a cousin 100's of miles away. That cousin-group is much "closer" to each other than i ever was w/ any of my cousins and it's bcs they are constantly in touch w/each other and supporting each other........ Jean

maryz · « **Reply #1993 on:** June 17, 2011, 12:42:32 PM »

Jean, I can tell you text a lot. You tend to type in "text-speak". Sometimes it takes a while to translate.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #1994 on:** June 17, 2011, 12:55:11 PM »

I noticed that, too, Jean.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1995 on:** June 17, 2011, 01:31:00 PM »

I can't tell you how many times I thought someone was talking to me only to discover they were talking on their bluetooth or whatever. These things are so small, and especially with someone who has long hair or turned with that ear not visible to you, it is next to impossible to see the thing stuck in their ear. So, how many times have I gone up to (and this at work too) and started to talk to someone only to discover she was on the phone listening to someone else. It is very, very annoying (if not embarrassing) when there is no clue they are in the middle of another conversation. I am NOT being rude to butt in, I just have no clue you are listening on one of those things if you don't have a little red flag waving above your head or some such.

Then there are the texters at school who text away while walking. They must naturally assume that everyone else is going to "part the waters" for them because they are not paying attention to their surroundings.

Just what I needed today - a soapbox.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1996 on:** June 17, 2011, 01:33:55 PM »

Actually i don't text at all....... I've done it maybe 2or3 times on my cell phone and can't do it on my house phone. What you see is, probably, my one-handed ipad system that i use only on tbe internet and which sometimes frustrates me that i can't type faster on it.....

I actually developed my own short-hand-note-taking system from yrs of research for my classes and it turns out to be very close to the texting short-hand...... Jean

Steph · « **Reply #1997 on:** June 17, 2011, 01:42:29 PM »

I dont text, but I do use facebook. I keep in touch with all of those people that I have known in my life and have moved away or they have. It is interesting in that. Occasionally I will play a game or two there, but mostly I use my IPAD games. More interesting.
If I dont recognize the names, I simply reply, not interested.. and now facebook asked you if you know the person, when I say no.. they take them off my site and dont let them back on.. Very nice..

Babi · « **Reply #1998 on:** June 18, 2011, 08:39:29 AM »

I don't think it's just us old grumps, URSA. It is plain rude to ignore the
people you are with, whether it's texting are doing anything else that pointedly
shuts them out. For socially unsure teens, it may well be a hiding place. Look
immensely popular, without having to put it to the test f-to-f.
I do hope Mom and Dad aren't paying for excessive text messaging. I don't know
how that is handled, but if there are extra charges based on the number of messages
I would make it very clear that I'm not paying that bill. I have found paying the bills to be
a wonderful deterrent to overuse of anything.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1999 on:** June 18, 2011, 09:01:22 AM »

Babi - I agree. Incidentally, the package I and each of my children have allows for unlimited texts but only 100mins per month of spoken calls. That is the cheapest package available - it is £15 pm - and I find it very good as I hardly use my phone for calls. or at least I didn't when I still had a landline - and as soon as we have another house I should be back to that situation.

Am trying to think of some literary link to avoid being off topic, but have so far failed, so had better be quiet...

Rosemary

News:

Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2 (Read 776313 times)