Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2 (Read 776272 times)

MaryPage · « **Reply #2280 on:** September 26, 2011, 10:46:03 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

http://www.goodreads.com/series/52649-lucia

http://www.ukcardcast.com/paulbines/Bensonpage.htm

Steph · « **Reply #2281 on:** September 27, 2011, 06:34:28 AM »

Stuck it in my library donations bag and it went off last night when I went to the Friends meeting. so no title.. It is another of the USA Today authors type.. I must learn to avoid their authors.

Babi · « **Reply #2282 on:** September 27, 2011, 08:31:39 AM »

Okay, STEPH, I gotta know. I don't read USA TODAY, so I haven't a clue. What is their "authors" type?

pedln · « **Reply #2283 on:** September 27, 2011, 11:00:49 AM »

I'm curious, too, Babi. But I don't know, Steph. Today the USA Today critic has a review of Charles Frazier's Nightwoods along with an interview. I liked his Cold Mountain, have not read Thirteen Moons.

JimNT · « **Reply #2284 on:** September 27, 2011, 12:45:31 PM »

I'm nearing the end of Freedom by Jonathon Franzen and I must retract an earlier comment made here re Patty's behavior. The entire family is dysfunctional! This book reminds me of an incident in Florence, Italy, during Christmas of 2002. My wife and I were strolling through the piazza one cold evening and I bought a bag of roasted chestnuts. Never having eaten chestnuts and only having heard Johnny Mathis sing of them, I immediately regretted it. But one chestnut led to another and before long I was buying a second bag of them. I still can't say I like them but once started I can't stop. Freedom is like that. I can't stand the book but I hate to finish it and find myself thinking about it often. Maybe I need therapy.

Steph · « **Reply #2285 on:** September 28, 2011, 06:13:08 AM »

OK.. Stopped in the library and retrieved it for the name.. Dont Make me Choose between You and my Shoes by Dixie Cash.. Says on the fron USA Today Bestselling author. Every time I have picked up something like this, it is chic lit... So I must stay away..Just way too cutesy..

Babi · « **Reply #2286 on:** September 28, 2011, 08:35:24 AM »

Me, too, JIM. With happy expectations from years of "Chestnuts roasting on an
open fire", I bought some roasted chestnuts while visiting in London. Ugh. Like
eating half-cooked, unseasoned beans.

Cutesy is best in small doses, isn't it, STEPH.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2287 on:** September 28, 2011, 11:26:21 AM »

I had the good fortune to attend, with three of my f2f book club friends, a program featuring Jamie Ford ("The Hotel @ the Corner of Bitter and Sweet"). If you get the opportunity to go to one of his book signings, or talks, by all means go! He is a wonderful speaker, urbane, funny, charming. He definitely won the hearts of my group.
And speaking of groups, this program was sponsored by "Richardson Reads One Book" which is a "nationwide reading program created to develop a community built around the shared experience of people reading and talking about the same book..." I know other cities in the US are doing this. The City of Richardson is a suburb of Dallas, and I will need to look up the population numbers, but it is quite large. This program was held at the High School Auditorium which is the size of most of your music halls, and let me tell you it was full, or nearly full. I couldn't see the balcony from my seat, but the lower floor was full. This was a very impressive turnout, especially to Jamie as he said, "sometimes my audience for these talks is my wife and I and the janitor".
I feel sure we have read the book here, and haven't had time this A.M. to check the archives, but if you haven't read the book, do so!

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2288 on:** September 28, 2011, 12:57:17 PM »

I think Louise Penny has also mentioned this One Book thing on her website - one of her books was chosen, if I remember rightly (which is highly unlikely...

)

Rosemary

pedln · « **Reply #2289 on:** September 28, 2011, 01:08:44 PM »

Tomereader, I don't think we read Hotel on the Corner . . . here as a group. But could be wrong. It was a good book.

Gumtree · « **Reply #2290 on:** September 28, 2011, 01:32:52 PM »

The One Book thing has been running here for several years. It began as part of our annual arts festival. It happens during the summer - February - and many local libraries, community groups etc get involved and host readings, discussions, talks etc. The libraries buy in large numbers of the chosen book so it's easy to get one's hands on a copy. The chosen book is often written by a local author and he/she will be inveigled into giving a talk or three and if it has a familiar locale there are walks organised to visit some of the places mentioned in the book. It's all good fun and best of all it engenders so much book talk in the general community that when one meets friends and acquaintances many have read the book and are ready to comment - sometimes loud and long

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2291 on:** September 28, 2011, 02:01:13 PM »

Gumtree, how wonderful! Here in Dallas, we are a much much larger city than Richardson, but have not hosted/planned one of these. And that is sad. I know cities large and small are having financial/budgetary problems, and our libraries have been cut back to nearly nothing. Just got word that all the "pages" in our library system will now be let go.
Most branches were down to about 2 or 3 paid staff, and now, no help at all.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2292 on:** September 28, 2011, 02:20:50 PM »

Reading two good fiction books. I think someone mentioned Kommandant's Girl here, a young Jewish woman in Poland in the 30s, posing as a Gentile works for the Nazi Kommandant. She is also working fir the resistance and so it gets more and more intense as she's asked to do more and more risky things. An added twist, though married to a man in the resistance, she hasn't seen him in months, doesn't know where he is. She is attracted to the Kommandant, which is appalling to her.

The other book is a Nancy Thayer book "Three Women at the Water's Edge". It is the typical mother and daughters story - mother, upright, small town adored physician's wife for 30 yrs is recently divorced and loving it; dgt #1- pregnant w/ her third child, having lovelingly restored an old house, knows husband is having an affair; 2nd dgt teaching in Maine, loving her single life meets an enticing, independent teacher/farmer. As i said it's the typical "woman -finding -herself", but so far it's well written and pulled me in. Dgt #1 is so Betty Crooker housekeeper/mother that the passages about her exhaust me just reading them.

Jean

maryz · « **Reply #2293 on:** September 28, 2011, 02:31:37 PM »

Tome, our city's done the One Book thing - but haven't had the money and/or financing for a number of years.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2294 on:** September 28, 2011, 02:49:18 PM »

jean, 3 Women at the Water's Edge is the best Thayer by far. I read it years ago and loved it. So, when her new one came out, I think it has Heat in the title, her publisher must've said "put more sex in this one", and it reads like a lusty bosom romance. Yuk. I would say don't waste your time on that one, unless of course....

roshanarose · « **Reply #2295 on:** September 28, 2011, 09:56:46 PM »

Off topic - but I am curious. I love the US names, e.g. Dixie Cash - is Dixie short for something or does it have another meaning? My ex-husbane had an aunt who lived in Southern US, and they called her Bitsy. Is Bitsy short for anything? Maybe Elizabeth?

MaryPage · « **Reply #2296 on:** September 28, 2011, 11:12:19 PM »

Dixie is a name that usually refers to the Southern of these United States. It was called Dixieland. Originally that name belonged to Louisiana because they actually had money called the Dix, and that area was called Dixieland. It grew to mean the entire Southern region.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #2297 on:** September 29, 2011, 01:42:58 AM »

Is Bitsy short for anything? doubt it - usually a name just fits - some are nicknames and others are their given name - over the years I have known or have been friends with: Artie, Ibby, Rafe, Izzie, Bambi, Pepper, Jo-Jo, Kissy, Sister, Bo, Cricket, Tiny, Tip, Dee, Duke, Ezz - then there is Tuck, Trey, Ty, Tex and Tank as well as, the well known philanthropist from the Houston Hogg family - Ima Hogg - myth had it that she had a sister Ura but that was just a myth.

That is not even touching all the double names like Joe Abbott - Alma Grace or girls who are Miss this or that or Lady this or that as their name not just a polite salutation - Lady June - Miss Mary Morgan followed by their sur name example; Miss Mary Morgan Schade

And then with a large Mexican American population we all know a couple of boys named Jesus, or Chantico; Girls named, Anacleta, or Palla

Steph · « **Reply #2298 on:** September 29, 2011, 06:28:42 AM »

Southerners love nicknames and double names.. Very common in the south, probably the double names are not that common in the north, but they love to use family names for first names. I once had a friend named Corelli.. She was named because one of her great aunts had married a Count Corelli, They had no children, so her family kept the name in the family by using it as a girls name..

Babi · « **Reply #2299 on:** September 29, 2011, 08:48:06 AM »

Surely the volunteers will still be there, TOME. Our small town library has a
volunteer in there every day, if only for a short while. When I could do more,
I stayed all morning on my day. I still go in and check in the books from the book
bin. I like having something useful to do outside the house.

ursamajor · « **Reply #2300 on:** September 29, 2011, 08:53:30 AM »

In southern parlance " bitsy" means tiny - as in bitsy baby. I had a friend called Bitsy; she was small but I think her nickname came from what her brothers called her as an infant.

South Carolina is notorious for gifting both girl and boy babies family names as given names. I Knew a family in which the husband was Manney and his wife Gerry - both surnames rather than diminutives. The two sons had family names as given names also.

Steph · « **Reply #2301 on:** September 29, 2011, 10:23:34 AM »

I know a couple in South Carolina, where he is named Josiah, but called Jody and her name is George..Always struck me as strange.

maryz · « **Reply #2302 on:** September 29, 2011, 10:46:01 AM »

Re the double names in the South... My sister and I were not given middle names. My father hated being called by both his names, and he said that if he gave his children two names, they'd be called that, no matter what his wishes were. So..... I went through school as "Mary (none) W......" or "Mary (no middle initial) W......". Oh, well, I'm now legally "Mary W. Z....." .

CallieOK · « **Reply #2303 on:** September 29, 2011, 11:27:59 AM »

In the early 1900's a family in southeastern Oklahoma named their twin girls "Chickie" and "Chockie" - for the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribal nations in that part of the state.

There were/are Okies E.Z. Million - Sr. and Jr.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2304 on:** September 29, 2011, 01:37:10 PM »

In Virginia, Bitsy means awfully small. Very little.

Usually a girl named George is legally Georgina or Georgette. Sometimes Georgina will be Gina.

I have a step granddaughter who is to have her 3rd daughter in February. Her husband has a daughter by a previous relationship she is raising with her own. He has a thing for cars, so their collection of daughters are Akira, Nissa, and Lexa. They are all set to welcome Toya.

Oh well!

This is my all-time favorite name that should never have been given:

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

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2305 on:** September 29, 2011, 01:45:11 PM »

My aunt and uncle named their three children Ashley (Gone with the Wind), Jeremy (Jerry and the Pacemakers) and Samantha (Samantha Eggar). My mother was appalled, but when you think about it, why not? But I would maybe draw the line at cars

The names I really find annoying are the dippy ones that celebrities give their hapless offspring - eg Peaches or Trixiebell Geldorf, Apple, Blanket, Daisy Boo, Buddy Bear- all that nonsense. The only reason those children will not be bullied is because they are so rich. Reminds me of Alexander McCall Smith's merciless send-up of the Steiner School children - Hiawatha, Olive and Tofu; perfect

Rosemary

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2306 on:** September 29, 2011, 01:48:51 PM »

I once met a young woman whose legal name was Gaye Hipps! How can parents do that?

Jean

Gumtree · « **Reply #2307 on:** September 29, 2011, 01:59:25 PM »

Naming children with family surnames as given names is a tradition in some parts of the world - Scotland for instance. Though we're not Scottish (have a few connections there only) my family and DH's as well used surnames mostly as second given names but I used them as the first given name - works OK - they're not way out or silly.

My MIL was named Georgina and all her life was called George or Georgie When I sorted through her papers I came across letters that addressed her as Gina and it took me a moment or two to make the connection - they weren't secret love letters - just notes from one of her sisters. I must say that George suited her far better than Gina.

jane · « **Reply #2308 on:** September 29, 2011, 02:06:53 PM »

And in my area of the midwest, GeorgeAnne or George Ann is also a girl's name. Family names can be fun...if they work. I always wondered about some woman with a maiden name of ...say, Philpott or Turnipseed (yep, a surname in this area) naming her child that for a first name. UGH...the poor kid!

pedln · « **Reply #2309 on:** September 29, 2011, 03:35:04 PM »

And in my hometown of Racine, WS there was actually a gentleman whose given name was Oofty Goofty. His parents had been in the circus and he was named after a clown, so his full name was Oofty Goofty Bowman. Though he finally had to have his telephone listing as OG Bowman because he got so many calls asking if that was his real name.

My mother was a teacher and one of her students was named Northern Pepper, which of course made everyone thing of the Northern Paper Company located in Wisconsin.

salan · « **Reply #2310 on:** September 29, 2011, 07:00:27 PM »

My little town ought to be re-named "Enesville". I've never seen so many "enes" in one placed! I am not kidding. We have a Maxine, Merlene, Geraldine, Maureen, Laurene, Verene, Undean, Shirleen, Cherylene, Jacklene, Graylene and probably many others. No, they are not related (at least I don't think so). They vary in ages and economic backgrounds.
Sally

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2311 on:** September 29, 2011, 11:03:59 PM »

Our neice, her maiden name being Perry, named her dgt Perri, which works very nicely.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2312 on:** September 29, 2011, 11:47:30 PM »

Thank you all for those interesting pieces of information. In the same family as Bitsy is Randy. No doubt short for Randolph. An Australian family would never call their child "Randy", and neither would the Brits, I dare say

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #2313 on:** September 30, 2011, 01:07:21 AM »

Well he is in good company - Randy Travis, Country singer - Randy Newman, composer - Randy Austin, Country Singer - Randy Pausch, Professor of Computer Science - Randy Orton, wrestler - Randy Jackson, baseball player and another Randy Jackson part of the Jackson Five - Randy Moss, football - Randy Alcorn, Canadian minister - Randy Bachman, musician - Randy Dixon, football - Randy Grossman, football - Randy Kemp, Canadian politician - Randy Quaid, movie star - Randy Weston, Composer - probably lots more

And then in the make believe world there is a Randy in the TV series South Park and a detective in the TV series Monk and Ralph's little bother in the movie A Christmas Story is Randy and Randy is the name of a Swedish Rock Band.

Then turn the y to i and you have a girls name with again, lots of Randi's - I can think of a Children's book author, Randi Weingarten a Union leaders and Randi Sheuerer a Politician from I believe NY.

What can you say - I guess

some nations just have to have their thoughts in the gutter -

ah so...

FlaJean · « **Reply #2314 on:** September 30, 2011, 01:23:41 AM »

Wow, this sure was an interesting discussion!

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2315 on:** September 30, 2011, 03:44:26 AM »

Yep Barb - that's us!!!

I don't think anyone in their right mind would even call a child Lesley/Leslie any more in the UK - I'm afraid I know just what his/her schoolmates would make of that.

So many pitfalls to choosing names! My husband wouldn't even let me call Madeleine "Bella" because all he could think of was Bella Lasagna in Fireman Sam

However, things can be overcome - my son had a classmate - male - whose first name was Sofianne (or something like that) - he was not UK born, though I can't remember where he originated from. There were boys in that school who could make your life a misery if you even so much as wore the wrong socks, but somehow Sofianne rose above it and became well liked and respected - good for him.

Rosemary

Steph · « **Reply #2316 on:** September 30, 2011, 05:41:31 AM »

Actually my George ( a female) is legally George.. It is something of a family tradition , but she refused to follow it and has two daughters, both have more feminine names..
I once knew a very southern woman who was introduced to me as
Shayla.. at least that is what I heard. Some months later, I saw her name in the newsletter.
Sheila,, but she came from Alabama, hence the soft sounds..

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #2317 on:** September 30, 2011, 06:03:15 AM »

ah Sha yla - the veracity of a southern vowel to make itself into a sentence or at least confuse a spelling bee with the old cliché that explains how Mary, Merry, Marry all sound exactly the same as does pin and pen.

Babi · « **Reply #2318 on:** September 30, 2011, 09:01:02 AM »

A popular way of naming boys in my Dad's day was to inspire them with a famous middle name.
Ergo, my father was Oscar Washington and his twin brother was Austin Franklin. Should have
switched. Austin became the military man and my Dad eventually had his own machine shop
and got involved in local politics. ( I doubt the names really had anything to do with it. $:-\$ )

maryz · « **Reply #2319 on:** September 30, 2011, 11:34:57 AM »

Two of our sons-in-law's names are Randy and Bobby - not nicknames, but "birth-certificate" names - both born and raised in TN.

Barb, an acquaintance a long time ago was born and raised in Memphis, and was taught in school that "pen" and "pin" were the same phonetically. Oh, well...... That's why folks around here say "ink pen".

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Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2 (Read 776272 times)