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Other forums => Different Conversations => Topic started by: Ovi on November 27, 2011, 03:51:09 PM

Title: Books
Post by: Ovi on November 27, 2011, 03:51:09 PM
I'm pretty sure at least one topic about books has already been started here, but since it(they) got lost, I decided to make a new one. So, discuss anything : favourite books, books you have read recently, books you are planning on reading, books you suggest to other members, etc.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on November 27, 2011, 04:01:44 PM
"The Prestige" by Christopher Priest is one of my all time favourite books. Even though I'm no big reader, I read this one about a year ago and it was one of the few books that really "got me". You may have heard of the 2006 movie with the same name starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. The movie is wonderful, too. The book is about two magicians and their obsessions with becoming better than the other. It has a lot of twists, it's pretty clever and well-writen. Also, the plot is first seen through the eyes of one of the magicians and then from the other's. I liked the book a lot and I recommend it to those who haven't read it yet and/or enjoyed the movie.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Jai Guru Deva. on November 27, 2011, 11:18:45 PM
Okay, this one's for the ladies in here!  If you like the 40s-60s, and you like The Beatles, you're gonna love this author!  She's a Liverpudlian called Maureen Lee who has written loads of books in a similar vein, mainly focusing upon life for mostly working class families in Liverpool during and after the war, and all the personal troubles they encounter.  She's had first hand experience of Liverpool, its music scenes and its struggles and triumphs, and her stories are often very involved, cover a long span of time and talk a lot about music, mentioning The Beatles a couple of times.  They tend to have a lot of romance involved, but what's most captivating is the growth of the characters and how war and personal struggles affect them.  It's also very cool because she describes Liverpool very closely physically, so you know what it was like to live there back then and where everything was down to the street.  If you like romance, Liverpool and times past, you'll like Maureen Lee's books.  :)

xxx
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 28, 2011, 07:34:35 AM
Okay, this one's for the ladies in here!  If you like the 40s-60s, and you like The Beatles, you're gonna love this author!  She's a Liverpudlian called Maureen Lee

They sound like the kind of thing I'd like. I just searched and my library doesn't have any but there's quite a few on eBay. They are coming from the UK but with free shipping that doesn't matter. Thanks Shirli!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Badgirl66 on November 28, 2011, 11:50:05 AM
http://www.maureenlee.co.uk/books.htm (http://www.maureenlee.co.uk/books.htm)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Jai Guru Deva. on November 28, 2011, 03:31:59 PM
She certainly has brought out a lot, and she's still writing.  I've read quite a few, and they're a great way to pass the time, in fact I usually end up reading for too long after getting engrossed in the story and losing track of things!  Hence why I haven't ordered one recently since I have university deadlines   ha2ha

xxx
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 29, 2011, 06:36:41 AM
This is a great thread! I read almost as much as I listen to music. Working in a library is perfect for me. I get paid to read when I work at the circulation desk, at least in between patrons  ;) Not Mondays though! It is so busy for those 3 1/2 hours that I never even sit down, let alone read. But I love seeing what everyone is reading and it's fun when people ask my opinion or for a recommendation.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: BeatlesForever on November 29, 2011, 09:52:14 PM
This is a great thread! I read almost as much as I listen to music. Working in a library is perfect for me. I get paid to read when I work at the circulation desk, at least in between patrons  ;) Not Mondays though! It is so busy for those 3 1/2 hours that I never even sit down, let alone read. But I love seeing what everyone is reading and it's fun when people ask my opinion or for a recommendation.

I believe you my dear, that's why I call you the Beatleologist! In my opinion, you have to love to read in order to work in a library. Take care.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Lennon93 on December 01, 2011, 04:36:13 PM
Best book I have read is The Stranger by Albert Camus. If you didnt - you should !

@The 5th Beatle I have watched movie - it's great! Seems i will have to get book soon!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: AppleScruffy96 on December 01, 2011, 07:58:30 PM
I'm reading Kids by Patti Smith at the moment  :) so far it's wonderful! I've always thought Patti Smith is a wonderful poet and this book proves it, it's definitely one of those books that you just can't put down. I'm also reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, it really makes you think...

Best book I have read is The Stranger by Albert Camus. If you didnt - you should !

I've been wanting to read that book for ages! I'll have to put it on my Christmas list  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: BeatlesForever on December 06, 2011, 03:23:02 AM
I just received my book GOODBYE NATALIE GOODBYE SPLENDOUR by Marti Rulli with Dennis Davern in the mail today. As we all know, the NATALIE WOOD case has been reopened. Evidently, this book played a very vital role as to why the NATALIE WOOD case has been reopened. NATALIE WOOD died off the coast of Catalina Island on 29 November 1981 at the age of 43. No one really knows what happened on that night until now!   
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 09, 2011, 10:02:14 PM

Wow what a great thread! I'm going to have to look up The Prestige and those Maureen Lee books.

Kelley, you are SO lucky to work in a library. That (or Barnes & Noble) would be my dream job! As it is, I'm an editor, so I do get to read, but some of the topics are pretty dry.

I myself love anything and everything by Sophie Kinsella/Madeleine Wickham, author of the Shopaholic series and a lot of other good books besides.  :)

Lately I've been so down I've been rereading Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser and having awful visions of me as the character George Hurstwood.  :(    My lifely lately certainly seems to be patterned after his.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: BeatlesForever on December 10, 2011, 02:21:37 PM
Wow what a great thread! I'm going to have to look up The Prestige and those Maureen Lee books.

Kelley, you are SO lucky to work in a library. That (or Barnes & Noble) would be my dream job! As it is, I'm an editor, so I do get to read, but some of the topics are pretty dry.

I myself love anything and everything by Sophie Kinsella/Madeleine Wickham, author of the Shopaholic series and a lot of other good books besides.  :)

Lately I've been so down I've been rereading Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser and having awful visions of me as the character George Hurstwood.  :(    My lifely lately certainly seems to be patterned after his.

Hi Normandie! How are you? So...you're an Editor? Right on, you and Kelley are around books all day, I wish that I was too. Although, I would be noisy in the library since my voice is loud and can be heard everywhere.  ha2ha I love going to Barnes & Noble, I love checking out the latest books and magazines. Too bad that Borders is gone, I used to love going over there also. Take care my dear.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on December 10, 2011, 05:04:14 PM
Kelley, you are SO lucky to work in a library.

Funny you should say that because I've always thought that your job would be great to have! What I'd really like to do is be a freelance writer for magazines. I have no idea how any of that works but I had a story used in Reminisce magazine once and that was so exciting. They sent me extra copies and a little red '57 Chevy.  ha2ha

Quote
Lately I've been so down I've been rereading Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser and having awful visions of me as the character George Hurstwood

I think you'd better stick to Sophie! Or how about Janet Evanovich? Stephanie Plum sounds like a good role model for you right now. Whenever I see my daughter's Sylvia Plath laying around I know it's time to have a talk with her!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on December 10, 2011, 05:19:46 PM
I read a good book not too long ago, "I Think I Love You" by Allison Pearson:

"Petra and Sharon, two thirteen-year-old girls, are both desperately in love with a world-famous pop star. Together they pore over his photos, read his fan club letters, and even enter a contest whose winners will meet him in person.
 
Twenty years later, Petra is pushing forty, on the brink of divorce, and fighting with her own thirteen-year-old daughter when she is given the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to meet the teen idol she loved so long ago. A moving tale of friendship and celebrity, I Think I Love You perfectly captures the intensity of first love—a love that never entirely goes away."

Of course the world famous pop star is David Cassidy. I wasn't sure what to expect from this. It had the potential to be very sappy but it wasn't. David Cassidy was really just a vehicle for the author to tell a very entertaining story about friendships and mother/daughter relationships. I guess it's really one for us girls. I had it on the desk at work and one of my co-workers did a double take when she saw the title. She asked if it was about David Cassidy and when I told her it was she tranformed back into a 13 year old girl before my very eyes! it was cute to hear her go on about him.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: BeatlesForever on December 10, 2011, 06:54:28 PM
I read a good book not too long ago, "I Think I Love You" by Allison Pearson:

"Petra and Sharon, two thirteen-year-old girls, are both desperately in love with a world-famous pop star. Together they pore over his photos, read his fan club letters, and even enter a contest whose winners will meet him in person.
 
Twenty years later, Petra is pushing forty, on the brink of divorce, and fighting with her own thirteen-year-old daughter when she is given the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to meet the teen idol she loved so long ago. A moving tale of friendship and celebrity, I Think I Love You perfectly captures the intensity of first love—a love that never entirely goes away."

Of course the world famous pop star is David Cassidy. I wasn't sure what to expect from this. It had the potential to be very sappy but it wasn't. David Cassidy was really just a vehicle for the author to tell a very entertaining story about friendships and mother/daughter relationships. I guess it's really one for us girls. I had it on the desk at work and one of my co-workers did a double take when she saw the title. She asked if it was about David Cassidy and when I told her it was she tranformed back into a 13 year old girl before my very eyes! it was cute to hear her go on about him.  :)

Hi In My Life! I remember reading and hearing about this book. I also read that the book was very interesting. There were two movies that were made about THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, COME ON GET HAPPY and THE DAVID CASSIDY STORY, I own both of them and they are both pretty good. Years later, there has been so much publicity on THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY that the show is now considered a cult classic.

Did Petra and Sharon meet DAVID CASSIDY years later? In my opinion, DAVID CASSIDY will always be one of the all-time greatest Teen Idols ever! Take care.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on December 13, 2011, 05:57:48 AM
Did Petra and Sharon meet DAVID CASSIDY years later?

I don't want to spoil it for anyone!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 13, 2011, 10:24:47 PM
That book I Think I Love You sounds really great, Kelley. The protagonist certainly sounds like me: pushing 40 (well, 43 for me!), getting divorced (UGH), and with a 13-year-old daughter (and I have a 14-year-old one, too -- oh, the hormones!  ;)   ).

I've seen Janet Evanovich's books around, as well as Stephanie Plum's. I'll have to check them out. I definitely need to stick to something more upbeat then Theodore Dreiser. (Hm, that gets me thinking of a list of classic books I should definitely avoid: The Grapes of Wrath, The Jungle, The Bell Jar [!!] .....)

I read a fun book awhile ago called Hope In a Jar -- I'm drawing a blank on the author right now, but it was a fun, "fluffy" read.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on December 14, 2011, 04:33:46 AM

I read a fun book awhile ago called Hope In a Jar -- I'm drawing a blank on the author right now, but it was a fun, "fluffy" read.


We don't have this but I just ordered it on interlibrary loan. I think I'll like it; I was well acquainted Love's Baby Soft, Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific and watermelon Lip Smackers myself.  :) You might like the Miss Julia books. http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Julia-Speaks-Her-Mind/dp/0688177751/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323836450&sr=1-2 (http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Julia-Speaks-Her-Mind/dp/0688177751/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323836450&sr=1-2) I literally LOL when I read these!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 22, 2011, 02:40:23 PM

LOL -- I remember Love's Baby Soft and Watermelon Lip Smackers very well, too! Looking back, I'm not sure why on earth I ever wore Love's Baby Soft: If I recall correctly, it had a sickly-sweet scent.  :P

Those items bring back fond memories, though!  :D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on December 23, 2011, 04:32:42 AM
LOL -- I remember Love's Baby Soft and Watermelon Lip Smackers very well, too! Looking back, I'm not sure why on earth I ever wore Love's Baby Soft: If I recall correctly, it had a sickly-sweet scent.  :P


Yeah, it does. I think they still sell it. But not to me. LOL I just finished Hope in a Jar (http://Hope in a Jar). I enjoyed it and liked the Beatles references. It was easy to see who Allie belonged with; he wore a Beatles t-shirt and the other guy didn't like "I Feel Fine".  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on January 17, 2012, 08:53:42 PM
Any Ben Elton fans?

Been reading a few Ben Elton's lately (Meltdown, Blind Faith, Popcorn) and currently waiting to receive a copy of High Society.

I find that while you read his books you think to yourself "why on earth am I reading this stuff?" but at the same time its unputdownable and when you finish the book you are like "hey, that was a good book"!  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 17, 2012, 11:25:18 PM
Any Ben Elton fans?

Been reading a few Ben Elton's lately (Meltdown, Blind Faith, Popcorn) and currently waiting to receive a copy of High Society.

I find that while you read his books you think to yourself "why on earth am I reading this stuff?" but at the same time its unputdownable and when you finish the book you are like "hey, that was a good book"!  ;D

Parading's better!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 17, 2012, 11:50:36 PM

Hm, never heard of Ben Elton, either. I need to copy some of these names down and stuff the paper in my wallet for the next time I'm at Barnes & Noble.

Right now I am re-reading IT by Stephen King. A good read, but not exactly a pick-me-up kind of tale. I need to find something fluffier to alternate.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 18, 2012, 06:04:41 AM
Hm, never heard of Ben Elton, either. I need to copy some of these names down and stuff the paper in my wallet for the next time I'm at Barnes & Noble.

Right now I am re-reading IT by Stephen King. A good read, but not exactly a pick-me-up kind of tale. I need to find something fluffier to alternate.

I've never heard of him either Kathy which is pretty bad considering the number of books that have passed through my hands in the last 7 years. Have you seen King's newest release, 11/22/63? It looks really good but seeing as I am #16 in the holds queue it's going to be a while before I find out!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: AppleScruffy96 on January 18, 2012, 08:05:56 PM
Any Ben Elton fans?

Been reading a few Ben Elton's lately (Meltdown, Blind Faith, Popcorn) and currently waiting to receive a copy of High Society.

I find that while you read his books you think to yourself "why on earth am I reading this stuff?" but at the same time its unputdownable and when you finish the book you are like "hey, that was a good book"!  ;D

I LOVE Popcorn! I finished it in a day, I just couldn't put it down  ha2ha Sadly, I haven't read anything else from him, though I'm planning on getting Blind Faith soon. I must say, Popcorn was really strange, I couldn't believe what was happening towards the end! It was very entertaining and certainly a good read, though.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 18, 2012, 08:22:41 PM
I LOVE Popcorn! I finished it in a day, I just couldn't put it down  ha2ha Sadly, I haven't read anything else from him, though I'm planning on getting Blind Faith soon. I must say, Popcorn was really strange, I couldn't believe what was happening towards the end! It was very entertaining and certainly a good read, though.

Hmmm...these sound good but we don't have this British author in any of the libraries in our system. I'll have to talk to one of librarians. They are good about ordering things if I ask. That's why we're getting "Living in the Material World". Hopefully no one will steal it. I'll be watching the whereabouts of that one personally.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on January 19, 2012, 02:04:52 AM
Parading's better!
Indeed! Been doing that for the past week! ;)

I LOVE Popcorn! I finished it in a day, I just couldn't put it down  ha2ha Sadly, I haven't read anything else from him, though I'm planning on getting Blind Faith soon. I must say, Popcorn was really strange, I couldn't believe what was happening towards the end! It was very entertaining and certainly a good read, though.
Funny! I did not like Popcorn.... it was very.... extremely bizzare! Try reading Blind Faith. I thik you will like it if you liked Popcorn

I've never heard of him either Kathy which is pretty bad considering the number of books that have passed through my hands in the last 7 years. Have you seen King's newest release, 11/22/63? It looks really good but seeing as I am #16 in the holds queue it's going to be a while before I find out!
Have you read his other recent work, Full Dark No Stars? Some very good stories there!
For myself, I cant have a lot of him. I can do one book, and then take a biiiiig break before I can read another Stephen King. His stories really do scare me!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 19, 2012, 05:18:07 AM
Have you read his other recent work, Full Dark No Stars? Some very good stories there!
For myself, I cant have a lot of him. I can do one book, and then take a biiiiig break before I can read another Stephen King. His stories really do scare me!

I know "Salem's Lot" scared me so bad that I haven't read another one since. That was about 1977 when I read that.  ha2ha I read "Carrie" around the same time, when the movie came out. That wasn't quite as bad as those vampires. They were scarier than these pretty boy vampires in the books today!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 19, 2012, 11:18:53 PM
I've never heard of him either Kathy which is pretty bad considering the number of books that have passed through my hands in the last 7 years. Have you seen King's newest release, 11/22/63? It looks really good but seeing as I am #16 in the holds queue it's going to be a while before I find out!

Hi Kelley! I've heard of 11/22/63 but haven't seen it on the shelves yet. I might give it a try. I haven't really liked a Stephen King book since Misery, I think, which is disappointing, because I LOVE his earlier stuff (e.g., The Shining, Carrie, etc.). I tried Gerald's Game and couldn't finish it (too boring, IMO) -- same thing with From a Buick 8 and Bag of Bones, so I kind of gave up. But this new one from him has piqued my interest, so maybe I'd better hustle down to my library get my name on the waiting list!  ;)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on January 19, 2012, 11:56:26 PM
I know "Salem's Lot" scared me so bad that I haven't read another one since. That was about 1977 when I read that.  ha2ha I read "Carrie" around the same time, when the movie came out. That wasn't quite as bad as those vampires. They were scarier than these pretty boy vampires in the books today!
I have seen Carrie, and despite the crappy effects it really did scare me (especially at the end)

I haven't really liked a Stephen King book since Misery
Dont get me started on Misery.  ooooooooohhhhh *shivers*

I started reading Cujo a while back but it was too gory and scary that I had to stop reading.

A thought... We should start a Stephen King thread...!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 20, 2012, 12:49:27 AM

A thought... We should start a Stephen King thread...!


Start one, KE.  If you got the courage.    ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 20, 2012, 04:45:04 AM
But this new one from him has piqued my interest, so maybe I'd better hustle down to my library get my name on the waiting list!  ;)

Really, Kathy, if the list is anything like the one I'm on! I am tempted to tell people who come in to pick it up to hurry up and read fast. Of course I could always bump myself to the top but that would be wrong and an abuse of my powers, such as they are.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 20, 2012, 06:29:42 PM
I have seen Carrie, and despite the crappy effects it really did scare me (especially at the end)
Dont get me started on Misery.  ooooooooohhhhh *shivers*

Yeah, the end of the movie Carrie scared the heck out of me, too; I genuinely didn't see that coming!


Quote
I started reading Cujo a while back but it was too gory and scary that I had to stop reading.

I loved Cujo, and that was one of the very few books of King's that translated well to the screen, IMO. The Stand also scared me silly. I remember being paranoid for a year after every time I sneezed!  :)

Quote
A thought... We should start a Stephen King thread...!

Good idea!


Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on January 20, 2012, 11:45:38 PM
Ive read and enjoyed all of Dean Koontz'z books

but my favourite author is John Le Carre (this week)  ha2ha Im a big fan of George Orwell too (Animal farm, 1984)

someone mentioned Ben Elton, he's actually and English comedian and writer, his books are ok but a bit disposable
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 21, 2012, 03:38:23 AM
Ive read and enjoyed all of Dean Koontz'z books

He's very popular here too, at least at the library where I work.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on January 22, 2012, 04:17:38 AM
He's very popular here too, at least at the library where I work.

Im about halfway through James Patterson's novels ATM

I like the Alex Cross ones's

Robert Goddard is a very good writer too
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 22, 2012, 04:42:34 AM
Im about halfway through James Patterson's novels ATM

I like the Alex Cross ones's

Patterson is quite the prolific writer having produced books in a variety of genres. I have read a couple of the books that seem more targeted to women. I liked the first two but I really didn't care for the most recent one. The main character was just plain annoying and I ended up not really caring what happened to her.  ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on January 24, 2012, 01:55:22 AM
Decided to re-read Topaz by Leon Uris. It's a nice spy story

I'll start an SK thread soon, then :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 24, 2012, 02:23:44 AM
I'll start an SK thread soon, then :)


Hey, KE!!


(http://terrordaves.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/carrie-hamnd.jpg?w=395&h=284)







 ha2ha



Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 24, 2012, 04:36:25 AM
I was very surprised that 11/22/63 came in for me today. I didn't even cheat to get it. Now I have two weeks to read this massive tome.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on January 24, 2012, 10:17:08 PM
I was very surprised that 11/22/63 came in for me today. I didn't even cheat to get it. Now I have two weeks to read this massive tome.  :)
Ahahaha! Good luck! Hope you enjoy it!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 25, 2012, 04:48:44 AM
Ahahaha! Good luck! Hope you enjoy it!

It grabbed me right from the start. I'd forgotten what a marvelous storyteller King is. I tend to shy away from scary things. LOL
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 25, 2012, 04:39:48 PM
I was very surprised that 11/22/63 came in for me today. I didn't even cheat to get it. Now I have two weeks to read this massive tome.  :)

Wow, that's great, Kelley! Happy reading!  :D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on January 25, 2012, 04:56:42 PM
I haven't really liked a Stephen King book since Misery, I think, which is disappointing, because I LOVE his earlier stuff (e.g., The Shining, Carrie, etc.).

I finished 'Misery' about two weeks ago and loved it. Probably one of the best books I've ever read. I love Stephen King, I've also read 'Shining'  'Carrie' and there are two more King books on my shelf waiting to be read.

An interesting fact about King is that he was kind of a mass until 1988. He was doing all sorts of drugs, alcohol and medicine and just staying in his house all day and writing. He was often found asleep laying on the ground in his own puke. 'The Tommyknockers' is his last book written during those years. So Normandie, that may be the reason why you enjoy his earlier stuff. Crazy and messy years, but brilliant work came with those, too.

Another interesting fact is that usually King writes about whatever he is afraid of. However, his biggest fear are spiders and it's been said that that is the only fear of his that he has not yet found the courage to face. :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on January 26, 2012, 12:07:57 AM

An interesting fact about King is that he was kind of a mass until 1988. He was doing all sorts of drugs, alcohol and medicine and just staying in his house all day and writing. He was often found asleep laying on the ground in his own puke. 'The Tommyknockers' is his last book written during those years. So Normandie, that may be the reason why you enjoy his earlier stuff. Crazy and messy years, but brilliant work came with those, too.

Another interesting fact is that usually King writes about whatever he is afraid of. However, his biggest fear are spiders and it's been said that that is the only fear of his that he has not yet found the courage to face. :)
Very interesting indeed! It always fascinates me to know why authors write about what they write. What inspires them, and such like.
Thanks for sharing, 5thB :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 26, 2012, 03:24:19 PM


Yes, that is interesting indeed. I had no idea of any details about Stephen King's background. Thanks for sharing!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 07, 2012, 11:03:04 PM


Kelley, how's 11/22/63 going? Or should I say, how did it go? Are you finished yet? Did you enjoy it?

I'm reading The Help, which my daughter got me for Christmas. Then it's on to We Need to Talk About Kevin, which looks a little creepy but interesting.


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Mairi on February 08, 2012, 04:52:56 AM
I just finished Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. It was a great read, I just love his style.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on February 08, 2012, 05:58:52 AM
Read Birdsong a few weeks ago and decided to start on Charlotte Grey. I love Sebastian Faulks writing. Starting to get into Charlotte now
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on February 10, 2012, 06:15:07 AM

Kelley, how's 11/22/63 going? Or should I say, how did it go? Are you finished yet? Did you enjoy it?

I'm reading The Help, which my daughter got me for Christmas. Then it's on to We Need to Talk About Kevin, which looks a little creepy but interesting.

Kathy, I'm not ignoring your question; I still haven't finished! I keep thinking, "Oh, I'll be done with this then I'll answer." What looks like almost done with a book this size is several hundred more pages. It is fantastic though and may knock "The Help" out of the number one position on my list of favorites. How do you like "The Help" so far?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 11, 2012, 07:07:53 PM

Hi Kelley! Glad to hear you are enjoying it. I still have not gotten down to the local library to get my name on the waiting list. 

I am really enjoying The Help. It started off a little slow for me -- I think just because I've read Gone With the Wind so many times I have Margaret Mitchell's style of writing the dialogue stuck in my head -- but now I can't put it down! It just gets better and better. It's always such a pleasure to read a really engrossing book.  :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on February 12, 2012, 06:20:12 AM
I finally finished! It was everything a book should be; suspenseful, thought-provoking and even funny. Stephen King seems very cool; he obviously knows and loves music as he put a lot of references to songs and musicians in the story. To sum the whole thing up, the past is obdurate; it does not want people messing about with it!

Have you seen the movie version of The Help? I'm told it's as good as the book. We'll see; I have it here and will watch it tomorrow. I haven't seen a movie do justice to a book since Gone With the Wind!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 13, 2012, 11:15:23 PM

Now I'm doubly excited to read it.  :)   I meant to mention earlier that yes, one can definitely tell that Stephen King knows his rock music. That's another thing I love about his books: So many of them are peppered with great music lyrics.

I haven't seen the movie version of The Help yet, but I plan to as soon as I finish the book, which should be pretty soon, I hope. I'm a bit swamped with work this week, but I can always squeeze in some fun reading.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 18, 2012, 05:08:31 PM


Finished The Help; now I'm reading 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz. I can't put it down! I've read a lot of his books, and this one is, so far, the best.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Jema on February 18, 2012, 05:16:29 PM
At the moment I'm reading Cell by Stephen King.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on February 18, 2012, 07:34:01 PM

Finished The Help; now I'm reading 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz. I can't put it down! I've read a lot of his books, and this one is, so far, the best.


Kathy, another one you might enjoy is The Kitchen House. http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-House-Novel-Kathleen-Grissom/dp/1439153663 (http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-House-Novel-Kathleen-Grissom/dp/1439153663)
I haven't read Dean Koontz but he is very popular around here. Right now I am reading Kristin Hannah's Home Front. I always pounce on her new books as soon as they come out. I also have Living in the Material World checked out. That's one I can't haul back and forth to work!

Quote from: Jema
At the moment I'm reading Cell by Stephen King.


One of his really scary ones, huh? Are you enjoying it?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Jema on February 19, 2012, 01:14:59 AM

One of his really scary ones, huh? Are you enjoying it?
  Yes,it's really good so far!I'm at the part where they found the football field full of the people - that was really creepy!That's cool you read 11/22/63 - I'm probably going to read that one when I'm done.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on February 27, 2012, 08:17:32 PM
Great posts everyone! Excuze the laziness, but I am too lazy (!) to quote y'all....! ;D

Good review about 11/22/63 - but I dont know if I am ready enough to go through another SK book... not yet. I need big rests after King books, and especially after Dark Night No Stars I need a REST. Its not that it was scary but mostly disturbing...

Dean Koontz - so you would recommend him? I see his books in shops and libraries all the time.... How would you describe his writing?

As for me, I couldnt resist another Ben Elton hehe. Reading now Past Mortem. So far so good!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 28, 2012, 03:31:10 PM

I somehow missed the last few posts in this thread. Thanks for the recommendation of The Kitchen House, Kelley -- I'll have to look for that.

I ended up putting down 77 Shadow Street; it started off so great, but then it started to drag, and drag, and.....drag. I finally put it on the shelf and started I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark.

Kaleidoscope_Eyes, not sure if you were directing your query about Dean Koontz at anyone in particular, but in my own opinion, Dean Koontz is a great author, although his endings tend to be a bit disappointing. Although I didn't care for 77 Shadow Street, most of his other ones are pretty good. His books are easy reads and interesting as well as creepy. I can recommend some specific titles, if you like.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on February 28, 2012, 10:33:34 PM
Kaleidoscope_Eyes, not sure if you were directing your query about Dean Koontz at anyone in particular, but in my own opinion, Dean Koontz is a great author, although his endings tend to be a bit disappointing. Although I didn't care for 77 Shadow Street, most of his other ones are pretty good. His books are easy reads and interesting as well as creepy. I can recommend some specific titles, if you like.
Yes Please!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 01, 2012, 01:56:05 AM

Hi KE -- some of my personal favorite Koontz books are the following:

Your Heart Belongs to Me
The Husband
Lightning
Hideaway
Whispers
The Mask
The Funhouse
(one of his first books!)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on March 01, 2012, 03:25:01 AM
Oh boy! Cheers matie! I'll get onto finding them books!!!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on March 07, 2012, 09:23:58 AM
Just finished Past Mortem by Ben Elton. It was great!!!! It actually had a plot! Time to give Elton a break and go onto Dean Koontz
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Joost on March 07, 2012, 10:30:47 AM
Dean Koontz - so you would recommend him? I see his books in shops and libraries all the time.... How would you describe his writing?

Dean Koontz is pretty much a Stephen King clone, but most of what I've read from him is pretty good. I'm a huge fan of his Odd Thomas novels. He's written four books about this character so far. The stories are kind of silly (they're about a guy who sees dead people and has Elvis Presley's and later on Frank Sinatra's ghost as his sidekick), but very entertaining.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on March 20, 2012, 01:37:25 AM
Just finished Hideaway - Dean Koontz. I can see how he is a Stephen King wanabe, and I thought that book lacked a plot. It seemed that Koontz just had a brilliant idea and a conclusion but not much in between. No story or character development.... I am reading now another book of his, Life Expectancy.

Dean Koontz is pretty much a Stephen King clone, but most of what I've read from him is pretty good. I'm a huge fan of his Odd Thomas novels. He's written four books about this character so far. The stories are kind of silly (they're about a guy who sees dead people and has Elvis Presley's and later on Frank Sinatra's ghost as his sidekick), but very entertaining.
Sounds entertaining indeed, Joost. I might give it a go if I like his other books
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Toejam on March 20, 2012, 10:59:46 AM
I'm reading as many Philip K.Dick books as I can atm. There's about 15-20 available from the libraries I've joined. I'm reading a book of 3 early novels atm but am most looking forward to the latter masterworks like Martian time-slip and A maze of death.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 20, 2012, 12:55:08 PM

Just started Sophie Kinsella's (aka Madeleine Wickham) new book, I've Got Your Number; yay! She is one of my favorite authors and one of only three I will buy in hardcover without waiting for the paperback  (the others are Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child). I need a happy read right about now.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: AppleScruffy96 on March 22, 2012, 08:41:27 PM
I went to the library today (I really wish I could just live there) and got some books: For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Paraplymakarens Barn (translation: The Umbrellamakers Child...hm) by Jascha Golowanjuk and Poésies by Arthur Rimbaud.
I also got the movie All About Eve  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 22, 2012, 08:53:37 PM

I also got the movie All About Eve  :)


Fasten your seat belts.  It's going to be a bumpy night.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: AppleScruffy96 on March 22, 2012, 09:27:04 PM
Fasten your seat belts.  It's going to be a bumpy night.

Indeed!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 22, 2012, 10:34:01 PM

Loved For Whom the Bell Tolls (indeed, almost all Hemingway's stuff), and I've always wanted to see All About Eve. I haven't yet.

Enjoy, AppleScruffy96!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: AppleScruffy96 on March 22, 2012, 10:51:24 PM
Loved For Whom the Bell Tolls (indeed, almost all Hemingway's stuff), and I've always wanted to see All About Eve. I haven't yet.

Enjoy, AppleScruffy96!

I certainly will! I've never read For Whom The Bell Tolls before and I've only seen parts of the movie so far, I can't wait to start reading the book  :D
It's always so much fun when you start reading a new book, if I may say so myself, it's the best thing in the world!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 22, 2012, 11:16:58 PM
...and I've always wanted to see All About Eve. I haven't yet.



(http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkwo1kUm4g1qb9swjo1_400.gif)

So.  You still haven't seen the movie.




(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_N7N6D5tUGJg/S_YTH5VTQgI/AAAAAAAAAi8/WDmQFLwky4s/s1600/All+About+Eve+(Bette+Davis).jpg)

Well, really!!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 23, 2012, 12:55:57 AM
All About Eve  Honey Honey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSjKTMnIZgg#)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on March 23, 2012, 03:54:20 AM
Loved For Whom the Bell Tolls (indeed, almost all Hemingway's stuff),

Have you read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain? It's about Hemingway's marriage to Hadley Richardson. It's a work of fiction but pretty well researched.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 23, 2012, 10:28:34 PM

Well, really!!

 ;D  Too funny!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 23, 2012, 10:30:28 PM
Have you read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain? It's about Hemingway's marriage to Hadley Richardson. It's a work of fiction but pretty well researched.

No, I haven't read that one yet, but I saw it reviewed in People, I think, and/or Vanity Fair. It looks interesting and very well might be one of my next purchases.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on March 26, 2012, 04:01:49 AM
^^^

It's really a fascinating portrait of Paris during the Jazz Age but you probably won't like Papa Hemingway very much after you read it. Of course the cure for that is to read For Whom the Bell Tolls again. ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 26, 2012, 06:07:51 PM
^^^

It's really a fascinating portrait of Paris during the Jazz Age but you probably won't like Papa Hemingway very much after you read it. Of course the cure for that is to read For Whom the Bell Tolls again. ;)

I've heard he was quite a misogynist. It's funny; I've read just about all his stuff but really don't know very much about him as a person.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 26, 2012, 06:11:41 PM

I just finished We Need to Talk About Kevin, which I believe is still in theaters over here in the States. It was an incredible downer, although a fascinating read. The depressingness (is that a word? LOL) of it is why I took a break to read the Sophie Kinsella book I mentioned earlier. I finished WNTTAK last night, and it had a surprise, and horribly sad, ending.

Anyone else read this? It's weird; I enjoyed it because it was interesting, but I struggle with depression, plus I'm going through a divorce, so it wasn't really the best timing.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on March 27, 2012, 03:29:40 AM
Anyone else read this? It's weird; I enjoyed it because it was interesting, but I struggle with depression, plus I'm going through a divorce, so it wasn't really the best timing.
Oh blast that is bad timing! I havent read the book primarily because I have been told that it is a very depressing book. It reminds me how my friend tried to cheer me up when I broke up with my boyfriend a while ago... she took me to watch Adam. Have you seen it? So depressing and so not the right movie for me at the time
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on March 27, 2012, 04:37:22 AM

Anyone else read this? It's weird; I enjoyed it because it was interesting, but I struggle with depression, plus I'm going through a divorce, so it wasn't really the best timing.

Thanks for the heads-up. It does not sound like a good read for me at all! Right now I'm reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was included with the Kindle software I put on my computer which got me started with it but I am now reading the actual book. That Kindle stuff is just for cookbooks because I have no more room for more real ones. I've never read any Jane Austen before so I figured it was about time. I hate to admit it but I also checked out the Cliff Notes because I was having trouble keeping all the characters straight!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 27, 2012, 12:37:16 PM
Oh blast that is bad timing! I havent read the book primarily because I have been told that it is a very depressing book. It reminds me how my friend tried to cheer me up when I broke up with my boyfriend a while ago... she took me to watch Adam. Have you seen it? So depressing and so not the right movie for me at the time

Hmm; no, I've never seen Adam. I'll have to look it up on imdb. Doesn't sound like the greatest choice for helping to cheer someone up, although that's nice that your friend had good intentions! 

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 27, 2012, 12:38:19 PM
Thanks for the heads-up. It does not sound like a good read for me at all! Right now I'm reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was included with the Kindle software I put on my computer which got me started with it but I am now reading the actual book. That Kindle stuff is just for cookbooks because I have no more room for more real ones. I've never read any Jane Austen before so I figured it was about time. I hate to admit it but I also checked out the Cliff Notes because I was having trouble keeping all the characters straight!

How are you liking Pride and Prejudice, Kelley? I've never read any of Jane Austen's books; I keep meaning to give them a try.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on March 28, 2012, 04:47:45 AM
How are you liking Pride and Prejudice, Kelley? I've never read any of Jane Austen's books; I keep meaning to give them a try.

I put it on the back burner for a day or two. I am reading the latest in the "Miss Julia" series by Ann B. Ross which I had on reserve. I think I've mentioned these books before. They are really funny and Jane Austen really isn't. I'll get back to her and let you know though.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on March 28, 2012, 02:50:22 PM
I just got 'Revolution In The Head', can't wait to read it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on March 29, 2012, 08:36:52 PM
Finished Dean Koontz's Life Expectancy. It was so bizzarely cute! Now reading another Dean Koontz - Winter Moon

I put it on the back burner for a day or two. They are really funny and Jane Austen really isn't. I'll get back to her and let you know though.
That's what I find with classics. One of the best classics I read though was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, suprisingly enough. Never read any Jane Austen though
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 30, 2012, 09:49:54 PM

I really liked Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, too, and like you, Kaleidoscope_Eyes, I was surprised. I guess I'd expected something much, um, "fluffier" (not the right word, but close enough).
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 30, 2012, 11:43:55 PM
The movie was good too...

Dr. Frankenstein (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZybFl_pfMk#)



And it's FrankenSTEEN!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on April 17, 2012, 02:51:22 AM
Ordered 3 more Ben Elton's ... Cant get enough of this guy

Read 2 and a half books of Dean Koontz ..... I dont see the greatness? Some books were really good (like, Life Expectancy) but all the other ones that I read or started reading were lacking in plot, or were really slow and boring.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 17, 2012, 03:35:38 AM
Ordered 3 more Ben Elton's ... Cant get enough of this guy

Read 2 and a half books of Dean Koontz ..... I dont see the greatness? Some books were really good (like, Life Expectancy) but all the other ones that I read or started reading were lacking in plot, or were really slow and boring.

One of his caught my eye today when I was shelving books but I can't remember which one it was. Right now I'm reading Arcadia by Lauren Groff. It's about a kid who grew up in a commune in the 1970's. It takes place in western New York, which is where I live but I think it's further north. It's finally starting to get interesting. It's told in the third person but from his perspective which made it kind of strange when he was five!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on April 17, 2012, 11:14:10 PM

I'm reading The Lifeboat, by Charlotte Rogan, and I can't put it down. I love anything connected to ocean liners. I just hope it doesn't get as gruesome as the nonfiction Whaleship Essex book. I'm too lazy to walk upstairs and check the full title and author (Nathaniel Philbrick, I think).
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on April 19, 2012, 04:45:38 AM
It's finally starting to get interesting. It's told in the third person but from his perspective which made it kind of strange when he was five!
Third person from the character's perspective? That's an interesting style!
I'm reading The Lifeboat, by Charlotte Rogan, and I can't put it down. I love anything connected to ocean liners
Not sure what ocean liners are exactly but I am guessing its to do with the ocean... on that note, have you read Wilbur Smith's Birds of Prey? its all about adventures in the ocean (I need to add that its a door stopper too! :P )

My boss (of all people) gave me two books to read - The Mountains of Madness by H P Lovecraft and The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross .... I have lots of books to get through!!!! Woot!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 19, 2012, 05:46:28 AM
Third person from the character's perspective? That's an interesting style!

Yes. It really made me think and now that I am further into the book I can see that his view of life in the commune was very different from how we as adults would see it. It's a very well-written book but I'm not so sure I like the way the ending is being told.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on April 21, 2012, 06:02:03 PM
Not sure what ocean liners are exactly but I am guessing its to do with the ocean... on that note, have you read Wilbur Smith's Birds of Prey? its all about adventures in the ocean (I need to add that its a door stopper too! :P )

My boss (of all people) gave me two books to read - The Mountains of Madness by H P Lovecraft and The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross .... I have lots of books to get through!!!! Woot!

An ocean liner is a big ship. I've long been fascinated by the Olympic-era ocean liners, in particular the Lusitania and the Titanic. (And the Andrea Dorea, but she wasn't Olympic era.)

I have not heard of Birds of Prey, but I'll look that up on Amazon. Those other two books you mentioned have intriguing titles.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 10, 2012, 06:54:01 PM
The kids and I will soon be moving from our house to an apartment (thanks to my evil ex-husband. . . but that's a rant for a different forum), and I am hoping I can fit all my books in! I usually weed out on a regular basis those I don't want to keep, by donating them to the library or to school rummage sales, but I have literally four multi-shelf bookshelves packed with books that I am loathe to part with. (I suppose I should be grammatically correct and say "...with which I am loathe to part"  ;D.)

I'm having visions of my new bedroom being just a mattress on the floor with stacks of books towering around. Come to think of it, that might not be so bad.  ;)


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 11, 2012, 02:25:03 AM
The kids and I will soon be moving from our house to an apartment (thanks to my evil ex-husband. . . but that's a rant for a different forum), and I am hoping I can fit all my books in! I usually weed out on a regular basis those I don't want to keep, by donating them to the library or to school rummage sales, but I have literally four multi-shelf bookshelves packed with books that I am loathe to part with. (I suppose I should be grammatically correct and say "...with which I am loathe to part"  ;D.)

I'm having visions of my new bedroom being just a mattress on the floor with stacks of books towering around. Come to think of it, that might not be so bad.  ;)






(http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1blcxen1Q1qb98uxo1_500.gif)



;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on June 11, 2012, 06:42:49 AM
Keep those books Kathy. As Ernest said, "There are no friends as loyal as a book". You and your kids will continue to be in my prayers.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 11, 2012, 07:53:44 PM
Keep those books Kathy. As Ernest said, "There are no friends as loyal as a book". You and your kids will continue to be in my prayers.

Thanks, Kelley; I really, truly appreciate that!

HelloGoodbye -- That's one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes!  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 11, 2012, 11:40:57 PM
HelloGoodbye -- That's one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes!  ;)


If you wear glasses, don't forget to get one of these...


(http://i01.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/375352573/-EGT005-Eyeglasses-accessories-eyeglasses-chain-eyeglasses-neck-strap-holder-card.jpg)


 ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 14, 2012, 08:48:53 PM

Pure joy.....just received Lincoln Child's latest, The Third Gate. I adore him and Douglas Preston; they write both individually, and they collaborate, and they are just about the only authors I buy in hardcover anymore. I don't think I've ever read a book of theirs (and I've read them ALL) that I could put down for more than a few minutes!

I order their books on Amazon while they are still in production; I ordered this one on June 11, 2011.

It's so great to have a bit of escapism during this stressful time!  :) Unfortunately I am behind on my deadlines, as usual, so I am going to have to force myself to get the work done and not stay up all night reading.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on June 14, 2012, 11:46:46 PM
Pure joy.....just received Lincoln Child's latest, The Third Gate. I adore him and Douglas Preston; they write both individually, and they collaborate, and they are just about the only authors I buy in hardcover anymore. I don't think I've ever read a book of theirs (and I've read them ALL) that I could put down for more than a few minutes!

I order their books on Amazon while they are still in production; I ordered this one on June 11, 2011.

It's so great to have a bit of escapism during this stressful time!  :) Unfortunately I am behind on my deadlines, as usual, so I am going to have to force myself to get the work done and not stay up all night reading.  ;)
A good book is a treasure! It is like me and Ben Elton. Read them all and most of them are unputdownable! I remember even skipping a dance class just because I wanted to know what will happen next in the story.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on June 15, 2012, 06:01:31 AM
Pure joy.....just received Lincoln Child's latest, The Third Gate. I adore him and Douglas Preston; they write both individually, and they collaborate, and they are just about the only authors I buy in hardcover anymore. I don't think I've ever read a book of theirs (and I've read them ALL) that I could put down for more than a few minutes!

I order their books on Amazon while they are still in production; I ordered this one on June 11, 2011.

It's so great to have a bit of escapism during this stressful time!  :) Unfortunately I am behind on my deadlines, as usual, so I am going to have to force myself to get the work done and not stay up all night reading.  ;)

Good for you Kathy! I haven't read their books but I've put a lot of them away.  ;) Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all the books that look good to me when I'm working. It's like being a kid in a candy store.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 16, 2012, 03:38:13 PM
Good for you Kathy! I haven't read their books but I've put a lot of them away.  ;) Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all the books that look good to me when I'm working. It's like being a kid in a candy store.

I can only imagine, Kelley! I often think I'd love to work either at a library or at a Barnes & Noble, but I know if I ever worked at a bookstore, I'd end up spending my entire paycheck there.   ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: AppleScruffy96 on July 27, 2012, 02:05:18 AM
Currently reading My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin, it's very interesting and even poetic in some parts. Next on the list: The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry (naturally).
Happy reading, folks!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 07, 2012, 10:56:45 PM

Just finishing up a Gothic horror tale called The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters. It started off slow but has gradually gripped me, and now I can't put it down. Before that I finished Dear Boy (Keith Moon bio), which sat on my shelf for months because it was intimidatingly huge! I couldn't put that down, either -- one of the best biographies I've ever read.

I'm in the mood now for something lighter, though! Kelley, I just found some Elin Hilderbrand books in a used book store today. They didn't have Silver Girl, unfortunately, but I did grab Barefoot. Have you read it?

 
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 08, 2012, 05:09:04 AM
I'm in the mood now for something lighter, though! Kelley, I just found some Elin Hilderbrand books in a used book store today. They didn't have Silver Girl, unfortunately, but I did grab Barefoot. Have you read it?

Well, Hilderbrand's books are a little on the heavy side, or maybe I should say complicated. She tells a story from many different points of view and it's interesting that way but the first one I read, Castaways, needed a flowchart to keep it all straight. I haven't read Barefoot. It came out just before Castaways. Her latest, Summerland, is downright dark but still a very good story. I think you'll enjoy what you bought.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 10, 2012, 07:52:26 PM

Hm, maybe I should hold off, then. Have you ever read any of Emily Giffin's books (Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, etc.)? I really liked those.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 11, 2012, 02:02:43 AM
Hm, maybe I should hold off, then. Have you ever read any of Emily Giffin's books (Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, etc.)? I really liked those.

I've seen them but have not read them. Are you on Goodreads Kathy?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 12, 2012, 02:44:54 AM

No, I haven't heard of Goodreads. I assume it's a forum? I'll Google it.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 14, 2012, 02:17:47 AM


Wooo-hooo! My new Preston & Child book just arrived. They are the only authors I buy in hardcover, and I pre-order their joint, and solo, books several months in advance.



  party2   party2   party2   party2 
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on December 14, 2012, 04:30:45 AM

Wooo-hooo! My new Preston & Child book just arrived. They are the only authors I buy in hardcover, and I pre-order their joint, and solo, books several months in advance.



  party2   party2   party2   party2

Great to see you wooo-hoooing Kathy! I haven't read their books but I remember seeing them go out a lot. Your post got me thinking that I haven't been reading enough lately. At this new job I don't actually handle the books like I did at the other library. I am mostly working at my computer or trying to sort out issues at the other ones. Enjoy!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 01, 2013, 05:55:35 PM

Kelley, I'm reading Silver Girl, and I can't put it down! Thanks so much for recommending it. I loved the other book I read by Elin Hilderbrand, too, and bought a couple more for the future.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 02, 2013, 07:21:04 AM
Kelley, I'm reading Silver Girl, and I can't put it down! Thanks so much for recommending it. I loved the other book I read by Elin Hilderbrand, too, and bought a couple more for the future.

I'm glad you like it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Octie on January 19, 2013, 03:44:14 AM
Last one I read was Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K Dick. I wanted to read it before re-watching Blade Runner. I like both the book and the movie, they are actually quite different, in a way... I have to say that the Mercer story line confused me a bit, but on the whole I quite liked the book :) Was part-way through 2001 Space Odyssey (the book) when I was given Life of Pi for reading while I am out of the country on secondment, so reading Life of Pi now. Well-written so far :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on January 19, 2013, 11:48:13 AM

Enjoying 'Who I Am' by Pete Townshend.

 :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on January 19, 2013, 11:55:16 AM
Enjoying 'Who I Am' by Pete Townshend.

 :)

Mine's about to arrive in a few days. Can't wait for it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on January 19, 2013, 02:14:28 PM

Pretty interesting so far - my free reading time is very limited, so this could take me weeks to get through - and I have learned a number of new things about Pete and the group. Very worthwhile read, I'd say.

 :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 19, 2013, 08:12:39 PM
Enjoying 'Who I Am' by Pete Townshend.

 :)

After months of being on a VERY tight budget, I came into a small windfall and -- of course -- headed straight to the bookstore. I had had NO idea Pete was coming out with an autobiography. I couldn't grab the book fast enough! It was one of the greatest surprises of my life.   :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on March 17, 2013, 10:34:44 AM
Finally received 'Who I Am' after a long delay and quite a few angry emails to BookDepository and even though I like it, I was disappointed by a few things:

-those spiritual descriptions are very, very annoying. At first I looked at them in a symbolic way and didn't pay much attention, but the whole "I saw the devil and he told me to stop drinking/I was making love to Meher Baba on his bed (wtf)" got very tedious after a while. He keeps coming back to these things and it's worse each time.

-until the page in which Keith died, I seriously got the impression that he hated the guy. Not once does he mention something about his drumming being fantastic or his unmatched sense of humour. Most of the times he seems annoyed by Keith, which I am sure was true at times, but come on, I can't believe he hasn't got any great memories with him as well. Roger on the other hand, gets praise EVERYWHERE: for his singing, for his stage presence, for his acting etc.

-from page 355: "I hadn't touched alcohol for two months, but I needed help to break my dependence on prescription drugs and heroin". Heroin?! He made it pretty clear that he was addicted to cocaine by the time, but he didn't mention heroin at all before. I realise this is no big deal, but it just struck me as weird. A heroin addiction is just not something you forget to mention.

-maybe it's just me here, but I am still baffled by the whole Lifehouse - Who's Next story. After his breakdown, things were starting to get better. The band resumed working on the Lifehouse songs. Then all of a sudden, they release Who's Next with only a few of those songs. Pete hated the cover, the album name and probably the record itself as well. It just doesn't make any sense. The record company released it without Pete's approvement perhaps? Can they even do that? If so, why didn't he say so? (in the book). Perhaps someone can explain this one to me...
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on March 17, 2013, 05:17:36 PM
Upon further "research", it seems that most Who fans are disappointed by the book mainly because it doesn't really get into details about any particular event and because few facts shared were unknown.

Here are some funny quotes I found on a Who forum:

"I did learn a few new things. Like the all the stuff about the sea scouts."

"Well....I learned alot about boats."

"I must say this about Pete....he's a sh*t driver."

Also, as a side note, apparently the original book was 1000 pages and had to be cut down. That may be the reason for the lack of details, and perhaps more interesting, obscure facts.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on March 23, 2013, 09:45:28 PM
Not a big Who fan but this is a very well written review.
I'm currently reading The Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink. Very spooky so far :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 28, 2013, 10:34:42 PM

Interesting review of Who I Am, Ovi. I had to laugh on reading that the original manuscript was 1,000 pages. That sounds so like Pete Townshend. That is interesting that the book implies that he didn't care too much for Keith; I'd read that the reason for his downward spiral in the early 80s was because of Keith's death. I know I read that somewhere; I just can't remember which book it was.

I actually tucked this one under the bed after starting it, because I'm still so upset that he and Karen divorced after so many years, and I wasn't sure I wanted to learn the reason why (yes, I'm a very invested fan, LOL), but I'm going to pull it out and finish.

Dear Boy -- Tony Fletcher's bio of Keith  -- was truly un-put-downable. Learned a lot! If you haven't read that one yet, I highly recommend it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on July 03, 2013, 05:50:23 AM
Kathy, Beth Harbison has a new book out. I sort of like the title; "Chose the Wrong Man, Gave Him the Wrong Finger".  ;D

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18047319-chose-the-wrong-guy-gave-him-the-wrong-finger (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18047319-chose-the-wrong-guy-gave-him-the-wrong-finger)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on July 03, 2013, 02:28:43 PM


Thanks, Kelley! Love that title.   ;)    I've read a couple of Beth Harbison's books and like them, so I will definitely look for that one. I need to replenish my summer reading pile.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on August 09, 2013, 01:39:53 PM


It's National Book Lovers Day in the States (although there seems to be a "national day" for literally everything.......).

I found the following gallery amusing. I've ALWAYS loved that library in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Bliss!

http://now.msn.com/national-book-lovers-day-signs-you-love-books-too-much (http://now.msn.com/national-book-lovers-day-signs-you-love-books-too-much)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on August 09, 2013, 11:17:22 PM
The Secret Of Crickley Hall - James Herbert

IMO James was the best British writer of the supernatural, sadly he died not long ago. Ive read most of his books and find once you start you cant put them down, This is a ghost story, Im not ususally a great fan of hauntings type things but as its him I thought Id give him a go, Its brilliant of course :)
Also recommend 'Moon' by the same author, in fact.....all of them ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on August 31, 2013, 05:45:18 PM

I somehow missed that last post. I will have to see if I can find any James Herbert books at the library -- they sound good. I love ghost stories. 

I'm reading Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison (I've been keeping an eye out for her new one that you mentioned, Kelley!). That plus the second installment, Secrets of a Shoe Addict, have had me literally laughing out loud -- to the point where my kids have wanted to know what was so funny.

I love escapist, "fluffy" fiction sometimes, as a reprieve from the scholarly editing I do and the stress of day-to-day life.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on August 31, 2013, 08:29:01 PM
I love escapist, "fluffy" fiction sometimes, as a reprieve from the scholarly editing I do and the stress of day-to-day life.

There's nothing wrong with that! I'm reading the latest "Miss Julia" book, by Ann B. Ross. They are so funny! Miss Julia is a rather proper Southern lady. She discovers in the first book that her recently deceased but not mourned husband had a small son when the son and his mother show up at her door. She rises above the ramifications of that shock, taking care of them both. "Miss Julia Stir Up Trouble" is number 14 in the series but I still find them hilarious.

I'll have to get back into the Beth Harbison books. So many books, so little time!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on August 31, 2013, 10:04:39 PM
Dear Boy -- Tony Fletcher's bio of Keith  -- was truly un-put-downable. Learned a lot! If you haven't read that one yet, I highly recommend it.

I just bought that one and I'm really looking forward to reading it. I always try to motivate myself to get more into classic literature, but it's still music-related books that I end up buying. :-\
Title: Re: Books
Post by: ibanez_ax on August 31, 2013, 11:10:07 PM
I'm debating which version of Mark Lewisohn's first volume of his new Beatles biography to pre-order.

Standard UK version (mid-October release): 960 pages.

Standard USA version with Endnotes (mid-October release): 1250 pages --- presumably the 960 pages of the UK edition PLUS 290 pages of Endnotes

USA Kindle Edition: 1248 pages

DELUXE UK version (late November release): 1856 pages --- presumably the 1250 pages of the USA edition PLUS about 600 more pages (probably a combination of more text and more endnotes).
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 01, 2013, 12:16:40 AM
So many books, so little time!


The Twilight Zone: Season 1 - CLIP (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZccXUlsWYQ#ws)



 ;D

Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 02, 2013, 03:39:36 AM
The Twilight Zone: Season 1 - CLIP[/url]
 ;D

Oh, Barry, that poor guy! That's about the kind of luck I have sometimes. My eyes aren't as bad as his yet but still; I wouldn't be doing much reading either if my glasses broke!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 02, 2013, 03:07:07 PM
I'm debating which version of Mark Lewisohn's first volume of his new Beatles biography to pre-order.

Standard USA version with Endnotes (mid-October release): 1250 pages --- presumably the 960 pages of the UK edition PLUS 290 pages of Endnotes


Wow, that's a lot of endnotes! I like that, though; nothing frustrates me more than not having a specific fact documented with a footnote, endnote, citation, etc. Maybe it's because I work in scientific publications, where everything has to have a source listed.

I'll have to start saving for that book. It sounds fantastic.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 02, 2013, 03:09:57 PM
The Twilight Zone: Season 1 - CLIP

 ;D

Twilight Zone episodes are a bit like Beatles songs for me in that it's nearly impossible to pick a favorite, but that episode is definitely one of them!  :laugh:
Title: Re: Books
Post by: ibanez_ax on September 02, 2013, 03:31:07 PM
Wow, that's a lot of endnotes! I like that, though; nothing frustrates me more than not having a specific fact documented with a footnote, endnote, citation, etc. Maybe it's because I work in scientific publications, where everything has to have a source listed.

I'll have to start saving for that book. It sounds fantastic.

And Volume One only covers through 1962 and promises to have additional information about the sacking of Pete Best.  I was actually fascinated by the pre-1963 chapters of Lewisohn's Complete Beatles Chronicle. It really showed me another world that the Beatles lived in early on. I'm really looking forward to this book.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 04, 2013, 04:15:36 PM


I just pre-ordered Volume 1 on Amazon. Ironically, the publication date of October 29 will be my first (non)anniversary after the divorce, so I decided to treat myself. (I can justify ANY book purchase, ha ha.)

Thanks for the heads-up about this; I was unaware of it!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 04, 2013, 05:17:48 PM

I just pre-ordered Volume 1 on Amazon. Ironically, the publication date of October 29 will be my first (non)anniversary after the divorce, so I decided to treat myself. (I can justify ANY book purchase, ha ha.)

Thanks for the heads-up about this; I was unaware of it!

Good for you Kathy; you deserve it! I'm looking forward to these books as well. In a world full of bogus Beatles "experts" Lewisohn stand alone as one I really trust.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: ibanez_ax on September 05, 2013, 01:25:03 AM

I just pre-ordered Volume 1 on Amazon. Ironically, the publication date of October 29 will be my first (non)anniversary after the divorce, so I decided to treat myself. (I can justify ANY book purchase, ha ha.)

Thanks for the heads-up about this; I was unaware of it!


There is a lot of buzz about this.  There are two threads with a total of over 60 pages over at the Hoffman Forums.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on October 10, 2013, 07:16:31 AM
Finally finished Dan Brown's Inferno. It was like  a cone shaped in the "reading goodness" (if you know what I mean). As in, it was rather boring and slow paced in the begining; then around chapter 60 it was picking up pace and was getting unputdownable and then after 10-20 chapters it was going downhill and the ending is quite disappointing. 

I always found Dan Brown's books entertaining though. A full of great facts, too.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on October 11, 2013, 01:00:51 AM

I'm reading R. L. Stine's Red Rain. Very good, and definitely NOT something you'd want your younger kids to read. I hope he writes more books for adults.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 14, 2013, 04:34:52 PM

Woo-hoo! My hot-off-the-press copy of White Fire, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, just arrived. Thesre are two of my favorite authors, ever since I grabbed a paperback copy of Relic, spur of the moment, in DC's Union Station, and the only ones I buy in hardcover.  cheer1  I always have their books pre-ordered well before they're even finished.  I'll take a short break from Tune In.

Now I have to try to work while this is sitting on the counter, urrgggh! We'll see how long my willpower holds out. (I estimate 10 minutes.)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on November 14, 2013, 11:26:25 PM
Now I have to try to work while this is sitting on the counter, urrgggh!

Don't leave it on the counter.


 ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 15, 2013, 04:31:33 AM
Don't leave it on the counter.


 ;D

Ha ha! I thought the same thing. That scares me a little.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 15, 2013, 02:09:06 PM

That actually did occur to me, so I buried in in a stack of books sitting on the floor by the bed....but I was still hyperaware of its presence. Sort of reminded me of "The Tell-Tale Heart" -- without the sound.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 15, 2013, 06:00:06 PM
That actually did occur to me, so I buried in in a stack of books sitting on the floor by the bed....but I was still hyperaware of its presence. Sort of reminded me of "The Tell-Tale Heart" -- without the sound.  ;)

Oh Kathy...yours is a tortured existence right now, isn't it? I hope you will be able to get to that book very, very soon!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on November 15, 2013, 06:49:56 PM
That actually did occur to me, so I buried in in a stack of books sitting on the floor by the bed....but I was still hyperaware of its presence. Sort of reminded me of "The Tell-Tale Heart" -- without the sound.  ;)

Well then leave it out on the counter and make believe it's The Purloined Letter.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on November 15, 2013, 06:51:26 PM
Oh Kathy...yours is a tortured existence right now, isn't it?

Like The Pit And The Pendulum?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 15, 2013, 11:42:20 PM
Like The Pit And The Pendulum?

 ha2ha  I finally broke down and started it last night and showed remarkable restraint and read 'til only 9:30 pm. I just finished working and and have the whole night free to read; yay!

I once spent an entire extended-family vacation with my nose stuck in a new Preston & Child book (The Cabinet of Curiosities). Fortunately, the other adults were watching the young-uns frolicking in the pool.

What can I say -- I'm a nerd.   ;)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on November 16, 2013, 12:21:56 AM
What can I say -- I'm a nerd.   ;)



(http://th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2013/275/9/3/bookworm___a_tale_of_love_between_books_and_girl___by_gyrhs-d6ozf71.jpg)



Nah!  You're just a bookworm.    :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 16, 2013, 03:40:41 PM
Just found my next pre-order! I haven't heard of this author, though.

OK, I've definitely taken too long a break from ocean liner reading. I have several of William Miller's books, and they are fantastic.

I need to remember to drink at least two cups of coffee before posting in the morning.  ;)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 16, 2013, 04:53:40 PM
^^^
That definitely sounds like the book for you! Since you love ocean liners I'll tell you about the wool blanket I bought at an auction. It still had the tag on it. There was a sketch of the United States and a little blurb telling about this new ship and that this blanket was the same one that the passengers would be using. After I looked the ship up on the Internet I wondered how long a 50 year old wool blanket would last!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on November 16, 2013, 10:17:50 PM
I'm reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. So far it is very not your usual storyline...! Psychedelic might be the right adjective to use? It's like The Magical Mystery Tour - you watch it, you enjoy it but keeping thinking "what on earth....?" throughout. The book has more meaning though
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on November 18, 2013, 04:13:16 AM
Just found my next pre-order! I haven't heard of this author, though.

OK, I've definitely taken too long a break from ocean liner reading. I have several of William Miller's books, and they are fantastic.

I need to remember to drink at least two cups of coffee before posting in the morning.  ;)




^^^
That definitely sounds like the book for you! Since you love ocean liners I'll tell you about the wool blanket I bought at an auction. It still had the tag on it. There was a sketch of the United States and a little blurb telling about this new ship and that this blanket was the same one that the passengers would be using. After I looked the ship up on the Internet I wondered how long a 50 year old wool blanket would last!


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516HANZE6SL._SS500_.jpg)


Without that book, there would never have been...

The Love Boat Opening 1982 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icAwcByaNtY#)


Bawth...ze plane, ze plane!

Wait!  No, that was another show.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 18, 2013, 08:53:15 PM

Without that book, there would never have been...
The Love Boat Opening 1982

Ah...so that's who we have to, um, thank for that one.


Quote
Bawth...ze plane, ze plane!

Wait!  No, that was another show.

Right, at 10:00. I usually watched those in someone else's living room while babysitting.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on November 19, 2013, 12:31:53 AM
The Love Boat and Fantasy Island were the second generation Love American Style.  I remember watching those two shows a couple of times.  It was hard to keep track of what was going on in the three or four storylines they had going on at the same time.  Love American Style presented separate and distinct stories in the one hour show.

And who could ever forget that great musical introduction by The Cowsills its first season...


(http://images.popmatters.com/columns_art/g/gibron-las-splsh.jpg)


LOVE AMERICAN STYLE -THE COWSILLS.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J69alyKuwY#ws)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 19, 2013, 12:46:14 AM
^^^
That definitely sounds like the book for you! Since you love ocean liners I'll tell you about the wool blanket I bought at an auction. It still had the tag on it. There was a sketch of the United States and a little blurb telling about this new ship and that this blanket was the same one that the passengers would be using. After I looked the ship up on the Internet I wondered how long a 50 year old wool blanket would last!

That's neat, Kelley! I would love to have something tangible from a ship. I do have a piece of Titanic coal, which my ex used to tease me probably came from a mine in Ohio.   :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 19, 2013, 12:51:57 AM

I have to admit (only because this is a [semi-]anonymous forum), I used to LOVE "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island," mostly because as a young teen I had no life and so was always camped in front of the TV on Saturday nights. By the time I started babysitting, I was always glued to MTV and trying to hunt down R-rated cable movies.

I had no idea there was a book about the origins of "The Love Boat." One more to put on my list. I'll just ignore the fact that I had an overdraft-protection advance last week.  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on November 19, 2013, 01:21:17 AM
Kathy, even if you had a life while these shows aired, you probably would have camped out in front of your TV watching them.

I was doing my residency when they aired.  My girlfriend, an RN, watched those two shows religiously every Saturday night.  It was like the beginning of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer when this took place...

Nancy...
No answer.
Nancy!...
No answer.
NANCY!
No answer.



But I was the same way when a James Bond movie was on.      ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on November 19, 2013, 01:36:36 AM
Ah...so that's who we have to, um, thank for that one.


Right, at 10:00. I usually watched those in someone else's living room while babysitting.

It was hard to tell when one show ended and the other one started!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 19, 2013, 02:39:06 AM
The Love Boat and Fantasy Island were the second generation Love American Style.


I watched that one too although I can't imagine how I got away with it at the age I was. It was where we first saw Happy Days. I always associated it with American Graffiti but when I saw this I suddenly remembered:

http://youtu.be/fhFDkatc-e4 (http://youtu.be/fhFDkatc-e4)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 19, 2013, 02:40:48 AM
It was like the beginning of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer when this took place...

Nancy...
No answer.
Nancy!...
No answer.
NANCY!
No answer.



But I was the same way when a James Bond movie was on.      ;D

You should have tried LIL!  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 19, 2013, 02:43:16 AM
That's neat, Kelley! I would love to have something tangible from a ship. I do have a piece of Titanic coal, which my ex used to tease me probably came from a mine in Ohio.   :)

Phooey on him! You display that proudly, right next to your piece of concrete from Woodstock! If I find the tag from the blanket you can have it. The blanket itself is long gone.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Joost on November 30, 2013, 06:56:00 PM
I actually released two books this year. One with a selection of the best blogs that I wrote the last few years, and one with travel reports.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 30, 2013, 07:44:40 PM
I actually released two books this year. One with a selection of the best blogs that I wrote the last few years, and one with travel reports.

Congratulations! I didn't realize you were a writer. I'd like to see your blog.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on November 30, 2013, 09:20:54 PM
I actually released two books this year. One with a selection of the best blogs that I wrote the last few years, and one with travel reports.
Well done! Can we see? Or is it not in English?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Joost on November 30, 2013, 09:57:52 PM
I'm not really a writer, the books were self-released and sold mostly to friends and family. Unfortionately my blog is in Dutch (as are the books).
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 30, 2013, 10:11:25 PM
I'm not really a writer, the books were self-released and sold mostly to friends and family. Unfortionately my blog is in Dutch (as are the books).

That's still really great Joost. I've toyed with the idea of blogging. I've loved to write, ever since I first picked up a pencil!

















































Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on December 01, 2013, 08:15:17 AM
I actually released two books this year. One with a selection of the best blogs that I wrote the last few years, and one with travel reports.

That's big news, man. Congratulations!

Reading Haruki Murakami's 'Norwegian Wood' (yes, the name was inspired by the song) right now. Anyone else into this guy?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 09, 2014, 01:35:26 AM

Yesterday I tossed The Wolf of Wall Street into the trash. I got about three or four chapters in and it was just so repellent I not only stopped reading it, I didn't even want to put it in my stack to donate. Blech.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on January 09, 2014, 10:27:06 PM


Reading Haruki Murakami's 'Norwegian Wood' (yes, the name was inspired by the song) right now. Anyone else into this guy?

Murakami is a particular fav of mine. Norwegian Wood is probably his "straightest" story. The books of his i keep rereading are The Wind Up Bird Chronicle and Wild Sheep Chase. They're both bizarre with mostly unexplained strange and/or supernatural occurrences. But he writes in a hypnotic fashion that draws you in and ably mixes the generally mundane lifestyle of his protagonists (usually a passive male who likes beer, cooking and jazz) with the weird events they get tangled up in.

He also did an interesting non fiction book on the satin gas attacks in the Tokyo underground (called appropriately "Underground").




Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 11, 2014, 02:45:47 AM
Yesterday I tossed The Wolf of Wall Street into the trash. I got about three or four chapters in and it was just so repellent I not only stopped reading it, I didn't even want to put it in my stack to donate. Blech.

I skimmed through the first 7 or 8 pages of it tonight and could see where it might be heading toward repellent. Fortunately I just had to put it back on the pile from whence it came.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 11, 2014, 06:11:10 PM
I skimmed through the first 7 or 8 pages of it tonight and could see where it might be heading toward repellent. Fortunately I just had to put it back on the pile from whence it came.

If your library has it, The Buy Side, by Turney Duff, is a much better book. It seems like a similar story (nonfiction as well) -- an insider's view of Wall Street and all that goes on -- but, unlike Jordan Belfort, Turney Duff comes across as basically a down-to-earth, kind person with a heart and a soul, eminently more relatable and likable than Belfort. Of course, I suppose the worse one behaves, the better book/movie one's story makes, but I still liked Duff's book 'way better. I encourage you to give that one a try if you see it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 15, 2014, 01:50:26 AM


Just finished Reconstructing Amelia. It was so good I read the entire book in one day and night. So today I had to get twice as much work done, but it was worth it. The book was so good I could not put it down.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on January 29, 2014, 06:48:04 PM
Almost finished reading 'Pride and Prejudice' and I know it's considered one of the all-time classics, but I can't say I enjoyed it that much. May be a bit old-fashioned for my taste...
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on February 09, 2014, 06:42:23 AM
Reading yet another mystery by Arnaldur Indridason. Strange Shores. Does anyone do bleakness and world weariness as well as the Icelanders?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on February 09, 2014, 09:45:03 AM
Almost finished reading 'Pride and Prejudice' and I know it's considered one of the all-time classics, but I can't say I enjoyed it that much. May be a bit old-fashioned for my taste...
I find that's the case with most classics with the exception of Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev (a Russian Classic). Frankenstein wasn't bad either.

Reading yet another mystery by Arnaldur Indridason. Strange Shores. Does anyone do bleakness and world weariness as well as the Icelanders?
Dickens?


Just finished Reconstructing Amelia. It was so good I read the entire book in one day and night. So today I had to get twice as much work done, but it was worth it. The book was so good I could not put it down.
I need an unputdownable book to read. What was Reconstructing Amelia all about?


I'm reading Brother Fish by Bryce Courtney. It's ok so far




.... A very quotable post!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on February 09, 2014, 09:49:22 AM
Dickens?



I suppose. But he at least always had good tunes.

Oliver! - You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HazQlWgdzg#)
Oliver! - You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or two
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 10, 2014, 03:04:33 AM
And good singers...


Davey Jones as the Artful Dodger on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 1964 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKpLngN6CPE#)
Davey Jones on The Ed Sullivan Show 50 years ago tonight, 9 February 1964. 
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Mairi on February 11, 2014, 05:17:02 AM
I'm reading Philip Norman's Rolling Stones book, Symphony for the Devil. It's got me quite fond of Charlie Watts!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 11, 2014, 02:24:07 PM
I need an unputdownable book to read. What was Reconstructing Amelia all about?

It was so good! It starts out with a mother getting a phone call from her daughter Amelia's high school saying that she was caught cheating and has been expelled. By the time she gets to the school, the daughter is dead: She either fell, jumped, or was pushed off the roof. A few days later, the mom gets an anonymous text: "Amelia didn't jump." Then it goes on to reconstruct the last few months of Amelia's life to find out exactly what happened on the roof.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 22, 2014, 02:59:56 PM

Re-reading an old childhood favorite, Summer of My German Soldier. Would be nice to track down the TV movie again sometime.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on March 22, 2014, 04:45:31 PM
Re-reading an old childhood favorite, Summer of My German Soldier. Would be nice to track down the TV movie again sometime.


That's one book I could never bring myself to get rid of. I remember watching the movie too.

http://youtu.be/pabuf4Ag4rg (http://youtu.be/pabuf4Ag4rg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on March 22, 2014, 05:01:06 PM
Did you ever read "Go Ask Alice?" Kathy? There was a TV movie for this one too. You might have been a little young for it at the time but I remember watching it even though I probably shouldn't have at age 10! But that book was really controversial when it came out in 1971 and it was still one that everyone read and talked about when I was in junior high, probably because we were led to believe that it was a true story. It was supposedly an anonymous girl's journal which made it all the more interesting. It turns out that it was written by a psychologist with an anti-drug agenda. When I found that out all these years later I felt really duped, not that I would have wanted it to happen to someone and I'm sure it did. The movie is pretty dated but interesting as a commentary on how society was at the time. Really scary stories like this one were rampant.

http://youtu.be/JMM3X3hqj3w (http://youtu.be/JMM3X3hqj3w)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 22, 2014, 11:02:32 PM
I didn't even think to look for Summer of/With My German Soldier online, Kelley; thanks for posting that!

Did you ever read "Go Ask Alice?" Kathy?

I came very close to picking that up at Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago. I'll try to track it down at the library. I hadn't realized it had been made into a movie. Thanks again.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 07, 2014, 03:53:47 PM
Kathy, Beth Harbison has a new book out. I sort of like the title; "Chose the Wrong Man, Gave Him the Wrong Finger".  ;D

This is coming out in paperback any day now, Kelley; I have it on preorder at Amazon. Can't wait!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on June 07, 2014, 04:06:56 PM
^^^
Oh good! I need to put that on my Goodreads "want to read" list.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 07, 2014, 11:33:49 PM
are there any James Herbert fans on here, I love all his books, when I was younger I couldn't put them down.

'The Secret of Crickley Hall' 

 2ch


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on June 08, 2014, 12:14:47 AM
I am reading Ben Elton's Two Brothers . It's ok so far. I did not like his other non comedy book, The First Casulty but I will so far the book I am reading now (which is non comedy) is ok.

Quote
Re-reading an old childhood favorite, Summer of My German Soldier. Would be nice to track down the TV movie again sometime
Sounds like something up my alley :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on June 08, 2014, 12:41:03 AM
are there any James Herbert fans on here, I love all his books, when I was younger I couldn't put them down.

'The Secret of Crickley Hall' 

 2ch

I loved his books as a young adult. The Fog, The Dark, The Rats etc. Make me very nostalgic for that time just after I finished school and started work. Haven't read him for a long time though. What's his recent stuff like?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 08, 2014, 03:47:47 AM
I loved his books as a young adult. The Fog, The Dark, The Rats etc. Make me very nostalgic for that time just after I finished school and started work. Haven't read him for a long time though. What's his recent stuff like?

He died quite young last year and the last few years didn't write, I think Crickley Hall was his last in 2006 if Im not mistaken
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on June 08, 2014, 04:35:25 AM
He died quite young last year and the last few years didn't write, I think Crickley Hall was his last in 2006 if Im not mistaken

Seems he released one called Ash in 2012.

I need some new reading material. Might look at some more recent works.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 08, 2014, 08:50:30 AM
I can email you a couple of his e books if you pm me your email addy

anyone else as well who wants them
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on June 08, 2014, 09:27:24 AM
I can email you a couple of his e books if you pm me your email addy

anyone else as well who wants them

Ta. Will do. Actually after you mentioned it and went on to my Kindle and downloaded Crickley Hall. There's nothing like a haunted house story.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 08, 2014, 11:49:56 AM
Ta. Will do. Actually after you mentioned it and went on to my Kindle and downloaded Crickley Hall. There's nothing like a haunted house story.

its a bit creepy moog, great book when you tucked up in bed  ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on June 08, 2014, 12:22:17 PM
its a bit creepy moog, great book when you tucked up in bed  ha2ha

I'll put Revolution 9 on a repeat loop as background music.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 08, 2014, 02:50:20 PM
are there any James Herbert fans on here, I love all his books, when I was younger I couldn't put them down.

'The Secret of Crickley Hall' 

Oh, that one looks good, as do his other books. I'm going to order some as soon as my next freelance check comes in. Thanks for the tip.

Update: I knew that name sounded familiar! I read Herbert's Domain once as a young teen on a family vacation. I was so freaked out about rats that week. I kept checking under the bed and pestering my parents with questions about rats (i.e., could there be any at the beach). They were like, "Where is this sudden terror of rats coming from?" 
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on June 08, 2014, 10:17:54 PM
Oh, that one looks good, as do his other books. I'm going to order some as soon as my next freelance check comes in. Thanks for the tip.

Update: I knew that name sounded familiar! I read Herbert's Domain once as a young teen on a family vacation. I was so freaked out about rats that week. I kept checking under the bed and pestering my parents with questions about rats (i.e., could there be any at the beach). They were like, "Where is this sudden terror of rats coming from?"

It was fun being younger and being able to scare yourself with books. Can't quite get that same feeling anymore. Creepiness is about as bad as it gets.

I went off the horror stuff for a long time past the age of around 22 or 23. But I've got back into it. Probably mainly for nostalgic reasons. I like them for a fun light read again now.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on June 08, 2014, 10:45:50 PM
I was so freaked out about rats that week. I kept checking under the bed and pestering my parents with questions about rats (i.e., could there be any at the beach). They were like, "Where is this sudden terror of rats coming from?"


I've never been too fond of rats and it doesn't sound like that book would improve those feelings. Still, I always liked this song a lot:

http://youtu.be/T1dAQN5QcZU (http://youtu.be/T1dAQN5QcZU)

Go figure!

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 08, 2014, 10:47:00 PM
I liked all of Dean Koontz books as well

creepy
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 11, 2014, 02:39:35 AM
Hey Baz
Im just reading a book that is in your area of the world, its based on Long Island on the Gold Coast

The Gate House by Nelson Demille, Im enjoying it  :)

Its funny cos I live near the Gold Coast, Queensland
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 11, 2014, 02:56:05 AM
Yeah, Kev.  The North Shore of Long Island from Great Neck to Huntington.  A lot of money and BIG mansions there!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on June 13, 2014, 02:15:01 AM
He died quite young last year and the last few years didn't write, I think Crickley Hall was his last in 2006 if Im not mistaken

Finished Crickley Hall. Good read. I love a good haunted house story.

Might move on to Creed next. It's like being 18 again.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 13, 2014, 09:20:22 AM
Yeah, Kev.  The North Shore of Long Island from Great Neck to Huntington.  A lot of money and BIG mansions there!

all those rich people with Horses and Ferrari's you mean ?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 13, 2014, 09:21:37 AM
Finished Crickley Hall. Good read. I love a good haunted house story.

Might move on to Creed next. It's like being 18 again.

Blimey moog that was quick   :o
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on June 13, 2014, 10:19:46 AM
 :angel:
Blimey moog that was quick   :o

I'm more of a gulper than a sipper when it comes to books.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 13, 2014, 02:14:17 PM
Finished Crickley Hall. Good read. I love a good haunted house story.


I have that one sitting right here; I ordered it last week. I'm itching to start it, but I'm determined to save it for the flight/cruise. It's getting hard, though, to keep my hands off it!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 13, 2014, 10:56:06 PM
I have that one sitting right here; I ordered it last week. I'm itching to start it, but I'm determined to save it for the flight/cruise. It's getting hard, though, to keep my hands off it!

One thing I like about James Herbert is that even though his books are horror category, there is always historical significance and real social issues within them

Its not just 'family buys house cheap and its haunted and weird things happen'

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on June 13, 2014, 11:01:32 PM
One thing I like about James Herbert is that even though his books are horror category, there is always historical significance and real social issues within them

Its not just 'family buys house cheap and its haunted and weird things happen'

He also could be an amusing writer. Creed I've just started but it has sardonic humour all through it.

I'm having a varied morning. Reading Creed, watching Australia in the World Cup and researching Beatle statistics.

Who says we guys can't multitask.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on June 14, 2014, 01:34:07 AM
He also could be an amusing writer. Creed I've just started but it has sardonic humour all through it.

I'm having a varied morning. Reading Creed, watching Australia in the World Cup and researching Beatle statistics.

Who says we guys can't multitask.

shame we lost that game

Im now studying my new phone - htc desire, its like a portable flat screen  tv  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on June 14, 2014, 01:42:07 AM
shame we lost that game

Im now studying my new phone - htc desire, its like a portable flat screen  tv  ;D

Yes. We played better than I expected. And at least were in it til the last couple of minutes. I thought we were going to be flogged after Chile's two early goals.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 24, 2014, 08:14:02 PM


Just finished Douglas Preston's The Kraken Project. It started off slowly, but then got quite good, and very touching. He even through in a funny Beatles reference. I think I've mentioned this, but he and Lincoln Child (both solo books and their coauthored ones) are the only authors, other than Sophie Kinsella, that I buy in hardcover. They're that good. (IMO.)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on July 11, 2014, 01:27:52 PM
are there any James Herbert fans on here, I love all his books, when I was younger I couldn't put them down.

'The Secret of Crickley Hall' 


I started this one last night, Kevin, and couldn't put it down! Was up past midnight reading.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on July 11, 2014, 11:38:16 PM
I started this one last night, Kevin, and couldn't put it down! Was up past midnight reading.

I love his books Kathy, glad you like it,  and sorry for the lack of sleep  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on July 12, 2014, 03:31:03 AM
I love his books Kathy, glad you like it,  and sorry for the lack of sleep  ;D

I've started Moon (thanks for the book btw Nim). Pretty horrific concept. Which being a horror book is appropriate of course.

I'm enjoying getting reacquainted with James H. Although I have to admit I tend to skip through his sex scenes. Must be advanced middle age getting to me. An impatient, stop shagging the girl and get to the good bits, attitude.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: oldbrownshoe on July 12, 2014, 07:15:50 AM
Anyone read 'Absolute Beginners' by Colin MacInnes?
I re-read it on holiday and it really captures that pre-Beatles era, specifically 1958, in Britain.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on July 12, 2014, 01:41:36 PM

I haven't read it, but it looks really good! Just added it to my wish list on Amazon so when finances are better I can quickly order it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on July 22, 2014, 06:57:06 AM
I started George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying. It's really entertaining so far. Orwell has a really good writing style - always loved it
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dcazz on July 22, 2014, 10:44:29 AM
The only time I've ever heard the word Aspadistra is in the fadeout of one of McCartney's song. "It's the biggest Aspadistra...." I though it might be a word he just made up!
Question? What is an Aspadistra?!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on July 23, 2014, 10:06:11 AM
Aspidistra? I believe it's a plant. Sounds more like an aircraft I reckon :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dcazz on July 23, 2014, 10:29:37 AM
Aspidistra? I believe it's a plant. Sounds more like an aircraft I reckon :)
How about that! More like a car or something.

https://sp2.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608041531095453586&pid=15.1&P=0
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on July 23, 2014, 11:01:35 AM
Aspidistra? I believe it's a plant. Sounds more like an aircraft I reckon :)


http://youtu.be/6XROMw3Z4e0 (http://youtu.be/6XROMw3Z4e0)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dcazz on July 23, 2014, 11:08:07 AM
My question has been answered! Cute song, thanks
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 27, 2014, 06:54:02 PM

Just about to finish The Dinner by Herman Koch. It started out OK but has been getting progressively darker and more unsettling.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 27, 2014, 10:00:05 PM
Just about to finish The Dinner by Herman Koch. It started out OK but has been getting progressively darker and more unsettling.

That was the selection for our library's book club last time. I don't belong because they meet on my day off. If it was the evening when I work I'd be more than happy to sit down with them and talk! LOL
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on September 29, 2014, 08:45:38 AM
I gave up on Orwell's Aspidestra and so now I reverted back to Ben Elton's Two Brothers
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 29, 2014, 10:43:04 AM
I gave up on Orwell's Aspidestra and so now I reverted back to Ben Elton's Two Brothers

what was wrong with it KE ?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 30, 2014, 12:10:13 AM
I'm reading an interesting series of books. At least I find them interesting! They are the journals of a young woman who lived here and they're from the mid 1850's. Her father was a wealthy lumberman and merchant and her brother eventually donated the house that's the library where I work. A lot of it is rather tedious but every so often a passage will come up that makes it all worth it! I'm on the third of five and it looks like I'm probably the one person who's read that far since it was transcribed in the 1990's. It made that new book sound when I opened it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 30, 2014, 01:31:26 PM
I'm reading an interesting series of books. At least I find them interesting! They are the journals of a young woman who lived here and they're from the mid 1850's. Her father was a wealthy lumberman and merchant and her brother eventually donated the house that's the library where I work. A lot of it is rather tedious but every so often a passage will come up that makes it all worth it! I'm on the third of five and it looks like I'm probably the one person who's read that far since it was transcribed in the 1990's. It made that new book sound when I opened it.

That does sound interesting! A friend was just telling me about some history of the town I live in. Apparently there are a lot of underground tunnels from the bootlegging era. According to this one book of local lore, there was even a tunnel leading from one of the brothels to a local church, and -- according to this book, which I haven't read -- one leading citizen would sneak out during the homily to visit said brothel. (I'm not quite sure how one would manage that, unless the wife were dozing or one claimed an ill stomach or something!) I keep meaning to try to find it at the library.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 30, 2014, 05:44:02 PM
That does sound interesting! A friend was just telling me about some history of the town I live in. Apparently there are a lot of underground tunnels from the bootlegging era. According to this one book of local lore, there was even a tunnel leading from one of the brothels to a local church, and -- according to this book, which I haven't read -- one leading citizen would sneak out during the homily to visit said brothel. (I'm not quite sure how one would manage that, unless the wife were dozing or one claimed an ill stomach or something!) I keep meaning to try to find it at the library.

That will be quite a read! There are some things of an unsavory nature alluded to in this journal but Lib is too much of a lady to come right out and tell all. She got very upset when she was making her brothers' bed and found a book entitled "The Lusty Turk" hidden under the straw mattress.She really bawled them out good! I guess boys have been hiding that stuff for a long time. LOL
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on October 31, 2014, 06:31:52 PM
are there any James Herbert fans on here, I love all his books, when I was younger I couldn't put them down.

'The Secret of Crickley Hall' 

 2ch

I just got back from WalMart (ugh) and saw this on DVD, as a BBC movie. I immediately grabbed it, because I loved the book so
much, but I really need to stop ruining my budget with impulse buys, so I reluctantly put it back. Has anyone seen the movie? The
book was SO good. Wonder if it's on Netflix. I quit a few months back but may rejoin.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on October 31, 2014, 11:17:55 PM
I just got back from WalMart (ugh) and saw this on DVD, as a BBC movie. I immediately grabbed it, because I loved the book so
much, but I really need to stop ruining my budget with impulse buys, so I reluctantly put it back. Has anyone seen the movie? The
book was SO good. Wonder if it's on Netflix. I quit a few months back but may rejoin.

funnily enough..

I have it set to record on BBC First later on tonight

what a coincidence  :P
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 01, 2014, 12:38:43 AM
funnily enough..

I have it set to record on BBC First later on tonight

what a coincidence  :P

That is a coincidence! I'd love to hear what you think of it after you watch it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dcazz on November 01, 2014, 02:50:39 AM
Killing Patton, interesting so far.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on November 01, 2014, 04:23:37 AM
That is a coincidence! I'd love to hear what you think of it after you watch it.

will do

It seems to be 3 parts so we'll probably watch the first one tonight
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 01, 2014, 09:11:16 PM
Killing Patton, interesting so far.

I just looked that one up, Dave; it looks interesting. My father had a copy of Killing Jesus at his house last summer; I see they are both part of the same series (all of which look good to me).

I just finished Son of Rosemary, which was horrible and had a totally pathetic ending. I don't think I've ever read a worse sequel. I'm going to have to reread Rosemary's Baby, which is a favorite of mine.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dcazz on November 02, 2014, 02:08:02 AM
He did Killing Lincoln too.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 02, 2014, 03:05:05 AM
^^^^

Yes, and Killing Kennedy, I see. I need to track these down at the library, especially the Patton one you mentioned. All of them look good!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dcazz on November 04, 2014, 03:49:10 AM
^^^^

Yes, and Killing Kennedy, I see. I need to track these down at the library, especially the Patton one you mentioned. All of them look good!
it was pretty good. As in depth as it could be all these years after. The political intrigue even then is very interesting.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 11, 2014, 08:12:29 PM


Darnit, Kevin; I've lost more sleep and work time due to James Herbert's books than I care to admit! Was up 'til 11:00 pm last night reading Creed.

Just kidding -- I love a good book. I just need to practice how to put one down when I need to rest or work.   ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 20, 2015, 10:46:15 PM


The Story of the "Mary Celeste", by Charles Edey Fay, apparently an employee of the brig's insurance company. Originally published 1942. It's a tad dry (no pun intended LOL) but the details are gripping.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 31, 2015, 10:19:25 PM


Dead Wake, by Erik Larson. A perfect introduction to the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania for someone who doesn't want to get bogged down in extraneous detail.   :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on March 31, 2015, 10:33:32 PM

Dead Wake, by Erik Larson. A perfect introduction to the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania for someone who doesn't want to get bogged down in extraneous detail.   :)


That sounds interesting. I'm currently reading The Great Gatsby. It's this year's Big Read (http://www.neabigread.org) selection for communities in our library system. I'm going to show the movie next month at the library and I'm thrilled that it's going to be the 1974 version with Robert Redford. It was just recently added to the movies we're licensed to show. Otherwise I would have been limited to the 2013 version.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on April 01, 2015, 12:07:08 AM
 
Still trying to get through 'The Catcher In The Rye' to see what all the fuss is about.

Zzzzzzzzzzz...

Been at it for months. I last a page or two then something actually interesting happens in real life and it's back on the shelf.

I'm projecting a 2037 finish.

 :-*

Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 01, 2015, 03:07:21 AM
I never gave up on a book until I tried to read The Life of Pi. My daughter and I were supposed to read it for a book club. I finally decided that life was too short to sit there and torture myself. I still went to the meeting; I just remained uncharacteristically quiet. LOL
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on April 01, 2015, 03:27:31 AM

Ow. I can imagine that as a rough read. The movie is visually stimulating, but quite a slow rambling storyline.

My sympathies.

 :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 01, 2015, 03:41:02 AM
I guess someone must have liked it but it wasn't me!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on April 01, 2015, 03:54:59 AM

Understood. I don't know how to break to Holden Caulfield that he isn't changing my life.

 :P

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 01, 2015, 04:26:30 AM
The Catcher in the Rye was on the New York City Public Schools ban list in the 60s.  I bought a copy to find out why.  Once I got to "the word" I closed the book.  I never finished reading it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 01, 2015, 04:42:56 AM
^

I was in 11th grade at that time.  I remember our English teacher assigning us to read A Tale of Two Cities.  That book was great!  I read a copy of Cyrano de Bergerac, in French, that was lying around the house a few months before.  I liked the similarities of those two works.  I remember mentioning that in class and the teacher had us read that too, in English.  Mrs. Bacher was pretty cool that way.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on April 01, 2015, 04:51:32 AM

I loved Dickens as a kid. There's some readable stuff.

 :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 01, 2015, 05:02:34 AM
Right.  Look at how A Tale of Two Cities started and ended...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.


"I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I threw upon it, faded away. I see him, foremost of just judges and honoured men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place- then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement- and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and a faltering voice.

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."



I mean you know that everything that comes in between is going to be great!



Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 01, 2015, 05:21:58 AM
Miss Havisham is the Dickens character that intrigued me the most.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on April 01, 2015, 09:09:31 AM

 On the lighter side, I remember enjoying 'The Pickwick Papers' very much. His first novel, I think. I couldn't put it down.

 :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: zipp on April 01, 2015, 10:01:49 AM
I was in 11th grade at that time.  I remember our English teacher assigning us to read A Tale of Two Cities.  That book was great!

You may be interested to know that part of A Tale Of Two Cities takes part in a location the Beatles used during the Mad Day Out photo shoot in 1968.
I can give you more detail about where it is in the book if you like.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on April 01, 2015, 12:42:27 PM

Still trying to get through 'The Catcher In The Rye' to see what all the fuss is about.

Zzzzzzzzzzz...



I read it, too, for the same reason. I still don't get what the fuss was about. Like you said, zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 01, 2015, 04:51:21 PM
You may be interested to know that part of A Tale Of Two Cities takes part in a location the Beatles used during the Mad Day Out photo shoot in 1968.
I can give you more detail about where it is in the book if you like.

I'd like. :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kevin on April 01, 2015, 08:56:04 PM
I read it, too, for the same reason. I still don't get what the fuss was about. Like you said, zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I think if you wanted to explain to a 17 year old why Sgt Pepper is considered one of he greatest albums of all time they probably wouldn't get it from just listening to it. You would have to put it into the context of the time it was made. So it is Ithink with Catcher InThe Rye. In its day it was controversial,dangerous and new. None of that no longer applies.




Title: Re: Books
Post by: Ovi on April 02, 2015, 05:31:28 PM
I think if you wanted to explain to a 17 year old why Sgt Pepper is considered one of he greatest albums of all time they probably wouldn't get it from just listening to it. You would have to put it into the context of the time it was made. So it is Ithink with Catcher InThe Rye. In its day it was controversial,dangerous and new. None of that no longer applies.

I think it's an amazing book, context or not. I had to read it as school assignment at 16 and loved it, then re-read it last year at 20 and loved it even more. But it did worry me that I still relate to the character in so many ways.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on December 30, 2015, 06:53:06 AM
`The Catcher In The Rye' is in my list of books to read.

I wanted to ask you about books you read in 2015. Which of them not only impressed you much but also affected your world?

I read much. Most of all I was impressed by Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov", Dante's "The Divine Comedy" and Homer's "Iliad". These are great works that I will re-read in the future.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 30, 2015, 11:29:00 PM


I have to admit that I did not read anything of real substance this past year, except for Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, for about the 100th time. It's a favorite.

I do have Madame Bovary on my list, and my girls have to read George Orwell's 1984 for school. I actually was assigned to read that one in 1984.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on December 31, 2015, 07:52:52 AM
Great books, these `Madame Bovary' and `1984'. I read Flaubert in Russian translation, but American and English books I prefer to read in English. Have to admit that, for example, Orwell, Herbert George Wells, Mark Twain are easy to read, but I can't read Shakespeare or Dickens. Very complicated! You know, my English is not so good.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: zipp on December 31, 2015, 01:08:22 PM
Great books, these `Madame Bovary' and `1984'. I read Flaubert in Russian translation, but American and English books I prefer to read in English. Have to admit that, for example, Orwell, Herbert George Wells, Mark Twain are easy to read, but I can't read Shakespeare or Dickens. Very complicated! You know, my English is not so good.

Don't worry Dimitri. A lot of English people can't understand Shakespeare and even experts sometimes disagree about the meaning of certain lines. I'm a native English speaker and I watch my Shakespeare DVDs with the English subtitles. I sometimes pause the DVD to make sure I've understood!

Dickens is easier but his languagae is a bit old-fashioned.

Happy new year for 2016.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 21, 2016, 02:20:25 AM
. . . I can't read Shakespeare or Dickens. Very complicated! You know, my English is not so good.

I have never been able to make sense of Shakespeare because I have always had to constantly check the footnotes to figure out what is being said, or what is happening. It was distracting. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to attempt to learn Shakespeare in my nonnative language. P.S. I think your English is excellent, Dmitry!

I just finished The Swans of Fifth Avenue, which I found fascinating. I tend to stick to "fluffier" reads because my daily editorial work is so sobering.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on February 21, 2016, 03:34:01 AM
I have never been able to make sense of Shakespeare because I have always had to constantly check the footnotes to figure out what is being said, or what is happening. It was distracting.

I was Cliff Notes' best customer! I did read the assignments but I really enjoyed Shakespeare when I actually understood it! I loved Romeo and Juliet. The local theater got the movie in for us and that was great too. Imagine a theater full of ninth graders, especially the boys, during the wedding night scene!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 21, 2016, 11:27:21 PM

You're better than I am, Kelley; I've never cared for Shakespeare, not even Romeo and Juliet (sacrilege, I know!). I don't think I ever even finished MacBeth in high school; I just fudged my way through my paper. My girls are currently struggling through Hamlet, which I detested, because I had to rewrite my first paper, so I did, but on the same topic, and my teacher told me to do it again on a different topic -- so I ended up doing three Hamlet papers; boo!

I had to laugh at your comment about the ninth-graders tittering throughout the wedding night scene; my class had the same experience. Gotta love those middle-schoolers and their raging hormones.

I read somewhere that Paul was approached to play Romeo but that he was too busy to accept. Now that would have made the movie infinitely more interesting to me.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 22, 2016, 04:07:52 AM
I have never been able to make sense of Shakespeare because I have always had to constantly check the footnotes to figure out what is being said, or what is happening. It was distracting.

Try it again, Kathleen, and this time forget the footnotes and concentrate on the iambic pentameter.



I read somewhere that Paul was approached to play Romeo but that he was too busy to accept. Now that would have made the movie infinitely more interesting to me.

It's too bad Paul didn't have the time to play Romeo.  He sure made a fine Pyramus...


A Midsummer Night's Dream    Act V.  Scene I.

http://youtu.be/Vo8qpZ-rl0o (http://youtu.be/Vo8qpZ-rl0o)






(http://cdn5.movieclips.com/mgm/a/a-midsummer-nights-dream-1935/0012292_11568_MC_Tx360.jpg)



        If we shadows have offended, 
        Think but this, and all is mended, 
        That you have but slumber’d here 
        While these visions did appear. 
        And this weak and idle theme,         
        No more yielding but a dream, 
        Gentles, do not reprehend: 
        If you pardon, we will mend. 
        And, as I’m an honest Puck, 
        If we have unearned luck         
        Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue, 
        We will make amends ere long; 
        Else the Puck a liar call: 
        So, good night unto you all. 
        Give me your hands, if we be friends,         
        And Robin shall restore amends.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 22, 2016, 08:45:43 PM
Try it again, Kathleen, and this time forget the footnotes and concentrate on the iambic pentameter.


I don't know, Barry; I think I killed too many brain cells drinking beer in college.  :-\
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 23, 2016, 05:29:37 AM
Kathleen, one of the advantages of going to the New York City Public School System were school trips to Stratford Connecticut where they had a recreation of the Globe Theater.  It was the home of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and I saw several plays performed pretty much the same way they performed them in Shakespeare's time...


(https://stratfordcharter.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/theater.jpg)


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41N%2BU1I4n9L.jpg)


(http://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/gsc/5a24000/5a24100/5a24113r.jpg)


I used to go up to girls and tell them, in iambic pentameter, how they reminded me of Juliet.



If we went on a trip to The Cloisters...


(http://www.mountainsoftravelphotos.com/USA%20-%20New%20York%20City/Best/slides/New%20York%20Cloisters%2036%20011%20Cloister%20from%20Bonnefont-en-Comminges%20France%20Late%2013C%20and%20Bonnefont%20Garden.jpg)

...I'd tell them they reminded me of Guinevere.    ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 23, 2016, 05:48:09 AM
You're better than I am, Kelley; I've never cared for Shakespeare, not even Romeo and Juliet (sacrilege, I know!). I don't think I ever even finished MacBeth in high school; I just fudged my way through my paper. My girls are currently struggling through Hamlet, which I detested, because I had to rewrite my first paper, so I did, but on the same topic, and my teacher told me to do it again on a different topic -- so I ended up doing three Hamlet papers; boo!


But Hamlet is a great play!


http://youtu.be/_bXAj_-LAK4 (http://youtu.be/_bXAj_-LAK4)

You've got to hand it to that Laurence Harvey.  He really knows his job.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 23, 2016, 05:50:11 AM
Laurence Harvey played a great Romeo in the 1954 movie...


http://youtu.be/zI_TcI0ewcg (http://youtu.be/zI_TcI0ewcg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 23, 2016, 05:59:38 AM
So you see that Shakespeare can be a blast!!!    icon_good
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on February 23, 2016, 06:01:37 AM

Very recently watched Harvey in another classic, also based on a rather famous book...

! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFqV8pi6qug#)

A great player.

 :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 23, 2016, 06:08:17 AM

A great player.

 :)



One of the best.


http://youtu.be/wmthl1hAdFA (http://youtu.be/wmthl1hAdFA)



Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on February 23, 2016, 06:13:16 AM

Oh yea. And how about this little number...

! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_iBcXCu84w#)

 :o

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 23, 2016, 06:20:12 AM
(http://www.madore.org/~david/images/cards/english/queen-diamonds.png)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on February 23, 2016, 01:06:47 PM

Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?

 ;)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 23, 2016, 04:00:05 PM
One of the best.
[url]http://youtu.be/wmthl1hAdFA[/url] ([url]http://youtu.be/wmthl1hAdFA[/url])


Of Human Bondage is a favorite of mine! I've never seen the film, though. I'll have to track it down. Same for An American Tragedy-- a longtime favorite but have never seen the film.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 23, 2016, 04:03:31 PM
^^^^

Same for Sister Carrie, which is such a fave that I used "George Hurstwood" (whose fictitious life seems to be paralleling my own) as part of an email contact name, and my elder daughter got completely confused. It was pretty funny, actually. So now she's going to read it as her independent AP English assignment, so some good came out of it.   ;D

As for Shakespeare, I think I'm just a lost cause.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 23, 2016, 05:34:01 PM
As for Shakespeare, I think I'm just a lost cause.


Pity thyself not.  Look for Shakespeare in song...


http://youtu.be/3i0DMbCKnAg (http://youtu.be/3i0DMbCKnAg)



Spill the wine, take that pearl.

    Eric Burdon



Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine;
Here's to thy health.
Give him the cup.


    King Claudius    Hamlet  Act V.  Scene II.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 23, 2016, 11:09:31 PM
Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?

 ;)





(http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTc3ODk1MzU5MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjIxNjMyNA@@._V1._SX640_SY775_.jpg)



 ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 24, 2016, 03:16:21 AM
(https://m00ch.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/manchuriancandidate-41.jpg)


 :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on February 24, 2016, 03:23:55 AM

(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/napup/poorraymond_zpswjawrznz.gif)

Poor Raymond.

 :'(

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 24, 2016, 03:49:47 AM
Raymond didn't stand a chance against these two...


(http://manilovefilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Manchurian-Candidate-1.png)


(http://screencrave.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/the-manchurian-candidate-angela-lansbury-4-5-10-kc.jpg)


His own mother!!!  :(
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on March 31, 2016, 07:22:09 AM
Not a book, but just read a very touching story

When André Bamberski’s daughter died 30 years ago, he was helpless to save her. Suspicions of murder began to surround her stepfather, a German doctor named Dieter Krombach, yet Bamberski could only hope the truth would prevail. But when the authorities gave up their pursuit, he knew he had to act. So against the odds, Bamberski embarked on an obsessive quest to capture and punish his daughter’s killer. In this riveting true story by Joshua Hammer, a father travels to the limits of the law in search of justice.
March 2012


THE KALINKA AFFAIR by Joshua Hammer
https://read.atavist.com/the-kalinka-affair (https://read.atavist.com/the-kalinka-affair)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on March 31, 2016, 08:37:23 AM
Another good story I've read

Can Dead Commies Be Good?

Quote from: The American Conservative
My son Matt has very strong views on communism. He went through a two-year period in which he was deeply interested in Soviet Russia, and read everything he could get his hands on about Soviet history, including Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago. A kid who will read The Gulag Archipelago at 14 is bound to be strong-minded.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/can-dead-commies-be-good/ (http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/can-dead-commies-be-good/)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 02, 2016, 09:14:15 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kRLjT0ulL._SX381_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)


Getting ready for Daytona International Speedway  April 14th and 15th.




 :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 03, 2016, 03:36:31 PM
^^^
Cool Barry! Be safe, have fun and bring back footage.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 04, 2016, 02:27:47 AM
^

I will, Kelley.

I'll be leaving this Saturday and coming home eight days later.  It's going to be a great vacation.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 04, 2016, 02:39:23 AM
And this year the car has a window net and a UHF radio for communication with my pit crew...


(http://i63.tinypic.com/2q3de6c.jpg)




Just like NASCAR!


http://youtu.be/LZd08jP9tTU (http://youtu.be/LZd08jP9tTU)


Ice Cream?!     ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 04, 2016, 04:31:23 AM


Just like NASCAR!



Ice Cream?!     ha2ha

Good grief Barry, not like that I hope! Did I mention that you should be careful?  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 04, 2016, 04:35:38 AM
^


(http://i66.tinypic.com/35ddsls.jpg)


(http://i65.tinypic.com/2nbwtwj.jpg)




http://youtu.be/ko3m0NBbq1o (http://youtu.be/ko3m0NBbq1o)



 icon_good
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 04, 2016, 04:47:17 AM
That sounded like a different mix or am I just dizzy from looking at those pictures?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 04, 2016, 04:47:44 AM
Good grief Barry, not like that I hope! Did I mention that you should be careful?  ;)



(http://i61.tinypic.com/egodvt.jpg)


(http://i59.tinypic.com/xas7mb.jpg)


(http://i62.tinypic.com/2cmr7ue.jpg)





http://youtu.be/MUrOPI5b8wo (http://youtu.be/MUrOPI5b8wo)



;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 04, 2016, 04:58:10 AM
I know you're no fool, no siree.  :) I think I saw that film in school.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 04, 2016, 05:11:41 AM
^

Thank Walt Disney for a series of Jiminy Cricket I'm No Fool films back in the 1950s.  They certainly made an impact on me!



http://youtu.be/Foa3reEutzw (http://youtu.be/Foa3reEutzw)




:)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 04, 2016, 05:33:13 AM
^^^
That song was familiar right away! We always had the latest films in our school system. LOL But these were good ones, not like some of those ancient Encyclopedia Britannica films. They would always sound weird and break. But I do enjoy watching the ones they have on YouTube! They're a hoot.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 04, 2016, 05:42:28 AM
^

We saw them in school (on 16 mm film), on The Walt Disney Show (Sundays at 7:00 PM) and on The Mickey Mouse Club.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on April 04, 2016, 06:08:45 PM
Wow, I'm getting dizzy just looking at those stills you posted, Barry. Have fun, and be safe (and careful).  ;)


I never saw those Jiminy Cricket films in school, but they look interesting. I was trying to explain the concept of film strips (do you all remember those?) to my kids, and they just didn't get it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 04, 2016, 07:02:46 PM
I was trying to explain the concept of film strips (do you all remember those?) to my kids, and they just didn't get it.

I do! I was still showing those when I taught. They were easier than movies but not as entertaining. VCRs were new then and the school had just one that we all shared. Watching a video took up most of the afternoon, by the time we trooped to the movie room and I tried to figure out why it wouldn't work on the same channel that it did the previous time. And here I am, 30 years later, fighting with the big screen TV at the library. It's a marvel of technology; you can connect a laptop to it but it never works the same way as the previous time. Filmstrips were great!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 04, 2016, 08:31:27 PM
Wow, I'm getting dizzy just looking at those stills you posted, Barry. Have fun, and be safe (and careful).  ;)

I'm no fool, no siree, I'm gonna live to be 103!    ;D


I never saw those Jiminy Cricket films in school, but they look interesting. I was trying to explain the concept of film strips (do you all remember those?) to my kids, and they just didn't get it.

I remember film strips too.  They were boring but at least they didn't break.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 04, 2016, 08:45:40 PM
That sounded like a different mix or am I just dizzy from looking at those pictures?


That was the UK version, Kelley.  Here's the US version as used in the movie...


http://youtu.be/DQdFStANuJ8 (http://youtu.be/DQdFStANuJ8)


I've always preferred the UK version.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 04, 2016, 08:56:59 PM
No one liked Gimme Some Lovin' at Bob's Country Bunker...


(http://www.bluesbrotherscentral.com/images/scmods/scenes/the-blues-brothers/bobs-country-bunker.jpg)



http://youtu.be/RdR6MN2jKYs (http://youtu.be/RdR6MN2jKYs)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 07, 2016, 05:48:41 AM
^^^
That's hilarious! I've only ever seen that movie in bits and pieces when my son watches it. It's one of his favorites.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 07, 2016, 05:53:55 AM
You've gotta see the whole movie, Kelley.  The cops are always after Elwood and Jake.  Here's the mall chase scene...


http://youtu.be/IIdGxR-aU6o (http://youtu.be/IIdGxR-aU6o)

The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year.   ;D


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on April 07, 2016, 06:00:21 AM
Good music too...


http://youtu.be/Vet6AHmq3_s (http://youtu.be/Vet6AHmq3_s)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 07, 2016, 06:17:02 AM
You've gotta see the whole movie, Kelley. 

Yeah, I know. I'm sure it wouldn't take much persuading to get Kyle to join me. I have seen the mall chase scene and I slept through Aretha's number one time. I had a hilarious dream though and she figured prominently in it.  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Maggie0819 on April 28, 2016, 11:16:34 AM
I recently finished reading John Cleese's autobiography So, Anyway and right now I'm reading Stephen Fry's autobiography The Fry Chronicles which is lovely. After this one it's on to To Kill a Mockingbird which I somehow have never read before. It's been a while since I've had the motivation to read and now I can't stop!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on April 28, 2016, 04:02:19 PM
After this one it's on to To Kill a Mockingbird which I somehow have never read before.

I loved To Kill a Mockingbird, but sadly, nobody else in my family (children, sister, nephew, former spouse) liked it. I'll be curious to hear what you think of it.

My book group is reading The Screwtape Letters, and I am finding it both fascinating and confusing because of its unique perspective. C.S. Lewis was certainly brilliant.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: ibanez_ax on April 28, 2016, 05:59:30 PM
I just finished The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.  It is a very different fantasy series, nothing like the typical medieval genre fantasy that's out there. 
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Maggie0819 on April 28, 2016, 10:49:25 PM
I loved To Kill a Mockingbird, but sadly, nobody else in my family (children, sister, nephew, former spouse) liked it. I'll be curious to hear what you think of it.

My book group is reading The Screwtape Letters, and I am finding it both fascinating and confusing because of its unique perspective. C.S. Lewis was certainly brilliant.

I'm sure I'll love it, always heard great things about it and I love the film version with Gregory Peck, although I'm sure it doesn't measure up to the book. I'm ashamed to say I haven't read a single book by C.S. Lewis either! I'll be sure to put him on my list of authors to read.  icon_good
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Maggie0819 on April 28, 2016, 10:57:25 PM
I just finished The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.  It is a very different fantasy series, nothing like the typical medieval genre fantasy that's out there.

I've never been able to finish The Chronicles of Amber due to studying, but I'm dying to read it as I'm a fan of fantasy. Although only getting to about the second chapter of Nine Princes in Amber, it seemed really interesting and it also seemed wonderfully uncomplicated in the way it was written and relatively easy to take in. Sadly, it's still waiting on the bookshelf, dusting away, haha.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: ibanez_ax on April 29, 2016, 02:19:49 AM
I've never been able to finish The Chronicles of Amber due to studying, but I'm dying to read it as I'm a fan of fantasy. Although only getting to about the second chapter of Nine Princes in Amber, it seemed really interesting and it also seemed wonderfully uncomplicated in the way it was written and relatively easy to take in. Sadly, it's still waiting on the bookshelf, dusting away, haha.


I usually don't like first-person narrative, but it really works here.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on April 29, 2016, 03:35:11 AM
After this one it's on to To Kill a Mockingbird which I somehow have never read before.

I loved To Kill a Mockingbird

I never have either but always have intended to read it. I read a lot but I'm not particularly well-read if that makes sense. Right now I'm finishing a bio on Ruth Lyons, who was a pioneering radio and TV personality in Cincinnati. I stumbled upon her on YouTube and found her quite interesting!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on April 29, 2016, 12:03:36 PM
What about Ancient Greece literature? Since October 2015 I read Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, etc. Still read Aristophanes. Very intersting dive into the ancient world.
Anyone read it?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: ibanez_ax on April 29, 2016, 09:06:22 PM
What about Ancient Greece literature? Since October 2015 I read Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, etc. Still read Aristophanes. Very intersting dive into the ancient world.
Anyone read it?


The furthest back I've gone is the Roman Plutarch's Lives.  Oh, and Aesop's Fables.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 09, 2016, 07:06:42 PM
As an awkward segue from the "Movies" thread, I thought I'd recommend Kristin Hannah's Winter Garden. It's very hard to get into at first, and at first the mother is an extremely unlikable character, but once I got about a third of the way through I couldn't put it down. It's more of a "chick" book. Kelley and Maggie, if you haven't read it, I urge you to give it a try. It's historical fiction, much like Hannah's The Nightengale.

I just finished Into Thin Air and couldn't put that down, either. I was surprised to see in the Postcript that Jon Krakauer actually spoke with my first journalism professor, Steve Weinberg after the book was published and another account (The Climb) of the disaster had come out.

Now I have to watch Everest again so I can make more sense of the plot.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Maggie0819 on May 09, 2016, 07:24:11 PM
I finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird the same day I bought it, I couldn't put it down but at the same time I didn't want it to end. It was wonderful and even made me shed a few tears. I just ordered The Great Gatsby, another classic that I'm ashamed to say I haven't read yet. Looking forward to it.  icon_good
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on May 09, 2016, 09:41:30 PM
As an awkward segue from the "Movies" thread, I thought I'd recommend Kristin Hannah's Winter Garden. It's very hard to get into at first, and at first the mother is an extremely unlikable character, but once I got about a third of the way through I couldn't put it down. It's more of a "chick" book. Kelley and Maggie, if you haven't read it, I urge you to give it a try. It's historical fiction, much like Hannah's The Nightengale.

I read that when when it first came out Kathy. It's been a while but I remember that I liked it. Kristen Hannah is one of my favorite authors. I always seem to identify with something in each of her books. Winter Garden contained a line that really spoke to me. I don't remember the exact quote but I think it was about the mother when she was younger. I believe she had just lost her mother and then her sister and she was musing about the fact that being a daughter and a sister had defined who she was and then suddenly that was gone and she didn't know who she was anymore.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on May 10, 2016, 12:38:53 AM
I just ordered The Great Gatsby, another classic that I'm ashamed to say I haven't read yet. Looking forward to it.  icon_good

Until I read The Great Gatsby I didn't think it was possible to love a book when I couldn't stand most of the characters. It's a magnificent story though. The 1974 movie version with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow was also very good. As I read the book I couldn't wait to see it come to life. What an interesting period in history.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 11, 2016, 02:45:55 AM
I finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird the same day I bought it, I couldn't put it down but at the same time I didn't want it to end. It was wonderful and even made me shed a few tears.

I'm so glad you liked it. I love when a book is so good it's hard to put down.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Maggie0819 on May 11, 2016, 03:58:22 PM
Until I read The Great Gatsby I didn't think it was possible to love a book when I couldn't stand most of the characters. It's a magnificent story though. The 1974 movie version with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow was also very good. As I read the book I couldn't wait to see it come to life. What an interesting period in history.

Haven't seen any of the movie versions of The Great Gatsby yet so I have no idea how it's gonna end.  ha2ha

I'm so glad you liked it. I love when a book is so good it's hard to put down.

Same here, it doesn't happen that often so it's wonderful when it does.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 12, 2016, 02:11:50 AM
The Great Gatsby was assigned high school reading for me.  I read the first couple of chapters and closed the book for good.  I wasn't interested in reading about Long Island decadence in the 1920s when there was a war raging in Viet Nam.  When called upon in class to answer a question about the plot, I answered "I don't know."  When asked if I read the book I answered "The book was so boring, I didn't bother to read it."  I guess my teacher agreed with me as she asked me to choose another book to read in its place and to let her know the next day what I chose.

The next day I told her that I would be reading Catch 22 and she smiled.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 12, 2016, 03:00:52 AM
(http://i63.tinypic.com/14udqpc.jpg)


That's some catch, that Catch 22.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 12, 2016, 03:13:19 AM
The Great Gatsby was assigned high school reading for me.  I read the first couple of chapters and closed the book for good.  I wasn't interested in reading about Long Island decadence in the 1920s when there was a war raging in Viet Nam.  When called upon in class to answer a question about the plot, I answered "I don't know."  When asked if I read the book I answered "The book was so boring, I didn't bother to read it."  I guess my teacher agreed with me as she asked me to choose another book to read in its place and to let her know the next day what I chose.

The next day I told her that I would be reading Catch 22 and she smiled.

Good for you, Barry; I admire your reasoning there. The Great Gatsby was assigned high school reading for me, too, but it was the 80s -- a vastly different era indeed.

(I had to smile about your reply to the teacher about the book being boring; I felt the same way about The Grapes of Wrath, which I detested and never finished, although I cranked out a paper on it.)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 12, 2016, 04:11:18 AM
While I can certainly see why you felt that way Barry I think it's too bad your teacher didn't encourage you to read it.

Just because an author reaches "acclaimed" status doesn't mean all his works will achieve universal appeal.  I share Kathleen's sentiments about The Grapes of Wrath but I enjoyed reading John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.  The "era" that the assignment was given me also was a factor. 

I think my teacher was wise in recognizing the times in which we lived and refrained from scolding me for such a flippant remark.  This was certainly evident the next day when she quietly smiled when I told her which book I had chosen.  She showed a level of maturity, not usually evident amongst her peers, by handling the matter the way she did.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on May 12, 2016, 05:48:32 AM
Thanks, Barry, I added Catch-22 to my list of books to read. I didn't know Joseph Heller.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on May 12, 2016, 11:25:44 AM

I never read The Grapes Of Wrath, but the film version is a real classic. Probably up in my all-time top ten (or twenty).

 :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on May 12, 2016, 02:41:35 PM
I never read The Grapes Of Wrath, but the film version is a real classic. Probably up in my all-time top ten (or twenty).

 :)

It is a great film. I thought the book was a lot more depressing than the movie. I was glad I read it because it's good to remember those people and their struggles but I was also glad when I finished it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 12, 2016, 03:13:42 PM

Kelley, you've touched on my guilt now; I've always felt a bit bad about my dislike for The Grapes of Wrath because I do sympathize with the plight of families who struggled because of the Dust Bowl. Nevertheless, it bored me to tears. I vastly preferred Of Mice and Men.

Now that some of you mentioned how good the movie version of Grapes of Wrath now, maybe I should give it a try. Also, I have been meaning to read Catch-22, so I should really get a copy and do so. I should probably re-read The Great Gatsby, too; my copy is still on my shelf.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on May 12, 2016, 03:31:20 PM
Kelley, you've touched on my guilt now; I've always felt a bit bad about my dislike for The Grapes of Wrath because I do sympathize with the plight of families who struggled because of the Dust Bowl. Nevertheless, it bored me to tears. I vastly preferred Of Mice and Men.

Now that some of you mentioned how good the movie version of Grapes of Wrath now, maybe I should give it a try. Also, I have been meaning to read Catch-22, so I should really get a copy and do so. I should probably re-read The Great Gatsby, too; my copy is still on my shelf.

Oh, no Kathy; that wasn't my intention. In fact, I just came back on to say that I can imagine this being a tough book for young people to benefit from. I read it as an adult, when we were homeschooling and I am pretty sure that we only watched the movie. I would be interested to see what your take is on Gatsby now, should you decide to read it again. It did drag but I stuck with it because it was the Big Read selection last year. I showed the film and I wanted to be able to contribute to any discussion of how it compared to the book.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 12, 2016, 05:50:00 PM
Oh, no Kathy; that wasn't my intention.

I'm the one who should apologize, Kelley; I worded that poorly. I just meant to say something I should have included in my original post about The Grapes of Wrath: that I've always felt a bit guilty that by refusing to read it in high school I was disrespecting the plight of the families of that era. (I really did find it boring, though!)

I'll have to try to find The Great Gatsby. I'm sure I have it. On the other hand, I thought I had kept Things Fall Apart(Chinua Achebe), which my daughters recently had to read, and I couldn't find it. It must have gotten misplaced during one of our many moves. (Because of my husband's job, during the tenure of our marriage we bought and sold 5 houses!)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 12, 2016, 05:54:47 PM


Hmm, couldn't find it, but I did find my copy of The Old Man and the Sea.  :)

Haven't seen any of the movie versions of The Great Gatsby yet so I have no idea how it's gonna end.  ha2ha

That's good! A character on a TV show here in the States ("The Middle") gave away the ending to Of Mice and Men just as my daughters were starting to read it, and I was really annoyed.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on May 12, 2016, 09:28:57 PM
I'm the one who should apologize, Kelley; I worded that poorly.

No apology necessary, Kathy.





Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 13, 2016, 12:38:21 AM
Thanks, Barry, I added Catch-22 to my list of books to read. I didn't know Joseph Heller.

It's a good book, Dmitry.  You'll not only enjoy Joseph Heller's take on war but his take on life also.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 13, 2016, 01:03:22 AM
Kelley, you've touched on my guilt now; I've always felt a bit bad about my dislike for The Grapes of Wrath because I do sympathize with the plight of families who struggled because of the Dust Bowl. Nevertheless, it bored me to tears. I vastly preferred Of Mice and Men.

No need to feel guilty, Kathleen.  It's a boring novel about an unfortunate and desperate time in United States history.  The plight of those who suffered is a distinct entity apart from the novel.  Maybe Steinbeck should have stuck to novellas like Of Mice and Men.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 13, 2016, 01:12:21 AM
I have been meaning to read Catch-22, so I should really get a copy and do so.

You'll like it too, Kathleen.



I should probably re-read The Great Gatsby, too; my copy is still on my shelf.

Hmm, couldn't find it, but I did find my copy of The Old Man and the Sea.  :)

Now there's a great novel!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 14, 2016, 02:33:24 AM
Long before I read Of Mice and Men I saw Of Fox and Hounds 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x37ewa_of-fox-and-hounds_shortfilms (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x37ewa_of-fox-and-hounds_shortfilms)



 :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 14, 2016, 11:19:10 PM
Of Mice and Men


http://youtu.be/s5gzBJlFV8s (http://youtu.be/s5gzBJlFV8s)
1939
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 21, 2016, 08:59:14 PM


I had to pop back into this thread for a sec and say I went into my daughters' room a few nights ago, and my younger daughter was reading The Great Gatsby(yup, assigned high school reading).   ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 22, 2016, 05:53:38 AM
^

They're still assigning The Great Gatsby in high school, huh?  I think I'm the only person in the United States who hasn't read the book.  And I didn't read it because I thought it was boring.  But how would I know it was boring if I didn't read it?



(http://i66.tinypic.com/15ccxae.jpg)


That's some catch that Catch-22!!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 22, 2016, 06:03:23 AM
http://youtu.be/dcmwPYCUysw (http://youtu.be/dcmwPYCUysw)

Yossarian lives!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on May 25, 2016, 09:27:00 AM
I wish I knew if someone read "Jij bent je brein: alles wat je wilt weten over je hersenen" by D.F. Swaab and Jan Paul Schutten! It is a Dutch book for children. Some kind of popular here; translated into Russian. If only Cor, who is absent during the whole May, knew about it...
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Bobber on May 25, 2016, 11:49:21 AM
I wish I knew if someone read "Jij bent je brein: alles wat je wilt weten over je hersenen" by D.F. Swaab and Jan Paul Schutten! It is a Dutch book for children. Some kind of popular here; translated into Russian. If only Cor, who is absent during the whole May, knew about it...

I'm here.  :)  I've been involved in a business conflict recently and it took away a lot of my time and certainly my energy. Hopefully things will work out fine in the next few days (decision time).

D.F. Swaab is known as Dick Swaab over here. But because dick also means something else in English, I can imagine why he took his initials in the translation. Swaab is a professor over here and, if you can speak of that when it comes to professors, kind of popular. He explains difficult matters in a simple way. The title 'Je bent je brein' (You are your brain) he explains that the brain is responsible for everything you do and happens into you. Very readable book and an eyeopener, although there are (of course) critics who think that Swaab's vision is a bit one-sighted. Still, it's a good read and you won't harm anyone with it.  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on May 25, 2016, 01:30:25 PM
Thanks, Cor! I asked because Jan Paul Schutten is in Moscow now. He came here for an interesting festival Politech (http://fest.polymus.ru/en/) and gave and interview. Take a look at http://fest.polymus.ru/en/programm/from-the-big-bang-to-big-brains/ (http://fest.polymus.ru/en/programm/from-the-big-bang-to-big-brains/)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 26, 2016, 12:41:15 AM

They're still assigning The Great Gatsby in high school, huh?  I think I'm the only person in the United States who hasn't read the book.  And I didn't read it because I thought it was boring.  But how would I know it was boring if I didn't read it?


You should read Gatsby, Barry, and I'll give Catch-22 a try.   ;)

My son's class just finished The Diary of Anne Frank, and he didn't like it, which seriously disappointed me. Sounds like most of his peers didn't like it, either. I think they are just too immature (ages 13–14), which is rather ironic.

Also, my elder daughter didn't make it through all of Sister Carrie -- which I had personally recommended to her for for her independent read for AP English -- and just bluffed her way through the presentation.

Oh, well. At least I have copies of both and can enjoy them myself. 
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on May 26, 2016, 01:56:43 AM
I'll give Catch-22 a try.   ;)

Good. You can tell me if it's boring.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 26, 2016, 04:19:20 AM
You should read Gatsby, Barry, and I'll give Catch-22 a try.   ;)

Nah!  I'm not gonna read it.  But that shouldn't stop you from reading Catch-22, one of the best anti-war novels ever written.


My son's class just finished The Diary of Anne Frank, and he didn't like it, which seriously disappointed me. Sounds like most of his peers didn't like it, either. I think they are just too immature (ages 13–14), which is rather ironic.

I find that odd too, Kathleen.  I guess Anne Frank's memoirs are way beyond the maturity level of today's adolescents.  She was in a different league entirely.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Bobber on May 26, 2016, 06:55:28 AM

I find that odd too, Kathleen.  I guess Anne Frank's memoirs are way beyond the maturity level of today's adolescents.  She was in a different league entirely.

The topic is still alive over here in The Netherlands. That is Anne Franks person, not the diary per se. This month we're celebrating 71 years of peace since WWII ended here in May 1945. In my daughters school it is a part of the discussion about refugees for example. In my opinion, the diary is a pretty hard for youngsters. One has to read it in the context of the war, the position of Jews, a 14-year old growing up in those circumstances. It is of course not just a diary, but a lot of young people read it that way and find it boring. I can imagine why: you have to keep the circumstances in mind.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on May 26, 2016, 07:31:29 AM
This month we're celebrating 71 years of peace since WWII ended here in May 1945.

That's a beautiful thing Cor.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 26, 2016, 06:52:11 PM
In my opinion, the diary is a pretty hard for youngsters. One has to read it in the context of the war, the position of Jews, a 14-year old growing up in those circumstances. It is of course not just a diary, but a lot of young people read it that way and find it boring. I can imagine why: you have to keep the circumstances in mind.

That is exactly what I was trying to explain to my son. I was getting very frustrated, actually, and had to force myself to tone it down. I hope in a few years, as he gains wisdom and maturity, that he'll come to appreciate both the book and Anne and all that she and others went through. I also told him that before he leaves high school I am going to encourage him to read Night, by Elie Wiesel.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 26, 2016, 07:02:37 PM
Nah!  I'm not gonna read it.  But that shouldn't stop you from reading Catch-22, one of the best anti-war novels ever written.

I think I will give it a try, once I track down a copy. I need to get to the bookstore soon to get my daughter's graduation gifts (The Screwtape Letters [money is tight! no cars for them]), so I'll try to find it.

I find that odd too, Kathleen.  I guess Anne Frank's memoirs are way beyond the maturity level of today's adolescents.  She was in a different league entirely.

Indeed. He and his classmates have life so easy that it seems impossible for them to imagine anything other than their relatively cushy lives -- which isn't to say they're not good kids, just, as you said, not in her league. In a few years, as I said in my response to Cor's post, I hope he'll be able to appreciate the book and the person of Anne Frank and her family.

Good. You can tell me if it's boring.  :)

 Will do!  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: stevie on May 26, 2016, 08:57:26 PM
 I was just reading out some of these comments about Anne Frank's diary to my 12 year old daughter who has just read it and she said it was a very good book. Interestingly she had some knowledge of the war and Hitler etc from her own research after hearing me talk about the war at times through my reading.

Very mature and wise for her age is my daughter Abbey. I guess she would be after being named for the world's most famous road.... cheer1 icon_king  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 26, 2016, 11:09:19 PM
The topic is still alive over here in The Netherlands. That is Anne Franks person, not the diary per se. This month we're celebrating 71 years of peace since WWII ended here in May 1945. In my daughters school it is a part of the discussion about refugees for example. In my opinion, the diary is a pretty hard for youngsters. One has to read it in the context of the war, the position of Jews, a 14-year old growing up in those circumstances. It is of course not just a diary, but a lot of young people read it that way and find it boring. I can imagine why: you have to keep the circumstances in mind.


Yes, Cor.  And we must remember those brave Dutch people who risked their lives to hide the Frank family and many other families like hers.

The Danes were also heroic in their display of opposition to Nazi occupation.  This story, in the novel and film Exodus about King Christian X and the Danes, happened just the way the fictional character Karen Hansen describes here...


http://youtu.be/o1U3C4YeMkA (http://youtu.be/o1U3C4YeMkA)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Bobber on May 27, 2016, 08:56:36 AM
Yes, Cor.  And we must remember those brave Dutch people who risked their lives to hide the Frank family and many other families like hers.

Miep Gies was one of those who helped the Frank family. After the war she lived in my hometown for a long time and passed away only a few years ago. I believe she reached the age of 100 years. I met her once, a very inspiring and peaceful lady.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 01, 2016, 02:25:49 AM


Just finished Flight of Dreams, a fictitious/historical novel about the last voyage of the Hindenburg. Very interesting!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on June 01, 2016, 04:04:27 AM

Just finished Flight of Dreams, a fictitious/historical novel about the last voyage of the Hindenburg. Very interesting!

How do you feel about this burgeoning genre of fact-based fiction Kathy? I know it's always been around but it seems to be evolving somehow. I'd really like to write a book about that 4th cousin I've mentioned, the one who moved across the country in (I think)1860 and I'd like it to be totally factual. I keep unearthing interesting things about her but I'm afraid I may never connect enough dots. My mother-in-law ended up with two volumes of embellished family history that her cousin's wife wrote and honestly, it doesn't do much for me. I keep wondering what she really knew for sure!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on June 02, 2016, 03:02:15 AM
How do you feel about this burgeoning genre of fact-based fiction Kathy? I know it's always been around but it seems to be evolving somehow.

I'm ambivalent about it, Kelley. It definitely seems to be getting more popular. I enjoyed the Hindenburg book but I've made a point of steering clear of ocean liner–related fiction, for example. If I had to pick one over the other, I'd say I'd prefer purely factual accounts of events (to the extent that that is possible).

You should go ahead and write that book about your fourth cousin if you get enough material.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on June 02, 2016, 04:12:59 AM
I'm ambivalent about it, Kelley. It definitely seems to be getting more popular. I enjoyed the Hindenburg book but I've made a point of steering clear of ocean liner–related fiction, for example. If I had to pick one over the other, I'd say I'd prefer purely factual accounts of events (to the extent that that is possible).

You should go ahead and write that book about your fourth cousin if you get enough material.  :)

You know too much to tolerate ocean liner half-truths! I do hope I can do this someday. I'll have to save enough to go to San Francisco. I have to find out what happened to her personal effects. She had only one child who had no children. I'm hoping stuff got donated to some kind of historical society. 
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 04, 2016, 06:49:43 PM

Just finished Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, which focused on the first-class passengers of the Titanic. It was interesting, a quick and easy read, but didn't reveal much new information, and it had the same photographs that 90% of all the other Titanic books include. Books by the smaller publishers done by true researchers are definitely the way to go.

I was surprised at how many survivors later committed suicide.  :'(

Next up is Appointment in Samarra. Elin Hilderbrand has mentioned it in so many of her novels, I couldn't resist getting it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 04, 2016, 09:52:16 PM
Just finished Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, which focused on the first-class passengers of the Titanic. It was interesting, a quick and easy read, but didn't reveal much new information, and it had the same photographs that 90% of all the other Titanic books include. Books by the smaller publishers done by true researchers are definitely the way to go.

I was surprised at how many survivors later committed suicide.  :'(

Next up is Appointment in Samarra. Elin Hilderbrand has mentioned it in so many of her novels, I couldn't resist getting it.
[/squote]

We just booked another cruise Kathy so I definitely will give that a miss  :-\
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 05, 2016, 05:53:24 PM
We just booked another cruise Kathy so I definitely will give that a miss  :-\

 :)   Things are much safer now, though.

I'm envious again of you and your wife and your travels. Please do share photos again when you return. Hope you have a fantastic time.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on September 05, 2016, 10:44:29 PM


We just booked another cruise Kathy so I definitely will give that a miss  :-\

Where are you off to this time Nim?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 06, 2016, 10:24:45 PM
Where are you off to this time Nim?

A  biggie this time  moog

Brisbane to Barcelona,  leaving in feb  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 07, 2016, 12:39:22 AM
A  biggie this time  moog

Brisbane to Barcelona,  leaving in feb  :)

Is this the same cruise line you've been using? Sounds fab, Kev!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on September 07, 2016, 02:25:24 AM
A  biggie this time  moog

Brisbane to Barcelona,  leaving in feb  :)

Fantastic.  icon_good

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 07, 2016, 10:08:28 AM
Is this the same cruise line you've been using? Sounds fab, Kev!

No weve been with princess 3 times and  royal caribbean once

This is with Royal Caribbean
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 05, 2016, 02:33:35 AM


Just finished Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt. Highly recommended; I couldn't put it down.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on November 05, 2016, 12:25:11 PM

Could. Not. Put. This. One. Down...

(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/napup/only_one_zpshhcysjqf.jpg)

 :P

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 17, 2016, 02:19:19 AM

Just finished When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age (still obsessed with the Gilded Age). Meh. Not as good as the Vanderbilt book.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on December 17, 2016, 08:15:01 AM
I'm reading the Detective Bosch  books
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 29, 2016, 02:03:41 AM

Just finished Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball.

...and now I'm rereading In Cold Blood

But this weekend I won't be reading at all.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 29, 2016, 02:05:06 AM

Brisbane to Barcelona,  leaving in feb  :)

That's getting close, Kevin; you and your wife must be getting excited.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on December 29, 2016, 02:41:30 AM
But this weekend I won't be reading at all.  ;)



(http://prod-images.exhibit-e.com/www_petzel_com/Time_Enough_at_Last1.jpg)


Nor will Henry Bemis.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 30, 2017, 12:21:11 AM
(http://i63.tinypic.com/35bi89c.jpg)

 ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on January 30, 2017, 12:31:13 AM
That's getting close, Kevin; you and your wife must be getting excited.
Its getting closer now kathy  :o
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on January 30, 2017, 12:38:15 AM
I've decided in my retirement to read some classic novels

I've started with Crime & Punishment by  Dostoyevsky..

Crime and Punishment focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash.

Dmitry would be proud of me ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on January 30, 2017, 01:11:00 AM
Dmitry would be proud of me ha2ha

And as a library worker, I'm proud of you! But I have to admit, that's something I need to do too. I think that on Tuesday mornings when I'm doing routine maintenance on the public computers. Sometimes I wind up waiting around for a scan to finish and I stare at the classics shelves and think about how many I haven't read. LOL
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on January 30, 2017, 01:15:44 AM
And as a library worker, I'm proud of you! But I have to admit, that's something I need to do too. I think that on Tuesday mornings when I'm doing routine maintenance on the public computers. Sometimes I wind up waiting around for a scan to finish and I stare at the classics shelves and think about how many I haven't read. LOL

I downloaded a collection Kelley
The 100 best novels, a BBC collection
They're all in the public domain and all classics
I already read The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 30, 2017, 02:06:41 AM
I've decided in my retirement to read some classic novels

I've started with Crime & Punishment by  Dostoyevsky..

Crime and Punishment focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash.

Dmitry would be proud of me ha2ha

I downloaded a collection Kelley
The 100 best novels, a BBC collection
They're all in the public domain and all classics
I already read The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist

Will you look at him, sitting there with his hooter scraping away at that book!  Have you no natural resources of your own?  Have they even robbed you of that?  You should be out parading.  That's it, parading the streets ... trailing your coat ... bowling along ... living!  When was the last time you gave a girl a pink-edged daisy?  When did you last embarrass a sheila with your cool appraising stare?  Do you think I haven't noticed ... do you think I wasn't aware of the drift?  Oh ... you poor unfortunate scruff, they've driven you into books by their cruel, unnatural treatment, exploiting your good nature.  And what's it all come to in the end?  A book!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on January 30, 2017, 02:31:41 AM
  When was the last time you gave a girl a pink-edged daisy? 

Always wondered if this was a euphemism of some sort.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on January 30, 2017, 02:39:43 AM
Always wondered if this was a euphemism of some sort.
ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on March 21, 2017, 06:12:42 AM
I've decided in my retirement to read some classic novels

I've started with Crime & Punishment by  Dostoyevsky..

Crime and Punishment focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in Saint Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash.

Dmitry would be proud of me ha2ha

Wow! I'm very proud ))
Did you finish it yet, Kev?

I've read all Dostoyevsky's novels. But most of all I was impressed by `The Brothers Karamazov'. I still remember how my hair stood on end several times while reading.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on April 25, 2017, 06:22:26 PM


This was a nice surprise: I just came across a new book on the Franklin expedition: Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition. I can't wait to start reading. There aren't too many books about this yet. The two lost ships were the Terror and the Erebus. I personally would NEVER get on a ship named The Terror, LOL.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on April 25, 2017, 11:19:25 PM
Read a silly but amusing story Year Zero: A Novel.  Basic plot is that a huge universe federation of aliens falls in love with earths pop/rock music ( they call the year they discovered it Year Zero). Trouble is they realise after a few decades that they have been violating earth's restrictive copyright laws and now owe earth more than all the money that is, has been, or ever will be in royalty payments. To try to fix things, the aliens engage a young copyright lawyer who  they also think is a member of the Backstreet Boys.

Hardly deep and sometimes reads as a primer on copyright law. But a fun quick read if you like comedic sci fi.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on May 07, 2017, 06:55:02 AM
Read a silly but amusing story Year Zero: A Novel.  Basic plot is that a huge universe federation of aliens falls in love with earths pop/rock music ( they call the year they discovered it Year Zero). Trouble is they realise after a few decades that they have been violating earth's restrictive copyright laws and now owe earth more than all the money that is, has been, or ever will be in royalty payments. To try to fix things, the aliens engage a young copyright lawyer who  they also think is a member of the Backstreet Boys.

Hardly deep and sometimes reads as a primer on copyright law. But a fun quick read if you like comedic sci fi.
Sounds like a very possible scenario

 :P
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 03, 2017, 02:33:27 AM

I just read An American Tragedy for the third or fourth time and was interested enough (at last LOL) to look up nonfiction versions of the case. Turns out the alleged killelr lived on the same street as my unofficial sorority house (not one of the snooty ones with the columns and a house mother, etc., just a plain old house sanctioned by the sorority). I can't tell if it's the same house or not, but if it is, apparently he lived in the room occupied by my friend Debbie.

All this time, and I never knew. The original factory is still standing as well.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 03, 2017, 11:34:01 AM

This was a nice surprise: I just came across a new book on the Franklin expedition: Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition. I can't wait to start reading. There aren't too many books about this yet. The two lost ships were the Terror and the Erebus. I personally would NEVER get on a ship named The Terror, LOL.


Hi Kathy, one of my all time favourite songs is concerning Franklin and his gallant crew..

https://youtu.be/ysFKjWG_W54 (https://youtu.be/ysFKjWG_W54)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 03, 2017, 09:23:44 PM
Hi Kathy, one of my all time favourite songs is concerning Franklin and his gallant crew..


What a lovely song, and a beautiful tribute to Franklin and his men. Thank you so much for sharing that, Kevin.  :)

Now that both wrecks have been found, I'm hoping for more books detailing the researchers' findings.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 03, 2017, 11:09:24 PM
Yes a gorgeous song by Pentangle and all the more poignant in that we can relate it to an event.

The lyrics read well as poetry, being concise and yet wholly descriptive. A wonderful lament to Lord Franklin and his men.
I love the line 'In Baffin Bay where the Whalefishes blow'  It conjures up such wonderful images.

Homeward bound one night on the deep
Swinging in my hammock I fell asleep
I dreamed a dream and I thought it true
Concerning Franklin and his gallant crew

With one hundred seamen he sailed away
To the frozen ocean in the month of May
To seek a passage around the pole
Where we poor seamen do sometimes go

Through cruel hardships they mainly strove
Their ship on mountains of ice was drove
Only the Eskimo with his skin canoe
Was the only one that ever came through

In Baffin's Bay where the whalefishes blow
The fate of Franklin no man may know
The fate of Franklin no tongue can tell
Lord Franklin along with his sailors do dwell

And now my burden it gives me pain
For my long lost Franklin I'd cross the main
Ten thousand pounds I would freely give
To say on earth that my Franklin live's
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 04, 2017, 01:55:41 AM
Yes a gorgeous song by Pentangle and all the more poignant in that we can relate it to an event.

The lyrics read well as poetry, being concise and yet wholly descriptive. A wonderful lament to Lord Franklin and his men.
I love the line 'In Baffin Bay where the Whalefishes blow'  It conjures up such wonderful images.

That line jumped out at me, too. Thanks, too, for sharing the lyrics. I do hope someday Franklin's grave is found. His wife went to great extremes to find out what happened to him and his men.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 04, 2017, 10:59:57 PM
I promised my self when I retired I would read the BBC top 100 classic books

Im now reading George Orwels classic....... 1984

Up to part 2 now, cant put it down, brilliant descriptive writing. (I cant stop relating it to North Korea)  ???
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 04, 2017, 11:30:26 PM
I promised my self when I retired I would read the BBC top 100 classic books

Im now reading George Orwels classic....... 1984

Up to part 2 now, cant put it down, brilliant descriptive writing. (I cant stop relating it to North Korea)  ???

I had to look up that list. There are a lot of books on there that I haven't read. Some advice: If you haven't already read Stephen King's The Stand, when you do, go with the original, edited version. I've read both, and although I think King is brilliant, the edited version is definitely better.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 05, 2017, 02:16:00 AM
I had to look up that list. There are a lot of books on there that I haven't read. Some advice: If you haven't already read Stephen King's The Stand, when you do, go with the original, edited version. I've read both, and although I think King is brilliant, the edited version is definitely better.

So do I Kathy. I am not really a fan of his usual genre but when I read November 22, 1963 I was blown away. I wish he would write something else that wouldn't give me weird dreams. LOL
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 07, 2017, 02:26:20 PM
I wish he would write something else that wouldn't give me weird dreams. LOL

I agree. Whenever I read one of his books, I keep a lightweight alternative by a different author on hand to read just before bed; otherwise I would have nightmares!

My daughters and I are anxiously awaiting seeing IT in the theaters. Can't wait! That's one that gave me some serious creeps.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 09, 2017, 05:45:42 PM
My daughters and I are anxiously awaiting seeing IT in the theaters. Can't wait! That's one that gave me some serious creeps.  ;)

Oh yeah; I forgot that was a King book. Like Kelsie said, that scene in the commercial with the balloon and the clown has probably already been the cause of a lot of nightmares. LOL
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 10, 2017, 02:09:25 AM
^

Yeah, there's somethin' 'bout clowns and balloons I reckon...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRLPW8RlUvE# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRLPW8RlUvE#)



 :o
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 10, 2017, 03:51:26 AM
^^^
Have you seen the commercial, Barry? That clown is no Bozo!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 10, 2017, 05:33:33 AM
^

Yeah.  I saw it.  And just like Bozo says..."Always keep laughing!"

These kinds of movies don't frighten me, Kelley.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 10, 2017, 06:04:12 AM
This is the only horror movie scene that came close to frightening me...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTyA-v4mnUc# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTyA-v4mnUc#)


I found it more creepy than scary.  But it was a good piece of screenwriting.   icon_good
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 10, 2017, 07:21:56 PM
This is the only horror movie scene that came close to frightening me...

Ew; that is pretty creepy, Barry. I've seen The Exorcist, but I don't recall that particular scene. (The book is great, too.)

I usually watch movies just for the jump scares; they don't terrify me -- except maybe The Exorcist, which is based on a true story.

In regard to IT; I read that book when I was on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Florida (down from New York) with a friend. We met up with her boyfriend and some other pals and headed out to their beachfront house on Florida's west coast. I bought IT at a mall before we headed to the beach, and it's a good thing! On New Year's Eve we did some drinking but then they all started to take LSD. Thank goodness I had the book. I spent the rest of the night in my room, reading. Fortunately, it's a long book. #geek


Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 11, 2017, 02:41:49 AM
^^^
Wow, Kathy! I think you made a good choice, indulging in something scary that could be ended by simply closing a book.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 11, 2017, 04:03:45 AM
Ew; that is pretty creepy, Barry. I've seen The Exorcist, but I don't recall that particular scene. (The book is great, too.)


(http://bh-s2.azureedge.net/bh-uploads/2015/10/Miller_original.jpg)

Kathleen, on his way to the MacNeil house for the first time, a bum in the subway begs money from Father Karras saying: "Can you help an old alter boy, father?"  Father Karras just passes him by.  Later on, the possessed Regan repeats what the bum said in his voice (the video clip I posted).  Creepy, huh? 
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 11, 2017, 04:31:23 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkIqFK3KoZ4# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkIqFK3KoZ4#)


Yeah, I took this girl Mindy to see The Exorcist when it was first run in 1973.  We sat there laughing all through the movie.  And people were passing out all over the place.  When Regan repeated what the bum said, we turned to each other and said in unison: "sh*t!"  Then we continued laughing for the rest of the movie.

Mindy was pretty cool.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 11, 2017, 05:00:11 AM
My dad used to travel a lot for business and he came home one time talking about the movie he'd seen that scared the hell out of him. LOL I always thought he watched it on the airplane but I wonder if I remembered that part wrong. I can't imagine that being shown under those circumstances.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 11, 2017, 05:12:53 AM
^

That's the perfect place to show The Exorcist.  Airplanes have convenient vomit bags in the pouches in front of you.   ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 11, 2017, 05:28:28 AM
Yeah, the barf bags would come in handy for some. But anyone who wanted to leave, like some of those people in the reactions video did, would be out of luck!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 11, 2017, 05:32:42 AM
There are emergency escape instruction cards in those pouches too.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 11, 2017, 10:10:16 PM
And parachutes?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 13, 2017, 12:26:12 AM
Wow, Kathy! I think you made a good choice, indulging in something scary that could be ended by simply closing a book.

Yes; I was really glad I had the book with me! I was happy to shut the door and let them all hallucinate while I read.  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 13, 2017, 02:38:13 AM
And parachutes?

No, just life vests...under the seats.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 13, 2017, 05:29:24 AM
Yes; I was really glad I had the book with me! I was happy to shut the door and let them all hallucinate while I read.  ;D


  ha2ha Yes, we in the library profession recommend books as the safer way to trip.

(http://i64.tinypic.com/2re5rnp.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 13, 2017, 05:10:46 PM
No, just life vests...under the seats.


Then I guess all they could do was assume the crash position.

https://youtu.be/0FIleqKFhqs (https://youtu.be/0FIleqKFhqs)

 ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 19, 2017, 06:41:46 AM
To say Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948 is amazing, what a mind he had.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 19, 2017, 09:31:25 PM
I promised my self when I retired I would read the BBC top 100 classic books

Im now reading George Orwels classic....... 1984

Up to part 2 now, cant put it down, brilliant descriptive writing. (I cant stop relating it to North Korea)  ???

To say Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948 is amazing, what a mind he had.

Kev, you've learned that George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is relevant even today.  I first read the novel in 1965 and it was sure timely then.

Nineteen Eighty-Four was written during the early Cold War years and Stalin's regime.  A lot of the dystopian agencies were based on what existed in the USSR at the time, eg. Thought Police was the Soviet NKVD.

I still have my old copy of the book.  It's time for a re-read.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 19, 2017, 10:05:26 PM
Kev, you've learned that George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is relevant even today.  I first read the novel in 1965 and it was sure timely then.

Nineteen Eighty-Four was written during the early Cold War years and Stalin's regime.  A lot of the dystopian agencies were based on what existed in the USSR at the time, eg. Thought Police was the Soviet NKVD.

I still have my old copy of the book.  It's time for a re-read.

It is a bit Stalinist, but things like the new language Newspeak are extremely creepy.

For those who havent read it..
NewSpeak is a language being developed by the Party during the events of 1984. It is based on English, but is heavily simplified, removing both synonyms and antonyms: brilliant, amazing, wonderful, fantastic, awful, terrible, horrible and many others are condensed into good, plusgood, doubleplusgood, ungood, plusungood, and doubleplusungood. Its role is to narrow the range of thought. As thought can only happen with words, fewer words with simpler meanings and less of a range produce more concise thoughts, allowing the Party to have more control over its members.

Things like nursery rhyme's have disappeared.
"Oranges and Lemons" is an English nursery rhyme. It consists of a semi-nonsensical conversation between the bells of various London churches. In the novel, Winston reconstructs it by hearing fragments from various Londoners. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, it serves as an example of the eradication of shared culture, and is foreshadowed as being lost forever after the final few people who remember it die.

"Oranges and lemons,"
Say the bells of St. Clement's.
"You owe me five farthings,"
Say the bells of St. Martin's.
"When will you pay me?"
Say the bells of Old Bailey.
"When I grow rich,"
Say the bells of Shoreditch.
Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 19, 2017, 10:56:25 PM
Kev, you've learned that George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is relevant even today.  I first read the novel in 1965 and it was sure timely then.


Ironically, I read it in 1984, in high school.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 19, 2017, 11:05:38 PM
Ironically, I read it in 1984, in high school.  ;)

He got the title from reversing the numbers, ie 1948 became 1984

We did the dreaded Shakespeare in school.  :o
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 20, 2017, 12:15:06 AM
We did the dreaded Shakespeare in school.  :o


You wouldn't have felt that way if you studied Shakespeare the way I did, Kev.  Sure, we read the plays but we also got to see them acted out at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Connecticut...


(http://a3.static.dailyvoice.com/image/upload/c_fill,dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_640/SHAKEStheater_tfrpnd)


...a recreation of the Globe Theater where Shakespeare's plays were first performed.



It's good to see his plays acted out.  One can appreciate the iambic pentameter when seeing his plays performed.


No, Marlon Brando didn't play Mark Anthony at Stratford, but look at his expression after his speech, where he feigned weeping over Caesar's body, incites the crowd to riot...


(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/04/24/article-1016807-00611A0100000258-278_224x423_popup.jpg)


(https://anotherfilmblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/julius2.jpg)

Now let it work.  Mischief, thou art afoot.  Take thou what course thou wilt!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 20, 2017, 12:19:32 AM
Ironically, I read it in 1984, in high school.  ;)

I know I read this in high school too but I don't remember a lot about it. I think I have my brother's copy. Reading it might make me even more nervous than I already am, though.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 20, 2017, 11:11:34 PM
After some practise I can now read books on my phone, which has a 5.1" screen, I use an app called UB reader, it works very well.

Its great because if Im waiting anywhere, like Doctors etc I can read, I have about 400 books on my phone's SD card so need never be bored again haha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on September 20, 2017, 11:24:43 PM
After some practise I can now read books on my phone, which has a 5.1" screen, I use an app called UB reader, it works very well.

Its great because if Im waiting anywhere, like Doctors etc I can read, I have about 400 books on my phone's SD card so need never be bored again haha

Yep. People knock tech sometimes but I love that part of it. iPhones and kindles and things have taken the pain out of waiting. I wonder if their existence reduces frustration and complaints for people stuck in line for things.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 21, 2017, 01:34:16 AM
Yep. People knock tech sometimes but I love that part of it. iPhones and kindles and things have taken the pain out of waiting. I wonder if their existence reduces frustration and complaints for people stuck in line for things.

I would think so moog mate.
Its funny that at first I just didn't like reading a book on my phone, but a bit of persistence and now its my favourite way to read. I even read on my phone in bed nowadays !
The human body is strange...
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Mr Mustard on September 21, 2017, 11:02:15 AM
I think the human body will get stranger as coming generations evolve lightning quick thumbs to operate the hand held gadgetry they already seem to find it impossible to live without. Also with ever improving visual media (video then DVD then Blu-Ray etc) future humans may well develop the pin-sharp eyes of an eagle!

I am a voracious reader but have never looked into this Kindle type stuff. I'm not particularly comfortable with technology that forces us to speed up with everything and rush through life to stave off boredom. They're starting to stock the store shelves with Christmas items and it's only September! on Boxing Day the Easter eggs will start appearing! What's the matter with us? Slow down for God's sake!! I do welcome the convenience of modern technology, but some kids today seem to have the attention span of a Guppy, have an inability to be patient and are far too easily "bored". I never learned how to get bored, seriously (until I got to grips with instruction manuals of any type: the one thing guaranteed to glaze me over into a trance - must admit the idiot-proof plug & play attitude of modern manufacturers is a Godsend!). I've sat in waiting rooms (too many times to reflect upon due to family illnesses and hospital emergencies over the past several years) and I've taken great delight in the lost art of daydreaming. It's called having an imagination; I sit back and draw cartoons or write story chapters in my mind as time floats on by: I'm always mildly shocked at the thought that everyone can't do this.

Also I still love the look and feel of a solid, well-bound, real life book - in the same way that some people prefer tangible DVDs or CDs/records rather than this sort of semi-invisible, nebulous download/streaming stuff which many of us just don't grasp. To be honest, to the exasperation of many, I can even see the merits of videotape at times - at least with tape you can physically SEE how much tape is left, observe whether it's re-wound etc, manually record over or after it (but not for much longer as VCRs die out). I can't do this with a disc where all the encoded info is, at a glance, invisible. We know acetate film and magnetic tape eventually deteriorate: has digitised media been around long enough yet to know just how long a shelf life it's ultimately got?

Remember when we were told that these new "compact discs" were crystal-sharp and physically indestructible and would make vinyl records redundant? Paper books have survived for centuries which is good enough for me. Escalators are great but there's still room for ordinary wooden staircases in the world. I suppose I'm just a lazy old Luddite, really.

I was talked into abandoning my CDs (a shelf space issue) in order to embrace "the cloud" (?) and get iTunes on this iPod thing my son got me. But when my computer crashed and the hard drive was lost, my son was only able to bring back what he'd last saved for me on an external hard drive. Since he'd done that, though, I'd significantly updated my iPod with lots of new music from CDs I'd then got rid of. If I try to synchronise my iPod with my computer now, it will be wiped and replaced with the limited behind the times version stored on the hard drive. It means I can never update my iPod with new music, so the Eight Days A Week soundtrack, for example, is annoyingly absent from my listen-on-the-go device. I did have the good sense to hang onto all of my Beatles/solo CDs (and the vinyl before that) but lots of stuff by other artists I got rid of to make room.

The irony is that my son, who talked me into this, is now collecting vinyl??!!??!!??
Title: Re: Books
Post by: tkitna on September 21, 2017, 09:07:39 PM
Good write up Mr.M.

Let me add my own lunacy to this thread.  I love reading books and have had many, many recommended to me.  Here's my issue.  I am trying to get through the Bible and I feel guilty if I would start another book without doing so.  I know its crazy and asinine, but i'm just unable to do so.  Biggest problem is that I have about 1/4 of the Bible left, but I havent been able to read it for sometime now.  There are some drastic family issues my wife and I have been going through for this past year (will be revealed when I can) and I havent been able to concentrate on anything.  So in parting, when friends hand me a book that they want me to read and I kindly decline, they look at me as if i'm mad, and sadly I may be.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 21, 2017, 09:40:57 PM
Oh dear Mr M you truly are a dinosaur   ha2ha
The thing is, theres nothing wrong with that, were all different, and that is a good thing.

For myself I love the technology, I love have hundreds of books on my phone, (as well as all the Beatles albums) I gave away all my CD,s DVD,s to charity, they re all on hard drives, I have seriously de-cluttered and to my tidy organised head that feels very good. I also have thousands of photo's on google pictures.

Also I fear getting left behind by technology, so I like to keep abreast of any new developments as I get older, I dont want to be the old guy who cant go through the automated checkouts at the supermarket because he doesnt understand them.

Regarding your Ipod (wow I thought they were extinct now having been replaced by phones) there is a way of updating your ipod library without deleting the existing music.

When you synchronize your iPod with Apple's iTunes software, it will delete all the music content in your iPod. To resolve this, connect your iPod to your system and click on the iPod icon. Select 'manually manage music' and create a playlist by adding the songs you want in your iPod. Then click Music.

If that isnt self explanatory enough just google it for more explanations.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Mr Mustard on September 21, 2017, 10:48:18 PM
Hey thanks for the ipod info Kev..... I'll wait until my son is next home and ask him to do what you've suggested (I daren't!!). I'm grateful to you though, seriously.  icon_good

Had to chuckle when you mentioned most people having all this stuff on their phone. To my wife's irritation I do not have a smartphone. Indeed my "mobile" ("cellphone" to our American friends) is quite literally no more than that: a phone, which sends and receives phone calls and texts (I still think texting is crazily futuristic). No, it can't take pictures (I have a camera to do that - a digital one though, I gave up on my film one two years ago). It cannot connect to the internet (that's what my computer is for!). Remembering a time when I hardly knew anyone who even had a telephone (way before mobile ones were even thought of!) and we all used phone boxes (booths/kiosks to you youngsters!) I still feel a mobile phone of any type is a creepily modern gadget.

What does puzzle me is why, having striven to make them smaller and smaller, then palm sized, then tiny, they are now getting bigger and bigger until we have "tablets" which are surely just small laptops? what are the phone/computer companies ultimately aiming for? do they know themselves? and this hankering to have the latest "must have" model of phone (some blokes I know are like this with training shoes for Christ's sake!) - WHY???

I never did understand what a "Blackberry" is/was. Maybe when you've eaten a few you get a "bluetooth"? who knows. And "Wi Fi" and stuff....gobbledygook to me! I'm the opposite of you I guess - I have no desire whatsoever to keep up with technology, just don't find it interesting and honestly couldn't care less what those around me think (I grew out of peer pressure when I was about nine). Fair dos to those who love to embrace it all - good for them, I'm certainly not knocking it.... as you say mate: a good thing that we're all different!

A few months ago I put down my mobile phone on a shop counter as I rummaged around in my pocket for cash to pay for my stuff (proper money, you see - none of this "contactless" card nonsense) and when the young girl serving at the counter saw it, she burst out laughing - from her reaction you would have thought I'd laid down an ear trumpet!

But I got the last laugh. Moments later there was a brief power cut and the electricity cut out in the shop. So her electronic till died - and I instantly calculated in my head then announced to her how much change she owed me. She looked at me open-mouthed, as if I was Einstein. So, important as it is, we can become TOO dependent on modern technology. Don't kids learn mental arithmetic any more?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 21, 2017, 11:20:22 PM
Haha good story M..

I think phones have got bigger again as they incorporate more stuff

The latest phones now replace, compact cameras, they take quite amazingly good photos and sales of small compact cameras are on the floor nowadays, nobody needs them.
Also the ipods are no longer manufactured, eveyone (well lots of people) has music on their phones, I can put a 128 Gig micro sd card in my HTC phone, which I could fill with my entire music collection! (handy for me on cruises) So ipod sales just stopped.

SatNavs are going the same way, you can just use Google maps on your phone now.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on September 22, 2017, 12:05:48 AM
Yep I’m like you Nim.  I quite like being reasonably up with the new technology. I have my eye on a portable multitrack recorder being put out by the recording software company Izotope.  It works wirelessly with your iPhone. If I didn’t know how to use a smartphone I couldn’t avail myself of it.

I think Mr M that it is interesting about the lack of opportunity to be bored or daydream. It is a bit of an issue with the younger generation I think. That and the attention span thing. As I travel for work a lot I love my kindle and iPhone for music and podcasts. But even then I sometimes find myself turning them all off and daydream staring out a window. We all need that time.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 22, 2017, 01:51:46 AM
Im interested in that Moog, have to google it..

My wife just bought the latest wireless apple headphones, terrific sound for tiny wee things..

Amazing little things, obviously no wires, and if your phone rings they stop playing music automatically and you leave them in to take the call.

also if you double tap one of them them, and ask SIRI to play Yellow Submarine or anything they will just play it
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on September 22, 2017, 07:34:01 AM
^^^^^

http://www.spire.live (http://www.spire.live)

It's only going to be available in the US at first. But looks good like a useful bit of kit.


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on September 22, 2017, 07:35:26 AM
I should clarify I'm not a salesman for Izotope or anything. I just use a bit of their software.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 22, 2017, 11:59:00 PM
Don't kids learn mental arithmetic any more?

Not over here, they don't; and cursive writing has practically fallen by wayside (along with spelling, etc.; I won't get started).

Luckily my son has an old-school English teacher this year (he's 15), and on the first day of school she made them write their names in cursive 20 times and write each capital letter in traditional cursive. He wasn't too thrilled. I was!

Loved your post, Mr. Mustard; I'm on your side, although I do have a smartphone, only because that's the only way I'd hear from my kids.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 25, 2017, 04:20:48 AM
^

Illinois governor vetoes plan to require teaching cursive (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kZX5AiqRORsJ:www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-rauner-veto-cursive-writing-20170922-story.html+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

 :(


And today is National Punctuation Day, Kathleen.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 27, 2017, 03:24:28 AM
Not over here, they don't; and cursive writing has practically fallen by wayside (along with spelling, etc.; I won't get started).

Luckily my son has an old-school English teacher this year (he's 15), and on the first day of school she made them write their names in cursive 20 times and write each capital letter in traditional cursive. He wasn't too thrilled. I was!


The phasing out of cursive writing is one of the most shortsighted moves in education today (along with Common Core). Handwriting is such a big part of a one's personality and learning to write in cursive was always a rite of passage. I remember how exciting it was in second grade to start learning to write like the grown ups. I couldn't wait to "have all my letters" and be able to finally sign my name and get my library card. My first graders were the same way, especially the girls. Aside from the status it imparted it's an important eye/hand coordination excercise and can be useful in detecting learning disabilities. Eventually, people aren't going to be able to read historic documents. Anyone interested in genealogy will have the same problems I have with records written in Swedish! As for the techie stuff, I have concerns about what all the screen time might be doing to developing brains. Studies have shown a decrease in reading retention when people read with electronic devices, especially for people who learned to read with books. Apparently the physical interaction is an important part of the experience. I really do enjoy technology; it's a big part of my job and my life in general, but I'll never give up books!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 27, 2017, 03:58:23 AM


My wife just bought the latest wireless apple headphones, terrific sound for tiny wee things..

Amazing little things, obviously no wires, and if your phone rings they stop playing music automatically and you leave them in to take the call.


I've been wondering about the sound quality with wireless headphones. They would be handy for me. I love my Bose headphones but the cord gets yanked out a lot when I'm working in the kitchen. In fact, I need to replace it now and was thinking of going wireless but they're a lot more dough and some of the reviews were kind of meh.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 27, 2017, 01:03:29 PM
I've been wondering about the sound quality with wireless headphones. They would be handy for me. I love my Bose headphones but the cord gets yanked out a lot when I'm working in the kitchen. In fact, I need to replace it now and was thinking of going wireless but they're a lot more dough and some of the reviews were kind of meh.
I can vouch for the apple ones Kell and Im not an apple user but wifey is
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 27, 2017, 05:58:35 PM
Quote
Illinois governor vetoes plan to require teaching cursive ([url]http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kZX5AiqRORsJ:www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-rauner-veto-cursive-writing-20170922-story.html+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us[/url])


Boo!

Quote
And today is National Punctuation Day, Kathleen.  ;)



Awww; I missed it!  :(

The phasing out of cursive writing is one of the most shortsighted moves in education today (along with Common Core). [\quote]

I couldn't agree more, Kelley!

Quote
I remember how exciting it was in second grade to start learning to write like the grown ups. I couldn't wait to "have all my letters" and be able to finally sign my name and get my library card.


Me, too! Until I could sign my own library card with my signature I could take out only 3 books at a time. Luckily my mom would check out the rest.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 27, 2017, 08:44:16 PM
Awww; I missed it!  :(

Don't worry, Kathy. Any day can be National Punctuation Day, especially in the comments section of politically charged online articles.  ;D

Now this is really weird. Someone left the TV tuned into one of those courtroom shows and as I was looking at the cursive discussion here they were having one there too. Spooky! It seems the plaintiff had written some document in cursive and the defendant didn't know how to read it. Never thought of that scenario.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 28, 2017, 01:05:02 AM
The phasing out of cursive writing is one of the most shortsighted moves in education today (along with Common Core). Handwriting is such a big part of a one's personality and learning to write in cursive was always a rite of passage. I remember how exciting it was in second grade to start learning to write like the grown ups. I couldn't wait to "have all my letters" and be able to finally sign my name and get my library card. My first graders were the same way, especially the girls. Aside from the status it imparted it's an important eye/hand coordination excercise and can be useful in detecting learning disabilities. Eventually, people aren't going to be able to read historic documents. Anyone interested in genealogy will have the same problems I have with records written in Swedish! As for the techie stuff, I have concerns about what all the screen time might be doing to developing brains. Studies have shown a decrease in reading retention when people read with electronic devices, especially for people who learned to read with books. Apparently the physical interaction is an important part of the experience. I really do enjoy technology; it's a big part of my job and my life in general, but I'll never give up books!

We learned how to write cursive in third grade.  I was getting kicked out of class a lot starting around then after I read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  As a result, I became good at lower-case script letters but I objected to upper-case letters, especially the letter Q which looked like a 2 but with some stupid loops on it.  So I wrote script using cursive lower-case and printed upper-case letters.  The teacher kept marking me wrong with a big red X (printed, not cursive) on each exam I took.  I proceeded to mark her wrong for each printed X she put on my exam with a cursive capital X in puple and handed it back to her.  She finally got the point and didn't bother me with that crap anymore.

I still write in script the way I did in third grade but my penmanship has deteriorated commensurate with my profession.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 28, 2017, 01:13:36 AM
Awww; I missed it!  :(

I'll remind you next year, Kathleen.  But please put it on your calendar.  National Punctuation Day is an important day for you.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 28, 2017, 03:01:20 AM
To help you remember, Kathleen...


(http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/39200000/The-Power-of-Punctuation-education-39298532-491-810.jpg)


(https://i2.wp.com/thefunniestpictures.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/question.jpg?fit=600%2C482&ssl=1)


(https://dqam6mam97sh3.cloudfront.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Commas.jpg)


(http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/images/pagelogo.gif)


I used an ellipsis above.  And here...


(https://i0.wp.com/www.nealumphred.com/wp-content/uploads/Ellipsis_Cow-1.jpg)


 :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 28, 2017, 04:14:09 AM
I still write in script the way I did in third grade but my penmanship has deteriorated commensurate with my profession.  :)

That bad, huh? I never understood the upper case Q either.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 28, 2017, 04:35:30 AM
The cursive upper-case G was pretty dumb too.

I think kids today would enjoy learning how to write in script if the subject matter was presented to them in an interesting fashion...and they're not assigned The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to read until after they've learned to write in script.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 29, 2017, 03:02:04 AM

I still write in script the way I did in third grade but my penmanship has deteriorated commensurate with my profession.  :)

My sister used to be a pharmacist (now she's in research), and I used to ask her, how on earth do you decipher some of these prescriptions? She said they get used to it and if it's really incomprehensible, they call and ask.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 29, 2017, 03:50:44 AM
My sister used to be a pharmacist (now she's in research), and I used to ask her, how on earth do you decipher some of these prescriptions? She said they get used to it and if it's really incomprehensible, they call and ask.  :)

I salute your sister, Kathleen, for being able to make sense of what we write.  There have been times I've asked my staff "What did I write here in this chart?"   ;D

I've got to admit it's getting better since I moved to EMR (Electronic Medical Records).  But I can't type because I got kicked out of my seventh grade typing class (that's a whole other story which I won't go into now).  And so I dictate my notes using Dragon Medical Practice software for transcription.  I dictate so neatly!   ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on September 30, 2017, 03:21:07 AM
My sister used to be a pharmacist (now she's in research), and I used to ask her, how on earth do you decipher some of these prescriptions? She said they get used to it and if it's really incomprehensible, they call and ask.  :)

One of my best friends is a pharmacist and I asked her the same thing. She just laughed.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 01, 2017, 03:03:03 AM
(http://www.metatech.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/doctor-prescription-terrible-handwriting-4.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 01, 2017, 03:03:45 AM
(http://www.metatech.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/doctor-prescription-terrible-handwriting-6.gif)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 01, 2017, 03:07:38 AM
(http://themetapicture.com/media/funny-doctors-handwriting-bad.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on October 01, 2017, 04:09:48 AM
Don't worry Barry; we can read your typing just fine!  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on October 01, 2017, 10:57:58 PM
Don't worry Barry; we can read your typing just fine!  ;)

maybe you can..

Its upside down for me  :(
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 02, 2017, 12:32:57 AM
(http://i65.tinypic.com/2qtc0gj.jpg)


Try doing that, Kev.  It should help.   ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on October 03, 2017, 05:46:34 PM
I've got to admit it's getting better since I moved to EMR (Electronic Medical Records).  But I can't type because I got kicked out of my seventh grade typing class (that's a whole other story which I won't go into now).  And so I dictate my notes using Dragon Medical Practice software for transcription.  I dictate so neatly!   ;D

Yes, as a patient I like to be able to at least know the names of the medications I'm being prescribed before I actually have them in hand. Then I can Google them and terrify myself reading about the potential side effects. ;)

P.S. Those cartoons you posted were hysterical.  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 04, 2017, 12:59:20 AM
Yes, as a patient I like to be able to at least know the names of the medications I'm being prescribed before I actually have them in hand. Then I can Google them and terrify myself reading about the potential side effects. ;)

 ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: stevie on November 02, 2017, 08:43:41 PM
This could have been in the Various Artists thread but I put it here lol. Just finished a great rock book called '1971 - Never A Dull Moment' by British music writer David Hepworth. He opines in very convincing fashion that 1971 was musics golden year with so many top songs and albums released.

When you go through the list its very hard to argue:
Who's Next
Sticky Fingers
All Things Must Pass
Led Zeppelin IV
Tapestry
Every Picture Tells A Story
Imagine
Concert For Bangladesh
Ram
The Man Who Sold The World to name a few. Plus songs like American Pie etc

Very entertaining read for me as I turned 9 that year and had discovered the Beatles and rock in general, and i recall hearing songs like American Pie, Maggie May, Imagine and My Sweet Lord on the radio. We are also taken through world events of the year and it is a top narrative.

The author states that..'I was born in 1950, which means in terns of music, i have the winning ticket in the lottery of life'.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 03, 2017, 02:01:53 AM
^^^
Sounds good so I just ordered from the library system.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 19, 2018, 11:49:52 PM


I just finished The Perfect Storm; it was riveting! I probably could have done without the medical description of drowning, but the book was brutally honest.

It was, of course, better than the film, although I liked that as well.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 20, 2018, 01:57:26 AM
Just re-read 1984, for about the 10th time in my life
I will now re-watch the movie.
The book is so absorbing, and so is the story of Orwell and the circumstances surrounding its writing.

Its a terrific read for anyone who hasnt, to say life in Orwells 'Oceania' was bleak is an understatement.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52wis_sLT1I# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52wis_sLT1I#)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 20, 2018, 06:30:11 AM
Just re-read 1984, for about the 10th time in my life
I will now re-watch the movie.
The book is so absorbing, and so is the story of Orwell and the circumstances surrounding its writing.

Its a terrific read for anyone who hasnt, to say life in Orwells 'Oceania' was bleak is an understatement.


[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52wis_sLT1I#[/url] ([url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52wis_sLT1I#[/url])


How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?


https://youtu.be/Z_b04ZzekOA (https://youtu.be/Z_b04ZzekOA)

1956   Edmond O'Brien and Michael Redgrave
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 20, 2018, 11:59:17 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba4J6umbbp0# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba4J6umbbp0#)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on October 02, 2018, 04:45:50 AM


Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro. I couldn't put it down.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on October 02, 2018, 07:54:25 AM
Just re-read 1984, for about the 10th time in my life
I will now re-watch the movie.
The book is so absorbing, and so is the story of Orwell and the circumstances surrounding its writing.

Its a terrific read for anyone who hasnt, to say life in Orwells 'Oceania' was bleak is an understatement.


[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52wis_sLT1I#[/url] ([url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52wis_sLT1I#[/url])


I remember taking a girl to that movie as a first movie date. She wasn’t familiar with the book so I told her it was a sort of a love story...
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on October 02, 2018, 12:17:30 PM
I remember taking a girl to that movie as a first movie date. She wasn’t familiar with the book so I told her it was a sort of a love story...


 roll:)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on October 02, 2018, 08:15:59 PM
I remember taking a girl to that movie as a first movie date. She wasn’t familiar with the book so I told her it was a sort of a love story...

 ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on October 03, 2018, 11:57:54 AM
I remember taking a girl to that movie as a first movie date. She wasn’t familiar with the book so I told her it was a sort of a love story...

So what happened next Moog ?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on October 03, 2018, 11:53:29 PM
So what happened next Moog ?

Well. I certainly wasn’t allowed to choose movies after that ...
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on October 08, 2018, 12:30:48 PM
Well. I certainly wasn’t allowed to choose movies after that ...

Its actually a great movie, I love John Hurt and Richard Burton. Not 'date' material though  ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on October 08, 2018, 07:51:50 PM
Its actually a great movie, I love John Hurt and Richard Burton. Not 'date' material though  ha2ha

It is a great movie. Wonderfully bleak, disturbing and depressing.

It set the tone for the relationship nicely.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on October 08, 2018, 08:27:19 PM
It is a great movie. Wonderfully bleak, disturbing and depressing.

It set the tone for the relationship nicely.

 ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on October 09, 2018, 12:48:22 AM
It is a great movie. Wonderfully bleak, disturbing and depressing.

It set the tone for the relationship nicely.

Aww! I’m sorry to hear that, Moog.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 22, 2018, 06:33:03 PM


I just finished Roger Daltrey's autobiography, Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite. It was great! Like sitting down with him for a cup of coffee and having a nice chat. His writing is simple and easygoing, and he comes across as very down to earth. I would highly recommend it to any Who fan.

I liked it 'way better than Pete Townshend's autobiography, which I've had for a few years and still haven't finished.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 14, 2019, 12:38:16 PM


The Invited, by Jennifer McMahon. Really good; I couldn't put it down.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on May 15, 2019, 12:11:57 AM

I just finished Roger Daltrey's autobiography, Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite. It was great! Like sitting down with him for a cup of coffee and having a nice chat. His writing is simple and easygoing, and he comes across as very down to earth. I would highly recommend it to any Who fan.

I liked it 'way better than Pete Townshend's autobiography, which I've had for a few years and still haven't finished.  ;)
I just read Ozzy Osbourne's autobiography I have to admit to laughing out loud a few times.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on May 15, 2019, 05:42:23 AM

I just finished Roger Daltrey's autobiography, Thanks a Lot, Mr. Kibblewhite. It was great! Like sitting down with him for a cup of coffee and having a nice chat. His writing is simple and easygoing, and he comes across as very down to earth. I would highly recommend it to any Who fan.

I liked it 'way better than Pete Townshend's autobiography, which I've had for a few years and still haven't finished.  ;)

What didn’t you like about Pete’s?  I haven’t read it but I’d have thought he’d be quite interesting. He’s usually quite eloquent and thoughtful in interviews.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on May 15, 2019, 07:48:57 AM

The Invited, by Jennifer McMahon. Really good; I couldn't put it down.

Love a good ghost story. I have my next reading material  icon_good
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 15, 2019, 06:12:06 PM
What didn’t you like about Pete’s?  I haven’t read it but I’d have thought he’d be quite interesting. He’s usually quite eloquent and thoughtful in interviews.

He is; in my opinion, though, he tends to go on and on for too long. Don't get me wrong: I love Pete Townshend; I think he's brilliant. However, his book was just a bit too long and rambling for me, and I gave up after the first couple of chapters. Roger's was a much easier read, as was Tony Fletcher's bio of Keith Moon.

I'll go back to Pete's book at some point.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on May 16, 2019, 09:28:44 AM
He is; in my opinion, though, he tends to go on and on for too long. Don't get me wrong: I love Pete Townshend; I think he's brilliant. However, his book was just a bit too long and rambling for me, and I gave up after the first couple of chapters. Roger's was a much easier read, as was Tony Fletcher's bio of Keith Moon.

I'll go back to Pete's book at some point.
If there's one bloke I can't stand it's P Townsend, always seemed completely up himself  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 16, 2019, 04:47:08 PM
If there's one bloke I can't stand it's P Townsend, always seemed completely up himself  :)

Yeah, he used to seem more down to earth, about 20 to 30 years ago. Lately I've noted he's seemed more standoffish and condescending.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on May 17, 2019, 12:28:29 AM
If there's one bloke I can't stand it's P Townsend, always seemed completely up himself  :)

He always did. But usually at least an interesting interview.  I’m curious to read both his and Daltrey’s autobios now.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 17, 2019, 06:30:41 PM

I must recant my post about Pete; see my link in the "YouTube" thread.  ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 19, 2019, 05:42:11 PM
Love a good ghost story. I have my next reading material  icon_good

She also wrote a good scary one called The Winter People. The flap copy didn't sound that great, but I recently read it and it was fantastic. If you like scary stories, you'll probably like The Winter People as well.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 14, 2019, 02:22:42 AM
I'm currently reading Mr. Raccoon and His Friends by Senator Eugene J. McCarthy...


(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/yh4AAOSwLF1X5ZKa/s-l1600.jpg)


Ten stories featuring Mr. Raccoon and other animals such as Badger, Beaver, and Horace the Horse.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on August 14, 2019, 02:29:56 AM
So not Henry the horse ?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 14, 2019, 04:15:32 AM
^

 ;D


No, this horse's name is Horace who has his own problems with human beings:  he would rather read newspapers than win races, and he has to think fast to avoid the glue factory.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on August 14, 2019, 04:29:45 AM
I'm currently reading Mr. Raccoon and His Friends by Senator Eugene J. McCarthy...

Ten stories featuring Mr. Raccoon and other animals such as Badger, Beaver, and Horace the Horse.

How have I not heard of this book?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 14, 2019, 04:35:46 AM
^

Look for it in Children's Books, Kelley.  It was Senator McCarthy's only children's book.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on August 14, 2019, 04:49:40 AM
^

Look for it in Children's Books, Kelley.  It was Senator McCarthy's only children's book.

I'm surprised that my kiddy lit professor neglected to mention it. But now I'll keep my eyes open for it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on August 18, 2019, 07:13:49 PM


Just picked up Picnic at Hanging Rock and am looking forward to starting it.  glassesslip

It'll have to wait until I receive and read Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Old Bones. Preston and Child trump everything for me, even work.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on August 19, 2019, 12:31:01 AM

Just picked up Picnic at Hanging Rock and am looking forward to starting it.  glassesslip



That's a strange story, enjoyed it though.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on August 23, 2019, 08:34:36 PM
That's a strange story, enjoyed it though.

I'm intrigued.

Right now I'm re-reading The Poseidon Adventure. It was a favorite back in my early teens.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on August 23, 2019, 10:54:56 PM
I'm intrigued.

Right now I'm re-reading The Poseidon Adventure. It was a favorite back in my early teens.
they made a movie from the book, a few years ago I went to where it was filmed, fascinating place.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 24, 2019, 02:26:47 AM
they made a movie from the book, a few years ago I went to where it was filmed, fascinating place.


You would like it, Kev.  It's upside down!



(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e2/a4/85/e2a4856ee29ec8624449774702569261.jpg)




 ;D


Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on August 24, 2019, 08:31:54 AM
No I mean picnic at hanging Rock  ha2ha
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 25, 2019, 02:45:33 AM
 ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on August 25, 2019, 05:14:11 AM

Just picked up Picnic at Hanging Rock and am looking forward to starting it.  glassesslip



Interesting if they have the final chapter in it.  The book was originally published in 1967 without it and the last chapter was only published separately in 1987. Not sure whether it’s included as a matter of course now.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on August 25, 2019, 03:23:33 PM
Interesting if they have the final chapter in it.  The book was originally published in 1967 without it and the last chapter was only published separately in 1987. Not sure whether it’s included as a matter of course now.

Oh, that's interesting! I've never seen the movie, either. I'm definitely more of a book person.

I just started the Preston/Child book but will read Picnic at Hanging Rock next.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on August 26, 2019, 01:19:52 AM
Well Kathy if you ever want to watch the movie it's on YouTube here

https://youtu.be/wBjHkpbCI4s (https://youtu.be/wBjHkpbCI4s)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on August 26, 2019, 02:03:07 AM
^^^^^^

Thanks, Nim! I'll check Amazon Prime first.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 26, 2019, 03:14:54 AM
^^^^^^

Thanks, Nim! I'll check Amazon Prime first.  :)

I never read the book, but just watched the movie.  It was excellent!  Great acting and cinematography.

The YouTube video is in HD, Kathleen.  Watch it full screen.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on August 26, 2019, 01:57:24 PM
I never read the book, but just watched the movie.  It was excellent!  Great acting and cinematography.

The YouTube video is in HD, Kathleen.  Watch it full screen.

And filmed the right way up Baz  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 26, 2019, 05:35:26 PM
And filmed the right way up Baz  ;D

That's because they set up the movie cameras upside down during shooting of the film.   ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on August 26, 2019, 08:57:15 PM
The YouTube video is in HD, Kathleen.  Watch it full screen.

Will do, Barry; thanks!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 26, 2019, 09:35:21 PM
Will do, Barry; thanks!

You'll enjoy it, Kathleen.  But I'm not sure whether it's better to read the book first.  In the movie, there was good character development of only the main roles.  Cinematography was this movie's forté.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on August 26, 2019, 09:57:44 PM
I haven’t watched the film for years. I watched it as a young adult and have to admit it didn’t thrill me. But I didn’t appreciate that type of film at the time. It’s certainly a classic but you have to be prepared for the languid pace. Much more a European style film. It is beautifully shot as HG says.

I heard they’re doing a Netflix series of it as well.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on August 26, 2019, 09:59:20 PM
That's because they set up the movie cameras upside down during shooting of the film.   ;D

So hanging rock is really just sitting on the ground? That changes the film quite a bit. The characters realise that they were the ones hanging all along.  glassesslip
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 27, 2019, 01:30:17 AM
Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time and place.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on August 27, 2019, 02:24:10 AM
Will do, Barry; thanks!

Oh and Kathleen, the Amazon Prime movie is the remake, not this 1975 film.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on August 27, 2019, 04:28:36 AM
Moog, I've watched the Netflix series and it's nowhere near as good as the film, you're right it's a slow paced film, the beauty is in the dialogue and the cinematography

Kathy, I'd watch the film before the book if I were you as whenever I've read the book and then watched the film, the film always lets me down compared to the book if you see what I mean

Baz, I think they filmed it through an upside down telescope so it appears the right way up
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 05, 2019, 12:27:25 AM
I've been reading the books by PD James in particular the Adam Dalgleish stories, they made a TV series from most of these books, they are a great Read if you liked murder mysteries.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 08, 2019, 10:34:34 PM
Nimrod, are you the one who likes scary books? If so, you should check on Jeremy Bates books on Amazon (or wherever). He writes creepy thrillers but no gory stuff. They're easy to read, too -- no having to go back and figure out the plot or which characters are which.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 09, 2019, 01:52:41 AM
Nimrod, are you the one who likes scary books? If so, you should check on Jeremy Bates books on Amazon (or wherever). He writes creepy thrillers but no gory stuff. They're easy to read, too -- no having to go back and figure out the plot or which characters are which.
no, think thats Moog.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 09, 2019, 07:09:54 PM
no, think thats Moog.

Ah, I knew it! I was wondering whether I'd mixed you two up in regard to reading preferences.

Well, Moog, check out Jeremy Bates's books if you're so inclined.  :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on September 09, 2019, 09:18:51 PM
Ah, I knew it! I was wondering whether I'd mixed you two up in regard to reading preferences.

Well, Moog, check out Jeremy Bates's books if you're so inclined.  :)

Ta. Shall do!

I’m always looking for new authors.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on September 09, 2019, 09:40:13 PM
no, think thats Moog.

It is. Although don’t you like stuff like James Herbert, Nim?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 09, 2019, 10:33:04 PM
It is. Although don’t you like stuff like James Herbert, Nim?

Well now you mention it, yes  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 09, 2019, 10:36:07 PM
I just started reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 11, 2019, 03:48:57 PM


Just finished Doctor Sleep. I was skeptical at first -- Stephen King didn't seem to leave The Shining open to any sort of sequel -- but I soon found myself absorbed and couldn't put it down. I doubt I'll see the movie, though; according to IMDB it's pretty violent, and I hate to see children get hurt. It's too upsetting.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: KelMar on November 11, 2019, 08:03:16 PM
^^^
Stephen King is a wonderful author and I wish he'd write something I could handle again. ;D Oddly enough, I did read Carrie and Salem's Lot when I was younger and I guess it didn't traumatize me too much! I also read a book at that time called Audrey Rose, by Frank De Felitta. Until just now, when I looked it up, I thought that was also a King novel.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on November 11, 2019, 08:34:42 PM
I just started reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

That is such a bleak book. I’m sure I could feel endorphins draining from me as I read it.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on November 11, 2019, 08:37:59 PM
Stephen King was the author who got me into reading again as an 18 year old after several years barely picking up a book.  The Stand I recall. I read everything of his for years. I haven’t kept up with him as much in recent years but I did read Dr Sleep and enjoyed it. It seems to be begging for a sequel.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Beatlemaniac64 on November 14, 2019, 05:54:47 PM
Stephen King was the author who got me into reading again as an 18 year old after several years barely picking up a book.  The Stand I recall. I read everything of his for years. I haven’t kept up with him as much in recent years but I did read Dr Sleep and enjoyed it. It seems to be begging for a sequel.

I'm absolutely obsessed with Stephen King. I too read The Stand - the uncut version. So great. "It" also ranks high for me. My favorite is his Dark Tower series, which I'm currently reading. I'm also currently reading Doctor Sleep. I'm going to try to finish it soon so that I can then go see the movie while it's still in theaters. Have you read The Shining? Doctor Sleep is a sequel to that and you said it sounds like a 3rd could be possible too?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on November 14, 2019, 06:55:33 PM
I too read The Stand - the uncut version. So great.

I know your post wasn't intended for me, Beatlemaniac64, but you might want to try the edited version of The Stand. In my personal opinion, it was superior to the uncut version.

Just my (unasked-for) 2 cents.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on November 15, 2019, 01:24:42 AM
I've read a couple of books by Philip Roth on my recent holiday which I really enjoyed he's a great writer.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 22, 2019, 10:34:57 PM


Just finished Under the Dome by Stephen King. It was fantastic; I couldn't put it down!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on December 23, 2019, 11:40:32 PM

Just finished Under the Dome by Stephen King. It was fantastic; I couldn't put it down!

I liked that one too. King has a way of writing those relentlessly, evil probably isn’t the word, more like pig headedly self-interested characters.

One critic did point out that the whole town went to crap extremely quickly. A bit like the South Park episode where the town resorted to cannibalism after one day of power failures or something. But that quibble aside, King does do those powers conflict stories really well.



Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on December 24, 2019, 12:20:48 AM
I know your post wasn't intended for me, Beatlemaniac64, but you might want to try the edited version of The Stand. In my personal opinion, it was superior to the uncut version.

Just my (unasked-for) 2 cents.

Yep I didn’t get much more out of the uncut. It was already a long book. Having some more exposition didn’t add anything for me.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 26, 2019, 11:10:22 AM
One critic did point out that the whole town went to crap extremely quickly.

It sure did. I kept forgetting that the time frame of the book was so short, until it was pointed out a few times in the narrative.

I found a battered copy of Dreamcatcher in my daughters' room and set that aside to read.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on April 05, 2020, 04:41:59 PM


Just finished Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident. It was so fascinating, a combination of solid research and a day-by-day 1959 narrative. I couldn't put it down. The ending blew me away.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 06, 2021, 03:01:33 AM
Just re-read 1984, for about the 10th time in my life
I will now re-watch the movie.
The book is so absorbing, and so is the story of Orwell and the circumstances surrounding its writing.

Its a terrific read for anyone who hasnt, to say life in Orwells 'Oceania' was bleak is an understatement.


I started reading 1984 again right after the inauguration.  Here are some passages that I find most intriguing...


The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right.

And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on February 06, 2021, 11:15:22 AM
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right.

And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.

[/quote]

So timely and true.

 roll:)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 06, 2021, 04:37:58 PM
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.

So timely and true.

It sure is.  :(  I should probably dig up my old copy.

Unfortunately, none of my three kids had to read this in high school. One of the books my son had to read as part of AP English last (senior) year was, believe it or not, Into the Wild. I was aghast. Sure, it's a good book, but it's hardly literaure. He and his classmates would have been far better off if 1984 had been one of the selections.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on February 08, 2021, 03:39:35 AM
I'm reading Good morning Midnight.

Recently made into a movie called The Midnight Sky.

Lily Brooks-Dalton's powerful, haunting, contemplative debut novel, Good Morning, Midnight , is a meditation on loneliness, regret, ambition.

Enthralling so far. Much better than the film.

Imagine your first novel becomes a movie  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on February 08, 2021, 07:31:13 PM
Been reading musician autobiographies. Currently Jorma Kaukonen. Next up, John Fogerty.

 :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 08, 2021, 11:59:29 PM
Been reading musician autobiographies. Currently Jorma Kaukonen. Next up, John Fogerty.

 :)




Then you're reading how Jorma Kaukonen learned fingerpicking Mississippi Delta Blues from Ian Buchanan at Antioch College...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZOI2he4p5k# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZOI2he4p5k#)



Ten years later, I was a student of Ian Buchanan.  Here's Ian Buchanan teaching me Hesitation Blues in 1972...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw5u6xQQ0Lc# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw5u6xQQ0Lc#)
...from my lesson tapes



And here's Hot Tuna performing Hesitation Blues...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjfhsLuOEWI# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjfhsLuOEWI#)
Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady   1970
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on February 09, 2021, 10:04:29 AM
Yep. A good guy and a great player. I guess 'Hesitation Blues' is HT's trademark tune.

 :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 10, 2021, 07:48:51 PM
Hesitation Blues was on Hot Tuna's first album...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMR_1nSPWng# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMR_1nSPWng#)

Jorma Kaukonen credited Ian Buchanan for his instruction on the remastered CD.



Ian Buchanan took lessons from The Reverend Gary Davis in the late 1950s...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_QuW6g7rCY# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_QuW6g7rCY#)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uRaewKbwug# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uRaewKbwug#)

I guess that makes me a "third generation Blind Gary Davis student.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 10, 2021, 07:56:10 PM
Ian Buchanan loved club dates and guitar instruction.  He would begin his club gigs with Bach's Bourrée in E minor...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TKzNYayMHQ# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TKzNYayMHQ#)


His signature song was Windin' Boy...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR3A1Bt7E7g# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR3A1Bt7E7g#)
...from my lesson tapes


Ian taught Windin' Boy to Jorma Kaukonen too...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUwNmBulUno# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUwNmBulUno#)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 10, 2021, 08:09:41 PM
Ian taught me many blues pieces during the three years I took lessons but the most powerful piece he taught me was Death Don't Have No Mercy...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmFSpOcSLNE# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmFSpOcSLNE#)
...from my lesson tapes


The Reverend Gary Davis taught Ian that piece...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W9PuLcoZMM# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W9PuLcoZMM#)


And Ian taught it to Jorma Kaukonen


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LHRTgngzfo# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LHRTgngzfo#)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Klang on February 10, 2021, 11:11:05 PM
Great!

 :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on February 11, 2021, 05:20:10 AM
Been reading musician autobiographies. Currently Jorma Kaukonen. Next up, John Fogerty.

 :)

For years I’ve had the Lennon Letters book edited by Hunter Davies, a big hardback with pictures and transcriptions of hundreds of letters John wrote from age 11 to his death. It has context for each letter added by Hunter Davies. Ive never really explored it much. But for the first time Ive started systematically working my way through it. Lots of interesting material including drawings by John i don’t recall seeing before.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 11, 2021, 10:50:06 PM
For years I’ve had the Lennon Letters book edited by Hunter Davies, a big hardback with pictures and transcriptions of hundreds of letters John wrote from age 11 to his death. It has context for each letter added by Hunter Davies. Ive never really explored it much. But for the first time Ive started systematically working my way through it. Lots of interesting material including drawings by John i don’t recall seeing before.

That sounds fascinating; I'll have to track that one down. A few years ago I read a similar volume that documented every letter sent from the Titanic, before the voyage (e.g., by the crew) to missives sent to family from the Carpathia. I'd expected a dry read, but it was completely absorbing.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 13, 2021, 04:10:47 PM


Appropriately enough, I'm reading a novel entitled Shiver.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on February 16, 2021, 03:03:34 AM

Appropriately enough, I'm reading a novel entitled Shiver.  ;)

Wouldn’t something like Tropic of Capricorn be more ... warming?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 16, 2021, 01:22:50 PM
Wouldn’t something like Tropic of Capricorn be more ... warming?

Indeed it would. A quick scan of my bookshelves revealed nothing like that, unfortunately. I did, however, notice an old favorite called The Ice Limit.  ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 22, 2021, 12:27:31 AM


I stumbled across my uncut version of Les Misérables just now. I loved the book when I found it but was dismayed when I found out the version I'd read was the abridged edition and was quick to purchase the 1,500-page full version. It has, however, simply been gathering dust.  :-\
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 11, 2021, 08:39:47 PM

Any fellow word nerds here?  ;)  I just read in a Titanic book by a trusted author that the phrase "dead reckoning" is actually derived from the word "deductive." Here's the passage from the book:

Actually the term is something of a misnomer, for the "dead" comes from a verbal shorthand for "deductive"—the ship's position would be "deduced" by starting with the last sun sighting taken that day (around 7:30 pm), then using the ship's speed to determine how far she had traveled along her given course since that time. (Dan Butler, The Other Side of the Night: The Carpathia, the Californian, and the Night the Titanic Was Lost)

It's going to be an all-nighter with this one, I can tell. There are only a few Titanic-related topics that are still hotly debated. One is salvage; another is whether, and which, officer committed suicide that night; and the other is why Capt. Lord of the Californian chose to ignore the Titanic's rockets and clear distress.

Just wanted to share.  :)   
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 11, 2021, 10:49:36 PM
^

I knew that, Kathy.  I'm also an instrument-rated private pilot.  Early in my training I had to learn "dead reckoning" to fly to my destination plotting my course using visual checkpoints and flying a heading accounting for winds aloft direction and speed.  If I planned the flight correctly, I would reach each checkpoint at the precisely calculated time.  The same thing is done at sea and, in fact, this type of nautical navigation is called "piloting."

I learned that "dead reckoning" was derived from the term "deduced reckoning."

In instrument flight, Air Traffic Control vectors my flight to assigned altitudes and airways to get to my destination.  Dead reckoning is not used in instrument flight.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 12, 2021, 09:33:39 AM
I knew that, Kathy.  I'm also an instrument-rated private pilot. . . .

Interesting, Barry!

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 12, 2021, 07:30:27 PM
(Dan Butler, The Other Side of the Night: The Carpathia, the Californian, and the Night the Titanic Was Lost)[/color]


This guy's website is so great (in my opinion, of course) that I had to share it: http://danielallenbutler.org (http://danielallenbutler.org)

Just ordered his Lusitania book.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 13, 2021, 01:04:48 AM
This guy's website is so great (in my opinion, of course) that I had to share it: [url]http://danielallenbutler.org[/url] ([url]http://danielallenbutler.org[/url])

Just ordered his Lusitania book.




His website is great, Kathy.  I expected as much from a fellow Deplorable.  ;)

The only nautical disaster novel I ever read was A Night To Remember by Walter Lord.  I was only 12 at the time but I recognized a very special style the author used in recounting the event.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 13, 2021, 04:15:00 PM
His website is great, Kathy.  I expected as much from a fellow Deplorable.  ;)

So did I.  ;)  I corresponded briefly with Dan Butler about 20 years ago. He and I were on the same Titanic mailing list. (I'm still on it; not sure if he is.) He's quite nice, and a truly excellent writer and historian.

The only nautical disaster novel I ever read was A Night To Remember by Walter Lord.

Well, if one reads only a single nautical disaster novel ever, that's the best choice for sure. 

I was only 12 at the time but I recognized a very special style the author used in recounting the event.

I'll bite.  ;)  To what style are you referring? His Hemingway-esque prose? His solid reliance on first-person accounts?

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 21, 2021, 12:10:21 AM
So did I.  ;)  I corresponded briefly with Dan Butler about 20 years ago. He and I were on the same Titanic mailing list. (I'm still on it; not sure if he is.) He's quite nice, and a truly excellent writer and historian.

Well, if one reads only a single nautical disaster novel ever, that's the best choice for sure. 

I'll bite.  ;)  To what style are you referring? His Hemingway-esque prose? His solid reliance on first-person accounts?



Yes, I liked the way Walter Lord used first-person accounts and recounted the events in overlapping chronological order.  The style was new to me when I first read the novel in 1963.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 21, 2021, 03:38:19 PM
. . .recounted the events in overlapping chronological order. 

I agree; that was a masterful stroke, really pulls you in to the events taking place.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on March 27, 2021, 03:54:27 AM
The death of John LeCarre has prompted me to read his spy novels again.

Brilliant books.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on July 12, 2021, 04:46:30 PM


Someone out there shares my life philosophy.  ;D

(https://i.ibb.co/yQL32VP/books-3.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on July 13, 2021, 04:13:21 AM

Someone out there shares my life philosophy.  ;D

([url]https://i.ibb.co/yQL32VP/books-3.jpg[/url])


Or continue buying books until your stacks are so high they make a good place to perch and read...


(https://i.postimg.cc/syTfR2x1/bookworm-a-tale-of-love-between-books-and-girl-by-gyrhs-d6ozf71.jpg)


 ;)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on July 13, 2021, 05:55:00 AM

Someone out there shares my life philosophy.  ;D

([url]https://i.ibb.co/yQL32VP/books-3.jpg[/url])


That’s a disadvantage of a kindle. No matter how many books I buy all I have is a thin bit of plastic.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on July 13, 2021, 02:57:36 PM
Or continue buying books until your stacks are so high they make a good place to perch and read...

Nah. That leaves one much too vulnerable.  :)


That’s a disadvantage of a kindle. No matter how many books I buy all I have is a thin bit of plastic.

Oh, well, the best "impenetrable fortresses" are invisible anyway.   8)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on July 16, 2021, 12:08:26 PM


After a long string of disappointing novels, I stumbled across two ones that I really loved: Bath Haus by P. J. Vernon and Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant. The latter in particular was a pleasant surprise; it's reminiscient of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's earlier works.

I also really enjoyed All Together Now by Matthew Norman. One of the characters is a big Beatles fan. Always nice to see the Fab Four mentioned in any capacity. 

Back to my strait-laced current editorial project, which isn't nearly as much fun.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on July 18, 2021, 04:39:47 PM
That’s a disadvantage of a kindle. No matter how many books I buy all I have is a thin bit of plastic.

I'm beginning to think a Kindle may be a good idea. I haven't done an actual count, but I do believe the number of books I own exceeds the number of clothing items and food products on my shelves.  :-\
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on July 18, 2021, 09:36:58 PM
I'm beginning to think a Kindle may be a good idea. I haven't done an actual count, but I do believe the number of books I own exceeds the number of clothing items and food products on my shelves.  :-\

It’s a lot lighter to move  ;D

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on July 19, 2021, 02:36:39 AM
I'm beginning to think a Kindle may be a good idea. I haven't done an actual count, but I do believe the number of books I own exceeds the number of clothing items and food products on my shelves.  :-\
I have a 6.7 inch phone. I just use that.
I have about 2k books on it
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on July 19, 2021, 11:49:54 AM
I have a 6.7 inch phone. I just use that.
I have about 2k books on it

Wow, I'm beginning to rethink my devotion to paper and glue.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on July 19, 2021, 12:29:52 PM
I have a 6.7 inch phone. I just use that.
I have about 2k books on it

I don’t like reading for long periods on a phone or iPad. Might be the brightness of the screen. My main reason for liking the kindle is the display is really easy on the eyes. Pretty much like reading on paper.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 01, 2021, 01:28:15 PM


This just arrived in the mail. I had no idea Zimbardo knew my ex-husband!  ha2ha

(https://i.ibb.co/gJ2Gyjc/PXL-20210901-130105283.jpg)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 02, 2021, 10:01:21 PM
Re-reading Lord of the Flies, an old favorite.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 14, 2022, 11:09:40 PM
Just watched a similar miniseries to The Terror, called The North Water. Amazing story.


I tracked the book down, and it's great as well. Gives a clearer explanation of the protagonist's backstory. I was a bit confused about parts of it in the movie, perhaps I missed something.

(https://i.ibb.co/CP6Jzc7/book.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on February 15, 2022, 06:41:23 AM
Excellent icon_good
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on February 17, 2022, 03:27:13 AM
I read Of Mice and Men last weekend.  I found my paperback edition on my bookshelf and couldn't resist...


(https://i.postimg.cc/MzJ6z82Q/Of-Mice-and-Men-Paperback.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 19, 2022, 08:07:17 PM

Just pre-ordered this from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-J-Bruce-Ismay-Titanic/dp/0750998660 (https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-J-Bruce-Ismay-Titanic/dp/0750998660)


Barry, I'd be happy to buy you a copy.  ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Loco Mo on March 19, 2022, 08:34:08 PM
I read Pattie Boyd's and Chris O'Dell's autobiographies recently.  I enjoyed both of them.

It's a shame the way Pattie and George broke up but even sadder is her taking up with Eric Clapton.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 19, 2022, 10:26:19 PM
Just pre-ordered this from Amazon: [url]https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-J-Bruce-Ismay-Titanic/dp/0750998660[/url] ([url]https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-J-Bruce-Ismay-Titanic/dp/0750998660[/url])


Barry, I'd be happy to buy you a copy.  ;D


Just what I always wanted!   ;D

Did you ever notice how they cast the slimiest looking actors to play the role of Ismay in the movies?


(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRkCzfKI9pnBXBrSI-hf7Sy27WJVxJvVUUDtfrOMJxzz7KzVhm9BuCpFWdmJlYTqK9Xv78&usqp=CAU)


(https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/titanic/images/4/49/20200721_220621.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/678?cb=20200721153350)


(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cd/66/49/cd6649a9620f9b467614ce994ae2a701.jpg)



(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wQYyg3KEo3Q/UA3vnNqaNfI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/UBc2vNgBfT0/s1600/1221098260_Simon_rjh.jpg)


(https://static0.thethingsimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Titanic-J.-Bruce-Ismay--e1567026629818.jpg)


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 19, 2022, 11:01:58 PM
Just what I always wanted!   ;D

 ha2ha

Did you ever notice how they cast the slimiest looking actors to play the role of Ismay in the movies?

No, I never did. I thought Jonathan Hyde (from Camerons' film) was a spitting image, though. Ditto Victor Garber as Thomas Andrews and pretty much all of the nonfiction cast.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 19, 2022, 11:03:55 PM
I read Pattie Boyd's and Chris O'Dell's autobiographies recently.  I enjoyed both of them.

I loved Pattie Boyd's autobiography. She seems like a genuinely kind person.

It's a shame the way Pattie and George broke up but even sadder is her taking up with Eric Clapton.

What makes you say that, Loco? I'm just curious, not trying to challenge you.


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 19, 2022, 11:48:20 PM

No, I never did. I thought Jonathan Hyde (from Camerons' film) was a spitting image, though. Ditto Victor Garber as Thomas Andrews and pretty much all of the nonfiction cast.



I agree, Kathy.  Cameron's team found actors that closely resembled the characters they played.

This was a poignant moment in that film.  The steerage girl at 2:59 would not have known who Ismay was yet she looked squarely at him and mumbled something, probably an expletive...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqN0fboW_es# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqN0fboW_es#)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 19, 2022, 11:52:53 PM
I want to rag on Ismay some more...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcbysWaIKvc# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcbysWaIKvc#)

Lower away.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 20, 2022, 12:41:29 AM
I want to rag on Ismay some more...

You're so hard on the poor guy, Barry!  ;) 

I know ANTR is supposed to be very accurate—Fourth Officer Boxhall was a consultant, an advantage no other movie had—but numerous eyewitness testimony contradicts a scene of a mad rush to the lifeboats at the time Ismay got into one. In contrast, most of the passengers refused to leave the ship, and for most of the evening the decks were virtually deserted.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 20, 2022, 01:47:44 AM
Kathy, the only reading I've done on this subject is A Night To Remember.  Of course I've seen the 1958 movie too as well as Titanic (1953).  I've only seen the fan-edited 1997 Titanic movie leaving out the Rose and Jack stuff.

Ismay isn't the only one to rag on.  Other captains in the area that night ordered their ships to stop for the night.  Morse code warning signals were not given proper priority on the Titanic.  Captain Smith saw what conditions were like before he went off to his cabin.  He knew there were icebergs in the area and they would be difficult to see on a still sea.  But did he use common sense and order his ship stopped?  No.  He had his ship continue on at nearly full speed, the idiot.  The captain on a ship is responsible for the safety, and lives, of all souls on board.  He was clearly derelict in his responsibility.

Ismay looked like a slime mold and so the movie makers shot some good scenes of him behaving like one...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bACKLAgQmnU# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bACKLAgQmnU#)

The two idiots!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 20, 2022, 02:02:58 AM
(https://www.history.com/.image/t_share/MTc2NzcwNjM1NjM5MzAxNTA1/titanic-captain-edward-smith-gettyimages-105870886.jpg)


(https://cdn.britannica.com/74/153174-050-AF32E804/J-Bruce-Ismay.jpg)


Morons!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 20, 2022, 02:27:26 AM
Oh, and there was a shortage of binoculars on board the Titanic.  Common sense dictates that the lookouts on the masthead should have been issued binoculars.  Did they have them that night?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIa2vJD52HU# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIa2vJD52HU#)

No.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 20, 2022, 03:35:49 AM
Oh, and there was a shortage of binoculars on board the Titanic.  Common sense dictates that the lookouts on the masthead should have been issued binoculars.  Did they have them that night?

Correct; they did not. Davy Blair held the key to the locker in which the binoculars were stored, so they were inaccessible. He was bumped off at the big last-minute shakeup in the Titanic's deck officers, which caused Murdoch, Lightoller, et al. to all get bumped down a notch after Capt. Smith insisted that Henry Tighe Wilde be made First Officer.

Also, the lookouts were not on the masthead; they were only in the crow's nest. Capt. Rostron of the Carpathia had lookouts installed all over, including on the masthead. He took a much more prudent approach.

I hold Capt. Smith, and Capt. Lord of the Californian,  to a higher level of blame than I do Bruce Ismay. Neither of them did anything useful. At least Ismay tried to get people into the lifeboats,.

Yeesh, I'd better stop now. I could go on and on and on (and on) . . . I actually just rejoined the Encyclopedia Titanica forum after having been chased off by a stalker-ish person about 20 years ago.  :)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 20, 2022, 04:10:06 AM
I just like to rag on Ismay, Kathy.  He looks very ragable.   ;D

It's my understanding that the crow's nest is the basket-like structure on the foremast, or on the tallest mast on sailing ships, for a ship's masthead lookout(s).  Just some nautical terminology bandied about but the video showed what I meant.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 20, 2022, 04:22:09 AM
I just like to rag on Ismay, Kathy.  He looks very ragable.   ;D

I always take the bait when it comes to Ismay.  ;)  I just feel for him.

It's my understanding that the crow's nest is the basket-like structure on the foremast, or on the tallest mast on sailing ships, for a ship's masthead lookout(s).  Just some nautical terminology bandied about but the video showed what I meant.

Oh, OK; I was under the impression that the masthead was the further-most part of a ship, but my terminology is not always accurate. When I first started my ocean liner reading I did not know port from starboard, or bow from stern—!! I've learned a lot, but there's always more to be done.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 20, 2022, 05:28:17 AM
I understand that Ismay led a reclusive life afterward.  He felt guilty about something.  Or maybe he just wanted to get away from people like me who were ragging on him.   ;D

I don't know what it was about that Californian crew.  Ten miles is pretty far away at sea on a dark night.  They saw the white skyrockets launched by the Titanic and they thought they were having a party?  Didn't they see the distress light signals coming from the Titanic?



Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 20, 2022, 08:25:08 PM
I understand that Ismay led a reclusive life afterward.  He felt guilty about something.  Or maybe he just wanted to get away from people like me who were ragging on him.   ;D

Yes, I think he wanted to get out, and stay out, of the public eye.

I don't know what it was about that Californian crew.  Ten miles is pretty far away at sea on a dark night.  They saw the white skyrockets launched by the Titanic and they thought they were having a party?  Didn't they see the distress light signals coming from the Titanic?

I have to again recommend Dan Butler's The Other Side of the Night. He makes a compelling case for the fact that the crew of the Californian were so terrified of Capt. Lord that they didn't push the issue. He was initially informed that a rocket had been sighted, and he gave some lame instruction along the lines of "let me know if you see another." I concur with Butler that Lord likely was a sociopath.

Morons!

Well, in partial defense of Capt. Smith, consider this: The Titanic's Marconi set was broken for several hours that Sunday. One of the two operators, Jack Phillips, managed to repair it, and by that point he and the other operator, Harold Bride, were extremely backed up. They had a huge backlog of messages to send, mostly social missives from first-class passengers, but also ice warnings from other ships. After the Californian stopped for the night, that ship's Marconi operator, Cyril Evans, tried to contact the Titanic to let them know the Californian was surrounded by ice and thus had stopped. But Phillips, who was overworked and tired, snapped at him and cut him off before the message could be conveyed. So who knows how things would have turned out if that message had in fact gotten through. Also, Evans was so peeved at Phillips's brush-off that he shut down the Californian's Marconi set for the night, and they never received the Titanic's distress calls.

Yikes, now I really will shut up.  ;D

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 21, 2022, 03:22:12 AM
Despite the temporary malfunction of the ship's radio and the resultant backlog of messages, Captain Smith was aware of icebergs ahead on the route the Titanic was on from earlier messages received from other ships making the Atlantic crossing.  Continuing at nearly full speed on a moonless night and on a calm sea where there were no waves crashing against icebergs rendering them more visible was an irresponsible action taken by Captain Smith that night.  Did he know that the lookouts had no binoculars?  Who knows?!  He wasn't around to give testimony at the inquiry.

When I was pilot-in-command of the airplane I was flying, I assumed full responsibility for the safety of the flight from takeoff to landing and full responsibility for the lives of all souls on board.  There were occasions where I had to cancel a planned flight when after checking weather forecasts I determined the flight to be unsafe.  Indeed, there were times I diverted to an alternate airport when weather alerts I was receiving enroute informed me that conditions had suddenly deteriorated at my destination airport.  Captain Smith had that same responsibility as captain of his ship.  As I mentioned before, he was clearly derelict in his responsibility.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 21, 2022, 03:24:20 AM
I have to again recommend Dan Butler's The Other Side of the Night. He makes a compelling case for the fact that the crew of the Californian were so terrified of Capt. Lord that they didn't push the issue. He was initially informed that a rocket had been sighted, and he gave some lame instruction along the lines of "let me know if you see another." I concur with Butler that Lord likely was a sociopath.

Is Dan Butler a psychiatrist or a psychologist?  Did he ever examine Captain Lord to make that diagnosis?  I haven't read his book but if that's what he concluded then I consider it irresponsible writing on his part.

Did you ever read Herman Wouk's 1951 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Caine Mutiny?  This clip from the 1954 motion picture by the same name follows the novel precisely...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJapflcYch0# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJapflcYch0#)

Fred MacMurray, playing Lt. Tom Keefer, is a writer yet he is coming up with a diagnosis of a condition he knows nothing about.  The novel and movie end with a court martial for the mutiny Keefer encouraged.  I won't tell you the ending in case you haven't read the novel or seen the movie.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 21, 2022, 03:58:55 PM
Continuing at nearly full speed on a moonless night and on a calm sea where there were no waves crashing against icebergs rendering them more visible was an irresponsible action taken by Captain Smith that night. 

I'll grant you those two points. Smith was clearly derelict in his duty in some regards. But if the only book you've read is A Night to Remember, Barry, you may want to hold off on all the judgment until you've read further. To that end, I am promising myself not to get entangled in debates of this sort again. 

I don't recall what Dan's formal career is, but he is a brilliant historian and a careful, thorough researcher. He's very well respected in the ocean liner community. Obviously he never examined Capt. Lord. You can contact him directly via his website, http://www.danielallenbutler.org (http://www.danielallenbutler.org), if you wish to pursue the argument with him. 

I haven't read his book but if that's what he concluded then I consider it irresponsible writing on his part.

I recommend you read his book before dismissing his claims out of hand, which he carefully backed up. And he never claimed to have a definitive diagnosis; he mde it clear he was speculating as a nonexpert. The only information he had to go on was retrospective in nature. And given that none of Lord's descendants have sued him for defamation, he may likely have hit on the truth.

Actually, to end this post on a humorous note (instead of my current irritable one, LOL), back in the 90s on a Titanic email list, in which all posts went to every list member (as opposed to a forum such as this one, where you can pick and choose which posts to read), someone with whom I'd been chatting offline about a particular issue flagged it for Dan Butler publicly, on the list: "Hey, Dan; Kathy doesn't agree with you on such-and-such a point; she'll be contacting you about it." This, while I sat horror-struck at my computer, waving my arms and wailing "Nooo! Why did you say that?" Then I had to suck it up and actually contact him. And he was super-nice.  :)


Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on March 22, 2022, 02:22:26 AM
Meanwhile I'm reading a very simple crime thriller.

Blood Line by Linda La Plante
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Loco Mo on March 22, 2022, 02:48:16 AM
Loco Mo on March 19, 2022, 03:34:08 PM
It's a shame the way Pattie and George broke up but even sadder is her taking up with Eric Clapton.

What makes you say that Loco? I'm just curious, not trying to challenge you.

Normandie:  Sorry about the late reply.  I didn't like Eric based upon what she said about him in her autobiography.  All the drug and alcohol abuse and his infidelity.  She was infertile and trying for years to have his baby.  In the meantime, he slept with someone else, and she had his baby very soon afterward.  He shared "his happy news" with Pattie as if he expected her to celebrate that other lady's pregnancy with him.  I especially hated when he told George that "I'm in love with your wife" in front of him.  I am telling you I would have wanted to beat the crap out of him if he said that to me about my wife.  I would have hated him intensely.  I am baffled my George's mainly lame reaction and the fact that he continued to be friends with him going forward.  Disgusting!  It makes me think George was a wimp and an idiot or a coward who didn't have it in him to confront Eric in any emotional or meaningful way.  Worse, George copied Eric later when he announced to Ringo that he was in love with his wife, Maureen.   I have to not think about this so that I can continue to enjoy George's music and Eric's as well.  In an interview years later, Eric said that he didn't really think he was in love with Pattie at the time thus adding further insult to injury.  Yet, I think she said they're still friends.  What???  My God, he was obsessed with her.  Talk about a stalker!!  But, yeah, most fans will overlook that.  And why were all the rock stars obsessively addicted to sex, drugs (especially cocaine), and alcohol?  I wish there were one good soul with some self-control and integrity among them.  Read their biographies - they're all the same.  I don't like writing this post.  It makes me so mad.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 22, 2022, 08:11:29 PM
Meanwhile I'm reading a very simple crime thriller.

Blood Line by Linda La Plante

That looks good. I'm reading The Wizard of Lies, about Bernie Madoff.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 22, 2022, 08:16:40 PM
I didn't like Eric based upon what she said about him in her autobiography.  All the drug and alcohol abuse and his infidelity.  She was infertile and trying for years to have his baby. 

Ah, I had forgotten that. A good point. I can't imagine how devastating that was for Pattie.  :'(  And how clueless—or deliberately cruel?—of Eric.

I wish there were one good soul with some self-control and integrity among them.  Read their biographies - they're all the same.  I don't like writing this post.  It makes me so mad.

I've read Eric's autobiography, and several others. From what I can see, Eric has really cleaned up his act and is now clean from drugs and happily and stably married.  But I understand your frustration.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Loco Mo on March 23, 2022, 01:54:38 AM
Thanks, Normandie:  I'm glad to know Eric's currently clean.  Does the present redeem the past?  I guess that's a philosophical question.

Anyway, my head's been full of negative thoughts lately, so I've been susceptible to getting drawn into negative energies.  I always have to remind myself of "There but for the grace of God, go I."   Who's to say I'd have been any better given the wealth and fame that Eric had.

I am very sure that fame would have totally gone to my head.  Fortunately, being an ordinary so-called everyday person has precluded me from having any semblance of a large ego or inflated sense of self.

It seems anytime I started thinking I was kind of important or smart, there was always someone present to remind me that I was not.  Oh, I have some bad memories of people whom I do not like to remember.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 23, 2022, 03:50:54 PM
Does the present redeem the past?  I guess that's a philosophical question.

To offer a more concrete, and personal, reply to that, no. All a recovered addict can do is move on and hope that people can compassionately forgive their past behavior. Pattie apparently is one of those people.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 24, 2022, 02:43:34 AM
I'll grant you those two points. Smith was clearly derelict in his duty in some regards.

Again, Kathy, the captain of a ship assumes full responsibility for all souls on board in all regards.  When I was licensed as a pilot  by the Federal Aviation Administration, the responsibility for conducting a safe flight and the responsibility for the safety of all souls on board was made very clear to me and my signature on my license attested to that.  Captain Smith was responsible for more than 2200 souls on board the Titanic on its maiden voyage.  He knew of icebergs present on his route early on.  I understand that some later updates were not handled appropriately by the radio telegraph operators.  It was Captain Smith's duty to inquire about subsequent warnings which he didn't do.  He should have checked with the wireless officers for those updates.  If he did then they could have rectified their error.  Their error became the Captain's error.  That's how it is with being Captain-in-Command responsible for 2200 souls on board and that's how it is when I become Pilot-in-Command with 4 souls on board.  There is no "partial responsibility" in these matters.


I recommend you read his book before dismissing his claims out of hand, which he carefully backed up. And he never claimed to have a definitive diagnosis; he mde it clear he was speculating as a nonexpert. The only information he had to go on was retrospective in nature. And given that none of Lord's descendants have sued him for defamation, he may likely have hit on the truth.

Then the author admits that he was just speculating on Captain Lord's psychiatric status.  If he labeled him as a sociopath then that was wrong of him to do as he did not have any medical credentials to make that diagnosis.  His writing abilities do not enter into the picture in this matter.  Also, not being sued by Captain Lord's descendants is not a very good argument in this case.

More important than reading Dan Butler's book would be reading all testimonies given at the formal inquest.

I too am not looking to enter into any debates on this matter.  I'm just giving my opinions based on a similar rating I hold as being Pilot-in-Command when I assume that role.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 24, 2022, 03:04:27 AM

^^^^

I'm stepping away from this argument because we are going in circles and your tone is becoming patronizing. I would encourage you to read the transcripts of the American inquiry and the British Board of Trade inquiry, neither of which censured Smith. 
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 24, 2022, 03:26:50 AM
What I wrote is not patronizing in any way.  It's simple fact regarding the responsibility one assumes when being a captain or pilot in command.  It's the most serious responsibility one can assume when it involves being responsible for the lives of others.

I assume similar responsibilities in my profession and have sworn an oath in that regard.  I don't expect others outside my profession to understand.  But I do resent being called patronizing.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 24, 2022, 03:45:27 AM
I assume similar responsibilities in my profession and have sworn an oath in that regard.  I don't expect others outside my profession to understand.  But I do resent being called patronizing.

OK. To clarify, Barry, and not to emphasize semantics to a picky degree, I wrote that your tone was becoming patronizing, not that you as a person are patronizing. One doesn't need to be a professional aviator, sailor, etc., to be able to critique a situation such as Capt. Smith and the Titanic.

Again, I encourage you to read the transcript inquiries, and perhaps to take this argument to the Encyclopedia Titanica site, which is populated by historians and scholars much better qualified than I to argue these points.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 24, 2022, 11:20:32 PM
OK. To clarify, Barry, and not to emphasize semantics to a picky degree, I wrote that your tone was becoming patronizing, not that you as a person are patronizing. One doesn't need to be a professional aviator, sailor, etc., to be able to critique a situation such as Capt. Smith and the Titanic.

I would encourage you to read the transcripts of the American inquiry and the British Board of Trade inquiry, neither of which censured Smith. 

Kathy, you really can't guess my "tone" from what I put in words.  Both my avocation and my profession involve assuming responsibility for passengers' and patients' safety and lives.  As such, I am qualified to comment on such matters from that standpoint.

The American and British Inquiries differed  in their findings.  The American Inquiry found Captain Smith had shown an "indifference to danger [that] was one of the direct and contributing causes of this unnecessary tragedy."

The British Inquiry's report was a piece of double talk about excessive speed in icy waters, previous non-fatal ship piloting in icy conditions, the fine overall record of the White Star Line, lack of binoculars for the lookouts, etc., etc. The report concluded with a ridiculous statement that Captain Smith was at fault for not changing course or slowing down but he had not been negligent because he had followed long-standing practice which had not previously been shown to be unsafe.

At least the Titanic disaster brought about a change in the number of lifeboats ships had to have and drills for their proper use.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 25, 2022, 02:08:52 AM
^^^

Gotcha, Barry. Tone is notoriously hard to convey online, even given formatting and emojis.

My offer of the Ismay book stands.   icon_cool
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 25, 2022, 04:07:52 AM
My offer of the Ismay book stands.   icon_cool


No thanks!

What I'll do instead is read The Caine Mutiny again.  If you haven't read the novel or saw the movie which closely follows the book, in the opening scene we see these words...


(https://i.postimg.cc/0kVBHNcb/The-Caine-Mutiny-Opening.jpg)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYaOpGi2N0c# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYaOpGi2N0c#)


Even Herman Wouk, who won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel, teaches us that a writer is not qualified to render medical diagnoses.  Remember that this exchange erupted when I criticized writer Dan Butler for implying that Captain Lord was a sociopath. 

In The Caine Mutiny, Communications Officer Lt. Thomas Keefer (Fred MacMurray), a writer in his civilian life, spreads suspicion about the mental status of the captain of the destroyer minesweeper USS Caine, Lt. Commander Philip Queeg (Humphrey Bogart).  When a dire situation during a storm forces the executive officer Lt. Stephen Maryk (Van Johnson) to relieve Queeg of his duties, he and Ensign Willis Keith (Robert Francis) are tried for mutiny.  Lieutenant Barney Greenwald (Jose Ferrer), a naval aviator who was an attorney in civilian life, defends them at the court martial.  After the climactic trial, the novel and movie end thusly...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw6gwGawbXA# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw6gwGawbXA#)


Herman Wouk based his novel on his own experiences aboard destroyer minesweepers in World War II.  His novel deals with the moral and ethical decisions made at sea by ship captains.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 25, 2022, 05:51:30 PM


The Caine Mutiny sounds interesting; I'll check it out soon. Right now my book budget is overextended a bit, so no more books for me for a bit. I just ordered Glory, Death, and Damnation: A Tale of Three Captains. :angel:
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 25, 2022, 08:55:36 PM
The Caine Mutiny sounds interesting; I'll check it out soon.


It won the the 1951 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. 

It's certainly better than reading about Ismay...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bACKLAgQmnU# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bACKLAgQmnU#)

...the slime mold.



(https://static0.thethingsimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Titanic-J.-Bruce-Ismay--e1567026629818.jpg)



Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on March 25, 2022, 09:18:55 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWYs-bFK9_s# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWYs-bFK9_s#)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNd16XocjBg# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNd16XocjBg#)

That's how to write a novel...and make a movie.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 09, 2022, 06:12:18 AM

Re-reading an old favorite: Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.  glassesslip
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 14, 2022, 12:56:18 AM
Re-reading an old favorite: Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.  glassesslip


A favorite of mine too.

The 1958 movie is faithful to Hemingway's novella and is one of my favorite movies...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GvTIws-VGo# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GvTIws-VGo#)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 14, 2022, 02:11:51 AM
The 1958 movie is faithful to Hemingway's novella and is one of my favorite movies...

Ooh, I'll have to look that up.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 14, 2022, 02:48:58 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCHwXrbfvLo&t=40s# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCHwXrbfvLo&t=40s#)

Now I have killed this fish who was my brother.  Now I must do the slave work.  Get to work, old man.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 14, 2022, 07:51:22 PM
I read Of Mice and Men last weekend.  I found my paperback edition on my bookshelf and couldn't resist...


One of Steinbeck's houses is for sale. I would love to live here! It looks so cozy: https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-1174-xg6wl9/john-steinbecks-sag-harbor-wf-sanctuary-sag-harbor-ny-11963 (https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-1174-xg6wl9/john-steinbecks-sag-harbor-wf-sanctuary-sag-harbor-ny-11963)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on May 15, 2022, 12:13:49 AM
And all yours for a cozy $16.5 million.  icon_king
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 15, 2022, 12:56:38 AM
^^^^

Pocket change!  :angel:  (I wish.)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on May 18, 2022, 02:39:18 AM
And all yours for a cozy $16.5 million.  icon_king

Washer and Dryer included though   ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on May 20, 2022, 04:26:24 AM

Rereading an old tear jerker: Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls, about a young boy and his two beloved hunting dogs. I challenge anyone to read it and not get choked up at the end. None of the movies did it justice. One of my son's best friends cried at the end after their teacher read it to the class in second grade.

I had heard the old Indian legend about the red fern. How a little Indian boy and girl were lost in a blizzard and were frozen to death. In the spring, when they were found, a beautiful red fern had grown up between the two bodies. The story went on to say that only an angel could plant the seeds of a red fern, and that they never dies; where one grew, that spot was sacred.

Off to find some tissues. . . I'm getting weepy already.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on September 06, 2022, 11:04:33 PM
The regular posters here seem to be a pretty well-read group, so I thought I'd share this, from Book Nerd.

The Top 70 Books People Lie About Having Read:

1. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
2. 1984 - George Orwell
3. The Lord Of The Rings trilogy - JRR Tolkien
4. War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy
5. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
6. The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
7. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
8. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
9. Crime And Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
10. Pride And Prejudice - Jane Austen
11. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
12. Harry Potter (series) - JK Rowling
13. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
14. The Diary Of Anne Frank - Anne Frank
15. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
16. Fifty Shades trilogy - EL James (seriously???  ha2ha Haven't read it, but if I had, I think I'd refuse to admit it)
17. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
18. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
19. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
20. The Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger
21.   Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
22.   Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
23.   The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
24.   The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawthorne
25.   The Lord of the Rings Series – J. R. R. Tolkien
26.   The Bible
27.   Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
28.   Odyssey – Homer
29.   Twilight – Stephanie Meyer
30.   Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
31.   Flowers in the Attic  V. C. Andrews
32.   Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
33.   Interview with the Vampire – Anne Rice
34.   The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
35.   Treasure Islant – Robert Louis Stevenson
36.   A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
37.   Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
38.   The Stand – Stephen King
39.   Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift
40.   Moby Dick – Herman Melville
41.   The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
42.   Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
43.   Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
44.   Through the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll
45.   The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
46.   The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
47.   The Red Badge of Courage – Stephen Crane
48.   Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
49.   The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
50.   Catch- 22 – Joseph Heller
51.   The Time Machine – H. G. Wells
52.   Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne
53.   Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
54.   Watership Down – Richard Adams
55.   The War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells
56.   The Silence of the Lambs – Thomas Harris
57.   Dune – Frank Herbert
58.   The Pearl – John Steinbeck
59.   The Journey to the Center of the Earth – Jules Verne
60.   Around the World in 80 Days – Jules Verne
61.   Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer
62.   Hatchet – Gary Paulsen
63.   Les Miserables – Victor Hugo
64.   The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka
65.   Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes
66.   The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan
67.   The Divine Comedy -Dante Aligheri
68.   Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
69.   Ulysses – James Joyce
70.   Any Stephen King novel

 

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 06, 2022, 11:40:45 PM
I've read all those..

































I'm lying.  roll:)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: blmeanie on September 07, 2022, 01:11:46 AM
I've read maybe 10 or so off the list

my literature teacher daughter will not read one of my all-time favorites off the list, #54 Watershed Down
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on September 07, 2022, 04:41:26 AM
I've read maybe 10 or so off the list

my literature teacher daughter will not read one of my all-time favorites off the list, #54 Watershed Down

Is that the one where the shed gets flooded ?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on September 08, 2022, 09:38:08 PM
I've read them all with the exception of the Harry Potter series, Fifty Shades Trilogy, Interview with the Vampire, The Stand, Watership Down, Dune, Into The Wild, The Joy Luck Club, and The Outlander.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on December 05, 2022, 02:37:20 AM
I just read Love of Seven Dolls, a short novel by Paul Gallico (1954)...


(https://i.postimg.cc/tqJkgN5C/Love-of-Seven-Dolls.jpg)


In postwar Paris, Mouche, a young, recently orphaned woman who has lost her job with a carnival, is persuaded not to commit suicide by the cheerful puppets of Captain Coq, a gruff puppeteer


It's beautifully written and the author tells a tale of innocent love, pain and enchantment.  Paul Gallico dedicated the book to Burr Tillstrom and Fran Allison who were the creators of a TV show I remember watching as a child...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS8peVvnXSI# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS8peVvnXSI#)
Kukla, Fran and Ollie   Puppeteer: Burr Tillstrom


Paul Gallico's short story The Man Who Hated People served as the basis of the 1953 motion picture Lili.  Paul Gallico rewrote his short story into this short novel after the success of the motion picture.  This scene from Lili depicts a critical moment in the novel...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFr-TxP-ATs&t=34s# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFr-TxP-ATs&t=34s#)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LisZfBEOX5Y&t=39s# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LisZfBEOX5Y&t=39s#)





Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 05, 2022, 03:08:03 AM
Paul Gallico, as I'm sure you already know, Barry, also wrote The Poseidon Adventure.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on December 05, 2022, 04:44:20 AM
I didn't know that, Kathy.  As I mentioned in this thread:

Last movies you saw & what you thought of them (http://www.dmbeatles.com/forums/index.php?topic=7861.msg353524#msg353524)

I recently found out that Paul Gallico's short story was adapted for the movie Lili.  Although I've had the movie in VHS format for years (I now have the DVD), I never paid much attention to the credits until a few weeks ago.  I've learned my lesson.   :)

I just had to read the novel so I treated myself to an autographed first edition...


(https://i.postimg.cc/6w23r4b7/Paul-Gallico-Autograph.jpg)


I really enjoyed reading this novella.  His writing style evoked many emotions.  He was a gifted writer and storyteller.  I can't believe he once described himself as a "rotten novelist."
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 06, 2022, 01:53:54 AM
I really enjoyed reading this novella.  His writing style evoked many emotions.  He was a gifted writer and storyteller.  I can't believe he once described himself as a "rotten novelist."


I'll have to look that one up, Barry. I agree, Gallico was very gifted.

Your post prompted me to share my first Lusitania book, by Eric Sauder, of course.  ;)  He's so sweet; not only did he autograph it, but he got his brother Bill (Titanic expert) and ocean liner artist Ken Marschall to sign it, too.  icon_love

(https://i.ibb.co/0mGDnkB/Lusitania-1.jpg)

(https://i.ibb.co/P5tYsbQ/Lusitania-2.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on December 06, 2022, 03:17:01 AM
An autographed book always makes a special keepsake, Kathy.  Yours is very special with both the author's and artist's signatures.

A transcript of The Man Who Hate People with illustrations as it appeared in The Saturday Evening Post appears here:  The Man Who Hated People (http://kukla.tv/manwho.html)



(https://images.wolfgangsvault.com/m/xlarge/OMS22183-MZ/the-saturday-evening-post-vintage-magazine-oct-28-1950.webp)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on December 17, 2022, 06:52:49 AM
More winter reading while the temps plummet:

(https://i.ibb.co/kc6Z8LS/franklin-expedition.jpg)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on December 17, 2022, 11:24:57 PM
If there are any medical people here  ;D.........or in fact anyone at all..

I recommend this hilarious book, the diaries of a junior doctor in the UK. (all apparently true).

https://www.booktopia.com.au/this-is-going-to-hurt-secret-diaries-of-a-junior-doctor-adam-kay/book/9781529062335.html?msclkid=3e1c42526f521c79b01121cc21b9b9c7&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Booktopia%20-%20AU%20-%20Shopping&utm_term=4585169650599087&utm_content=All%20Custom%20Label (https://www.booktopia.com.au/this-is-going-to-hurt-secret-diaries-of-a-junior-doctor-adam-kay/book/9781529062335.html?msclkid=3e1c42526f521c79b01121cc21b9b9c7&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Booktopia%20-%20AU%20-%20Shopping&utm_term=4585169650599087&utm_content=All%20Custom%20Label)

They have also made a tv series out of the book, streaming on Binge.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on December 18, 2022, 05:33:31 PM
Looks like it is an interesting book.

I once read `The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' by neurologist Oliver Sacks and was very impressed.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on December 18, 2022, 11:46:38 PM
I'll look for it, Kev.  I enjoy those kind of books.

When I started my residency at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, I read The House of God...


(https://i.postimg.cc/QCLXZzLq/The-House-of-God.jpg)


The author, whose real name is Stephen Bergman, was a resident at nearby Beth Israel Medical Center at the time.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 03, 2023, 09:24:12 PM

I believe I may have mentioned this before, but—voilà!—a book on the Titanic from the iceberg's point of view.  ;D

This is another precious acquisition (real author: Senan Molony. He's brilliant, IMO) that I've had hidden away from spilled juice, crumbs, and inquisitive little ones.

Now it's time to read!

(https://i.ibb.co/4s0PLfw/iceberg.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 03, 2023, 09:55:16 PM
^

I've learned that the iceberg and the Titanic started life at about the same time...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnb75tuyy4c# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnb75tuyy4c#)
7:18 - 9:05


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 03, 2023, 10:12:15 PM
I've learned that the iceberg and the Titanic started life at about the same time...

That's the same shot that the  1953 (Webb/Stanwyck) film (i.e., with the iceberg shearing off) starts with!

That clip you flagged was interesting. I'll have to watch the complete version.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 04, 2023, 12:01:49 AM
Right, Kathy...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ7MAigAhas# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ7MAigAhas#)


Now watch the footage just before the 7:18 mark where Dismay...I mean Ismay decided that the bulkheads be lowered and that the deck of the Titanic shouldn't be cluttered with 48 lifeboats .

It's a good documentary which deserves your viewing.  It shows that the sinking of the Titanic was a "tragedy of errors" starting with those two decisions made by Ismay during the ship's planning.

It looks like the author of Confessions of an Iceberg has a good sense of humor.  The iceberg is exclaiming "Bloody Hell!" because it caught a glimpse of Ismay on board.  (You know I like ragging on that guy.   ;D )



(https://screenmusings.org/movie/blu-ray/Titanic/images/Titanic-0523.jpg)

Light the last four boilers.  Let's get into New York on Tuesday night and surprise them all, eh EJ?


(https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sEpENpafs5drD3vQ6iyFmD.jpg)


(https://static3.thethingsimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Titanic-J.-Bruce-Ismay-.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 04, 2023, 12:03:02 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqN0fboW_es&t=193s# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqN0fboW_es&t=193s#)
3:00

I think I know what that woman was muttering when she caught sight of Ismay.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 04, 2023, 02:48:56 AM
It's a good documentary which deserves your viewing.  It shows that the sinking of the Titanic was a "tragedy of errors" starting with those two decisions made by Ismay during the ship's planning.


I beg to differ.  ;)  At the time she sailed, Titanic was fully compliant with Board of Trade regulations regarding lifeboats; as a matter of fact, she had MORE than the number required at the time. So you can't pin that on Ismay. And, like all captains, Capt. Smith had the final say on any decisions made regarding the ship (e.g., speed).


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 04, 2023, 04:35:06 AM
I know the Titanic was compliant with Board of Trade regulations at the time but Chief Designer Alexander Carlisle (I just learned about him just today) wanted 48 lifeboats during construction planning.  He mentioned to Ismay that it would put the Titanic in compliance should there be a future regulation change.  Ismay answered that passengers pay to see a ship, not lifeboats.  Furthermore at the British hearing when Ismay was asked if he had given any consideration to more lifeboats, he gave a real stupid answer that the position taken was that the Titanic was looked upon as being practically unsinkable and she was looked upon as a lifeboat herself.  At that hearing, Carlisle stated that he wanted 48 lifeboats on board.  Watch the video.  I never read testimony records but I'm sure Carlisle and Ismay's testimony was quoted accurately.

As I said, the documentary showed that the tragedy of errors started with two bad decisions made by Ismay and progressed to last minute change in crew and binoculars locked up in a storage compartment.  They could have broken the door to get them but they didn't.  And finally there were the rivets.  The builders used crappy rivets in the ship's construction.  There were other mistakes in between like Murdoch not maneuvering in a way to either miss the iceberg (a ship turns faster at speed, not slowing down with propellers going in reverse ) or to minimize collision damage.  But the rivets; that's something new I learned.  The metallurgists showed how the inferior alloy used contributed to the damage the ship sustained.

As far as Captain Smith is concerned, he ordered his ship ahead through an iceberg field while captains of other ships in the area decided not to proceed until daylight.  Ol' EJ didn't do the right thing either.

I know what it's like to be Pilot-in-Command and responsible for all souls on board.  I decided to postpone flight plans several times when conditions were not conducive to safe flight.


It's too bad that Walt Disney cartoons didn't come along until later.  Captain Smith could have taken a lesson from Jiminy Cricket...


I'm No Fool


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4-fCr5h_CM# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4-fCr5h_CM#)

 ;D
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on January 04, 2023, 11:40:35 PM


Barry, let's just agree to disagree.  :)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on January 05, 2023, 01:23:56 AM
Well, Kathy, I guess you believe in destiny and fate.  I believe just the opposite; man is master of his own destiny and makes his life what he wants it to be.

Here's someone who disagrees with me...


(https://www.brainyquote.com/photos_tr/en/g/grouchomarx/384222/grouchomarx1.jpg)


 ;D


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on February 07, 2023, 03:30:28 AM
Well, Kathy, I guess you believe in destiny and fate. 

I do indeed. I once edited an article about conducting therapy with Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. The consensus was that Catholics are the most difficult to work with because of their strong sense of fatalism.

There are several (unsubstantiated) reports that a crew member told a passenger "God Himself could not sink this ship"—a line uttered by Billy Zane's character at the outset of Cameron's film. I personally believe that, if true, that sealed the ship's fate right there.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Kaleidoscope_Eyes on April 06, 2023, 10:12:33 PM
Well, Kathy, I guess you believe in destiny and fate.  I believe just the opposite; man is master of his own destiny and makes his life what he wants it to be.

Oh Barry! That just made me think of a quote from one of my favourite books The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Two characters strike up a conversation with (unbeknown to thrm) the devil (!) and one of them says that fate doesnt exist, and man creates and rules his own course of life. To which the devil replies:

Devil: But here is a question that is troubling me: if there is no God, then, one may ask, who governs human life and, in general, the whole order of things on earth?

Ivan: man governs it himself!

Devil: Pardon me, but in order to govern, one needs, after all, to have a precise plan for a certain, at least somewhat decent, length of time. Allow me to ask you, then, how can man govern, if he is not only deprived of the opportunity of making a plan for at least some ridiculously short period, well, say, a thousand years , but cannot even vouch for his own tomorrow? And in fact, imagine that you, for instance, start governing, giving orders to others and yourself, generally, so to speak, acquire a taste for it, and suddenly you get ...hem ... hem ... lung cancer ... and so your governing is over! You are no longer interested in anyone’s fate but your own. Your family starts lying to you. Feeling that something is wrong, you rush to learned doctors, then to quacks, and sometimes to fortune-tellers as well. Like the first, so the second and third are completely senseless, as you understand. And it all ends tragically: a man who still recently thought he was governing something, suddenly winds up lying motionless in a wooden box, and the people around him, seeing that the man lying there is no longer good for anything, burn him in an oven. And sometimes it’s worse still: the man has just decided to go to Kislovodsk – a trifling matter, it seems, but even this he cannot accomplish, because suddenly, no one knows why, he slips and falls under a tram-car! Are you going to say it was he who governed himself that way? Would it not be more correct to think that he was governed by someone else entirely?
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 08, 2023, 10:32:07 PM
Oh Barry! That just made me think of a quote from one of my favourite books The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Two characters strike up a conversation with (unbeknown to thrm) the devil (!) and one of them says that fate doesnt exist, and man creates and rules his own course of life. To which the devil replies:

Devil: But here is a question that is troubling me: if there is no God, then, one may ask, who governs human life and, in general, the whole order of things on earth?

Ivan: man governs it himself!

Devil: Pardon me, but in order to govern, one needs, after all, to have a precise plan for a certain, at least somewhat decent, length of time. Allow me to ask you, then, how can man govern, if he is not only deprived of the opportunity of making a plan for at least some ridiculously short period, well, say, a thousand years , but cannot even vouch for his own tomorrow? And in fact, imagine that you, for instance, start governing, giving orders to others and yourself, generally, so to speak, acquire a taste for it, and suddenly you get ...hem ... hem ... lung cancer ... and so your governing is over! You are no longer interested in anyone’s fate but your own. Your family starts lying to you. Feeling that something is wrong, you rush to learned doctors, then to quacks, and sometimes to fortune-tellers as well. Like the first, so the second and third are completely senseless, as you understand. And it all ends tragically: a man who still recently thought he was governing something, suddenly winds up lying motionless in a wooden box, and the people around him, seeing that the man lying there is no longer good for anything, burn him in an oven. And sometimes it’s worse still: the man has just decided to go to Kislovodsk – a trifling matter, it seems, but even this he cannot accomplish, because suddenly, no one knows why, he slips and falls under a tram-car! Are you going to say it was he who governed himself that way? Would it not be more correct to think that he was governed by someone else entirely?

 :)

What do you believe, Lana?




Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on May 08, 2023, 10:36:46 PM
Over the weekend I read...


(https://i.postimg.cc/pR7KVP6X/Cyrano-de-Bergerac.jpg)


...en français.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on July 05, 2023, 10:56:22 PM
Over the weekend I read...
...en français.

Wow! You know French?!


By the way did anyone read John Adams by David McCullough?
I begun to read, it is quite interesting!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on July 05, 2023, 11:14:39 PM

Wow! You know French?!


Yes, I studied French for five years in high school and college.  I also had three years of Latin in high school and learned Hebrew in parochial school.



By the way did anyone read John Adams by David McCullough?
I begun to read, it is quite interesting!


I haven't read the book, Dmitry, but I can understand why you find it interesting.  He stood by his convictions and was one of the most influential of our founding fathers.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on July 08, 2023, 05:11:11 PM

Yes, I studied French for five years in high school and college.  I also had three years of Latin in high school and learned Hebrew in parochial school.


Wow!
But I should commit to memory about your French and Latin :angel:
Knowing several languages is so cool! I studied French and German many years ago, since then I know French a little, but cannot read such serious books.


Quote from: Hello Goodbye
I haven't read the book, Dmitry, but I can understand why you find it interesting.  He stood by his convictions and was one of the most influential of our founding fathers.


You're right! I wish I could read it till the end sooner or later.
Many years ago I've read The Virginians by William Makepeace Thackeray.
In Russian though. But it is very interesting!
This book was in my father's library since my childhood.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Dmitry on July 08, 2023, 05:12:10 PM
Over the weekend I read...


([url]https://i.postimg.cc/pR7KVP6X/Cyrano-de-Bergerac.jpg[/url])


...en français.


Wait! You have read it in one weekend?!
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on July 09, 2023, 08:55:25 PM
Wait! You have read it in one weekend?!


I was on call at the hospital that weekend, Dmitry.  It was the perfect time to read Cyrano de Bergerac again and keep my French current.

The play doesn't take long to read.  Here's one scene I particularly enjoy reading...


(https://i.postimg.cc/nx0Qbs9g/Cyrano-de-Bergerac-2.jpg)



It corresponds to this scene in the 1950 motion picture...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J0RFoHGFtY# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J0RFoHGFtY#)
16:40 - 18:25


By the way, Dmitry, like you, this book was in my father's library.  He gave it to me when I was assigned Cyrano de Bergerac to read when I was in high school.


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on July 10, 2023, 01:27:30 AM

Wow!
But I should commit to memory about your French and Latin :angel:



Latin was easy after taking French.  There are just a handful of grammatical "exceptions to the rule."

Latin helped me in my study of human anatomy.  In Europe, students use Latin in reference to human anatomy, eg. Musculus pterygoideus medialis.  Here in the United States, that muscle is called the medial pterygoid muscle.

I remember using Latin to answer a question on an anatomy test I took years ago.  The bony structure I named was "dens epistropheus."  I was marked incorrect by the graduate anatomy assistant.  The English terminology for that structure is "odontoid process of the axis, the second cervical vertebra.  Our anatomy professor marked me correct and asked how I knew the Latin name.  I showed him the human anatomy atlas I was using where all anatomical structures where indicated in Latin.   :)



(https://i.postimg.cc/L66vXGRf/Dens-epistropheus.jpg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on July 31, 2023, 09:35:04 PM
This is a short story, not a book, but it didn't seem to justify its own thread, so I'm sticking it here.

"The Rocking-Horse Winner," by D. H. Lawrence. I'd always thought my short-story education in high school and college was pretty comprehensive, but I had never heard of this one. I tracked it down online and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd share the link to it here:

https://chsenglishap4.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/5/7/2257880/rocking-horse-winner.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2jRY2d893rH2GtKWuU9ZmSOYYux-aujpeTVUEHDSnhAMi3I1Q_lmAwH0s (https://chsenglishap4.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/5/7/2257880/rocking-horse-winner.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2jRY2d893rH2GtKWuU9ZmSOYYux-aujpeTVUEHDSnhAMi3I1Q_lmAwH0s)

Apparently it's also been made into a short film; that's up next.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 27, 2023, 12:43:36 AM
(https://i.postimg.cc/0kRww2MN/What-Really-Happened-In-Wuhan.jpg)


A fine piece of investigative journalism by Australian journalist Sharri Markson.

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on October 27, 2023, 04:35:04 AM

^^^^^

That looks really good, Barry.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 27, 2023, 08:59:05 PM
^

It was very good, Kathy.

You can also watch her sky news documentary "SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: What Really Happened in Wuhan..."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh2Sj_QpZOA&t=157s# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh2Sj_QpZOA&t=157s#)



(https://static.timesofisrael.com/ajn/uploads/2021/10/WhatsApp-Image-2021-10-07-at-12.12.59-PM.jpeg)
Title: Re: Books
Post by: nimrod on October 28, 2023, 10:55:54 PM
([url]https://i.postimg.cc/0kRww2MN/What-Really-Happened-In-Wuhan.jpg[/url])


A fine piece of investigative journalism by Australian journalist Sharri Markson.


When you've read it Baz can you tell us what did happen in Wuhan.  ???
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Hello Goodbye on October 31, 2023, 08:36:51 PM
When you've read it Baz can you tell us what did happen in Wuhan.  ???

Sharri Markson told us what happened in Wuhan, Kev, in 422 pages.  It centered on virology "Gain of Function" research.  It's summed up quite well in Sharri's documentary I linked to above.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: In My Life on March 03, 2024, 04:19:24 AM
(https://i.postimg.cc/TwZKh4Sb/IMG-3723.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)


It took three months for my turn at this audiobook to come up! I’m really enjoying it though so it was worth the wait. It’s interesting how quickly things happened for him in terms of acting, once he arrived in California. He’s paid his dues in other ways, though.


Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 12, 2024, 02:55:27 AM


Funny how one's thoughts proceed and meander. After reading Euan's post about Julian Lennon's new book, I looked up Julian's White Feather Foundation, which led to a link indicating that white feathers at one time were considered a symbol of cowardice, etc., etc, and that led me to this book, which I'm very much looking forward to reading. I also recently read in a novel that some European soldiers in WWII were only 15 years of age, which made my eyes immediately fill with tears, thinking of my own son at that age. (I'm getting teary-eyed again just typing this.) I know that wasn't new, that, as just one example, in the Civil War the South sent boys that age, and even younger, to battle, but it hits harder now.

Anyway, the book:

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51IC3WzLUaL._SY425_.jpg)

Title: Re: Books
Post by: Moogmodule on March 12, 2024, 08:55:08 AM
^^

Yes we had some in Australia who lied about their age and went to WW1. The youngest was 14 and he went to Gallipolli where he died from disease.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Euan Buchan on March 12, 2024, 10:29:17 AM
Started reading The Red Arrow The Official Story Of Britain’s Iconic Display Team by Wing Commander David Montenegro.
Title: Re: Books
Post by: Normandie on March 12, 2024, 03:35:58 PM

Yes we had some in Australia who lied about their age and went to WW1. The youngest was 14 and he went to Gallipolli where he died from disease.

That breaks my heart.  :'(  I hope that young man had someone to comfort him while he was ill and toward the end.

Started reading The Red Arrow The Official Story Of Britain’s Iconic Display Team by Wing Commander David Montenegro.

That looks good!