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2024-03-22, 14:15:18
Domestic Goddess: Pollock Fillets seasoned with Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper, Bush's Best Brown Sugar Hickory Baked Beans, Green Grapes and Chocolate Chip Cookies that my husband prepared.  Sorry about the previous type error with my last post.

2024-03-22, 14:03:04
Domestic Goddess: Pollock Fillets seasoned with Mrs. Dash

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Library Bookshelf

Started by Marilyne, March 29, 2016, 03:20:53 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

CallieOK

Tome, unfortunately, I have not heard or heard of The New Life Symphony Orchestra.  Since I'm not really a symphony lover, they may have played in OKC and I just wasn't aware of it.

I think I mentioned having 2 books I'd probably finish in "just one more chapter" sessions.  Well, I did so - and am now going back to the Kingsolver book.  Finding it much slower reading than "chick flick romances"  ;)

Am also trying to read "Sally Hemmings", an actual book that a neighbor loaned me.  It's fiction but historically accurate and I'm trying to read carefully so I don't miss any facts that are "hidden" in conversations, etc.

We're finally having a sunny day with pleasantly cool temperatures and I think I'll change out of my church clothes and try to sit on the patio to read.  The cottonwood trees along the creek behind the back fence are sending out "cotton" and I may start sneezing.  "Always something...."  ::) 

Tomereader1

Callie, they are based out of Tulsa, that's why I thought you might have heard of them!

CallieOK

I'm in the OKC metro area.  Will try to be aware of news articles, etc.  Thanks for the info.

Gave up on patio reading.   Achoo!   :tissue:

Marilyne

Happy Mother's Day everyone!  It's nice to see so many new messages since I was last here!

Tome - So glad you had chance to attend the New Life Symphony Orchestra, concert, with your daughter and a friend.  It's been a long time since I've been to a live music event of any kind.  We used to have season tickets to the San Jose Symphony, but the conductor left, and the whole thing fell to pieces. We also used to love Musical Theater, especially Broadway shows, with original cast.  Saw many of them, back in the day, but nothing recent.  Hamilton, is playing right now in San Francisco. I'd love to see it, but we never go to SF anymore, and also the tickets are extremely expensive!

Callie - I'll be interested in your final opinion of Unsheltered?  Kingsolver's book, The Poisonwood Bible, is at the top of my list of favorite novels of the past twenty five years.  I just love that book, and I've read it at least four times over the years, and I discover something new to like (or learn), very time I read it.  However . . . I've been disappointed in every one of Kingsolver's books that I've read, or tried to read, since then. There was one I couldn't even finish, it was so bad. (IMO of course).  The Sally Hemmings book sounds interesting.  I'll probably add that one to my library list. 

Maryc - Thank you for recommending, The Gift of Years. It's now on my latest Amazon order. Although I don't buy many books anymore, I felt that I needed to own that one.  Lots of things that I would like to read over again, and think about some more.  I also plan to give it to my youngest daughter, in hopes that she will read it. Maybe not the whole book, as she is not really old enough yet, to appreciate most of it,  but there are certain things that I feel she will like.

MarsGal - The Wildwater Walking Club, sounds good. I have, Riding the Bus with My Sister, waiting for me at the library, and will be picking it up some day this coming week. 

JeanneP - I hope you found some of our recommendations in Large Print, at your library?  If you're in a county library system, like I am, sometimes the book you want is sitting at another branch.  If you don't see something in LP that you want, ask at the desk, and they will check to see if it's in the system, and have it sent.   
 

maryc

Callie, I read Sally Hemings quite a few years back.  I have to smile when I think of how I came to read it.  I was serving as a Deacon in our church at the time and one of the people that I visited was a sweet little lady member.  She had recently lost her husband.  As we visited we chatted about common interests, one being reading.  She had read the book in recent weeks and was sure I would enjoy it.  She told me about it with just a bit of a twinkle in her eye....maybe that it was just a little naughty.  It was an interesting story.  My friend Pearl is gone now but each time I drive by her house I remember our good visits and our pleasure in books.
Mary C

MarsGal

I enjoyed The Wildwater Walking Club. It was fun, light, and even included a few lavender recipes. I didn't know you could eat the stuff. I wonder if I ate lavender it will make me smell like it to mosquitoes and chase them off.

I am now listening to Race to the South Pole by Roland Huntford. In this book the author offers up both Amundsen's and Scott's diary accounts of the Antarctic expedition of 1910-1914 and well as background info on the differences of attitude and preparation the two made for their race to the pole. I must say that it puts Scott in a very poor light.

maryc

I just finished This House of Sky btw Ivan Doig.  If you haven't already read it,  I highly recommend it.  I just looked back but couldn't find who mentioned it, but thank you for the suggestion.  I hadn't heard of this author. His writing is so moving.
Mary C

FlaJean

MaryC, I don't know where else you post but in case you didn't know, Pat Scott Halbach who started S&F died yesterday.  Bubble posted the following.

https://www.seniorsandfriends.org/index.php?topic=716.msg155362#msg155362

CallieOK

Finally finished "Unsheltered" .  I managed to follow the jumps between current time and two centuries ago but, as is happening more and more with current books, felt the author wrapped things up too quickly and left "solutions" dangling.

Sometimes I feel as if I'm "studying" and need to take a break with a "chick lit" or two.  However, I'm determined to finish "Sally Hemmings" and have put "Jefferson's Daughters" back on my library Wish List.   

I keep thinking I'll have more time to read but have been OBE  (Overcome By Events) - some necessary and some unexpected but all time consuming. 

"One Of These Days....lalala  ;D

FlaJean

Callie, I think there a recent book published about Sally Hemmings which I haven't read.  I read the one by Barbara Chase-Riboud that was published in 79 or 80.   I read it soon after it was published and I enjoyed the book but have my doubts about much of her suppositions.  The historical dates could be checked but there isn't any way she could come up with some of that information.  Sally was just 14 years old and Jefferson was 46or 47?  She really didn't have any choice.  It's been a long time since I read it but I remember having my doubts about some of the author's thought about the subject.

CallieOK

Jean, that's the Sally Hemmings book I'm reading but it's a 2009 reissue with a 14 page "afterword" by the author.  DNA  is one topic. Will let you know what it's about when (and if  :)
I get that far.

I always read novels about real people "with a grain of salt" because conversations have to be imagined.

Tomereader1

I notice a lot of the reading here is in the Non-fiction genre lately.  I am reading the most interesting NF book, that is both enlightening and frightening.
"Midnight in Chernobyl" by Adam Higginbotham.  Also listed on the cover "The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster".  If anyone thinks Chernobyl was the only nuclear disaster, they will be totally shocked.  We all know about the U.S. "Three Mile Island", but, theoretically it has been the only one of any note here.  The incompetence, secrecy, political manuevering of the USSR in developing their nuclear program is absolutely staggering.  366 pages,an epilogue, a glossary, 102 pgs of Notes, and 26 Pg. Bibliography.  There are also a few photos of the city that was built to house all the engineers, workers and their families. Many of whom have perished.  This book will be a real undertaking, but my gosh, an eye-opener. Makes one wonder if there have been other disasters here in U.S. that are being kept secret.

maryc

Thank you FlaJean for letting me know about Pat Scott....sad news.
Mary C

Marilyne

Lots of good books mentioned here this week!

Tome - I already have my name on the library list for, Midnight in Chernobyl. I've heard that many incidents like that one have happened  in different countries, but they're hushed up. It does make you wonder about the USA, but it's mighty hard to keep anything secret here.  So many people involved in everything now, plus the media, that it's impossible to prevent leaks.

Callie - you didn't say whether you liked, or would recommend Unsheltered?  As I mentioned before, so far, nothing by Barbara Kingsolver has come close to being as good as The Poisonwood Bible.  That's only my opinion, as I'm sure others would disagree?

maryc - I now have the Ivan Doig book that you liked . . . This House of Sky..  I probably won't be starting it for a while, as I still have a few library leftovers that I haven't looked at yet, as well as two books I got for Mother's Day.  One from my dil, The Lost Girls of Paris, by Pam Jenoff, and another one from Sandy, The Art of Racing in The Rain, by Garth Stein.  I started reading "Racing in the Rain" yesterday, and I am loving it!

MarsGal - The Wildwater Walking Club, is being sent over from another library, so I likely won't get it for a while.  Sounds like light reading, and sometimes I think we all need something light, for a change.  I have, Riding The Bus With My Sister, here now, but won't be starting it for a few days yet. 

I Don't remember if I mentioned that I read, All We Ever Wanted, by Emily Giffin.   Maryc, I think you recommended it, and I'm glad you did!  I really liked it, and feel like it addressed a current problem with teens and cell phone pictures, as well as a good storyline for older adults as well.  As I was reading it, I was thinking about the controversy over the recent appointment of Supreme Court Justice Bret Kavanaugh, because of things he was accused of doing when he was a teenager.  This story is sort of along those lines, but more current.   

maryc

#1784
Marilyne, Funny you should mention it but Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh came immediately to mind when I read the incident with the young man who had the Princeton opportunity.   I also wondered if his father had purchased any favors in that regard. :-[ . I not sure but I believe I read that Garth Stein book a while back and gave it to my one grandson who always has at least one dog in his family.
Mary C

Marilyne

#1785
Mary - I remember looking at the publication date for the book, All We Ever Wanted, and seeing that it was after the Kavanaugh controversy. I do think that writers get their ideas from situations and stories that are happening in the current news, as well as from decades in the past. Seems like right now, there are lots of sad stories about teens sending compromising pictures of themselves or others, on cell phones, that later come back to haunt them. 

Mars - I finally got Riding the Bus With My Sister, and plan to start reading it today. 

Tome - I'm on the wait list at the library, for Midnight in Chernobyl.

Other library books that I have here, that sound good, are:
The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah. I read her best seller, The Nightingale, and like it a lot, and this one sounds good too.
Flame in the Night, by Heather Munn. It's a novel that takes place in France, in WWII.
The Wartime Sisters, by Lynda Loigman - another WWII story.

That gives me four good sounding books, to keep me busy over the long Memorial Day weekend.  :thumbup: 
   

Tomereader1

Marilyne, I finally finished "Midnight in Chernobyl".  I understand there is something on TV (don't know which channel) about Chernobyl.  They are now into Episode 3, and I didn't know about any of it.  Anyway, the book will educate you, and scare the pants off you. I bet your hubby would enjoy reading this.

FlaJean

I am reading "The Girls of Atomic City" by Denise Kieran.  It is really interesting.  These were women (many of them young early 20s) that were part of the Manhattan Project.  The author interviewed them personally.  Much of this information is history that's never been told.

MarsGal

#1788
Jean, we read The Girls of Atomic City a few years back on SeniorLearn. It was quite an interesting book and discussion.

I have three and a half chapters left in The Race to the South Pole. The narrator is great. The one thing that disturbed me was that they killed and ate the ponies and dogs along the way, feeding the meat to the dogs and eating it themselves. This must have been planned into the expedition because there was no way they could have taken enough forage and food for the dogs and themselves. The diaries of Amundsen and Scott show up quite vividly the differences in attitudes and preparations the teams had toward their expeditions. I seem to remember, when I was growing up, that Scott got most of the heroic notice. I knew very little of Amundsen. Unless things change in the last few chapters, I think Amundsen should have been the one to get lion's share of the praise and credit. Maybe he did, at the time. It does seem odd that Scott, with his previous experiences, should have been so ill prepared.

I'm also reading the latest in the Expanse series which became available the other day. The same day Jack Campbell's newest book, which I pre-ordered, dropped into my Kindle library.

My next reading challenge for June will be something featuring a garden for the first half of June, and something featuring a boat ride for the second half. Their are plenty of candidates for these two categories that I will enjoy reading.

You've reminded me that I need to see if my library has Midnight in Chernobyl.

Marilyne, let me know what you think of Riding the Bus with My Sister. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Marilyne

#1789
MarsGal - I have some favorite novels, where the story takes place on a ship or a boat.  The first one that comes to mind is, The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk.  In case you haven't read it or seen the movie, it is a great story, that will really hold your interest. Herman Wouk, just recently died, within the past couple of weeks, and I believe he was 103 years old?   

Others that are good, are Mister Roberts, by Thomas Heggen.  It was made into a Broadway play, as well as a movie. 
The Perfect Storm,"A True Story of Men Against The Sea", by Sebastian Junger. Also made into a good movie.
The Life of Pi, by Yan Martel.  You've probably read this one already, but if not, it is well worth reading.  Also made into a movie.
Finally, Ship of Fools, by Katherine Anne Porter.   The story takes place in the late 1930's right before WWII.  I recently watched the movie again, and really enjoyed it.  One of those that you can watch over and over again, and see something new every time. I wanted to read the book again, but my library didn't have it. 

MarsGal

Thanks for the list, Marilyne, I forgot about The Caine Mutiny. I managed not to have to read that in high school when I more than likely would not have appreciated it. Oddly, I've never seen the movie either.

I didn't know Mister Roberts was a book. I vaguely remember the movie.

Neither read nor seen The Perfect Storm, which reminds me that I saw part of a YouTube video that was about 29 minutes long and which was shot from inside the bridge of what looks like a tanker or cargo vessel during a storm. I stopped watching it before it started making me queasy.

Did read The Life of Pi but didn't see the movie. Ship of Fools never interested me.

I have a library of non-fiction books that include one by Peter Throckmorton about undersea archeology, one of an ancient Greek geographer and explorer named Pytheas, and Dana's Two Years Before the Mast (great book). I'll have to look closer to see what I have in my library for fictional boat rides that I haven't read yet; I think I have a few, including Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile which I've seen (the Peter Ustinov version). I think I would rather tackle Captain's Courageous or The Caine Mutiny, two of the classics I missed reading. Oh, I have Hunt for Red October, I forgot about that. It is one of my favorite Sean Connery movies. I suspect the spirit of the read is supposed to be a ride as a passenger rather than as crew, though.

For the garden one, I have a recent book about the gardens of Versailles on my wish list. I believe it is written by the head gardener. I am not sure if he is current or retired. 

maryc

FlaJean,  Interested in your post about reading The Girls of Atomic City.  I read either that one or something very similar a while back.  It took me back to the war years and made me think about the young high school grads who picked up and went to distant cities to live and work in the war effort as well as the very young men who were either snatched by Uncle Sam or volunteered and went to distant places on earth.  Many of them had never been out of the county where they grew up. It was such a time of upheaval.
     I'm reading a book about Caroline,the mother in the Little House series.  It starts off when they leave home and family in Wisconsin to set off for opportunity in Kansas.  It reminds me that people have always risen to the challenge of change for the sake of something better even in the face of danger.  I suppose that I'm just one who clings to the familiar. ???
Mary C

Marilyne

FlaJean - I read, The Girls of Atomic City, a couple of years ago, and really liked it.  It was a fascinating look at WWII history, that very few people know about.  I'd like to read it again, as I've forgotten some of the story.  I think the city is still there, but it of course has changed, and now has a different name?
Mary - I think you and I read it at the same time, along with a couple of other members who post in this folder?

MarsGal - Once I got started, thinking about stories/books  that take place aboard a ship or small boat, I can't seem to stop! ::)  I just remembered The Old Man and The Sea, by Earnest Hemingway!  Another one that is a wonderful and exciting story, is The African Queen, by C.S.Forrester.   He also wrote adventure stories that were called the Horatio Hornblower Series. The African Queen, is a wonderful story.  I read the book, after seeing the movie in the 1950's. The movie was an award winner starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart.  Really worth watching if you've never seen it, or watching again if you have! 

MarsGal

More to choose from. You mentioned Hemingway and it immediately brought to mind Jack London's non-fiction account of his deep-sea fishing adventures and sailing his ketch, Snark.

Marilyne

MarsGal - I finished, Riding The Bus With My Sister, and I liked it a lot.  A different and unusual type of story - not only about Beth, but also the rest of the family.  Beth was incredibly difficult to deal with!  I don't know how Rachel stuck it out for an entire year.  It made me realize how hard it is to reason with, and live with, an MR adult woman. My 28 year old autistic granddaughter, is so much easier to live with and to reason with . . . although she can be stubborn and has her difficult days also.
Thanks for recommending the book.  I really enjoyed reading it, and thought about it a lot when I was finished.  I hope that Beth is doing well now, and that all the other family members are too.  I would like to read a follow-up some day. 
 

PatH2

Marilyne, I'm glad to find someone else who likes the book The African Queen.  it is good, isn't it, though I think the movie is even a little bit better.  Horatio Hornblower is loosely based on the very colorful real person, Lord Cochrane, who is also the inspiration for Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey in the Master and Commander series.

MarsGal

Hi Pat!

I went nuts yesterday and ordered five new books. Four SciFi's, three of which are Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Liaden Universe short stories and novelettes, one a book of short stories which may or may not be all SciFi, and one a nonfiction about Marcus Agrippa.

I am close to finishing two books, so I think I will try for getting one done today. I hope everyone is having a nice holiday.

Marilyne

Hi Pat . . .  Welcome to the Library Bookshelf!  I liked the book, The African Queen,  and wanted to read it again, but neither my city nor country library system has the book. I don't know if it's out of print, or if the copies from so long ago have simply worn out, or are long lost?  I'll have to look on Amazon, just to see if it's still in print or not?

In the meantime, we have that wonderful movie!  :thumbup:  It's probably available for check-out at most libraries, and also can be viewed On Demand, or on some of the Channels like Netflix or Amazon.  I plan to look at the Search option on my Comcast, and see if I can find it listed anywhere.

maryc

I'm back to reading Caroline after stopping to read This House of Sky.  I wasn't sure if Caroline would just be more of the Little House tale or ??   It does follow their travels from Minnesota to Kansas but this from a wife and mother's view.  I'm attempting to add a link to a review of the story.http://www.theonceandfuturepodcast.com/blog/2018/3/5/review-caroline-little-house-revisited-by-sarah-miller
Mary C

Marilyne

Maryc - I looked at the blog post about Caroline, and thought it was very informative.  I read some of the blogger's other book reviews, but I see that the other books aren't really my reading style.  However, I loved the Laura Ingall's Wilder books, so I'm pretty sure I  would like Caroline.

I took back most of the library books I checked out last week, except for one, because I just could not get interested in any of them. I really liked,  Riding the Bus with My Sister, and would recommend it highly.
Maryc - I think you would like it, as well!

The book that I just started, is, The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah.  I had a sleepless night last night, so I got up and started reading it, and I think I'm going to like it.  I have not cared for all of Hannah's books, but I did like, The Nightingale.  This one looks to be just as good. 

Callie - I just wanted to tell you that I loved your post yesterday in another folder, about sheltering in the closet, during your recent Oklahoma tornado scares.  I got a real laugh out of reading about how you texted your "wallmate" who was also hunkering down right next to you! ;D