Library Bookshelf

MarsGal · November 15, 2024, 05:41:02 PM

Good to know, Marilyne. I have the book but haven't read it. I was wondering how close the series will be compared to the book.

I am between reads right now. Several books, including the first book of a detective series written by Mick Herron before he wrote the Slow Horses series, didn't get very far before I decided they weren't for me. So, I am about to try another, a fantasy titled Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. Published in 2015, it won the Alex Award, the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. The Alex Award is presented by the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Marilyne · November 16, 2024, 12:53:28 AM

Mars, it wasn't me, it was Phyllis who posted here yesterday about the new series, "The Day of the Jackal". I haven't started watching it yet, but plan to, as soon as possible. We subscribed to Peacock during the Olympics last Summer, but since then, I haven't done a good job of checking on the programming. We have too many channels, and lots of them fall through the cracks and never get watched.
Phyllis, Thanks for reminding me!

I've been meaning to write about the book, "The Tattooist of Auschwitz", but I've put it off because I feel like I could never do it justice. Although it's written as a novel, it's based on a true story . . . a very inspirational story of a young man, who was a prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, from 1942 to 1945. I recommend it highly, and hope that others in this group will read it as well.

MarsGal · November 16, 2024, 07:01:24 AM

OOPS!

MarsGal · November 16, 2024, 07:06:59 AM

I just now discovered the new theme mode with the black background and white type. Pretty! I think I will keep it a while.

RAMMEL · November 16, 2024, 09:59:48 AM

Quote from: MarsGal on November 16, 2024, 07:06:59 AMI just now discovered the new theme mode with the black background and white type. Pretty! I think I will keep it a while.

I don't see a black option. Where did you find it?

Marilyne · November 16, 2024, 10:55:14 AM

Click on the "paint palette" up in the corner.

RAMMEL · November 16, 2024, 11:36:25 AM

I only get -
Default
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Purple
Pink
as available options there.

Marilyne · November 16, 2024, 11:56:28 AM

On my Mac, the Yellow "gear thing" is to the left of the screen. Click on that and you'll get the dark mode.

MarsGal · November 16, 2024, 01:27:24 PM

Up top, on the left hand corner, there is a row of icons beginning with your personal icon. Se the little sun? It is the last of four icons. Click on that at it will turn to a moon and your background will change to black. The only real problem is that all of the tiny icons in the quick reply section that are before the A for font name are very difficult to see. That may get annoying after a while.

RAMMEL · November 16, 2024, 02:10:50 PM

Got it --- I was looking at "paint palette".

MarsGal · November 16, 2024, 04:05:10 PM

I am back to regular. I discovered that I can't read the posts from those who use one of the bold black types. They don't switch to white like the regular type doew when you go to the black background.

Tomereader1 · November 16, 2024, 06:40:59 PM

Just got signed up with Peacock, basically just to see "The Jackal". I had read the book, and was very happy to see the original movie with Bruce Willis (being the bad guy for a change!) I have watched 2 episodes of Jackal so far, and am enjoying it.

I really didnt intend to sign on to another streaming service, but they are going to have some pretty good movies along the way. I can always cancel.

Marilyne · November 16, 2024, 10:23:57 PM

Tome/Joanne - it's been a while since you've posted, so good to see you here. Too many streaming services to choose from now. They all sound enticing, but we can't afford them all, nor would be have the time to watch them all. I'm thinking seriously of dropping Netflix. I haven't watched anything there for many months. I feel a certain loyalty to it, because it's the only major tech company here in town, and is located only about three quarters of a mile from my house. I drive by the beautiful campus quite often, and always happy that it's here in town, adding to our tax base. I hate to let it go, but
I think it's time.

Hope you're back to enjoying your favorite football teams, as you do every Fall? I can't remember if, after the Super Bowl, you then start following Basketball or Hockey? (or both)

MarsGal · November 19, 2024, 07:47:46 AM

I found an interesting documentary that Werner Herzog that was interesting, horrifying, compelling. Titled Lessons in Darkness, it is about the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's attack on the oilfields of Kuwait. And, I knew that Red Adair's company (remember John Wayne's 1969 movie Hellfighters?) was called in to help put out the fires. I remember seeing news clips, but they didn't convey the extensiveness of these fields, the super-hero efforts to put out the fires and clean up the oil soaked sand and oil lakes.

Herzog did a lot of documentaries. I plan on finding and watching more.https://nonfics.com/werner-herzog-documentaries/

RAMMEL · November 19, 2024, 09:22:58 AM

I remember those fires, and the efforts put in to put them out. Not a job I could handle. Brave people.
It's funny, I was trying to think of the name Red Adair the other day. Was wondering what ever happened to him.

patricia19 · November 19, 2024, 02:00:59 PM

According to Legacy.com, He died of cancer in Houston, in August 2004 at the age of 89.

RAMMEL · November 19, 2024, 02:07:02 PM

"Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."

Marilyne · November 19, 2024, 06:20:43 PM

Quote from: RAMMEL on November 19, 2024, 02:07:02 PM"Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."

A famous quote by General Douglas MacArthur.
His other famous quote -"I Shall Return": Said in 1942 in a speech, when he was forced to leave the Philippines. Three years later in 1945 he finally returned.

MaryPage · November 20, 2024, 01:23:19 PM

My computer got in trouble. Bought a new one, & am having an anxiety-filled time of it getting used to all the newness. They tell me I will be all set when all of our computers have to switch over to new software soon. Life is totally confusing to me lately, but better I put what is left of my mind to trying to figure this new technology out, rather than trying to follow what the whole world is doing. I figure I will conquer this eventually, but THAT likely never.

MaryPage · November 20, 2024, 01:36:42 PM

Rammel, I was an Army Brat back in the Dark Ages. That "Old Soldiers quote was bandied about constantly, & we even had it in a song! In the song, it was "Old Soldiers never die, never die, never die. Old Soldiers never die, they just faaaaade away!"

My Dad was West Point Class of 1925. He taught Physics & Mathematics there for 4 years, as well. We moved all around the country. I have two great grandsons who have free rides at most excellent colleges. They are brothers, & apparently math geniuses. I figure they get it from Daddy, though that is a pretty long haul down the years. It is discouraging to read in our local newspaper only this morning that very small percentages of kids are doing well in math these days. Scary to hear that.

RAMMEL · November 20, 2024, 01:43:41 PM

Quote from: MaryPage on November 20, 2024, 01:36:42 PM"Old Soldiers never die, never die, never die. Old Soldiers never die, they just faaaaade away!"

I recall that song when it was fairly popular around here.
I've visited West Point a couple of times. Once with our kids in tow. They were old enough to love the visit.
A friend/neighbor had a house nearby in Cornwall.

MarsGal · November 21, 2024, 10:41:08 AM

I don't remember if I mentioned my latest reading adventure. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. It is a fantasy Published in 2015, it won the Alex Award, the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award. The Alex Award is presented by the Young Adult Library Services Association. Okay, so it is a YA book and it is a fantasy. The story revolves around a school devoted to helping children who believe their real homes are in some fantasy world, somehow got kicked out or accidentally went through the wrong door, and now can't find their way back. It is hard to tell whether the school is helping the children easy back into their real world homes and families, or if it is there to help them get to their fantasy home destination. McGuire is an excellent writer. Her narrative seamlessly flows from one scene and/or one child to another and back.

MaryPage · November 21, 2024, 07:29:28 PM

I now suffer from dementia, & forget EVERYthing. Or just about. I still enjoy the British & Scottish mystery cozies, albeit if I were now to read the same one twenty times, it would probably be brand new to me each time. And yes, this is me writing this about me. I do not seem to have completely lost my years in the field of Journalism.

Have been reading & thoroughly enjoying a lot of books by Anne Perry lately./color]

MarsGal · November 24, 2024, 03:26:58 PM

MaryPage, I knew a bunch of people that read Anne Perry and liked her books. She must have written around 100 books, give or take. I have never gotten around to reading a single one. She passed away last year at age 84.

Now that I am done with Every Heart a Doorway , I am back to some Science Fiction. My bedtime reading is Iain M. Banks' The Algebraist. I am glad I ran across this Word Press review because, so far, I have no real clue what the story is about.

My day reading, Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, has been in my library wish list for quite a while. I've read some of his short stories and enjoyed them, so I am looking forward to finally reading it.

My poor non-fiction books are being neglected - again.

Marilyne · November 25, 2024, 12:30:39 AM

MarsGal, I got an email today from my library, that "Lighthouse Island" is waiting for me. I'll pick it up tomorrow, and hope to start reading it soon. First I have to finish a Time Travel adventure . . . "Another Place, Another Time", by D B Casselbury. She's a Facebook friend, so I decided to buy the book from Amazon. (I think I mentioned it on Bait & Tackle, a couple of days ago)?

Mary Page - Hope you return soon. In the, meantime enjoy your cozies by Anne Perry!

MaryPage · November 28, 2024, 03:04:40 PM

Happy Holiday to all you book lovers. Books have been my escape all of my long life. An early reader, I can now remember not much, but when you say books, I remember having to take naps & hurriedly shoving my book under the covers when I heard someone coming. Nasty, stealthy little me! I became concerned as I lost my memory & became reduced to a sort of idiocy, several thoughts attacking my whole person: What was to become of my huge library of books not yet read? Well, that was resolved by weeding the possible & most preferred from the others. Almost tearfully those others were proffered to family members, & my heart jumped joyfully whenever some were carted off by my actual kin! The rest were sold, & I became astonished at the number of book buyers out there & the prices they are willing to pay. Some of my books had hung around long enough to have achieved fame & desirability in their old age (I have not) and were listed, I should say ARE listed, as valuable. Who Knew?

Then I worried about would I have time to read the others. Finally, I accepted the "Probably not" truth. And the last worry: Would reading them be a big waste of time?

NO! I confess to forgetting them quite soon after finishing them. BUT. But I fiercely enjoy them while reading, and follow them as I go along. If I find myself fogetting some person or important matter, I simply go back through the pages until I find it, as I have always done. So I am still happy with my books, even if my mind does not store & process information as it was meant to do & once did. I miss being catalogued as intelligent, but this Old reader has made a pact with her books, & they still deliver great sources of satisfaction.

MarsGal · November 29, 2024, 09:45:57 AM

I have replaced Ninefox Gambit already. Only a few pages in, I realized I wasn't understanding much if anything. What a shame. Maybe I can try another time, and most definitely a different book by Yoon Ha Lee.

Meanwhile, I've replaced my library pick with a non-fiction: The Club by Leo Damrosch. The title refers to the informal club begun by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell and held at a local pub which included Edward Gibbon, Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Oliver Goldsmith, and others. I read Boswell's classic book, The Life of Samuel Johnson, years ago, so I hope to get a refresher and more information about this circle of intellectuals from the 18th century.

My night reading is The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks. The story reminds me of his Culture series but is not part of it. Interesting characters. Okay story.

Marilyne · November 29, 2024, 03:10:29 PM

Hoping you all had a nice Thanksgiving, and are ready to start the short haul until Christmas. So much to do, and so little time this year.

Mars - I started "Lighthouse Island", a few day s ago, but I have to admit that I got turned off by the first few chapters . . . nothing but chaos and misery. I think I need something pleasant and hopeful this time of year? I haven't given up, so will let you know how it goes in the next couple of days.

Mary Page - I remember you once described what your bookshelves looked like . . . double stacked in many of the shelves, and all shelves were arranged according to subject, author, fiction and non-fiction, etc. It would have been a such a joy, to spend a day (or longer) just looking at everything in your personal library! I'm happy for you, that many of your family members chose the ones they wanted to keep, and that you sold many of the valuable ones for a good price.

I don't intend to venture out today on this Black Friday, even for a quick trip to the grocery store. Let us know if any of you actually went Christmas shopping today?

MarsGal · November 29, 2024, 07:06:27 PM

Well, it is that, Marilyne. But it is also a tale of a vague remembrance, a dream, and a goal fought for with hope, determination and creativity against tremendous adversity. Dystopian novels are seldom cheery. It is perhaps not the best read for this time of year.

BarbStAubrey · November 30, 2024, 02:30:23 AM

Oh MaryPage your thoughts on reading are just perfect - just what I needed to hear - I too have become aware I will never get through reading all my books and I really should do as you have done - go through them and attempt to sell or give away those I dearly love having but the time has come... I've a whole shelf of books about religious issues and the history that seems obscene to sell and so I may just donate them to a local Church that if they want to sell or give them to parishioners or maybe they have a library.

Can't seem to settle down and read more than a chapter or two in several books I've started in the last few weeks - one book I really enjoyed and still the last chapter needs reading... decided to skim an author who I've enjoyed in the past that gives tips for living - some of her books are to do something daily or in some she lists 100 ways to accomplish this or that - maybe relooking at her books is taking me to a place where I could hone in an some accomplishment with the encouraging words from the likes of this author, Fiona Ferris

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