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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.

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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

I agree.  Probably good I wasn't part of discussion  :)

MarsGal

I've been bouncing around with my readings the last few days. Martha Wells latest Murderbot novel, Fugitive Telemetry, came in so I stopped to read that. I knew it would be a fast read. The books are not very long. Now I am back to A Map of Betrayal.  I also started John J. Gobbell's Edge of Valor which is the first of a military investigative trilogy while waiting for the tablet with the Libby app on it recharges (older model, real slow charging).

MarsGal

I finished listening to The Crown Tower, first of the Riyria Chronicles series within Michael J. Sullivan's Elan universe. It is set much, much later than the first series I read and is itself a prequel series to his Riyria Revelations series. Next up for the series are three short stories, two of which I have.

Ha Jin's A Map of Betrayal is a slow read for me but good, interesting. It doesn't look like I will finish it before I have to return or renew.

The SciFi trilogy I am reading is okay, but the execution is poor. The ending sequence in the first book didn't make much sense to me. Why wouldn't recorded helmet cam video of an event and a cache of illegal weapons be sufficient evidence, the choice being to destroy or try to secure the cache in enemy territory until and if investigators could get back in to do their thing. While there a few editorial errors in the first book, the second was much worse, and of course, there were more plot holes. I dread what I will find reading the third book. This trilogy made it to audio book. I wonder if these things were corrected for them. I can't actually see a narrator wanting to read some of the glaring errors without correction.

Marilyne

MarsGal - good to see you keeping up with your reading,  and posting about it here in Library Bookshelf!   I haven't opened a book since I finished,  The Four Winds.   I'm having some problems with burning and soreness in my left eye, so not comfortable reading for the past week or so.    As I mentioned a while back, my long time ophthalmologist, retired about a year ago, and I haven't made an effort to find a new one.  At my age, I definitely should be seen on a regular basis.  Besides Glaucoma, I also have Dry Eye, and need new prescriptions for both.     

I don't know why I've become so hesitant to see any doctor, for anything?  Just seems like I dread making the appointment, then sitting in the waiting room, and then the exam.   I did finally make an appointment and spent the afternoon at the Hearing Aid Center,  a couple of days ago.  It was a long appointment, which I knew it would be, but now I have it out of the way and hoping that the new aids will work well for me.  The eye-doc will be next on my list!

Fortunately it doesn't bother my eyes to watch television or to sit here at the computer, so I've been doing a lot of those two things in recent weeks. 

MarsGal

Another book dropped into my loan cue, an audio book this time. It is called This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger and narrated by Scott Brick whose voice so mesmerizes me. The author describing his book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxxWoTly0_A

Marilyne

Mars - This Tender Land, is an excellent book . . . great story!  I read it a couple of years ago, and recommended it here in this folder.  I'm pretty sure you will like it, so I'll be looking forward to seeing what you think.   After reading it, I looked for other books by Kent Krueger, but can't remember if I read more or not?   I'll look him up later, and see what else he has written?

MarsGal

Krueger has a series of mystery novels whose main character (Cork O'Connor) is part Ojibwe and part Irish. I might just add them to my wish list since the locales of many of these books include areas near and around Lake Superior and the upper part of Lake Huron. Well, there is at least one set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This Tender Land is not part of that series, though.

Tomereader1

Most all of the "Cork" mysteries are in the U.P.

MarsGal

Thanks Tome, I just skimmed over some of the blurbs about the books. They do look interesting. Have you read any of them? I recall that many of the "Cat Who" books are, or assumed to be, set in that area too.

Tomereader1

I've read All of the Cork mysteries, unless there's one published 2020.

MarsGal

Tome, I don't think Krueger had anything out in 2020, but he does have another Cork O'Connor scheduled to go on sale this year in August called Lightning Strike.

I stayed up a bit late last night to continue listening to This Tender Land. It's a very compelling story, hard to put down.

MarsGal

I finished listening to This Tender Land yesterday. The story is so very compelling. I love how Krueger was able to seamlessly weave in all kinds of issues from child abuse and pedophilia to alcoholism, prostitution, the belief in miracles, and the steadfast belief in God through all hardships to those who feel God has let everyone down and more. While the narrator ended the book telling what became of the other three children through the years, he didn't really say what he did, unless I missed it, other than marrying his sweetheart. I know he mentioned several times he was a storyteller, but didn't specifically say he was a writer, and I wonder about his harmonica. Did he continue playing? He was in WWII. What did he do, where was he stationed? Fodder for another tale, I think. Oh, and I was pleased that Krueger actually visited some of the areas he wrote about and actually took to the rivers he had his runaways travel down.

Marilyne

MarsGal - It's been a long time since I read, This Tender Land,  so I don't remember the ending that clearly.  However, I plan to read it again, and will pick it up at the library the next time I go.    I only remember that I  liked it a lot, and recommended it highly, here in this folder.

I think you would like the non-fiction book I'm reading now - Nomadland, by Jessica Bruder.   The subtitle is, "Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century".   It was made into a movie, starring Frances McDormand, and it won the Oscar, for Best Picture.  I haven't seen the movie, but I plan to watch it after I finish the book.  I just started it yesterday, so not far into it, but it's very good so far.   Lots about both the book and the movie online.

MarsGal

I heard of Nomadland, the movie, but didn't look into it. It sounded like it might be a "docudrama".

Last night I finished watching the five episode The Forgotten Army: Azaadi Ke Liye. An Amazon Original, it depicts the reminiscences of an Indian officer of the Indian National Army formed in Singapore under the Japanese during WWII and set in the background of the recent (and ongoing) struggle for freedom within Burma where much of the action takes place. Very good.

Yesterday, I started the first of Tony Dunbar's Tubby Dubonnet series, but can't seem to get into it. So, what shall I read next? So many books in my queue, and even more now that I am, once again, trying Amazon Unlimited. Gosh, and I bought more Audible books. I started to listen to a thing called Beadle the Bard which I also didn't care for. It is for Harry Potter fans. So, what shall I listen to next? Decisions, decisions!

MarsGal

Yesterday I finished The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay, and today I will start The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. Wonder of wonders, neither one is a SciFi.

The Little Printed Bookshop is kind of a self-help tale where three women are given a list of books to read. Some are non-fiction, some are novels. Each, read in order, points to ways of re-examining one's life, making amends for past missteps, self forgiveness, asking for forgiveness, etc. At the end the author relists the books specifically mentioned and those that are alluded to without giving the title. I enjoyed it.

Also finished yesterday the Michael J. Sullivan fantasy I was listening to. It was good, but not quite as interesting as others in the Elan Universe. Next are several short stories, then back to the full length books.

Marilyne

#2565
MarsGal -  You are correct,   Nomadland,  is definitely a docudrama!   I haven't seen the movie yet, but the book is a real eye-opener.  How has this lifestyle been going on  all across the West, Southwest, and South, and most people, like myself,  didn't have any idea!    These nomad workers are  retiree's without a pension or retirement plan, those who have had to declare bankruptcy,  or people who don't have the skills to make enough money to survive in today's economy.  Especially the inability to pay the high rents that are now required in most of the Western States.  So they sell everything and buy an old RV or live in a converted van, trailer, etc. 

They travel from job to job - seasonal work, like at State Parks, or sports venues, or year around 24 hour jobs available at the Amazon warehouses.  Now called "Fulfillment Centers".  That was the most shocking part of the book to me . . . the grueling, exhausting, work at Amazon, for minimum wage, done mostly by women and men over 65.  The warehouse in Nevada, was something like the equivalent of 6 football fields in size, and of course concrete floors. These older workers are on their feet for their entire eight hour or longer, shift! 

It's a book worth reading, to learn about a segment of American society that is struggling to survive, and who are virtually invisible to the rest of us.   

MarsGal

Yesterday afternoon, I finished The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. It is an interesting tale of what lengths a parent will go to protect his child from the bad choices he made. The search to discover why he disappeared, to find out who he truly is, and the discovery of previously unknown family put his daughter in danger. The narrator of the story is the stepmother who is left with the responsibilities of raising and protecting a resentful sixteen year old. Not bad.

So now I started a post-apocalyptic tale by Karen Traviss (yes, that is how she spells her last name) called The Best of Us. Many of Traviss's books are set in gaming universe and Star Wars worlds. This one is in the Galaxy's Edge universe. So far, so good. Looks interesting--bio-weaponized plant virus released got out of control and ravaged the world.

Audio bookwise, I haven't decided on what next to listen to. Of course, the big sale of the year was on, so I bought more. Sigh. Three of them are Great Courses audios.

Marilyne

MarsGal -  Your description of The Best of Us, has a familiar ring to it . . . "bio-weaponized plant virus released got out of control and ravaged the world."  Hmmm, now the consensus of opinion seems to be swinging back to the Covid 19 virus, accidentally escaping from the lab in Wuhan.    We shall see how that pans out?

I went to the library yesterday, and picked up a new book that I ordered a while back, called  The World Without You,  by Joshua Henkin.  I can't recall who recommended it  or whether I read about it online, but it must have sounded good?  I haven't opened it yet, or even read the book jacket, but will sit down with it later this afternoon.   

Anyone out there with HBO?   If so, I'm hoping that someone else has been watching,  Mare of Easttown?   It's a new seven episode show, starring Kate Winslet, and lots of other wonderful actors as well.   It's not the type of show I usually watch - very dark.  The world seems like a  dark and unpredictable place to me right now, so it kind of fits.  I recommend it, if you like to watch good acting, and lots of drama.

MarsGal

Now my current reading is full up. Two non-fiction books from FLP showed up pretty much at the same time. The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson is an audio book, so that choice got decided for me. The other is The Light Ages by Seb Falk; it focuses on science in the Middle Ages.

Meanwhile I am still reading The Best of Us. It is better than I expected. I am just about three quarters of the way through. Not a lot of fighting in this one. The story revolves around three, no four, groups: On Earth, the scientists in their high security compound, a community of mostly farm and village people, and a "transient" group of war vets and other refugees, and 40 light years away, a colony secretly being built and populated. Aside from the secrets being withheld by the scientific leaders, even from their own group, there is some hostility expressed regarding the transients. But slowly some people within these groups start to trust and help each other. It is interesting reading to see three disparate groups slowly learn to trust and to integrate.

MarsGal

I posted this on SeniorLearn, but thought you might like to hear about this book:

"I recently finished listening to The Dead Drink First by Dale Maharidge, the audio version of his Bringing Mulligan Home: The Other Side of the Good War (2013). This short volume, a little over three hours to listen to, like the book, is about his 18 year journey to find and bring home a WWII MIA member of his dad's squad. I think the book went a good way to explaining (or reminding me) why many of the vets didn't talk about their war experiences and it certainly did talk about what we now call PTSD the vets' lifelong struggle with it. It just goes to point out how lucky my dad was that he never had to engage with the enemy. He was administrative staff and spend the war in England. They were just loading onto a ship at Liverpool to head to the Pacific when the Bomb was dropped and their transfer to the Pacific was cancelled."

Maharidge, a Pulitzer Prize winner, has written a number of books and articles about the working and rural poor in America.

Shame on me. I sent back both The Ascent of Money and The Light Ages without finishing them. I got bored rather quickly with the first. I lost interest in the second which looked at science through the eyes of one specific monk. I didn't give either one much of a chance to change my mind.

MarsGal

Two more books bit the dust without finishing. One, a science fiction audio book got a bit boring and seemed overly long. I skipped to the end and found it no more interesting than the middle of the book. The other, Ha Jin's Ocean of Words, while not at all bad, just didn't hold my interest just now. His first work of fiction, it is a collection of short stories set along the Soviet-China border. I may get back to it in future. There is another of his in my library wish list, too, for later. It seems I have had an unusually long string of non-finishers lately. Hmmmm!

Yesterday I started reading a new SciFi series by Rick Partlow, Drop Trooper: Contact Front. I like the main character, and the story is okay so far. Haven't decided on my next audio book yet.

MarsGal

I am getting a little lonely in here.

Now reading the second of the Drop Troopers series and picked up another of Iain M. Banks Culture Series called Matter from FLP, but haven't started it yet.

Been listening to several short audio books. One was a presentation read by Kate Mulgrew and Francesca Faridany called The Half-Life of Marie Curie. This play, written by Lauren Gunderson, is wrapped around her friendship with a British mathematician and suffragette Hertha Ayrton. Unfortunately, for those who don't have it, it is only available through Audible. They commissioned the work. It is worth a listen.

Right now I am listening to a "full cast" audio of Ender's Game called Ender's Game Alive which was produced in 2013. The cast includes  audio narrator like Scott Brick (a favorite), but also a few actors like the multi-talented Theodore Bikel and Samantha Eggar, and SciFi author and screenwriter Harlan Ellison. This is probably one of the last performances by Bikel since he passed away in 2015. More listed, but those are the names I know except possibly for Sefan Rudnecky and Christian Rummel. Of course it is a little different than the movie and does explain a thing or two that I either missed in the movie or they didn't include. Entertaining.

Marilyne


MarsGal - Looks like you've been talking to yourself again! :D Ha ha!   It's been lonely in this folder lately, so I'm thinking you must be the only one reading, or maybe the only one reading anything worth mentioning?   I haven't read a book since,  "Nomadland",  which I thought was a worthy read, but now have run out of choices.  The library has finally opened for browsing, so I hope to visit sometime this week, and come home with a stack!

I've been watching a lot of TV, and I know there are others out there as well, but I guess I'm the only one who wants to report on my choices and recommendations?    We watched the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday night, and since then we've stayed with the various sports that are being featured so far.  Time seems to have slowed down considerably for me, so I'm happy to become glued to the TV, watching gymnastics, swimming, bicycling, and the grueling Triathlon!   The official Olympic Triathlon, consists of a swim of 0.93 miles (1.5 kilometers), a bicycle route of 24.8 miles (40 kilometers), followed by a run of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).  All three done without pausing for a break, rest, etc.  I don't know how, or WHY, someone would pick that particular sport?  Anyway, it's interesting to watch dozens of them struggling through the three phases of the contest!

PatH2

I'll keep you company for a bit, MarsGal.  I never saw the movie of Ender's Game, only read the book and its many sequels.  Orson Scott Card is an author I find compelling to read, but all the while I'm thinking "yes, but...."

That's not Bikel's only venture into sci-fi/fantasy.  There's a 1980 made for TV cartoon version of The Return of the King in which he does the voice of Aragorn, and also I think sings some of the songs that were written for the production.  41 years ago--yikes.  It was a good job.

PatH2

Marilyne, I'm not posting much, nor watching much TV, but I read your comments with interest.

MarsGal

It always seems "quieter" in the middle of summer.This year it is worse.

I am on a quest to locate a list of the characters each each person read, but Audible/Amazon don't seem to list them. I did find something that said the readers played multiple parts. I think I picked out Bikel, but with him you never really know; he was sooooo good at changing accents, etc. My favorite Bikel movie is The Russians are Coming..., but I liked to hear him sing on occasion.

I just finished the second Drop Troopers novel and downloaded #3.

MarsGal

Marilyne, I just reread your last post. Some of my best conversations, these days, are with myself or with the cats.  :laff:

This afternoon I stopped by the San Diego webcam and ended up watching the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Stockdale come into port.

Now I am about ready to sit down again and do some more reading. Oscar is looking for a lap and some attention.

MarsGal

Ran across this list this morning. It isn't the run of the mill book list I am used to seeing. It includes authors I have never run across. Guess this means I will be looking them up to see what they wrote, who they were and why they are on the list. https://www.imdb.com/list/ls005774742/


maryc

I thought I posted here a couple days ago but !?!?  Anyway it's been a while.  Summer brought company and a couple days in the hospital with an A Fib event.  That shook things up a bit but I'm getting back into routine.The days in hospital gave me time to finish a good book that had been loaned by a friend.  The title was The Waiting (quite appropriate?)  It is a true story written by Cathy LaGrew  about her grandmother's life.  If you can find it I would recommend it.
  Before that I had finished Saving Savannah, by Patti Callahan Henry. This is a historical fiction written about the sinking of the steamboat Pulaski off the shore of  N. Carolina in the 1800's.  The remain's were found  just a few years ago and made news because of the great amount of treasure. Good people story!
Mary C

Marilyne


Maryc - so good to see your message this morning!   It's been a long time since we've heard from you!   Sorry to see that you spent a few days in the hospital with A Fib.  I'm wondering if they recommended a heart monitor?   AJ was going to get one, but then the doctor changed her mind, and wants to wait on it for awhile.   Anyway, glad you are home, and feeling better, and that you have Debby, to look in on you.    Please post again soon, and let us know how you're doing?

MarsGal - Best Book lists, are always one person's opinion, and I usually don't agree with most of them.   Looks like this list concentrates on the  "ancients".   I do like Shakespeare, and have read some of Tolstoy and liked it, and of course "Les Miserables".  Most of the others I would not be interested in reading at this time of my life.   I had to read, "Crime and Punishment", when I was in college, and I have to confess that I don't remember anything about it.

PatH2 - Good to see you posting!   The mention of Theodore Bikel, always makes me think of "Fiddler of the Roof", which I enjoy watching, whenever it plays on TCM.