Callie - I was a little impatient at first, with The Winter Garden, but once I got into it, I'm really liking it a lot!  I plan to read the entire book, and then look into SL, and follow along as they discuss the different chapters.  I'm no good at reading a book a section at a time, and then discussing that section/chapter, before continuing on.  I remember back in Senior Net, trying to slowly follow along like that, but it just didn't work for me.  I'm not a member of Senior Learn, so I wouldn't be joining the discussion anyway, but I do like to see what other readers have to say about a book. It's fascinating to me, that personal opinions on story and characters, differ so drastically from one person to another!

Marilyne,  I'm sure I'll read ahead, too.  Not sure I can recheck the e-book, either.  I think I'd be put back at the end of the waiting list.
I do like the story in general and am always curious about how an author "wraps up" a story with such contrasting characters.
I think our personal backgrounds have a lot to do with our reactions and am always interested in the variations.

Callie and MarsGal - I finished The Winter Garden, yesterday and I thought it was a great read!  Much better than I was expecting it to be, because I'm not a huge fan of Kristin Hannah's novels. (However, I did like The Nightingale).

I won't say much about "Garden" now, because I don't want to ruin it for either of you, in case you aren't finished with it yet?  I looked at the discussion of the first few chapters on SL,  and found it to be very interesting.  I'll check it out again later today, and see what else has been said.

I've also finished "Winter Garden" and liked it. The ones in SL who aren't reading ahead are going to have a surprise, aren't they? Will be interesting to read their reactions.

Do you think you'll comment there when everyone has finished the book?

i've checked out the ebook of "Victoria and Abdul" from my library.  Hadn't watched the movie so didn't realize it's based on a true story.  Not far enough into the story to have an opinion, yet.

Callie - I'm not a member of SL, so could not comment, unless I decided to join.  After all these years of being a "lurker", I'll probably continue on the same way.  I notice that there are very few messages there in recent months.  Same problem we have here in S&F.  People seem to be tired of message boards.

I agree, Marilyne. It is a real shame. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to myself, but if one person, lurker or not, finds my posts on a subject interesting and reads the book or researches a subject, I am happy.

My current books to finish this month: Winter Garden (just starting Chapter 7), The Metronome a crime mystery by D. R. Bell (about half way through, 1st book of a trilogy), Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold (audio-book not started, part of the Vorkosigan series), What is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics  by Adam Becker (only two chapters in), Dead Wrong by Richard Phillips (not started, part of the extended Rho Agenda series). Don't you just love it when all your holds come up at once?

MarsGal - I know what you mean . . . I also sometimes feel like I'm talking to myself.  It's a problem on all message boards now.  Like you, I think that more people than we realize, are reading our posts. There are so many visible "guests" here in S&F, at all times . . . it's just too bad that they don't want to join and post in any of the folders.

After I finished Winter Garden, I looked online for more information on The Siege of Leningrad.  I plan to check out other books, (fiction and non-fiction), and learn more.  It's hard reading about that terrible time in history, but I want to know about it.  It used to be that I didn't want to read about war, but now I realize that my generation will be the last one to actually remember the War years.  This realization makes me want to know as much as possible.  I also have been watching old  and new movies that deal with WWII, as well as some documentaries.

I "listen" to a lot of books...  but
I don't discuss books...

"Reading" books and "Listening" to books,
as I have mentioned before",  require
different skills....  and demand different
reactions... 

When I use to "read",  that is all I
would do.     I would start a book,  and
spend all of my time inside that
book, until I finished it.

I read a lot,  all of my reading life.   I
grew up in a family where both my
Mom and Dad read  a lot.   I think
that "reading" functioned as  a good
escape from participating in family life.

The older I got, the less I spent time
reading.   (I was a single parent with
four kids) working in a profession that
required a lot of my thought (computer
programmer) so  there was little to no
time for reading for pleasure.    I never
got back to reading for pleasure.... as I
spent most of my time working on
computers  (which is still reading!) 

Once I had the strokes about 5 years ago, 
I took up listening to books on disc.   
I got in the habit of going to bed with
them,  every night... (have them shut
off automatically after one hour)... 
but of course I up 2-3 times a night for
a potty break,  turn on my book and
listen until I fall asleep again.   

What I am trying to say is there is  a
big difference between reading for
pleasure and listening for pleasure
before sleeping ... 

Often times I listen in here and
find books that I can get from
my Maine State Library books on disc...
In fact most of the older ones I can get...

But the way I "read"  (listen to) books does
not lead me to having a good discussion about
them,   because my listening  serves a different
purpose then the way I use to read books.

I have mentioned this before ... but I just wanted
to reinterate that I do come here often and   read
what is being said (because I still can read with
vision left in my right eye.   

Listening to with ears does not make for easy
discussion with other people who are using their
eyes to read the same books.   

I think that it is because information read with ones
eyes goes to a different place in the brain,  then
information listened to with ones ears... 

How the brain can make sense of it all,  who
knows??   LOL       
And actually,  it doesn't make any difference
as long as we are happy getting to know books,
which ever way makes sense to us. 

Wow....  long winded!!!   

Just to let  you know that I am
here and appreciate those of you
who are participating here. 

Sandy

P.S.   I edited some of this
but not all of this,  so please
forgive my mistakes..     

Marilyne (et al)  The most memorable book dealing with the Siege of Leningrad is, for me, "The Madonnas of Leningrad" by Deborah Dean.  It has such a beautiful story which kind of masks the horror of the siege. If you read this, you won't soon forget it.
I had read it when it came out, and then later recommended for my f2f book club, and re-read it.  Still one of my all-time favorite books.

Tomereader1, the Wikipedia entry on the Siege of Leningrad is extensive and includes a large listing of footnotes and bibliographical information. The Madonnas of Leningrad is among those listed. YouTube has some presentations which show old footage of the siege, including an hour long presentation by PBS America. One of the presentations includes info about the Metronome which is mentioned a number of times in the crime mystery I am reading. YouTubes list of programs and clips abut the Siege. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Siege+of+Leningrad



Sandy, after sticking my nose up at audiobooks and the quality of narrators, I finally discovered that there are some wonderful narrators (including Ray Porter and Grover Gardner). I don't listen often, but when my eyes give me fits and fuzz out on me I can still "read". One of my major complaints about using audio books is that, so far as I can tell, they don't include photos, maps, etc. that I like when reading history. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a button you could click on to take you to  such info while reading? The other is that I haven't discovered a way to do a search for something that I read earlier or bookmark a spot. Maybe there is for some books, and I just don't know it yet.

I've never listened to an audio-book but would imagine that the tone of voice the narrator uses could make a difference in interpretation of the text by the listener.

I enjoy discussing a book but don't enjoy analyzing the "whys and wherefores" of the author's "intent".  Never could catch what the historical fiction author was "saying" about a particular social issue, for instance - which is probably why I've never liked Charles Dickens.
Once did a book report in high school on "Anna Karenina" and was surprised that the teacher was so impressed that I chose to (read this phrase in lower dramatic tone  ) Read Tolstoy.  I just thought it was a good love story with lots of complications.

However, if I were teaching history today, I would try to have the students read at least one or two novels that related to the era being studied.

Callie - I've never listened to an audio book either.  I'd like to, but I don't have a listening "device".  I do have a Kindle, but haven't figured out how to listen?  I've read all of Kent Haruf's books, but would also like to listen to them.   I'm remembering back when many of us in this discussion, were reading his novels, and someone said that the narrator of his books was wonderful, and set the perfect tone. 

I was required to take Russian Lit when I was in college, and remember liking Anna Karenina, but War and Peace, not so much. Dostoyevsky, was pretty much lost on me.  Crime and Punishment . . .    I resorted to Cliff’s Notes, on that one!

There is a excellent movie about Tolstoy, that I highly recommend.  It's called The Last Station, and stars Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy, and Helen Mirren as his wife.  It's a wonderful film, that's available On Demand, or on DVD.  Fairly recent - I think around 2010?

Marilyne, I have very sensitive ears and earbuds/earphones bother me so when I sampled a couple of audiobooks I just listened through the sound of the device.  Of course, I was by myself in the house and wouldn’t be able to do that in public.  My problem has been finding a voice that I enjoy listening to.  I was using iBooks but you should be able to do the same thing on a Kindle (depending on the type of kindle reader you have).  At least it would give you an idea of whether you would like an audio book.  Google your type of Kindle and see if it has audio.

FlaJean - Yes, my Kindle does have audio.  I'll try to download something today, and see if I can get it to work for me?  in the long ago, I used to listen to the radio at night, on my Sony Walkman. The ear buds didn't bother me at all then, but that was a long time ago.  Now I have itchy ears, that drive me crazy day and night, so that would be a problem with buds. (Or maybe it would solve the problem?)

Tome - The Madonna's of Leningrad, is one of the recommended books on Amazon, about the Siege of Leningrad.  There are lots of others that sound very good as well.  Some are novels, but others are non-fiction accounts or diary/memoirs.   

In the past, I tried two different times, two different books to listen to the audiobook. It was terrible (to me)  felt like trying to listen to a TV program from another room, and not getting the real "meat" of the story.  Also, the two I tried had very monotonous readers, which didn't help.

Even though,  IMHO,
there are huge differences between
"reading"  and "listening" to books,
I am so grateful that I am still   
(in my way) able to listen to stories, 
be they fiction or non fiction...

For me, it is still "the great escape"
that I can pop into anytime I choose to
turn on my machine and tune  in my brain.
Sandy

Sandy,  absolutely right about the pleasure of turning on the machine and indulging!!!! 

I feel the same way about the e-books I borrow from the OKC metro library.   Just turn on my Tablet, click - and there it is !   

I've been reading Sue Grafton's 'Y Is For Yesterday" all afternoon.   Am sure I'll finish it before I go to sleep - even if that's in the wee hours.   

Onward and Upward!!!! 

I've read all of Sue Grafton's books, A through Z.  I own a good many of them, but I was disappointed in the last 2 or 3.  I think she was running out of steam by then.  Sometimes a prolific author tends to have her characters do a lot of the Same Old Thing!

Sue

Didn't Sue Grafton pass away right after (or just before) the last "alphabet" novel was published?  I haven't checked to see if "Z..." is available for e-book loan.

Grafton died after “y”.  I read in an article that her daughter said that would be the last one.

I'm still hanging about, reading the posts on my Kindle but not able to post there so I have to sit down at the computer in order to do that.  ho-hum!!    When I make up my mind what I want to do and get all of these household fix it up  things  done,  I'm going to get a tablet that will handle the internet just a little better.   I can't complain about the Kindle.   It has been a dandy little computer but it does have limitations.  When we were away I was able to keep up with banking and email and all sorts of necessary things.    I'm not thrilled with the fact that these electronic devices have such a short life.   I know that it is necessary to the manufacturers to bring on new and improved features in order for them to stay in business but those of us that are older are used to buying something that will last a good long time.      Now off the soapbox!    I did finished  Milk Glass Moon and really enjoyed it.  It's been a long time since I read her earlier books and perhaps I didn't read the second of this group but do remember the characters and it was good to be reconnected.

I've been reading some non fiction in the meantime by  Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and another writer dealing with losses.   Some is helpful and some not so much.   I suppose you just have to pick and choose what appeals.

The yard and gardens are beckoning with lots of housecleaning to be done.   We've had a couple really bad windstorms that left broken trees and lots and lots of pickup to be done before the grass could be mowed.   I love to work in our yard,  it is great therapy but does take time away from other things.

 Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, now there is a name I haven't heard in quite a while. Back when I was in . college, I thought she pretty much wrote the book on death, dying and grief counseling. Her attempt to put together an AIDS hospice in Virginia for infants and children with AIDS was blocked by local residents fearing spread of the disease. She also did some work on near death experiences.

I remember reading Kubler-Ross's book on death/dying in the 60's/70's.  She discussed patients who had near death experiences with visions of former family members and others.  Very interesting work. 

Sue

maryc - good that you're enjoying your Spring yard work. It's wonderful therapy, and gives me great satisfaction to get those flower beds read to bloom all summer. 
Due to flexibility problems, I can only work in the raised planters now, but it's better than nothing. I hope to put in some colorful petunias this weekend, in my front planter bed. 

I read a wonderful book this week, that I highly recommend . . . An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones.  It was #1, on Oprah Winfrey's book list for Spring, and deservedly so! A story that will not be soon forgotten. I hope that some of you who look into this discussion, will give this one a chance.

Marilyne, I will put American Marriage on my list; however, I just checked and there are 133 "holds" on it.  So it will be awhile.

I noticed this week that the book An American Marriage was mentioned and the long waiting list at some libraries.    It sounded like a good one so I went to my Hoopla site just on a chance that they would have it.   Low and behold they did and I got the download immediately.   It is a good and quick read.  I see that on my Kindle edition there are about 1500 pages but that goes a lot faster because I have a larger  font set for comfortable reading.   It seems to be a story that keeps me wanting to read on so I know it will be going fast.  It is a different kind of story.

Callie & MarsGal - I haven't looked into SL in a few days, to see what is being said about The Winter Garden.  The last time I checked, all those who had finished the book, were enthusiastic about the story and characters, and were discussing the ending.  I'll try to catch up with thoughts and opinions this afternoon or evening.

maryc - I'm wondering as to how you liked An American Marriage?  I was quite enthralled with the story, and felt that it turned out as I hoped it would.  I have read that it's destined to be a Best Seller, because of Oprah, recommending it and giving it a high rating.  IMO, it stands on it's own, even without her recommendation.

Marilyne, I was going to ask if you were still checking the discussion. We are getting through the book faster than expected. There didn't seem to be too much to say about part of the book, other than the story does carry you along until you've gone farther than you've intended. I had to read ahead because I couldn't renew the book and had to get it back to the library.

Marilyne and MarsGal,    I'm smiling at some of the reactions to the ending.

I did enjoy An American Marriage.   I'm not always a fan of Oprah's books but this one was good and kept me reading.    I liked the ending,  though it wasn't what I was looking for.

I have a couple of other books on the Kindle to be read.   One is already started.   It is another about the Orphan Train.   This one called The Last Four by C.J. Petit.    The other is a Book Bub selection called High Plains Tango by Robert James Walter.   Both seem almost like what my mother used to call "Dime Novels" but for lack of something better,  I will continue.   Sometimes there is a surprise in what looks to be an ordinary book.     

Debby and I have started another adventure.   We signed up to be volunteers for the County Home Delivered Meals program.   For the time being we will just serve as substitutes when needed.   This way we can learn the ropes and see if we are ok with it.   We went out this morning with another driver for orientation.   It is challenging to be sure that the right meal goes to the right person!