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Library Bookshelf

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

Previous topic - Next topic

Tomereader1

You didn't miss much,Marilyne. IMHO it was the dumbest Hallmark presentation I've ever seen.  Poor script, walk-thru acting, yech.  I've always looked forward to Hallmark Presentations (not the TV series shows which are schlocky but fun).  Use that 2 hours to read a good book!

maryc

#1111
We enjoyed watching The Christmas Train on Saturday.   My husband who hates the commercials and usually goes off to bed about 9:30, commented that the commercials were short and he stayed to watch the whole movie.   I liked that there were a few surprises mixed into the story.....not all so predictable as the usual Hallmark Christmas stories.   Just another review! :)

I should interject here that I still have The Crazy Ladies kind of waiting in the wings.  It seems to be a book that doesn't move along like it seems like it should but in all fairness I haven't sat down for any stretch of time to give it a "push" either.   I started looking at my shelf of Christmas books and thought I would get through The Christmas Train before it aired, but didn't.  Debby brought over a small Christmas story by  Mary Higgins Clark,  Silent Night. It was a quick and good short read to get me into the spirit of the season.   
Mary C

Marilyne

Eventually, I'll weigh in on, The Christmas Train!  I recorded it Sunday morning, but in the meantime, AJ went to Costco, and bought a new TV.  A Black Friday sale, that was good for the entire weekend.  He wanted a larger screen, and I wanted the ability to get a good picture on Netflix and Amazon, so we now have a new set.  All is well, except we lost the things we had recorded, so I'll have to wait for "Train" to show up again.  I know it will be playing many times before Christmas. 

My daughter watched it tonight, and sent me an email just now, saying that she liked it. Quote:
"I just finished watching The Christmas Train. It was good! It was a little bit sappy and unrealistic, but that's how all of the Hallmark movies are. It was very predictable up until the very end, when they threw in kind of a silly plot twist. I would have liked it better without the twist. But overall, it was a good Christmas movie. Christmas movies are supposed to be feel-good movies, which is why Hallmark tends to have some good ones this time of year."

Tomereader1

Congrats on your new TV!!  What did you get?  Brand, screen size, Smart?
I don't understand about "losing the things you had recorded"...How would a new TV affect that?  Those would be stored on a DVR box, or on your DVD Recorder, wouldn't they?  I'm so confused!  Anyway, great Christmas present for yourselves, early!

Marilyne

Tome - Yes, the new TV is Smart! :D  It's a Samsung, 49 inch, and is HDR, which stands for High Definition Resolution.  It looks no different than plain old HD, to me??  The only thing I don't like about it, is that the picture is a little TOO BIG for our small size living room.  Our old set was a 42 inch, which was in scale with the room, and looked better.

As for my saved programs - I have no idea where they went??  AJ says they should be there, and he will take a look later and bring them up?  He's the resident engineer, so I guess he knows what he's talking about?  Anyway, no big loss if they don't show up.  I had deleted a whole bunch of movies that had been there for ages, so only had a few HGTV shows, some Sharks games, and "The Christmas Train", recorded. Oh yes, there was also a TCM special about Elizabeth Taylor, that I was planning to watch, but I know it will be shown again at some point in time.

Netflix and Amazon look great!  I'm really happy about that, and just in time for the second season of "The Queen"!

Tomereader1

I would think the programs you saved would be on your DVR (from your cable company?)  Anyway,I would like a 42 in. Samsung, but it would be way too big for our room, a 40 inch would probably be passable, but then I'd have to buy a new entertainment center to hold it.  Mine is till in good condition but was only made for a 32 inch TV. I don't want the TV on the wall, talk about a crick in my neck! LOL  Is the sound/audio good on your regular stations?  on my Samsung, the sound is great as long as you're watching Amazon or Netflix, but on other satellite/cable/local channels, you have to turn the volume up to about 40 to make the sound loud enough to hear.  On Amazon/Netflix, about 25 or 26 will knock your socks off!  I'm going to get a "sound bar" to enhance the regular sound. 
Did you get some of that rain a few days ago (our weather guru showed rain in No. Cal.? ) We've been having mixed up weather...winterish mornings 40+ then 60's to 70's in the afternoon.  haven't seen rain in weeks.  Can't believe it is the end of November already!  Did you have good thanksgiving?  Don't recall if I saw you post about it. Enjoy that TV!

MarsGal

I am quite pleased with my Sony SmartTV. Most of my watching is now on Amazon Prime (currently watching  Medieval Dead) and various YouTube clips.

My current reads are Elizabeth Moon's Cold Welcome, and James Oliver Curwood's The River's End.
,
Moon has gone back to her previous Vatta characters with a new series called Vatta's Peace. This first one concentrates on ocean search and rescue, and survival in foul weather and arctic like weather conditions and a saboteur or two as well as trying to find a way to communicated with and get rescued by the good guys before the bad guys show up.

Curwood's book is a Western set the Canadian wilderness and around Prince Albert in Saskatchewan, CA. The story is just okay. It follows a guy (wrongly accused of murder, of course) who is impersonating a member of the CMP at the prompting of said CMP who was dying. There is mystery and romance. Curwood's treatment of women rather condescending. The women are often described as tiny,delicate, and as children even though the may be adults and only a few years younger than the man. Also as fitting to the era, those of Chinese origan are sinister and not to be trusted. A bit melodramatic.

On hold and behind a bunch of others is Artemis by Andy Weir. 

Marilyne

MarsGal - I'm pretty sure that my husband read Curwood's, The River's End?  I know he read something by him, and that his books were written a long time ago. (Explains his condescending treatment of helpless women!) ::)  I do like to read an occasional western, in fact my favorite book from this past year was a western . . .  News of the World, by Paulette Giles.  I recommend it, and think you would really like it a lot.

Right now I'm reading a novel by Michelle Richmond, an author I like very much.  This one is called, The Marriage Pact.  The reviews call it a psychological thriller?  I'm not a fan of that style of story, but I'll stick with this and see how it goes.  I liked one of her early books, called The Year of Fog, which was more of a mystery story.

MarsGal

News of the World is on my library wish list. I didn't realize it was a western. I read mosly Westerns and horse stories when I was a youngster. My most unforgettable Western was Owen Wister's The Virginian. I'd like to reread it some day. I never got around to reading any Zane Gray until I saw the 1996 movie of The Rider's of the Purple Sage.

maryc

Marilyne,   When you look into the book The Christmas Train,  also check on one called Wish You Well by D. Baldacci.  It isn't his usual style either.   Here is an interesting article about his writing of that book.    https://davidbaldacci.com/book/wish-you-well/      This article struck a chord with me as I have been working on a small family tree for one of our great granddaughters.    She is just 10 so it will be brief but hope it will catch her attention enough to pursue it some later.    In researching some of the family I am reminded of some of the stories that I already know and now wish I had more of those.   My mother and grandmother were good family historians.    It doesn't seem to interest some people until it is too late to capture those memories.

I did enjoy reading News of the World sometime during this past year.   She had a good way with words.
Mary C

FlaJean

I also really enjoyed “News of the World”.  It was recommended by several here, so I thought I would give it a read and was surprised at how different and interesting it was.

SCFSue

MaryC, when I clicked on the Baldacci page you mentioned in your post, I got a virus warning from my Norton program, so I clicked out.  Have you had any such warning?

Thanks, SCFSue

maryc

No Sue,  I didn't get any warning and I surely hope that you haven't gotten into anything because of it.    If you want to read it I wonder if you just searched his name or the book title and then chose one of the reviews.  That is how I found it and had no problem.     Sorry if I caused you any.
Mary C

SCFSue

Hi MaryC.  No trouble here as I clicked out of it as soon as I saw the warning.  I've been getting annoying e-mails from Malware Bites which is wanting me to subscribe to them and I suspect they might be putting it in there.  I use Norton Security and run the quick scan daily and a full scan once a week.

Sue

Marilyne

maryc - I clicked on your Baldacci link, and had no problems viewing it.  Wish You Well, sounds like a good book, based on his knowledge of the setting where it takes place.  I'm adding it to my library list! I doubt that I will ever read all the books on my list, but I try to read the ones that are recommended in this discussion.  I receive email rec's from two book sites - Off the Shelf and Good Reads.  They all sound interesting, and I'd like to read each and every one . . . but only so many hours in the day! ::)

MarsGal

I am reading Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner and enjoying it very much. He based his main female character on Mary Hallock Foote, a noted writer and illustrator of the time.

The book and the author come with some controversy. Stegner won a Pulitzer Prize for it, but was criticized for his use of the material and for plagiarism even though he had family permission.  From what I gathered Stegner even offered his novel to the family to read and comment before publication but no one took him up on it (seems a little hard to believe).

About the book: http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/novelreadings/a-kind-of-investigation-into-a-life-wallace-stegner-angle-of-repose/

About the author: https://wallacestegner.org/bio.html

Angle of repose is an actual scientific term. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/angle_of_repose

About Mary Hallock Foote, including links to some of her stories: https://americanliterature.com/author/mary-hallock-foote

maryc

Marilyne,   I agree that there are so many interesting titles out there at our fingertips that it is hard to set a priority.  I did finally finish The Crazy Ladies and I thought the ending was just a little strange.  The book was good but it seemed to stretch out through the middle.   I felt that he belabored  their situation a little long.   I'm sure that those years felt like forever while they were happening but I just couldn't seem to get through them.    Debby brought me another Christmas story that she had from the library.    It is a short little story by Melody Carlson call The Christmas Pony.   I have one by her on my Christmas book shelf called The Christmas Bus. Both are short and easy to read stories.    I noticed today on Book Bub that they were offering Ann Tyler's book called Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.    That was mentioned a few months ago here and I read it at that time.   Currently I have a book on my Kindle from the HOOPLA program through our library.   This one is called The Roots of The Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo.    I've just started it but so far, it is good. 
Mary C

Marilyne

MarsGal - Interesting history on Angle of Repose.  Sounds like a good read, so I will add it to my list of titles.  I hope I'm around long enough to eventually read everything on the list!  Not likely though, since I add something new every couple or days. 

mary - I can tell that I enjoyed Crazy Ladies, more than you did.  There was something about his writing style and the character of himself, that I really liked.  I thought the ending was good - maybe kind of rushed?  It was patterned after Trevanian's, actual life.  He met his wife in Europe, and they were married and had four children.  They were still together when he passed away in 2005.
Just checked on Wikapedia:  "Trevanian" >>> Rodney William Whitaker, born 1931, died in 2005.

FlaJean

Just finished Malice by Japanese author Keigo Higashino.  It was an interesting book even ‘tho you knew very quickly who the murderer was.  Not until the end does the reason for the murder become clear as the thoughtful detective reasons it through.  We always think of the Japanese as being very polite and civil and they are, so bullying in schools surprised me.  When I was a child, our teachers would never put up with any bullying and I really don’t know much about how it is handled now.

I’ve started a second book Salvation of a Saint by the same author and it is quite different but just as interesting.  I love reading books by foreign authors.

Marilyne

FlaJean - There are a couple of Japanese writers that I like.  One is Kazuo Ishiguro, who was born in Japan, but is now a British citizen.  I've read two of his books . . .  the best and most well known, being, The Remains of the Day.  It was made into a wonderful movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, and was nominated for all the major Academy Awards. Unfortunately it didn't win anything.  It would be a great movie to watch some night . . . I'm sure it's available on Netflix, Amazon or On Demand.

I just finished reading the latest Elizabeth Berg novel, The Story of Arthur Truluv.  She is one of my favorite authors, so I was really looking forward to this new book.  I'm wondering if anyone else has read it, and if so, what you thought? 

maryc

I just picked up Arthur Truluv from the library yesterday and I'm nearly finished.  It is a good story (IMHO). Guess it's my kind of story.   Of course it isn't quite finished and I haven't peeked to see the ending but it's been a fun few hours with these folks.
Mary C

Marilyne

#1131
mary - As much as I like Elizabeth Berg, I was not fond of Arthur Truluv.  I felt like it was a totally unoriginal bunch of characters, and seemed like I had read the same story many times before in the past.  How many novels have we read that involves an unhappy, teen girl, whose mother died when she was a baby . . . leaving a neglectful, cold and clueless father to raise her by himself? He does a terrible job, so of course she gets into trouble as a teen, etc. etc. etc.  It seems that this "absent mother", is a common theme in too many books that are written for women! 
Occasionally it will be "absent father", who has abandoned his family to fend for themselves. 

Elizabeth Berg "borrowed" shamelessly, from other best selling books, to write Truluv
I saw parts, right out of A Man Called Ove , The Whole Town's Talking, but mostly from Plainsong, (Kent Haruf).  Teen age expectant mother with no family support, is taken in by two kindly and loving elderly/older people.  She cooks or cleans in exchange for room and board.  In both stories, the boyfriend was almost identical . . . a self centered jerk, with no compassion.

Am I getting too critical, in my old age?  ::) :-\   There actually are some authors, who like to write a story that has an intact family . . .  mother, a father, and siblings . . .  for better or for worse! Life's misfortunes, and bad things can happen within a family, even when mom and dad are both there.  You don't have to get rid of poor old mom, to make a story a good one.

CallieOK

Marilyne,  I find many "prolific" authors who seem to have A Formula posted on their bulletin board and just change the character names and location (most of the time) with a slightly different plot.
Good example is Sherryl Woods' "Chesapeake Bay" series.  Although I'm not overly fond of the syrupy Hallmark shows, I did follow this series and thought I'd read the books to see how the stories had been condensed.
Every single one is about an O'Brien family member and his/her difficulties getting The True Love to agree to marry!  I'd swear the dialog is even the same!  Thank goodness, the tv series did condense things but I hope the script writers get everybody coupled and settled during the next season.

(Of course, that isn't keeping me from reading the books!   Need something to numb my mind after busying about with Christmas activities.   :2funny: )

maryc

You gals are right about the overuse of a theme in books and especially the Hallmark stories.   I suppose I'm a sucker for the Happy ever after and the redemption theme. :-[ . I did like that they brought poor dad into the circle at Thanksgiving.   I thought of the Kent Haruf tale as I read this and also the conversations at the cemetery in regard to The Whole Town's Talking.   Did you not think too of Our Souls At Night when Lucille decided she should move in with Arthur and Maddy???  Good little discussion here anyway.
Mary C

CallieOK

#1134
Well, now I'm curious about this "Arthur Truluv"!  ???
  Had to put the e-book on my "Wait" List and am #22 out of 22 requests.  Hope I haven't forgotten all these comments by the time my turn comes around.   ;D

Has anyone read "Can't Wait To Get To Heaven" by Fannie Flagg .?  It's another Elmwood Springs story and I thought it kind of went along with "The Whole Town's Talking. 
Elnor Stemfissle falls out of her fig tree and is pronounced dead.  Past and present residents have various reactions.  Final one is a surprise to everyone!

Marilyne

Callie - maybe your library has a copy of "Truluv", that you can get right away?  It's a quick read, so you probably would be okay with a book. I'm anxious to hear what you think of it?  My library had a copy, with no waiting. 
Yes, I read "You Can't Get To Heaven", and liked it a lot.  Aunt Elner, is one of my favorite characters from FF's novels!  I first met her in, "Standing in the Rainbow". I also like "Poor Tot". ;D

CallieOK

Marilyne,  I suspect one of the many libraries in the Metro Library System would have a copy of "Truluv" but if the local branch didn't have one available, I'd have to put it on Reserve, anyway.   I can wait.
I was teasing about remembering the comments.  After all,  I could scroll back and find them!!   ;D


MarsGal

#1137
Just finished Angle of Repose. What a story! The story is very heavily based on real people, places and events.

Wikipedia has a summary that doesn't get too detailed with spoilers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_Repose

The struggle of these two mismatched characters to keep a marriage together in the late 1800's/early 1900's is well worth reading. The occupations of both partners, one an illustrator and writer, the other a civil engineer are well illustrated. Oliver was an overly trusting and hard working engineer who (along with his family) suffered set back after set back and disappointment.  Susan, who all the while wrote about and illustrated the West and its inhabitants, never really became a part of nor was reconciled to living in the West. She preferred the society of and moaned over the loss of her Eastern family, friends and sensibilities.

Almost forgot the other bit of the novel involves a wheelchair bound historian who is writing a novel about his grandparents. He does some comparisons and speculations regarding his situation, experience and feelings with those of his grandparents

Marilyne, do I remember correctly that you are in Idaho? The latter part of the book is set in the Boise area and involves attempts to dig irrigation canals and divert some of the river into them. It wasn't very successful until Idaho became a state and the US government took on the project.

Marilyne

MarsGal - I just read your review of Angle of Repose, and it sounds good.  I already have it on my list, so will hope to get it on my next library order.

I live in California . . . native daughter.  I've lived here all my life, except for a year in Washington and a year in Oregon.  I've visited Idaho, and it is indeed, a beautiful state.  I don't believe we have ever had a member of S&F, or Senior Net, from Idaho, Wyoming, Montana or S. Dakota?  I remember exchanging emails with someone, way back a number of years, and we were wondering why those states have never been represented here?  We had a man from N. Dakota, many years ago, but  not the other states mentioned.  I believe that we've had members from every other state in the USA?  Possibly not New Mexico?

SCFSue

I lived 5 years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when my husband was stationed at Kirkland, AFB, but worked on a guided missile project north of Las Vegas, Nev.  He was flown out there on Monday mornings from Kirkland to Las Vegas and then driven with other crew members out to a nuclear missile project site in the mountains.  He came home on Friday evenings and left again on Monday mornings.  Our 2 oldest sons were in high school and the youngest in 5th or 6th grade.

I was born in West Virginia, lived there in Elementary School, lived in South Carolina in Junior High, back to WVa for high school, and back to South Carolina for my college days at the U. of South Carolina in Columbia.  Bob and I married on the day after graduation, went straight from the ceremony to Norfolk, VA, where he was assigned for 3 months to a small ship which left Norfolk on Monday mornings and returned on Friday afternoons.  Since he was the lowest ranking officer on that ship, he had the Officer of the Watch duty on Saturday or Sunday and could not come home on duty days. 

He trained at Pensacola, FL, to be a Navy pilot and served as that for 20 years.  We lived in Pensacola, Corpus Christi, Texas, and Memphis, TN, during pilot training.  Then went to Brunswick, Maine, for 4 years in a P3V squadron where he was first a co-pilot, then a full pilot.  Then he was chosen for post graduate study at Monterey, CA, where he got a graduate degree in Engineering and then it was off to San Diego where our 3 boys and I lived for the 2 years he was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam.  After that tour it was back to Brunswick for another 2 years in a squadron where he was one of the Executive Officers.  The last tour was in Albuquerque.  Our 2 oldest graduated from high school there and both returned to Alabama to attend Auburn University.  When our time was up in Albuquerque, we moved to a farm we'd purchased about 65 miles south east of Montgomery, AL.  The boys moved away to college and we stayed at the farm.  Bob died in 2002 and I sold the farm in 2004 and moved to Auburn--about 50 miles north of us.  We'd planned to move up here after he retired, but didn't expect his illness.

So that's the story of a Navy family, who called lots of places home!
Sue