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Library Bookshelf

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

Previous topic - Next topic

Marilyne

MaryTx - Nice to see you here in the Library Bookshelf. :) If you and Sue both recommend C.J. Box, I think I'll take a look at his books.  I'm not a big fan of mystery novels, but I do like to read them occasionally.  I did like the Longmire series, and this looks similar.  My husband likes Bosch and Longmire, so I'm sure he will enjoy the Box stories. 

My favorite novels are the ones referred to as "chick-lit".  The two I recommended yesterday, would fall into that category . . . The Female Persuasion, and Before We Were Yours.  I like all books by Lisa Wingate, Diane Chamberlain, and Anne Tyler.  I also like every book ever recommended by Oprah Winfrey, who is a great fan of chick-lit.   My most disliked books are the psychological thrillers, like Gone Girl, The Lying Game, Girl on the Train, and many similar that seem to be very popular. 

MarsGal - I saw that Three Men in a Boat, was the book to be discussed in SeniorLearn.  As you know, I often take suggestions from SL, but I decided to pass on that one.  Doesn't sound like something I would enjoy.  Ghost Fleet sounds intriguing.  Not sure if I would like, but I'm quite sure my husband would.  I'll put it on my library list.

MarsGal

I just this afternoon realized that I checked out an audio book a while back and forget to download it. I have 9 days before it goes back. It is another in the Vorkosigan Saga series.

Marilyne, I think Ghost Fleet is a bet scary, but I can't see that our military (all branches) would get so blindsided by an attack. It is still jumping around from person to person and place to place regarding the action and aftermath. Interesting enough to keep reading.

Three Men in a Boat reminds me a lot of the Brit sitcoms, humorwise. Someone said it has been made into a movie several times. I think it would be more fun to watch than to read.

angelface555


SCFSue

I read several of  the Clan of the Cave Bear--I don't know how many she wrote.  And also read 4 or 5 of the Outlander series.  I bought those, but gave up after that.  I'd moved to Auburn after Bob died and the library here is much larger with a greater variety to choose from.

Sue

maryc

Hi  Redbud (MaryTX)   Good to see you over here.   I believe we were both in a gardening forum back a few years.  Is that correct?  Nat (Nature) from Toronto was the leader of that group.   He passed away and that forum just sort of dropped for a time.
I have another of Catherine Ryan Hyde's books going now.   The title is The Wake Up.   It is good but a little different kind of story.    It was a Book Bub $1.99 offering.   
Mary C

MarsGal

Marilyne, I finished Ghost Fleet.... It followed several different tracks with some intersecting and some not. At first i thought it was going to be the first of a series, but no, the author managed to wrap everything up in the epilogue. The characters I most took to were Major Doyle, who led a small guerrilla band throughout the war, and Colonel Vladimir Andreyevich Markov, a Spetsnaz officer tasked with investigating a series of murders.

While it makes a good read, it is flawed as this article I just found points out. https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/07/31/reading_ghost_fleet_is_a_mistake_108311.html

At the bottom of the article the writer does recommend P. W. Singer's nonfiction, Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry. The book has been updated since I first read it. Published about the same time as the original book, is this article (.pdf) for the peer-reviewed academic journal, International Security. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/20020128.pdf

Your husband might be interested in Corporate Warriors... if he hasn't read it yet.
I might take a look at the updated version myself to see how much has changed.


maryc

For those of you who enjoy   "people stories",   I highly recommend The Wake Up by Catherine Ryan Hyde.   It is a good family story that gives lots of food for thought.   :thumbup:
Mary C

Marilyne

Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate.  What an incredible story, turned into a wonderful book! This is my favorite style of writing . . . a fictional story, based on a true event in history.  This true event is about young children, who were kidnapped from their parents and families, and sent to a "home", where they were put up for adoption and sold for a high price, to wealthy couples who wanted a child. 

This actually took place in Memphis, Tennessee, during the 1930's and 1940's.  You have to read it, to get the full emotional impact.  The children were duped into thinking that their actual parents didn't want them, and had given them away. The way they were treated in the orphanage/home was atrocious. 

I have a vague memory of a neighbor friend of mine, when we were both in our 20's, telling me about how she was turned over by her parents to a children's "home", to be adopted, because her parents didn't have the money to raise her.  This happened during the depression, when she was about three or four.  She was from Memphis!  She was adopted by a wealthy family, and had a wonderful life . . . private schools, college education, etc.  After reading this book, I can't help wondering if her real parents actually gave her up, as she believes, or if they were tricked, as the parents were in this story?  Now I would love to know more, but I doubt I ever will.  We are still "Christmas Card" friends, but that's it.   

Tomereader1

Yes, Marilyne, Before We Were Yours was a wonderful, enlightening book.  Glad you liked it. 
Bet you're in "hog heaven" tonite if you watch TCM channel:  Singin' in the Rain; An American in Paris and Gigi.   Wow, what a line-up.

Marilyne

Tome - Good to see you here!  Yes, I was impressed with that great lineup of shows on TCM tonight.  Gene Kelly's finest! I have the DVD of Singin' in the Rain, so I didn't watch that one.  Paris, is playing right now, and GiGi, doesn't start until 9:15, so I'll record that one.  I see that the 1951 version of Showboat, is playing tonight at 1:30, so I'll record it too.  It's my favorite version - I like Ava Gardner and  Kathryn Grayson, and love Howard Keel.  Lots of other greats also, such as Marge and Gower Champion.

Marilyne

Today I plan to go the library, to return my last bunch of books, and select some new ones.  I hope to find something in large print, that looks good to me.  The regular print books are becoming uncomfortable for me to read . . . print too small and too light for my eye problems.  Too bad there isn't much in the large print section that I'm interested in.

MarsGal - I have Ghost Fleet, on hold.  I'll take a look at it, but I think it sounds more like a story my husband would like.  Other than that, I'm still on the wait lists for other books that I'm interested in.  I can't even remember what they are, at the moment? ???

If anyone has any suggestions, post some titles here in the next couple of hours?  Our library doesn't open until 1:00 pm on Sunday,  which is still four and a half hours from now. 

so_P_bubble

Marilyn, do you know of the author Elizabeth Goudge? I love her style, her descriptions of children, her uplifting stories.  Maybe start with 'The City of Bells'

MaryTX

Marilyne, have you ever read any of Kristin Hannah's books?  I hadn't heard of her until my daughter told me about her latest book, "The Great Alone" set in Alaska.  I enjoyed it and started looking for others of hers.  I just finished "Summer Island" which I really liked and it was set in the San Juan Islands of Washington state.  I have a personal connection on both sides of my family with the islands.  My grandparents homesteaded 640 acres on San Juan Island in the late 1880s and my mother, aunt and uncle were born there.  My paternal grandparents in Michigan raised a niece with their kids.  When she married, she and her husband lived on Shaw Island.   My sisters and I spent a good part of our summers with them.  The only 'modern' conveniences they had were electric lights!

Mary

Click for Arlington, TexasForecast

Marilyne

MaryTX - I've read two books by Kristin Hannah, and liked them both.  One we talked about in here a  couple of weeks ago . . . The Winter Garden.  It was a good story, but I liked The Nightingale, better.  I'm leaving for the library in about an hour, and will look for Summer Island, and hope they have it in large print.  I like novels that take place in the Seattle area, or anywhere in Washington.  I spent lots of time there in my younger days.

bubble - My library doesn't have The City of Bells.  I might be able to get it from Amazon, on my Kindle?  I've never enjoyed reading much on my Kindle, but I should give it another try . . . it's good for setting the print size to something comfortable for my eyes. 

MaryTX

Marilyne, Amazon has "Summer Island" is on Kindle if you can't find it in large print.  My Kindle died so I have been reading Kindle books on my Ipad.  I like reading on the Ipad as it is easier to hold in my arthritic hands than a book and I can increase the print size.

I'll will have to look for "The Winter Garden".

Mary

Click for Arlington, TexasForecast

Marilyne

MaryTX - My library has Summer Island in large print, but it's checked out right now.  I put my name on the wait list, so will probably go ahead and read it when it comes in.  I know I should start getting used to reading on the Kindle.  Not only are my eyes in poor condition, but I also have arthritic hands, and have a hard time holding onto anything, including books.  I'm sure my hands would win a prize for the ugliest and most twisted! LOL All of my fingers are going in different directions! :'(

Maryc - I got The Wake Up, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, at the library.  It looks like a story I'm going to like.  If you're looking for something good to read, I suggest Before We Were Yours,  by Lisa Wingate.

bubble - The library had nothing at all by Elizabeth Goudge, but I'm sure I can find something by her for my Kindle.

Other books I got today are: The House of Unexpected Sisters, By Alexander McCall Smith.  This is his new "Ladies Detective Agency" novel. The Last Picture Show, by Larry McMurtry, and Anything is Possible, by Elizabeth Strout. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Olive Kitteridge, which I liked a lot.   

maryc

Good afternoon/evening all.    Lots of good suggestions here today.    I don't believe I've read anything by Kristin Hannah though have noticed them at the library.    I'll give her a try.   Also Elizabeth Goudge sounds like she might be good for a new author.   I just finished one that I got through HOOPLA.   It is a different story about a young woman  who is autistic and has been raised by her mother to believe that she isn't able to do much of anything.   The title is The Seven Rules of Elivra Carr by Frances Maynard.
Thinking of you 'Tomereader'.  Nice to see you here a few days ago.
Mary C

Tomereader1

MaryC, thanks for your thoughts. Hope you are doing all right.  I try to get to the computer once a day, but don't always open up all my S&F notifications.  It's good to come here and see everyone talking about the books they're reading and movies/TV.  I've just not found anything interesting on TV that I can concentrate on.  I've DVR'd a couple of shows, like tonite I'm DVRing "Endeavor" and the first episode of "Yellowstone" which I missed when it premiered.  Tomorrow is more paperwork.
Love to all of you S&F friends!  Some days you keep me going. 

so_P_bubble

Marilyne, any other book by E. Goudge is as good as  The city of Bells. Of course it was printed some time ago, but I have always enjoyed re-reading it again. It's optimistic!

MarsGal

Tome, I watched Endeavor last night. It was pretty good, better than a few I've seen. Anyway, it is lucky I got to see it because I didn't get notice, via email, until yesterday. Usually the Masterpiece Emails come earlier that the day it airs.

Marilyne

#1400
Tome - I watched the first episode of Yellowstone, last week, but I'm undecided as to whether I'll stick with it?  I like Kevin Costner, so I still have high hopes for this series.  It's okay, but is really just a rehash of all the modern Westerns you've ever see.  Widowed patriarch with adult children, trying to keep his huge ranch from being taken over by developers.  Indian Reservation adjacent to his land, et al.  Kind of a mixture of "Longmire", and the old "Bonanza".  I will say that it was better than most of the new choices on Netflix and Amazon.  Not sure what's available on HBO/Showtime, right now?

Mars - I'm going to watch Endeavor, On Demand tonight. 

bubble - I think I might have read some books by Elizabeth Gouge, many years ago?  I Googled her name, and some of the titles sound familiar to me. 

I checked out way too many books yesterday!  Two of them are on a "one week only", because they are brand new books . . . the new "Ladies Detective Agency", and the Elizabeth Strout.  I doubt I will start either one.   I always get carried away at the library . . . so many books and so little time! ::)

CallieOK

Marilyne,  I'm so glad you mentioned the new "Ladies Detective Agency" book!  I checked the series list on the author's web site (easier to type than to do his entire name! ::) ) and discovered I had not read the previous five.  There's a long waiting list for the newest one (#18 in the series) so I've put it on Hold and will try to catch up while I'm waiting.


Marilyne

Callie - I was fortunate to get the new "Ladies Detective Agency" book, (The House of Unexpected Sisters), because I know that there will be a long wait for it from here on out.  Too bad it's only available for a one week checkout, because I'll have to take it back before finishing it.  The book is long and the print is small, so I know I couldn't finish it in time.  I'll wait, and get it for my Kindle, so I can adjust the size of the print. 

maryc - I started reading "The Wake Up". I'm about a third of the way through, and enjoying it a lot.  Aiden, is such a likable man!  The boy, Milo, is complicated, but I'm hoping things will turn out well.

maryc

I did enjoy The Wake Up.    I can't recall a book of Catherine Ryan Hyde that I haven't liked.    As I mentioned earlier I just finished The Seven Rule of Elvira Carr by Frances Maynard.   That is a different little book but good thoughts in it.    Referring back to The Wake Up,  I have one now on my Kindle from Hoopla.  It is titled Among the Lesser Gods by Margo Catts.  She is an entirely new author name for me but her writing is good and I'm about two thirds through the book and have enjoyed the story.    Someone here mentioned Elizabeth Strout the other day so I stopped in at the library and picked up one of hers that I hadn't read.   It is titled Anything is Possible.    I didn't think I would finish Olive Kitteredge  when I started it but I did and liked her writing style.   

Tomereader,   One thing that has helped me quite a bit is reading.    I can't concentrate on TV much though I did watch a movie on Amazon Prime the other evening.   (Wish You Well)    I've read a few things by Elizabeth Kubler Ross and recently I had a book from Hoopla called Resilient Grieving by Lucy Hone.  She has many good thoughts that are just a little different.  She is from New Zealand.  Take care.
Mary C

Tomereader1

maryc, thanks so much for thinking of me.  We are sharing a terrible time, yes?  I can read, but still can't get into TV.  My DVR is filling up with thoughts that I will get around to watching sometime in the future.  I'm going to check with my library about the Resilient Grieving book, maybe they will have it or can show me how to do Hoopla on my tablet or Kindle?

so_P_bubble

John Knittel -  author from some time ago but I recommend warmly!

FlaJean

Just finished Alexander McCall Smith’s latest No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book “The House of Unexpected Sisters.  Precious discovers some exciting changes to her life.  A pleasant read and good results to her detecting.

maryc


Nice to see your face here today FlaJean.   Seems like I've been missing you.   Your Ladies Detective story sounds good.   I need a little change of subject. 
Bubble your older authors reminds me of an old, old book that my late aunt gave to me years ago. She was a collector and buyer of old books that took her fancy and as she got older she dispursed her collection as she did this one to me.  It is yellow with age but I did read it and pulled it from my book shelf trying to think of someone in my family that MIGHT take an interest in the old story.  This book is Eben Holden by Irving Bacheller.   On a blank front page this is this dear inscription:     To the best woman I know,  my wife.   C.H.W.  December 25, 1900     I simply say that she is good and loves me with pure womanhood....when that is said,  why, what remains?  Jonquain Miller. This is written in ink in an old, old  cursive style. Following is a link to the story. 

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2799/2799-h/2799-h.htm
Mary C

FlaJean

MaryC, I had cataract surgery in April so didn’t do much reading for a while.  I’m glad I finally got that behind me.

Marilyne

Mary - I agree with you, as to that inscription in the book your aunt gave you.  Whether you like the book itself or not, it's worth having just to read that sweet and endearing inscription from a man to his wife. I've so often been impressed with the manner in which men and women wrote personal letters and notes to one another, back in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  They had such a way with words, and they were so loving, sincere, and sometimes very witty.  I read a book a long while back, that was compiled of actual letters,  written by soldiers during The Civil War, to their wives, sweethearts and families back home. They were so beautiful.  Even letters from Service men, written during WWI and WWII, were well written, descriptive and loving. Sad to say, but we know, that letters like those from the past, will never be written again.