Library Bookshelf

MarsGal · March 03, 2025, 06:09:17 PM

Via an email from Simon and Schuster, I got reminded of Bookshop.org. They are now selling e-books as well as hardcopy. They also had a blurb about DRM which answered a question I had about e-book ownership. Just because an e-book is DRM free, it doesn't mean you own the book. All the DRM free means is that you can read the book in any e-book reader rather than being restricted to a particular brand of e-reader. At any rate, Bookshop.org seems like a nice alternative, especially because they support local independent books stores through their sales. Has anyone bought books from them?

MarsGal · March 03, 2025, 06:23:17 PM

Aside from still reading the military thriller I mentioned a few days ago, I am also now into Over the Edgo of the World by Laurence Bergreen and enjoying it very much. It is a non-fiction account of Magellan's voyage around the world.

I see that Apple+ is doing Martha Wells' Murderbot Series. That almost makes me want to spend the bucks to get Apple+ just to watch it.

Marilyne · March 10, 2025, 12:58:24 PM

I've been trying to read some of the books I got as Christmas gifts, but so far I can't get into any of them . . . "Hang The Moon", "All the Broken Places", and "The Lost Bookshop". I'll give it another try this afternoon. . . or maybe not? I've been more interested lately in rereading some of my old favorites. My younger daughter borrowed an oldie from me by Anne Tyler, "A Spool of Blue Thread". She liked it and wanted to talk about it when she came over here on Friday. I didn't remember enough about it to have a decent conversation, so I plan to read it again.
I saw this cartoon on-line yesterday, and thought it was a cute one for us book lovers.

BarbStAubrey · March 10, 2025, 01:12:46 PM

Perfect cartoon - love it...

phyllis · March 10, 2025, 05:32:48 PM

MG, thank you, thank you for the cartoon! I really needed a good laugh.

Marilyne · March 13, 2025, 01:29:38 PM

I watched another old movie on TCM yesterday. This one was also a British drama, Brief Encounter, adapted from a play by Noel Coward. This 1945 drama seems very dated by today's standards, but was typical of the way the World was back then. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys taking a look back into the past, at the way life used to be, but no longer is.
A man and a woman meet by chance, in a train station coffee shop. Both are married, with families. They continue to meet, and of course they fall in love, and then the turmoil begins. A story as old as time itself.

MarsGal · March 13, 2025, 03:34:57 PM

Marilyne, I know of the movie, but never watched it. A few months ago I did, finally, watch 84 Charing Cross Road. Of course it was about books and book people.

I just this morning downloaded the NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Bible Study: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture which is published by Zondervan and includes the New International Version of the Bible. Both of my old Bibles are King James versions which I have had since I was a teen. I am looking forward to this one because it includes photos, lots of maps (and you know how much I like maps), charts, a Hebrew to English translation chart, related ancient texts relating to the old testament, and other references. I was all set to order the hardcover, but the publisher was kind enough to say that the type was set at 8.5 pt. which may be a little too small for my eyes these days, new glasses or not. Also, I think it will be much easier to click on the reference numbers and get back to my reading place much easier in the eBook than the hardcopy. And, of course, the ever present lap cat will be in the way trying to hold such a thick (aka: heavy) book. The publisher, BTW, also has a version NKJV (New King James Version) too.

It looks like I am almost done with the book about Magellan. While, it is interesting, some of the asides made the book drag down a bit. But, I suppose it all adds a bit of local flavor, habits, and political intrigues and bigotry between the Spanish and the Portuguese, not to mention the Spanish Inquisition as applied aboard ship.

Has anyone read any of Rebecca Yarros' books? My online library has a "ton" of them. Most appear to be romances of one sort or other. I have two in my Wish List, one is the first of a fantasy series involving dragons and the other is the first of a modern romance series. Romance - ME! Yes, I know, but it looks like an interesting story to go with it.

MarsGal · March 21, 2025, 07:15:48 AM

My newest library pick is The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Unlike Children of Time, which is a three book series I have but haven't yet read, this is one 600 page book. Both involve, as one reviewer put it, alternate biology. Children of Time involves sentient spiders; I am not sure where The Doors of Eden is going yet. However, although not the same story, Google's AI recommends listen to the Children of Time series first because, it says, the book builds on the theme(s) already postulated in that series. Hmmm!Okay, sounds like a good idea. So, the book goes back to the library for now.

Rats, now I have to check what else is languishing in my library wish list that needs attention. One of which is In Search of a Kingdom by Laurence Bergreen, the same guy that wrote Over the Edge of the World: Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire. Looking forward to it.

MarsGal · March 24, 2025, 08:34:58 AM

Those of you who are Louise Penny fans and haven't already heard, she has canceled her US book tour on, she says, moral not political grounds. Good for her. https://www.louisepenny.com/ I am happy to see that she distinguishes between the president's actions and the rest of us.

MarsGal · April 01, 2025, 07:40:34 PM

I've just discovered a book that looks promising. It is The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue,just released 3/18/2025. She is an author I never heard of, but it seams she has quite a few books out. My online libary lists 14 of them. Has anyone read this author. I've added it to my list. Maybe I'll get to it by the time I am 200.

I am going to have to renew my latest library read because I've only gotten into the second chapter. Haven't read much for the last several weeks. Shame on me.

MarsGal · April 12, 2025, 09:54:54 AM

I did not renew Edge of the World... but put it back into my wish list to continue later.

So now I am into the second book of Greg Bear's War Dogs trilogy. It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five and of course, Philip K. Dick's works, hallucinogenic, surreal. The slide into hallucination was so smooth and gradual that I was in it before I fully realized it. Odd set of ingredients, ancient life communicates to sensitive humans through exposure to a green dust, crystals are actually data banks of ancient knowledge (or so it is believed), and of course, there is a war on between those who would destroy and those who want to use/control this strange discovery. Oh, and everybody seems to be lying to everybody to hide their real motives.

I have read some of his books, including his contribution to the popular gaming based series, HALO and some are still on my shelf yet to read including his award winning Darwin's Radio books. Aside from writing science fiction, Greg Bear was a co-founder of San Diego's Comic-Com. He passed away a little over two years ago.

Marilyne · April 12, 2025, 01:19:42 PM

Mars, Thanks for all of your interesting posts over the past month. I read them all, and enjoy "hearing" about the books and authors you recommend.
I don't know if I'll be able to ever again sit and read, as I've done my entire life. Three things going wrong here to spoil my joy of reading. >>> Lack of comfortable seating, good reading glasses, and a book that's easy for me to hold onto. (twisted arthritic fingers and hands make it difficult.) Boo hoo - poor me! I'm fortunate to still be here at this age, so I won't complain - I have much to be grateful for.

Easy for me to get comfortable in the recliner, so I watch lots of books made into movies. Never as good as the book of course, but better than most of the new junk out there. Most recently, I've watched Giant: book by Edna Ferber. An excellent adaptation I think. I'm going to check Prime, Netflix and Peacock, for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, book by Betty Smith. It's one of my old favorites, and I haven't seen the movie for at least 30 years!

Nothing to do with reading, but I just turned on the TV, and a Women's LaCrosse game was in progress. I realized that I had never seen one before. The teams were from two Eastern women's colleges. As soon as I finish this, I'm going back to watch more, and see if I can figure out what it's all about? Looks similar to Soccer, except for the racket or basket thing they're holding?

phyllis · April 12, 2025, 03:50:58 PM

Marilynn, LaCrosse is a popular college sport in the East. It was invented by Native Americans and is a fast, and can be injurious or even lethal, game before players wore protective gear and rules were changed to protect the players. The early Indians played it as a game of war. It is a fascinating game to watch. Enjoy!

so_P_bubble · April 15, 2025, 03:40:25 AM

For Patricia

patricia19 · April 15, 2025, 11:57:31 AM

Thank you, Bubble, for posting for me. This is for all of you. Little house on the prairie, book fans.

Marilyne · April 15, 2025, 12:25:50 PM

What a beautiful photograph of the Wilder's - Laura Ingalls and her husband Alfonzo! Most of us who post in this folder, have fond memories of reading the Little House on the Prairie books, and of watching the television series. Thank you Patricia, for finding this picture, and thanks to Bubble for posting it.

MarsGal · April 15, 2025, 03:34:42 PM

Marilyne, sorry to hear that it is so difficult to read a print book anymore. If you have streaming on your TV and can get YouTube (and I imagine there are other streaming sites, you will find some audio books posted. I have also run across some animated Greek myths, and a bunch of short-story sites. Here is a listing. If you like Matthew McConaughey it even lists some of his motivational/inspirational speeches. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0gml3Zg1wRnneydNrR9e3FsrMFihgFKu I like listening to McConaughey, have listened to all three of the Quantum Thief series and some short stories and poems on YouTube. More and more AI generated short stories are popping up. AI is getting better telling stories without sounding "flat". So many wonderful ways to "read" books stories and poems.

I finished the War Dogs trilogy, skipping much of the third book as the narrative was a bit too weird and seemed endless. Bear could have made a descent two book story out of this, but three books of that weirdness was too much. Out of all of it, my take-away is that the trilogy is essentially an antiwar story on hallucinogenics.

Marilyne · April 19, 2025, 11:28:07 AM

Good morning to everyone looking in, and wishing you a beautiful Easter weekend. Last night I had one of my sleepless nights, so I finally got up at midnight and watched a good Easter movie . . . The 1973, Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. I hadn't seen it in 20 years or more. It's usually referred to as a "rock opera", depicting the final days before the crucifixion. Fortunately there were closed captions, so I could understand the opera style dialogue and the lyrics to the songs. Very fast moving . . . I wish they had lingered longer on the scene depicting, The Last Supper.

MarsGal · April 30, 2025, 08:07:47 AM

I am in the middle of I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney. Barb has already read it in an overnight binge. It is a bit quirky, humorous, sad and fun. I highly recommend it.

Marilyne · April 30, 2025, 10:52:15 AM

Mars - Funny you should mention, "I See You've Called In Dead". I read a review on it a few days ago, and was so intrigued that I ordered it! I'm hoping the print will be large enough that I won't have a problem reading it. I can tell it's something I'm going to like, and that I need to read.

MarsGal · May 13, 2025, 11:14:41 AM

I kind of remmember we talked a little about McMurtry and his books here. I just discovered that David Streifeld has a book about him being released in January 2026 called Western Star: The Life and Legends of Larry McMurtry. Might be interesting.

MarsGal · May 18, 2025, 07:46:19 AM

It occurs to me that I have never read any of Mary Higgins Clark's books. I plan on remedying that. Unfortunately, the one that I chose to read first is not in my online library, so I will have to look elsewhere. Simon and Schuster is offering some of them, in ebook format, on sale through various online bookstores.

I am definitely going to have to re-borrow In Search of a Kingdom for a third time. It is a very long book and I haven't been reading it steadily. Meanwhile, there is a SciFi I have on hold which should be available on the sixth of June, barring any others wanting it.

Spending way, way too much time watching YouTube.

so_P_bubble · May 18, 2025, 07:58:43 AM

Mary Higgins Clark is a favorite as are Ruth Rendell and P.D. James. When I was working a the library, they were always in and out, never on the shelf.

MarsGal · May 21, 2025, 08:00:39 AM

Found this poem by Archibald McLeish just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. https://allpoetry.com/The-Young-Dead-Soldiers-Do-Not-Speak

Marilyne · May 22, 2025, 12:35:28 AM

I've posted this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox a number of times over the years, on Memorial Day. It's about the futility of hoping for or praying for peace in the world. It was written around 1914, at the beginning of World War I - which was supposed to be "The War to End All Wars".

We women teach our little sons how wrong
And how ignoble blows are; school and church
Support our precepts, and inoculate
Their growing minds with thoughts of love and peace.
"Let dogs delight to bark and bite," we say;
But human beings with immortal souls
Must rise above the methods of a brute,
And walk with reason and with self-control.

And then--dear God! you men, you wise, strong men,
Our self-announced superiors in brain,
Our peers in judgment, you go forth to war!
You leap at one another, mutilate
And starve and kill your fellow-men, and ask
The world's applause for such heroic deeds.
You boast and strut; and if no song is sung,
No laudatory epic writ in blood,
Telling how many widows you have made,
Why then, perforce, you say our bards are dead
And inspiration sleeps to wake no more.
And we, the women, we whose lives you are--

What can we do but sit in silent homes,
And wait and suffer? Not for us the blare
Of trumpets and the bugle's call to arms--
For us no waving banners, no supreme
Triumphant hour of conquest. Ours the slow
Dread torture of uncertainty, each day
The bootless battle with the same despair,
And when at best your victories reach our ears,
There reaches with them, to our pitying hearts,
The thought of countless homes made desolate,
And other women weeping for their dead.

O men, wise men, superior beings, say,
Is there no substitute for war in this
Great age and era! If you answer "No,"
Then let us rear our children to be wolves,
And teach them from the cradle how to kill.
Why should we women waste our time and words
In talking peace, when men declare for war?

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

MarsGal · May 22, 2025, 05:43:19 AM

That is quite a lament, Marilyne. One that many of us of the female persuasion can relate to.

phyllis · May 22, 2025, 10:11:30 AM

Marilynn, I have thought this for so many years since I have lived through so many wars in my long life but can't express it as well as the poet does. Thank you for posting it.

patricia19 · May 22, 2025, 12:44:38 PM

I agree.

Marilyne · May 25, 2025, 09:30:01 AM

THE GREATEST GENERATION
Coming back home to America in 1945, at the end of WWII.

This is an awesome picture. I have it saved on my desktop, and will sometimes just sit and look at it, and think about these men. Wondering if any of them are still living? Hoping they all lived a good life.

BarbStAubrey · May 25, 2025, 01:57:59 PM

They were all just kids when they signed up - some even lied about being 16 which was supposed to be the minimum age - lots of Blue Star mothers delighted seeing that picture and many a Gold Star mother frozen in time. The mother's are for sure all gone now... Google says there are still a few thousand WWII veterans still alive.

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