Anymore there are just to many books coming out with the same titles. Specially between the ones in the Library and then the Ebooks coming out by the thousands just that way.  I use to go by Authors names but very seldom see one I know going directly to the EBooks.   My library now have far more books that you can only get on the Tablets of Ipads than the get going onto their shelves.  Libraries are changing so much. Such a shame.

Junee,   I've been reading a series of books that are a story set in  New Zealand in the 1800's.    You might be interested in this story if it were available in your library.    The first book of the series is A Sentence of Marriage.    It is the tale of an extended farming family who lived in the bush region called The Valley of Plenty.     This is a link to the author who is a native of New Zealand.  http://www.shayneparkinson.com/

Marilyne,   This week when I was visiting at the nursing home I stopped to talk with one of the younger residents.    I noticed that she often has a book at her side.     We talked about books etc.    She told me that her F2F book club is having their meeting at the NH soon and brought her the book to be discussed.   It is A Man Called Ove.    I told her that I had read the sample and am waiting for the library ebook.   She made a few comments that helped me to think more about reading the whole book.    That was an interesting little connection and I'm sure we will have more visits in the future.

Mary.  Doesn't look like our library have any of Shayne Parkinson books.  I look for ones written by and about Australia and NewZealand

maryc - I'll be interested in hearing what your friend at the NH, had to say about "Ove"?  I've only barely started, but so far, the story seems familiar and very predictable. l hope to finish it tomorrow, and will let you know.   Two things I found out about the book: a movie has already been made, and will be released soon, and a sequel to the book has been written and is a huge success.  It's called My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.

Marilyne,   I will hold my friend's comments about "Ove" until you have finished so as not to spoil anything there for you.     I did see the sequel listed on Amazon when I looked for "Ove".    From what I read in the sample I was reminded me of another book some of us read here a while back called Emily Alone by Steward O'nan.

If you have Book Bub on your Ipad then today you can buy "The Deep end of the Ocean" for $1.99.  That was fast. It was selling for $29.99 on Amazon last week.

"The Light Between Oceans" movie was released on DVD January 24th.

As to "A Man Called Ove", the movie was released some months ago in theatres, but not yet on DVD.

Maryc
I am interested in the books you recommended . Will try at the library. Think the librarygirl calls this Friday, so will have a written notbfor her. Thank you.

Callie.
We always get movies etc. ages after they are shown in the States.  I use Netflix and  ITunes . Nbetflix is free but I can hire or buy on ITunes for a very reasonable price. I notice the movie The light Between Oceans has just come on but $17.99 so will wait as soon it will be for hire...I hope.

Marilyne
I copied those instructions for closed captions and will try this out . Who knows I might be successful and I certainly would like cc when looking at movies.  I oftenhire movies for
$3.99 for 48 hours. Just have to find what I enjoy. Working my way thru Crown and Victoria. At present.

I was just looking at the Video of the Mary tyler Moore funeral Sunday. the cemetery if very close to Granddaughters house in Connecticut. So I will go and see it. She must have had it all arraigned and the site is just beautiful. Has a big Angel on it (Cost $2 hundred thousand). and the site takes 12 Grave lots. Just hope that tourist respect the site. I looks like a cemetery that locks its gates in the late afternoon.

mary - It's been two days since I last sat down with Ove!  Lots of things going on around here, so I haven't had the time to read or watch any TV.  However, this afternoon I hope to get back to a more normal routine. I'm about halfway through the book, and liking it okay, but not understanding why it is such a mega hit?  I can see what's coming, but maybe not?  There might be an unexpected turn of events?

Junee - I hope you've had a chance to see The light Between Oceans?  As to your closed captions - maybe you have a neighbor or someone who can show you how to get them for the movies that you watch?  I have access to cc on my remote, but they are also usually available at the beginning of most movies where it says "set up" . . . or something similar. 

JeanneP - The grave site for Mary Tyler Moore, sounds lovely.  I hope that there is a way to keep tourists at a safe distance. 

The remote for our Sony Blu Ray player (which streams Netflix, youtube, etc.) has a button for CC too but they aren't available with everything that plays, I've noticed.    We like to have them also because some of the conversation is either with an accent that is difficult to catch or sound just isn't so good.  It helps to fill in the spaces.

We watched a news conference this noontime with the White House Press Secretary and he read his notes so fast that you could barely understand.   Even the CC went by too fast.

Marilyne, I understand, from a friend who has read "Ove"
(we saw the movie together) that the newspaper reporter is emphasized in the book, much moreso than in the movie.
So there may be more dialogue there (in the book). I didn't get to finish the book, as I checked it out from the library, and my time ran out, it had many holds on it. Truthfully, I can't make a comparison between the two, but I feel that the movie was just perfect the way it was presented. 

I have noticed that a lot of "older" movie, and especially ones from UK don't "always" have CC.  Marilyne, you mentioned at one point that you were thinking on getting a new TV.  Well, if you are, don't go into a BestBuy store, because it will knock your socks right off.  The displays of the TV's (3D, OLED, 4K, curved screen, etc.) will make you want to buy one right there!  I stopped in yesterday to ask some questions of their "Geek Squad" personnel, about hooking up my DVD player.  Just walking thru I wanted to shell out the big bucks for a set that would take up my entire living room wall.  Hah, hah.  Wouldn't do that, but oh, my, the beauty of the picture on those things!!!

I liked, A Man called Ove, and I can surely see why it's so popular. The old familiar story of the grumpy curmudgeon  with the hidden heart of gold.  His sad back-story explains his cranky mean spirited attitude, but you know right away that circumstances will occur, and he will change, rejoin the human race, and begin to enjoy life again. It's a predictable story, that plays out as expected.

All of the characters in the story are fun to read about, but not at all realistic. (IMO)  Of course this takes place in Sweden, so maybe they would seem more real in that country?  Nonetheless, they are interesting, and all add to the outcome of the story . . . which is easy to predict. That's not a bad thing, so I hope you all get a copy of this novel, and that you enjoy it.

Tome - For me, the newspaper reporter was one of the least interesting characters, so I can see that she might be left out, or played down, in the movie?

mary - Now I'm really curious about what your NH friend thought of the book?  It was nothing like Emily Alone, except for one circumstance. 

I read a wonderful book over this weekend . . . The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker.  It is truly a story that grabs you from the beginning, and you can't put it down until you reach the end.  I cannot begin to say how much I liked this story.

At first I thought it was a YA book, because the narrator is a young girl, but I don't think so, and it doesn't matter anyway.   It was recommended in the "O", Magazine, and the Oprah Winfrey, website.  However, I first saw it recommended on my new favorite online book site, "Off the Shelf".

The story might be considered science fiction, because it's about the beginning of the end of the world . . . the end times.  I really think that all of you who read this forum, would like this book.  I recommend it highly! 

I looked it up on Amazon, and notice that there are a number of books with the same title, so if you get it from the library or online, be sure the author is Karen Thompson Walker. 

Marilyne,    I guess that my friend's opinion of Ove was about as you stated.....a grumpy curmudgeon with a heart of gold with a happy ending to the story.    In the series that I've been reading there is just that sort of person but unfortunately for his family the heart of gold does not show up until his dying moment.   There are glimpses into his childhood  that give you an idea of how he became what he was as a man.

Marilyne, I read 'The Tresspasser" by Tana French.  It was OK but don't think I would bother reading another from this author.  However, I did like the ending.

FlaJean - The Trespasser, is not really my style of book, as I don't care for mystery novels, or "who done it" plots. However, I thought the characters were interesting, and her style of writing was good.  Also, the fact that the story took place in Ireland was different.  (The police departments in the USA, would never get away with treating the female officers the way she was treated!) Anyway, like you, I'm not planning to read any other books by Tana French.  One was okay, but that was enough.

mary - People who like happy endings, will like "Ove", and I'm sure the latest by Bakman, "My Grandmother, etc", is probably along the same lines. 

mary and Flajean - consider the book I just finished - The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker.  Whether you'll like it or not, I don't know, but I guarantee that it will hold your interest to the very last page!

The Age of Miracles was available as an ebook from our library.    I've started it and get the idea of what it's about.    My copy of the Shayne Parkinson book is on loan for two weeks so I'm trying to finish that in time and read a bit of Miracles along too.        I'm not too much into Sci Fi but will continue to see what will happen.

mary - I dislike science fiction stories such as The Hunger Games, but I really hate science fiction action stories that involve wars and space ships and alien beings, such as Star Wars, and Star Trek!  

However, I do like the style of SF that deals with past lives, like Somewhere in Time, or "end times/end of the world" scenarios.  I thought The Age of Miracles was well done, with the 'end times' theme . . . without going hysterical or totally hopeless. The characters seemed real and were likable, and the situation verges on plausible in the future? Especially when you think about the condition of our planet now, with climate change, oceans filling with trash, ozone layers, polar ice melt, et al.   

I suppose I should back up on that statement about SF.    Marilyne, your comments made me think of one that I read just a while back called Time and Again by Jack Finney.   I really did enjoy that one like Somewhere in Time and I'm sure if I were to think longer I would remember others.  I did read the first book of The Outlanders but didn't care to continue with those.     You probably would put me into the category of  people who prefer to "just not think about the scary stuff" that might or might not happen.   Al watches too much news, IMHO and I often need to temper the stuff that is happening and threatens to possibly happen.   He is 90 years already and doesn't  need a daily dose of gloom and doom.  Of course we have had a long  running debate about him being too negative and me being too positive so go figure!

Marilyne, I like lots different SciFi venues but not particularly interested in time travel (never even read or saw The Time Machine). I do have one or two to read sometime, though.

If you haven't read any of Hugh Howey's books, I would suggest The Shell Collector. It is a near future, environmental, romantic novel revolving around the rising tides from climate warming. The woman is a journalist who also collects shells. She is researching and writing an expose about a big oil company CEO who is also a major shell collector. She blames him and others like him for the rising waters and destruction of the coastal areas so vital as bthreeding grounds  and nurseries for shell bearing creatures and fishes.

Many of Howey's works are post-apocalyptic, but they concentrate more on the daily living, problems of community building and coherence, and such. The Silo (Wool, Shift, Dust, each with their sub-series) series is post nuclear, so is Sand, I think. Sand is a stand alone and concentrates on communities of scavengers roaming a desert area: some conflict/rivalry between groups, some inventiveness, a little romance. It is a very interesting book.  Beacon 23 is set on a "light-house" at the edges of an asteroid belt. The setting is SciFi, but most of the book is about a guy who signed on to get away from people and his personal demons (he has PTSD). He has a growing  romantic relationship with a neighboring light keeper who is in a similar situation. Together they begin to heal their psychological wounds, learning to trust and rely on each other. He has also written a non-fiction travel memoir series called Wayfaring for those who like boating. I am going to have to check out some of his more recent writing. I've been remiss in keeping an eye on what he has written since he started his Molly Fyde series (which didn't interest me). Enough of Hugh Howey, whose praises I sing.

A Must Read book: Elizabeth Moon's Remnant Population. It is about an older woman who purposely stays behind when a colony is forced to relocate elsewhere because an intelligent species was found on the planet which the powers didn't want contaminated with advanced tech. This is about how she feels free at last, becomes self-sufficient, and eventually, against colony policy, begins to teach the locals some of the tech. I very highly recommend it.

Not all SciFi are bang, bang, shoot-up ups. Jack McDevitt is one author wrote several good space exploration type series including his Alex Benedict (occupation: antiquities finder/dealer) series and  his Pricilla Hutchins (occupation: pilot who ferries space scientists to research sites). Of course, the older writers, like Arthur C. Clark and Ray Bradbury of often wrote more positive things about the future.

Recently I started on Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. Paranormal is also not one genre I usually "haunt". These are good, quirky. Koontz recently wrapped up this series after 8 or 9 (?) books. Carmen de Sousa wrote several novellas about a detective with just a hint of the paranormal that I liked. She has moved on to a paranormal romance series which I have yet to start; I'm not big on the Romance genre either.

I don't think we have a huge SciFi following here. Seniorlearn.org is mightily suffering now, too. We are down to two regulars who read SciFi. Too bad.

MarsGal - I read The Shell Collector, and thought it was very good.  My husband read it after I did, and liked it so much that he checked out some other books by Hugh Howey, that he liked even better.  I always intended to read another of his books, but had forgotten all about him until you reminded me.  Remnant Population sounds good.  I might give that one a look. Sand, sounds like another one I might try.  I prefer stand alone books to series. 

As you know, this S&F book discussion, encompasses all genres of literature in one place . . . classic, best seller, SF, non-fiction, historical fiction, books into movies, and everything else!  We used to have a good sized group of members who posted here, but it has dwindled down to only a few.  I wish all of our book loving friends would return, but I'm not holding out much hope!  Many of them have left S&F.

mary - I smiled when I read your last message, because it looks like you and Al are just the opposite of us!  My Al is cheerful and positive, and always seems sure that things will turn out okay. He is not a worrier, and doesn't even think about, what if?  He's a good example of a "glass half full" personality. I'm definitely a "glass half empty". I'm anxiety prone, and a world class worrier . . .  always thinking of the worst case scenario, whether it's family stuff or world problems.  Like your Al, I was watching way too much in the way of politics on TV, which is so depressing - no matter which side you are on.  I have cut way back, and now only watch local and a half hour of Scott Pelley on CBS.  No more CNN, MSNBC, or Fox!!

Marilyne,       

I like to watch Lester Holt on NBC and then turn to PBS at 6:00 for the best news without bias, bar none. I never watch CNN, MSNBC, or Fox, either!

SCFSue

I watch either David Muir or Lester King at 5:30 and Scott Pelly at 6:00.  I especially enjoyed David Muir's broadcasts when he was doing the "Made in America" visits to small manufacturing businesses that were really "made in America".  I read some articles in Washington Post online and enjoy a good indepth article in The New Republic, But if something really big happens I go to CNN or MSNBC.

I finished a couple of mysteries and am now re-reading The Paris Architect about a young self-involved young architect in Paris after Germany invaded France in World War II.  The war changed him and his outlook on life.  I love a book with a satisfactory ending and this one has it.

FlaJean - The Paris Architect, sounds good.  As I've mentioned before, I like books that take place during WWII, or the Depression. 

One of my on-line book sites featured African American women writers, a couple of months ago.  I read one of the novels, and recommended it in this discussion . . . Another Brooklyn, by Jacqueline Woodson.
I've just started another one, The Mothers, by Brit Bennett. This is her first novel, although she has written for publications like The New Yorker. So far I'm liking it very much. 

On the TV news subject . . . I'm trying to stay away from any cable news shows that are slanted either left or right. I like a, middle of the road approach. We used to watch PBS nightly news, but AJ didn't care for it . . . said it "put him to sleep". LOL!  I think he's so used to the fast moving, quick sound bite style on the network news, that he couldn't deal with an in-depth story. Anyway, I think I can talk him into giving PBS another look.       

FlaJean - Birthday Girl!  I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and a great Valentine's Day!

Happy Birthday FlaJean.   Hope you have had a good day.    Our son and DIL are visiting in Fla and said that today was very nice and warm. (that was in W. Palm)  Hope it was same for you.

Marilyne,   I finished The Age of Miracles.   It was an interesting story though I don't like to be frightened over what may happen to our globe, even though the possibilities are surely there for a mishap.  Once I had gotten into the story, I didn't want to stop before I found out the ending.   Thanks for the suggestion.