Member: CharlesBoyd

Thank you. I hope you enjoy it. Happy Holidays!

posted by ptorcivia at 4:58 pm (EST) on Nov 28, 2009

Charles- Yes, I agree with you about the messaging! It would make things much easier to respond to someone's message. We should make the suggestion. Hope you have a great holiday!
Mark

posted by msf59 at 10:45 am (EST) on Nov 26, 2009

Charles- The Magdalene Murders is the 3rd Jack Taylor book!

posted by msf59 at 8:53 pm (EST) on Nov 25, 2009

Hi Charles- Thanks for all the info on Sallis. I did see that trilogy with the Turner books and will probably order it. Hope you are enjoying the Bruen book, I of course loved it. I just found a used copy online of "The Madelene Murders", the 3rd Taylor book. Take care!

Mark

posted by msf59 at 7:10 pm (EST) on Nov 25, 2009

Hi Charles- Unfortunately, I got the S.K. book returned back to me today. It said "no such number" on it but the address label was partially torn off. Bummer! So I'll try it again on Friday. Sorry. Send me your address again, just to make sure that I had wrote it down correctly.
I finished and loved "The Long-Legged Fly". I'm working on a mini-review and I will continue the series. I'd like to read his other series too, with Turner, I believe? Sounds very good. Well, I hope you and your family have a great Thanksgiving!

Mark

posted by msf59 at 6:12 pm (EST) on Nov 25, 2009

Hi Charles- Did you ever receive the Stephen King book? I hope so. Let me know. I've been reading "The Long-Legged Fly" and it's been very good! Hope you are having a good weekend!
Mark

posted by msf59 at 8:22 am (EST) on Nov 22, 2009

Hi Charles- I read "A Little Piece of Another Life" and really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing it and I wish it could have been longer. Nice imaginative piece! And I loved the "middle"! Good job!

Mark

posted by msf59 at 4:18 pm (EST) on Nov 18, 2009

Hi Charles -- The only book I own and have read by James Sallis is "Drive." Been a while since I read it, but remember liking it (because of where it is placed in my collection; tend to shelve books according to likes, believe it or not). I am sure that one day I will get around to a Lew Griffin story.

posted by magnumpigg at 2:29 pm (EST) on Nov 18, 2009

Hi Charles- I just read your review of "the Guards" and gave you a big thumbs up! We need to get more readers into this guy! I also liked your review of "A Fine Balance". I have it in my tbr and need to get to it someday. I'm loving "Jar City". Terrific writing! I have not got to the link, to your short stories, maybe I can later today!

Mark

posted by msf59 at 11:31 am (EST) on Nov 18, 2009

Hi Charles- I'll try to get the book out tomorrow! So you enjoyed "The Guards"? You should stop by and star my 50 Book Challenge and check me out: http://www.librarything.com/topic/72418
Take care good sir!
Mark

posted by msf59 at 10:12 pm (EST) on Nov 11, 2009

Hi Charles- I think the Lehane book you mean is "Shutter Island". I read it a few years ago and was underwhelmed. Hard to believe it was the same author that wrote "Mystic". I think the film version might be better. His private-eye books are very good though, particularly "Gone Baby Gone."
Shoot me your address and I'll send you "Just After Sunset". Later!
Mark

posted by msf59 at 7:25 pm (EST) on Nov 11, 2009

Charles- Of course I've been reading "The Killing of the Tinkers", the 2nd Jack Taylor book and guess what I stumbled across today: Bruen name-dropped Sallis twice and mentioned the Lew Griffin series. Very cool, huh? Is the book you are sending, the 1st in the series? I'm really looking forward to it. Have you read Dennis Lehane?
Mark

posted by msf59 at 7:17 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2009

Hi Charles- Thanks for letting me know that, about Bruen & Sallis! Very cool! I saw you have added "A Fine Balance". I've had that in my tbr forever. I've heard such good things about it. Take care!
Mark

posted by msf59 at 6:47 am (EST) on Nov 10, 2009

Hi Charles- I hope you enjoy "The Guards" and that's excellent timing because I'm just under a 100 pages into "The Killing of the Tinkers" and it's been fantastic. I'm not familiar with that program. Any good?
Mark

p.s. did you mail out the book?

posted by msf59 at 5:33 pm (EST) on Nov 8, 2009

Hi Charles- You asked about Walter Mosley. Yes, I've read a couple, including "Devil in the Blue Dress", which I did enjoy but I guess he just never clicked with me. Have you read Charlie Huston? He's my favorite crime writer right now! See you around!
Mark

posted by msf59 at 10:11 pm (EST) on Nov 5, 2009

Hi Charles:

I hope you're doing well. I saw your "up for another" challenge on the I'll Read Yours... group. Good for you!

I just finished World Without End and I thought it was excellent. The only thing I can criticize is that there isn't as much architectural detail, which I found fascinating.

See you around!

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 8:49 am (EST) on Oct 30, 2009

Just thought I'd let you know that a new thread (part 32) had been started right before your last post in Another Silly Game part 31. I too, posted in #31 and had to delete that one. It's easy to miss a new link!

Cheers!

posted by Boobalack at 12:04 am (EST) on Oct 19, 2009

Charles- Glad you reserved "Guards". I've had to get to the 2nd book in the series, which I have at hand. Hope you are having a good weekend.
Markk

posted by msf59 at 8:24 am (EST) on Oct 18, 2009

Hi Charles- Thanks for dropping me a message. I have been on LT for about a year and a half and it has been an incredible experience. I have made many amazing friends and I'm reading more than ever. It's tough keeping up with this well-read bunch! I appreciate the James Sallis suggestion. I also belong to Bookmooch, maybe I'll stop over there and see if any of his are available. Have you read Ken Bruen? If not start with "Guards". We are doing a Group Read of "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks, starting Nov 1st. Give it some thought and let me know, also stop by my 50 Book Challenge and you can see what I've been reading: http://www.librarything.com/topic/72418
Take care and maybe we can chat again!
Mark

posted by msf59 at 8:10 pm (EST) on Oct 16, 2009

Hi Charles:

Thanks for the comment - I'm doing pretty well. I'm very busy with being Treasurer for Band Boosters and we're in the middle of competition season, so my next 3 Saturdays are taken up with competitions, then the Saturday after that we're working at concessions stands to earn money. And then, of course, I have to start getting ready to have 6 family members descend on us from California for 5 days and Thanksgiving! All good stuff. It just all keeps me busier than I'd like to be because I also work full time.

I've been doing some good reading, but am not interested in any challenges right now. I've re-read some Agatha Christie, read a good book called Passage by Connie Willis (too long but good - look at my review if you're interested), am reading a book about The Battle of Waterloo right now, and am contemplating the sequel to Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett called World Without End - my 16 year old daughter just finished it and wants me to read it so we can discuss it.

Surprisingly, I'm listening to Duma Key by Stephen King - I've deliberately never read any King, sort of like your feeling that Vonnegut would be too weird, I feel that King is too shallow and scary - but had heard good things on LT, saw it at the Library and decided to give it a try. Now I'm trying to find excuses to be in the car to listen to it!

Your challenges sound interesting. I'm glad you're "meeting new people" and reading things you wouldn't otherwise read.

I read Frederick Douglass' autobiography last year and it was compelling. I just put Douglass' Women on my bookmooch wishlist.

See you around!

Karen

posted by karenmarie at 7:43 am (EST) on Oct 16, 2009

It's actually taken in my backyard. But I did take the picture of Burton Barr Library on its profile page. Hasn't the weather been so nice lately?

posted by PaperbackPirate at 3:58 pm (EST) on Oct 3, 2009

Hi Charles

I had to go and look that one up - it put it on so long ago and forgot about it completely :)

It's under 'collections' (the little brown icon). If you don't have that listed, then I probably added it myself (just click on 'edit collections' and add a new one).

Cheers!
Lauren

posted by inkspot at 10:04 am (EST) on Sep 22, 2009

Hi Charles:

Yes I have. It's been a crazy several days. I'm going to forward it to my work e-mail today and I might have a chance to read it and respond!

The picture of your grandson is wonderful. He's a beautiful child.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 5:02 am (EST) on Sep 14, 2009

Thank you Charles for your kind words.

Jacqueline

posted by callmejacx at 4:05 pm (EST) on Sep 12, 2009

Hi, Charles. I'm just starting The Rapture of Canaan and I noticed you haven't joined the I'll Read Yours if You'll Read Mine group. Hope Barchester is going well.

Regards,
Jennie

posted by jennieg at 3:59 pm (EST) on Sep 9, 2009

Hi Charles:

What I do is write a review in Word. It's easier to wordsmith and get things in the right order. Do not use the brackets to touchstone the book or author - they don't work there.

Then go to Your Books and find Slaughterhouse Five. If you don't have it in your library, you'll have to add it if you want an official review. Personally I don't add books that I don't own - there are tons of threads where people discuss how they use LT and some use it to catalog books they've read, books they want to read, books they have on their shelves, books their dog ate 10 years ago, books they remember from when they were in 3rd grade....you get the idea. If you don't want to add the book to your library, just post the review in our thread. That's good enough for me.

Once you’re at Your Books and have found Slaughterhouse Five, click on the pencil icon on the far right side of the book title. It opens up the detail page for your personal copy of the book. Scrolldown a bit and you’ll see where to assign # of stars, then the review box. It’s teensy, so that’s why I use Word to create the review first. Cut and paste from Word into that box. Depending on how I have the spacing set in Word, sometimes I lose the blank line between paragraphs - check to make sure you didn't lose those. If so, add them back in, click save, and you’ve got a review.

I put the "extended version" of my review, with spoilers, in our thread, but put a non-spoiler review on the book in my library. Most people do not like to see spoiler reviews and get quite angry if you've given away anything significant without warning them it's coming, so if you're going to do that, warn people early so they can choose to not continue reading if they don't want to see what you're giving away.

Glad you got it finished. I'm really looking forward to your review. This has been quite a positive experience for me.

How was the visit with your grandson? How old is he? I hope you had a good time.

I actually did not read a single word of any book yesterday. Very unusual for me. Busy with Band Boosters Treasurer stuff, tennis (I'm a huge fan and the US Open is on right now) and taking and picking up our daughter from working concessions at UNC Chapel Hill for Marching Band. Busy day.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 6:25 am (EST) on Sep 6, 2009

I created a new group, I'll Read Yours if You'll Read Mine. The description lost all the spacing, so I'll have to go back and fix it. Your input is especially important, although I think some other people might want to give some input too. I don't want lots of rules because I wouldn't join a group or post a thread if there were too many rules, so why should someone else?

Looking forward to your input! Hope the visit with your grandson is going well, and hope you're getting along with Slaughterhouse Five.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 6:32 am (EST) on Sep 4, 2009

Hi Charles:

Getting free books is always fun. I hope you enjoy it.

I got an Early Reviewer book in July and read and reviewed it just before reading The Rapture of Canaan.

Now I'm hedging about which book to read - have started 2 and put them down.

Today at lunch I'll try Handling Sin by Michael Malone or Ice Hunt by James Rollins - both promise to be light and fluffy.

I'm in the middle of writing a review of Rapture. I'm glad I read it although I still tons of negative feelings about evangelical Christianity. I'm going to post the review on our thread and then a non-spoiler review for the book itself.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 7:50 am (EST) on Sep 2, 2009

Hey Charles;

Yes, I'm 'friends' with people on LT, but I typically respond to people on LT through threads, not offline, as it were. So I'm afraid I'm not a very good LT friend.

I do have several people that I talk back and forth with on profile comments, but we haven't identified ourselves as LT friends.

Strange, I know.

How's Slaughterhouse Five coming? I'm liking Rapture, even if I absolutely dislike their lifestyle and they way they worship God. Nettles indeed.

Karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 3:52 pm (EST) on Aug 31, 2009

Good morning, Charles!

107. Yipes. That reminds me of Southern California days. The heat just blasts at you like a furnace. North Carolina gets hot but less hot; we get much much more humidity. I prefer the dry heat, still, after 18 years of living here.

I'm reading my ER book right now, Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All, by Christina Thompson, to clear the decks so to speak. I'll finish it in a couple of days and write a review then start Canaan.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 6:22 am (EST) on Aug 29, 2009

Hi Charles:

I'm never surprised anymore about how people respond, or don't respond, to threads on LT. We'll have fun with our challenge regardless.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 6:18 am (EST) on Aug 20, 2009

Hi.

posted by gadrian at 3:09 pm (EST) on Aug 19, 2009

Good morning, Charles!

I've posted our challenge thread in BookTalk. Here's the link:

Rapture-Slaughterhouse Challenge

If you want me to change anything in the post, just let me know!

I got notification that Rapture's on its way, so I hope to have it within the week.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 10:52 am (EST) on Aug 18, 2009

Coincidence here - just went over to the Book Talk group, and there was a thread called something like "Shameless Self-Promotion". The message got flagged big time, but the person below wrote about this group: Writers Brag and Rag Bag

This might be where you put your short story link and comments request.

Just a thought.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 11:14 am (EST) on Aug 17, 2009

Okay! Slaughterhouse and The Rapture of Canaan it is.

I will probably get the book in a week or so via BookMooch, and will probably need a couple of weeks to read it. I used to whip books out like crazy but with work, husband, 16-year old daughter, AND being Treasurer for Band Boosters, my time is not my own as much as I'd like.

I'll create a thread to say what we're doing - probably today, but if work gets busy, then it will be tomorrow morning.

This is exciting!

Regarding your short story - you have to be very careful about referencing published works - if people think you're trying to sell them something they will show no mercy and flag your post.

If you are simply asking for feedback it might be okay. I'm not the best one to ask here - you might want to research other authors on LT and see if they've done anything similar to that.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 11:07 am (EST) on Aug 17, 2009

Ah, Charles!

Kurt Vonnegut is a particular favorite of mine, and Slaughterhouse Five is my favorite by him. In fact, just thinking about it makes me want to go home, go into the Parlour and look on shelf 3, row 3 to find it! Then I'll read it again. In fact, I'll read it again so we can discuss it if you will read it for our challenge.

Vonnegut can be "weird", but his writing is strong. Here's a bit from Wikipedia (I know, suspect source, but this encapsulates how I remember Slaughterhouse Five) - "Slaughterhouse-Five explores Fate and Free Will and the illogical nature of human beings. Protagonist Billy Pilgrim is unstuck in time, randomly experiencing the events of his life, with no idea of what part he next will visit (re-live) — so, his life does not end with death; he re-lives his death, before its time, an experience often mingled with his other experiences."

If you'll read Slaughterhouse Five, I'll read The Rapture of Canaan. In fact I just BookMooched it (familiar with BookMooch? It's a site where you can list books you don't want anymore, mail them to people who do, and use the points earned to mooch books that you want in return. I've mooched over 200 and sent out over 200 in a little bit over a year. My username is karenmarie there, too. BookMooch

Let me know if this is acceptable. If you really can't stomach the idea of Kurt Vonnegut it's probably the right book to read, because I really can't stomach the idea of reading the Rapture of Canaan - we'd both be making a sacrifice!

Once we decide on our choices, I can post a new thread somewhere with what we're doing - that's a good idea, too.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 10:33 am (EST) on Aug 17, 2009

Charles,

Thanks for your comments. I'm glad you liked the Dandelion Wine review, Bradbury has long been one of my favorite authors. I guess I have what one might call an expansive or inclusive view of favorites regarding authors. When it comes to specific books I have many 'favorites' as well although I tend to like novels of ideas the best. I'm currently reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and, while it is certainly a novel of ideas, neither the author nor book is likely to make my list of favorites anytime soon. Some recent reads that I would consider among my favorites include Kim by Kipling, Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson and The Cairo Trilogy by Naquib Mahfouz (long but a wonderfully insightful view of Cairo during the first half of the twentieth century).

Jim

posted by jwhenderson at 9:00 am (EST) on Aug 17, 2009

Hi Charles!

I have given some thought to our personal challenge to read a book we anticipate "hating", but I can't get my hands around what type of book I think you might not like without it being a frivolous romance.

Let me mention some of my favorite recent reads and see if any one of them makes you think "blech" - The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Killer Angels by Jeff Shaara, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (I've just started re-reading it), The Perfect Scent by Chandler Burr, or In the Woods by Tana French.

What'cha think? If none of them sounds horrible, I'll do some more thinking.

karenmarie

posted by karenmarie at 5:34 am (EST) on Aug 17, 2009