Member: carterchristian1

Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Can't get enough of reading. As soon as I finish the last page I'm straigjt down to the book room for my next pick.

posted by libraryhermit at 2:30 am (EST) on Feb 17, 2013

Hello,
Thank you for your comments. When people ask me what they should read about the Vietnam War; A Bright Shining Lie the first on the list.

posted by LamSon at 12:00 pm (EST) on Feb 11, 2013

You might as well keep them. Selling them back to the campus bookstore will net you about enough money to buy the gas you'll need to go to the campus bookstore and home again. They give you pennies on the dollars you paid for those books -- even when the books are in "like new" condition.

Thanks for your comment.

Deke

posted by dekesolomon at 2:02 pm (EST) on Nov 6, 2012

I inherited my copy from my godfather who was a printer. I love browsing it. It is a very special book, isn't it? So beautifully designed, and full of great quotes and observations.

posted by anna_in_pdx at 6:03 pm (EST) on Mar 17, 2012

I am not sure if it is being used or not, I bought it for a friend that was going to join a study at church. Thanks

posted by sdmurphy53 at 10:18 am (EST) on Mar 12, 2012

I'm very glad you had a good experience in NZ. Travel is such a good thing, and when we get too old and broke to do much of that anymore, our gods have help us to invent books. Every page amazes and enthralls me. The world is a wonderful place and it could be even more wonderful, all we need to do is start teaching comparative culture and living tolerance on Day One of a child's life.
Oops, there I am on my soapbox again.
Have a great 2012!

posted by gmillar at 7:51 am (EST) on Feb 18, 2012

I was born, bred and buttered in New Plymouth, New Zealand. I served 20 years in the Royal New Zealand Navy and managed a golf club in Wellington before moving to the San Francisco bay area to watch our first grandchildren grow. I haven't got around to going back yet. That is such an expensive proposition and those grand kids sort of need us, so it may not happen for a long while yet. The move was traumatic - I had to sell most of my first library! Anyway, our life here is busy and fulfilling.
It's "Number Eight" wire that refer to. For us, it's a version of duck (duct) tape.
I'm glad you enjoyed NZ and Hamilton in particular. That is now the second largest city in the country.

posted by gmillar at 7:28 am (EST) on Feb 15, 2012

Hi there. Thanks for the kind comment. I'll be interested to see what you think about "The Shadow of Blooming Grove" and Mr Russell's views on Mrs. Harding that he presents in the book. She seems to have had a strong personality and to have loved her "Wurren" quite a lot. I have a book called "All The President's Ladies" that I will get to one of these days. I'm not ready for it yet - I have a few more Presidents to acquaint myself with first.
I was interested to see that you have a copy of "Moko" in your library.

posted by gmillar at 11:44 pm (EST) on Feb 7, 2012

Science books

posted by carterchristian1 at 11:22 am (EST) on Jan 30, 2012

Thank you; "Victory" has really been the only Conrad book I've at all enjoyed so far. I see you liked it too.

Mike

posted by burnit99 at 11:19 am (EST) on Jan 19, 2012

Hello,
Thanks for your comment. Regarding your father, you should check NARA's National Archives Personnel Records Center at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/
They should have further information on your father's service.

regarding his trip to Europe during Summer 1939, I would doubt very seriously that it had to do with being some type of observer. Rules were different then and officers could take extended leaves, although he may have also gone to a medical conference or two, or even interacted with Medical Officers of the different countries.

Hope that this helps.

Robert

posted by Hurtgen at 10:00 am (EST) on Jan 4, 2012

Science books

posted by carterchristian1 at 4:58 pm (EST) on Dec 17, 2011

You bet!

posted by JohnAdcoxCarolBales at 5:10 pm (EST) on Dec 6, 2011

Why, thanks for stopping by!
Why do we keep those repulsive books, anyway? Do you make your friends look at them, too? It's the literary equivalent of "Oh, this food is sooo bad. C'mon, taste it!"

posted by 7sistersapphist at 12:00 am (EST) on Nov 29, 2011

Oh no! you mean the Anne Rice Doll museum is gone? I quickly read the link you sent me thank you. This is truly breaking my heart and it touches my personally thinking someday my books and dolls collections will disappear as well, unless my daughters decide to keep them. Years ago I saw a documentary about Ms Rice which shows her strolling around in her museum and the dolls shown there were simply breath-taking. I wish I had been able to purchase at least one. I agree with you about the locations of doll museums. I would love it if they had one in Miami.

I love visiting your blog. I have learned quite a few things from it. I am taking pictures of my dolls and building a little album to show you. It's still a work in progress.

posted by librisalexandria at 12:59 am (EST) on Nov 14, 2011

Nice to meet you! :-)

posted by jackiewyse at 9:03 am (EST) on Nov 13, 2011

Thank you for your valuable suggestions. Sure, I will upload pictures of my dolls. Only one is authentic. A Kraftwerk from the turn of the 20th century, my mother gave me for my 19th birthday. I will let you know when the pictures are uploaded. By the way, several years ago I met Anne Rice at a book signing. All I had to do was ask her about her doll collection and she would not let me go in spite of the long line of people behind me. I felt so honored. She told me she had 1,300 dolls (at the time) from 1 inch high to human size. She even gave me the address of her doll museum in New Orleans with the name of the care-taker and she said, "Tell her I sent you". I wish I could have gone. This was years before Katrina when she still lived there. It was one of the most positive experiences in my life. To this day I still remember her fondly. What a very pleasant, low-key lady she is!

posted by librisalexandria at 1:45 am (EST) on Nov 11, 2011

No, I don't have a doll web page. But that's a good idea. My dolls are all over my living room and bedroom, gathering dust. I don't know how to clean them other than a little dusting. I'm afraid to ruin their hairdos and outfits. Do you have any suggestions?

posted by librisalexandria at 12:38 pm (EST) on Nov 9, 2011

Hello. Thanks for your comment on my review of 'Obama's Wars'. As far as my view on Woodward's methodology I would say that I thought his approach seemed to work well given what his book was about. It wasn't a comprehensive view of the war in Afghanistan or the examination of how events in the region have unfolded over the last few years, but rather an inside look at the debates over how the U.S.A. should conduct that war within the Obama administration's National Security team. Given what the book set out to do Woodward seemed to have done a fairly decent job with his interviews.

As far as a Pakistani perspective goes, I found it interesting. Certainly the book created a bit of a stir here with regards to the implied criticism of President Zardari's ability to actually run the country and his apparent approval of drone strikes on Pakistani territory (while the govt. criticizes the drone strikes in the media back here). But none of these were startling revelations and generally speaking I don't think the book had much to say about the actual impact of American polices over here, or indeed what Pakistani policymakers were thinking and doing. A couple of books I read recently that deal with that subject in more detail are Zahid Hussain's "Frontline: Pakistan" and "The Scorpion's Tail". The first goes up to 2007 and the second to 2010. Zahid Hussain is a journalist (he writes for the Wall Street Journal amongst others) with a great deal of experience in the region and some fairly good contacts within the Pakistani military establishment. Unfortunately I couldn't find the time to write up reviews that do justice to the books. There's a certain amount of overlap (for some reason every author who writes a book about Pakistan feels the need to spend several chapters summarizing Pakistani history from independence to the present) but both are interesting reads.

It would be interesting to examine just how the compromise strategy arrived at by the Obama administration has played out over the last two years. What effect has it had? Certainly the rift between Pakistan and the US has never been wider even as the two countries try to find ways to work with each other.

posted by iftyzaidi at 5:30 am (EST) on Nov 4, 2011