Member: spacepotatoes

Dear Spacepotatoes, thanks for the comment on my 50 book challenge post about [Say Your's One of Them]. It is a book that will hit you right in the heart.

I am also a high school teacher--Social Studies. I am going to donate my copy of this book to our school library. I plan on talking it up in a few classes before the library puts it on the shelf.

I plan on joining the 75 book challenge next year. It looks like there is more discussions between members in that group.

Sincerely, Alice

posted by Alice_Wonder at 9:56 pm (EST) on Nov 23, 2009

How does this 50 book challenge thing work? I joined LT as a way to catalog my books. The ones I have in my house as well as the ones that I have read so my library shows up as having a huge number of books. In reality I have about 750 books in my house. The rest of the books in my library are things that I have already read. Some of them as much as twenty years ago. (I add books I read as I remember them.) I also keep a book diary and added titles from my old diaries so it looks like I have a prodigious amount of books in my collection when I really have less.

posted by benitastrnad at 3:25 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2009

Thanks for the compliment. Earlier in LT readers of this book said that they liked Hanna the best of all the characters and I am finding that I don't like her as well as some of the others in the book. It turns out that I kinda like the mother and think Hanna is a bit spoiled. I also have to confess that I finished the book already so know the outcomes. I am trying really hard not to say anything too revealing.

Grad school. Where? I am a librarian at the University of Alabama and I love reading as much as I love reading and drinking coffee! I am a real Starbucks fan. Although my heart really belongs to the independent coffee shop, just as I really dig independent book stores.

posted by benitastrnad at 3:19 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2009

Hi, I saw you on the group read page and jumped over to you profile. I liked "The Guernsey Literary..." and loved "Lolita" because of Nabokov's spectacular character development. I look forward to reading "People of the Book" with you. Mary Beth

posted by mmignano11 at 12:28 am (EST) on Nov 2, 2009

Hello,
I'm just getting caught up on everyone's thread, and I simply had to let you know that your early October review has convinced me to read the Boyden books. They sound intriguing, and as you suggested, I'll read them in order. Great review!

posted by Louanne at 9:27 pm (EST) on Oct 28, 2009

Hi spacepotatoes!! Thanks for the tip re Still Alice. Have you seen The Guardian this week? Little note saying that the number of people with dementia and Alzheimer's is set to double in the next 20 years according to researchers at King's Collge London. Better start notes to myself NOW!!

posted by alexdaw at 2:05 am (EST) on Oct 2, 2009

Hi spacepotatoes,
Thanks for posting to my 50 book challenge. I really enjoyed The Yiddish Policemen's Union and it's funny because I had overlooked it because I didn't think it was the kind of book I would ever enjoy. So now I've also got The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay which is another book I shouldn't enjoy but I'm going to go for it. I see you added Lolita. That's another one I will be soon reading that I've put off because I didn't think I'd like it. We'll see.

posted by brenzi at 10:55 am (EST) on Sep 24, 2009

You are welcome! If you do get to read the Miss Marple mysteries any time soon please let me know which ones you liked. I would like to know your opinion about them.

posted by Porua at 4:21 pm (EST) on Sep 17, 2009

Yeah, I know a lot (and I mean a lot!) of people actually enjoyed that book. But if we all liked the same things the world would become such a boring place. It’s the variation that helps us enjoy this life that we are living. I respect your opinion about the book and I am glad that you appreciate mine.:-)

posted by Porua at 8:41 am (EST) on Sep 14, 2009

Oh no, no, no, no, no!~!~!
One never begins a Steinbeck jag with "East of Eden" or "The Grapes of Wrath". I am so sorry you had to find out the hard way.
Thank you for your input regarding the group read.
It should be fun no matter what we read, right?
I will forward your preferences to Mark and will see you on the threads
dear girl.
hugs,
belva

posted by nannybebette at 8:46 pm (EST) on Sep 9, 2009

Hi;
Mark and I have been discussing the possibility of another group read in November and want your input. We have narrowed it down to two books at this point. "The People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks and "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. So chat it up with friends or us and let us know if you are up for it and what you think. Probably the same plan as with "Pillars of the Earth" which seemed to work out perfectly for almost all of us.
Think it over and give one of us a shout.
hugs and looking forward to hearing from you,
belva

posted by nannybebette at 10:04 pm (EST) on Sep 8, 2009

Hi spacepotatoes! Thank you for posting a message on my 50 book challenge post. Yes, you are right. I am quite the Agatha Christie fan. I've read almost all of her mystery novels and short stories. And I have every Miss Marple book she ever wrote! I'm a big fan of Miss Marple. She is my favorite. I'm in general very fond of murder mysteries. I have every Poirot short story ever written and also almost all of the novels featuring him. I have also managed to collect the complete Sherlock Holmes collection and the Father Brown stories by G.K.Chesterton. As you might have guessed by all this I am rather old fashioned when it comes to books. I prefer reading the old classics. And that goes for my other books. too. It's Dickens and Austen for me all the way! Thank you again for your message. Bye!

posted by Porua at 12:38 pm (EST) on Sep 4, 2009

My very dear Andrea;
Thank you for your kind words about Moose. We miss him so much. He just loved the little grandsons. We was our "special" kitty. We are sad, but we have 5 more and a dog to love, so we will be okay. I mean, we love him, but he was a cat. These things just sometimes happen. One day I will find "my special cat" and husband or not there will be a litter pan and kitty will NEVER go outside.

"The Pearl" is one John Steinbeck's smallest books. It is also an intense book, but it is very fluent and easy to read. It is about an island man who, like so many others, goes diving daily with no air, down to the depths of the sea to find pearls to help them eke out a very poor living for their families. These poor people live in little shacks and eat the same gruel day after day and their lives are the same day after day. But they seem a happy people none the less. This is the story of the man who finds the "pearl" of every diver's dream and what happens to him and his family after finding the "pearl".
It was the 1st Steinbeck book I ever read and I have probably read it 8 to 12,15 times in my lifetime. I think it is an excellent choice of his material to begin with. Some of his works are quite dark and introspective and command your full attention. I would definitely not begin with "Moon is Down", "To a God Unknown", 'The Grapes of Wrath", "East of Eden", "The Winter of Our Discontent" or any of those. I think that this one would be a great starter. And then I think I would at some point read "The Red Pony" as my next one. It sounds like a childrens's or YA book , but is definitely not, though if the child were like I was as 10 or 12, they could handle it and be ready for it.
No, I think you have chose a good one. And you should be able to read it in an uninterrupted afternoon or perhaps evening.
I am so happy you are going to try him. I don't feel he gets nearly the acclaim he deserves. His books are always different, one from the other and he is definitely not a formulaic writer.
I hope you enjoy him.
love,
belva

posted by nannybebette at 12:16 pm (EST) on Sep 4, 2009

Hey Andreea!!
I just got back from my long summer trip and found The Piano Man's Daughter waiting for me at home so I'm just writing to thank you so much for sending it to me. I hope I shall get to it soon!

Many thanks again
Eliza

posted by girlunderglass at 4:15 am (EST) on Sep 2, 2009

I am pretty sure I follow you on either the 50 or 75 book challenge. Thanks for posting to my 50 book challenge! Deirdra/Scarpettajunkie

posted by scarpettajunkie at 10:20 am (EST) on Jul 26, 2009

Thought you might be intersted in joining my new thread. Check it out.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/66785

posted by callmejacx at 10:17 pm (EST) on Jun 16, 2009

Hawaii was WONDERFUL! Which islands will you be visiting while you are there? You will have a great time.

posted by zdufran at 10:09 am (EST) on Jun 11, 2009

Thank you for the good wishes! The new baby sleeps a lot, so I've actually gotten MORE reading done since she's been born. And I've read more terrific books this year since joining LT than I have in the past few years put together: The Thirteenth Tale, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, The Remains of the Day...all amazing! Have you read anything lately that you would recommend?

posted by callen610 at 3:06 pm (EST) on Jun 10, 2009

THANK YOU! (I'm going to delete the previous msg with the address just for safety if you've already mailed it)
I'll let you know when I get it! Thanks again.

posted by girlunderglass at 1:36 pm (EST) on Jun 1, 2009

Hi spacepotatoes, was just going through my list o 50 book challenge and you had comment about the movie of the book The Lovely Bones. It comes out December 11 according to my magazine. Also movies for My Sister's Keeper out June 26 and The Time Traveler's Wife out August 14.
Heidi

posted by heidimorden at 3:11 am (EST) on May 16, 2009

Hi Spacepotatoes,
Way back in Feb. you left a comment on my 50 book challenge list about The Mermaid's Chair. Well my book club just finished it and our group rating was a 6 or 6.5. We all agreed it wasn't even close to The Secret Life of Bees, which we all read and loved. Mermaid was ok -- not horrible.

One of our 9 members is a retired high school English teacher and the prose drove her NUTS to the point that she marked every spot that she though an editor should have axed! The funny part is, I'm a professional editor (business NOT fiction, thank God)and the prose didn't bother me a bit!

Hope this helps your TBR list.

Regards,
Dayna (ddelmoni)

posted by ddelmoni at 3:26 pm (EST) on May 13, 2009

Hi,

This is just a quick message to let you know that your copy of 'The Wonderful Demise of Benjamin Arnold Guppy' will be coming directly from Amazon and has been ordered this evening. Happy reading!

Gina

posted by Gina-Collia-Suzuki at 3:12 pm (EST) on Mar 20, 2009

Hi Spacepotatoes!
A Hawaiian honeymoon is so romantic! I've never done a cruise here but I assume that it's one of the best ways to see the islands - the coastlines are so beautiful. I love to see the cruise ships in the evening, when they're all lit up, with a gorgeous sunset backdrop.......well, needless to say you two are going to have a wonderful time! :D

posted by waterLILY808 at 9:35 pm (EST) on Mar 3, 2009

The thread for the group read for Anna Karenina is up if you are still interested. I believe that we are starting on March 15 and reading around 100 pages or so a month. (I think there are 8 parts in all). The group is in the 75 book challenge group. I will try to leave a link on your thread, but the last time I tried that it did not work. :( Sorry I am so bad at computers. Take care and have a great day!
--BJ

posted by billiejean at 3:22 am (EST) on Mar 2, 2009

Hello, again!
I will let you know when the group read for Anna Karenina starts. That is one of my all-time favorite books. :)
--BJ

posted by billiejean at 2:35 am (EST) on Feb 23, 2009

Hi, spacepotatoes!
I just saw your comment in the 50 book challenge group. I am sorry that I took so long to see it! I have really lucked into most group reads. If you go to my profile page and get the full list of groups that I belong to, you can click on the groups: Group Reads -- Literature (now reading The Leopard and voting on next book), Group Reads -- SciFi (now reading A Fire in the Deep), and The Highly Rated Book Group (starting The Blind Assassin on March 2). The group for the Brother Karamazov is found on a link from the 999 challenge. The other groups are on the 75 Book Challenge group. There are threads for both War and Peace and Don Quixote. The groups for these two books are nicely paced so that it would be easy to join now and catch up. The groups for Anna Karenina (Spring -- maybe April) and The Stand (also April?) and The Count of Monte Cristo (Summer?) are not yet started and will be on the 75 book challenge. I have been sort of looking for the start up of those and will let you know if I find them. Also, I happened to notice that the 999 challenge is also doing a group read of Inferno starting next Wednesday. I read that last fall so I will only lurk on that one. Is this too much info? Sorry, I do tend to go on and on. I hope you can find some.
--BJ

posted by billiejean at 10:01 pm (EST) on Feb 21, 2009

Thanks for the Bad Astronomy tip; does indeed look like my kind of thing, so into the google reader collection it goes!

posted by Wntrmute at 5:03 pm (EST) on Feb 21, 2009

Thanks for the interesting libraries, yes we do have kinda simular taste in books.You have some books in your libarary that I would like to add to mine and I can get your veiw on them. I just found this site and joined, it is great!
Heidi

posted by heidimorden at 10:24 am (EST) on Feb 13, 2009

I've posted a favorite Robertson Davies quote about book lust on my profile. It's from the first book of the Salterton trilogy.

stringcat3

posted by stringcat3 at 5:02 pm (EST) on Feb 6, 2009

Hi Spacepotatoes,

Thanks for your comment on my page about "Gullible's Travels". It's about this guy who visits really odd attractions and museums and then reports about it on public radio. The book cronicles his last year of doing it. I thought it was pretty funny.

posted by spammie1 at 3:55 pm (EST) on Feb 6, 2009

Hi.
Thanks for stopping by my challenge posting. I left a message there for you about another book you may find interesting. Also, I see that we have a few books in common, and your 'want to read' list has many of MY want to reads also.

Cheers!

posted by Tricia608 at 11:25 am (EST) on Feb 4, 2009

I'm so glad! I'd love to hear what you think about it when you and your husband finish it. Although since the unabridged (and best) version is 1200+ pages I'll know not to expect a response about it TOO soon :)

- Stephanie

posted by stephxsu at 11:31 pm (EST) on Jan 31, 2009

So, you say you are from London! My son just had brain surgery in London University in November. What a fantastic hospital. From what I have see of London I feel it's a nic3e place to live. My son is actually thinking of moving there in about two years if all goes well.

Going to be up that way in July again for a check up. It's not a bad drive up there. It is pretty relaxing after you go through Toronto. Exactly 3 hours.

Well, it was nice meeting you on here. It's kinda neat meeting people from near and far.

posted by callmejacx at 11:28 am (EST) on Jan 30, 2009

Hello there!

I've never seen the movie ever, but let's just put it this way: I took The Count of Monte Cristo to my swim team training trip in Aruba a couple weeks ago. I figured, no Internet, 10 days... I should be able to get a good start onto the book, provided it's interesting. I ended up finishing it in 5 days, wishing there was more of it. Lent it to a friend the next day, and she, too, finished it within a week. Now she and I are planning a get-together to watch the movie version. So let's just say that it's one of my favorite books ever, and that it would be a great book for you and your husband to read together!

Happy reading! :)

- Stephanie

posted by stephxsu at 10:23 pm (EST) on Jan 29, 2009