Member: stellarexplorer

I just read your review of Agassi's OPEN. I bought it last week, on the riveting excerpt published in PEOPLE mag. Glad to hear my faith has not been misplaced. His TV interviews have been compelling. I'm not the tennis fan you are but am intensely interested in Agassi's triumphs off the tennis court.

posted by MtnSk8tr at 2:43 am (EST) on Nov 17, 2009

Thank you so much for the recommendation on the holocaust memoir. The reviews by other readers are also very favorable. I've just added it to my Amazon wish list. Even though this particular book was published in 2005, amazingly I never came across it in my past searches.

posted by CindyBytes at 2:55 pm (EST) on Nov 3, 2009

I can't really comment on whether the Isaacson biography covers any new ground since it's the first full length bio I've read (apart from lots of snippets from other books). It covers a lot of ground and gave me a feel for the real man instead of the public persona, and that included his weaknesses as well as his strengths. You should read a few chapters to see if it sparks your interest. Thanks for the other references!

posted by gregfromgilbert at 11:09 am (EST) on Oct 29, 2009

It was somewhere in the History group but I don't remember, either. I didn't dislike the books but after some 200 pages it started to get a bit repetitive. I'm not very much interested in his personal life (perhaps because it was somewhat troubled or disturbed?) but the parts linked to the development of the scientific method was interesting, particularly in light of his apparently working on a hunch.

posted by Busifer at 6:51 am (EST) on Oct 20, 2009

The Giving Tree - by Shel Silverstein

Once there was a tree....
and she loved a little boy.
And everyday the boy would come
and he would gather her leaves
and make them into crowns
and play king of the forest.
He would climb up her trunk
and swing from her branches
and eat apples.
And they would play hide-and-go-seek.
And when he was tired,
he would sleep in her shade.
And the boy loved the tree....
very much.
And the tree was happy.
But time went by.
And the boy grew older.
And the tree was often alone.
Then one day the boy came to the tree
and the tree said, "Come, Boy, come and
climb up my trunk and swing from my
branches and eat apples and play in my
shade and be happy."
"I am too big to climb and play" said
the boy.
"I want to buy things and have fun.
I want some money?"
"I'm sorry," said the tree, "but I
have no money.
I have only leaves and apples.
Take my apples, Boy, and sell them in
the city. Then you will have money and
you will be happy."
And so the boy climbed up the
tree and gathered her apples
and carried them away.
And the tree was happy.
But the boy stayed away for a long time....
and the tree was sad.
And then one day the boy came back
and the tree shook with joy
and she said, "Come, Boy, climb up my trunk
and swing from my branches and be happy."
"I am too busy to climb trees," said the boy.
"I want a house to keep me warm," he said.
"I want a wife and I want children,
and so I need a house.
Can you give me a house ?"
" I have no house," said the tree.
"The forest is my house,
but you may cut off
my branches and build a
house. Then you will be happy."

And so the boy cut off her branches
and carried them away
to build his house.
And the tree was happy.
But the boy stayed away for a long time.
And when he came back,
the tree was so happy
she could hardly speak.
"Come, Boy," she whispered,
"come and play."
"I am too old and sad to play,"
said the boy.
"I want a boat that will
take me far away from here.
Can you give me a boat?"
"Cut down my trunk
and make a boat," said the tree.
"Then you can sail away...
and be happy."
And so the boy cut down her trunk
and made a boat and sailed away.
And the tree was happy
... but not really.

And after a long time
the boy came back again.
"I am sorry, Boy,"
said the tree," but I have nothing
left to give you -
My apples are gone."
"My teeth are too weak
for apples," said the boy.
"My branches are gone,"
said the tree. " You
cannot swing on them - "
"I am too old to swing
on branches," said the boy.
"My trunk is gone, " said the tree.
"You cannot climb - "
"I am too tired to climb" said the boy.
"I am sorry," sighed the tree.
"I wish that I could give you something....
but I have nothing left.
I am just an old stump.
I am sorry...."
"I don't need very much now," said the boy.
"just a quiet place to sit and rest.
I am very tired."
"Well," said the tree, straightening
herself up as much as she could,
"well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting
Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."
And the boy did.
And the tree was happy.

posted by theoldman at 7:15 am (EST) on Oct 18, 2009

That's an awful lot of books to have in common.

posted by Trelew at 6:27 pm (EST) on Oct 10, 2009

Oh yeah! I'll be a little glad to have something other than KSR in my scifi slot, but I won't be able to read anything other than *60 Days* until I finish it.
Medical Front: I'm fine: no more fever. Aunt is back in hospital but has dodged another bullet so far; Motoher continues to wear herself out attending Aunt. Sister-in-law flourishes following hip replacement.....the effects of surgery are apparently so much less painful than her ground-down hip that she is ecstatic.
Wishing you a good week!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 10:25 am (EST) on Oct 5, 2009

Yes, WILDERNESS WARRIOR is very timely w/ the Ken Burns documentary. So you've been watching it also! I don't usually watch TV but have been glued to the set all week. Yosemite and Mt. Rainier, in particular, are very beloved to me and many happy days have been spent at each.

Did I ever tell you I did my thesis on Mt. Rainier? The Park Service was great -- very supportive. I was shocked when Rainier's park superintendent responded to my letter seeking permission with a lengthy personal letter, which included his comments that research was welcomed and valued. He even gave me free admission for all my trips...including "research associates" (aka climbing partners). Wow! Our tax dollars at work!

It's been a rush also to see other loved places. We got the accompanying Ken Burns book also this week...and the DVD coming home to us is only a matter of time. I suspect the same will occur at your home.

posted by MtnSk8tr at 10:19 am (EST) on Oct 3, 2009

Have you seen this book yet? Hot off the presses. I just picked it up last night -- it looks REALLY good, & I think you would also enjoy it! Heavy focus on history /the creation of our national parks.

The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America

http://www.librarything.com/work/7916804...

posted by MtnSk8tr at 10:27 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2009

Yes, Ralph Roeder. I've just spent a few minutes looking at pictures of Cesare, Lucretia, and Caterina Sforza. Pretty handsome people!
I'm glad that you haven't lost two close friends this year.
Dear Husband is doing beautifully! He could eat everything except soup yesterday since the work was on a front tooth and gum with cyst, and now he can even have the hot stuff! (Add a cousin's colonoscopy for which I was "the responsible adult" and a sister-in-law's hip replacement coming up, and you have all our health issues - or so I devoutly hope. We take s-i-l for an interview with her surgeon next week, but the blood-lettings were earlier, so I haven't had to deal with them recently.)
---and I really enjoyed Foreigner and am loving Fifty Degrees Below! Many thanks for the encouragement!
(I thought it would be a kindness to fix my code so that your whole correspondence doesn't shout at you.)

posted by LizzieD at 10:27 pm (EST) on Sep 30, 2009

That is perfect! Poignant! I wish I had spent my time rereading it rather than plodding through the new one. (I had hoped hard for two in the September batch, but no luck this time. Oh well, again.)
I wish I did have a reservoir to dip into; what I have is more like a pipe from a shallow well. I keep playing catch-up, but I do love most minutes of it!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 10:23 pm (EST) on Sep 30, 2009

Well, my friend, I have finally read and reviewed the Strathern: a huge disappointment. I hope you'll get along better. I really hope that you will read and enjoy the Roeder. I've browsed in it a little and find it somewhat limited by scholarship in the 30's (He omits to note for instance, that Caterina Sforza pulled up her skirts to show that she had the equipment to produce more children) but beautifully written with some analytical depth. Not so the Strathern! I did not expect to find dangling participles and misuse of such easy words as "behalf" in a legitimate history. Oh well.
Hope life remains just the right mix of usefulness, challenge, and recreation for you!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 10:40 am (EST) on Sep 30, 2009

Aww, thanks, and likewise! Your collection is amazing - you've got about as many history books as are in my entire collection! Just not enough time in the world to read everything I'd like to I suppose.

posted by bfertig at 11:17 am (EST) on Sep 24, 2009

Book & beer club buddy showed up with it as a gift the other night. Have not cracked it yet. Will let you know.

posted by Garp83 at 5:51 am (EST) on Sep 22, 2009

As to the book: Unfortunately, that always seems to be my problem; it's the reason that I don't do well with library books. Something about needing to get a book read in a limited time often puts me off. I also continue to think back to The Man of the Renaissance which was beautifully written. At least the one I received today is a child's book, so I should be able to plow through it in a hurry.
As to Martial: He was Marcus Valerius Martialis (Mahr-ti-ah-lis). I'm not sure that the Martialis makes much sense by itself, but then, I'm not an expert on Roman names. That -is does look like a genitive ending to me though. I'm sorry about your loss. It seems to me that you have had this responsibility earlier this year too.
As to the sickness in my family: The main one is my aunt, who at 90 was in the hospital with pneumonia and now has been moved to an extended care facility. She has some dementia and refuses to eat or do the PT. She could do both if we could get her to realize that she could go home if she would regain her strength. I'm more concerned about my mother who thinks that somebody should be with her at least 6 hours a day. Mama can't do it, but she will try if I'm not there. So ----- Meanwhle, my dear husband is recuperating well from oral surgery yesterday, so that's a real bonus.
As usual - more than you want to know!

posted by LizzieD at 8:33 pm (EST) on Sep 12, 2009

Hello....
I'm not making much headway with our book. It's pretty interesting, but sickness in the family and less than compelling writing style (less than standard usage too) have kept me away from it more than in it. I am always skeptical about the scholarship when the grammar isn't there, but I don't know enough about the Renaissance to be able to judge. He is at least using primary sources more often than not.
Hope you have a lovely weekend.

posted by LizzieD at 8:36 pm (EST) on Sep 11, 2009

Yes, that is a lovely quotation which I see my mother liviing daily. I, on the other hand, haven't quite caught on to the fact that I'm no longer 35 (or 45 or 55).

posted by LizzieD at 4:46 pm (EST) on Aug 16, 2009

Exactly the right response, Starry One! I wish you had been too!!!
(Meanwhile, I'm suffering from selective dyslexia. There is an accusative of exclamation - don't know about that explanation one. If that were not enough, the kittens and I played with a spool mouse not a spindle one. If I hadn't been doing things like that all my life, I'd really be worrying now. I used to blame it on overwork. Now I think it's just me.)

posted by LizzieD at 4:13 pm (EST) on Aug 15, 2009

Now you almost make me wish that I were teaching again. My Latin students and I designed some awesome games over the years by plagiarizing from standard board games or card games. Our Aciem! (note the accusative of explanation) was a great variant on Risk, set in Gaul with the opportunity to do real strategy with dice and armies. Then there was Clue set in a Roman villa with kid-translations of the names --- Dominus Corpus, Domina Alba. Fun! I think I'll go play spindle-mouse with the new kitties!

posted by LizzieD at 1:07 pm (EST) on Aug 15, 2009

Oh, you're definitely performing a service! My other three have been handsome copies, so I'll hope that it's this publisher only who has dropped the ball. I would like to get the ball so I can play.

posted by LizzieD at 12:53 pm (EST) on Aug 15, 2009

AAArghhh.
Unless you were visiting K in person, I can't think of anything else. I'm too computerdumb to have any other ideas. Yes! Put me out of my misery....please. (And if you were visiting in person, I'm jealous of both of you!)

posted by LizzieD at 10:22 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2009

I think you should tell our dear LizzieD!

posted by kokipy at 9:45 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2009

Still no joy. I do realize that I neglected to ask a very basic question: you didn't borrow K's password, did you?
Otherwise, I've snooped around as a visitor, but I always get "You must sign in or sign up to leave a comment."
Rats!

posted by LizzieD at 8:40 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2009

Nope. No joy yet. I believe I need a hint.

posted by LizzieD at 6:59 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2009

It is fun, be assured. "I'm visiting." ??? Is that a clue? Leave me to worry with this a bit.
----and I am leaving to indulge in a reading nap before I take my mother to visit her sister in an hour or so........ Maybe inspiration will strike while I'm in that strange place between awake and asleep.

posted by LizzieD at 2:50 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2009

O.K. I will gracefully agree to be dazzled and won't push further.

posted by LizzieD at 2:42 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2009

How did you do that!???? And did it make you feel different??? Funny person!
I don't know "The Mephisto Waltz" and it sounds like something I should have read.
Peace,
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 2:33 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2009

Question: When is Kokipy not Kokipy?
Answer: When she's StellarExplorer!
Eh? Those are really some difficulties!
Meanwhile, I'm so unfocused as to wish I might be somebody else. I almost forgot to read my chapters for a RL book group on Friday, and that played havoc with my current projects. *sigh* I continue to enjoy this kind of problem to the fullest!
Hope you're having a lovely weekend - and that it's cooler and less humid where you are. 95+ degrees and humidity that won't quit. Happy summer!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 7:13 pm (EST) on Jun 27, 2009

Lovely!

posted by LizzieD at 9:09 am (EST) on Jun 26, 2009

A wistful Hello. It seems a long time since we spoke, and I always like to hear from you.

posted by LizzieD at 11:09 pm (EST) on Jun 25, 2009

I've just done a rough scan of the group you created (History at 30,000 feet: The Big Picture). For being only 3 months old it has one hell of a lot of activity. Nice job!

posted by gregfromgilbert at 1:13 am (EST) on Jun 25, 2009

It's funny because just yesterday I was thinking about creating some specific collections for the exact same reason that you had a high connection score with my library. I've got a lot of book that reflect my interests, and a lot that don't. So when I get around to it I will experiment with some collections and see what happens. - Greg

posted by gregfromgilbert at 1:01 am (EST) on Jun 25, 2009

Thanks for the invite to History at 30,000 feet.

posted by petros359 at 11:47 am (EST) on Jun 15, 2009

Io! for the Stars!! I'm glad to hear from you, SE, and you never "butt in." We'll take Card as settled, and I will feel free to change to Foreigner when I finish *C'sPride* today or tomorrow. I have decided that it reads like fantasy in a future setting which is just fine with me.... I have enjoyed book 1. As to the Honorverse, it is pure escapism if escape for you involves military scifi with many pages devoted to the difference in tonnage between dreadnaughts and superdreadnaughts and tazers, grazers, mazers, etc., etc. I eat that stuff up - strange for an almost-pacifist, but there it is. Honor herself is always appealing and always competent. It is one of my favorite series, which I started rereading this year before LT took me to new places. Whether you would enjoy it is a toss-up, but if you decide to give it a try, do begin with On Basilisk Station, Honor's first command after graduation from the space academy and a supposed dead end because of her running afoul of a powerful family's scion. Since Nulla and Koki both enjoy it, I suspect that you may too.
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 12:08 pm (EST) on Jun 10, 2009

Thank you, I have joined.

posted by jamespurcell at 9:12 am (EST) on Jun 9, 2009

Oh so glad to hear they've gone to a good home. I happen to love old books too. Their smell is unique :]

posted by ThePam at 12:23 pm (EST) on Jun 2, 2009

I love the way you did your bookcase photo above!

Thanks. I just tried to squeeze as many books as possible into the picture, with limited space for manoeuvring.

posted by SylviaC at 10:12 am (EST) on May 31, 2009

The patricia goodrich book is actually from one of the poets i met through the bucks county poetry competition i was in. she was selling her book there and i was moved by a peice that she read, so i told her i needed to buy a copy of her book. I am deffinately interested in any of the books you recommend me, especially if it is reminiscent of buddhists drinking tea.

posted by nirvanian at 5:32 pm (EST) on May 29, 2009

You are so funny, Starry One.
If anything about my teaching career has made me proud, it has been the Latin students who come back and thank me for opening the door to the life that was Rome...... Not many do, but enough for me to feel that I didn't spend those years in vain. (I don't know that I've said this to you, but I'm fairly sure that I didn't teach anybody anything last year, and that was the main reason that I took early retirement.)
So ---- hope you got to work on time and accomplished enough to keep you satisfied until tomorrow.
Peggy

P.S. I'm at the point in *DbS* where, when I can sit down and read, I think, "O.K. I'll put it down at the end of this chapter. O.K. I'll just read a few more pages into this next chapter. O.K. -----" (I have Emilio leading his people out into the bush Downbelow and am about to meet Vittorio again on the Hammer. Good stuff; more what I'm accustomed to in scifi; I may end it by preferring Cyteen. Curious, but fun!)

posted by LizzieD at 10:52 pm (EST) on May 28, 2009

Yes, indeed. You give me ample opening (which I will almost decline; you're welcome) to start one of my favorite rants about people who denigrate Roman literature as "totally derivative" of Greek, and with little value. While I'm the first to say that Vergil is not Homer, the Romans manage to make their writing human and accessible to a degree that the Greeks don't - not that I'm an expert on either. I guess I should take this to the Roman/Greek thread, in fact.
P the LD

posted by LizzieD at 11:42 am (EST) on May 28, 2009

Yes, Lizzie and I have been having some fun with this. She has a lot more books than I do, but as she catalogues more and more our common holdings just keep going up and up!

posted by kokipy at 9:16 pm (EST) on May 27, 2009

I don't recognize the Donne, but that doesn't surprise me. He's oceanic, and when I set out to explore, I read a little new and a lot old and don't progress. Martial, on the other hand, is often laugh-out-loud funny. I don't have much but cherish what I do have....... I'm afraid he may skewer me with "Laudant illa sed ista legunt." ("They praise those, but they read that terrible stuff." Lizzie and Dean Koontz, for instance)

posted by LizzieD at 10:05 am (EST) on May 27, 2009

Here's what I wrote K back in January, I guess, when I had entered enough books to have meaningful correspondences: "I need to say hello to you because nobody has as many of my books as you. I don't even think I need to introduce myself since we have so much in common."
Oh! You just added John Donne, a long-time favorite! Now I have to run be sure I have him identified as such... And then I'm going to go read something!
Nice to see you back!
Lizzie the D

posted by LizzieD at 10:42 pm (EST) on May 26, 2009

Here's what I wrote K back in January, I guess, when I had entered enough books to have meaningful correspondences: "I need to say hello to you because nobody has as many of my books as you. I don't even think I need to introduce myself since we have so much in common."
Oh! You just added John Donne, a long-time favorite! Now I have to run be sure I have him identified as such... And then I'm going to go read something!
Nice to see you back!
Lizzie the D

posted by LizzieD at 10:42 pm (EST) on May 26, 2009

Yes, a lot of words, rearranged over twenty or so years, and even then I didn't get it quite right. But there it is: eventually you have to say enough.

posted by copyedit52 at 8:57 am (EST) on May 26, 2009

Hello, again. Am now totally hooked on C.J. Cherryh! I have finished Cyteen and ordered Downbelow Station and Alliance Space in order to flesh out the backstory. Can you recommend a sequence for reading these? I would be most grateful...

posted by Nulla at 10:02 pm (EST) on May 25, 2009

Thanks for the comment on the chess game. Actually, it's not just that one game. Every time you access the page, another game by Fischer plays out. It's a gadget I got from Google gadgets. I believe you can choose from a number of different collections. There is a small line of code that you insert into a web page. It's not popular, so you'll have to search for it.

By the way, thanks for inviting me into the history at 30,000 feet group. I'm just now starting to appreciate what goes into the writing of history. It's never been my area, but it's always held a mixture of attraction and repulsion for me. Some histories are unbearably dry, some are popular fluff, but once in a while, there is one that brings depth and understanding about the human condition.

Skipper

posted by skippersan at 10:42 am (EST) on May 20, 2009

Stellar,
I was very interested to read that you have spent some time in China. I have never had the opportunity and it is not on my agenda in the foreseeable future. My Chinese history and language professor was from Gansu province and told me he was 25 years old before he touched a screwdriver, just no familiarity with technology. He had worked for the Chinese government in Chongqing during WWII. I spoke to him after he went back to China in the 80's. He had written a biography of Li Hongzhang and wrote papers in philosophy. He was in the movie Caddyshack playing Rodney Dangerfield's golf partner. As you can tell I really liked and respected him.
I would be interested to know your thoughts from your experiences in China. Was there ever any discussion of Tian an Men? I imagine that was just history for the people you met. Was the history of China ever a topic of discussion? Any discussion of how China is developing? and the $64 question, what was their impression of the U.S.?
On another topic. Have you had a chance to read any of The Sense of Reality? From what you wrote in the thread on the rise of Hitler I would think you would find that essay interesting. Sorry to run on. Be well and drop me a line if you are so inclined.
Bill

posted by wildbill at 5:56 pm (EST) on May 17, 2009

I'm amused that you're amused, so it works all around.

posted by LizzieD at 11:52 am (EST) on May 15, 2009

Well, shoot. The darn thing didn't copy all of the link. Sorry.

posted by LizzieD at 10:55 am (EST) on May 15, 2009

Hello again;

The book Pre Industrial Societies is an introductory text fro students who want some generalised comparative observations about complex pre modern cultures. It draws on a wide range of Eurasian and American socila formations for its data. If you are more analytically inclined, you might find the lumping together of social formations with divergent property relations more obfuscating than enlightening, as the key theoretical point - all pre industrial socieities are variants on a theme - is not really confronted. In terms of intellectual lineage, Gellner rather Marx is the 'grandfather'.

First Globalization looks at the exchange idea, philosophies and cultural products, rather than commodities in trade, across Eurasia in the early modern period. The empahisis is on a) how open countires at the Asian end of the ecumene were to new ideas and concepts and how influential Asian ideas were in the construction of European culture. te author strive shard to I think emphasise the peaceful and psoitive and essentially egalitarian exchange of ideas was, and that "Asia" was as much a producer of the modern world view as was Europe. I am not convinced by it, although it is an interesting view.

Caution: comments ar ebased on preliminary 'skim' reading (Adlers pre reading stage) and not yet on a detailed absorbtion of the arguments.

Hope this helps, and thanks for the interest. This is what LT should facilitate, buit it doesn't happen that often!

Best wishes,
Cedric

posted by cedric at 11:33 pm (EST) on May 13, 2009

Thanks for the suggestion. I'd been mulling it over awhile and you pushed me over the edge. You'll notice I have the gold medallion now.

posted by copyedit52 at 4:03 pm (EST) on May 13, 2009

Hello stellarexplorer,

You are right, i was puzzled by the invite, but I also have an extensive as yet uncatalogued library of works on theology and particularly mysticism so there is an interest there! The tag "nyr" is not yet read!

Cheers for now, Cedric

posted by cedric at 12:29 am (EST) on May 13, 2009

Thanks for adding me to your interesting libaries list. I'll peruse yours over time, which, given its sheer size, will take a while.

posted by copyedit52 at 2:42 pm (EST) on May 12, 2009

Comments to the lodestar of my current reading.......
Courts of the Air is getting pretty generally hammered everywhere I turn. It's an experience I can easily forego.
I will continue to wait to see what you have to say about The Maps of Time. You, of course, are better versed in all of this than I. I prefer buying books to borrowing and having to read them in somebody else's time, so I'll bide my time.
Nulla loved Cyteen. She has ordered Downbelow Station, so I think I'll go ahead and read it in concert with her. (We read feminist scifi together on the ScifiVine years ago, so this will be like old times.) She is getting Regenesis through ILL, but I think I'll be happy to wait until I finish the earlier ones that are coming my way.
Peace,
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 10:21 am (EST) on May 12, 2009

O.K. Now I'm trying really hard not to start Challenger's Hope. If ever you want a YA space opera adventure, the Seafort Saga should do it for you. My copy of Downbelow Station has arrived, but I'm trying not to read it yet either. What's left? Guns, Germs and Steel obviously, an offering from the Orange Broadband longlist, Girl in a Blue Dress, victory Conditions, and an Eric Newby travelogue, On the Shores of the Mediterranean. It's not his best - a reason for not having finished it yet - but even not-his-best is pretty good.
You may ask, "Why aren't you posting this on the "What I'm reading now" thread? I'll tell you. I don't know. I commend and appreciate your patience.
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 4:35 pm (EST) on May 11, 2009

I bow to your wisdom. Meantime, having reread half of *Mdshpmn's Hope* pretty happily, I'll probably refinish it. Then on to better things!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 5:16 pm (EST) on May 10, 2009

I feel your pain...... For a long time I thought that I was going to be a concert pianist. What a horrid existance that would have been for me.
So now I have to read *40 Signs* and not buy the other two until I have. (In fact, to go back to space exploration for a second, my second cousin married Bill McArthur who has been into space twice. He invited us to his first launch, but I didn't go. Brilliant guy! He went to West Point from Red Springs High School. They told him that he'd need at least a year to catch up with the rest of his class in science and math --- he ended up that year number 1 and graduated first.)
Meanwhile, I'm not sure what's the matter wtih me. With all the wonderful new things I've started, I'm currently rereading Midshipman's Hope by David Feintuch. It's not great, but it's one of those that appeals to me. I hope I don't feel compelled to finish it again. I think that this rereading mania is an effort to convince myself that I have all the time in the world to read just as I please.
NatterNatterNatter. Sorry.
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 7:44 pm (EST) on May 9, 2009

Is KSR's most recent trilogy the one that begins with *40 Signs*? He's been a little off my radar, but I'll bring him back up. I'm sorry I won't be around when the first 100 head to Mars. I read it thinking it was the blueprint.
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 10:31 am (EST) on May 9, 2009

Oh! Oh! Oh! Do you see Kim Stanley Robinson on my "favorites" list? For some reason Antarctica apppeals to me more than the North, so I've loved his take on it, and the Mars trilogy, and even The Years of Rice and Salt which I found tedious to begin with and then enjoyed. I have the first of the new series too.....
I do like Kovacs, have bought Thirteen, and it's one of the ones that seems to be calling me now.
I, of course, really loved Remnant Population because it showcases the courage and smarts of an ordinary woman. The Speed of Dark is simply remarkable. (EM has a high-functioning autistic son.) Her space opera is just a lot of fun.
I'll tell you: retirement is super. I highly recommend it!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 11:25 pm (EST) on May 8, 2009

(Hmmmm. SE, have you read Chasm City? I see that you have The Prefect, but not the 3 that come between that and Revelation Space. Nulla persuaded me to read CC after I was less than impressed with RS. CC is a LOT better, I think.)

posted by LizzieD at 8:12 pm (EST) on May 8, 2009

"---after his attack on her---" I was reading so fast at the end that I wasn't sure that she knew that he was responsible for the attack. I didn't look back. Oh well. I have, at any rate, broken and ordered both the other Cheryh volumes, and I'll start the one that comes first, I think......but I also have Redemption Ark and Richard Morgan that are calling to me--- AND I'm quickly reading the last of an Elizabeth Moon series, very light space opera. (In fact, I think that she started the first, Trading in Danger as a young adult effort.)
And then there's Guns, Germs and Steel. I keep running to husband to tell him random facts. This is fun.
Thank you, SE!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 8:08 pm (EST) on May 8, 2009

Thank you for thinking through the Denys question as far as possible. I hadn't thought of Abban initiating the attack on his own, but there was certainly no reason for him not to. And I had forgotten Ari1's advice about casting off emotional ties to Denys although I think that she might as easily have advised casting off emotional ties to everybody. I could never lose a certain amount of grudging sympathy for Ari1. I think it remains problematic. It did occur to me while I was reading that Florian and Catlin could have taken Denys out on their own. I'll have to look again to be sure that evidence of the trap existed that they couldn't have engineered. In fact, having the azi take over the killing in both situations is a bit satisfying in the nature of chickens coming home to roost. (That then makes me wonder whom Grant would kill on his own, and I can't see that happening, but then, Grant is special.) What say you?
I absolutely agree about interpretation. Saying what one means is the first order of good writing, BUT --- if a person can ever say all he means, he doesn't mean much. I'm not Jungian, but I do think that we are fuller than we know of deeply meaningful archetypes, for want of a better word.
I think I'm off to order both the other books. I'll try to read Downbelow first, but that Gehenna one is really calling me.
Happy Days!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 9:44 am (EST) on May 6, 2009

I assume that Nulla is reading it now since she got it through ILL and will have only a limited time to read. On the other hand, it's end-of-the year for teachers, so she may not be reading much. Haven't talked to her.
Let's see....... I was intrigued by Denys and haven't worked out the reasons behind his end. He certainly gave Ari2 the emotional stability to go about her work with only a rational level of paranoia...... I really enjoyed reading about the "science" of tape design and wish somehow that it were more reflective of what's going on in genetics now - not that I'd know. And Ari and Florian and Catlin have my heart.
I have Downbelow Station and Alliance Space, which includes two short novels about Alliance/Union universe, in my cart at amazon. I'll order them soon. I'm especially interested in the Gehenna one.....

posted by LizzieD at 9:39 am (EST) on May 5, 2009

3:00 A.M.????? Oh no! I would not for the world have disturbed your sleep. I will say that I know I'm hooked on a book when I dream about it, and Cyteen and things Reseune certainly made appearances in mine. I look forward to bouncing an idea or two off you and friend Nulla when she finishes.
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 2:58 pm (EST) on May 4, 2009

Thanks for your prompt response, it was very helpful. I add soon.

posted by GumboWriters321 at 10:36 pm (EST) on May 3, 2009

Hello Friend, I forgot to note that Nulla has gotten a copy of Cyteen and should be reading any time now.
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 7:18 pm (EST) on May 2, 2009

-----and oh! Your explanation about 1,2,3, & 4 is the reason that my copy of Cyteen has "Complete in One Volume" on the front cover. I don't see any signs of division in the text and didn't understand what that was about.

posted by LizzieD at 3:54 pm (EST) on May 2, 2009

I've read more this afternoon and have realized that I am taking Ari2 completely at face value. I hope that's a safe thing to do because I'll be vastly disappointed if it's not so....... (She has just brought Justin and Grant completely into her organization by defying the uncles and is asking Denys to help her get Giraud's permission to do a replicate of him - but not Denys.) I think I need to read Downbelow Station as my next CJC, but I'll let this one settle a bit first.
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 3:51 pm (EST) on May 2, 2009

Shoot,SE! Not yet!!!! -about 140 more pages. If I could stay away from this place, I'd have it done. -except I hate to stop reading. (And what is all the Cyteen:1, 2, 3, 4 business with the Touchstones? I haven't checked them out.) Meanwhile, I'm fascinated with the CIT/Azi relationship. If the cits could be so believably careful about the well-being of their Azis, why couldn't they be the same about other people? Why couldn't we be? Do you think it's the old master/slave psychology? (Some of the kindest people I knew as a child were some of the most racist. I never knew any KKK'ers but a number of my relatives were close. And they would give money sacrificially to help a black dependent out. We are a peculiar species.)
Cheers!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 12:56 pm (EST) on May 2, 2009

Awesome! You'll love it.

posted by ashleybessbrown at 5:13 pm (EST) on Apr 30, 2009

Thanks StellarExplorer, the honor is mine. I love the remarks in your profile about the role of books and reading in every humans life, and I'm sure i'll get several good book recommendations from your library :)

posted by dezert at 11:40 am (EST) on Apr 25, 2009

Thanx for visiting... I can see that you're an eclectic reader, as am I... and we seem to overlap in many categories. I've been an obsessive reader of sci-fi since the age of 12 (I'm now at an age that I reveal only to my closest friends!). Art is my passion and profession, so there is the other big lump of tags we have in common. Very interesting... If you don't mind, I'll add you to my "interesting libraries" and will poke around there when I have more time...

posted by Nulla at 8:06 am (EST) on Apr 8, 2009

Yes - There are more books in our house than anything else! :-)

If I cared about the numbers, I could jump quite a bit in the largest library listings by joining the accounts, but I don't - I'd rather not get recommendations for fiction based on my non-fiction, or vice-versa. (Or worse - recs for non-fiction based on my husband's fiction!)

posted by joiedelivre at 10:53 pm (EST) on Apr 5, 2009

I have found Niccolo a harder row to hoe than Lymond; perhaps because Francis Crawford was a more attractive character, or because the period was one of higher interest to me, but I've been stuck in volume 2 of Niccolo for a long time, in spite of several attempts, and have re-read the Lymond books several times.

posted by staffordcastle at 10:45 pm (EST) on Apr 5, 2009

P.S. I see we share quite a few books!

posted by joiedelivre at 10:43 pm (EST) on Apr 5, 2009

Nope - I've gotten through much of the paperbacks, but only through the B's in the hardbacks. The two you mention are on the next bookcase to be done - I' just checked, and they're there! :-)

posted by joiedelivre at 10:41 pm (EST) on Apr 5, 2009

Hi, Stellarexplorer
Actually, I have a *great deal* of science fiction - this account is only my non-fiction library. About half the fiction belonging to my husband and myself is under my joiedelivre account; still working on entering stuff in both accounts!

(And yes, I do like Cherryh!)

posted by staffordcastle at 10:18 pm (EST) on Apr 5, 2009

Stellarexplorer,
Thanks and appreciation for starting the history group. I thought we had a good group going before but I guess that opinion was not unanimous. I must take the time and come back to peruse your library. What I did see was very interesting.
Based upon your comment about what history is I am sure you would enjoy Isaiah Berlin's essay "Sense of Reality" very much. I have only seen it in the book of the same name which I would think is in paper by now. His essays have the content of many author's books. That one I have read many times.
Be well and enjoy.
Bill

posted by wildbill at 10:10 pm (EST) on Apr 4, 2009

Hi.. Sorry for the delayed reply. Had a minor emergency to attend to in the family, but all is well now.

You asked "have you put any of your reactions to that difficult material into your art?" I'm certain I have but indirectly. Anything that effects me emotionally most likely is reflected in everything I do, although I don't think about anything specific when creating. The majority of my work (business) is more specialized, so I rarely have time to do art for art sakes anymore... sighs

You might want to take a look at my tags (favorites). There are some holocaust books listed there that I believe are remarkable in depth and substance. Although, I rarely give less than 3 stars to any holocaust survivor books. I appreciate the painful personal stories they tell - even if the writing is horrible or their facts about dates and times might be off. You have to consider they are telling their story as they remember events that occurred many, many years before. However, the 5 star rated holocaust books are much better in that area. Anyway, much success in your search for holocaust literature. I hope you find what you are striving for, and if I can be of any help, just holler...=)

Cindy

posted by CindyBytes at 11:02 pm (EST) on Apr 2, 2009

Hey you have "Eaters of the Dead" -- I read that when I was thirteen and thought it was for real!! I see it is reissued as "The 13h Warrior" but I don't know the new title -- "Eaters of the Dead" worked for me.

posted by Garp83 at 10:13 pm (EST) on Mar 31, 2009

my pleasure. I hope to learn much :)

posted by moiraji at 6:18 pm (EST) on Mar 31, 2009

Thank you for the invite. It looks like the group has a lot of interesting discussions going on. I'm eager to read them.

posted by meersan at 11:41 am (EST) on Mar 31, 2009

Thank you for the group invite and for adding me to your "interesting libraries" list. I've added you too, on account of I see many books on your list that interest me also. Since your library is so large, and with so many fascinating books, this should prove to be quite enjoyable.

Indeed, most of my holocaust library consists of memoirs. I've determined firsthand accounts are more precise, enlightening and moving than many of those dry reads by stuffy old professors or exorbitantly analytical historians. Each time I suppose I've read every holocaust memoir out there, I'll find an additional one. I still come upon out-of-print copies of books that were recorded many years ago and numerous of them were printed soon after the war, so my pursuit and study is never ending - or so it seems. Right now I'm still trying to recollect all the holocaust books I have read. I have to do some major probing to find them though. I know I've read more than I have listed, plus I still have some that I haven't gotten to yet, so more to come.

The only art I have time to do these days is my 2D/3D art work that I do for a living. My first passion is portraits in oils. Much of my creative work is eclectic in style. Not surprising with my advertising and design history.

Regards,
Cindy

posted by CindyBytes at 10:45 am (EST) on Mar 30, 2009

Thank you and thank you.
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 10:09 am (EST) on Mar 30, 2009

One of my favorite books - so enlightening - enjoy!

posted by staffordcastle at 12:48 am (EST) on Mar 30, 2009

We were classmates until my desire to pursue post-grad work in religious studies/theology and she stuck with history.

posted by MisfitKotLD at 9:45 pm (EST) on Mar 29, 2009

By the way, nice collection!

posted by HarmlessTed at 1:29 pm (EST) on Mar 28, 2009

Hi,

Was wondering if you'd be interested in reviewing my new novel and posting your comments here as well as a few other book-related sites. Saw you liked When I was Five I Killed Myself, and thought you might like my novel since it's also about a disturbed adolescent and a bit dark. I could e-mail you the novel in an e-book format if you'd like. Let me know if you're interested. Here's a link to a summary in case you're interested:

http://christophertusa.com/blog/?page_id...

Thanks,

Chris

posted by cmtusa at 9:03 am (EST) on Mar 20, 2009

Sorry for my delayed response. My day job has been burying me lately.

Thanks for the suggestions! I've read Norman Cantor's Civilization of the Middle Ages but the other ones I'm not familar with. Do you have any recommendations for books on the topics of Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages, or Feudalism?

Thanks,

Steven
http://steventill.com

posted by StevenTill at 1:29 pm (EST) on Feb 21, 2009

Always nice to find others interested in medieval history. I found your profile through the Medieval Europe group. Any particular book you would recommend? What's your favorite non-fiction book on medieval history? I'm always looking for new books to add to my library. Thanks.

Steven
http://steventill.com

posted by StevenTill at 10:34 pm (EST) on Feb 14, 2009

I see you picked up "Maps of Time" -- I think you will like this one a lot!

posted by Garp83 at 6:02 am (EST) on Feb 10, 2009

I'm guessing that this is a place for people whose books fill a large portion of their hearts. I'm a random sort of person although I like to pretend to myself that I have an orderly mind. At any rate, handling the books as I enter them here has been a heady experience. I do find that I have slowed down this week, having been here only 3 weeks, because handling books is not the same thing as reading books. It's all lovely!

posted by LizzieD at 10:29 am (EST) on Jan 29, 2009

I'm awed. I also realize that I'm self-centered.....My carefulness in tagging has been to make sure that I record where every book is in the house. I know that I'll never get them organized on the shelves except in the very general way as we added bookshelf after bookshelf. (Poor husband has given up saying, "---and when you fill this one, don't buy any more books." But then, I don't buy clothes or go to movies = rationalization.)

posted by LizzieD at 10:53 pm (EST) on Jan 28, 2009

The other thing that occurs to me as I prowled around here a little more is how much more helpful your tags are than mine. I'm just trying so hard to get the books in here. Maybe someday I can go back and do a more thorough job of tagging. Anyway, thanks!
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 3:43 pm (EST) on Jan 28, 2009

I'm absolutely amazed that somebody here read a review of mine. You made my day! -- and I thought *ReVisions* quite an important book especially since my really hardcore feminist friends tend to talk about the goddess!

posted by LizzieD at 3:40 pm (EST) on Jan 28, 2009

Hello. I was looking for other readers of science fiction, so I've poked around a little in your library, but I'm afraid to do it any longer. I absolutely cannot buy any more books right now, but you have bunches of intriguing ones. I hadn't seen *The Steel Remains* Oh dear.
Peggy

posted by LizzieD at 4:15 pm (EST) on Jan 27, 2009

Thanks !!

posted by johnsellars at 2:12 pm (EST) on Jan 17, 2009

No problem, hope you like it!

posted by Feicht at 12:31 pm (EST) on Jan 10, 2009

Correction, that should be "The Dark Ages ReconsiDERED." Thats what happens when you type fast at 3am :-)

posted by Feicht at 3:04 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2009

Hmm I did? I don't remember doing so at all, haha.

But, fortunately, he IS! All of his books are great, though the less "mainstream" ones can be a bit erudite. But for all the ones you can find on amazon.com, he writes in a clear, conversational-ish tone.

His "The Battle that Stopped Rome" is about the massacre of the 3 Roman legions in northern Germany in 9 AD by Arminius and his Cherusci and allied tribes. It is a slightly controversial take on events, as he claims the "battle" was over much quicker than others do. Either way, it's a good introduction to the history, or an interesting take on it if you know of it already.

Another good one is "The Barbarians Speak: How the Conquered Peoples Shaped Roman Europe" which is sort of about rethinking the idea of non-Romans as "barbarians"... actually his newer one "Barbarians to Angels: The Dark Ages Reconsiders" is supposed to tackle this further, and show that the Dark Ages weren't just all about dirty people rolling around in the mud having forgot about Roman civilization. But I haven't gotten to that one yet, so I can't tell you more than I've read in reviews :-)

posted by Feicht at 3:03 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2009

Awesome, thanks :-) I'll have to put that one on the ole wishlist. Looks like it can be had on-the-cheap from half.com too, that's good to know ;-)

Speaking of the Huns, have you read this one? http://www.librarything.com/work/154938

I haven't, but a professor recommended it to me a while back, I just haven't gotten around to checking it out.

posted by Feicht at 12:36 am (EST) on Jan 10, 2009

Hey Stellar -- Yeah, only book lovers would think to arrange their shelves with such care as to chronology ...

If you enjoyed "Before the Dawn", you should read Diamond's "Guns, Germs & Steel as well if you have not already ... it is a fine complement.

"Arslan" was a selection of the monthly Books & Beer club I belong to. I must say I had mixed feelings about it at the time, although in retrospect I am glad I read it. Glad I drank the beer too (lol)!

posted by Garp83 at 8:41 pm (EST) on Jan 8, 2009

Just wanted to verify that you have read the Washington bio. I wasn't sure by what you said but it sounded like it.
Cheli

posted by cyderry at 8:41 pm (EST) on Jan 4, 2009

Thanks, i'm up to 140 now. Your parents took me to the book store and i've added those classics to my libary. Just 60 away from my lifetime membership.

posted by nirvanian at 3:25 pm (EST) on Dec 15, 2008

Thanks for pointing out my "typo." Don't mind at all your letting me be aware.
Peace, Redbookforest

posted by redbookforest at 10:02 am (EST) on Dec 12, 2008

Glad you changed your mind and are going to join us.
Hope you have some insights on good books for us to read!

Welcome, welcome!
Cheli

posted by cyderry at 11:22 pm (EST) on Dec 10, 2008

Oh, I don't want you to think that we would turn you away because you may not finish. I just thought you might like to keep track with us, so by all means, if you feel more comfortable just monitoring our progress that's fine. You do realize that this challenge is for four years, right?
We don't have to finish until the next election in 2012 and if there's no new president in 2012 then it could be extended another 4 years.

Hope to see you around.

Cheli

posted by cyderry at 6:06 pm (EST) on Dec 10, 2008

Author Nevering - It places a block between two authors names preventing them from being combined. Helps to keep 'infernal idiots' from making the same mistake over and over again. Generally used only for common errors eg to keep a surname only author from being combined with any of the full names, or to keep seperate dual author hybrid names from either of their real counterparts.

You perform it from the green sidebar on the author's page. "I know an author is separate, but some infernal idiot keeps combining them. Can I take a name off the combination list?" Click the linked Yes you Can.

posted by reading_fox at 4:29 am (EST) on Dec 8, 2008

Thank you for the compliment, but despite my youthful appearance I am in fact 51 -- a young 51, of course!

posted by Garp83 at 5:48 am (EST) on Nov 17, 2008

hi star-ji; thanks for the wave. as far as NaNo is shaping up, hope you're doing better than I am. at this point I don't think you'd even have to be participating to do better than I am. Scott Adams summed it all up perfectly:

http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008...

posted by moiraji at 11:23 am (EST) on Nov 15, 2008

I am envious of your collection. I have 1550 volumes -- you have more than double! But yes we do share similar interests!

posted by Garp83 at 7:42 pm (EST) on Nov 11, 2008

Hi Star. Yes that’s likely to be Alice Springs. It’s reasonably sizeable, with 5 star hotels and a casino serving the tourist trade to Uluru (Ayers Rock). Of course, you also need to remember too that Pine Gap is only 20km outside of Alice.

posted by Surtac at 8:09 pm (EST) on Oct 30, 2008

Hope you like it! There are a number of unexpected treats for enthusiasts of Time Travel yarns.

posted by arthurfrayn at 2:41 pm (EST) on Oct 22, 2008

Oh, wow. Thank you. i'll keep you up to date.

posted by nirvanian at 9:08 pm (EST) on Oct 21, 2008

back in action. and no, still 84 off of that. maybe i'll go on a book shopping spree soon.

posted by nirvanian at 12:17 am (EST) on Oct 20, 2008

Not droning to me. ;)

I agree with your points. I like your SF/Jazz comparison -I think about it in much the same way.

posted by arthurfrayn at 11:35 am (EST) on Oct 15, 2008

I'll say one thing-"Up The Line" is a "dirty book". If you've read Silverberg and it looks like you've read your share, you know he likes to do sex. What a shock to find out he was picking up cash on the side writing real dirty novels for years under various aliases. With this book it feels as if, he let the walls down between his two writing selves. I don't know if you'll regard that as a plus or a minus, but I give you the heads up for what it's worth.
There is an impressive amount of historical material handled adeptly and imaginatively in the book though. That's it's big reccommend. At least to my eye. You seem to have more of an expertise on that so I'll let you be the judge...

posted by arthurfrayn at 12:02 am (EST) on Oct 15, 2008

Hiya

Re- time travel to Calvary. It is an often used trope as you've suggested. Another novel from the 70s - Robert Silverberg's "Up The Line" has a "time travel as tourist business" central plot device, so at Calvary, one is instructed not to talk with other people there, as they are previous tour groups often with the same tour guide. ;)
One of my favorite ideas from an often amusing novel. I see you've read a number of his books, you might like this one as well . A lighter touch for this one than usual.

posted by arthurfrayn at 2:37 pm (EST) on Oct 13, 2008

thanks, re: my rating system. however, I need to actually *use* the rating system a bit more often, meaning, I need to try and catch up with my tagging, rating, and reviewing of the books I've already read. I am acquiring new books very quickly (no problem there), and oh for to use some of *that* momentum towards getting more organized in general. I also need to go and read all the reviews you and the rest have entered- I am extremely interested in them (the reviews and the books themselves, to say nothing of the reviewers ;) ), but time has been slippery around here lately, and this must be overcome.

posted by moiraji at 2:23 pm (EST) on Oct 3, 2008

i just went across my entire 2 shelves of books and entered them all in. Somehow it added up to a staggering 116. Its a small start, but it'll grow fast I hope.

posted by nirvanian at 10:03 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2008

hmmm, I didn't realize how it would post. I won't feel offended if you delete that; the name of the link is rather off-putting. :

posted by moiraji at 1:47 am (EST) on Sep 30, 2008

oh, star-ji, I saw this and thought of you:
http://www.foundshit.com/book-shelf-stai...

posted by moiraji at 1:41 am (EST) on Sep 30, 2008

I see we were both busy posting ER reviews today. I was especially interested to read your EXTRAORDINARY ENGINES review, as I love steampunk & had hoped to score this ER book!

My book, CIRCUS QUEEN AND TINKER BELL: THE MEMOIR OF TINY KLINE was really very good, and quite extraordinary in many ways. While I read a lot of biographies, this is probably one I would not have picked up on my own. I've never been a circus fan, but found this very interesting.

That said, I'm glad I won it, and even more, able to give a good review -- especially when I learned how the memoir came to be published.

posted by MtnSk8tr at 10:04 pm (EST) on Sep 27, 2008

I read the Coast of Utopia last week, as a bit of a break from Weinberg [whom I still adore, and with respect to which the narrative tension is mounting.] Have you read Coast? I remember you have it and didnt see the play, but I dont remember if have read it? I felt that it didn't read as well as some of his other plays, and it made me thirst to know more about the people, the history and the thinking. I think that it must be better seen than read. I haven't felt this about some of his other plays, but then I have seen most of the ones I have read, so perhaps that is misleading. I will not forgive myself soon for not going to see them.

posted by kokipy at 12:55 am (EST) on Sep 26, 2008

You are correct Star. I was checking further afield than my Usual Suspects used bookshops for stuff by David Foster Wallace and happened across this book in a display position. I remembered Kokipy’s comment about what she’d learned in the first 200 pages, and decided I’d better grab it while I could. It was $38 used, but it’s a lot of book for the price.

posted by Surtac at 7:57 pm (EST) on Sep 24, 2008

Hi Star. I do have Farnham's Freehold. It's on the next shelf to be attacked and LTed - at the top of the middle shelving unit. I don't recall having read it though - I'm pretty sure it came into my collection via my brother.

posted by Surtac at 1:29 am (EST) on Sep 24, 2008

Life pretty much stops at our house for the Tour de France. Steve is more of a cycling fan than me, altho I enjoy it. I haven't been as caught up in it since Lance retuired, coupled w/ the doping. Yes, Landis' win that day was astounding, and yes, one of the amazing moments of sport. Our jaws were dropping!

I still hope Landis wasn't doping, but am just not sure. Waaaay behind on reading cycling books, & Landis' is one is haven't read, as well as LANCE ARMSTRONG'S WAR. I got that one for a birthday gift for Steve & he says it is very, very good. Yes, one more book for you to add to you library!

Search our library via tags "cycling" & "biking" to see what else we have -- quite a few books(which one assumes will not surprise you, lol!)

THE CHERRYH ODYSSY is excellent also & I know you'll enjoy it. Really interesting essays & analysis, plus very helpful biblio in the back. All contributors put in a lot of work and thought to it, & I believe it is an essential work for any avid sff &/or Cherryh reader. Kelanth56 from Shejidan contributed (Jan Stinson is her RL byline). Other Associates contributed similar academic articles but I can't think of who right off hand. The essay on "a lot of sand" is one of the more memorable essays & always makes me lol. I think you'll enjoy it also.

Ed comments about wanting articles from fans but that it didn't wotk out. When I wrote my Shejidan history article for Kelanth's RIBBONS, I asked Mule about Ed's comment. Mule said no one could really get their act together on it, to contribute as a fannish group. Too bad!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 9:22 am (EST) on Sep 21, 2008

I see you just added THE CHERRYH ODYSSEY. Some LT "editions" are in error: Ed Carmien is the editor/author. Jane is not the author; you may wish to edit your entry. Jane simply constributed an essay, the same as everyone else.

posted by MtnSk8tr at 10:45 pm (EST) on Sep 20, 2008

oh, no, I read your comment on The Last Lion a while back, but just now got my hands on a copy. which I have already promised to lend to my sister first.

I thought Silver Nutmeg Graters looked to be about, well, silver nutmeg graters, but I wasn't sure if it were a photo essay or the history of rare kitchen implements or what. ;)

posted by moiraji at 8:31 pm (EST) on Sep 17, 2008

but I simply must ask you about Silver Nutmeg Graters?

posted by moiraji at 12:40 pm (EST) on Sep 16, 2008

ah, too bad. I have The Last Lion but my sister is going to read it first, I believe. she's a huge Churchill fan (and a Medieval fan, too, as it happens).

posted by moiraji at 12:38 pm (EST) on Sep 16, 2008

Idle hands are the Devil's workshop!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 4:41 pm (EST) on Sep 14, 2008

Ah-ha! I found you on the "Top 3000" list. I didn't look up far enough.

Oh woe is me, of little faith!

You are #697!

It is worth noting that at least one of the largest libraries is indeed, a true library ("windsorpl", who hit the wrong button and ended up in regular LT rather than LT For Libraries). Other collections are nothing more than wish lists, skewing the stats.

posted by MtnSk8tr at 11:34 am (EST) on Sep 14, 2008

LOL! I see we are online here at the same time!

Yes, I noticed that yesterday: discrepancy between raw & weighted rankings. I assume it is because of the sheer number of books in your library. But don't ask me, what do I know about math other than to consistently pick "c". Or "b".

Yesterday I stumbled across the "Top 3000" (by numbers cataloged) libraries list. Surtac is on it, but I must have overlooked your name. I'm within 5 books of making the list.

Thought I was over halfway done cataloging then found several (more) large boxes of books last week. I have an unsettling feeling more boxes remain yet undiscovered. I am convinced LT is a Sisphyean task designed for those with OCD!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 11:18 am (EST) on Sep 14, 2008

I'm enjoying your reviews, esp. of the Egyptian hieroglyphic books. They look very interesting!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 2:40 am (EST) on Sep 11, 2008

Hi Star-ji. Just saw your comment about Clarke's The Last Theorem. It's up next in the current (ie today's) reading plan, so I should have an answer for you this week sometime.

posted by Surtac at 10:25 pm (EST) on Sep 6, 2008

LOL, my hypoxia books & programs! Underappreciated, yes! I doubt many LTers have utilized the tags "hypoxic ventilatory response" or "Lake Louise AMS Scoring", lol!

Did I ever tell you about the Hypoxia Symposium? It is the "symposium for climbing & ski bums with naive employers". Note it is always held in the Canadian Rockies, most often at Lake Louise. This symposium has my highest recommendation!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 4:18 am (EST) on Sep 6, 2008

Your ClusterMap looks like it will work fine. After it has some time to allow data generation, you should see a red dot in in NE WA!

I have 2 maps: one for recent visits, which also lists the location. I'm not fully satisfied with it, as there is a huge time lag between the graphic and the written list of cities. ClusterMap marks all visits & keeps them plotted indefinately, without the written list.

Have you enlarged (clicked on) my ClusterMap? I can't believe where some of the visitors are located: places I don't know anyone -- or at least I don't *think* I know anyone, lol!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 2:02 pm (EST) on Aug 31, 2008

I just bought JONATHAN STRANGE & Mr NORRELL. Have heard many good things about it, but it will be some time before I can get to it. So many books, so little time!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 2:52 am (EST) on Aug 31, 2008

I can't recall THE GIVER'S ending -- only that I really liked the book. Guess I'll need to re-read it -- it is somewhere in Danielle's books....

posted by MtnSk8tr at 12:20 am (EST) on Aug 30, 2008

I see you too have THE GIVER.

What a wonderful book, and I rank it up there with THE VELVETEEN RABBIT!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 10:15 pm (EST) on Aug 29, 2008

Watts is one of those authors, well, still in boxes chez moi. Anyway, I've been thinking I want first editions of his books, so they'll get here someday. Even so, Joyous Cosmology is enough to make Watts anyone's favorite, right?

posted by yeschaton at 7:01 pm (EST) on Aug 29, 2008

RE: stamp collection.

Yes -- but I haven't touched it since ~junior high. My dad is a big-time stamp & postmark collector, and expert in a very estoteric field (postmarks from rural and defunct post offices). All 3 of us kids had stamp collections as a result. I enjoyed it then, & am certain I still would now -- but have too many other interests. Sadly, there are only so many hours in the day! I found my old album in the bookshelf while cataloging last week, and decided to include it.

Did you ever collect stamps? Come to think of it, cataloging our books is not very different from collecting stamps!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 2:43 am (EST) on Jul 26, 2008

I would be happy to lend you any book any time! EG, the Robert Hooke? We'll have to have a new tag,
"On Loan"
I have already added in the children's books that are worth keeping.
And yes on the non-fictions. I won't get to them in the next couple of days - still working through Hooke, Magic Mountain and contemplating finishing Illuminatus. But I'll let you know where and when I begin.
I trust you also noticed the Anderson additions? turns out there were several at Paperbackswap.

posted by kokipy at 7:45 am (EST) on Jul 19, 2008

So, when you post three more books we will have exactly the same number of books in our librarythings! Then I suspect you will forge ahead! I add them as they arrive these days but am through with the major cataloguing.

posted by kokipy at 8:49 pm (EST) on Jul 17, 2008

I just posted a note to myself that i meant to put here, re Stoppard. I have the Russian plays too but haven't read them yet - just haven't gotten to them. Should I acquire the Berlin book to which you allude?

posted by kokipy at 10:14 am (EST) on Jul 15, 2008

Yes, i love Stoppard. I've loved every play of his I've seen, and I deeply regret not making Glen come with me to the Russian ones. They are good reading, too. Doggs Hamlet Kahout's MacBeth is among my favorites, as is The Real Thing.

posted by kokipy at 1:23 pm (EST) on Jul 14, 2008

I take your point regarding frozen items and will await your recommendations, which are always interesting even if we have different takes on them.

posted by kokipy at 11:29 am (EST) on Jun 25, 2008

You know, given my age, I read quite a lot of that era back when, and I am not so easily put off [much less offended] when I understand the context. TGWTJGE did not offend, I just didn't like it as much as Pollinators. If I know what to expect I can manage to suspend my feminist outlook to value what's good! Even Asimov suffers from this pov at times, and I regard him highly.
So, if you have an early work you think would expand my appreciation of the historical development of the genre don't hestitate to mention it, with all due caveats.

posted by kokipy at 11:01 am (EST) on Jun 25, 2008

No, haven't read Gilead yet. I read the two Chabon, and my new Alexander McCall Smith, and one of the books my sister gave me for my birthday [a murder mystery], and am working on the Robert Hooke book from time to time. I like it a lot but it requires more attention than I tend to have late at night - oddly enough it turns out to be good subway reading [except that it is hard to hold while straphanging]. I am looking forward to Gilead, but for now it is fulfilling the role of giving me comfort that there are more books to read on my shelf!
Should I acquire Edmund Cooper?

posted by kokipy at 9:33 am (EST) on Jun 25, 2008

Sorry - make that 77.

posted by Surtac at 10:42 pm (EST) on Jun 24, 2008

Star-ji, I've added the PAs to LT as of last night. After eliminating some duplicates, the count is now 79.
And I see you've now leapfrogged past Kokipy in the list of members with my books as a result.

posted by Surtac at 10:38 pm (EST) on Jun 24, 2008

Hi Star-ji. Thanks for reminding me of Edmund Cooper. I've adopted a new technique whereby if someone mentions an author that I have in the collection but haven't yet catalogued to LT, I'll now pull out the books and add them. As it happens, I do have The Last Continent, and Wikipedia tells me that Who Needs Men? and Gender Genocide are the same book (but it is Wikipedia - it may not be right.)

posted by Surtac at 6:34 am (EST) on Jun 20, 2008

I haven't read it, but I saw it on your list and it looked right up my alley. (and my sister's; she is fascinated by the middle ages. she is also fascinated with WWII and Churchill, btw.) then I read the comments/reviews here on LT about it. it seems they don't like how Manchester handled this particular subject, even though some of them like his other works. I just wondered if you had already formed an opinion.

posted by moiraji at 7:23 pm (EST) on Jun 18, 2008

have you read A World Lit Only By Fire (Manchester)? or have you yet to read it?

posted by moiraji at 8:08 pm (EST) on Jun 16, 2008

Of course! you are entirely responsible for my acquisition of the Voyage of a Million Years. I liked it pretty well. He writes very well, I had forgotten that about him. I read a lot of his books some time ago but haven't revisited him lately.
I haven't read the timbucto one yet. I got that because of Dunnett, I think, but you might have inspired it instead. Glen read it and liked it, so I am looking forward to getting to it someday.

posted by kokipy at 1:46 pm (EST) on May 31, 2008

I am afraid I have only a few more books. I have the bulk of mine cataloged already. [jealous]You must live in a library.[/jealous]

posted by HRHSpence at 1:49 am (EST) on Mar 17, 2008

Star-ji. I am astonished that we share 50 books! that is amazing to me.

posted by HRHSpence at 12:48 am (EST) on Mar 17, 2008

ah, we are starting a forum on tagging it seems :D

I think you are right when you say it is such a difficult topic to converse about via comment posting. I'm not sure where to take the conversation, but at this stage, if I left a comment responding to your last comment, it might be several pages long. so maybe we could have a thread somewhere or an email conversation? why, we could even exchange letters on it, if we were inclined, although that might be a bit of a challenge to do three-way with the three of us scattered all over the map.

I am really glad to find people who don't instantly glaze over when I start in on this kind of thing... Shejidan associates are such treasures!

posted by moiraji at 11:39 pm (EST) on Mar 14, 2008

Yes, but do I post to your page or to Moira-ji's page? ;-)
It's a bit cumbersome to have to check each others' pages out just in case... It would be easier if we shifted the conversation to Shejidan or some other place (even if it's not really the right place...)

posted by Busifer at 12:28 pm (EST) on Mar 14, 2008

Star-ji,
since your comment (over at Shejidan) on my reading 'Tagging...' I took the liberty to read up on the conversation you and Moira-ji had. VERY interesting - too bad a third person can't join! When I think about talking about these matters IRL with the two of you... it blows me away!

posted by Busifer at 7:34 am (EST) on Mar 14, 2008

I think that I thought the style was a bit clunky. It was interesting historically. But I do not remember being very impressed over all.

posted by kokipy at 11:05 am (EST) on Mar 10, 2008

I dont remember that I liked Conspiracy of Paper very much, though I did finish it and kept it. I'll lend it to you if you like.

posted by kokipy at 8:18 am (EST) on Mar 10, 2008

star-ji, I have not stopped thinking about tags. you'd think I'd have other things to do, but, as you understand, for me it's all wrapped up in how humanity both construes the world and also imbues it with meaning. which is right up my alley.

so as I'm reading my anthropology text, I come across Etics and Emics (Outsider/Insider, Comparativist/Participant). http://faculty.ircc.edu/faculty/jlett/Ar...

which leads me to Tagmemics. http://personal.bgsu.edu/~edwards/tags.h...

all of which now is combining to form interesting, half-formed thoughts which break off again and recombine in innumerable different ways, as if my brain is an organic lava lamp.

have you ever spent much time following this direction? and isn't it just like me to take a simple, well-known thing like tagging and make it seem amazingly complex and revealing?

posted by moiraji at 4:04 pm (EST) on Mar 7, 2008

Remember recommending THE LONG WALK to me? It turns out we've had it in the house for some months -- tucked away in one of the boxes containing the library of the Spokane Mountaineers. It showed up a few days ago when we started to catalog the club ("SpokaneMountaineers") on LT. Steve is just starting to catalog the club books -- I'm concentrating on our personal collection. LT will be a fantastic resource for the club.

(Only 9 more days until I can personally tour the libraries of the Eastern Association. Be still, my beating heart!!!)

posted by MtnSk8tr at 2:50 am (EST) on Mar 3, 2008

About C. J. Cherryh and "Cyteen" -- you may be right but the books have never appealed to me so I have not read them. Something about space-faring teenagers, perhaps. I realize I'm judging by the cover. It's a she - Carolyn, I believe.

If you're a stellar exporer, check out galaxyzoo.com . you can advance the cause of science by classifying galaxies.

posted by monado at 12:21 am (EST) on Mar 3, 2008

I loved your comment, stellarexplorer. I thought you might like that article as much as I did. Certainly I find it a slippery line between seeing something for what it is, if there is objective reality there, and seeing something subjectively for what it means to me... And I tend to feel caught in a quandry about remaining true to both sides of that line as far as possible.

Also very true, that there is no theoretical limit to the number of self-representations we may have. How we continue to define and redefine ourselves (as well as everything else), well, okay, I'm heading off into existentialism land there, but I know you already follow. :D

posted by moiraji at 12:30 am (EST) on Feb 24, 2008

nice to be here :D

I am new to tagging, actually, having hardly ever used tags, and I am trying to reform. did you see this lovely article? http://www.shirky.com/writings/ontology_...

posted by moiraji at 11:13 pm (EST) on Feb 19, 2008

Yes, I too am baffled.

posted by kokipy at 1:18 pm (EST) on Feb 18, 2008

If you look at the raw numbers, the members are listed in descending order of shared books. I seem to share a high number of books with others, maybe because I have more entered so far, and maybe because I tend to buy all of the work of some very prolific people, like Wodehouse, Cherryh, Trollope, Francis and so on, and others may tend to do the same thing. I don't know what the weighted numbers signify.

posted by kokipy at 10:02 am (EST) on Feb 18, 2008

Viewing the old Shakespeare can be easily arranged. It is located at the Sunday venue for the minishejicon for the eastern association.

posted by kokipy at 12:29 pm (EST) on Feb 13, 2008

Yes, I have three copies of the complete works of Shakespeare, collected in single volumes. The first and most precious is the leatherbound one my father had with him as an 18 year old in England during the war. He annotated it a bit. Then I have my college textbook and finally a more compact version that I used to keep in my office. Not sure where it is at the moment. I dont think I've entered all three of them yet, although I may have. We will have to take it as a given that our shared total is 50 more than indicated.

posted by kokipy at 9:29 am (EST) on Feb 13, 2008

I think it will come in handy after the move, when I plan to go back and add locations to all the tags. That is, provided we don't have all the books in a single room. This won't be known for some time, of course. Well, at least I found the table saw book, which had been lost for some years. And it is nice to revisit everything. I have found a number of duplicates to put on paperbackswap.com, and others just to get rid of. Periodically one ought to weed out, I think. I have also realized I have some glaring gaps, which I am motivated to fill.

posted by kokipy at 10:21 am (EST) on Feb 11, 2008

I am nearly done. Fiction, mystery and sci fi all in. Still working on Glen's books, a lot of cookbooks left, and I have yet to do most of the children's classics that I will keep for my own delight even after the girls are done, but not more than 6 shelves left to go. the good news is that I finally found the table saw book glen's been looking for for years.
It will be fun to see our overlap when we are both finished!
I also have to massage the catalogue. i have a lot of duplicates, because of entering by memory and then forgetting I had put some of them in when I got to working my way down the shelves. I also want to refine the tags, and the stars. I find the stars a bit frustrating so will have to spend some time being sure I am being consistent.
I liked reading the last colony because it completed the story for me, and resolved some of those nagging questions left from the first two, but it is not in itself, i think, an inherently better book than the other two. Still. I think it helps to finish up the series.
Sawyer leaves me a bit cold. Nothing really wrong, but nothing particularly exciting either. I have a couple of his books lying around and have put off reading them for other far more interesting material.
I just found about five Doonesbury books from the 70s and 80s that I had completely forgotten and I had to stop cataloguing for a while to review them. In Search of Reagan's Brain, notably.

posted by kokipy at 11:18 am (EST) on Feb 10, 2008

I think if I were to go back to Rivets and Sprockets, et al. now I would have the same reaction as you. Still, it will always have a special place in memory :)

posted by tardis at 11:03 am (EST) on Feb 4, 2008

Hey! Thanks for amending your process for me! You're the best!

posted by CyanDag at 10:10 am (EST) on Jan 31, 2008

actually, once you've gotten the rating column included, you can just go down the list hitting the stars, without checking on the pencil. very easy. The problem I am having is, as I mentioned to Cyandag, i tend only to keep the books I like, so my rating scale is skewed. One star does not necessarily mean I dont like it, only that there are 4 stars between it and the top. there are many levels below it that dont show up here, for the books I've gotten rid of.

posted by kokipy at 9:05 pm (EST) on Jan 30, 2008

one way to do the rating is to edit the display styles, the a, b, c, d, and e thingies, to change one of the columns provided to a rating option using the drop down menus. then when you click on the pencil there will be a rating opportunity.

posted by kokipy at 8:49 pm (EST) on Jan 30, 2008

Hey, man! Are you planning on ever filling out the rating field? I'm curious to see what books you like and what you didn't. Not to add any more work to the enormous task you've undertaken.

posted by CyanDag at 1:58 pm (EST) on Jan 30, 2008

Tupo alert!

CHANUR's HOMECOMING has the author's last name as "J.", first name as "Cherryh C."

LOL

posted by MtnSk8tr at 3:29 am (EST) on Jan 30, 2008

Wow, you are really smoking thru your books! You have a good idea: reviewing tags afterwards. I think I'll do the same. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

Thanks for the suggestion about "The Long Walk". Sounds like such a great book, one that I would especially enjoy. I just put it on my amazon.com wish list so I won't forget it.

That's one thing LT needs: some way to mark books we run across in other people's libraries that we would like to read. Have you taken a look at Spacedoc's library yet? I marked him as an Interesting Library -- absolutely fascinating, with many titles I've never heard of. Like me, he is especially interested in altitude medicine. I think you will be especially interested also.

posted by MtnSk8tr at 3:25 am (EST) on Jan 30, 2008

Yes, I'd like to have done that too (saved journals) but my notes are all in the books that I read (if I owned them, else no notes at all)...

However you go about it I think a dictionary is a good thing, and I still use them.

posted by Busifer at 12:00 pm (EST) on Jan 29, 2008

Well, yes, my son's only 4 yo so he's kind of excused; my husband don't read that much, his interest is in music, and like for most people here in Sweden while talking and understanding english is very common READING the language is another matter... Don't ask me why.

Main reason I do is because my father read a lot of SF in the 50's - he imported paperbacks from overseas. When I was about 12 yo I discovered them and decided that learning english beyond what school required was a must. The first 10 years I read with a dictionary at hand, making notes in the margins. Now, 30 years later, my main struggle is to keep the languages separated in my head - I slip into swedish sentence construction in english and vice versa ;-)

posted by Busifer at 3:24 am (EST) on Jan 29, 2008

re the method and the faint, I was sure you would! but I do have a pretty good memory of what I own,since I've re read many of them several times, and since I tend to buy most if not all of an author if I like him/her, and oddly enough I seem to remember what most of the covers look like, so it is not quite so hit or miss as all that.

posted by kokipy at 9:15 pm (EST) on Jan 27, 2008

yes - I have gotten a fair amount done, by ignoring family obligations! I am not finding the cue cat gets more than about 25%. A lot of mine predate bar codes, and it doesn't pick up a lot of the bar codes that I do have. This is getting somewhat tedious, but one cannot stop in the middle.....
It is a bit easier since most of the boooks are already organized on the shelves, so I can use a fiction tag and keep going.
But I am not tagging with the thoroughness that you and Sk8ter are, so it goes faster for me.

posted by kokipy at 10:04 am (EST) on Jan 21, 2008

Yes, we met & talked for quite a while with Jamling ~1998, when he was in town to kick off the IMAX Everest film that was made by David Breashears in 1986 (coincidentally, when so many people died). Jamling is a *very* nice guy: intelligent, soft-spoken, gracious, well-educated, thoughtful. Steve went to a used bookstore in town prior to the showing because we knew Jamling would be there, & purchased a book about his dad specifically to give to him. Jamling was really blown away by the thoughtfulness of Steve's gesture.

The inscription in our book, which is his dad's biography, reads: "On behalf of my late father, Jamling Tenzing"

posted by MtnSk8tr at 3:16 am (EST) on Jan 20, 2008

I really love and would recommend "The City Not Long After" for you. I think you'd like it very much. From looking at your library you like art and art plays an important role in the book (and I'm not giving anything away by saying that).

posted by CyanDag at 3:14 pm (EST) on Jan 18, 2008

Meow!

Wow!!! Do you have a lot of different tags! I'm flabbergasted!

posted by CyanDag at 12:49 am (EST) on Jan 18, 2008

And you, the cat's meow!

posted by stellarexplorer at 12:27 pm (EST) on Jan 16, 2008

I love McKillip's fantasy - I was never very pleased with "Fool's Run" myself. I also never got into the "Cygnet" books or the "Moon Flash" books.

I'm glad I know you. I think you're the cat's pajamas.

posted by CyanDag at 11:15 am (EST) on Jan 16, 2008

My library is mostly non-fiction. LOTS of biographies & memoirs.

posted by MtnSk8tr at 1:11 am (EST) on Jan 16, 2008

Hey, man! It's Suzdal! Under an assumed name! Accept my invitation to be your friend!

posted by CyanDag at 5:33 pm (EST) on Jan 15, 2008

Thanks!. I take a few moments after I've finished reading a book to write the review, I hope eventually to have written a review for them all.

posted by reading_fox at 5:33 am (EST) on Jan 13, 2008

I just learned some interesting new things about you from your library. I didn't know you had these interests. It will be really fascinating once all of us get our libraries catalogued. I really like "seeing" my Shejidan friends here as well as there!

posted by MtnSk8tr at 2:30 pm (EST) on Jan 12, 2008