BJ tries to read 75 in 2009

I am going to try to read 75 books in 2009 since I got close in 2008.
--BJ

I finally found you! Sometimes the search functions on LT stink.

Good luck in 2009!

Charlie

Welcome to the group!

Nice to see you, Charlie! Happy New Year to you! (I have been out of town for a week, so I got quite behind.)

Thanks for the welcome, alcottacre!

I started off the year with two short books. I need some of these for such a big challenge.
1. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I read this book first on recommendation of LibraryLover23. What a magnificent story! This book has been hanging around my house since my girls both read it in high school. I finally cracked it open and loved the character Santiago. This Pulitzer-prizewinning book was short, but well-written. The only other Hemingway that I ever read was For Whom the Bell Tolls, which was also amazing.

2. It's a Zoo Out There by Rachael Hale. This book is primarily a book of photography. Rachael specializes in animal portraits, and these were fabulous. At the end of the book, she includes charming comments on each of her subjects. I could tell that she is an animal lover. This was mainly photos with not many words, but I wanted to include it. This was a Christmas gift from my family and I love it!

--BJ

That Rachael Hale book looks lovely... I adore animal/wildlife photography, so that one looks worth checking out next time I'm at the bookstore. :)

BJ, I WANT to buy that zoo book for a zoo-vet friend of mine... thanks for the review!

Hi, dk_phoenix and FlossieT!
I hope that you like the book! I have a sweet dog, so photos of animals really appeal to me. There are lots of dogs and cats in the book, but also a camel, lion cub, tiger, tiger cub, frog, chimp, and lots of pigs. Who knew just how cute pigs can be?
--BJ

I want to find a copy, too! Hey, who doesn't like animals . . .

3. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter.

I wanted to read this book from the first moment that I heard about it. A book about animals and books -- what could be better? This is also a book about people and relationships. This book was touching and special. It was both happy and sad. I am glad that I read it.
--BJ

>9 billiejean: I read Dewey last year and, beside kitty, I liked her description of the people and the preservation of their town (the name of which I forget). I have never lived in a small town and this one seemed appealing.

On the downside, did you ever get the feeling that Myron was a little full of herself?

I have lived in a small town and it is pretty nice -- except no movie theater! She did at times brag on herself. Maybe because she had so much to overcome. I sometimes wondered what the other people she discussed thought about the things she said. Although the ending was totally expected, I still found it sad.

By the way, did you get the Environmental Writings from LOA? I got a copy and it was bound in green. I saw someone post on Book Talk that it was covered in some sort of wraparound scene -- totally different than the other books. Have you heard anything about that? When I tried to download a cover for my book, I could not find one to download.

Have a great day!
--BJ

#11 American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau is the correct name and yes, it has a different cover even though it's in a slipcase. I wonder why you didn't get the correct book cover when you added it by ISBN.

I have no idea how LoA figures out who gets what: I just found out that I'm getting the "special" about Lincoln instead of the "special" True Crime—which is the logical next one and the one I've been waiting for.

Right, sorry that I got the title wrong. My cover is solid green like all the other covers. Does it have an ISBN in the book? I might see if you have it in your library to see what it looks like different than mine. I never seem to get the special books until I call in and ask for them. I still don't have the food writing book. I always want to get those on time because they are not perpetually in print, I don't think. I don't understand how they decide what to send either. Of course there are still lots of books that I don't have, so I think that I get a fair amount of reprints. My shelf for the first half of the alphabet filled and now I have a book that doesn't fit. I guess I will have to do some major rearranging. That seems to be a typical LT problem! :)
--BJ
ETA Now I have the cover! Thanks for your help. It was not on amazon when I input the book. Yea!

I finished book 4. It is by LT author Mark Hockley.
4. The Magic Lands by Mark Hockley. This is a fantasy book about two friends on a journey in the magic lands where dreams and reality overlap and merge. On this journey, the boys learn about the battle between good and evil and the importance of truth, honor, friendship, love, and faith. This book drew me in more and more the farther I read it. I wrote a review of this book in my library, but I do not know how to link to it.

Now I am going to read some group read books. :)
--BJ
ETA I am having trouble with the touchstones. I will try to come back and fix it later.

I haven't read any Hockley and am a big fantasy fan. Thx for the heads up.

#14 billiejean: The Magic Lands sounds interesting. I will put it on Continent TBR!

5. Farthing by Jo Walton. This Brit Lit murder mystery has a twist -- it takes place in an alternate history where Great Britain has negotiated a peace with Hitler, leaving him Continental Europe for an uninvaded Britain. The attitudes of the characters are affected by this history. This was a pretty interesting book and the first in a series. I might check out some of the other books. I read this for the Group Read -- SciFi group.

hmmm Farthing does sound like a book worth a peek.

#17 I like how you write "blurbs" about the books you read, just enough to tell some of the story and whet the appetite (maybe that's why you have so many cookbooks). On the other hand, I know some people who write theses . . .

Edited for lousy HTML.

#18 I was glad that I read this book. It definitely is worth checking out.

#19 You know, I always think that I don't do a very good job of describing the books that I read. Everyone else's books always sound so great. Thanks so much for your kind words.

By the way, one would think that someone with so many cookbooks would be a great cook. Haha. Not there yet. I tell my kids that I am a work in progress. :)

By the way again, I love the theses that you write. You must be a writer. :)
--BJ

BJ: Do your kids read, or do you encourage them to read? I think it's so sad that so many kids don't read today, especially the classics.

My wife has a lot of cookbooks too, but they're the dustiest books in the house . . .

You know, my cookbooks are dusty too, but I hardly ever notice! :)

My kids (17 and 20) read nonstop. As a stay at home mom, I just read and read to them. When I bought them gifts, the gifts were always books. This does not always work out, but in my case it did. My girls both out read me 10 - 1. It is kind of embarrassing. But at least now they are old enough that we can talk books and recommend to each other. They are encouraging me to read more SFF books, and I am enjoying that. We read classics, too. Often when we are all wanting to read the same book, I let them go first because I am a slow reader. Actually, they kind of encouraged me to return to my reading roots. Plus, LT of course.

I may have already mentioned this to you, but when we were all at the dentist, we saw an article in USA Today that said that 1 in 7 adults in the US could not read that newspaper article. This was USA Today, not The Economist. Do you think that is even possible?
--BJ

Unfortunately yes, I do believe it. Hopefully it's a lot of the elderly who never got much schooling, especially in the farming states, but I think a lot of kids aren't learning to read, or read very well, in our schools. I don't mean this as a racist statement, but rather as the sorry truth: the schools for black and latino kids just aren't very good, and I don't think they get much support at home like you've given your girls—and like I got (my Mom was a voracious reader too).

I read this book as part of the Group Reads -- Literature group.
6. Pere Goriot by Honore de Balzac; translated by Ellen Marriage.

Balzac wrote a large number of novels which comprise The Human Comedy. There are about 2500 characters which weave in and out of these novels. This novel was no comedy in my opinion. Although there was some humor, it was definitely a tragedy. Balzac is commenting upon and, in my opinion, indicting early 19th century Paris society. This book to me reads similarly to a Dickens, except that Dickens, I think, wrote later, and Balzac wrote a much shorter book than most by Dickens. (It was around 300 pages.) I was surprised by the last sentence in the book. I might read some other books to find out what happens to the characters next, but first I will read something happy.

My favorite line in the book came in the first half of the book. It was a Polish saying that "You need to harness five bulls to your cart!" because the character had dug himself into such a big hole or quagmire that it would take that many to pull him out. I am going to remember that line. :)
--BJ

I have read two more books:
7. The Coffee Trader by David Liss. I read this book for the Highly Rated Book Group (which is a lot of fun, by the way!). I have not read a lot of historical fiction, but I really enjoyed this one. This book takes place in 17th Century Amsterdam in the world's first commodities exchange. The characters in this book were diverse and unpredictable. I found all of them interesting. The book was a quick and fun read. I liked it! I plan to read more historical fiction in the future.

8. Mark: A Devotional Commentary: Meditations on the Gospel According to St. Mark edited by Leo Zanchettin. I read this as a part of my journey to read the entire Holy Bible. It was an easy read, but thoughtprovoking.

So many books, so little time!
--BJ

Glad you found some winners :)

I'll put The Coffee Trader on my list--it sounds interesting. As far as the Gospels, John is my favorite.

Hi, Susan! I was happy, too. By the way, I have some friends from Romania who now live in Arkansas. They are the nicest people. I was interested to learn that Romanian is similar to Italian. Did you find it hard to learn the language?

Hi, Charlie! I actually intended to start this reading of the Bible trek with Luke. Then LAHernandez showed me a site with a plan for reading the Catholic Bible in one year, so I switched gears. I don't think that I am going to finish in one year, though. Maybe in two.
--BJ

>27 BrainFlakes: My husband prefers any of the other three, but I'm with you. John is pretty cool. Hmmm tried the touchstones as I have a bound version of just John. Mais non, but what did come up reminded me of a super list (for some reason a choice under 'others'): Basic Christianity by John Stott. Stott's stuff is so good, and this slim little volume may be my fav.

Susan, I just read a review of Basic Christianity and it definitely looks like a book that I would like to check out. Thanks for the mention! :)
--BJ

>28 billiejean: I can only figure we were writing at the same time! I haven't learned Romanian. I can shop, sort of. Still struggling with French -- LOL (hubby is French).

My daughter is studying Spanish and will go to Spain next summer. I took some Spanish in college but can't speak it that well anymore. I keep saying that I am going to pick it back up. She is taking 3 Spanish classes this semester, so I bet she will be ready when it is time to go. I think that it is really important to learn more than one language. I think if you can shop you are doing better with your Romanian (and French) than I am doing with my Spanish!
--BJ

9. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.
I just finished Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. This book has been hanging around the house for a long time as I got it for my girls when they were younger. I ended up enjoying the book. During the first half, I was not feeling well. Once I took some ibuprofen and went to sleep, I woke up feeling much better. So I really enjoyed the second half of the book. I have not read very many adventure books that I can recall, but I think I will want to read some more in the future.
--BJ
ETA How can I catch up on the threads? I try everyday, but never get to page 1! I might try to do some from the end and some from the beginning. Maybe I will catch up in the middle.

Just read a big discussion on it somewhere on here :) The consensus seems to be 'don't try'. Star the ones you really enjoy, x the ones you don't and go forward. A hint for my thread should you take a peek (it's mushroomed out of control). I have a list of the books I've read in the first post and an indication of the msg number where I said something. So if you visit, I'd just peruse that and see if something catches your eye (since I edit it often, there are no touchstones there -- too much work each time, again and again, ad nauseum, etc... LOL)

Another hint: if touchstones are used, the books discussed in the thread are listed on the right starting at the top. One could scan the list of books and see how well the thread matches up to one's own tastes. As a help, there'll be a green check beside any books on the list that are in your library.

#34. I also use my first post as a list of the books I've read and your idea of adding the message # where you discuss them is great. I'm going to permanently borrow (rather than steal) that idea right now.

And BJ: RLS was one of my favorites as a boy--I mean, boys and adventures go together, don't they?

#34 & #35: Thanks for the suggestions. I had never thought of listing all the books and the corresponding messages. I knew about the check marks but had not really thought about their purpose.

#36 I think you are right that boys and adventures go together! What other adventure books would you recommend? I think that around this house somewhere (I don't have anywhere near all our books catalogued) we also have Treasure Island, Call of the Wild, and White Fang. Oh, yeah, we have The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo which my girls are begging me to read.
--BJ
Edited because I simply can't type things right the first time.

>37 billiejean:: Men of Iron by Howard Pyle, King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard, Ivanhoe by Walter Scott, Robin Hood by Paul Creswick, The Burnished Blade by Lawrence Schoonover, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Two Against the North by Farley Mowat, Scarface by Andre Norton, The Black Rose by Thomas Costain, A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini...

...I could keep going, if you wish. :-)

Thanks for all the suggestions. And more would be welcome, too. I actually have Ivanhoe around here, another that I bought for my girls. I wonder if they are ever going to take all of their books away?
--BJ

Well, I'm not sure what ages you're targeting, so I'll just mix them up...

My Side of the Mountain by Jean George, The Black Stallion by Walter Farley, Kim by Rudyard Kipling, Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss, The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope, Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling, The Arabian Nights trans. Earle Goodenow (Burton's translation is fairly adult), The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

Actually, I am 47! But I like books for all ages. I forgot about The Scarlet Pimpernel. I have never read that but heard lots about it. Plus I seem to recall Master and Commander as a series. Do you know anything about the series? Sometimes people only like the first one. Thanks again for all the suggestions!
--BJ

>41 billiejean:: LOL, I didn't realize these were for you. I thought you might be looking for books for your kids.

I'm currently working on reading the entirety of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series, of which Master and Commander is the first. I'm on the fifth one right now, Desolation Island. So far, I've found them to range from excellent to very good.

They are easily my favorite of the "naval adventures" genre. I like Forester's Hornblower books and Kent's Bolitho books, but these have just as much excitement with a far higher degree of writing.

Very similar, but taking place on land with the British Army, are Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe books. I'm also reading all of them in order, mixing them with O'Brian's books; I've gotten through the first two: Sharpe's Tiger and Sharpe's Triumph. I'm finding these excellent, also.

ETA: The Arturo Pérez-Reverte I mentioned earlier is also a series. Not all have been translated to English, yet, but they are quite good. They are somewhat similar to the Dumas books, only set in Spain...though the character is not so noble as D'Artagnan.

Of the ones I mentioned earlier, Two Against the North, My Side of the Mountain, The Black Stallion and Swiss Family Robinson are definitely for the young and I wouldn't have recommended them if I had realized.

The rest range in target age from books YA or adults might like up to adult books.

Boyhood favorites of mine that TadAD didn't mention were two by Jules Verne--The Mysterious Island and Journey to the Center of the Earth--and Huckleberry Finn, which I must have read ten times.

Well, I did mention Journey to the Center of the Earth...

;-)

Thanks so much TadAD and Charlie! Now why did I not think of Huckleberry Finn? That is an adventure story that I have read. And both girls read that in school, too. And I sort of did want to read Swiss Family Robinson. I seem to recall a movie of that and that my brother had that book growing up.

I bravely drove all the way across town through ice and snow to pick up my husband and daughter from the airport. They flew in from NY and said that the news in NY was covering the weather in Tulsa! I like the weather as long as I have power (and I do) and I don't have to drive in it.
--BJ

#46: BJ, do I gather from your comments that you are in my neck of the woods? I live in Texas, about 15 miles south of the Oklahoma border. It has been icing here now for hours.

Yeah, I live in Tulsa now, but grew up in Texas. My brother and his family and my aunt and her family live in Dallas. Actually pretty much all of my family lives somewhere in Texas. First we had the freezing rain, then sleet, then snow, then sleet, then snow. It is pretty, but not nice to drive in. The dog likes the grass which is like grass popsicles. I hope that you don't lose power. And that you can stay off the roads. It is good reading weather, though. :)
--BJ

I do not drive in the ice - I am from Pennsylvania, but people here in the south are maniacs and do not know how to drive in this kind of weather, so I do not get out on the streets with them!

We did not get any snow, just ice - it came down for about 5 hours or so.

I hope you do not lose your power, either!

#45. Yes, you are correct about listing Journey. I could lie and say that I meant 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but that would be a falsehood.

I liked The Time Machine by H.G. Wells too.

#48. I'll take a dozen of your grass popsicles, but not the, uh, lemon-colored ones.

#49. Having driven in Texas a few times, mostly the DFW area, the people drive like maniacs all the time. Give 'em some ice and it must be mayhem . . .

Re #41: The Scarlet Pimpernel is a fun book! You should definitely check it out.

#49 I think the biggest problem with driving in ice around here is lack of practice and lack of equipment to treat the roads. Although we have had big ice storms for the last 4 years, so the equipment and preparation by the city is improving. I drove my husband's car which is 4 wheel drive and it did make a difference. Plus, not many other people on the road at night under those conditions!

#50 Plus, speaking of driving, I think that the drivers in Dallas are used to driving quickly in lots of traffic. The highways have lots of lanes and left and right exits. I always say a prayer when driving there. My sister-in-law really drives fast. However, now that she has a daughter approaching driving age, I think that she has tempered that some. She is a good driver, by the way, just fast!

About the popsicles, they are beautiful! They are 95% ice and 5% grass. They go crunch, crunch under foot. Our sweet dog is having lots of fun with them. I will tell her to avoid those lemon ones! :) Today the sun has come out. Although it is still below freezing, the ice is starting to melt. Oh, and the satellite dish is working again. Yea! Now I can see the local weather.

By the way, I just got The Time Machine, so I am looking forward to reading that one.

#41 Thanks for the recommendation on The Scarlet Pimpernel (what is that, I will have to look it up). That is another book that I have been wanting to read and never got to.

Plus, happy day, my husband and daughter are back at home, yea for that!

Oh, Charlie, congrats on Arizona Cardinals making it to the Super Bowl. Are you going to watch? Or at least watch the commercials? The last game of the year. I am definitely going to watch. :)
--BJ

I finished my first book for the presidential challenge to read a biography of each president before the next election.
10. His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis. This was a great book and I am so glad that I read it.

I had a little bit of excitement trying to create a new ticker for that challenge. I ended up changing this ticker. After several attempts, I managed to get this ticker changed back and a new ticker with different numbers for that group.
--BJ

#53: I highly recommend Ellis' other books as well, especially those set around the time of the American Revolution: American Creation, Founding Brothers, etc.

Thanks for the recommendation. :) I also noticed that he has written a biography of Thomas Jefferson. TJ came across as quite an interesting person in the biography of George Washington. I am looking forward to learning more about him.

11. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling. OK, I admit that since I am the only person on the planet who has not read any Harry Potter books, I should probably have waited on this one. However, I like fairy tales so I borrowed this from my daughter. I thought it was ok but did not love it. I really think that I might have liked it better if I had the whole HP culture also. Of the stories, I liked the last one the best.

I am now starting The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, also borrowed from my daughter, and The Brothers Karamazov for a 999 group read.
--BJ

yep - like I said in my review you should definitely NOT start with this if you haven't read any of the Potter books. It doesn't stand independently, only if you love the HP books. :)
I think you're gonna enjoy Hitchhiker's !

I'm a little behind with my threads (so said the one-armed tailor), but it appears that your daughter has one heck of a library of her own to borrow from.

You're involved in several challenges this year and I don't know how you keep up with them.

And, for the first time ever in print, I did not like Hitchhiker's. I thought the humor was repetitive and not all that funny--perhaps I missed something when I read it, but I'm not going back to find out.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is wonderful. The original radio series was even better though, and fantastic to listen to. Its hilarious. Its not often I say this, but I much prefer the radio series to the books.

And The Tales of Beedle the Bard should definitely not be read first. I can't imagine how they would be without having read the whole of the HP series but I can't imagine it would be good!

Are you planning on reading any Harry Potter books? I admit to be biased (as so many of us here are) but if you like fantasy and fairy tales then you might be surprised and find yourself liking them.

I found myself in that place with Twilight, when I had convinced myself it wasn't for me before I had even tried it. I am now interested enough to at least try and read the next one!

I've read (or rather, listened to) the whole of the Hitchhiker's series. They were all great, except for Mostly Harmless which was just OK for me.

Hi, everyone (GUG, Charlie, lunacat, digfish_books)!
I just couldn't resist the Beedle the Bard book because it was shorter than the other HP books. I do think that I would have liked it more if I had read the HP books first. I am planning to read all of them. My girls have those books, too.

I do find Hitchhiker's Guide funny. It took me a chapter or two to get into the rhythm of it, but I am really enjoying it now and hoping for a happy ending. My girls also have all of those books.

Yes, it is true that they have an incredible library, each of them plus a number that they share. I see problems ahead with both of them in college next year. The time to divide up the books will come. Or maybe they will give them all to me. :D For some reason as they were growing up, I always gave them books. When they came home from school with the scholastic order form, I said "Wow, what a deal! Let's get lots!" Their favorite gifts are always books, and for years we had no tv. It's fun.

I have signed up for a lot of reading challenges this year. Plus I spend lots of time reading on LT. I would say that I am keeping up with it just barely. I really love doing reading groups, so I am hanging in there with all of them. Plus, I learn about so many books that I would not have heard of otherwise.

Did you get your taxes done, Charlie? We have to finish ours this weekend for the college applications. They want to know everything about our life. Thank goodness for TurboTax. That must be one of the greatest inventions of the century. :)

I am almost through with Hitchhiker's Guide. Still close to the beginning of War and Peace and Don Quixote (both rereads) and The Brothers Karamazov (new read). I had forgotten how much I enjoyed W&P and DQ the last time I read them. It is almost the weekend. I hope y'all have a great one!
--BJ
ETA I am also going to read those Twilight books once I get caught up. My girls really liked them.

>60 billiejean:: billiejean, I'm predicting that if your kids have a really serious book habit you'll find that "somehow" those books just kind of continue living at home.... otherwise there'd be no room for all the new ones :)

(All my childhood books, and a goodly number of the ones I acquired at college, are still on the bookshelves in 'my' room at my mum's for this very reason.)

Hi, Flossie!

But what about my shelfspace?

Actually, I think that you are right, at least until they have kids of their own. But then I might just want to keep the books for their kids to read when they come to visit all the time. (I hope!) And I like kids books. :) Plus they have lots of books that I want to read these days.

Have a great day!
--BJ

>62 billiejean:: funny you should say that... I noticed on my last visit that some of my mum's books had colonised "my" bookcases!!

You have a great day too! Mine so far has been one of those not-getting-much-done days.... oh well. Sometimes you need them.

As usual, I'm late to the party. I'd like to think it's because I'm fond of making a grand entrance, but by the time I get here everyone else is gone.

I think it's great, BJ, that your girls are readers, and that you have your own lending libraries right at home. And I agree with Flossie: I suspect a lot of their books will stay at home as they start new collections in college.

I had a nice collection as I was growing up, but between military service, college, and marriage, most of them have ended up in book heaven. I still have a few, but the poor things are showing their age worse than I am. I'm afraid to touch them for fear they will crumble into dust--mass market paperbacks from the 60s weren't meant for longevity.

And yes, I finished my tax return on TurboTax. I could tell you all my woes, but I'll mention just one: TT does a terrible job handling royalties and I slave, confusedly, over them every year. This year was a bummer, man. I cheated myself out of $10, but there is no way I'm going back to get it!

Oh, yeah. I'm glad you liked Beedle and Hitchhiker's.

Charlie the Windy

ETA: For tying errors.

Flossie -- I have far too many of those days!

Charlie -- I am completely in favor of a simplified tax system. When the IRS won't even stand by the answers that they give you for your tax questions, something is wrong! :/ We are still trying to gather up some paperwork to get started. Luckily, my husband does all the horrible work, and I sign on the line. Sometimes we peer over the regs together. Thank goodness for turbotax. We don't have any royalties, so I guess that is a good thing.

12. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I just finished this today. I keep wanting to call it The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe. Guess it is not that big! :) I read this on recommendation from my girls. I borrowed the book from my daughter and her copy had a section on the making of the movie. That was fairly interesting. Can you imagine a more difficult movie to make? The Infinite Improbablitity of it! This was a fun book.

I did not read enough humor last year and wanted more this year. Don Quixote is also funny in a different way, and I am enjoying that as well. I think that there is also some Wodehouse in my future.

I was planning to go to sleep early tonight, but my sweet dog will not get sleepy. If she is not sleepy, I am not getting any sleep.
--BJ

BJ:

My husband is dyslexic but is able to follow audiobooks so I had him listen to all the Hitchhiker's books and he really enjoyed them. I always tell him that when books are made into movies for the most part the movies aren't nearly as good as the originals and the Hitchhiker movie is the example I choose to illustrate that point. (He insisted on watching the movie even though I told him it would really suck - which it did). Now he really wants to see the movie they're making of The Time Traveler's Wife... which he also really enjoyed and recommends to everyone he can... How quickly they forget...:)

One thing that I have noticed for me when seeing a movie from a book is that a fair amount of time has to pass between the time I read the book and the time I see the movie. If I see the movie right away, I am always disappointed. However, often if I wait for a year or so when the book is not as fresh in my mind then I am able to enjoy the movie more. I cannot even believe that a movie could be made of HGG. I saw part of the movie quite a while before I read the book and I think you are right that I did not really care for it. Wonder what I would think of it now?
--BJ

Just going to mention that I read a book by Willa Cather (my first) called A Lost Lady. The character development was great and I love the way she writes. There was, however, one disturbing part of the book early on, but it did shed light on that character. This book was really short. It was part of an omnibus, so I will not count it until I read the whole thing. I read this for the Monthly Author Reads group.
--BJ

Cather is one of my favorites. I love My Antonia. I will be reading The Song of the Lark by her in the next couple of weeks.

Hi, Stasia!
I was so glad that the group pointed me in the direction of her works since I had never read any before. It is amazing to me how she can put words together in such a beautiful way. I think the next one I might read will be The Professor's House. Have a great day!
--BJ

That's one I have not read yet. I will have to put it on the Continent. Thanks for the mention!

13. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. I remembered that I had this book when I saw that the movie was on tv a couple of nights ago. This is another one of the books that my girls read in high school that I want to read before passing on to my neice who is about to start high school. It was terrific! Of course, I had seen the movie with Sidney Poitier long ago, so I did remember the story. Lucky #13!
--BJ

Yet another book I have somehow missed, sigh. On to the Continent it goes.

#72. I've neither read the book nor seen the movie, so it's a good candidate for me. Thanks!

It's a really quick read, too, since it is a play. I hope y'all like it. :)
--BJ

Hi, just popping in to check things out. I love how you're exploring classics and ?modern classics? It's something I always mean to do....

Happy reading!

Hi, citygirl!
It is fun to read all different sorts of books. There are so many books that I had never heard of. I get lots of ideas from all the reading groups here on LT and also from my girls who read more of the contemporary stuff. I chose A Raisin in the Sun because that is one of the books that one of my girls was assigned in English class. My youngest is a senior and my neice is starting high school next year, so I want to pass on some of these books to her. I am trying to read them first, though! :) Thanks for stopping by! :)
--BJ

BillieJean,

Finally found your links and how to keep up-to-date on them (post something) so this is just a bit of nonsense to make sure I am kept up-to-date in the future.

Jenny

Hi, Jenny!
Thanks for stopping by. Sorry that I am not that good at the computer stuff. The Real World is crowding in on my reading and LT time these days. I hope that soon I can get back to reading more.

I am going to ask my daughter about The Pillars of the Earth today. I think that she liked it. I mentioned it to her, but I forgot to get it from her. Have a great day!
--BJ

14. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. I read this for the gentle reads category of the 2009 Genre Challenge. I had never heard of gentle reads before, but there were lots of great choices for that genre. This particular book was the one I read because I could borrow it from my daughter. What a terrific book! My girls read this book for high school English class discussions on archetypes and this book really delivers the archetypes! It was clever, fun, funny. This is the "Good Parts" abridged version of Morgenstern's classic set in Florin with abridging comments. Such fun! I was surprised to learn that the author also won the Academy Award for the screenplay for one of my all-time favorite movies, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Anyway, I liked the book. :)
--BJ

Boy, BJ, there's a name I haven't heard in ages—William Goldman. One of my fave books of all time is his Boys and Girls Together—but definitely not a book for teenagers. I still have my ratty old yellow copy, but I see that its been reissued in trade paper on Amazon. He was a fine novelist, but quit to write screenplays—he also did Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman.

I'm glad that you've found some time to read!

Thanks, Charlie! Me, too! :)

It's quite a jump from Marathon Man to The Princess Bride. That is one of those movies that I will never forget. And I am not one who enjoys the dentist! One thing that amazed me when I read this book was the list of credits at the front. How could I not know who he was? I will want to read more by him.
--BJ

>80 billiejean:: BJ, reading between the lines, I'm guessing you haven't seen the film...? Just as delightful as the book, although naturally it can't have quite as much fun with the whole concept of abridgement.

Hi, FlossieT!
I actually have seen the movie once or twice and it is delightful. The book, however, I thought was even more fun. One thing, though, was that I could not get Billy Crystal's character out of my head when reading his part of the book. He was too funny. :D Anyway, it was great fun to read and cheered up my February. Have a great day!
--BJ

>84 billiejean:: my mistake :) But I'm glad. I knew the film before the book and was a bit afraid that the latter was going to be spoilt by knowing the former. Not a bit of it. Hatching a plan to get my eldest to read it too...

Great idea to read it together! :)

15. The Leopard by Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. I read this book for the Group Reads -- Literature group. I had not heard of this book before it was selected. It is about an old aristocrat facing Italian unification. I especially enjoyed the characterization of the Prince and the animal imagery that was found throughout the book. It was translated from Italian. I have read a wide variety of books that I might not have otherwise read because of this group. It has been a lot of fun.
--BJ

By the way, it looks like the touchstone is not loading. I don't know why. I will try to come back later and fix it. I know that it exists.

I love The Leopard. I first saw it as a film aged 11 or so and it went on and on. My brother made us see it. My mother wanted to walk out. I read the book as part of my history degree as it is good on unification of Italy many years later. Rewatched the same film and loved it.

I have read a wide variety of books that I might not have otherwise read because of this group.

That, to me, is the real value of LT, as well as meeting nice, somewhat-sane people who love books.

#87 I have not seen the movie of it. But I think that I would like to now. I wonder who plays the Prince?

#88 Are you sure that I am somewhat-sane? You know, yesterday was Ash Wednesday and I gave up complaining for Lent. My girls were telling me don't do it! It's not possible. But I decided to try. Guess what? Today I complained! Only two days in! I will have to try harder, but maybe it was not a rational choice. I think I bit off more than I can chew! :X (My daughter taught me this face, but I am not sure what it means. I hope it means that I bit off more than I can chew.)
--BJ

16. The Newest Peruvian Poetry in Translation edited by Luis A. Ramos-Garcia and Edgar O'Hara. My copy, I am pretty sure, is actually Volume 1. This is a book that I bought when a student at the University of Texas. Now my daughter attends UT and is a Spanish major. I gave this book to her a few years ago, and ran across it in her room at home when looking for another book. I decided to reread it. I determined that my Spanish is not what it used to be. :D However, I could follow the Spanish enough to follow the differences between it and the English on the facing page. I think that translating poetry has got to be the hardest thing, so I enjoyed being able to see both versions. I read poetry quite a bit more slowly than fiction, but I enjoy it.
--BJ

#90. I've been wondering why you've been so quiet reading-wise. This isn't a book I would put on my TBR list, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have enough trouble with poetry in English--I'd really be in the weeds in Spanish.

Truly, I have bitten off more than I can chew in the longer book department! You know how you go to a cafeteria and everything looks so good and before you know it you have several items, all of which are too big servings! That is me right now! I am about 2/3 of the way through my scifi book group read and just at the tip of the iceberg on my Brothers Karamazov group read. I am determined to finish both of these this month, which may keep me from finishing much else. :)

My Spanish is not what it used to be. I am trying to improve it however. I think that knowing Spanish is quite useful.

By the way, although I was planning to read Pillars of the Earth this month, I cannot find the book. :( I may not be able to read it for a while. A lost book in this house is a serious matter. I think I need to go back to cataloging books and tag with location.

Have a great day, Charlie!
--BJ
Edited due to typo, again.

17. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge. This is the book that I read for the Group Reads -- SciFi Group. I have been trying to read more scifi lately, as my girls both love it. I thought that this was a terrific story with broad scope. It was pretty long (613 pages), but I think that is necessary with all the world-building. I especially enjoyed the world of the Tines, the medieval wolf beings that exist as a person in a pack with cooperative thinking and doing.

Now I must return to The Brothers Karamazov with a vengeance! :D
--BJ

#21 Brainflakes:
hahaha. sounds like my collection...

BJ:
already at 17?! I set aside the last 2 months for reading and reading only, but somehow I've only managed about 6... oh dear... life always getting in the way! Which has been most enjoyable for you so far???

#93. Is A Fire Upon the Deep pure SF, or does it lean toward Fantasy like G.R.R. Martin (whom I love)?

#94. Just so you'll know, BrainFlakes is my middle name--I had dandruff as an infant and a nurse made a mis-diagnosis . . .

#94 Hi, nursejane! Some of the books that I have read have been rather short, which helps in the count! I have read some great books this year, so far. I would say that my favorites have been: The Old Man and the Sea, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Princess Bride -- all totally different from each other.

#95 Hi, Charlie! You always crack me up! And bring a smile to my day. :) I think that this book is more scifi than fantasy, but I am not totally up on the difference. I don't think that the science is that technically explained throughout and there is a sort of mystical component to it, but it still seems more scifi to me. I haven't read anything by G. R. R. Martin. Really, I am trying to learn more about this genre. The only scifi that I know of is H. G. Welles and Isaac Asimov, but I haven't read either, and the only fantasy is Tolkien, who I love! Maybe the Tines world is more like fantasy; I'm not sure. There is another kind of plant-like being which is also fairly interesting. But there are spaceships and above light speed travel and stuff like that.
--BJ

Are you there, BJ?

Hi, Charlie!
Yeah, I'm here. I am slowly reading The Brothers Karamazov. What a strange book! I know that lots of people prefer Dostoevsky to Tolsoy, but I am a Tolstoy girl myself!! However, I hope to finish it by the middle of April. My original goal was the end of March, but now I am not so sure. My daughter and her boyfriend are coming to visit over Spring Break, so I might not have much reading time.

Yesterday, we had snow. It was beautiful. I wish it would snow again, but we are at 39F, so no snow.

So, are you going to give lessons on writing reviews now that you are the declared expert? (I knew that you were the expert long ago, mind you!) My younger daughter is quite the writer, too. I wonder if she will write a book someday?

Inbetween my attacks on TBK, I am also reading Cold Mountain. I started it because we could not find The Pillars of the Earth. Then, after I had read about 75 pages of Cold Mountain, my daughter found the other book. Since it is so long, I am going to wait to read it until after I finish the other two books. Still have several long books that I am just reading about 100-125 pages a month on. I was worried that I would lose the thread of the story reading that way, but that has not happened.

Thanks for stopping by! I am always happy to hear from you. Are you reading something lighter after that last one?
--BJ

Sometimes I forget, BJ, that people have lives other than LT and reading. Just consider me an old worry wort.

My reading is slowing down too because I have four going--something to match every mood. I am almost incapable of reading just one book at a time like my wife does.

And yes, I'm reading lighter than Soft Spots--there is no way I could take two or three like that in a row.

So now I'll toddle off and read Fingersmith, which I'm really enjoying.

Post when you can--

Charlie

I worry alot myself. It is an inherited trait. :) All the women in the family worry. I think that I am finally to the point where I am involved with TBK. Of course, I am past page 350, so it took me a while to get here. Parts of it are so different from other parts that I don't know what to think sometimes.

In the good news department, I received an order from amazon today -- ahead of schedule I might add! I had ordered 4 more books (which I need like a hole in the head!), 3 for more group reads and 1 just for fun. On top of that, my daughter and I went to Barnes and Noble and I got The Stand for another group read and she got a Neil Gaiman graphic novel -- something about a sandman, I think. She always likes to go with me to the book store. :) I wonder why I am reading so many long books these days? I need something short. Even Cold Mountain while relatively shorter is over 400 pages. Oh, yeah, I know just the book. I will surprise you when I read it. But I have to find it first. :D
--BJ

I love the way you and your daughter enjoy books together.

Jenny

Hi, Jen!
It is a lot of fun to have someone at home to share books with. I see that I mentioned a quick read that I had in mind above, and I cannot remember what is was. My older daughter and her boyfriend have come for Spring Break, so not much reading going on here on my part. I am still reading The Brothers Karamazov. I wonder why I can't seem to get this one finished?

I see that you have added lots of books to your library. I have a few new ones to add, too. Maybe I will do that tonight. Have a super weekend. Mine will be bittersweet as my daughter and her boyfriend will return to college.
--BJ

I have finally finished a short one:

18. Praying the Family Rosary by Father Thomas P. Looney, CSC. I don't think there is a touchstone for this one. This book was recommended by our parish priest for Lent to encourage more family prayer. It has extra prayers to give all family members a chance to participate even more. It covers all four mysteries. I have been praying more during Lent, but have not been reading the Bible as much, so I need to do more of that! Anyway, I enjoyed this book.

Not much read this month. In addition to the several lovely 75 Challenge Group group reads, I have been concentrating on finishing The Brothers Karamazov for the 999 Challenge reading group. I am happy to report that the end is in sight! I have less than 100 pages to go, so I can't stop now. I think that I am the only one in the group still reading the book, but then I often bring up the rear on reading groups. I still like them a lot. (That is why I have joined so many!) I am also about 40 percent through Cold Mountain, which I am reading for the genre challenge. I think that I might finish that one in time. Also, still reading The Blind Assassin for The Highly Rated Book Group, but behind on that one as well. It is my first Margaret Atwood and pretty interesting.

Now that my daughter and her boyfriend are back at school and we are back from taking our younger daughter on a college visit, I hope to have more reading time. I will be back with the exciting news that I have finished TBK (I hope) by the end of March! Take care and have a great weekend!
--BJ

You have a great weekend, too, BJ!

BJ
It sounds like you have a full plate of books to finish. Good luck. And, yes, please do have a great weekend.

I hope the college visit was productive. I work as a publications adviser at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. Often potential students who have worked on their high school yearbook or newspaper, find their way to my office. I love spending time with the parents and potential student, telling them about Lehigh and answering the questions they have.

I always stress that it has to be a match. Lehigh has a huge list of clubs and activities for students and usually that is the way an incoming freshman finds a sense of belonging. The first year can prove to be challenging. Where else are you exposed to that many strangers, including living with a room mate in a small, cramped space, learning time management, and extreme peer pressure..

Hi, Stasia and Whisper,
Thanks for the wishes for a great weekend. Well, guess what, it is great! We have lots of snow! We were supposed to have a dusting, but for Tulsa, I would call this a blizzard!! (OK, that might be an exaggeration, but it is quite a snow storm.) It is so exciting!!! All our trees have bloomed, except for the baby Dogwood, and now they are covered with snow. I do love snow, even if it is supposed to be Spring.

We had a wonderful college visit. You are right, that the first year is quite a change. Now, she is trying to decide.

Maybe I will light the fireplace! Thanks so much for stopping by. Take care.
--BJ

19. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I am happy to report that I have, at last, finished this book. I must say, that after a few doubts in the middle during some of the psychology, I became a believer during the race to the end. This book was terrific! It had an interesting family, if ever I have seen one, and interesting discussions on Christianity, atheism, morality, and ethics, as well as psychology. So, I have finally read my first Dostoevsky and plan to read Crime and Punishment as well, but not for a while. I need a little break. :)

20. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Anonymous, translated from the Old English by Simon Armitage. I enjoyed this poem about a member of King Arthur's court. It was fun to read, especially since I had never heard of this story before. I needed something short and fun to follow up on TBK.

Have a great day, everyone!
--BJ

Glad you finished The Brothers Karamazov, billiejean! It has been years since I read it - I may give it and Crime and Punishment a go next year.

Congratulations on finishing TBK! I've never read it but have read Crime and Punishment which is an amazing book...and I think, a bit shorter than TBK as well, so probably won't take you that long :)

Thanks so much for the congrats, Stasia and Eliza! I had my doubts that I would finish, believe me! Others in the group read it in 3 weeks. I took 7! My girls both read Crime and Punishment for school, so it is part of my quest to read all of the books that they did in high school English which I have never read. (And that turns out to be a lot of books.) I figure that the books chosen for English class must be good. Have a great day!
--BJ

I'm glad that you liked TBK, BJ, and that you're going to move on (eventually) to C&P (does this sound like some sort of code to you?). Dostoevsky has always been one of my favorites.

How nice to see you here, too! Yeah, seems like everyone likes Dostoevsky better than Tolsoy. I still like Tolstoy better. Maybe because I read him first! But, I have to admit, that by the end of the book, I was a believer in Fyodor! For now, I must seek out a book recommended by my daughter that I have been promising to read for a long time -- Ender's Game. Hope that I can find that one. I think I know where it is. Really, I ought to get a system going for these books, both theirs and mine, so we can find them at all times. Have a great day!
--BJ

21. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. You probably already know what this amazing book is about. It is about a Civil War soldier who leaves the hospital and decides to walk home because he has had enough. His story is paralleled with the story of the woman he loves who has been left penniless upon the death of her father, but has land to live on and meets a friend who shows her how to live on it with hard work. Really this summary does not do this book justice. I cannot believe that it was a first novel.
--BJ

While I've not read the book Cold Mountain, I saw the movie and I also bought the sound track. Your comments lead me to read the book.

I hope that you like it. This is one of those books that my girls were assigned in high school English class that I had never read. I am on a quest to read all of those books. So far, every one has been terrific.
--BJ

22. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. This is my first book by Margaret Atwood. I had heard many terrific comments on her books, so I was glad when the Highly Rated Book Group decided to choose this book for the group read. The book uses a multi-layered story within a story approach that drew me in immediately. The reader is a sort of detective piecing the story together from the disparate parts. However, I found the storyline so tragic, so sad that, at times, I did not want to read anymore. For me, the end saved the book as there was a faint glimmer of hope. But I mostly found the book tragic. Are all of her books like this? I am not sure that I will read another for a while.

On the bright side, the other book that I am reading is much more cheerful. :) I am only halfway through that one, so I need to read it more now that this one is finished.
--BJ

#113: That one sounds like an amazing book! I really need to find it this year. :)

You have a great list so far, keep it up! :)

Yeah, I liked Cold Mountain a lot. Some people do not like it, though. For me it was all about the journey that each character was making. I hope you like it. :)
--BJ

Tragic & sad? Haven't you people learned not to use these words in my presence because I will immediately rush out and buy the book??? :)

Thanks for the review!

If that is what you like, then you will love this book. Actually lots of people do. I think that I am too sentimental right now with one daughter sick off at college and the other one deciding where she is going to college next year. I just needed something a little more upbeat right now. Like Stephen King, right?
--BJ

Tragic and sad seem to be the bywords on LT lately. Maybe I need a good shot of Opus the penguin and Calvin & Hobbs.

My two favorites! Plus Eyebeam, a UT favorite from the early 80s. :)
--BJ

23. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I finally finished this wonderfully hilarious book, the first I have ever read by either Gaiman or Pratchett. But it won't be the last. For those who don't know, it is sort of a spoof on The Omen. I read this on recommendation from my daughter and I am so glad that I did. I love a happy ending. And I needed one. Yea!!!

Still working on The Stand, War and Peace, Don Quixote and finally starting Anna Karenina for all the wonderful group reads here. Also waiting for Last and First Men -- which is coming by snail mail otherwise known as super saver shipping. I tried to get it in a bookstore and was told that the publisher only prints a copy when an order is made paid in advance with no returns allowed. Anyone ever heard of this before?? No such comments by amazon.

Today was cold and rainy, but it was a wonderful Easter nevertheless. I hope that everyone had a terrific weekend. :)
--BJ

Hi! *waves*

So you're doing better than I would have, you finished Good Omens so quickly! Glad you liked it. I see you've read The Blind Assassin too, which I loved. I see what you mean about the tragedy and the sadness making you just want to give it up, but for me the noir feel was the hook, I think - I love a good tragedy :)

Good luck with your reading - I think mine's going to slow down so much now my exams are nearly starting, oh dear ...

Hi, narcissus_in_theory!
The Blind Assassin was definitely well-written and the whole story-within-a-story aspect was very good. I was just in the mood for a happier book when I read it. Which is why I enjoyed Good Omens so much!

Good luck with your exams!!! My girls are both coming close to exam time as well. I just told my husband last night that I am glad that I am not in school anymore! School has gotten much harder than when I went to school.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
--BJ

"I tried to get it in a bookstore and was told that the publisher only prints a copy when an order is made paid in advance with no returns allowed. Anyone ever heard of this before?? No such comments by amazon."
****************

It's probably a POD (print on demand) book. Amazon carries quite a few POD books but they rarely specify that to the customer. Amazon might even have several copies printed on demand so they have a few in their warehouses. One of the factors Amazon uses to gauge demand is their sales rank. A bookstore doesn't like to carry POD inventory because there is no returns for credit if it doesn't sell. They are stuck with it.

I once took an online test that asked, Which science fiction author are you? It had ten or so questions. I was Olaf Stapledon. I think I was the only Olaf on the board I was posting to. Everybody else was the more common authors like Heinlein, Asimov, and Le Guin.

VisibleGhost,
Thanks so much for the explanation. I am not familiar with print on demand. Do the publishers just buy the rights to out of print books and hedge their bets by waiting for an order? I can see that might be a good idea, but then how do you browse and come upon the book and say wow, wonder if I'll like that? I guess, however, that you can still browse on amazon.

I think that probably it is a good idea if it makes more books available to the reader. I was just surprised by all the trouble I had trying to get this book. I think that the group will finish before I get my book! I look forward to seeing what Olaf Stapledon is all about!

Thanks for the info and have a great day!
--BJ

Thanks for the luck .. I do so hate exams *sigh*. I really think they have got harder, y'know? My mum tells me all this stuff about how hers was basically a memory test, and now it looks like I have to remember even more than she did! I'm taking like 4 essay subjects though so I really shot myself in the foot there *blush*

However I've got like a stack of books I think I'll be diving for when the stress really sets in. I've started Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon and I have to say I'm loving it so far (such a guilty pleasure, lol).

Just scrolling up, love your little 'Stephen King as a cheer-upper' comment, lol. I read The Shining when I was in the worst mood. Not such a great idea >.

You definitely need something to relieve the stress. I have heard good things about Sherrilyn Kenyon. I will have to check her books out.

I finally started a new book -- Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. I really don't know what to think about it. Last and First Men finally arrived, so I will be ready to start it tomorrow, I think.

I loved The Shining and both movies of it, but I did think that it was really scary.
Have a great day!
--BJ

Sherrilyn Kenyon writes the better class of romance, I think. Paranormal romance tends to be above par in terms of general romance anyway, at least imo, but her Dark-Hunter novels are usually pretty good in terms of story - as in, there's a lot of background, the characters are fleshed out, they don't just fall into bed ... okay, some of them do :D but there's normally a real love story going on there too. Acheron is awful sad so far, but here's hoping it gets happier soon ...

I've never actually seen The Shining movies, I think they'd scare me too much, although the book really didn't get me. It just made me a little depressed, not scared. I think it was reading it in broad daylight in public so I purposely wouldn't get scared that did it :D

Good luck with that Nabakov, sounds like a killer to me *never reads complicated translated books* lol, see you around :)

Thanks for the info on the Kenyon books. :) I will have to try one. Reading scary books in the daytime is definitely the way to do it. I am almost halfway through this book Pale Fire and somehow it is not really clicking for me yet. Maybe it is the lack of sleep. Maybe the introduction will explain it all. It said that it was full of spoilers and not to read it until the end. One thing is for sure. He certainly does have an impressive vocabulary. I have never seen so many words that I have never seen before! LOL! The next book that I read will be totally different. :D
Have a great day!
--BJ

OK, I finally finished it!

24. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. I read this book for the Group Reads -- Literature group, although I was kind of behind on it. This is my first book by him and it was clever and humorous, but also somewhat difficult to get into. However, I hung in there and ultimately found myself drawn into the story. One character writes a poem in 4 Cantos. Another character has the poem published writing both the foreward and commentary for the poem. The structure of the book, at first, made it hard to get into for me, but I did get used to it. He included references to his other books Lolita and Pnin in his book. (My older daughter just read Pnin and loved it.) I wouldn't say that I loved this book, but I found it interesting and I am glad that I read it.
--BJ

25. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon. I read this book for the Group Reads -- SciFi group. It is totally different from my view of a novel. There is no real plot. There are no real ongoing characters. There was only a page and a half of dialogue in the whole book. I was having some trouble reading it for this reason. My daughter suggested that I look at it more as a philosophy book or one on evolutionary speculation and that change in attitude helped me to finish the book. OS, speaking from 1931, details 18 evolutionary steps in man over billions of years. The scope is so broad that he just moves along at quite a clip. That's why there are no ongoing characters. Basically one of the last men tells one of the first men what will happen over the entire span of humanity. The farther the book got from the present, the more interesting it was. I especially liked the invasions from Mars. I found there to be quite an emphasis on death in his future, often by suicide which was somewhat disturbing. I did like the ending. OS focuses primarily on life science with not much discussion of physical science, which seems different to me for scifi. I don't read much scifi, which is why I joined the group, so I am not sure if this book is typical of the genre. I recommend that if you are interested in the book, try to read some of it before making your purchase to see if it looks good to you.

My next stop, oddly appropriate, after that last book, is Frankenstein. Have a great day!
--BJ

26. Eyebeam, Therefore I Am by Sam Hurt. I was suddenly struck by the desire to reread this book of comic strips written by UT law student Sam Hurt that was published when I was a UT student myself. I just laughed and laughed. Fun times.
--BJ

>134 billiejean: sounds interesting BJ, would someone who's never been a UT student still 'get' it?

I think so. It is more about college in the 80s. I think for most of the books at least, Eyebeam is a law student, but not your typical one. When he gets bored, his imagination takes over and he develops a friendship with his hallucination Hank. He has a time machine. Stuff like that. His buddy Ratliff is an undergrad who always forgets to study because he likes to watch tv. He has another friend Rod who is full of himself. Maybe I liked it so much because I read it every day in the Daily Texan newspaper until he graduated and then I read it every day in the Austin American-Statesman. I wonder if the books are still for sale? I think I got all of mine when they were first published, so they are pretty old.

Have a great day!
--BJ

More comics:
27. Eenie Meenie Minie Tweed . . . Eyebeam and the Real World by Sam Hurt. More fun with Hank the Hallucination, time travel, forgetting to study for finals and the law.
--BJ

Sounds good BJ, I'll keep an eye out for it.

How nice of you to stop by both threads! By the way, my 18 year old daughter has been reading the Eyebeam books as well and she thinks that they are funny. Could be that they are funnier than Calculus, though! :D No, I think that she likes them on their own merit. Take care!
--BJ

Hi billiejean
While I don't often post, I check your thread regularly. You read very interesting books

Thanks, Linda! I think that you read very interesting books! The only thing that is so hard is that there are so many wonderful books out there to read and not enough time to read them all. I have this enormous stack of books that I want to read RIGHT NOW and just can't get to them fast enough. Plus I have all the books that I want to read really soon. And then there is the wishlist. Reading all the titles that everyone else is reading makes it hard to be satisfied with what I already own. Luckily, the book I am reading now I borrowed from my daughters. I am about halfway through Frankenstein and I am loving this book. I wonder why I never read it before? I hope that you have a wonderful day!
--BJ

You have a stack of books you want to read right now? I have a mountain of books I want to read right now, lol. I still wish I could read them all by osmosis, you know what I mean?

*groan* tell me about it. I'm about to pick up my reserved mountain from the library tonight, and how I'm going to get through them all before they're due back is more than I can work out... :(

BJ, I've never read Frankenstein, but I'm just about to read Dracula for my book group. I always associate the two, somehow. Should be fun!

So, how will we read all those books?

By the way, Chocolate Muse, let me know what you think of Dracula. I am planning to read that one in October.

Y'all have a great day, and Stasia, watch out for that swine flu. I heard it is in Texas now. (Maybe just in S.A. though.)
--BJ

141: Do you ever feel like you've won some kind of shopping spree, only instead of trying to grab whatever you can from a store in 30 seconds, you're trying to read everything you can in 30 seconds, and you don't quite know what to grab?

#145: That's a terrific analogy!

Every single day!! That is a wonderful analogy!
--BJ

Just popping in to say "Hi" and that I have been enjoying your thread! If you're still having problems figuring out who has your books, I suggest using LT to tag those books. You're probably on it too much, anyways! I do it myself with tags such as "Loan to Mom" and "Loan from Mom" and then it's easy to click to see how many are gone and which books they are.

Hi, Cauterize!
That is a really good idea! And it seems to me that some people put things like "living room" and "bedroom" tags on also so that they know where in the house the book is. At first I thought that was funny, but now I am pretty sure that I should be doing that, too! Have a great day!
--BJ

28. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I just finished this book and thought it was terrific. It was a story about how people treat each other and was quite sad. It was also a classic horror tale. Just enough, not too much! I discovered that this novel has had more film adaptations than any other work of fiction. I bet I have seen most of them. But this book told the tale a little differently than all those movies. It is a great tale and still timely what with all the advances being made in the area of cloning. I am so glad that I finally read this book. I read it for the 2009 Genre Challenge as our April topic was Horror.

Have a great day!
--BJ

#150: Oooh I still need to read Frankenstein! Glad to hear you liked it. :) Am putting it on my wishlist so I won't forget about it.

Hope you have a lovely day!

Hi, Tammie!
Yeah, I think that you will like Frankenstein and it is a fairly quick read. I see that you are almost through with Anna Karenina! Yea!! That is one of my all-time favs. I am concerned that I am going to fall behind on my group reads this month because my daughter is graduating and we will have family from out-of-town, plus we are going to have a graduation party with friends -- if the monsoon here ever stops, since it was going to be a swim party! But AK has been calling to me lately. It reads fairly quickly for such a long book. You have a great day, too! :) And thanks for stopping by!
Adios! (I am practicing my Spanish. I have "Donde esta el bano?" down from when I went to Mexico last year, but then I have had some trouble understanding the answer!)

--BJ

29. L'etranger (The Stranger) by Albert Camus, translated by Matthew Ward. (The touchstone only seems to work with the title in French.) The back of the book bills this as Camus' exploration of "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd." So that made it a nice companion piece for The Trial by Kafka which I read last year. I guess I should have read them together. In this book, I felt that the protagonist did not feel any empathy towards other people, so the events that unfold are not as unexpected and absurd as the events in The Trial were. This was a quick read and my first by Camus. I chose this book as a break from all those long reading group books that I am reading (thanks to all the wonderful 75 challenge reading groups!) and also because my daughter read it in high school English, and it is, therefore, part of my quest to read all the books that my girls read in English class in high school. So far, every book has been a good one.

My husband took my daughter and I on a quick trip to a new bookstore in town last week so that I could get Till We Have Faces. It turned out to be a pretty good store! Hope that everyone has a terrific weekend!
--BJ

I'm not a fan of The Stranger. I was left feeling so unimpressed when I read it - I really liked parts of it (rated it a 3 I think) but still, overall, couldn't understand why it is considered a "classic". I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Hi, Eliza!
I did think that Camus did a good job of showing the personality of Mersault. He seemed like a total sociopath to me. But, as a result, I did not find his situation as absurd as that of K in the Trial. (I did find parts of it somewhat absurd, however.) One thing about the book that sort of makes it seem like a classic (although it was not on the 1001 list!) is that although my older daughter read this short book 4 years ago as a junior in high school, she remembered it in enough detail to discuss it with me on the phone. This book stuck with her. So, overall, I guess I did enjoy the book although I did not sympathize with the main character. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!
--BJ

Hello BJ,

I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on Till We Have Faces. How did you like Good Omens? (Sorry if I missed your posting.)

Caroline

Hi, Caroline!
I am pretty excited about Till We Have Faces, too, since I have not read anything by Lewis except The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -- and that was years ago. :) I loved Good Omens. I read this on recommendation from my daughters and they were so right. It was laugh out loud funny. I think that it will be one of my top books of the year. Seems like I am reading more humor this year. Maybe this is because I will soon be an empty nester, so I want some cheering up!

We got our little garden planted after a break at last in the monsoon of rain since Easter. We are supposed to have storms today, but so far there have been none. I hope the dog does not dig up the garden. She is quite good at digging. :) Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
--BJ

I hope you enjoy Till We Have Faces!

Me, too! At the back of the book, there was an explanation of the myth/story that it was based on, so I read that and it sounded familiar to me. I am falling behind on my reading groups with the graduation coming up, but I really want to read this one with everyone else. Thanks so much for organizing all the wonderful reading groups and have a great weekend! :)
--BJ

30. . . . I'm Pretty Sure I've Got My Death-Ray In Here Somewhere by Sam Hurt. I finally located this first book in the Eyebeam series. Amazingly, it was right where it was supposed to be all along. Isn't that the way it always is? This is the comic that was published in The Daily Texan and then later in the Austin American-Statesman. It introduces all the main characters. I saw that he had referenced a law professor and class, and I had had that professor! He was terrific. I wonder if he is still teaching there? My copy of this book is falling apart. I need a rubber band to hold it together before I put it back on the shelf. But I want to keep it because Sam Hurt autographed it.

Wishing all moms out there a Happy Mother's Day!! :)
--BJ

Happy Mother's Day to you too, BJ!

Thanks!!
--BJ

Hi --BJ!~!
***waving & smiling***
I thought I had lost you somehow.
You have been a busy girl.
Hope you had a wonderful mother's day with your family and Pooch.
belva

Hi, Belva!
Wonderful to see you! I just stopped by your thread!
--BJ

I know. I was there, remember????
Ahhhhhhh, 'tis a wonderful thing to be a part of the "triple threat Bs".
later.
belva

I guess I really am a threat with the way I mess up a computer, right?
--BJ

You crack me up girl!~! I'm telling you it's the dog's fault. Always blame the dog. Didn't get the book read? the dog ate it. No dinner? the dog ate it. Didn't have time to sweep or vacuum? the dog tracked it in. Computer messes up? the dog photo did it. I am telling you--it's always the dog.
But yes, along with bonniebooks and I, you are one of the "triple threat Bs."
belva

Belva!
You crack me up!!! It is easy to blame the dog because with her sweet face and disposition, no one could ever get mad at her! I wish that were true for me, too!! Did I tell you that my older daughter is going to join library thing? Now we can talk on the computer and on the phone! :) Have a great weekend!
--BJ

How great and exciting for the both of you!~! What fun you will have. I wish mine would but they know the amount of time I am on here and say: "No way Jose'".

Guess what???????????

WE HAVE SUNSHINE HERE!~!
WOO HOO!~!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVyt7Wd9Bp4

Have a good one your own little self.
belva

Thanks for the link to youtube! That is one of my fav Beatles songs. Guess what? The sun is shining here. (But strong storms tonight!) It just makes you happy to see the sun!! Happy Day!
--BJ

yes, after a week of rain, the sun is now shining brightly.....

Isn't is great, Linda? It was a beautiful sunny, cool May day. Now we are back to the strong storms. This is about 5 weeks of daily rain. I think that there was one day of no rain in there somewhere. Wow. Supposed to be sunny Monday for graduation. Crossing my fingers.
--BJ

See, I told you I could find you! :-) Wishing you a fun day tomorrow! The best thing about having company is that you get to eat all that good food too!

I gotcha starred girl!~!
I hope that for tomorrow the weather is perfect and that everything goes just like you want it to.
Have a good one.
And don't forget what Charlie says: You are truly LT's main cheerleader!~!~!
belva

"And don't forget what Charlie says: You are truly LT's main cheerleader!~!~!"

I third that motion!

I think we 50s and 75s crossover all the time for comments, so who the hell cares what groups we "officially" belong to?

Just be your usual talkative, bubbly self, BJ.

Amen and Amen.
--Bj;
Don't change for anything.
We like you just as you are.
Hope the graduation went wonderfully well and that you enjoy the time with your family.
catcha later,
belva

Hi, Belva, Bonnie and Charlie!
I am so happy to see you!! Well, I am happy to report that the graduation was wonderful. My sweet girl was all smiles! No sentimental nonsense tonight. Just a great night to be happy. I had family in town. My house was sort of clean. The food that I heated up from the local restaurants was yummy. We had terrific seats in the rafters. Honestly, when you graduate with 700, you have to go too early to sit down close. But I could see my baby just great. And I cheered (we all did) for her. And at the end, there was confetti from the ceiling. The search at the entrance meant no air horns, so it was easier to hear. Although the parking lot was a nightmare, the weather was spectacular. I rolled down the window and listened to oldies on the radio all the way home -- which was very close. My one slip up was when I took my shower, I accidentally dropped my shirt in the toilet. (It is a really small bathroom.) So I had to change plans and wear something else. Luckily, I had done some laundry, too. What are the chances of all of those things going right at once?

My daughter Marian_the _Librarian has joined LT and will probably join this group this week. She just got a part time job at a library on campus, so that is pretty exciting.

Now that this event has finally occurred, I think that I will be able to settle down and read again. Life is good. I hope that this finds all of you with a wonderful book to read. Happy reading and see you soon!
--BJ

Sounds marvelous, BJ. Here's to a great summer, with concomitant reading!

Thanks, Roni! I still had company today, so I did not get to read much. But it is nice to have family around. I am glad that summer is now! :) By the way, my graduate got to go into the money machine and grabbed 30 dollars. Before the graduation party, I made her practice by shooting paper at her with the hair dryer. That was pretty funny. Still feels like the weekend to me. So happy Wednesday everyone!
--BJ

And this thread is already quite filled!

Congrats to your daughter.

I know what it's like when life takes over and you have little time to read, but you always catch up.

I am so happy that you stopped by so quickly!! I will pass on your congrats to my happy girl. Have a great day!
--BJ

Just stopping by to say hi and congrats to your daughter! :)

Thanks, Tammie! We are still celebrating over here! Soon we will have to get some sleep!
--BJ

By the way, graduation meant a gift card to the book store. And I just had to get a couple for myself. I noticed that Booksamillion has 5 featured book club books. I guess that people gather to talk about them at the store and they are all 20% off. One book has a picture of a lab on it, so I had to get it. It was called Lost and Found by Jacqueline Sheehan. I can't find the touchstone. There are 100 choices for this title. I think I will give this book a try. They also had that book Three Cups of Tea for the teen book club. I might go back and get that one. Of course, I was in a hurry so I forgot to take my wishlist with me, so I ended up getting stuff not on the wishlist. Oh, well. I will do better next time. :)
--BJ

I totally forgot that I was going to put a photo of my sweet dog on this thread. Here it is:



Well, back to reading. :)
--BJ

She just brings a smile to my face!

Glad to hear that the graduation was a success - yay! Congrats to your daughter and to you!

My son's HS is supposed to hold their graduation outside tomorrow (he's not graduating yet, two more years) and the weather, which has been just beautiful, is changing and now it's supposed to be cold and rainy - oh well. They may have to squeeze into the gym!

Thanks for stopping by my thread!

G'night!
Jaonne

Cute dog! And congrats to your daughter!

Thanks so much for the congrats, Joanne and Cauterize! I am glad that you like my sweet dog, Cauterize. She loves attention. 24/7! I hope that the weather holds out for graduation at your school Joanne. We have been so fortunate here in Tulsa, weatherwise. Last night we went to my daughter's Key Club banquet and ate outside. Another perfect day.

By the way, Cauterize, Good Omens is a spoof on The Omen, end times with hilarity. I think that it is one of the funniest books that I have ever read. I hope that you like it. :) I will try to list is on your thread today, too.

Y'all have a wonderful day!!
--BJ

Hi BJ,
Thanks for the link to your thread from the 50-Book group (I may just switch over next year myself). Congrats to your daughter - graduation has such an amazing feel of accomplishment to it!

Hope you're reading lots of good books, and please don't stop adding comments to my thread. I like seeing that people are following what I'm reading and getting feedback every now and again. :-)

Hi, bell!
Thanks for stopping by. I am in the middle of lots of good books right now, but I haven't finished any of them. I am right at that point where I must finish one or I will go completely nuts!! I seem to endlessly follow this cycle of starting too many and then feeling like if I don't finish one at least, I will burst. This morning I got up at 5:00 to see my older daughter and her boyfriend off as they head back to Austin. Lucky, aren't they? Now all our visiting family has left, so things should calm down again. I will make sure that I have your thread starred. I love seeing all the great things that you are reading. :) Have a great day!
--BJ

ETA: And thanks so much for the congrats for my daughter!

Yes, congratulations are certainly in order!

Thanks, Linda! This is certainly a happy time at this house!
--BJ

Cheers for the graduate and thanks for dropping by my thread. Looking forward to seeing what you add to your list.

Hello --BJ;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRqYMTpXHc

Sorry it has been so very long. At least it seems like a long time. (check out my post on Bonnie's thread for details)
Are you rested up from The Big Graduation??? Do you still have company?
I just finished another Steinbeck and have begun an Atwood, my first of hers though I own several. But my reading has slowed down tremendously and that is very frustrating for me. But like I have been saying to some others, it makes my husband very happy because I am spending a lot more time with him.
In fact he is taking me to the library today. I am so excited!~! I haven't been for over a month and a half. I have some holds to pick up, some very overdues to return and a couple of recommends to check the shelves for. I was so happy when he said he would take me. My branch is 45 miles away and I can't drive yet so I am really grateful.
I hope you are reading something wonderful and I hope you are having as beautiful a day there as we are here.
I miss our daily chats.
belva

Hi BJ!!
I have been so busy with "real life" that I haven't stopped by to do much reading/posting on the threads. Then I look at your 50 thread, see that it looks like you are leaving, and I panic!!!
Thank goodness you were just consolidating! I love reading your thread, and love the fact that you have left comments on mine. So glad I found you over here!
Belated Happy Mother's Day and congrats on the graduation!
I have starred this thread and will be stopping by regularly!!

I haven't had time at the computer for a while, so I am behind catching up with everyone. How nice to see that y'all have all stopped by!!

#194 Hi, dulcibelle! Thanks so much for the congrats!! We are all happy here. I just finished a truly amazing book. Isn't it great when we read a really good one?

#195 Hi, Belva! Graduation was so wonderful!! The family has left and it is just us here, but we are still busy with end of the year stuff. I am still trying to finalize my school volunteer work. I am so glad that you and your husband are going to the library. 45 miles is a long drive, but of course the books are worth it. :) My reading has slowed down a lot, too, with all the company and excitement. I am going out of town this week for my older daughter's boyfriend's Confirmation. I am his Sponsor. I am so excited. He is the first person to ever ask me to be a sponsor. :) Then when we get back, my graduate is having a friends graduation party. We are still enjoying the beautiful weather here, although yesterday when we went to see Star Trek we came out to a sudden storm. More the summer type that comes and goes. The garden was grateful.

#196 Hi, BoltChick! So glad that you stopped by. Thanks so much for the Happy Mother's Day and the congrats on the graduation! :) May has been a truly happy month around here. In addition to those big events, it also held my mother-in-law's birthday and my husband and my anniversary. It has been a whirlwind. I have you starred and will also be visiting you on the 50 book group page.

Well, I finally finished a book!!
31. Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis. This was a truly amazing book (as I said above). This is a myth retold. I have not read any of those before, but my girls read them all the time. So when the 75 group started a group read of this book, I just had to join in. This is the story of Cupid and Psyche retold from the point of view of the unattractive sister, Orual. But more than anything else, this is a book about the true meaning of love. And, you know, this was a message that I am so glad to have read. Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in me when love is really about others. What a tremendous book. I am so glad that I read it. Thanks, so much, Stasia for suggesting it!!!
--BJ

Hey, Belva! I just went to the youtube link. Thanks so much!! I just loved it and you are so right, it is a wonderful world. Take care and God bless!
--BJ

Good morning --BJ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he9ql-9BdTk

Another gorgeous day here in our little town. We did so much running around and gathering up of books and fencing materials yesterday that we are just going to hang around and loaf today. Hubby may mow, but I am laying low. I want to sit in the sun and read. I have a couple of really good books going right now. The Blank Wall and The Penelopiad, which I have almost finished.
Life is getting back to good again and I am so very grateful.
Enjoy your holiday weekend --BJ.
belva

Congrats on finishing a book. I understand about not having time to do so and how frustrating that can be. I've read a bit of Lewis - beyond Chronicles of Narnia (where I got my cat's name) but haven't seen this one.

Well, tut, tut it looks like rain - and a thunderstorm at that!

Hi, Belva and koalamom!
How nice to see you!! We had a storm yesterday and its threatening today, but mostly we are having wonderful weather. I am starting Atonement today. I know that I am already in the middle of a million other books, but I want to read this one, too. :) I am interested in The Blank Wall and The Penelopiad, so can't wait to hear what you think, Belva. And what, koalamom, is your cat's name? Is it Aslan? I think that I am the only person who has not read all of the Chronicles of Narnia. I did read the first one when I was in Junior High, but that is all. But I do have the complete set, so I hope to read it soon. (I wish that I could read as fast as I can buy books!!) Loved the video of honeybunch, cuppycake so much. I showed it to my daughter and her friend. What a happy video. I will be singing that all day long. My daughter just read Persepolis and Firmin and I hope to read those soon, too. Oops! I have to relinquish the computer. Have a great weekend!!
--BJ

#197. "Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in me when love is really about others."

Right on the money, BJ. I think this happens to most everybody: we all need love, but we need to give it too.

>197 billiejean: - Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed Till We Have Faces. :-) I loved it and was almost sad when it was over...

Hi, Charlie and bell7!
This book was wonderful on so many levels. I was sad to see it end, but I loved how it ended. I hope I remember this book for a long time. :)
--BJ

#197: I am so glad you enjoyed it!

just popping over to say "howdy" and enjoy your day.
belva

Mama,
I got a new thought. You might like other adapted-folklore books. We have a fair number at home, I think. Ask my sister about them. The book I just read Seekers of the Chalice by Brian Cullen is based on Celtic mythology, which is pretty similar in parts to the Greco-Roman mythology. It's nice and familiar if you already know a little about the mythology, and provides a nice introduction if you don't.

Marian

PS Wow! This is my first post ever!!!

Hi, Stasia, Belva, and Marian! Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

#205 All of your reading group ideas are good ones!

#206 We are cooking out today. The dark clouds left and it is beautiful. We might even go swimming, if we can brave the cold water. Tonight will be steak, asparagus, and strawberries. Yum!

#207 Hi, Sweetie! And thanks for putting your first post ever on my thread! :) I am not that familiar with Celtic mythology, but I have a book on it. Should I read that first? And can I borrow your book? I can't wait to see you Wednesday. It is interesting that when I first heard that Till We Have Faces was about Cupid and Psyche, I had no recollection of the story. Then we I looked at the original story at the end of the book (I actually read that first), I realized that I did know the story. But I don't really remember reading Celtic mythology ever before.

In addition to Atonement, I started my daughter's book Persepolis, and it is pretty compelling. Y'all have a wonderful day!
--BJ

My copy of it is I think in my room in Tulsa. You can certainly borrow it! You don't need to read up on any Celtic mythology before reading it, I think - it gives you a good definition/summary/backstory of the basics, and embroiders on it a little. Tell me what you think of it!

Marian

Thanks, I'll let you know when I find it. By the way, we just went swimming for the first time and the water was brisk!

Good! Our pool at Ballpark also has water in it now, although I think it's still closed.

Welcome Marian, we've heard so much about you! Congratulations on your graduation, and welcome to the crazy perpetual-book-party that is LT!

Thanks, ChocolateMuse! I was not the one to graduate (my sister was), but my turn comes next year!
I'll post my own thread as soon as I find the courage. : )

Marian

Hi, ChocolateMuse and Marian!
Thanks for stopping by. Marian is my older daughter, everyone! She is at college and will study in Spain the second half of this summer. Marian, I thought that you might like to join the Science Fiction Fans group. I will give you a link to it.

32. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi. I borrowed this book from my younger daughter. This book is a graphic memoir (as in drawn) about her childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. This occurred when I was in high school, and I remember this happening. Of course the part that I remember the most was the taking of the US Embassy and the hostages held for over a year. But I remember the other parts, too, about the Iran-Iraq war and the societal changes brought about by the revolution. This was a compelling and heartrending read. I am glad that I read it, and I will probably look into the second book. However, now I need something lighter to cheer me up!
--BJ

Hi, everyone!
I have a question for anyone out there. I asked this on another thread, but thought I would also ask it on mine. I was at the bookstore a week ago looking at books by Nicholas Sparks. I wanted to get one, but there were so many I did not know which to read first. I have never read one of his books before. So, has anyone out there who might see this read his books? Which one would you recommend that I read first? Thanks!!

I am leaving town tomorrow and I am going to miss reading LT every day! See y'all on the weekend!
--BJ

You should ask elliepotten over on the 50 book challenge - if I remember correctly she said she really enjoys Nicholas Sparks books!

--BJ;
Message in a Bottle and The Notebook are my favorites of Sparks. He does have a couple of stinkers out there too though. I can't remember if you are the "love story" type. The above mentioned are both love stories and I loved them both. They also both had movies made based on them. "The Notebook" was especially lovely and James Garner and Gena Rowlands played the couple in their later years and were wonderful in those roles.
belva

Thanks, Eliza for the suggestion. I will go and ask her about it. Also, thanks for the titles, Belva. That was just what I needed. I don't read a lot of love stories, but I do like to read them from time to time. I have just heard so many good things about his books that I wanted to give them a try. (And thanks for the info on The Blank Wall.)
--BJ

Wow, BJ.. you have had a busy May!! How did you find any time to read??
Sounds like you are having a blast.. and now that your weather warming up, you can keep that momentum going. I am going to look through my TBR pile for some nice summer reads myself :)

Hey, Bolt Chick!
So glad to see you! It has been a busy May, but lots of fun. I am still feeling that happy feeling, and now I am off to Texas to see my older daughter and her boyfriend for a few days. Truly, May has not been a good month of reading for me. I just couldn't concentrate. But now, I just started Ender's Game, a book that I have been wanting to read for a long time and I am enjoying it a lot. Hope you find some good reads yourself! Have a great rest of the week and I will be back late on Friday!
--BJ

#215: The only Sparks book I have read is nonfiction, Three Weeks with My Brother. It is good and I would recommend it.

>215 billiejean:, I really enjoyed A Walk to Remember, though it's the only one of his I've read.

Hi BJ, I hope you like Ender's Game. I really enjoyed it. In fact I think I might need to reread it sometime soon :)

I enjoyed The Notebook.

Hi BJ! Just stopping by to let you know I'm still reading your thread, just don't have much time to be online unfortunately. Glad to see you liked Till We Have Faces too, it's a great book! :)

Hope you have a nice day!

Hi, Stasia, bell7, Kittybee, koalamom and Tammie!
It was so nice to come home and see that you had stopped by. Thanks for the recommendations on the Nicholas Sparks books. I had never heard of Three Weeks with my Brother. I added it and the others to my wishlist. I saw the movie A Walk to Remember, so I think I would like that book. When in Austin visiting my daughter and her boyfriend, I of course went to Half Price books, and there I found The Notebook on the $1 rack so I snapped it up and another book by an author that I had never read before, David Balducci. Can't remember the title. I still have the car packed. When I got in last night I was too tired to unload. I am getting kind of old for these quick trips with long drives!! :) Luckily, I was able to take my younger daughter along which made the drive go by much quicker. And I had such good luck on my drive through Dallas both ways -- the first time during rush hour and the second time right before. I am loving Ender's Game. I have not gotten all that far in it since I have been visiting, but it is a great book. I will read some more as soon as I catch up some on LT. You are right, Tammie, that Till We Have Faces is a great book! I am still thinking about it! I am still reading your thread, too. I think that June will be a lot less hectic than May. I don't think I will meet my reading goal for May, but I will be close anyway. June is my catch up month. Well, I heard that my daughter Marian_the_Librarian has started a 75 Book Challenge Thread, so I am going to go look for it!! Y'all have a wonderful day!
--BJ

FYI, I found my daughter's thread and just wanted to post a link to it here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/65544

She reads much faster than I do when she is not taking classes and having to do lots of homework. See you later!
--BJ

Hi billiejean!:)

Wow, you had some great days! I missed your voice already, though! I'm trying to finish some of the books I've started already and also juggling some others, trying to finish the library books too, so maybe Nicholas Sparks must wait here, but I have on my TBR almost all his books, too:) And I'm glad to read that you like Ender's Game, one day I must squeeze it in my constantly changing reading schedule too!:) See ya later!

Hi, readeron!
That juggling of books is hard. I am having a little bit of trouble with it myself. Still only about 1/3 of the way through Atonement, but I did finish Ender's Game. Here are the books that I have read:

33. Peep: A Little Book About Taking a Leap by Maria van Lieshout. This is a book that I gave my younger daughter, the graduate. It said that it was perfect for grads. And it was, but it is a children's book. Still, I loved it.

34. Why a Son Needs a Mom: 100 Reasons by Gregory E. Lang. I just went to Austin to visit my daughter (Marian the Librarian) and her boyfriend. I went for his Confirmation and I was his Sponsor. He gave me this book which I love. I will treasure it always. He changed the title to Why a Godson Needs a Godmom. He is a great person, and I loved reading this book.

35. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I just finished this book and it was wonderful. I really loved it. It is about a young gifted child who is chosen to train for the defense of the world. Really, I cannot do this book justice. I read this on recommendation of my younger daughter, and I am glad that I finally read it -- even though I put off Atonement to do it.

We are finally seeing some warmer weather -- perfect for swimming. I guess I am going to try to finish Atonement and get back on track with my group reads. Have a great day!
--BJ

#229: I read Ender's Game last year but have not continued on with the rest of the series because of comments that the series is not as good as the first book. Are you planning to read them all, BJ?

Hi, Stasia!
I have been wondering the same thing. I think that my daughter liked the next book in the series (can't recall the title) but not as much the rest of the books. I will probably read at least the next one and one more that I got from a recommendation here on LT called Empire -- but I am not sure if that is part of the series or not. I have to say though, that I have been promising to read Ender's Game since January, so I am kind of slow reading books once I decide to. It's all the group reads. But I sure do love them! :) Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
--BJ

BJ, I keep on picking up the Ender's books and then putting them back again. Not because I don't think I would like them, but because I have so many series I am in the middle of, that I am reluctant to start another! But, I am sure that . . one day . . I will get to them.

Hi, Judy!
That's me! One day -- eventually -- I will get to everything! :)
--BJ

Wow I am so far behind on your thread BJ. I don't remember when I starred it but I am now just going through all the posts. I can't believe that I never read any of the posts.

I didn't make it real far into the posts. Just so far as everyone commenting on reading the The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling. I have to agree that reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard before reading any Harry Potter books probably wasn't the right choice.

Now The Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy is a book that I keep saying I am going to look for to try it out. I have seen the movie, which is something I do not like to do.

You are doing a great job on your reading BJ!!

crazy - re: Hitchhiker's guide - the book is way better than the movie

Hi, Monica and koalamom!
I totally agree that the book HHGG is better than the movie, although I did think that the movie was funny. My girls have all the other Hitchhiker books, too, so I will probably look into them sometime in the future. I do hope to read at least one Harry Potter book this year. I just misplaced it (the first one) and can't figure out where it might be. I did the same thing with Ender's Game and ended up buying a new copy.

I have started back on Atonement. I think that maybe I will stick with it this time. :) Y'all have a great day!
--BJ

I'm glad you liked Ender's Game! I always find time each year to re-read parts of it. I recently reviewed Speaker of the Dead on my thread, I definitely didn't like it as much because it veered off more on the psychological department. I might give the next one a go sometime, but it isn't on my priority list.

I just read a review of Speaker of the Dead elsewhere. Seems like the first book is everyone's favorite. Then, the second and then split decision after that! I will look at your thread again, Cautherize, because I don't remember the review and I definitely want to read it. Thanks!
--BJ

#235 & 236 Usually the book is better then the movie. I will be placing HHGG on my wishlist, which is turning into about 100 pages.

My wishlist is on several small pieces of paper in a pile. I think I am going to get a notebook so I can keep it all together and maybe then I will remember to take it to the bookstore with me. :)
--BJ

Good idea, surely! I just started the 5th notebook last week and the first one is already falling apart, its pages were turned so often:) But most titles from that one are already on my TBR, so it was really useful!

Have a great day! Happy reading!

Five notebooks? That is lots of good reading there. Happy reading to you, too, readeron! :)
--BJ

>240 billiejean:, I'm always losing 'paper' so I keep my wish list on my computer then every once in awhile print a new copy out and put it in my car. That way, if I'm feeling spontaneous and want to stop at a bookstore, I always have it to refer to.

Hi, Bonnie!
That seems like a really good idea. Do you make a spreadsheet or do you just make a list on word?
--BJ

Some great ideas for keeping a wishlist. I may just try the note book idea. I think I will look for a small one that will fit into my purse that way I will always have it and then when someone asks me what I want for Christmas or birthday I can give them a few ideas.

I do have mine on my computer too but just mainly as a list. I may try to make it into a spread sheet. Maybe that way I can keep track of books in series and/or by author.

I always get great ideas from everyones threads here at LT.

Yeah, I have a TBR list here on LT, one hanging on my wall, one at Amazon and all the books on my shelves, which I don't add to lists as they are a visual list themselves. And every thread I read always has something on it that sounds good!

I'm lazy, so mine's just a list in alphabetical order by title, author's name, and the LT-er(s) who recommended it. Oh, and I list it LT-ready with brackets around the book titles, so I can transfer to my thread if I want to update.

Books to Look at/Recommended by Other LT-ers
26A - Diana Evans (judylou)
Addition - Toni Jordan (elliepotten)
After You'd Gone - Maggie O'Farrell (Cariola & lunacat)

I'd never thought about writing it down at all. That sounds like a good idea!

Marian

My mobile phone has a notepad function, so I keep a copy of my wishlist there and one on Amazon just in case any friends or relatives need inspiration. Not that I'm buying books at the moment with all these which I haven't read yet. Oh no, not at all {hollow laughter off stage}.

Oh, and a belated welcome to Marian.

I belong to the notebookers. I carry it with me wherever I go. I often wonder how I must look in a bookstore, furtively writing down titles and authors.

I use every method known to mankind I think to keep track of Planet TBR. I have at least 3 notebooks, I spreadsheet, and I also put titles on Goodreads so that I can update it while I am at work. This is why my Mount TBR is not at planetary status, lol.

Hi, Monica, koalamom, Bonnie, Marian, Robert and Judy!
How wonderful to see that you all have come by! You have so many wonderful ideas for keeping up with the wishlists and tbrs! I especially love the part about furtively writing down titles and authors in the bookstore! It is so true, koalamom that on every thread there is a book that sounds good. I never had a wishlist until joining LT. Now it is so long. Getting a notebook that will fit in a purse is a good idea, too. I am not too handy with the cell phone to put a list on that. I still don't know how to text message. But, you know Robert, that in this economy it is our duty to purchase some books for the good of the industry. I am doing my best before the book budget goes into full effect in August. And what a great idea to write down where the recommendations come from, Bonnie! Lately, when having trouble reading what I wrote about the book, I have wondered who recommended what book. Sometimes, I reread old threads trying to figure it out so I can fix my notes. And, Marian, I certainly am interested in your wishlist with that birthday coming up soon! :) Thanks so much everyone for stopping by and sharing your ideas!

I have finished two more books:
36. You Can Be Anything! by Charles M. Schulz. This was another of those graduation books. I guess that I will eventually read them all even though I did not graduate. I am a fan of anything Peanuts -- especially Snoopy, my fav!

37. Atonement by Ian McEwan. I did not want to like this book. Contemporary literary fiction is not really my thing. But I wanted to read this as a part of my quest to read all the books that my girls read in high school English classes and this was one of them. To my amazement this book really drew me in, and I am glad that I read it. The title of the book tells you what it is about.

I am still reading The Forsyte Saga as well as the 75 book challenge group reads. I am going to try to catch up on those some next. Unless something just grabs me in the meantime. Hope y'all have a wonderful day!
--BJ

Hi, Stasia!
Somehow, I did not see your post until after I posted. What is Goodreads? Maybe I have asked that before, I'm not sure. Is that a place like LT with groups or is it a place for lists? Love all the beautiful books in your picture! :) Thanks so much for stopping by. I might get my husband to fix me a spreadsheet. He viewed my little pieces of paper in amazement.

He has been called to Jury Duty this week. Anyone would be lucky to have him on their jury. Tomorrow is day 3. I think that he is only there for this week. I wonder if he will get picked?

Happy Wednesday, all!
--BJ

#253: Goodreads is a great site for me in that I can set up my own shelves - I have shelves for all of my local libraries (4), for books that I cannot get hold of through the libraries, etc. I gave up on waiting for Collections here on LT and just decided to keep track on Goodreads.

You can have friends on Goodreads (I have some from LT over on GR, too), but I have not taken part in any of the groups. I have enough to keep up with here!

Thanks so much for the info. I think that maybe I had heard of the "shelves" that they have. There have been times when I thought the collections idea on LT would surely be great, but I guess it all takes time. I am just grateful for having LT. You are right, I also have enough to keep up with here with the groups. But it always makes my day to visit with LT friends. :)
--BJ

75 books!!! WOW! I'm impressed. I hope to get to 50 again this year!!

-Julie

Hi, Julie!
Some of the books that I read are really short. So that helps my count some. I think that 50 books is pretty good, too! Actually, last year I did not read 75 books, so we will have to see what happens this year. :) But so far, so good. Hope you have a wonderful day!
--BJ

And what a great idea to write down where the recommendations come from, Bonnie! Lately, when having trouble reading what I wrote about the book, I have wondered who recommended what book. Sometimes, I reread old threads trying to figure it out so I can fix my notes.

BJ, did you know that if you look at a book's page here on LT and click on Conversations in the leftmost column, it will show you all the thread posts where the book is mentioned. It makes tracking down who said what about the book much easier.

I had no idea! How nice to have such computer savvy friends!! :) I am going to go try it out now.
--BJ

OK, I tried it, and it worked great. You are brilliant, Robert! Thanks so much. :)
--BJ

You learn something new every day!!!!

You are so right, koalamom, and that it one handy trick.

Today my graduate had her wisdom teeth out. Another rite of passage. She did great. We watched movies together all day, which was lots of fun. Hope you all have a great day!
--BJ

My daughter had hers out in 2002 at Christmas time. We were living in Alabama then, but came back here to PA for Christmas (the kids were at the house here going to college). Her appointment ended up being the day before we had to fly back to Alabama and I really hated to leave her. She did okay and she was 21, but I still hated to leave her - being a mother does that.

You are so right, koalamom! Today is much better than yesterday, I am happy to say. Not much going on, just hanging out and reading together. I like that of course. The dog is enjoying all the extra attention, too. Everybody is around.

I have also picked up The Stand which I haven't read in a long while. Getting back into the characters of these long books that were abandoned due to graduation. I wish I could read faster. :) Hope you are having a great day!
--BJ

I finished a book!

38. Run Silent, Run Deep by Commander Edward L. Beach. This is a submarine story (fiction) from WW2 written by a submariner. It was quite exciting and full of details of what it is like on a submarine. This book was a recommendation from usnmm2, and it was a great read. I am sorry to say that the book is out of print. I had a little trouble finding a copy of it. Two other recommended books were Dust on the Sea and Cold is the Sea also by Commander Edward L. Beach, which I am now going to try to locate.

By the way, there was a movie made of this book. I have been wanting to see it on tv. The only time that I saw it listed, it was 3/4 over, and I did not want to just see the end. So I am wondering whether or not I would like to join Netflix. I asked someone around LT about it, but I can't recall who and can't find my post. So I am just asking anyone who happens to read this. Would I be able to get old movies like this one? I have also been wanting to see I am a Zombie for the FBI even though I do have this thing about zombies (they creep me out). That is another really old movie. Who likes Netflix and how does it work? If it is only recent movies, I can get those on pay per view, although I usually don't.

By the way, recovery for my wisdom tooth patient has gone really well so far. Yea!! :)

Thanks for any advice.

--BJ

Edited due to typos, as always!

#266: I read Beach's The Wreck of the Memphis last year, BJ, and would recommend it to you if you are interested in learning more about his naval career.

>266 billiejean:: Ok, to answer your first question first: Yes, you can get "Run Silent, Run Deep" on NetFlix, as well as a large selection of old movies.

If you go to their site (www.netflix.com), click on Browse Selections, you'll be able to see what they have without joining.

It works really well. You sign up, picking the number of movies you want to have out concurrently. You fill out your "queue" with movies you want. They send you the first one. When you're done...could be 1 day, could be 6 months...you send it back and they send you the next one in your queue.

It works well. I live in NJ and they have a local distribution center, so getting a movie takes 2-3 days max for me: 1 to return the one I have, 1 for the new one to come back to me.

I'm a big fan of older movies, particularly those from the 50s, so I get a lot of those type and have had no problems.

I also like Beach. I've read both Run Silent, Run Deep and Cold is the Sea, liked them both.

Mama,
One of my roommates has Netflix. It's been working well. She's thinking about cancelling it, though, because it's expensive if you don't always watch the movies.

Marian

Hi BJ--
I have had Netflix for four years and love it. Since my son moved out last year, I am not watching as many movies so I changed my plan to a less expensive one. Right now the plan I am on only costs about $10 a month. If you have broadband internet, they have quite a few movies that you can stream and watch on your computer, too.
Glad you liked Run Silent, Run Deep. I have seen the movie, but never read the book. I will have to keep my eyes peeled for it!

#267> Hi, Stasia! Thanks so much for the recommendation of the Beach book. He has written so many and I am only now hearing about him! I added it to my wishlist. By the way, I noticed today when I logged in that there is a list of top wishlisted books. Is this for us to put our wishlist on LT or is this for the ARC program, does anyone know? Right now I just have a wild looking list. :)

#268, 269, 270> Hi, TadAD, Marian, and BoltChick! Thanks so much for the info on netflix. I am glad to see so many positive comments. I mentioned it at dinner tonight and then I saw that my husband had looked into it on the internet. I do have to check out the cost, because my book budget days are here and I don't want to miss out on books. I figure that I won't join until September and they have a free trial offer. Plus, my husband and I like the same kind of movies so they will probably be watched by both of us. There must be some kind of ecomony of scale with that, right?

I started The Woman in White tonight and I really like it so far. Plus I spotted my fourth and final Eyebeam book, so I really must read that and complete my rereading of the set. Still working on the other group reads, too. So many books, so little time!
--BJ

OK, now I see when looking at the Add Books part that there is a way to change from library to another collection. I guess I will have to see if I have the time to download the wishlist. Seems like that will keep it all organized. How exciting!

Have a great day!
--BJ

Well, I just had to read the last Eyebeam book!
39. Our Eyebeams Twisted: The First and Foremost Among Fourth Eyebeam Books by Sam Hurt. I liked this one the best, I think. I am, however, sad that I have read all of them that I have. I wonder if there were any others? Have a great weekend, everyone!
--BJ

Billiejean, Netflix always has free offers. You can try it out for a month to see how you like it. Since I'm by myself, I have the $10/mo plan as well. I love that I can watch movies for free instantly when I'm bored. The one problem I've had is that some of the movies have "skipping" problems--soooo annoying. And they do nothing to make up for it. The movie I got the other day skipped and my only two choices were to say I wanted a new copy which I would have to wait to get, or send the movie back and wait for the next one. I think they should send the next movie right away.

Hi, Bonnie!
Thanks so much for the info on Netflix. I hadn't thought about the skipping, but I have noticed it before from other movie rentals. Do you watch the ones that you get from the computer? That sounds like such a good deal, but I would rather watch on my tv with the big screen. I agree that they should make up for it somehow if it skips. A free trial offer will probably be the ticket for me to decide what to do. I really love to watch movies as well as read. If I had so many to choose from then I could see all the movies that come from all the books that I read! Hope you have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for the info! :)
--BJ

We're using the three-movies-at-a-time plan in our household so everybody can get a selection at the same time. Fortunately, there's some overlap in our tastes! 8^}

We've had a few dvds with skipping problems. Usually, if we clean the disc it takes care of teh problem. If not, as Bonnie said, they'll happily send a new one. Our latest problem seems to be with the Post Office - the front page of the mailer gets ripped off the disc packet and they send the disc back to Netflix and send the flap to us. It's happened twice in the last few months and both times Netflix has immediately re-sent the dvd. I've been very happy with their customer service!

We've thought about NetFlix. Both of the kids have it. But we have so many movies on VHS or DVD that sit in a cabinet that we never watch, not to mention the movie channels (the free ones, not something like HBO) that we tend to ignore. My husband usually ends up on one of the Discovery channels and I read a book.

Hi, drneutron and koalamom!
Thanks for the comments on netflix. I am getting excited about starting it now. I also have quite a few movies on dvd and we watch them quite a bit, but I thought I would try renting to increase the variety. I like that you can cancel at any time, too! So, it would not be a big commitment. I think right after my trip in July I will give it a try. :)

40. I'm Nobody! Who Are You? Poems by Emily Dickinson. I read this book on recommendation from my daughter and it was a delight. It did not have my favorited poem by her, but there were lots of good ones. :)

On an antique book --

His presence is enchantment,
You beg him not to go;
Old volumes shake their vellum heads
And tantalize, just so.

And how about --

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all . . .

Y'all probably already knew those, I guess. But I didn't and I enjoyed these and others so much. :) Have a wonderful day!
--BJ

Back to "collections" commentary. I just love that now when someone recommends a book, I can just click on it to add it to my "Wish List" category without adding it to my "Main Library" or the "Your Books" category. I wasn't willing to do that before because I didn't want to inaccurately inflate the number of books in my library or have people think I had read books that I hadn't. Yeah for collections! I think you're going to like it, BJ!

What is your "favorite" Emily Dickinson poem?

Mine is

COMPENSATION.

For each ecstatic instant
We must an anguish pay
In keen and quivering ratio
To the ecstasy.

For each beloved hour
Sharp pittances of years,
Bitter contested farthings
And coffers heaped with tears.

Hi, Bonnie and Linda!
So you just click on a book to add it to your wishlist? How do you do that? I always add books manually (except for a few from the beginning that I imported from amazon, but they have errors). If I can just click, it will go much faster I think!

Here is my favorite poem by Emily Dickinson:

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears the human soul!

I have loved that poem for years and years. :) Thanks for sharing your favorite with me. It was not in my daughter's book. She has an amazing way with words. I wish that I could do that.

41. Ritos de Muerte (Death Rites: A Petra Delicado Mystery) by Alicia Gimenez-Bartlett, translated from Spanish by Jonathan Dunne. I originally looked for this book in Spanish to give to my daughter but the Spanish version was way too expensive. Since it is in English, I got to read it first! (Sorry Marian!) This crime is committed in Barcelona, Spain. The main characters were well-drawn. I found it a great read and enjoyed the window into Spain since I will be there for a short while in July (although I will not go to Barcelona). I read this on recommendation from alalba. Thanks!

I am starting Beggars in Spain tonight and continuing with Tolstoy. Happy Reading, everyone!
--BJ

Since everyone is sharing their favorite Dickinson, here is mine:

In a Library

A precious, mouldering pleasure 'tis
To meet an antique book,
In just the dress his century wore;
A privilege, I think,

His venerable hand to take,
And warming in our own,
A passage back, or two, to make
To times when he was young.

His quaint opinions to inspect,
His knowledge to unfold
On what concerns our mutual mind,
The literature of old;

What interested scholars most,
What competitions ran
When Plato was a certainty.
And Sophocles a man;

When Sappho was a living girl,
And Beatrice wore
The gown that Dante deified.
Facts, centuries before,

He traverses familiar,
As one should come to town
And tell you all your dreams were true;
He lived where dreams were sown.

His presence is enchantment,
You beg him not to go;
Old volumes shake their vellum heads
And tantalize, just so.

hmm my favourites of her poems are the less cheerful ones - most of the ones I love are about dying and other such topics. (e.g. I adore "Because I Could Not Stop for Death", especially when it's read by someone rather than written) You can find many of them on Bartleby - here - , where they have gathered together many of her poems about "Time and Eternity".

Hi, Stasia and Eliza!
I like both poems In a Library and Because I Could Not Stop for Death. She does write about both happy and unhappy topics well. She has that way to phrase things just so. The introduction to the book referred to a phrase: "I am out with lanterns, looking for myself." I just loved that, but I never saw it in the book. The book was not long, though, so I will probably reread it soon. I hope that I find the poem it was in. Thanks for the link. I am going to check it out now. Have a wonderful day!
--BJ

Hi, Mama!
I'm glad you pre-enjoyed the book for me.

Marian

Yeah, that hardly seems fair, I admit!

42. Love Story by Erich Segal. This was not the next book that I was going to read, but I saw it looking at me and decided to read it. I don't read too many tear-jerkers, but I read this one. Now I need something cheery to read. :)
--BJ

Don't you love it when a book calls your name and you can't refuse! I've never read Love Story but is it what the movie was based on?
I think it is awesome that you read a book of poetry. I never think to do that and it seems like all the poetry I've read was usually for a class. I guess I will have to add my own little Dickinson to the other ones already mentioned:

HOW happy is the little stone
That rambles in the road alone,
And does n’t care about careers,
And exigencies never fears;
Whose coat of elemental brown
A passing universe put on;
And independent as the sun,
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute decree
In casual simplicity.

Aw, Love Story - I remember reading it in high school and everybody cried over it...

Ah, there's nothing like a good cry over a good book! (Am I weird or what?)

Nope not weird at all. I sometimes feel the need for a sad book or movie and yet I am otherwise a extremely happy sort.

Also love a good lovelorn song.

Hi, Welachild, Joanne, Bonnie and Trish!
Yes, it is just like the movie. Ordinarily, I don't like to cry like that, but I just love this story. So I read it, and cried like a baby. Sometimes, an emotional commercial can make me cry. I guess that is why I don't need to seek these books out. :)

Loved that poem, wela! It was included in the book that I read. Really, it was an excellent selection of poems.

Joanne, I see that you have a new photo of your sweet dog up. You are so good about that! I just took mine to the vet and now she has to go on diet kibbles. On the plus side, we two are taking two, count them, two walks a day. She is ecstatic. I am worn out. But I think in the long run it will be good for me. (Sorry if I already told you that about my dog. I can't recall what I tell people sometimes.)

Bonnie and Trish, although I usually don't go for that type of book, sometimes it is just what I need. Another of my favorite movies is Pay it Forward. After looking and looking for that book, my daughter found it at Half Price Books in Austin. So I hope to read it sometime soon. But not until I recover from this one. :)

I am still reading Tolstoy and Beggars in Spain. I wish I could just read all the time!
--BJ

Hi'ya BJ!

Our girl gets two walks most days, hubby takes her at lunch time and we both take her out at night. I wish I could walk her twice a day - I only get to on the weekends, so I'm jealous! Her favorite exercise is swimming but we can only go to the lake on weekends.

Tolstoy! I'm impressed!

Hi, Joanne!
The two walks a day is wearing us both out. :) At the end of the second walk today, she was going pretty slow. But the beginning is always the same -- pull hard on the leash. She doesn't mind the lack of variety in the walk either. I like her attitude. She is always cheerful.

You would like Tolstoy, I bet. He really is a great writer. Beggars in Spain is also quite good so far. I want to read The Cellist of Sarajevo. That looks pretty good. Have a great day!
--BJ

43. Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress. I read this book for the Group Reads -- Science Fiction group. This book is about genetic modification which allows the person to live without ever sleeping, thus becoming more productive. The gulf between the Sleepers and the Sleepless grows to the point that the society splinters. This was a fascinating book and a quick read. I enjoyed it!

Tonight my Longhorns won a nailbiter. ASU is certainly a great team! I think the next game will be even tougher. And it is almost football season! Yea! Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!
--BJ

--BJ;
I have missed you so.
Somehow in the changeover with both of us (you to the 75 gig and me back to only the 50 gig) I lost track of you. But now "here I is"! "You have found me". We were both Little Girl Losts, but now I have you starred, for you are indeed a star.

"So we must keep apart,
You there, I here,
With just the door ajar
That oceans are,
And prayer,
And that pale sustenance,
Despair!"

Emily Dickinson
"I Cannot Live With You"

"I had been hungry all the years;
My noon had come, to dine;
I, trembling, drew the table near,
And touched the curious wine.

Emily Dickinson
"Hunger"

I have been thinking of you and you have been on my heart and mind.
belva

#294: Thanks for the recommendation of Beggars in Spain, BJ. It looks like it will fit in nicely with my reading this year.

The CWS finals between LSU and Texas are going to be some good games. I will be rooting for LSU, though, not Texas, lol.

Hi, Belva and Stasia!
I am so glad that you found me, Belva! Thanks so much for all the kind words and for the wonderful poetry. You always make my day! I definitely want to read more Emily Dickinson. I think that I have more of it around here somewhere.

Stasia, I hope that you like the book. :) And not to worry about rooting for LSU. They look pretty unbeatable to me!

Today we got new cell phones, and I got one with the typewriter keyboard. Now my daughter is going to teach me how to text. Yea! I told her to just go learn how to use the phone and then come back and teach me. I cannot understand those instruction books that come with electronics.

Wishing all dads out there a wonderful Happy Father's Day tomorrow!!!
--BJ

#297: It is going to be big boppers vs. small ball. Should be interesting! If Texas was facing anyone besides LSU, I would probably be rooting for them.

You're right! It is an interesting way of playing ball. I have never seen anyone execute the bunt like UT does these days! Surprisingly, we won that last game with two homeruns in the bottom of the 9th. Also, there was that problem of the 3 errors! Yikes! But I am just happy to get as far as we did. :)
--BJ

Since I work weekends only, I am glad they do not start the finals until Monday. I do not want to miss any of the games. I love the CWS and try and watch all the games every year.

BJ, keep your hopes up! If we can win a 25-inning game, we can beat LSU.

I couldn't watch the end of the game against ASU, though--it made me too nervous.

Good Morning BJ!

I highly recommened this book regarding Emily Dickinson

Lovely cover art.

Hi Stasia, Carly, Linda and Belva!
I am so happy to see you! I am glad that you are going to get to see all the games, Stasia. The CWS is lots of fun to watch. At Church there is a couple with one UT fan and one LSU fan. Should be interesting!

Carly, could you believe that 25 inning game? I could not!! You are right, there is always hope. I told my husband that I thought if ASU scored in the top of the ninth that we were cooked. And I was wrong! Two homeruns!! Usually I can make it through those nailbiters if I am not alone. I have been known to drag my nonfootball fan daughter to watch them with me just so I can make it through. I love those college sports! :)

Thanks so much for the recommendation, Linda. By the way, I just love your profile page. Maybe my husband can help me soon with mine. He has been too busy with work lately to start another project. You are right, Belva, the cover is lovely! And speaking of profile pages, I see that you have changed yours, too! Everyone else is so much more on top of things. My daughter Marian is quite a fan of Miss Dickinson.

How about it, Marian? Do you have this book?

Hope you are having a wonderful day!
--BJ

Well, my beloved Longhorns lost a nailbiter last night! I am so glad that they came ready to play. Tonight the saga continues . . .

44. Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard. I finally read this book, which is my husband's, after all this time. This is one of my all-time favorite movies. My daughter and I watched the movie the other day and I said now I simply must read the book. It was hilarious!

Still so hot here. I think that there will be a break in the heat soon, but I am ready now. So, just stay in and read in the ac, right?
--BJ

#305: I have never read Get Shorty (or seen the movie either for that matter), so I will put it on the Planet.

Reading in the ac sounds like a good plan to me. I hope the game tonight is as good as the one last night!

#305 Have you read his other books? I quite enjoyed them but they got a bit the same after a while.. I haven't read Get Shorty myslef but I am tempted

Both book and movie are great. Hey, did you-all know that the author is dyslexic? I think that's a very hopeful message to my students who find writing very difficult in the early stages.

Oops! Edited to fix a spelling--no, I'm not dyslexic!

Hi, Stasia, clfisha, and Bonnie!
I have never read anything else by Elmore Leonard. I do have the sequel to Get Shorty which is called Be Cool. I think that it definitely is worth checking out. Interesting that the author is dyslexic (wow, that is hard to spell!). I know that my daughter Marian has a friend who is dyslexic who is quite a good writer and has even won an award from the local library for her writing. So, it can be done!

And, Stasia, congrats to LSU for clinching the CWS National Championship. They played tonight the way they had been playing through the entire tournament. They looked really great! :) It is too bad that it is over, but we still have Wimbledon and then FOOTBALL!!!

I finished a book yesterday:
45. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin. This is a historical murder mystery which is solved due to the hard work of a female doctor trained as a medical examiner. The murders were gruesome, but the character of the medical examiner was quite interesting. I liked that it was set during medieval times. And there appears to be a sequel, too. I read this for the Highly Rated Book Group Summer Reading Group. Lots of interesting books in that group!

Now, I am reading on my longer books and enjoying them quite a bit. I am sorry to say that I have fallen behind on them, but hope springs eternal that I will get all caught up. :) Have a great day!
--BJ

BJ, there are actually 2 sequels to Mistress of the Art of Death: The Serpent's Tale, which I have heard is not as good as the first book, and Grave Goods, which I have heard is as good as the first book.

Wasn't it a great CWS? I sure was sorry to see it end!

Thanks so much for the heads up on the sequels. The entire CWS was so much fun. Really it is the only baseball that I ever watch. It just seems so much more exciting to me than MLB.
--BJ

We are going to see a minor league game Saturday night. I appreciate seeing the guys (college & minors) playing the game hard. I agree it is more exciting than MLB, although I am a fan of baseball in any form.

I love baseball, whether it is MLB, college, minors or even the little league. I do have to say that the minors are more entertaining then the MLB because the ones that are usually in the minors love the game but just aren't a talented as the ones in the MLB (sometimes). Okay just wanted to add my two cents.

Now on about books. I have not read Elmore Leonard, I do have his book Killshot to read some time. I will have to look for his book Get Shorty and possibly add that to my collection. It is great to learn that some one with a disability has created some great books. I worked with Special Ed students for 9 years and I hated hearing them put themselves down because they didn't think they could ever do anything right. There is always hope.

Mistress of the Art of Death is a book I have thought about reading but have never really gave it much thought. I will now have to take my book off the shelf and add it to my TBR pile.

Have a great day all and Happy Reading!!

Monica

Good morning --BJ.
How's every little thing in your world? It's all okay here.
Just busy with summer time work around the place and my reads (plus mother and the grands). Keeps me hopping.
You are so into sports, did you catch the collegiate women's slow pitch finals?
I don't think my husband missed a game. I had never watched it before. Those gals play some ball. Hubbie says the Little League Play offs and that are his favorite baseball sports, though he watches our Mariners lose every time he gets a chance, as I do.
Well, gotta start my day.
Have a good one.
belva
P.S. just went online and got airline tickets to go see Robbi (my daughter near Dallas, Tx) in August.
Whoo hoo!~! I thought I would have to take a pass this year as I do childcare for Sarah, our daughter who lives up here. But their dad is off all of August and offered to take on the daycare duty so I can go. Am so excited!~!
b

Just wanted to say, I like the look of Beggars in Spain. Onto the wishlist it goes.

Hi, Stasia, Monica, Belva, and lunacat!
We do have a minor league team here that sometimes is really good. We used to go to about one or two games a year, but haven't been in a long time. I like being there in person. They used to be part of the Rangers but are now part of the Rockies. We also have an arena football team (I think Arena 2) that is quite good and we used to go see them a few times a year. And we have a hockey team that we have been to see once. I do think that watching in person makes it so much more fun.

I haven't seen collegiate girls slowpitch, but sometimes I watch collegiate girls fastpitch. I will have to check out the slowpitch game somtime. I think part of the reason that I like sports so much is that I am no good at it. I really admire all those athletes.

I hope that you like Get Shorty and Mistress of the Art of Death, Monica, and I hope you like Beggars in Spain, lunacat. And I am so glad that you get to go see your daughter, Belva! Y'all have a wonderful day!
--BJ

Hi!

We got to watch part of the game the other day at Conan's. It was fun. Baseball games are really long - there is something to be said for watching them in the AC.

Marian

Hey, Marian!
You are quite right about the ac with the current heat wave. It is supposed to kind of break here overnight. Hope it improves for you, too. How was Conan's? What kind of pizza did you get? I just love that place. :) And Chuy's. And Taco Shack. OK, I am already starting to think about lunch! Have a wonderful day!
Mama

So BJ are you an LSU Tigers fan? Do I have that right? If so, my MLB team the White Sox recruited your top star. Can't wait to see what he can do. (His name escapes me right)

-Julie

No, no, I said that all wrong --BJ. It was collegiate fast pitch but softball. Duh!~! Where was my head?
I don't even know if slow pitch is still around.
belva

Hi, Julie and Belva!
No, I am not an LSU fan. I am a Longhorn. But I got to see him in action. I am thinking that you are thinking of Jared Mitchell. Wow. He is great. Even though I am not an LSU fan, I have to admire what a terrific team they are.

I would think that slow-pitch is still around, Belva. The fast-pitch was an Olympic sport, but it seems to me that they might be discontinuing it. We saw it in the last Olympics. And, guess what, the Winter Olympics will be next Winter. That should be fun.

My baby flew by herself to visit her sister in Austin yesterday, so I am missing her. Just burying myself in my books. Luckily, I have lots of those around. Y'all have a wonderful day!
--BJ

46. Our Town by Thornton Wilder. This play, later made into a movie, follows the lives of people living in a small town at the turn of the century (1900s). This is yet another of those books that my girls read in high school that I had never read. Although it won the Pulitzer Prize, I did not know what to expect. As it turns out, I quite liked it. Those teachers really know what they are doing!!

The Heat Wave continues, but it is supposed to improve on Sunday. I just hang out in the ac reading my books. Outside, what is that? Have a great weekend!
--BJ

"Outside, what is that?"

What I hear it is is 103!~!
OUCH!~!
You and puppy stay inside where it is nice and cool.
What are the girls saying it is down where they are?
belva

As I was going to the grocery store tonight at 10:30pm and the temperature was still 92 degrees, I found myself asking "Why do I still live in Texas?"

I understand completely the love of ac!

Belva, I hear that it is quite hot in Austin right now, even in the dark. However, I saw the weather map on the news and the forcast for tomorrow is supposed to be hotter here than in Texas. But on the whole, it is warmer there usually.

Stasia, you stay in Texas for the Tex-Mex food! Right? I saw that Dallas has Chuy's now. Lucky. The carne guisada is amazing. What about Taco Cabana? Taco Shack? I spent one summer in San Antonio working for a couple of law firms. Talk about hot! But honestly it had the best food of anywhere. I went to the original Taco Cabana at least once a week. It was the best ever. I told my husband this summer that I have to make it a goal in my life to learn how to make the perfect flour tortilla. Man, I can taste one now!

By the way, on the news tonight, they were also speculating that this unusual heat could strain the grid and leave us without power. I truly hope that doesn't happen. And so does my sweet doggie.

Have a cool weekend with the ac running, y'all!
--BJ

I don't know how you can all live in those temperatures!! I could barely last a week on holiday at about 35 Celsius (95 Farenheit). I am far too English, fair skin and get heat rash/sun allergies etc. I don't envy you.

BJ- It's been hot in the Chicago area! Today will over 90 but tomorrow is supposed to be better and next week will bring rain and 70s, we hope!
Glad you are considering the The Pillars of the Earth read. It's a good excuse to finally knock it out and to stop friends & family from asking, "You have still not read it?"

My daughter, in Georgia, has been mentioning the heat (I understand this after four years in Alabama) and the humidity. She was actually preferring to stay in her office yesterday to having to go out and wait for the bus, which, of course, would be late then (not sure what happened, but have heard it before). It was actually hot and humid in SEPA (Lancaster area) where we were visiting Thursday and Friday, but after a big storm where we live, it cooled down a bit. We had no power when we got home last night, but it came back a couple of hours later, fortunately.

And now it is hot here in southern California. I was just thinking how lucky we were to be below normal, but today's forecast is for a high of 99. Uuuuuggghhh!

Hi, lunacat, Mark, koalamom, and Bolt Chick!
I am really excited about reading Pillars of the Earth. I have been wanting to read it all year. This group read is just the motivation that I need. My daughter read it for her World History class at school and loved it. They read such great books in high school these days.

Well, I called my Grandma and she said that I am wrong. It is hotter in Texas. I should have realized. The good news is that we did not hit 103F, so we did not break the record. It only reached 101F and was all the way down to 96 by 10pm. Now for the terrific news. A cool front is on the way (thank you up North for sending us your cold air!!) and the high tomorrow is only 89F. Now that is more like it. Then only in the 90s after that. The sweet doggie might even go outside and play some. :)

Tomorrow my baby flies home from her visit to her sister. I think that she is having a good time. I can't wait to see her!! Y'all stay out of the heat and in the air. There is lots to read inside!! Happy weekend!
--BJ

By the way everyone, I hope that a cool front is also headed your way. And I hope that you have air conditioning that is working great. I do have an uncle in South Texas who does not believe in ac, but for the rest of us, it is a wonderful thing. Stay Cool!
--BJ

>327 msf59: msf: have you read Pillars of the Earth yet? :)

I recently bought this book. Where is the link to the Group read. I would like to join in on this. I fancy a nice long read.

~ TT

>327 msf59: msf: have you read Pillars of the Earth yet? :)

I recently bought this book. Where is the link to the Group read. I would like to join in on this. I fancy a nice long read.

~ TT

The Tortoise- Here you go: http://www.librarything.com/topic/67664- I'll probably be starting a new thread in Group Reads, very soon. Thanks for the interest! It should be fun!
Mark

You are getting a good group together for this book, Mark. It should be lots of fun. And, TT, I am so glad that you are going to read it, too. I have heard so many good things about this book.

I am happy to report that the cool weather is here. Tonight, the sweet dog was so excited that she was in hog heaven!! Have a great week, everyone!
--BJ

The Pillars of the Earth member reviews seem to be either five stars of half a star! It seems to be a book that you will either love or hate. As I have never read anything by Ken Follett I will keep an open mind. I was aware that he is a thriller writer. Also the introduction to the book has got my attention, so we will see. Thanks for the link Mark.

~ TT

this title is appearing here and in the What Are You Reading This Week thread, so I feel I have to add it to my TBR list.

Hey, koalamom!
Are you keeping cool this summer? The ac service came today to replace our filter and the guy broke the ac and doesn't know how to fix it. And we are leaving for Spain tomorrow. Yikes! Everything was working great before he came. Too bad we signed up for that hypoallergenic filter that only they can replace!! Doggie is wondering if it is cooler inside the house or out!

I hope that you like Pillars. Everyone that I have talked to about it seems to like it. Take care and I will be back in two weeks!
--BJ

FYI Everyone:

If anyone is interested in a group read of Pillars of the Earth, Mark is starting one and the link is above at message #334.

I will start a new thread when I get back from my trip. See you in two weeks!
Adios!
--BJ

Keeping cool - no summer here in NEPA - couple nice days then rain

have a good trip

Have a great trip and keep cool too.

Two weeks in Spain sounds awesome.
!Buen Viaje!
-wELA

Hi, koalamom, Monica and Wela!
Thanks for the great wishes for my trip. The ac in the house could not be fixed before our trip, so we are living like the old days. We will get it fixed when we return. I am all packed. We leave first thing tomorrow. I will miss all of you. I will try to add a photo to the trip thread for 75 book challenge. And I am going to read some of Don Quixote on this trip while visiting some of the sites mentioned in the book. Yea!

By the way, if any of you reading this are the praying type, please offer a small prayer for a safe trip for us. This is quite a long flight for me and I am a little nervous. Thanks in advance!
--BJ

BJ- Wishing you a safe, wonderful trip! I'm reading The Shadow of the Wind, which takes place in Barcelona and involves lots of books. That's a good omen!

Got ya on my prayer list. Have fun on your trip.

I'll be praying for your safe travel. Have a great trip!

Sounds like you will have so much fun! Have a safe trip.

Hi Mark, LA12Hernandez, Kittybee and Bolt Chick!
Thanks so much for your prayers and well wishes. They helped so much!! We had a wonderful time, but we are so glad to be home (all except my older daughter who has remained to study for the summer). Here is where all those prayers and good wishes helped out: We rented a car and drove from Madrid all the way south and then all the way north and then back to Madrid. We purchased an atlas with country and city maps. The city maps were terrible, so we got lost quite a bit. We needed all the help we could get every day. Thanks again so much!!

I thought that I would get so much reading done on the plane rides, but I get car sick and the plane turbulence (which wasn't too bad) kept me from reading. I did get to read the first book in the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper.

47. Over Sea, Over Stone by Susan Cooper. I read this as a part of the 75 Book Reading Group and just loved it. I borrowed it from my daughter, who reads quite a bit of fantasy. It was just a great story. I haven't gotten to check back in with the group since I returned, but I know that some people were talking about reading all of the books. So I will start looking for The Dark is Rising next. I have heard that that book is even better.

48. Spain and Portugal: Tourist and Motoring Atlas by Michelin. Well, despite my susceptibility to car sickness, I was chief navigator and reader of street signs. I just poured over this atlas during the trip. Where the maps were bad (often) I tried to divine what the Michelin people really saw. This was quite a challenging read!!! Rand McNally, there is a market out there for you. Really! We actually spent the big bucks for a large map of Madrid to supplement this atlas, all to no avail. We forgot to ask for a Garmin. If you ever go there and drive, don't just rely on this atlas. Despite the significant drawbacks to this atlas, I can't part with it as it was such a big part of an overall wonderful trip. :)

It will take me quite a while to catch up on posts, but I am going to give it a try. And thanks for the Shadow of the Wind recommendation, Mark. I have heard some really great things about that book. Have a wonderful day!!
--BJ

You're back! Have a good time despite the maps?

Welcome back. Tell us all about your trip.

Welcome back BJ, hope you had a great time! See you on the group read thread! You do know where it is, correct?

Hi koalamom, Robert and Mark!
Yes, we had the most wonderful time, even in spite of the maps. We visted the Prado museum in Madrid and saw the most amazing art. We have a couple of really nice museums in Tulsa, but WOW! Then we headed south to Toledo and along the Don Quixote trail. I took along my daughter's copy of the book which I am reading these days and it was kind of special to read it there. We went through several towns like Cordoba and Granada on the way to the southern coast. We learned the Spanish word for toll (peaje) and also how to count out euros in the toll plazas. We went to Gibraltar and looked across to the coast of Morocco. The water was amazing. Then we headed north to Sevilla and Segovia on the way to Santander, where my daughter is studying on the northern coast. Along the way, we saw castles and cathedrals. We saw Roman ruins from 25 BC. It was the trip of a lifetime and I feel very fortunate. Since we drove ourselves we were able to pack a lot into about 8 days (plus all the flying time). The thing that surprised me the most was all the mountains. Although the maps did indicate that the terrain was at times hilly or mountainous, we did not fully appreciate the extent of it until we got there. It was a beautiful place with beautiful and kind people. I feel truly blessed.

Mark, I know where the main group thread is. Belva told me that you will have other threads for the different parts of the book. I am headed over to the main thread now so I can get it all figured out. I am so ready!! :) See you there!
--BJ

Welcome back, BJ.
I am glad to hear you had such a great time. It sounds like a blast. I am amazed how much you managed to fit into just a few days. What a wonderful vacation.
I can certainly relate to getting motion sickness while reading. Last year I discovered audiobooks, and now driving while enjoying a good book are no longer mutually exclusive!
Glad you are back, and glad your a/c is fixed. I am sitting here in 100+ temps and probably will be clear through September. Who knew you could break a sweat just turning the page of a book!
Hope things stay nice and cool for you :)
-Dana

Hi, Dana!
We really did pack a lot into the trip. We were able to do that because we drove ourselves and set our own schedule. It was, however, tiring at times.

The audiobook idea is one I keep meaning to try. Can you listen to one on an airplane? I tried to watch a movie on one flight but could not hear a thing. But with headphones it might be better.

I am so sorry about your lack of ac. I lived in Austin for quite a while without ac when I was in college. And it was hard. Every night I took a cool shower and went to sleep with a box fan in my face to blow the water in my hair to cool me down. But during the day is hard. I hope that you have a break in the heat some to bring it below the 100s.

Well, I need to start a new thread. I was going to wait until I finished another book, but I think I will go ahead and start it now. Here is the link:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/69040&newpost=1#lastmsg

I hope that it works. See y'all there!
--BJ

Hi, Mama!

Marian

Hi, Sweetie!
Guess what? I started a new thread while you were gone. It is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/69040

Hope this link works! Glad to see you back home again.