Book Lovers Club
Comments
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Just breezed through Super Storm...Nine Days Inside Hurricane Sandy. Read like Erik Larson's classic Isaac's Storm which chronicled the 1900 Galveston hurricane. Both books made me scratch my head. Having lived through Sandy, which frightened the heck out of me and my family , friends and neighbors, I still find it surprising how poorly our weather forecasters and government work together. The lack of a consistent, accurate flow of info between the groups caused, IMHO, more destruction than one could imagine. Reading about Sandy, brought back the same recurring thought of the Galveston Hurricane. History repeating itself? Not learning from one tragedy that would cause destiny to repeat itself???
I also recently saw how some lessons were learned from the destruction of the mass transportation system. Short of recreating the subway and path system, NY transportation experts have begun to put in place common sensical measures to keep our system from flooding again. New stations are incorporating anti-flooding equipment while generators and electrical equipment are being placed on higher levels of new construction both below and above ground.
With respect to evacuation and saving lives, the book is very critical of our leaders. Interestingly, if the leaders fully understood the hurricane's developments and gave a cohesive message, I think citicizens would have done a better job of protecting their lives and property. This book was not kind to the leadership of the tri-state that bore the brunt of the storm.
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Enjoyed the quirky, dry humor of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler. This was a quick read and a unconventional "start-from-the-middle" structure, skips to the past then present. It was a clever book and don't want to give any spoilers, yet can say, it's a powerful
look at grief, the unreliability of memory, and the terrible things
parents can do to their children without always realizing it.0 -
Just got the new john grisham book, left it in my car, library will let u knoe
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Reading the latest Grisham book now. Interested in others' reactions to newest Jodi Picoult book about elephant sanctuary. And for those who liked Olive Kitteridge, HBO's miniseries with Frances Dormond was quite good.
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Just finished the latest John Sandford, Deadline and enjoyed it. I love Virgil Flowers. And he has interesting sidekicks and villians!
Now reading Tuesday Night Miracles by Kris Radish.
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Wave - thanks for the Elizabeth Strout mini-series report. I did like Olive Kitteridge but I have several friends who did not. Co-incidentally, I just finishe one of her older books, Abide With Me from 2006. I find her writing clear & evocative. One example sentence describing an old man:..."There was a look of dry and absolute cleanliness about him, as if his shirts, or even his undershirts, would be as clean at the end of the day as they had been when he first put them on." And..."Anyone who has ever grieved knows that grieving carries with it a tremendous wear and tear to the body itself, never mind the soul. Loss is an assault...". The story is about a young protestant minister & his family at his first job in a small New England town.
I love how she sees her role as an author:..."My job as a storyteller is not to supply any answers, but to raise the questions in a way the reader may not have seen before... I don't think it's my job to pass judgment on the people whose lives I imagine and record, but I expect the readers may very well have opinions about the character's actions - as they should....I tell stories because life fascinates me, baffles me, intrigues me, awes me...".
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Exactly, Sandra!!0 -
Minus2, lovely descriptions from "Abide with Me." Can,t remember if I read it, but I'll read it again. My memory is so bad old books seem new to me!
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Just saw the movie of The Book Thief. Lovely.
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Sandra - I enjoyed The Book Thief, book and movie.
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I enjoyed The Book Thief also. It is definitely a good read, but I liked the movie too.0 -
Fantastic book, didn't see the movie (scared to because I liked the book so much).
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Something came up on the October Surgery Sisters thread. We were discussing why we could read after surgery. I'm not talking about the first couple of days when you are still under the influence of drugs and general anesthesia is wearing off slowly. It's almost like the place inside that makes you want to read is numb. I've taken books to the hospital for 5 surgeries and never open one. Prior to each surgery I set up a nice stack of things I can't wait to read next to my recliner. When I get home, I don't want to read any of them. I used to think it was because of the general anesthesia, but since I discovered TIVA, which has an incredibly short half-life, I've ruled that reason out. The urge to read comes back, of course, but I wonder why it does away to begin with. Any theories?
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I need a like button for that sign.0 -
Sandra,
Part of me thinks I'm too tired. We think of reading as being very relaxing, but actually our brains are VERY engaged (especially people who enjoy reading). After surgery....much easier just to turn on the dummy box and half watch it!
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Sandra, interesting observation. I have no idea why, but it has happened to me. Usually I read a book a week. Like you, before 4 surgeries, I took books to the hospital and stacked them on my bedside table at home butcouldn't read, During chemo, I could not either. I watched nonstop TV. Hard to remember how long it took for the reading appetite to return..
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Sandra, I have to agree with you. After sx I could not read right away. Same as chemo. And since I read a book a day, that was so unusual for me. I think your body is on shock and it saves your brain power for just making everything work at all! If my sx was fairly easy, no PONV, and fairly short and no big D my need to read came back within a couple of days. Otherwise it was weeks where finishing a magazine article was all I could manage. I read our daily newspaper in about 40 minutes. But it would take me all day to get through it during chemo, never mind adding a book to the daily routine. LOL!
Much love
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I agree too. Like Moon, I read a book every day or two. After surgery & for much of chemo, I read the paper every day but it sometimes took all day. Other than that I only read magazines.
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Sandra, love the iceburg! I could only surf the net due to reduced attention span post surgery.
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How fascinating! So far everyone has experienced the same phenomenon. I wonder why no one has every included this as a side effect of breast cancer treatment? Not being able to read much at all is a serious concern for book lovers.
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Probably related to lack of focus, chemo brain, etc. But have no idea why...Would be an interesting study for someone..
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Sugar we are on the lack of focus topic....I admit I had two minor car accidents while on chemo. The first one I pulled forward out insulating space forgetting there was a rock in front of me and destroyed my bumper.
The second one, I hit a deer that I actually saw standing in the road. I never even hit the brakes. It was like my brain didn't realise I needed to stop. I blame it on chemo but I don't say it out loud because I don't want the government getting any crazy ideas that they should take away the driving privileges of all chemo patients!!!
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Yup, huge break in concentration - I could read a magazine article, watch bad TV, and read newspapers but no books - couldn't remember characters from one page to the next - in my normal life I read two to three books a week and newpapers or news on the web everyday.
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I think I will start a thread about this topic. It's so interesting.
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OK, it's a real live topic now. Please go to https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/91/topic/new for "What's wrong with me? I don't want to read!" If you wouldn't mind, would you repeat or copy the responses you've already made here onto the new thread? I'd like to have it all in one place.
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sandra4611, what is TIVA? Mmmmmm, netflix was my friend. I still would TRY to read, I would hold the book or the kindle, but my eyes would unfocus and my mind would wander. But then again, I have been doing that since I was a kid, I always got in trouble for daydreaming. I mean daydreaming to the point of i was in my dream so hard that the world dissapeared, and then someone would call my name or shake me and i would come back. So, I just thought it was more of the same. Except everytime I lay down, or sit, or am a passenger, or waiting anywhere, I am reading.
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Kathy, thanks for your story. I hope you will go to the new thread (link above) and repeat your comment there or copy and paste works too.
TIVA is Total IV Anesthesia. More hospitals are offering it and more anesthesiologists have been trained in it. Most of the time hospitals use a combination of different drugs and gasses (which are very cheap.) TIVA takes extra training and experience not to mention equipment must be purchased, so it means less profit for hospitals. TIVA is general anesthesia, not twilight sleep. Gasses in particular are well known to cause PONV (post op nausea/vomiting) but none are used with TIVA. The TIVA drugs have such a short half-life, they wear off quickly, reduce post-operative nausea and vomiting, allowing shorter recovery room times, and an overall safer, smoother and better experience (as compared to inhalation anesthetics). TIVA is the future! I'll never have another surgery without it. Here's a link. http://www.realself.com/article/tiva-total-iv-anesthesia-general-anesthesia-safer
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