Book Lovers Club
Comments
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VR - thanks for the wishes. She has 2 completed books now and is in the processes of finding a new agent. As I understand it, the first agent kept wanting more changes on book #1 until it wasn't even the same story or message. Book #2 the agent thought needed to wait awhile before launching since vampires were (are?) so popular with the YA crowd now. Anyway, new agent search in progress. I'll pass along your thoughts.
And I'm with Kathe. Love to hear about your family's books.
Tomboy - I never considered a "ghost" novel even though I knew Harper Lee was a recluse. Interesting premise.
Sandra & Mike - hugs & prayers!!!
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Goodness, I just finished reading The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. It was one of those books where you stay up until 2am and the next day you have to force yourself to do the things on your 'list' before you pick it up to finish it. That being said, it wasn't a pleasant book, more like staring at the wreck when you pass the scene of an accident....you can't help it. I don't want to give away the plot, but it takes place in post-WWI England. An upper class mother and her 26 year old daughter are forced to take in borders to make ends meet. A series of reckless decisions leads the characters into a downward spiral of events that go from bad to worse to terrible. The 26 year old daughter, the protagonist, drove me crazy.....I wanted to shake her and say "THINK about the consequences of your actions!!" and I wished that she would have thrown herself off the bridge at the end.....but it certainly kept my attention.
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Here is my niece:
http://www.amazon.com/Shoshanna-Evers/e/B0045J2EJ2My cousin:
http://www.amazon.com/Joanne-Rocklin/e/B000APUVPE
My older son is a former tech columnist at a leading popular tech magazine and presently is a speechwriter and blogger for a very large large tech company.
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Tom---I hope the Rocha book didn't give you nightmares! You nailed it with your description of his family. There are some really wicked people out there and it is heartbreaking when good people become tangled in the wicked people's webs. I found the book so compelling on so many levels. Yesterday, I had one of those moments that was an eerie reminder of how there are evil people all around us. Recently, I drove my mom and a few of her friends/acquaintances to a show. I told my mom that one of the women was evil and that she should beware of her. Mom said she didn't like her either but she was stuck with her because they shared a mutual friend. Meanwhile, when I drove the ladies to their show yesterday, Miss Evil was absent. The mutual friend said Miss Evil was ill. I asked if Miss Evil's family were around to help her. The mutual friend told me that she had local family but they paid little attention to her. I asked her friend, "Why?" She said it was complicated. Husband number 2 didn't want her and her 4 children. So she put three of her children in an orphanage and then married him. It never ceases to amaze me that these evil people live among us and are so capable of causing such heartbreak. Nowadays I try not to be too judgmental about people, but after reading stories like Sharon Rocha's, how can one not be too careful when meeting potential friends or lovers? What a huge mistake the Rocha family made when they all chose to fall in love with that piece of garbage!
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Ruth, I also read Paying Guests, and you described it well. I also finished Girl on the Train, which is a mystery much like Gone Girl.And I just finished The Farm, a novel by Tom Rob Smith, who has written several novels set in Russia, although this one is set in Sweden. Different and very good.
Based on discussions here, I read Sharon Rocha's book, and found it different than I expected, not having followed the case all that closely when it was in the news. I expected her to reveal that Laci had been abused and in an unhappy marriage. Instead, I was horrified that Scott was loved by them, until they finally discovered the truth. A lying, cheating, murdering monster. I still wonder what Scott was thinking. A book you don't forget.
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That story you just told about Mrs evil. It reminds me of my friend who passed away 3 years ago,from lung cancer. I knew many of her stories, but the one that never failed to hurt her, was the fact that her own mother booted her and her brothers out of the family home when she was 12. Her brothers went and lived with her grandmother, who was a sweet and rich woman, who knew her daughter was not nice. My friends mom did this also because the man she was going to marry, had money and did not want her children. My friends' mom wanted the money more than her own kids. my friend came to california and was a great seamstress, who worked in film costume, and was friends with many actors and actresses, and was well loved and a sweet sweet person. Her mother inherited her own mothers wealth as a trust fund. So, somehow, along the way, the brothers got back into the mothers life, and each inherited one and a quarter million dollars. The reason my friend found out was because the lawyer contacted her to send her a ten dollar check, which i still have, as she never cashed it. apparently, when her mother became the author of the estate, she made sure my friend did not get her million, instead quartering it between the brothers.
My friend on her life was so frugal, she accumulated quite a sum herself. But the last twist of the knife was when her brothers, whom had always claimed they loved her, did not do the right thing, and give her any of her grandmothers things, or any $$$. And the worst thing, didn't even tell her of her mothers passing. My friend and her mother both died at opposite ends of the same year. Nothing can be sicker than peoples greed, and the evilness of indifference .
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Your one relative/author sounds like the new Anais Nin!
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That is a sad story, Tomboy. The greed of some people can be truly sickening.0 -
VR - interesting author-family links. Thanks for sharing.
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Just downloaded Bella Cora.
VR, you are a family full of voracious readers AND voracious writers!
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Ruth - looking forward to comparing thoughts on Bella Cora with you!
Katie
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Finished American Gods and enjoyed it. I have a love for mythology so would like a book about a battle for the hearts & minds of men between the old gods e.g. Odin & Eostre, and the new American gods e.g. Media & Money. In that radio interview with Neil Gaiman, which was ostensibly about his 2013 book The Ocean at the End of the Lane (which I will read), he talked about the Egyptian gods so maybe a new book is cooking.
Stocked up on library books: Gridlock by Sen Byron Dorgan & David Hagberg; Saint Odd by Dean Koontz, the 'stunning' conclusion to the Odd Thomas series; and couldn't resist The Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances by Ellen Cooney.
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Love the title Mountaintop-dogs-second chances!! Please let us know how it goes.
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I think I already mentioned enjoying the Rhesus Chart - by Charles Stross which was recommended as a fine introduction to his series - the Laundry Files - even though it is the most recent in the series - and indeed - although there were references to past events and entanglements, I was able to thoroughly enjoy the book - enough to want to read the first in the series next . That book is the Atrocity Archives and indeed it was very good - but disconcerting....because by reading out of order - was like I knew the future! this relationship is going to break up, that one if going to flourish and then founder, this minor character is going to die, this one is going to get promoted. It felt weird - didn't ruin the read, but confirmed my normal strategy to read in order. Here is a description of the Laundry Files which I have cut and pasted from Fantastic Fiction "Bob Howard—a T-shirt - wearing computer geek and field agent for the super-secret British government agency The Laundry—must save the world from eldritch horrors {much mention of LP Lovecraft} Blending physics and applied mathematics with the practice of summoning and demonology, this spy-meets-horror {series} will keep sci-fi fans on the edge of their seats."
Next was Mort(e) a novel by Robert Repino in which an ancient ant queen instigates a (very successful!!!) war with humanity engaging the assistance of animals to whom she has given, through the development and spread of a virus, intelligence and physical changes which enable them to literally rise up, slay their masters and wage war along with some giant ant soldiers, against the destructive and oppressive humans. Mort(e) is a neutured and declawed house cat who becomes famous for his bravery in seeking out and destroying the remaining human strongholds. His motivation is his desire to find his pre-transformation friend, a dog named Sheba. Certainly the book made me think about animals and their interactions and communications with eachother, our relationship with animals - our casual cruelties even with our beloved pets, our assumption that we are the acme of creation and meant to rule and destroy earth at our will -our lack of understanding of communal species like ants, termites and bees. It was really a fascinating read.
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I read Oliver Sacks article in the NY Times today.I know we don't talk about disease here – but below are part of his thoughts that are related to books, reading & writing:
I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers.
Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.
VR – I expect you'll want to read the rest of the column if you haven't already. Link below for anyone else who is interested.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/opinion/oliver-sacks-on-learning-he-has-terminal-cancer.html?_r=0
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minus..here's my Oliver Sacks story....Usually I hit the library when it opens in the morning so I can get a head start on the stuff that was returned overnight. Monday mornings are the best day of the week because people return the most stuff on Sunday nights. When I can't get there early, my next favorite time to go is at noontime. That's when the library gets really busy because people are leaving morning activities and the afternoon patrons start to pile in for the afternoon activities. Most adults clear out before students arrive. During my noontime visits, I often rub shoulders with my opthalmologist in the new nonfiction book stacks. His office is a few minutes from the library and I can expect to see him often at the library, because he is, like I am, a rabid nonfiction reader. While the new fiction stacks are filled with patrons, he and I usually have the nonfiction stacks to ourselves. Soooo, one afternoon, there we were, about to grab the same book. Yep! One of Oliver Sacks latest books. Now, please understand, we often read the same books, but not at the same time. He beat me in reading Eula Biss' On Immunity. But I then read her previous book Notes From No Man's Land ahead of him! But that Oliver Sacks book, neither of us had read and we were both drooling at the thought of getting our hands on the book! So Mister Opthalmologist played the wildcard and said, "You know he has had an optic cancer.". I replied," Okay! You read it first because you might learn something meaningful that can help you with you patients.". I like to think my opthalmologist is a better doctor and a better person for having read his books. I also like to think I'm also a better person for having been touched by his writing as well....and for giving the book to my doctor to read first.
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presently, I'm reading Thomas Beller's book, J.D. Salinger The Escape Artist. With all the renewed interest in Harper Lee, this book gives us a glimpse not only about Salinger and Beller ....but it gives you a glimpse into the fickle world of writing and editing. Makes me wonder where that next great writer will come from and how many lost manuscripts exist......also makes me have a new appreciation for great editors....
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Sandra - great posters. How are you & Mike doing? Thinking of you.
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Glennie, I'm glad you liked Norton's work. I am very sorry there won't be any more, for many reasons, of course.0
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Minus,
Mike is holding his own. He had his first 5 days of chemo last week. He is impossibly grouchy because he doesn't feel good. My daughter Allison is here from Chicago and is an enormous help as we continue renovations on the house to get it ready for Mike's quarantine after his bone marrow transplant. We are working from sun up to sun down but are making some progress. Trying to turn a 40 year old house into a dust free, dirt free, mold and spore free environment is difficult but we have no choice if we want him to live. He'll be in the hospital about a month and then home for 100 days or more. My dining room is being turned into a "clean room" where he will be safest. It's about 60% finished. New tile floor goes in over the weekend. Contractor finished installing new wall and door so it is cut off from the rest of the house. All the carpet in the rest of the house will be removed, a/c & heating ducts cleaned, etc. We're tired already but time is of the essence. After the transplant, he can't be in an environment that has had remodeling done in the previous 3 months so we're running out of time.
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Wow,, Sandra, so much to do and so stressful! When will Mike get the transplant?0 -
Sandra wow from me also..glad dd is there, how long is she there 4 n hru..
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Sandra - thanks for the update. You and Mike are always in my thoughts & prayers.
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((Sandra))
formydaughter, you asked my opinion on The Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances. I liked it a lot. Here's my favorite book review: "Both a joyful romp and a wise, engaging meditation on dogs, love, and recovery from pain. Come. Sit. Read!" -Lily King.
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With all the stress surrounding the possible loss of my husband, if I'm not reading articles about bone marrow cancer & myelodysplastic syndrome, I'm reading escapist fiction. It's comforting to read how characters figure out a way to thwart the bad guys and bring everything to a tidy, satisfying conclusion. J.D. Robb has a new one, Obsession in Death, that I enjoyed 55 pages of last night at 2 a.m. when I couldn't sleep.
Glennie, when he was diagnosed in January they said they wanted to get him to transplant within three months so I'm thinking early April.
Blondie, how sweet of you to be concerned about us when you have a HEAP of your own troubles. Wish we were closer so I could come see you. My daughter Allison sublet her apartment in Chicago and gave notice at her job to come here for several months to help me get the house ready for Mike's transplant. My other daughter, Stephanie, live in St. Petersburg, FL and cannot easily get away but she'll be here next week, Thursday thru Monday. She went through training to be able to sign people up to be a potential donor of stem cells through a wonderful organization called Be The Match. She will conduct an event while she is here.
Minus, hugs to you dear sister.
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Currently reading Higher Authority by Stephen White,, the 3rd in the Alan Gregory series. I'm enjoying it but still like Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware better!
Sandra, so much work and so much stress. So glad your daughters are able to help out. (((Sandra))) Yay for escapist novels.
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Speaking of escapist fiction - I have a friend who just read Natchez Burning - the newest Greg Iles book. She had never read any of his previous books but really liked this one. I wasn't sure how to recommend since she likes John LesCroart but not really Michael Connelly. I can hardly wait for paperback but I don't want an electronic copy and at 900 pages +/- I could never read the hard back. Supposedly it's the first of a trilogy.
I'm having a great time reading old escapes. Balducci's Split Second - Michelle is still with the Secret Service. Lawrence Sanders' Mc Nally's Caper - old time Palm Springs & old money. A friend introduced me to Elizabeth Lowell. The first one I read was Ruby Bayou. I've found a 4th one now, Always Time to Die. It's set in New Mexico with history of the protagonists intertwined families on both sides of the border, a Senator who dies (of natural causes?) and his son, the current Governor, who's going to run for president.
Glennie - I still like Alex Delaware too but I liked Faye Kellerman's stories even better. And I always waited anxiously for a new Stephen White - although I understand he has said no more.
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