Book Lovers Club
Comments
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On this fine spring afternoon, here is an article (click here) by Oliver Sacks that I just read (when I should be studying or boring housework) that some of you may find interesting.
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Currently reading The Stolen Ones by Owen Laukkanen. His 4th book. I highly recommend him if you like mystery/thriller books.
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Lilac - timely. I just got an email from my DB this morning that not much can help his wife's debilitating migraines so I forwarded the link. Thanks.
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Just finished Dead Wake. I loved, loved, loved it!!! And I enjoyed Larson's notes at the end almost as much as the book itself. I am sitting here pondering the huge role that luck/fate (whatever you want to call it) plays in our individual destinies as well as the destinies of nations......and how seemingly random factors come together to change the course of history (for good or for evil). Pretty heavy thoughts for a Saturday night!
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I thought I was picking up a book by Hilary Mantel but turned out to be by Henning Mankell, It is called Italian Shoes - and is very good - so yeah scandinavian: alcohol, terminal illness, snow, silence, forest, the sea, wind, bad relationships, regret - but also really great shoes!!
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http://www.amazon.com/Narrow-My-Life-Shoes/dp/1592...
jelson...speaking of shoes...I have a reserve on the above linked book!
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VR - got it in one - 9-1/2 Narrow. On top of that my mother had a 5A heel. Luckily I'm only a 4A - LOL with those of you who try to find these shoes. Sounds like a funny book.
Reading The Last Goodbye by Reed Arvin (2004). I put the date since I'm always reading old books. Anyway, great lawyer novel set in Atlanta. Apparently Jack Hammond is the last honorable man around. He was fired from a top name law-firm because of a "slip" and now gets court appointed cases to survive in a strip center law firm. Tales of junkies & big drug firms & IPO's & greed and an opera diva & surviving. I've marked lots of good thoughts.
Tomboy - I haven't forgotten Temple of My Familiars - just haven't been to any bookstores yet, or made an Amazon order. I'm looking forward to reading & hope to make the cut.
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Minus, I would send you my copy if you wanted, no prob!
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Tomboy - thanks but I'll buy one. I actually got Amazon gift certificates for Christmas that are just sitting there. I hope to have free time in a week or two to get some ordering done.
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hello, has anyone read God Help The Child by Toni Morrison? any thoughts?
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Starella - haven't read the Toni Morrison.
Coincidence? Just finshed All The Light You Cannot See the day the Pulitzer was announced. I liked the book but it wasn't an 'easy' read, bouncing back & forth between years & people. No way to just dip into it for 15 minutes or so. Interesting to note all the different variations & incidents of light.
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Finished All The Light You Cannot See two weeks ago - loved it and passed to on to my dr. - she is my "reading buddy".
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In my Hadassah magazine this month, there is a profile on Mimi Sheraton. She has a new book out called: 1000 Foods to eat before you Die" There is an accompanying picture of her,, and I'm wondering if it is a current pic. Cuz it says she is 89 and she looks FABULOUS!! You would NEVER think she was 89.
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Glennie, do you think it would be a good Book Club book? I have to pick next & need to think because the last person chose Dead Wake, which I was planning to use. We had a great, long discussion on it.....so it got the Book Club Seal of Approval (which is hard to do because we are all teachers, and several high school English instructors with very picky tastes!).
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I haven't read Mimi Sheraton's book so I can't comment on that. However the book I'm reading now is quite fascinating. The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen. I have read all of his Dept Q series, which i love, but this is a stand alone novel. It takes place during WWII. Two British pilots are forced to crash land in enemy terriority. They come across a medical train, and pull themselves aboard. The train is full of injured high ranking SS officiers and they take the place of 2 of them. Turns out these men has mental injuries (some physical, but mostly mental) and they are taken to a mental hospital where they have to continue the charade.I am in the middle of it,, and enjoying it so far. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22571786-the-alphabet-house
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Sounds good for me to read but I am reluctant to pick another World War II book for Book Club as we have been reading a string of 'war' or 'heading for war' books (this month will be Boys in the Boat).
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I never read books about war, anykind of it or things that take place in different countries. None about children getting hurt either.
Justt finished the orphan train
Started but didn't finish the one by sharon roache, drung on
I go through the magazines i receive including people n look at the reviews see what they r about n then i pick
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I just spend a couple hours scrolling around Amazon, went crazy & ordered 8 books......so I should be able to come up with something!!!!!
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I just finished Greg Illes Natchez Burning, all 862 pages. And we don't know what happens - just like a serial on TV. Don't get me wrong, I liked the book. I was painfully reminded of what was happening in the US and particularly in the South from 1963 to 1968. Lots of food for thought. I wasn't raised in the South so the extreme hatred & prejudices still blow my mind. I understand this is a trilogy. But really - do we need 900 pages to advance the story w/o a resolution? It's hard for me to hold up a book this big. And I surely would have bought future books of his even if this particular portion of the "journey" had an ending. I like series books. Illes is speaking at our Indie book store the end of May. I will be interested in his rational.
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Ruth, so glad you enjoyed "Dead Wake." It got me interested in submarine warfare, not my usual milieu, but I was fascinated by "Blind Man's Bluff," about US and Soviet sub activity during the Cold War. As I said, not everyone's cup of tea.
Recently read and enjoyed " Love Story of Miss Queenie Hennessy," and Kristin Hannah's " The Nightingale." Now reading Elizabeth Berg's " Dream Lover."
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just finished The Gates (of hell are about to open want a peek?) by John Connolly. very imaginative and humorous and you actually learn about astrophysics and the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland (this featured in a recent book I read by Alistair McCall Smith - and I think that it looms larger in the imaginations of Europeans (Connolly is Irish and of course McCall Smith is Scot)). The protagonist is an eleven year old boy named Samuel Johnson, his faithful dachshund Boswell and friends Tim and Maria who must battle the forces of evil to save the world - with their wits - although some of the demons set loose are quite endearing. It quickly became apparent that the book is most appropriate for kids - and I would recommend it for those who like monsters and science - but who need a happy ending.
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Had to return Dead Wake because I was way too busy doing good things! Put a freeze on it until next week. Presently reading One of Us The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway. Reminds me of the book Columbine. I can't put the book down! It is so sad to read a non fiction book that you know the ending before you begin reading. Hmmmmm....I guess from reading nonfiction it differs so much from fiction where you read and haven't a clue how it ends.....all I can say is that it is so difficult to read and yet it is such a page turner......
Next up is Oliver Sacks book. Will this be his last? Or could there be something posthumously?
I also read:
http://www.amazon.com/Selfish-Shallow-Self-Absorbe...
the book is an anthology about writers who choose not to have children. Geoff Dyer contributed an essay. All I can say is that the book is BRILLIANT! The reason I say this is because there comes a moment far and in between when your brain expands! This book blew me away! Yesterday, I spoke to two childless individuals and told them about the book. They will probably read the book. I'm curious to know their thoughts....perhaps one of you, dear book lovers will read it and share your thoughts....
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VR - I will definitely put it on my list since my DH & DIL have decided not to have children.
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I have to look for that book. Sounds interesting.0 -
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/books/review/...
Above is The New York Times review of the book which I think gives a very good summary.
After reading the book, I was reminded of the explosion of emotion that occurred a decade ago when writer Ayelet Waldman admitted that she loved her husband more than her children. Uber mothers threw vitriol comments her way! Seems that choosing to have children is sometimes as controversial as the choice not to have children. I'm glad to read a book that thoughtfully spells out for some the right reason for them to be childless....
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Thanks for the link. I like this quote:“Not too much time passes in the course of my days without my remembering that I have missed one of life’s most significant experiences,” she writes. “But let me say this: The idea of having it all has always been foreign to me. I grew up believing that if you worked incredibly hard and were incredibly lucky, you might get to have one dream in life come true. Going for everything was a dangerous, distracting fantasy. I believe I have been incredibly lucky.”
Edit: My library has it on order! YAY!
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glennie...the candor and reflections are BRILLIANT! Each page delivers luminous ideas...
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And if you haven't read Lionel Shriver's "We need to talk about Kevin", It is truly wonder-awful. When I found Shriver, I felt as though I had discovered a new planet. Perfectly scintillating is She.
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Tomboy...Lionel Shriver's contributed essay to Daum's book is excellent. Furthermore, Shriver has spoken in the past about the Columbine shooting influencing her desire to write the book, We Need to Talk talk about Kevin. What I find fascinating about the stories is that it makes you aware that our collective perception is wrong when it comes to believing that people who choose not to have children are regretful. Likewise, as Shriver points out in her book, We Need to Talk About Kevin, there are quite a few people who have children and regret the day their offspring was born. The father of the young man who created the Shady Brook massacre, publicly spoke of wishing his son had never been born. While that is an extreme case of regrets, I think there is an argument that can be made that there are a given number of people in both camps who have regrets!
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