Book Lovers Club
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Ruthbru - just came across this on facebook - an essay on Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning http://mossdreams.blogspot.com/2015/06/growing-dre...
A friend, Wanda Burch who wrote She Who Dreams A Journey into Healing Through Dreamwork shared a post by Robert Moss
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Oh my goodness Jelson, thank you so much for that link. I just printed it off and will put it in my drawer of things to think about.
Minus, hope you are doing better!!!!! If you haven't read Larson's In The Garden of the Beasts, check that out too. Germany on the eve of WW II.
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MinusTwo, sorry to hear about your broken arm! TG you can still read.
I do believe we let the 6th anniversary of this most excellent thread slip by.
Thank you Elizabeth (aka konakat) we still love and miss you sister! ♥
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thanks for the reminder Badger - thank you Konakat! and it is a reminder to check the original book list and see what I have missed!
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Thanks to you all for your healing thoughts. i got the OK yesterday to ditch the sling after 6 weeks & promptly overdid things. Slowly, slowly. So today I'm re-reading Olive Kitteridge. I know there was some discussion not long ago & I remember the "votes" being about half liked it & half didn't finish the book. A friend returned some books yesterday w/a copy of Olive and I'm finding I like it as much as the first time. But is it NOT an easy, light, breezy read like many of the mysteries & legal thrillers I've been racing through lately. And I think you have to read it as short stories, not a novel. I probably would not have liked this book when I was younger - even at 50.
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Thank you dear konakat for all the pleasure you have given us by starting this thread. When I just now looked back for the date, I noticed it was started on an April Fools Day! Very appropriate, as Elizabeth was an absolute hoot! I hope she is now on the beach in an Adults Only section of The Great Beyond; surrounded by her cats, books, and Cabana Boys!
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How did I miss Gerald Durrell - the younger brother of Lawrence Durrell of Alexandria Quartet fame? Lawrence wrote because that is what he was, a writer. Gerald wrote to support his passions - zoology and botany and wildlife conservation. The book I read was My Family and Other Animals - an account of his family's (his mom, sister Margo and brothers Leslie and Larry's) four years living on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930's. Gerry was only 10 when they arrived - his siblings much older. Gerry ran free - studying/observing/collecting insects, lizards/tortoises. magpies and dogs etc - seems to have been the only to actually learn greek and had many adventures - sometimes formally instructed by a series of quirky tutors. Larry complained mostly about run ins with Gerry's menagerie and invited many guests to stay, Margo sunbathed, Leslie hunted and mother cooked and tended the garden. Very amusing with wonderful descriptions of the countryside, the sea, the seasons, the wildlife and people. He wrote several other books and I will be looking for them.
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Jelson- thanks for that wonderful review. Sounds like my kind of thing and it's going on my list. I like reading about people's lives. Not so much "biographies" as situationally biographical. I'm reading David Leibowitz's My Sweet Life in Paris, which falls into that category.
Though many many books have been written by Americans taking up an expat life in Paris, his reasons for going, his particular pov as a bereaved gay man, his humor and attention to detail not often found elsewhere and his cooking references all make this a unique and enjoyable read.
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Thanks for the good references.
Just finished Sanibel Flats by Randy Wayne White. This is the first in the Doc Ford series published in 1990. Action & adventure with this marine biologist and the others who live at the marina or on boats. This one is about Central America, selling or saving pre-Columbian artifacts & how the retired doc gets back into the action. Good descriptions of Florida and the tropics and marine life. I've read several of these over the years and it was fun to read the beginning of the series and see how the characters first met & became involved. VR - I recommended for your DH.
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I've read & enjoyed a number of legal mysteries by Scott Turow. (Presumed Innocent was the first). Happened to find in the used bookstore a copy of ONE-L from 1975. It is the true story of his turbulent first year at Harvard Law School (one L = 1st year law student) He kept contemporary journals during the year and wrote this autobiographical book the summer after that "shocking, facinating" first year to report on the good & the bad. Names are changed but otherwise it's a true account. Fascinating to see the pros & cons of the Socratic method. Really interesting to watch people wrestle with their moral compasses.
For those starting law school in 1975 at arguably the top school in the nation, the student's expectations were to be making $28,000 in their twentieth year out of law school with a starting salary of $13,000. Wow.
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Minus- wow! I will look for that one.
I'm sure someone here recomended this, but I can't remember who. But thank you! I have gobbled Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren, in two sittings. Lovely, simple writing.
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Does anybody read YA? I'm looking for a comment on Sherman Alexie's 2009 novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
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Tomorrow, at Noon, Geoff Dyer will be at The New York Public Library discussing his new book, White Sands. Anyone care to guess where VR will be tomorrow?😇
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Enjoy!
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VR - so glad to hear from you. Please report after your exciting afternoon out.
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Minus- if you like YA books, I have a recommendation for you. Read "The Namesake" by Steven Parlato. He was a professor for an English class I was taking.
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Thanks M0mmy. I'll put it on my list.
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yw. I have that book and have read it. I was able to get an autographed copy. I read it in two days.
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Sooo....today, the weather here in NYC was postcard worthy! Patience and Fortitude were roaring! Had I not known what lay beyond the steps, I would have turned my back on them! But their welcoming roar was worth climbing the steps and entering the grand reception area! There is something so special about entering the New York Public Library. When I attended college and had to go there to do research, I wondered about when I might one day go the to enjoy leisure. Well, I can now say with certainty, it has taken close to 40 years! Better late than never!
So, precisely at Noon, Dyer appeared and spoke to a standing audience of maybe, 40 book lovers. What a shame. I cannot wrap my brain around enjoying an author while standing! Even Barnes and Noble puts out chairs!😫
That said, Dyer delivered. I'm not sure what touches me more, his wit or his wisdom. Having seen him speak several times, the one thing I am certain of is his ability to stand down the dribbling question that is often asked of him to describe his writing category and style. I HATE when he is asked that question, because, if you read any or all of his books, you NEVER know, nor does his publisher know, what his next book is going to be about! So, how can anyone ask that question?
When I finally had my minute with him while he autographed White Sands for my mother, I reminded him about a previous conversation I had with him about my almost 91 year old mother who was his biggest fan in South Florida. He politely told me that he vaguely remembered our discussion. At first, I thought he was just being English polite. But then, he jumped up and put out his hand to shake hands with me and said with a great big smile, "Oh, yes! I DO remember you!" So....I then asked if he could hurry up for her sake and finish his next book quickly, because my mother was starting to slow down!
Before returning home, I stopped at the post office and mailed my mother the book. I can't wait for her to read it. Her love of reading has enriched my life in so many ways. Sending her an autographed book by an author she loves is the least I can do. I'm already becoming sentimental because I know I won't be sharing these moments with her much longer....Knowing she will savor the book means even more to me than having shaken hands with Dyer!👍
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Sounds like a wonderful day, VR! Excited to hear of your mom's reaction to her present!!
I just finished Sarah Vowell's Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. The Marquis de Lafayette, one of George Washington's best friends, is the subject of her fun, educational read. Really brilliantly written. even if you don't usually like history, you will like this!
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VR- your post gave me goose bumps. You are a good daughter. I felt like I was in nyc too, reading. Thank you for sharing your day.
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Ruth- thanks. Putting that on my list. I am a fan of Lafayette. Once stated in a (very small) castle/guesthouse owned by the family in the Massif Central in France. It was a bit like spending the night in a museum. The owners were fussy. It made it awkward but still very interesting and an unusual area of France for visiting
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If you like Lafayette already, then you will REALLY love this book!
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They had to send all the way to Madison for it, but finally got my inter-library loan of The Disappearance by Philip Wylie. Good book that was recommended here. An unexplained cosmic "blink" splits humanity along gender lines into two divergent timelines: from the men's perspective, all the women disappear and from the women's, all men vanish. (TY wiki for the summary). Thought-provoking commentary on gender roles and sexual identity, as well as international politics, albeit through the lens of 1951.
VR! Great story.
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Butterflies in November by Auder Ava Olafsdottir - written in 2004/translated in 2013. after a day of being dumped by her lover due to her failure to commit and her husband due to her refusal to have a child, our unnamed Icelandic heroine decides to set off on a road trip of self discovery to the east on the ring road circling Iceland to the village where her grandmother lived and where she spent her summers as a child. However, she ends up having to bring her best friend's 4 year old deaf-mute son - because the single mother has to be on bed rest during her pregnancy with twins. Anyway - there are many adventures along the way and then when the duo eventually reach their destination - an isolated fishing village. The ex-lover and ex-husband turn up - also strange locals and locales. The weather is described as abnormally warm and there is constant rain and therefore flooding and landslides that present obstacles but also opportunities for adventures. The reader gets a real glimpse of modern Iceland - the food, the tourists, the sheep, the fish, the way the inhabitants cope with the weather. And the journey is transformative both for the woman and the boy. great descriptions of Iceland - makes me want to visit even in it's darkest time of year.
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Jelson- YES!!! Thanks. Going on the list.
Finished Lab Girl (more like devoured it) in two sittings. Great writing.
Now 3/4 the way through Sisters In Law, a dual/comparitive biography of TFTWOSC. i am amazed at my incorrect recollections of the law behind the women's (and civil rights) movement. Context and accuracy being hurled at me on every page. Fascinating. Will probably have to stop everything and read Sotomayor's auto b next while I still have an accurate intellectual landscape. !!
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I'm jumping in here with you readers! Jackbirdie, Justice Sotomayer's bio is fantastic. What a woman! It gave me hope and optimism for our country. Well, SHE does!✌️❤️ Linda
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Hi all and welcome BookLady Linda! You're in good company here.
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My Book Club is reading Diane Chamberlain's The Silent Sister this month. A young woman is back in her hometown cleaning out her dad's house after his sudden death when she comes across a startling family secret. The book is about her quest to uncover the truth about her older sister, who supposedly committed suicide as a teenager. It was a fast read that kept you guessing. I wouldn't highly endorse it because there were too many loose ends. It will make an interesting discussion though.
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I've been rereading the too short previews on amazon. the faye delaware thrillers currently
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