Book Lovers Club
Comments
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One of my closest friends is Indian and a voracious reader too. We read lots of books by Indian authors... And we enjoy Indian films too. We love Deepa Mehta's films. I can't wait for one of her sons to marry... So I can get to wear a sari.
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Caryn- have devoloped a "thing" for India based fiction as well and I blame Wenweb aka Wendy
The difference in culture is interesting and the books I have read are very well written.VR- I hope you get to wear your sari!
One of my best friends growing up was from India and I always thought she looked so amazing in her sari wrap with the "dot" on her head. She went back with her family at least once a year to visit and she always looked gorgeous. She ended up being miss teen NH and went onto become a Dr.
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voraciousreader, I loved The Outside World as well as her other book, The Ladies Auxiliary. I grew up in NYC (the Bronx) in a Jewish home and found the ideas of Jews in the south utterly fascinating. Shalom, y'all! -Caryn
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Just went to 'The Help' tonight. I thought it did a good job of representing the spirit of the book.
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exbrnxgrl....Caryn... Have you read The Jew Store?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/343067.The_Jew_Store
A terrific memoir of a young Jewish woman growing up in Tennessee.
Another terrific book about the immigrant experience is 97 Orchard Street: An Edible History of 5 Immigrant Families Living in One Tenement. Need I say more.
http://www.amazon.com/97-Orchard-Immigrant-Families-Tenement/dp/0061288500
Ruth...My daughter and mother also saw the film The Help and said they didn't want the film to end.
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voraciousreader- Thank you, that sounds like a book I'd enjoy. Will add it to my library list.
ruthbru- I am so happy to hear that you liked The Help.I have heard good things about it. Film is such a different medium than print and we (readers) are often disappointed with the translation to film. I have a pre-op appointment with the breast surgery coordinator on Monday and then plan to see The Help with my daughter. Throw in a bit of lunch and it shouldn't be a bad day! -Caryn
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I love Deepa Mehta films too! A (Water, Fire, Earth) There's something so infectious about the music and dancing. I also love Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake)
I love Netflix On Demand -- even though all of the movies are not there yet. I think once they iron out the subsidiary rights stuff they will be. Ergo the change in the Netflix pricing policies that tilts more toward on demand usage.
The Help was a terrific book! Seeing the movie with my Red Hats later this month. Today hoping to see Snowflower and the Secret Fan, another great book. Sarah's Key, still another is on my list for this month. I figure I've got to jam in the movies before the school year really launches full force and I revert to wake, work and pass out mode from Monday to Friday. Actually, Fridays will be my chemo days, so I'll have a shorter workday and time to rest and recoup while I'm there. LOL
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Ellenquilt- Are you a teacher too? Am currently waiting for Staples to open. They are giving away goodies to the first 300 teachers who show up. Loved Snowflower but I think the movie is supposed to be very different. Enjoy it anyway! -Caryn
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Yes, I'm a teacher too! {not great time for our profession these days (years
)} I'm not in a regular classroom, since I work as an Instructional Technology Specialist under several Title IID grants, so I work with K-12 teachers and their students in a number of schools. I love my job! I love the team I work with and I'm blessed with a boss who was a good friend before she became my boss, which makes life much easier to deal with now. I may hit Staples to get some stuff for my classroom buddies, or for me to gift to the teachers with whom I work. Is it only for today?0 -
I'm a teacher also
. Middle school......we start the 22nd so I have already hit all the school supply stores, and have everything up in my room (although I ordered some more posters that haven't come yet.) Have you ever checked out this website for good school stuff?www.trendenterprises.com 0 -
ruthbru: Yes I know about Trend from my days as a classroom teachers. Lots of good stuff there.
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Correction, first 100 teachers, 9:00-12:00, here in CA. I teach first grade and start on the 22nd too. I just moved up from many years in K so I had to move and arrange the new room. Will have a student teacher who will also be my sub. -Caryn
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I hope you get a good student teacher to work with Caryn -- they can be a gift or a curse. LOL
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I am very lucky with respect to my student teacher. She was a parent at my school and has been a well regarded sub for many years in my district. She decided to get her teaching credential and had already arranged to do her student teaching at my school. Some of the parents in my class will know her and while I hate to be "ageist", the fact that she is in her 40's will be of comfort to many. The parent community at my school can be a bit rough on younger teachers who are fresh out of school. -Caryn
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I'm a little late jumping in here as I have been away for the past week. The India based books are a favorite of mine as Laurie08 has mentioned. Laurie and I connected with a discussion about "A Fine Balance" which I haven't seen mentioned in these recent pages. I would highly recommend it and have to say that it rises above Thrity Umrigars "The Space Between Us" which I truly loved.
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Wenweb: I'll now have to read " A Fine Balance." Ordered (along with four other books) from Amazon as I'm writing. LOL Gotta love online shopping.
exbrnxgrl: I'm so happy you have a great student teacher. As someone who entered teaching as a fourth career well into my 40's I can appreciate her position and I know also that the parents who met with me and knew I was a parent were much more receptive during our discusssions about their children. Sounds like a great match.
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I loved A Fine Balance! I may read it again, it's been a long time. (Although it is a long book!)
A great beach read which is fun and entertaining - and super easy to read - Tina Fey's Bossypants. Hilarious and smart.
I am struggling through Suite Francaise, which is disappointing me b/c I heard so many good things here - wish I liked it more, but refuse to stop reading any book I've started.
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saralmom....I tried reading Suite Francaise and couldn't get through it. Debating whether or not I should try again.....
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I have read A Fine Balance and agree that it was a great book. Both Deepa Mehta and Mira Nair are favorite directors as well. Loved The Namesake as a book but, as is often the case, found the movie a bit lacking. I also love books about Iran (having lived in Afghanistan for 2 years) so I was thrilled when I found a series (4?) of books by Gina B. Nahai. Cry of the Peacock is the first book she wrote. Fictional accounts of the Jews of Iran. For a non-fiction, modern account of Jews in Iran, try Journey from the Land of No by Roya Hakakian (sp?). Of course, my favorite saying is "So many books, so little time." -Caryn
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For about three weeks I have been halfway through Suite Francaise, and feel pangs of guilt everytime I walk past it on the table. I think that it is a beautifully written book, but nothing has inticed me to pick it up again and finish it. I am like saralmom, I don't like to not finish a book, but I am afraid that this might end up in the same pile as The Piano Tuner and 100 Years of Solitude
.I love Rohinton Mistry's writing. His book of short stories, Tales of Firozsha Baag, is wonderful, I am hoping to read the sequel, Swimming Lessons, soon.
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Just finished "The Particular Sadness of the Lemon Cake". I mentioned on an earlier page that it's a book where the author has chosen not to use quotation marks. This drives me crazy, but I made it though. I'm wondering whether anyone has read this book because I became a little confused (not unusual) about what exactly was going on with the brother. Anyone??
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wenweb... can't help you with the book, but it reminds me of ee cummings poetry which can also be quite confusing. Here's my favorite cummings poem, since feeling is first :
since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of
things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring
is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are a far better
fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
--the best
gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says
we
are for eachother: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a
paragraphAnd death i think is no parenthesis
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VR I LOVE THAT POEM!! Thank-you for posting it. As you know, we had a brief encounter/discussion about "feelings", which make this poem very apropros for me. It's the kind of poetry I would write were that I was a poet 0
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Ya know, wenweb, I look at that poem every couple of years and try to find the essence of what Cummings meant when he wrote it. It definitely resonates with me too, but I am not sure if I have the poet's "meaning." Sometimes wish he was here along with other great writers to explain their works. Erich Fromm comes to mind too...
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VR, Thank you for posting this stunning poem..am familiar with some of cummings' poetry, but didn't know this one... yes, feeling is first because ultimately feelings are more important than rules of syntax and rationality..how could we express powerful feelings in correct and controlled grammar when feelings represent precisely the opposite...the non-rational, and therefore it is impossible to put such feelings into words. Life is short so go with the flow...to put it in a very banal way...I think that's what he's saying isn't he?
I often come here to read all your book recommendations, but this is the first time I've posted anything..some of you have been writing about Suite Francaise..I enjoyed reading it, but then found that it didn't stay with me at all..hardly remember it, so I don't think it stuck much of a chord..
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DH and I saw the movie The Help this afternoon and we both loved it. We had read the book beforehand and we felt it was pretty true to the actual story. I would not be surprised if we saw some Oscars come from this movie.0
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I'd like to jump in as I'm new to this thread! Have had a lot of trouble concentrating on books this year, ( I blame the femara!), but have finished my first book since Christmas. A GATE AT THE STAIRS - by Lorrie Moore is very good! Set in the year post 9/11, it's about the life of a 20 year old student, Tassie, who takes a babysitting job with a rather old couple. Many interesting themes -race, adoption, secrets kept, war and Tassie's narration is quirky and quite funny. Recommended - 8.5/10. Last one before that - ENGLEBY by Sebastian Faulkes.8/10
Sarah x
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I loved Suite Francaise, but if you don't like it (or any book), (after you have given it a good try)....toss it or skim to the end! There are too many books, and there is too little time to read something that doesn't speak to you in some way!
I copied the cummings poem down way back when I was in college.....and it was spring, and I was in love. Sigh!
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It took me a long time to stop reading books that I couldn't get in to. I used to feel compelled to tough it out, no matter what. Sometimes I was rewarded (it took me forever to finish The English Patient), sometimes I kicked myself for wasting my time. I am finally at the point where I can abandon the book if I am not liking it. -Caryn
PS: I am going to see The Help this afternoon (after pre-op meeting with breast care coordinator). Very glad to see that those of you who have seen it liked it. My younger daughter is going with me and she has not read the book. It will be interesting to see how we each feel about the film
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i just read a very early Michael Crichton novel - 'A case of Need'.. in which I found 3 .. 3! incomplete sentences. (did I mention I used to be a proof-reader for 'grain publications'? (Cargill)
It was a fast read all right.,.,, I made it to the end of the novel.. Kind of a diatribe on abortion legality.
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