Book Lovers Club
Comments
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I met author Geoff Dyer today. Now I can have pleasant dreams....
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Talked to a friend who went to a Susan Whittig Albert "book signing" yesterday. The author is apparently as charming as her China Bayles stories. She too wonders what will happen to Howard Cosell (the aging dog) and if China's step son will go to college. Sorry I missed it.
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I am reading "The Seamstress" by Sara Tuvel Bernstein, because of a suggestion on this board, I think. It is riveting, a memoir of one woman's experiences in the Holocaust. I was so anxious for the end of the war and her being rescued that I couldn't put the book down until she was finally being taken care of and out of the camps.
Jane
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Voracious: So excited for you! I just picked up Out of Sheer Rage; I'm looking forward to reading it!0
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http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/currentreviews/fr/outOfSheerRage.htm
Mcsushi...Above is a terrific review of Dyer's Out of Sheer Rage.
I must warn you...Dyer isn't for everyone. But those of us who are great fans of his, including my 87 year old mother whom he autographed his new book for, are HOOKED!
My brother, SIL, best friend (who is also a voracious reader and a great fan of Dyer's) and I attended his discussion. The night before, he was at another venue that packed 1000 people! Anyway...my brother told him that our mother was a great fan of his and he said he had to tell his publisher that he found a new demographic for his book that he never knew existed. I told him not to be surprised that, someday, Florida might be on his book tour thanks to our mother.
I also told him my mother's famous quote while reading Out of Sheer Rage. As she began reading the book, she started to laugh. Before long, belly laughs. Then the laughing stopped and she looked at me and said, "I have a question." I replied, "Shoot." Then she said, "Is he on drugs?" And I said, "I don't know." Then she said, "Well, if he IS on drugs, then he has to come off them. And if he ISN'T on drugs, then he needs to be." When I told that to Dyer, he had belly laughs! Then he autographed the book, "For H---, If I'm not..... then I need to!" Then he looked up and asked if she would get "it." And I said, "Don't you worry! She will get it!"
As the British say, "We had a jolly ol' time together!"
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Voracious: I love the story about your mom!
So glad you had such a great time. I'll be sure to let you know what I think once I read it! 0 -
What am awesome mom you have!
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Summer I started 50 shades of grey last week. Parts are definitely disturbing and not my usual type of read but hard to put down. I know of many people that have read it or are reading it.
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Yep! That 87 year old beloved mother is awesome! I refer to her as voraciousreader2, as in "too!"
Anyway... if any of you can bear one more Geoff Dyer story...I'd like to share this:
Yesterday, several friends and I went to a book review discussion of The Lost Wife at one of our local libraries. When I got there, I bumped into my opthamologist. When I say "bumped," I really mean it...because if I head over to the library around noontime....I will often meet him in the "New" non-fiction area and the two of us will be bumping into one another as we attempt to grab THE SAME BOOKS! Yep. We have the same exact taste in books. It's a lonely place..that "New" non-fiction area of our library. Most patrons are huddled in the "New" fiction section. My opthamologist and I are a rarified group....
Anyway, I told him I saw Geoff Dyer over the weekend. He said, "You bumped into him in the city? How did you recognize him?" I told him..."No! My vision would NEVER be that great!
Instead, I saw him at the museum giving a discussion."Well! He was so upset when I told him that he gave 4 discussion all over the city during the weekend and he didn't know! Turns out...he is presently reading Geoff Dyer's The Missing of the Somme and said it was "the most brilliant book that he's ever read about a war." He also recently finished reading Otherwise Known as the Human Condition, which last week also racked up another literary award for Dyer. BTW....When I saw Dyer, I congratulated him on receiving the award last week and he said I was the first person on this side of the pond to congratulate him!
I asked my opthamologist what his opinion of Dyer was and he said he thought he was a "brilliant writer" who pushes your intellect to see things and feels things that you might never have thought of. He could think of no other contemporary writer to compare to Dyer. I asked if he thought Dyer was "brilliant." I'd like to clarify this by saying...you can be a brilliant writer and be dumb about everything else...Anyway...my opthamologist said he thought Dyer to be "brilliant." He said the scope and depth of his knowledge and emotion were extraordinary and his ability to relate it and put it into words was unmatched.
Yep....That about sums it up. Oh...and my opthamologist, who also knows my mother, also thinks she is awesome! I respect his opinions!
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Regarding 50 Shades of Grey....Back in the day, I read The Story of O...Nuff said.
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VR,
I'm almost half way through Fifty Shades of Grey......not my genre at all, but interesting LOL! My husband keeps peeking over my shoulder wanting to read the "good parts". MEN!
Vikki
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Vikki....My beloved 87 year old mother is a retired ob/gyn nurse and has seen and heard of everything. Speaking of MEN...one of her better quotes regarding them is, "Their brains are made of PENIAL TISSUE."
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I have read all of Elizabeth George but I'm intrigued by A Faithful place and the Penman books - Thanks, I'll check those out! Just need to get back on track I think....
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Great Crombie too!
Lovethe 87 year old Mom story! Wonderful!
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My mom wasn't quite the character as voraciousreader2, but she was a great reader. Every night she would read to us kids at the top of the stairs and every night we would beg for 'one more chapter'. Every night she would give in and read longer. I never asked if we really convinced her to do so, or if it was just a ploy to make us love reading (either way, it worked!).
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My Mom took me to the library every week when I was a child and now I am an avid reader. I cannot thank her enough.
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My siblings and I were so lucky, because the house that we grew up in was right next door to a library! We spent many a Saturday afternoon there, browsing the stacks. The librarian got to know us really well and would save new books for us. We are all avid readers, and I am sure that this is the main reason why.
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What great stories about how everyone became avid readers....Maybe VR should write a book about where everyone got their love for reading. These stories are inspirational!
Dutchgirl...You reminded me of a funny story...one that I've been hearing a lot lately...Next door to one of our local libraries a spanking new, beautiful apartment complex is being built. Friends know how I want to dump my house and move... Quite a few of them have suggested that I consider moving to the new complex. Funny thing is....every time I go to the library and look at the complex being built...I drool.
I actually got my love for reading from my maternal grandmother who didn't know how to read! Everyday, she would sit and write (using a fountain pen) the "Letters to the Editor" from the local newspaper and try to read and understand what the writers were saying. My earliest memories of my childhood include those days when I would sit with her and read the "Letters to the Editor" to her.
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Another story: I continued the reading at bedtime tradition with my DS, who also became an avid reader. When he was in 6th grade he was reading a series of adult level books on the history of ancient Chinese dynasties . His grandmother was very impressed and told him that she would like to read them herself when he was done. Later, told me that he didn't know whether gramma should read them or not as they might be too violent for her!
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Lol!
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I haven't had a chance yet to try any of the suggestions here, but my son(11yrs old, lives with his dad) informed me that he just bought three new books and is going to leave one of them with me to read. Then as he finishes the others, we can switch. We read The Hunger Games series together and are anxiously awaiting next Friday.
I've started compiling a list of books I think he needs to read (as he gets older); although some of them I wish he could read now because we'd have great conversations about them.
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I read aloud to DS until he made me stop! Always books that he would understand but were above his reading level. So fun!
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I join the chorus of bc sisters who are grateful to loving mothers who taught us to love reading. A wonderful gift, indeed! xo
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Love all the stories! I don't remember my mother reading to me as a child. I do remember going to the library every week and picking out a new book. My mother read a book a week and so did I, I thought I was soooo cool. I also remember one week asking her if we could wait and go to the library in the afternoon. She said, no..why? I told her I wasn't quite done with my book yet and wanted to finish it. I must have been about 12 or so. She says thats ok, you can renew that one and get another one for when you're done. She never told me you could RENEW books! lol.
Also, I read to my two boys every night. Dh and I switch who reads to who, we have a 2 and 4 year old. So the other week was Dr. Seuss' birthday. At the library I took out some Dr. Seuss books we don't have at home to mix things up. The other night I read Oh the Places You'll Go! to my 2 year old and I cried through the entire thing!!! To think of the happiness, defeat, triumph and heartache that awaits those boys! I hadn't read the book since I have had children and was surprised how much it choked me up. Needless to say that book has been pulled from the rotation for me....Dh can read that one!
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All these stories are great! My mother was a first grade teacher and she forced me to read. I was quite the tomboy, preferring sports to books, so it was quite the source of contention. Stubborn as I was to rebel against such torture, I detested reading and flat out refused. After my mother passed away when I was 9, my grandmother carried the torch by weekly dragging me to the library. Each week, I would return the previous week's book unopened. Then, my freshman year of high school I had an amazing teacher for Honors English. It was transformative. She made the books come alive. I learned to love to read and have never looked back since. I was an English major in college and there I was again given the great fortune of many great professors who only fueled my growing passion for the written word. It was truly a gift for which I'll forever be grateful.
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My immediate family members are all readers. Even my dad, who had to leave school after the eighth grade (depression era), read all the time, mostly magazines and newspapers. My brother read science fiction and I had a love of the romantic gothic novel. Anybody remember Victoria Holt? My sisters are mystery readers. And one of the my sisters and I became librarians!
Jane
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Oh just love all these stories. As a child I hated to read perhaps cause my older sister was such an amazing reader I knew I couldn't compete. My first memory of reading a "chapter" book is of a book called " The Adventures of Mable" which I still have. Then started reading the Laura Ingles Wilder books. But it really wasn't till after college when I was able to travel with my Mom and sister who were big readers so with long plane rides and such I discovered the real joy of reading and have been hooked ever since.
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Sweetcorn, I just orderd the Seamstress on your recomendation! Looking forward to reading it. Iam now reading steven kings' book on jfk. heard it was good.
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I recently finished the Stephen king book and I really liked it! I loved his Dark Tower series and just found out he has a new book in that series coming out in April. I can't wait to read it!
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I teach at a middle school and have a 7th grade advisee group. On Dr. Seuss' birthday we are SUPPOSED to 'celebrate' by having 20 minutes of silent reading during our daily time together. This is what I've done instead for the last couple years: I bought a book of "Scary Stories to Tell Around a Campfire" and constructed a 'campfire' out of construction paper, tea lights etc. We sit around the campfire in the dark, and I read them the scary stories while they eat S'More pop tarts. Way more fun and I think Dr. Seuss would approve!
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