Book Nook Cafe discussion

Torie wrote: "New member to the group! Last month I read...

I really enjoyed it!"
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Welcome, Torie ! Thanks for joining the group and shearing your July read with us.

Donna from Maryland who posts here, I think said, if you liked The Help, you will love,

Saving Ceecee Honeycutt~ Beth Hoffman

Nancy/nanckopf wrote: "I haven't posted my reads in quite awhile, so I'm posting a bunch of months combined.

5/5.."
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Hi, Nancy ! I read and enjoyed House Rules, too.

Justeenetta wrote: I carried a lot of books I owned but have never read to my new studio where there's no tv, computer, phone. wolf willow by wallace stegner was one. a history, a story, a menoire is the sub title..."
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TV and computer sure do eat up a lot of time !

I read and enjoyed

Angle of Repose ~ Wallace Stegner

I think I skimmed a lot of his books some years ago, all the little live things although readable turned me off of his books until now,

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: Hey, Nancy....good to see you!"

Thanks JoAnn! I faithfully read my 카지노싸이트 updates to see what others are reading and usually check out the ones rated 4 stars. I think that's how I got some really good books read this summer.

Rebekah wrote: "just joined but ready to post my July Reads

-A Man Lay Dead-Ngaio Marsh

-The Help-[aut..."

I read [book:A Parchment of Leaves|24804]by Silas House in July. I looked for Something's Rising in two local library system catalogs, but didn't find it. I did find a book on the same topic also co-edited by Silas House calledMissing Mountains: We went to the mountaintop but it wasn't there. Amazon had a negative review of Missing Mountains from someone who was obviously associated with the coal industry.

Shomeret, I'm sure about the coal companies. Don Blankenship of Massey Mines is the devil incarnate if you read Coal River. He is just dirty and he has all the state politicians in his pocket. That's why the only way it is going to change is to get the rest of America pissed off about it. I recently went to Hazzard, Ky after a long abscence and I had to pull over and cry. I can't even believe it is legal!
go to ilovemountains.org and keeperofthemountains.org if you want to learn how the rest of us can help. My congreesman here in Tx is getting to know me pretty well! : )

I met Silas House at a writer's workship this past summer. I'm not a writer but heard he was there and kind of hung out the univeristy where it was being held and "ran into him" He was kind enough to invite my father and I to the ending banquet that was full of Appalachian writers. I bought a new copy of the book because I didn't have my old one and wanted a signed copy.. I also bought Missing Mountains.
I'd be happy to send you the extra copy if you want it.

Have you read his other novels?
, ,

sorry if I got too political. I just want the Appalachian Mountains to still be there when my children and grandchildren grow up. They are too beautiful to waste and the damage done to them is 100 times worse than the oil spill (and I live on the Gulf!), but because Appalachia is like America's third world country, it is plundered and taken advantage of and the locals lose out and no one else knows. It's a serious environmental crisis!

Rebekah wrote: "Shomeret, I'm sure about the coal companies. Don Blankenship of Massey Mines is the devil incarnate if you read Coal River. He is just dirty and he has all the state politicians in his pocket. That..."

How generous to offer me the extra copy of Something's Rising. I'll PM you about it.

No, I haven't read any of the other Silas House novels. I just discovered A Parchment of Leaveson GR recently. I was just looking at the other books on Silas House's author page.

I don't blame you for feeling strongly about the Appalachian Mountains, Rebekah. My brother lives in Tennessee. So I know just what you're talking about.

Hi I have just joined up and there seems to be ever so much going on here.

My July reads are:

The Reader This was an extremely powerful story of a man's love for a troubled older woman. It raises many points of blame as it interweaves this story with that of Nazi Germany. How guilty is guilty and how forced are we as members of a community to adapt to their rules and regulations? We must go unquestionable forward into situations that sometimes we do not have any power over. This was Hanna's story. 4***

Shiver It was sappy and silly, but I liked it. There is always to me something appealing about young love. In this case thought it concerned the love a girl got a werewolf. Crazy but fun! 3***

The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind This was a very inspiring story of a young man, William Kamkwamba, who rose from abject poverty in Malawi to better his life and education. He exemplified a determination under horrible circumstances to be educated and learn originally through self teaching the ways of science and electricity. He certainly is an inspiration to all.The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind 3***

The Poe Shadow A good premise gone boringly wrong 2**

Still Alice A wonderfully written book about the anguish of Alzheimer's disease. 5

Hush, Hush A fun read! 3***

The Passage Not at all interesting and quite gory! 2**

Her Fearful Symmetry A disturbing novel on so many levels! 2**

Let The Great World Spin Was going to give up on this one, but ever so glad I didn't. 4****

Mudbound A beautifully, written novel using simplistic language to describe life's hardships in Mississippi after World War 2. 5

The Prime of Miss Jean Brody Ok but dated 3***

My Name Is Memory a book about love through the ages. 4****

Alias Reader wrote: "My July read:

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat- Oliver Sacks
Rate 2+
..."

Alias, thanks to your post i see i did finish ONE book in July, our play, Dinner with Friends! All is not lost. :-)

Meanwhile, welcome to all the new names & faces! It's great to see so many books mentioned. Great, except i can feel my TBR growing as i read this thread! Thanks to everyone and welcome to those who have been busy & are posting several months of books.

deborah

Meredith wrote: "My first post about my July reads did not work out quite right. Let's try again



rating 3.5

I enjoyed this mystery which took place in the late 19..."

Meredith, thanks for reposting your list, i was curious! The first one sounds great. My next book to read is by Edith Wharton, the champion (imo) writer about the late 19th century New York. Thanks for the title.

deborah

Jodi wrote: "Hi! I just joined today. Love the site!...[deborah snipped...:]
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: One of Christie's best books (so I've read) with a very unusual plot device and ending. I loved it.
..."

This is probably my favorite Christie, much as i enjoy her various sleuth series.

deborah

Marialyce wrote: "Hi I have just joined up and there seems to be ever so much going on here.

My July reads are:

The Poe Shadow A good premise gone boringly wrong 2**
..."

Marialyce, i've snipped your post but HAD to comment on how much i like the way you phrased the note on The Poe Shadow. Great line!

deb

Rebekah wrote: "Shomeret, I'm sure about the coal companies. Don Blankenship of Massey Mines is the devil incarnate if you read Coal River. He is just dirty and he has all the state politicians in his pocket. That..."

Rebekah, i appreciate your comments on the book & the politics about the mountains. It must be heartbreaking to return.

deborah

madrano wrote: "Marialyce wrote: "Hi I have just joined up and there seems to be ever so much going on here.

My July reads are:

The Poe Shadow A good premise gone boringly wrong 2**

..."

Marialyce, i've ..."

Well, it was, and it did! :)
Marialyce

Rebekah wrote: "I've stayed places that later on people say are haunted. Either the ghosts are frightened by me, or I'm too stupid to recognize anything. I always think strange sounds are bugs hitting the windows or a mouse or something. : )
..."

This is what i do, too. Not that i've specifically stayed at places to see ghosts but i'm just too certain that noises i hear can be explained. Of course this is how i will be killed in a robbery attempt, but there ya are!

Seriously, good luck in your ghost hunt, Rebekah. I have one friend who lived in an old house, which she & her family were refinishing. She was certain it was haunted, as she saw many manifestations. It turns out the visions were from the floor refinishing product she was using! Once they completed the project, the "ghosts" disappeared.

deborah

Welcome to all our new friends. Thanks for joining us. I love all your posts and you have definitely done damage to my TBR list.

Justeenetta wrote: "stoner is my new 2nd favorite book of all time. I read butcher's crossing after augustus, the western is marvelous, of course, harrowing too. the hero grows from kid to adult. does he go back & ..."

Stoner is probably one of my top two favorite books too, and as a bookseller I've been recommending it for a long time. It's one of those books that customers come back and thank me for telling them about, which pleases me greatly.

The first time I read it, when it had just come out, I think I was too young to appreciate it. But when I rediscovered it 3 or 4 years ago, the book hadn't changed, but I had grown and learned and yes, aged. And I realized how brilliant Stoner is.

Connie

Jodi wrote: "Jodi wrote: "Hi! I just joined today. Love the site!

The Girl Who Played with Fire loved it
The Millennium Trilogy: Parts of this were very slow, especially backgr..."


I have been curious about those books! I hear more about them every day. I will get them soon :)

Last month I read Moon Palace by Paul Auster and The caves of steel by Isaac Asimov I liked them both.

want to know my first favorite book & my last 2nd favorite book? I think I've posted them before, but anyway: recollections of my life as a woman by the poet diane di prima, I have a loan out copy, thought it was a woman's book onlhy, but men I've loaned it to have said they didn;t want it to end. & hoe I became one of the invisible by the poet & translater, david rattray. this like wolf willow could be said to be a history, a story a memoir. for bhistory read my memories as a translater (lator?) of poetry from the french.

reposting from Readers and Reading
http://www.africa-eu.com/topic/show/3...

You can see the reviews of my meager July reading here:

http://www.africa-eu.com/review/list/...

Not a stellar month. Please note that the Steve Martin book will not be released until fall.

Justeenetta wrote: "want to know my first favorite book & my last 2nd favorite book? I think I've posted them before, but anyway: recollections of my life as a woman by the poet diane di prima, I have a loan out cop..."

Recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years by Diane di Prima

How I Became One of the Invisibleby David Rattray

Thanks for the two titles, Justeenetta. Are you a fan of poetry? Do you write poetry?

deborah

Marialyce wrote: Her Fearful Symmetry A disturbing novel on so many levels! 2*."

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Her Fearful Symmetry~ Audrey
Niffenegger

This was just nominated for one of my F2F book groups. Sorry to see you only gave it a 2.

"Rebekah wrote: "I've stayed places that later on people say are haunted. Either the ghosts are frightened by me, or I'm too stupid to recognize anything. I always think strange sounds are bugs hitt..."
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There is a series on Planet Green TV called, The Fabulous Beekman Boys. It's two city guys who move to a farm upstate NY. They are raising goats for cheese. It's a cute show.

ANYway, I bring it up because in one of the episodes they have ghost detector people come to see if their house has spirits.

Planet Green repeats the show all the time.

Alias Reader wrote: "Marialyce wrote: Her Fearful Symmetry A disturbing novel on so many levels! 2*."

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Her Fearful Symmetry~ [author:Audrey ..."

I didn't like her Time Traveler's Wife . either. I will be anxious to see what you think.

I thought I was the only person on the face of the earth that didn't like The Time Traveler's Wife!

Nancy/nanckopf wrote: "I thought I was the only person on the face of the earth that didn't like The Time Traveler's Wife!"

See you are never alone, Nancy. My daughters disliked it too! So, that makes six of us> :)

oh, yeah, I've written poetry from time to time not much any longer, I was married to a poet for some time, but my art is painting.
let me knoe if you read those other 2. how I became one of the invisible is difficult to find. published bu semiotics(e) out of columbia u.

Marialyce wrote: "Nancy/nanckopf wrote: "I thought I was the only person on the face of the earth that didn't like The Time Traveler's Wife!"

See you are never alone, Nancy. My daughters disliked it too! So, that m..."
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When JoAnn on this board said the story wasn't linear, it went back and forth, I took a pass.
My library group plans on reading it.

When I saw that it was an ostensible novel of time travel written by a non-genre writer, I took a pass. It's very rare that I ever like science fiction that isn't written by someone who understands the genre. From the reviews I read, this is the sort of book that science fiction fans don't care for.

Unfortunately, the movie was no better than the book, I thought. However, I felt the same way about The Passage .

Alias Reader wrote: "I liked it. Though his best is still The Stand".

One of my top ten favorites. Weird thing is I've never liked anything else I've tried by King except for the (very) short story The Long Walk.

I also liked the mini-TV series of The Stand except I thought the Dark Man character would of been better portrayed by some other actor.

Last month I reread two Steinbeck short stories and several Bradbury shorties. I reread these two authors frequently. They are a quick read and I never get tired of them. Tortilla Flat was the book that started my love of reading. I first read it in the 4th grade.

I got around to one of my longtime TBR authors - Doyle. I picked the first in the Sherlock Holmes series, A Study in Scarlet. Parts of it were enthralling and overall not what I expected of it. The setting in America in the second part of it really surprised me. And especially the type of characters in it! Nice surprise and I will most likely read the second of the series this month.

I also read The Greener Shore: A Novel of the Druids of Hibernia. It was alright. I like to read books about Ireland, my Ma was born there. I had read Lion of Ireland a long time ago and remember enjoying it very much. Next I'm gonna read Druids by her (I dig Druids!). Funny, I had read her before and pictured her as a male. I mean it doesn't really matter but I was surprised when I read some reviews in here that revealed to me she was female.

I just joined up on GoodReads and besides the discussions I also love the idea of having a place to archive all my reads and have notes, reviews and all that with them. Thanks to all of you who make this group work.

Mike, is your interest only in ancient Ireland? I've read several books by Frank Delaneythat I've liked. There are also mysteries that take place in Ireland. PeterTremayneandCora Harrisonwrite books set in medeival Ireland. There are also modern mysteries set in Ireland by Ken Bruen

Morgan Llewellyn's Druids is wonderful, but doesn't actually take place in Ireland though most of her novels do. I love her novelGraniaabout the pirate Grace O' Malley.

Shomeret wrote: "Mike, is your interest only in ancient Ireland?  I've read several books by Frank Delaneythat I've liked.  There are also mysteries that take place in Ireland. [author:PeterTremayne|..."

Yes, mostly I do only like the ancient settings but I did read Delaney's "Ireland". It was based in the 1950's, I'm pretty sure. I couldn't put it down and I've often thought of rereading it but it's pretty long for a reread. I loved the old Storyteller and how that plays out in relation to the family but I don't want to spoil the plot so I'll leave that. And the sister's relationship with the Jesuit was a neat storyline too. I've yet to read any other of Delany's books but TBR, TBR, TBR ;-) I have a lot in the old queue.

This here reminds me that I've always wanted to find a novel(s) with the IRA at the center of the plot. Have to do some google(ing) about that. Or if anyone is aware of any like that, let me know.      

I've never heard of the others you've mentioned but I will put them on hold at the library and see how they feel. Thanks for the recommendations Shomeret.   

yes, I read several some years ago, can't remember names or authors, harrowing though, think jerusalem by robert stone. turned me off of anything irish forever though my father was born there & my name is very very irish.

Justeenetta wrote: "yes, I read several some years ago, can't remember names or authors, harrowing though, think jerusalem by robert stone. turned me off of anything irish forever though my father was born there & my..."

Hmm, I'll start there.

My Ma was born in County Cork but they all came over when was younger than 10yo. She didn't know her exact birthday and had some hassle towards the end of her life because social security said she had two SS numbers. She was a trip.

my father came over in 1920, & later brought over his father mother aunt & brothers. they settled in santa cruz, had another son, all the sons except the last who died of tb while at cal, married here & became citizens. My father always spoke with that wonderful irish lilt.

Justeenetta wrote: "my father came over in 1920, & later brought over his father mother aunt & brothers. they settled in santa cruz, had another son, all the sons except the last who died of tb while at cal, married ..."

Mine had the lilt also. But she grew up in Brooklyn so there was that mixed in there too. Even when she whispered her voice was LOUD! Right before I was born she moved to Atlanta where I was raised. I've been told I have a unique accent.

Mike wrote:Thanks to all of you who make this group work. .."

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Thank you for posting here ! I enjoyed reading your comments on your July reads.

Mike wrote:This here reminds me that I've always wanted to find a novel(s) with the IRA at the center of the plot. Have to do some google(ing) about that. Or if anyone is aware of any like that, let me know.
.."
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I don't know of any books, but the movie, In the Name of the Father was excellent.

Alias Reader wrote: "Mike wrote:This here reminds me that I've always wanted to find a novel(s) with the IRA at the center of the plot. Have to do some google(ing) about that. Or if anyone is aware of any like that, le..."

Ah, with Daniel Day Lewis. I'll have netflix it. I saw one with Brad Pitt called The Devils Own but it was all based in America with only flashbacks in Ireland.

I found one book that looks like it might fit the bill:
Michael's War: A Story of the Irish Republican Army. Only problem is the reviews tell about a sorta love triangle subplot. I've got nothing against love but when they mix all that in to a story of this type it feels like filler.

My July Books:

The Joy Luck Club
Love this book, Every Mother/daughter should read this!
The Pearl
Nice story about too much of a good thing.
Troy
Love story where war ruins everything.

Hi, liz. I've read and enjoyed The Joy Luck Club, too.

I haven't read The Pearl, but Grapes of Wrath is one of my favorite books. One of the few I've re-read.

The Pearl was so good. He has many great short stories. I was sad when I finished them all. I keep hoping I'll find just one more but he's gone. I already mentioned Tortilla Flat here. I also recommend The Wayward Bus, Cannery Row; Sweet Thursday and The Moon Is Down. All quick but very satisfying reads.

Edit: Liz, Troy looks good to me, I'll have to add it to my list.

I re-read the wayward bus years ago. PS as an infant I pissed on steinbeck & his new wife's white rug. end of friendship.

Mike wrote: "This here reminds me that I've always wanted to find a novel(s) with the IRA at the center of the plot. Have to do some google(ing) about that. Or if anyone is aware of any like that, let me know. .."

Have you read
Cathedral by Nelson DeMille?

"St. Patrick's Day, New York City. Everyone is celebrating, but everyone is in for the shock of his life. Born into the heat and hatred of the Northern Ireland conflict, IRA man Brian Flynn has masterminded a brilliant terrorist act -- the seizure of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Among his hostages: the woman Brian Flynn once loved, a former terrorist turned peace activist. Among his enemies: an Irish-American police lieutenant fighting against a traitor inside his own ranks and a shadowy British intelligence officer pursuing his own cynical, bloody plan. The cops face a booby-trapped, perfectly laid out killing zone inside the church. The hostages face death. Flynn faces his own demons, in an electrifying duel of nerves, honor, and betrayal...."

I have never entered St. Patrick's Cathedral since reading this book without thinking.....what if?

In July I read:
The Hunger Gamesby Suzanne Collins

Something Borrowed Emily Giffin

Something Blue by [author:Emily Giffin
Dead Man's Folly:|16329] by Agatha Christie