Author |
Message |
Tabbyking
Member
03-11-2002
| Thursday, May 04, 2006 - 11:20 am
bharti kirchner??
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Hermione69
Member
07-24-2002
| Thursday, May 04, 2006 - 11:29 am
Wow, Tabby! Where are you finding these names? I've forwarded both names to the teacher to see if either rings a bell. Thank you! You're super!
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Tabbyking
Member
03-11-2002
| Friday, May 05, 2006 - 8:35 pm
wow, we hit the shingletown library for its monthly sale. we got 6 hardback novels (all 2004 or more recent) for $6.50; the lady was so shocked when i paid and then handed her an extra $20 bill. hey, that averages out to only $4.50 for each great book. works for me! i could not believe almost new books were going for a dollar or less each. about the names, i actually spent about half an hour looking for female indian writers, poetically influenced indian writers, and numerous other ideas. the first gal is the daughter of a famous indian writer (her mother) and she had fairly good success with her own first novel. the second gal worked for a large bank in california, then wrote cookbooks, then wrote 4 incredible novels. let me know if i am on the right track with either name!!
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Wendo
Member
08-07-2000
| Friday, May 05, 2006 - 8:52 pm
Ugh, I just can't force myself to finish Prep. What to do, what to do. I picked up Eugene O'neils, Long Days Journey Into Night. Saw a PBS special on him and was intrigued.
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Marysafan
Member
08-07-2000
| Saturday, May 06, 2006 - 5:18 am
Tabby....what books did you get for such a great bargain!
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Tabbyking
Member
03-11-2002
| Saturday, May 06, 2006 - 8:43 am
okay, i was off a little on the dates; some are prior to 2004, but 'new' to me, so it's okay! i got "seabiscuit" which i want to read because i was born in willits where he was taken to recuperate... 2 danielle steel books, mainly for my 18-year-old dd (but i'll read them, too, probably!) robin cook's "vector", john grisham's "king of torts" and another i can't recall right now. and they threw in 2 debbie macomber and lisa jackson paperbacks, A Good Yarn and Deep Freeze because even though they do loan paperbacks, they had duplicates of these two. i am happy as can be! the last 'sale' they held is where they had a box of 'free' books and i got my 1955 "marjorie morningstar" out of that box. this month, all books on cassettes were half-price, which meant only 25 cents per two cassettes! unfortunately, we were there the last day of the weekly sale this time, so the only ones they had left, i had already read or listened to. did i mention i love it up here!!!?
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Vee
Member
02-23-2004
| Saturday, May 06, 2006 - 8:49 am
(I loved reading Seabiscuit. Laura Hillenbrand is a very gifted writer...you know this when someone is writing non-fiction and it reads almost like a novel. Very entertainingly told!)
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Merrysea
Member
08-13-2004
| Saturday, May 06, 2006 - 11:01 am
Next week our library is having its semiannual "Bag of Books" sale. They give you a paper grocery bag, and you can fill it with as many books as you want, hardcover or paperback, for only $5 a bag. My middle son and I try not to miss it - it's a great way to buy books!
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Saturday, May 06, 2006 - 12:03 pm
That's a great deal, Merry.
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Marysafan
Member
08-07-2000
| Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 2:46 am
Great finds Tabby! I bought Debbie Macomber's A Good Yarn for my mother for Christmas...I hope it's good! I had never heard of her, but the book looked interesting. Well, sad to report my streak has come to an end. I just finished James Michener's "Journey" which turned out to be the most frustrating, maddening, and illogical book. It is all more frustrating because it comes from one of my favorite authors writing about one of my favorite countries. This book does neither of them any favors. "Journey" joins "Legacy" in the Michener's miss pile. I was going to tackle "Alaska" next, but am so disgusted with Mr. Michener right now, I'm putting it back on the shelf.
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Supergranny
Member
02-03-2005
| Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 12:06 pm
Marysafan...never fear..Alaska is pretty good!! I know what you mean about those clunkers of Micheners. Caravans was a waste for me...mindless soap-opera!!
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Beachcomber
Member
08-26-2003
| Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 3:00 pm
Mary Kay Andrews has given us another fabulous story in Savannah Breeze. The plot is fantastic and I love the characters. Great beach reading!
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Tabbyking
Member
03-11-2002
| Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 10:55 pm
ahmarys, michener's novels were either terrific or terribly boring! i remember the first book i read, 'hawaii', and it took pages and pages and pages to just get to where we had the damn islands! every couple of million years, the islands would be destroyed by volcanos and earthquakes and totally disappear. over the next million years, islands would thrust their way upward until they peaked above the ocean. then something catastrophic would obliterate everything...i was exhausted before we hit the 15th century!! what's funny is i loved the movie. so when i got the novel i was amazed; the movie ended when there was still half of the novel to go! at first, i wanted to quit reading, but once those damn islands were hanging in for a while and the missionaries began to arrive, i was hooked. i loved 'centennial' and 'alaska', but others i swear he didn't write himself!! i understand michener had many people working for him as historians and fact-finders; perhaps they were responsible for some of the slow parts in books that made me want to quit reading.
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Marysafan
Member
08-07-2000
| Monday, May 08, 2006 - 5:04 am
I loved Centennial and consider one of my favorites of all times. I really enjoyed Chesapeake, Poland, The Drifters, and Recessional. I considered myself a huge Michener fan and always listed him among my favorite authors. I have most of his books, the majority still waiting to be read when the time is right. Journey was a book that was made out of a section that was cut out of Alaska. I thought I would read it first...sort of an Alaska preview. If you've read Alaska then you might remember an Irishmen named Fogarty. Journey is the tale of how Fogarty got to Alaska. The last chapter of the book is Michener explaining how Journey came to be...which was an interesting read. The frustration of Journey comes from several different areas. Michener claims it is his homage to Canada. Well, for an homage, he doesn't have a whole lot of good things to say about it. Secondly, he doesn't do a very good job making a case for the reasons why Fogarty would leave his home to make this journey. Third, there is a disasterous decision made in the course of the journey that everyone knew was a bad decision. Not only is the journey allowed to continue on this path that is doomed...and this for me was the kicker...Michener never explains why this route was chosen in spite of everyone saying "Don't go that way." It just didn't make sense. Even if he would have given a poor excuse, that would have been better than no excuse at all. Unless I somehow overlooked the passage. I keept reading and turning pages, expecting some revelation as to why this ordeal was taking place...but nope. End of book, end of story, and no explanation what so ever. Fourth much of the behavior simply doesn't ring true. I guess maybe part of the blame lies with me. I expected so much more. It was a huge disappointment.
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Colordeagua
Member
10-25-2003
| Tuesday, May 09, 2006 - 2:46 pm
Has anyone read "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin? Non-fiction. From the cover, "One man's mission to fight terrorism and build nations...one school at a time." It's definitely not just dry political stuff. Partly adventure, etc.! As I was reading it, I thought MOVIE MOVIE MOVIE. That's the first time that ever happened while reading a book.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, May 09, 2006 - 3:28 pm
I've just started The Tavern On Maple Street by Sharon Owens. I love this series about Belfast. I also just finished reviewing a book called Reality Tv Bites by Shane Bolks. It was a really fun chick lit book. It comes out in July and I highly recommend it.
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Marysafan
Member
08-07-2000
| Tuesday, May 09, 2006 - 5:16 pm
A couple of years ago, I bought four books all with the word "Summer" in the title. "Firefly Summer" by Maeve Binchy, "Summer Sisters" by Judy Blume, "Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingslover, and "The Summerhouse" by Jude Deveraux. I must have been yearning for summer at the time. The first three were pretty good reads, so I decided to tackle the last of the group. I had never heard of Jude Deveraux so I didn't know. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! People who know know me well would giggle that I found myself deeply engrossed in this book. It's so not my kind of book. When I looked it up on Amazon.com there was this little blurb about "light time travel"...light time travel???? I don't do fantasy well, but I read the first couple of pages and I found I liked the writing and the characters so I decided to open my mind a little and allow some light time travel...in a "Peggy Sue Got Married" vein. BUT no one mentioned the dreaded R word!!!!! Don't folks know that I break out in a rash when I even get near the Romance section of a book store. I have been known to run screaming from garage sales with nothing but romance offerings. So how was I to know? Overall, the book was most enjoyable and delightful. I was even buying into the light time travel...but when I got to the pages where a stranger wakes up a woman by riding a horse up onto her porch...well, I almost strained my ocular muscles rolling my eyes. Other than that one section where the R word reigned supreme complete with a dark handsome stranger, a moonlit night, a flimsy nightie, and a horse!...the book was pretty good. Very well written. So if you like that sort of thing...I give it my highest recommendation. But if they ever make a movie about it...it'll be on the Lifetime channel. Consider yourself warned.
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Supergranny
Member
02-03-2005
| Tuesday, May 09, 2006 - 6:08 pm
Did anyone ever tell you that you are a hoot!! Keep it up...you are a bright spot here.
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Supergranny
Member
02-03-2005
| Sunday, May 14, 2006 - 10:47 am
I just finished Vanished by Karen Robards. It was an easy read...beach book...but I enjoyed it. Sometimes I just like books with no hidden meanings or symbolism.
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Cablejockey
Member
12-27-2001
| Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - 5:01 am
I've been reading two books by John MacLachlan Gray. The Fiend in Human and White Stone Day. Set in 1850s London we follow the exploits of investigative reporter Edmund Whitty thru the filth and poverty of everyday London. The author makes you feel like you are right there, which makes me appreaciate living in the here and now immensely. Anyone who likes historical fiction should enjoy these stories, and even those who dont. http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?isbn=0312282842
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - 6:13 am
I'm just starting Digging To America by Anne Tyler. I usually love her books so I am very hopeful.
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Wendo
Member
08-07-2000
| Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - 6:06 pm
So I finally finished Prep. Thank god. I can honestly say that it was one of the most unenjoyable novels I've read in quite a long time. I realize I'm in the minority considering it's numerous critical reviews and popularity. However, I just did not like it all; primarily I hated, HATED, the protaganist character. Perhaps the novel was too "literary" for my sensibilites? Maybe I'm too pedestrian? I dunno. The only one time I liked the book was when her father slapped the main character and proceeded to tell her how selfish and self-centered she was. I was like, FINALLY, a character articulates how I feel about Lee Fiora! Anyway. Glad I'm done reading THAT book. I plan to start Douglas Coupland's JPod: A Novel; I loved Microserfs so I'm looking forward to reading this.
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Bluejaxrock
Member
04-23-2004
| Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 6:34 pm
I'm currently reading Grisham's The Last Juror and have The Broker waiting in the wings. I just looked in my library bag, and laughed at the selection. Let's see, HP and the PoA; The South Beach Diet; Judgement of the Witch (McCammon); Breakfast at Tiffany's & 3 Other Short Stories; and 13 Seconds: a look back at the Kent State shootings. I finished 13 Seconds and needed something a little lighter (I lived it and by the end of the book I was getting all militant again, and against "THE MAN"...when I realized, now my generation is "THE MAN"...lol) so I went with Grisham. I have the HP 'cause every year I read the series through. Kinda like I have to do with GWTW. lol I'm going to drop a bug in my dh's ear about the HP Scene-It game...it sounds like just my thing.
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Supergranny
Member
02-03-2005
| Monday, May 22, 2006 - 8:57 am
Just finished Beach Road by James Patterson. It is a short read but very entertaining...and what a surprise ending!! Now I've started Gone an Alex Delaware novel by Jonathan Kellerman. I can always count on an good plot from him but in first part his little French Bulldog Spike dies. Too soon after loosing my frenchie Sophie my tear ducts haven't dried up yet. After watching Gray's Anatomy when they had to let Dog go...exactly the scene we went thru...too hard on this old lady!!
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Marysafan
Member
08-07-2000
| Monday, May 22, 2006 - 12:34 pm
I just finished Maeve Binchy's "The Lilac Bus". I had started it a couple of months back, but after reading the first chapter, I found I had no interest for these miserble folks on this bus. The concept still intrigued me however, so I decided to give it another go. It's a darn good thing I did! Maeve wrote this book in a very unique way. It is like eight different short stories where each person on the bus is the protagonist of their own story, with the thread of their aquaintance with one another woven through and tying them altogether. The first story was Nancy, and it is seen through Nancy's eyes. It turns out that Nancy is mousy, miserable, miser of a young women, so she has a very miserable viewpoint of everything around her. The rest of the stories were much better, and I was glad to be rid of her (me and everyone else on the bus apparently). The book that I have had a bonus section that included four more short stories called Dublin Four. All four were very good. It's now time for something entirely different. Sometimes I just get in a rut.
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