| Author |
Message |
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Wednesday, May 16, 2018 - 9:49 am 
Oh, Mary, that is such an old line - I think I've been using it since the '70s - I stole it from some comedian, I'm sure. [For those who are wondering, in my Twitter review of Manhattan Beach, I wrote that the story had the pizzazz of a mashed-potato sandwich.]
I'm glad it provided some mirth. I've used it most often, over the years, to describe the personalities of a few of my co-workers. 
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, May 16, 2018 - 6:39 pm
Teach, I am curious if you watched the tv show Rise?
I thought of you at various times during the season since it dealt with high school, musicals, censorship, pta, etc...
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, May 16, 2018 - 7:31 pm
Not only haven't I watched it, I've never heard of it. Was it on a main station or cable?
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, May 16, 2018 - 7:42 pm
NBC.
The idiots cancelled it, but the finale just ran and so there is a season.
I think you would relate and critique on many aspects of it.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, May 16, 2018 - 7:45 pm
Sheesh.. Fox news announces the cancellation of "extremely liberal" show.
It was inclusive, for sure.
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Mak1
Member
08-11-2002
| Thursday, May 17, 2018 - 11:17 am
I'm reading The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin. I keep finding these interesting old books when I'm volunteering at the library.
Just before this, I read House Rules by Jodi Picoult. An 18-year-old young man with Asperger's is put on trial for the murder of his social skills tutor. Picoult can get a bit "preachy" at times, but it was an engrossing story.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Thursday, May 17, 2018 - 6:25 pm
I remember House Rules. I think Picoult is a bit hit and miss and seem to recall that one wasn't too bad.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Sunday, May 20, 2018 - 9:59 am
Do yourself a favor and avoid The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding. Trite, predictable, dull and a waste of time. It was a shame as some of her earlier books were good reads.
The Cutting Edge by Jeffery Deaver is another installment in the Lincoln Rhymes & Amelia Sachs series. It wasn't bad, I liked it a bit more than his last book. Other books in the series have been much better. I found it strange that one of the things that used to annoy me in previous books, pages showing the evidence boards, were not in this book and I wondered why.
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine. Although the novel was completely predictable and held no surprises or plot twists, I enjoyed reading it. I thought it was well written and the characters were fully developed.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Sunday, May 20, 2018 - 6:01 pm
I didn't realize that Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions by Russell Brand was 100% dedicated to his experiences working his 12-step program to overcome his alcoholism and drug addiction (among others). I saw it sitting on the shelf at the library and it looked interesting and I (erroneously) figured that he would talk about his career and his marriage to Katy Perry and "fun" stuff like that. Nope. All about the 12-step recovery program. Very, very detailed. I felt bad because I've not needed a 12-step program (knock on wood), so I wasn't able to appreciate the content as much as other readers, I'm sure.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Monday, May 21, 2018 - 8:49 am
I find the Lincoln Rhymes & Amelia Sachs series pretty dry. Despite that, I've read quite a few of them.
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Tresbien
Member
08-26-2002
| Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 2:53 pm
Thought some of you might want to watch PBS's The Great American Read which premieres tonight. I'd be interested to know how many of the 100 books each of you have read. I'm at 61. http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/home/
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 4:17 pm
That's a fabulous total! I'm very impressed (and envious) - I've only read 29.  I'm shocked, but thrilled, that A Prayer for Owen Meany made the cut - it really is Irving's masterpiece. I was also scandalized that they went with Dostoyevsky's Crime & Punishment over The Brothers Karamazov, which is his masterpiece as far as I'm concerned.
Thank you for alerting us to the show -- I have it all set up to record!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 6:51 pm
I have only read, for sure, 47, though maybe a few more.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 7:57 pm
I am quite surprised that I have read only 26 for certain. I will need to review the list again as I certainly sold and shelved most of these books during my bookstore years and many were made into movies. I need to recall if I read them, saw them, shelved them, sold them or whatever.
I am actually ashamed at my low tally, I thought I would have read at least half of them.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 10:37 pm
Well there are some I really never intended to read and feel no regret for not living up to someone's list.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Wednesday, May 23, 2018 - 8:24 am
It’s fun to look at these lists. Having glanced at it, there are some on there that I regret having read. 
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Mak1
Member
08-11-2002
| Wednesday, May 23, 2018 - 4:51 pm
I think I've read 32 on the list. If I can't remember anything about the book, does it still count? ha ha! I love Owen Meany and have not forgiven our library for culling it a couple years ago. I can get it on inter-library loan, but that isn't as satisfying as having it right there where I can pick it up any time I want.
Now I'm reading Traveling With Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor. They are both good writers and I enjoy reading the descriptions of the places they traveled.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, May 24, 2018 - 1:18 am
That was an interesting one, Mak.
Jimmer, me too, some regrets.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Thursday, May 24, 2018 - 10:10 am
I have read 48 and have a few on my TBR pile. Little Women would be number one for me. Always my favorite. It was the first book I ever got emotionally invested in and cried while reading. (Not the last)
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Thursday, May 24, 2018 - 10:34 am
I think I've read 25. I might have read Frankenstein in high school, but I can't remember, so I didn't count it. There were a few like that. Did I read the book or did I see the movie? Lol!
Of the ones I read, I think I'll pick The Stand as the best. Hard to choose.
What's everyone's favorite from the list?
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, May 24, 2018 - 12:43 pm
Without going back to the list, in recent years, I enjoyed the surprise of The Martian, which I just loved, and then of course the movie later.
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Tresbien
Member
08-26-2002
| Thursday, May 24, 2018 - 1:07 pm
Grooch, that is such a hard question to answer! One of my favorites on the list is Anne of Green Gables, and my favorite comic novel is A Confederacy of Dunces.
What most intrigued me about the list was that it contained several books I hadn't heard of at all. By the way, if you didn't watch the first episode and want to, it's on the PBS website.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Thursday, May 24, 2018 - 1:35 pm
If I had to choose from the list it would have to be Pride and Prejudice, which deserves to be there, of course, but it's not my favorite Austen (Mansfield Park is).
This morning I finished Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie, which was long-listed for the 2017 Booker Prize. A colleague at work raved about it, so I gave it a chance and enjoyed it quite a bit. Her writing style reminded me a little bit of my all-time favorite modern-day British writer (Anita Brookner), so I'm curious to see if her other books will remind me of Ms. Brookner, too.
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Saturday, May 26, 2018 - 1:12 pm
I've read 28 on the list. What the bleep is the Fifty Shades Trilogy (ugh) doing on there? Lol
I just saw a tweet that No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay is $1.99 on Kindle for the Memorial Day weekend. I picked it up... I sure hope I haven't already read it. I've done that before. 
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Saturday, May 26, 2018 - 1:30 pm
That’s a good one.
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