|
| Author |
Message |
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Friday, January 02, 2026 - 1:39 pm 
I gave 2 books for Christmas present to my boss's wife.
She called me today to tell me she really liked John Grisham's The Widow. She said it started out slow but then it got really good. She said it's probably one of the best he's written in years.
The other one I got her was Before the Swallows Come Back by Fiona Curnow. A book reviewer recommended that one on a Sunday News show. He said if you liked When The Crawdads Sing, you would like this book.
My boss's wife said she just started it and she is enjoying the writing, and that she's going to get the author's other books from the library.
Just thought I'd share if anyone is looking for a new book.
But I really came in to tell Uncle Ricky Congrats on getting your house back, and I wish you good luck on finding a new job (if you really want one.  )
|
Jimmer
Board Administrator
08-29-2000
| Friday, January 02, 2026 - 2:05 pm
Interesting she liked John Grisham's. I'll add that to my list. I generally enjoy his writing but I usually find he has trouble sticking the landing at the end. It like he just says to himself, "I made the word count. Better wrap this up!" 
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Friday, January 02, 2026 - 7:06 pm
Thank you Mamie, dear -- if it hadn't been for you, I never would've known anything about Taylor Jenkins Reid and thanks to you, I've read all of her books. I loved Atmosphere, too - so gripping!
Thanks so much, Grooch! I'm going to give it until the end of June. If I've not found anything by then, I will hang my "Retired" shingle outside my door. It'll feel weird, though. Like anything else, I expect to get used to it.
|
Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Friday, January 02, 2026 - 8:02 pm
Mamie is one of the strongest glues of our TVCH community, and I am thankful for knowing her.
Well, and, of course all of the remaining rest of us.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Saturday, January 03, 2026 - 12:07 pm
Oh Juju, I love you and thanks for making me cry this afternoon.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-21-2001
| Saturday, January 03, 2026 - 1:47 pm
**Waves wildly to Ric** I love seeing your book posts! I've added a number of them to my TBR. Good luck with both the job hunt and getting the family moved to their own space. I hope 2026 treats you more kindly!
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Saturday, January 03, 2026 - 2:16 pm
Thank you so much, Teach! You and Mamie are such titans of the total-books-read pantheon — all I can do is aspire to reach the general vicinity of your slipstream! 😛
|
Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Saturday, January 03, 2026 - 7:06 pm
🫂 So sorry about the layoff Uncle_Ricky. Hope something wonderful turns up soon. Perhaps part-time, at least.
Big yay for getting your privacy back imminently.
Been reading mostly Memoirs and listening to audiobooks of Memoirs. Annoyed at myself for accessing them on my smartphone, while I have about 2 dozen dead tree books in a pile awaiting my attention.
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Sunday, January 04, 2026 - 12:58 pm
Mame, dahlink! Thank you for your kind and dear encouragement. With each passing day, I feel myself leaning toward retirement -- it still feels bizarre to not start each day doing work stuff.
I love memoirs! The one that my old buddy Cameron Crowe released this past October (The Uncool) is absolutely delicious. I knew it would be a great read, but I was overwhelmed by how beautifully he presented his life story -- so personal, warm, vulnerable and deeply moving and inviting. I guarantee you will love it.
|
Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Sunday, January 04, 2026 - 1:40 pm
Uncle Ricky, if you feel weird not doing work stuff, you can always do volunteer work a few days a week. I'm sure somebody would happily snatch you up with your qualifications. And it would get you out of the house, meet new people and come home with new stories to tell.
Or not. 
|
Juju2bigdog
Member
10-26-2000
| Sunday, January 04, 2026 - 9:12 pm
quote:With each passing day, I feel myself leaning toward retirement -- it still feels bizarre to not start each day doing work stuff.
Oh, Honey, you have NO idea (about retirement). I have been retired the entire time I have been at TVClubhouse (I retired at age 52 with a full pension and benefits, so why not?) And I had sort of just gotten our first computer AND internet access, and I had been on some AOL group chat thingie, where I heard about this Big Brother experimental television show, and thought, why not take a look at that? And so I found out where to watch the show, and figured out how to access AOL chats, and they turned vile, and people were saying go the BigBrotherFanclub, and so I figured out how to do that, and the rest is history, and here I am still alive 25 years later.
NONE of us here need to worry about figuring out what to do when we retire. Just do something you love or might love and see what sticks.
I was going to see every Academy Awards nominated movie at a minimum. Not sure I have seen ANY in the past 26 years. But we have now been to all 7 continents and more than 100 countries of the world without ever having intended to do so.
So, Uncle Ricky, IF you can afford to do so, retire, and leap into the abyss, because we all took a leap into Tvclubhouse, and many of us landed butter side up.
And even those of us who didn't land butter side up and who have gone before had a rollicking intellectual good time finding unexpected friends here.
Safe travels, kids.
|
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Monday, January 05, 2026 - 10:29 am
Ric, I am with Juju. Retirement is great! You can do whatever you want whenever you want. Even more reading, if you like!
I have Cameron's book to read but haven't gotten to it yet.
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, January 05, 2026 - 10:53 am
Thank you Grooch, and thank you, Juju, for your kind and caring advice — I’m grateful for your feedback. I will likely volunteer once these first 6 months of 2026 pass, especially if I’ve not gotten any bites (I apply for jobs every day of the week). I’m trying to be optimistic (not one of my strong suits).
And though we can probably afford for me to retire, I’m deathly afraid of running out of money, but that’s because I grew up poor (just my mom and me) and the struggles of having enough money to live is still a vivid memory even after all these decades.
I think that as I get more comfortable with not working, it should get easier for me to relax. We paid off our mortgage last month, so that’s a comfort. Other than utilities, homeowners and auto insurance, and property taxes, we don’t have any other pressing obligations. I borrow all my books from the library — reading is thus cost-free. 😛 That’s my biggest luxury. I don’t think we will ever travel anywhere for pleasure — we did plenty of that when we were younger. Learning to relax is my main objective, then. And, finally, considering that I’ve worked at a job that deducted income tax since I was 16 years old, that means 51 of my 67 years have been spent working — that’s a huge imbalance that definitely feels like it needs adjusting to add more leisure years to the years-lived ledger!
P.S. Mamie, I read your post after I posted mine — thank you for your retirement advocacy, as well. You will love Cameron’s book — I’ll be SHOCKED if you don’t!
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Thursday, January 08, 2026 - 9:27 am
I read Before the Swallows Come Back a couple of months ago. It was pretty good as I remember. Finished "The Writer" by Valerie Keogh. It was okay. Kind of twisty.
|
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, January 16, 2026 - 12:23 pm
Finished "The Shack" by Wm. Paul Young. It's written like it's a true story and the man meets God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
|
Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Friday, January 16, 2026 - 5:29 pm
I'm just popping in to offer a quick handful of recent reads.
The Endurance Artist: Lazarus Lake, the Barkley & a Race with No End by Jared Beasley. This book has a very niche audience, so unless you have experience in long-distance running (or have an LDR aficionado in your family), this book is not for you. For the rest of the LDR crowd, it's one of the finest books ever written about the sport. Lazarus Lake is a legendary race director and this is a nicely researched biography of his life.
Two Kinds of Stranger by Steve Cavanagh. I splurged and bought my copy from Amazon in the UK (the U.S. edition doesn't come out until March). This is the 9th Eddie Flynn book and it's absolutely sensational and is probably Cavanagh's most ambitious story to date. I loved every page.
Who Knew by Barry Diller. This is a powerful memoir by one of the most powerful executives in the history of the entertainment business. He benefited from a huge array of lucky breaks along the way and he describes each one quite eloquently.
The Creep by Jeffrey Frank. I found this at the library and it looked interesting. Alas, it wasn't. Avoid it!
|
|
|
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page