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Post by nondescript spice on Aug 13, 2014 12:32:06 GMT -5
cool. i'll look it up soon.
just finished olivia kitteridge by elizabeth strout. man, that was a good book. really liked it a lot. interesting way to put a story together, too. it's almost like a collection of short stories - it's about a small northern town, and each chapter is about a different resident or family. but the real story is about olivia - she's mentioned or in each chapter, even if if is just a passing reference. very good read.
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Post by Crowfan on Sept 3, 2014 15:58:14 GMT -5
Flight 232 by Laurence Gonzales
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Post by RedTom on Sept 4, 2014 4:00:44 GMT -5
RedWall by Brian Jaques
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Post by nondescript spice on Sept 4, 2014 12:35:57 GMT -5
i've had the unabridged journals of sylvia plath for a couple of weeks now, but i am returning it to the library today, unfinished. it's enormous and not the kind of book you can just run through quickly. i'm not sure why i got it - i've never been that interested in her - poetry is not really my thing, though i have always wanted to read her novel, the bell jar.
i think if syliva had just hung in there for a few more short years, she might have bypassed the whole suicide thing, if she could have made it to the sexual revelation. she wrote a lot about what it was like to be a good girl in the 1950's - she was just as horny as any teenager ever was, but knew society deemed she must be married before she could do anything about it. marriage to fellow poet ted hughes didn't solve her problems with depression - she had already made a suicide attempt before she met him. after two kids in a short amount of time, ted cheated on her and they were on the verge of divorce when she killed herself. the woman ted cheated with killed herself sometime after that, sticking her head in an oven like plath did.
but she was very intelligent - her style of writing in a journal was amazing, really. she described sunsets and twilights and activities very differently than most teenaged girls would in their journals. no - school sucked today and i have WAY too much homework again - damn, i wish i could give it up for this guy i'm dating - etc. it honestly read like an actual novel.
if anything, it made me feel better about my problem with over thinking. nobody could come close to sylvia plath on that.
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Post by Crowfan on Sept 8, 2014 17:49:54 GMT -5
Deadly Departure by Christine Negroni
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Post by zurk on Sept 12, 2014 21:08:25 GMT -5
Almost done with The Dragon Reborn, WoT Book 3.
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Post by Crowfan on Sept 13, 2014 6:08:38 GMT -5
The Dog Who Could Fly by Damien Lewis
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Post by RedTom on Sept 15, 2014 6:01:28 GMT -5
Gauntlgrym by RA Salvatore
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Post by nondescript spice on Sept 17, 2014 9:37:44 GMT -5
why won't people talk more about what they are reading?? just the title and author, title and author. did you like it? hate it? do you like that particular author, or was this the first book you've read by them? would you read more? it drives me crazy. it's like we're just trying to fill a quota. blah blah, by such and such blah blah, by such and such blah blah, by such and such
come on! share with the group for pete's sake.
that being said, i just finished paris in the 20th century by jules verne. i've always wanted to read one of his books, but i'm not a very science-fictiony person, so i didn't think i'd enjoy them. i might give around the world in 80 days a spin, though. i didn't realize paris in the 20th century was his "lost novel," not discovered until 1989. written in 1863-ish, it was set in paris in the future, 1960. verne had vision, for sure. he envisioned fax machines, gas fueled cars and electric chairs, not to mention a world almost completely run by an emotionless, faceless government. it's centered around michel dufrenoy, a young graduate who can't survive in the modern world. he's a poet, an artist and there is no place for that in paris in 1960. he fails at everything he tries to do to support himself. even the theater, which still exists under total government control, doesn't work out for him. one thing hasn't changed - falling in love, but michel has way too much stacked against him to make a success of even that.
though advances have been made in most everything, i was disappointed women still seemed to be stuck in 1863. when michel's beloved uncle tells him he will have to "work for two now" i realized women still were in the same place. but that's a small grudge to hold, really. otherwise, it was a really fascinating, sad read.
i liked this - in describing michel's graduation ceremony, talking about the crowds it said, it had taken one hundred and fifty years to acknowledge this truth, that in dealing with crowds, it is wiser to multiply exits than to limit them.
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Post by Crowfan on Sept 17, 2014 17:07:34 GMT -5
The Dog Who Could Fly was a fascinating true story about a Czech airman who escaped France and got to England and flew with his fellow Czechs. The dog, Antis, was their mascot. Antis actually flew missions, although it was kept secret since those in command were not always dog lovers, shall we say. I heard whispers that it may become a movie but I would highly recommend this book. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry.
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Post by milospinstripe on Sept 20, 2014 4:05:43 GMT -5
Currently reading North and South by John Jakes. I recognized the title and knew this was a pretty popular book, but I hadn't heard anything about it from anyone, never read any reviews or anything like that. All I knew was it was a Civil War epic.
First couple of pages and I am hooked. I'm about 3/4 through the first series of stories and I can't seem to put it down. Such a good story. That Cousin Charles is a hoot, definitely my favorite character thus far.
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Post by nondescript spice on Sept 20, 2014 12:40:27 GMT -5
looks like an interesting series - i love historical trilogies. i'm anxiously awaiting ken follett's last installment of his century trilogy, which involves families from all over the globe. it begins with the first world war, the second book was about wwII and this last one is about the cold war, the vietnam war, the assassination of jfk, civil rights, etc. follett is an amazing writer; i've read several of his books and they never disappoint me. in fact, his massive book the pillars of the earth is in my top five favorite books of all time. i bet crowfan has read north and south as well. that's right up crowfan's ally.
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Post by Crowfan on Sept 20, 2014 16:27:02 GMT -5
Yes, I've read North and South. I enjoyed it more than the mini series, which wasn't bad, but somehow I prefer the books because you can imagine the scenes in your head.
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Post by milospinstripe on Sept 20, 2014 23:59:57 GMT -5
Yes, I've read North and South. I enjoyed it more than the mini series, which wasn't bad, but somehow I prefer the books because you can imagine the scenes in your head. I agree about the imagining scenes in your head, that is the main draw of books to me when compared to movies or television series based on said books. I was completely unaware that there was even a mini series based on the books until I googled it a few days after I started reading. I was talking to my mother on the telephone and she asked me if I was reading anything at the moment, we are both big readers, and I told her about North and South, and she said she heard of it but never read it, as she isn't into the history stuff as much as I. When I discovered the existence of the mini series, I assume this is why she remembers the books even though she hasn't read them. The mini series is over 1000 minutes! I think I'll end of ordering the DVDs when I finish the book series because I need something new to watch and that ought to take up the better part of a year before I watch all that lol. The only problem I have is that I accidentally discovered a few spoilers from reading about the mini series and how many changes were made from the books, as is expected, but Elkanah Bent as a Southerner instead of a mid-Westerner?? That seems to me like a very huge change. Though I look forward to watching Patrick Swayze in his portrayal of Orry Main. Like you said, crowfan, you get an idea in your head as to what is taking place and to what the characters look like, and Patrick Swayze is the last person I had in mind while envisioning what Orry Main looked like lol.
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Post by milospinstripe on Sept 21, 2014 0:07:04 GMT -5
looks like an interesting series - i love historical trilogies. i'm anxiously awaiting ken follett's last installment of his century trilogy, which involves families from all over the globe. it begins with the first world war, the second book was about wwII and this last one is about the cold war, the vietnam war, the assassination of jfk, civil rights, etc. follett is an amazing writer; i've read several of his books and they never disappoint me. in fact, his massive book the pillars of the earth is in my top five favorite books of all time. i bet crowfan has read north and south as well. that's right up crowfan's ally. Same here on historical trilogies. Especially when they are written from the POV of characters all over the globe. This isn't exactly historical, more like alternate history, but have you ever read any Harry Turtledove? I wouldn't say he's groundbreaking in his writing but I can't help but love his "Worldwar" and "Colonization" book series. It's history and science fiction merged. An alien invasion in the middle of WWII and the aftermath of an uneasy stalemate between human and alien powers. It is written from the POV of families and characters all over the globe with different ambitions, nationalities, etc. and how they are coping with the war and the subsequent occupation. It's easy to read and very fascinating if you enjoy science fiction and 20th century history.
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