pontalba Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 Why does Havana Nocturne not have a rating? Shame it wasn't so great though. Shame Damage wasn't that good. I'm glad you enjoyed The Return . Whoops, somehow I forgot...../brain freeze/ I rated it 3/5. The content was interesting, but I felt that English drew it out too much. Way too much. lol Yeah, Francis (the son) just doesn't seem to have the knack of truly personalizing his characters. They remain a little cardboard. I've had The Return on my tbr pile for ages, glad you liked it. Thanks, I really enjoy that series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 (edited) The Return does sound good. It reminds me a little of The Daughter of Time, where an Inspector in hospital `solves` the murder of Richard III`s nephews. Edited September 9, 2016 by Little Pixie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 10, 2016 Author Share Posted September 10, 2016 The Return does sound good. It reminds me a little of The Daughter of Time, where an Inspector in hospital `solves` the murder of Richard III`s nephews. In a sense, yes. VV is solving two cases in this entry. This is a case of a convicted murderer is murdered upon his release from prison. But is he guilty? So the previous case is 25 years old, and the recent only very recent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 1, 2016 Author Share Posted October 1, 2016 (edited) I haven't been reading much, at least not as much as I'd like. Only finished two books in September, Special Deliverance by Clifford D. Simak 3/5 Way Station by Clifford D. Simak 2.5/5 And sorry to say not terribly impressed with either of them. I know he is considered to be "classic", and ahead of his time, but his dry approach is just not very appealing to me. Right now I'm reading The Long Surrender by Burke Davis. It covers the drawn out surrender of the South in the American Civil War. Its on kindle and I'm about 30% through it. I've also picked up Woman With Birthmark by Hakan Nesser. It's the next on in the Van Veeteren detective stories. About halfway through that one. Edited October 1, 2016 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 It's good to see you! You haven't been here for awhile! How is The Long Surrender? Is it fiction or non? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Hi Kate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 1, 2016 Author Share Posted October 1, 2016 It's good to see you! You haven't been here for awhile! How is The Long Surrender? Is it fiction or non? Thanks. Yeah, I've been more off line than on lately. One thing after the other. Husband had a brief hospital stay, but is doing much better now. Internet problems...connecting. That seems to be fixed for now. /fingers crossed/ The Long Surrender is non-fiction, but the writing style is very flowing and easily digested. Slightly repetitive, but most like this are to some extent. I love the way the book gets into personalities and how they meld, or not as the case may be. Hi Kate. Hiya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Oh ! Sorry that your hubby and computer have been poorly. :hugs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Oh no! I hope he's ok now I'm going to have to get the sample of The Long Surrender. I went through a Civil War period and loved studying it. Read lots of good stuff! On another note, have you seen any of the previews for (the remake of) The Magnificent Seven?? Went to see it Friday and loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 Thanks. Yeah, I've been more off line than on lately. One thing after the other. Husband had a brief hospital stay, but is doing much better now. Internet problems...connecting. That seems to be fixed for now. /fingers crossed/ Good to 'see' you ! Shame the Clifford D. Simak books were disappointing. Maybe his work isn't for you. I hope your next reads will be more enjoyable. I'm glad your husband is doing much better now . hug to you both. Sorry to hear about the internet problems . I hope it's fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 6, 2016 Author Share Posted October 6, 2016 Thanks guys, he is lots better. Have follow up appointment in a week or so. Internet prob fixed! Anna, I've seen the reviews of the new 7. I'm just not interested. The original American version can't be beaten IMO. Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen (the King of Cool), Robert Vaughn, Eli Wallace......Charlie Bronson. All icons for me...my generation I'd wager. Nah...can't mess with perfection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 I hope the follow up appointment will confirm he's doing a lot better . I hope the internet is fixed . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Love to you both Pont, haven't caught up with you in so long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Thanks guys, he is lots better. Have follow up appointment in a week or so. Internet prob fixed! Anna, I've seen the reviews of the new 7. I'm just not interested. The original American version can't be beaten IMO. Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen (the King of Cool), Robert Vaughn, Eli Wallace......Charlie Bronson. All icons for me...my generation I'd wager. Nah...can't mess with perfection. Impossible to beat the original. I can watch it over and over. Gosh, what stars they were even though they were a little before my time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 9, 2016 Author Share Posted October 9, 2016 I hope the follow up appointment will confirm he's doing a lot better .I hope the internet is fixed . . It is, thanks. I haven't been online that much lately. I'm up to my ears in a clean out of a junk room. Bags and bags of throwaway, and more bags going to Good Will. Love to you both Pont, haven't caught up with you in so long Back at ya, Bron! I rarely go on facebook, and not as much online lately ^^^^^^^. Impossible to beat the original. I can watch it over and over. Gosh, what stars they were even though they were a little before my time. I believe Steve McQueen gave me my love of chase scenes. The Mustang scene in Bullitt and the motorcycle scene in The Great Escape. Wow!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Ya, I was SUPER excited to see the original. My mom was too, being that she liked Bronson, Yul, Robert Vaughan. I've always had a thing for Steve McQueen. The new one was just so good, I couldn't wait to see how it was done originally (actually, the story is derived from a Japanese movie, The Seven Samurai). We rented it on the Amazon Stick and we couldn't believe how boring it was! . No offense lol I just realized how bad that could've sounded . But really, you should give the new one a shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 . It is, thanks. I haven't been online that much lately. I'm up to my ears in a clean out of a junk room. Bags and bags of throwaway, and more bags going to Good Will. Good luck with all the cleaning up! It's not spring cleaning, but autumn cleaning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Ruth Bader Ginsburg just released a book and she had Vladimir Nabokov as a European literature professor at Cornell University . Have you heard that before, that he was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 12, 2016 Author Share Posted October 12, 2016 (edited) Ya, I was SUPER excited to see the original. My mom was too, being that she liked Bronson, Yul, Robert Vaughan. I've always had a thing for Steve McQueen. The new one was just so good, I couldn't wait to see how it was done originally (actually, the story is derived from a Japanese movie, The Seven Samurai). We rented it on the Amazon Stick and we couldn't believe how boring it was! . No offense lol I just realized how bad that could've sounded . But really, you should give the new one a shot Hmmm, sorry to hear the original Japanese film was a no-go. Ratz! I've always wondered about it, thinking that someday I'd see it.......wait a mo...do you mean the Japanese one or the first American version.....?? Good luck with all the cleaning up! It's not spring cleaning, but autumn cleaning! Thanks! I'm making good progress. I'm making one room a sort of walk-in closet/storage area. I didn't realize how many purses I have! Oi. But I'm bringing two more bags to Good Will (like a charity shop) later today. And I have put out many bags of junk/trash/unusable stuff. There is a huge antique armoire in the room, and to move it it needs to be taken apart.....I just want it on the other side of the room I'm emptying, but it's way too big and heavy to move whole. It's about 9 feet high and at least 6 feet wide, very plain mahogany wood. But the really cool thing about it (to me) is the patch on the door. There was a Civil War bullet hole there at one time. It belonged to my Great-great grandmother. Ruth Bader Ginsburg just released a book and she had Vladimir Nabokov as a European literature professor at Cornell University . Have you heard that before, that he was? NO! I love it! I knew, of course, he was at Cornell, but not that she coincided! Thanks for that lovely piece of info! I have one of (about her) her books, not that one though. Edited October 12, 2016 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Thanks! I'm making good progress. I'm making one room a sort of walk-in closet/storage area. I didn't realize how many purses I have! Oi. But I'm bringing two more bags to Good Will (like a charity shop) later today. And I have put out many bags of junk/trash/unusable stuff. There is a huge antique armoire in the room, and to move it it needs to be taken apart.....I just want it on the other side of the room I'm emptying, but it's way too big and heavy to move whole. It's about 9 feet high and at least 6 feet wide, very plain mahogany wood. But the really cool thing about it (to me) is the patch on the door. There was a Civil War bullet hole there at one time. It belonged to my Great-great grandmother. Ooh ! Exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Thanks! I'm making good progress. I'm making one room a sort of walk-in closet/storage area. I didn't realize how many purses I have! Oi. But I'm bringing two more bags to Good Will (like a charity shop) later today. And I have put out many bags of junk/trash/unusable stuff. There is a huge antique armoire in the room, and to move it it needs to be taken apart.....I just want it on the other side of the room I'm emptying, but it's way too big and heavy to move whole. It's about 9 feet high and at least 6 feet wide, very plain mahogany wood. But the really cool thing about it (to me) is the patch on the door. There was a Civil War bullet hole there at one time. It belonged to my Great-great grandmother. Wow, a bullet hole! Well done on you doing lots of cleaning. I hope you can move the armoire somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 Thanks, guys. Its really fun and interesting going through some of the stuff. It can take me hours to go through a box of papers and "stuff". Last night I went through about 3/4ths of a medium sized box of papers. Great letters, some dating back to the early 1800's. But the really neat thing I found was some Confederate money. Just folded up in an envelope. Of course it's worthless now, but just the idea that it was printed during that War (1861-1865). To know that my great-great-great grand parents handled it. Old love letters, pictures. And about 4 dozen boxes of picture slides dating back to the 1950's. I do have a viewer, so at some point we'll be going through them. Anyhow, some reading has been going on. I've gotten about half way through Shaker by Scott Frank. Not sure I'll finish it though. The author is good, to a point, but his screenwriting background is not doing him any favors in this novel. I'm finding it disjointed and not terribly interesting. The characters are not given much depth, and I just plain don't care much what happens to them. Frank has adapted novels to film....Get shorty, Heaven's Prisoners, the latter a James Lee Burke novel that I've read and am a fan. Also he adapted a Lawrence Block book to film.....quite successfully....I've read that book and seen the film. Also have read the author's intro and the treatment of the Star Trek classic The City On the Edge of Forever. Harlan Ellison is a gifted science fiction writer, but the intro is an invective against Gene Roddenberry. Now, I know that unfair things happen in Hollywood and sometimes credit is not given where it is due, but the depth of Ellison's anger is just painful to read. I mostly don't blame him for venting his spleen against the whole Star Trek universe and Gene Roddenberry in particular, but wow. Just wow. He does have the paperwork to back his version of events, I have to say. The whole thing is just so bitter. His bitterness even extends to fans that prefer the final version that was put on TV of the piece. He says they ruined it and if fans prefer it to the original written version, his version......well, we just are blind and almost stupid. Sorry, I prefer the final screen version. Color me stupid. Not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 Wow, that's some really interesting stuff you have! I haven't seen The City On The Edge of Forever, but what a shame about the bitterness of Harlan Ellison. I mean, it also makes some sense (though obviously I don't know what's gone on), but to say fans are wrong to prefer the TV version, that goes a bit far for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 Thanks, guys. Its really fun and interesting going through some of the stuff. It can take me hours to go through a box of papers and "stuff". Last night I went through about 3/4ths of a medium sized box of papers. Great letters, some dating back to the early 1800's. But the really neat thing I found was some Confederate money. Just folded up in an envelope. Of course it's worthless now, but just the idea that it was printed during that War (1861-1865). To know that my great-great-great grand parents handled it. Old love letters, pictures. And about 4 dozen boxes of picture slides dating back to the 1950's. I do have a viewer, so at some point we'll be going through them. Have you thought of scanning everything and putting it up on Kindle ? I imagine that sort of stuff would be fascinating for historians. And us ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 Have you thought of scanning everything and putting it up on Kindle ? I imagine that sort of stuff would be fascinating for historians. And us ! Not on kindle, but if I ever get this printer/scanner working I can post pics here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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