Anna Begins

Oh my Gosh- those flowers are gorgeous! Your OH takes beautiful photo's.

I just picked up Dystopia: A Collection of Early Dystopian Novels for $1.99 Includes The Time Machine by HG Wells Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson When the Sleeper Wakes by HG Wells Caesar's Column By Ignatius Donnelly Anthem by Ayn Rand (on my TBR list for this year) The Iron Heel by Jack London The Machine Stops by EM Forrester

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I really really hope so! Jack Reacher is my literary crush! I'm going to take a Jack Reacher breather and then see how I feel. New one is out in September and I stll have 3 more to get to that one. So I dunno... Speaking of Andre Norton, I can come up with two others that have strange name/controversies. Gertrude Stein writing The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas and Katherine Burdekin writing as a man, Murray Constantine because of her views.

I can just see you humming that while reading Different Seasons!

I am "settled" at the moment, cozy with Empress Orchid by Anchee Min (which is really fabulous btw. If you liked Pearl S Buck (Min was actually friends with Buck) or Wild Swans, definitely get a hold of this one. I imagine her others, by description are just as interesting; I got a bunch of her Kindle Samples last night. Also cruising along with Mr. Mercedes, 20% in. Both are so good, I have a hard time deciding which one to read. That sounds Awesome! When do you think you'll get to Mr Mercedes?

His book bio's are pretty generic. This is pretty interesting: Although he’d never lived in the U.S., Grant had visited frequently, had lapped up American TV, and had even married an American woman. “It was really a question of mimicking,” he says. “If you’re familiar with the rhythms and the word choices of the country and you can put them down on paper, it actually becomes their nationality.” ... Child aims to deliver a different American vision. When Reacher goes to Nebraska, as he did in Worth Dying For, Child borrows images from movies and TV shows — it’s a “Nebraska” of our collective imagination. As Child puts it, “If you stick to that mental image, everybody says, ‘That’s a well-researched book.’ If you actually supply the reality, people say, ‘The guy’s never been there.’” ... Child wrote another New York adventure, The Hard Way, in which he worked to nail the precise details of the city’s streets. “Then I read it through and thought, This is ridiculous.,” he says. “It looks like a MapQuest page on acid. So I thought, Sod it, I’ll make it wrong deliberately. You get down the West Side Highway, make a left onto Houston …”

SOOOOOOO much better. I read it 3 times!

Oh you poor thing! How long did you spend on it- how far did you get?

Was going through a tough time when I read Different Seasons. I just looked up Apt Pupil- how on earth could THAT story have slipped my mind, I am not sure! I am still wondering if I want to try the TV show, Under The Dome. My mom even wants to check it out and she totally isn't into that kind of theme. The book is sill on my TRB list, hopefully for this year. The year is flying by so fast!

True, true...

Enjoy! It was a great read... still on my mind too!

That is awful! I am so sorry! What a jerk. That is a great view, Julie, I will hang on to that, thanks.

I know. I feel stupid. But what can I feel??

Have you read Under The Dome? There is a new TV show remake of it- the first one was canceled because it was so bad- but I am attracted to the premise (of the book).

That is a cool article! I dunno who he is (google) but “misogynist tosh” is hilarious. Mine isn't nearly so serious, but really is to me. During A Wanted Man (my 15th Jack Reacher book) I found out Lee Child's pen name is Jim Grant and is a British author. I feel lost. I feel like Child (ahem! Grant ) has misrepresented himself and the Reacher books just don't hold much excitement as they used too. I don't even know if I will read the next one. Maybe. Of course. lol Many writers use aliases and I don't mind. But Child (Grant) knows so much about the US- population of any towns/ cities- down to the area codes and right down to which interstate to get from where to where, our military practices- and the history of our army... I dunno, it's just like he pretends to be American. I guess all that info is on the internet somewhere but I can't shake the feeling he is an imposter of some kind. I guess I just need to come to grips with it. But I am still hesitant to resume my love.

Good idea. I wonder what others have to say. Oh- the link didn't work for me... Athena- Orson Scott Card renounced his views in 2013 (convenient), if that makes you feel better However, if you google Orson Scott Card, you get "Orson Scott Card Homophobe" as a result lol

pontalba said this would make a good thread and this is an issue I am caught up in with one of my favorite authors, so I'm interested to read what you have to say. Did you ever find something out about an author that completely turned you off?

I bought it after reading the sample. Currently reading now.

My reason is different from yours- see my latest review if you want- but I don't know what I'd do if something like an ethical or moral issue came up. I think it would depend on the book itself (or movie). Darn, I wanted to read Ender's Game and Speaker For the Dead.

I am so not reading Midnight's Children! Seems like you've been reading it for- ever!

(3/5) Jack Reacher 17: A Wanted Man By Lee Child I'm a bit apprehensive reviewing this book. First of all, while reading this book, I found out Lee Child's pen name is Jim Grant and is a British author. I feel lost. I feel like Child (ahem! Grant ) has misrepresented himself and the Reacher books just don't hold much excitement as they used too. I don't even know if I will read the next one. Maybe. Of course. lol Many writers use aliases and I don't mind. But Child (Grant) knows so much about the US- population of any towns/ cities- down to the area codes and right down to which interstate to get from where to whrere, our military practices- and the history of our army... I dunno, it's just like he pretends to be American. I guess all that info is on the internet somewhere but I can't shake the feeling he is an imposter of some kind. I guess I just need to come to grips with it. Anyway, in A Wanted Man, we pick up where Worth Dying For ended. You still do not have to read these in order. With a broken nose that he set himself in Worth Dying For- and covered with a bandage made with silver duct tape- Reacher, as usual, is back on road hitchhiking, when he gets picked by two men and a woman. He can see some sort of discussion between the two males in the front seat and the woman in the back, but thinks they are just figuring out whether or not to pick him up or not. They do. And it's Reacher to the rescue again. There aren't any fight scenes or special characters in A Wanted Man, which was so so disappointing as the book didn't hold up so much without much action or supporting cast. After a drawn out ending that makes no sense and is completely unbelievable, A Wanted Man continues with Reacher still trying to get to Virginia (to say why is a spoiler). All in all,, it was ok. The actual plot was better than some (Looking at you Gone Tomorrow!). (3/5) It was just a normal read. Edited to add: I guess a lot of Amazon reviews agree.

I just started the Kindle sample last night, it's pretty good so far. And I was surprised to see it is only 450 pages! It's expensive.

Ever find something out about an author that completely turns you off?

A Moose!!! I love Mooses. Or Moose. Whatever. Hot here too, but that's not a big surprise. It's about the upper 80's to 90. Have fun in DC, outside of Netherlands, it's my favorite place I've ever been. I used to work there, in radio. All those hot Senator Assistants= yum lol j/k Will you have anytime to sightsee?