muggle not

You all have convinced me to give I Am Legend a try. I will check to see if our library has a copy.

Off the top of my head, some of the best that I have read in 2007 in no particular order: The Road by Cormac McCarthy Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck (re-read) The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett

It was very good. We really enjoyed it. I had a bottle of beer with dinner.

No Country For Old Men has been nominated for Best Picture of the Year by the Motion Picture Academy. It stars Tommy Lee Jones. The movie is currently playing at the movies and has been for some time now.

I just finished readin "Suttree" by Cormac McCarthy. A great piece of writing. His descriptions and insight into the people are amazing.

Cabbage and noodles and smoked pork chops. Perhaps a glass or two of Vinho Verde, or maybe a beer.

bagel queen, someone asked but I will ask again. Give us an idea of who your favorite authors are.

OMG, it was great. It is more an after dinner drink because it is sweet but oh so smooth. I am not a fan of sweet wines but their homemade wines including the Ice Wine are so good.

My niece and her husband purchased the the frozen grapes (juice) when they made the Ice Wine. They were expensive to purchase. I have priced some Ice Wine made in Canada and it is too expensive for me. This is a good article on the Ice Wines: http://www.winesofcanada.com/icewine.html

I posted the above in the wrong topic, I meant to post it here.

hehe, I had to go to Wikipedia to look up and find out what in the world "Bubble and Squeak" was. LOL, who said an old man can't learn anything new.

My Uncle passed away last week and we attended the funeral last Saturday. We drove 1003 miles up and back to attend the funeral. The evening before the funeral we had dinner at my niece's house with her and her husband. They treated us to some of their homemade wine. We opened a bottle each of a Dandelion and an Ice Wine. I want to tell you it was smooth as all get out and is an excellent after dinner drink....awesome in fact. The alcohol content is probably between 15 and 17%. They gave me a bottle of their Dandelion and another of the Elderberry Blossom wine to bring home with us. They showed me their wine cellar where they have around 400 bottles total of their homemade wine. I would love to have a bottle of the Strawberry Dandelion and hope to get a bottle of it this summer when we visit. I made a list of all the different wines they have made. These are the homemade wines they have in their cellar: Grove Chapel Wines Ice Wine Dandelion Strawberry Dandelion Raspberry Blueberry Rasp Blue Berry Blackberry Blackberry Isabella Isabella Peach Pear Watermelon Elderberry Elderberry Blossom Strawberry Rhubarb Mixed Black Pomodoro Chablis Chenin Blanc Barbera Merlot Niagara Concord A Little Of Everything I scanned an image of the label from one of my bottles. it was kinda hard to scan from a bottle......LOL.

So that I don't mislead, "Wish You Well" by David Baldacci is a very good story and enjoyable reading. However, please do not compare it to The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck, which is a piece of literature that will live forever. I do wish that I could get at least one other forum member to read it. any takers??

I could almost guarantee that you will like the book. I may go back and read it again, oops forgot, I gave the book to my granddaughter. The book will make you laugh, cry, and feel good during the reading. I really wish that more members would read "Wish You Well", only because I think you would enjoy the book.

If you can find them try one of the white wines from Spain, specifically : Nora.............or.............Las Brisas http://winelibrary.com/reviewwine.asp?item=1261 http://www.funwithwine.com/letter.asp?HeaderID=13 We enjoy those 2 wines very much.

One of Baldacci's books that I enjoyed tremendously was "Wish You Well", another non-mystery book. I recommend it highly, although it may not be for everyone, only those that do not mind shedding a tear now and then. A delightful book. From Amazon: The year is 1940. After a car accident kills 12-year-old Lou's and 7-year-old Oz's father and leaves their mother Amanda in a catatonic trance, the children find themselves sent from New York City to their great-grandmother Louisa's farm in Virginia. Louisa's hardscrabble existence comes as a profound shock to precocious Lou and her shy brother. Still struggling to absorb their abandonment, they enter gamely into a life that tests them at every turn--and offers unimaginable rewards. For Lou, who dreams of following in her father's literary footsteps, the misty, craggy Appalachians and the equally rugged individuals who make the mountains their home quickly become invested with an almost mythic significance: They took metal cups from nails on the wall and dipped them in the water, and then sat outside and drank. Louisa picked up the green leaves of a mountain spurge growing next to the springhouse, which revealed beautiful purple blossoms completely hidden underneath. "One of God's little secrets," she explained. Lou sat there, cup cradled between her dimpled knees, watching and listening to her great-grandmother in the pleasant shade...

I read the book several years ago and from what I remember it was a readable story that I enjoyed and definitely fits in the mold of a Christmas Story that takes place on a Train. Trains in themselves are interesting. Changing the subject a little. One of my favorite Baldacci books is "Wish You Well"............. The year is 1940. After a car accident kills 12-year-old Lou's and 7-year-old Oz's father and leaves their mother Amanda in a catatonic trance, the children find themselves sent from New York City to their great-grandmother Louisa's farm in Virginia. Louisa's hardscrabble existence comes as a profound shock to precocious Lou and her shy brother. Still struggling to absorb their abandonment, they enter gamely into a life that tests them at every turn--and offers unimaginable rewards. For Lou, who dreams of following in her father's literary footsteps, the misty, craggy Appalachians and the equally rugged individuals who make the mountains their home quickly become invested with an almost mythic significance: They took metal cups from nails on the wall and dipped them in the water, and then sat outside and drank. Louisa picked up the green leaves of a mountain spurge growing next to the springhouse, which revealed beautiful purple blossoms completely hidden underneath. "One of God's little secrets," she explained. Lou sat there, cup cradled between her dimpled knees, watching and listening to her great-grandmother in the pleasant shade...

I would venture a guess that I probably read about 90% fiction and 10% non-fiction. My wife on the other hand probably reads about 50 to 60% percent fiction and the rest non-fiction, especially biographies.

We had the Trivento Chardonnay tonight. It was ok but I would not give it a rating above 86. I believe that the Trivento Malbec's and Shiraz wines are much, much better than the Chardonnay that we had.

We are going to have: oven fried chicken (absolutely wonderful recipe0 mashed potatoes w/ gravy string beans cornbread stuffing bottle of white wine.

LOL, did anyone notice the mistake the store made on my invoice when they made out the bill: $130 + $129 = $159 ........it should have been.......$259 It was one of the greatest bargains in wine purchase that I ever made for the greatest wine that I ever had.

I don't know. We are going to a Christmas get-together / wine tasting and what ever they have.

I kept the invoice for 2 of the cases. If you look closely you will find that I was going to buy a case of LaLagune and changed my mind. It turned out that LaLagune was one of the great wines of the Century. Even so, the Bon Pasteur and Branaire Ducru were also great wines. When I bought the wines it was as "Wine Futures" as the wine was still in the cask yet and had not been bottled. It was undoubtedly the best wine purchase I ever made.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22917625-2,00.html for more read. Author Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's By Alison Godfrey December 13, 2007 10:51am BEST-selling British author Terry Pratchett has a rare form of Alzheimer's. The 59-year-old writer, who has sold 55million books worldwide made the announcement on Discworld illustrator Paul Kidby's official website. Prachett told Britain's Mail on Sunday a month ago that he had been struggling with his hand-eye co-ordination and dexterity due to a a series of strokes. But further tests had since revealed the famous fantasy author has early onset Alzheimer's. Prachett said he decided to disclose the news because it would be unfair to hide it from his fans and colleagues.

You are probably correct but I like reading them in sequence as it gives you a complete picture of what the author is trying to accomplish.