pontalba

Metairie is the city, actually a suburb of New Orleans. It is in the adjoining (Jefferson) Parish. We made a little trip over the lake today, down to the above mentioned Metairie. Two Estate Sales, and we hit the Mother Lode in books. A Christmas Carol & two other Christmas Books by Charles Dickens (an absolutely adorable teeny book from the Collector's Library) Rumpole A La Carte by John Mortimer William Wallace The King's Enemy by D.J. Gray Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susanl Vreeland Alexander The Ends of the Earth by Valerio Massimo Manfredi The Elements of Murder, A History of Poison by John Emsley Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann (A Shepherd is murdered, and his flock of sheep detect his murderer) The Winemaker by Noah Gordon Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver The Oxford Book of Detective Stories edited by Patricia Craig The Origin by Irving Stone (Life of Charles Darwin) Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir Dictionary of Narratology by Gerald Prince The Grave Digger by Peter Grandbois Gabriel Garcia Marquez Collected Stories Alexander the Great by Norman F. Cantor The Daughters of Cain by Colin Dexter On the Trail of the Assassins, My Investigation and Prosecution of the Murder of President Kennedy by Jim Garrison Dearest Friend, A Life of Abigail Adams by Lynne Withey The Heaven Tree Trilogy by Edith Pargeter Mary Chestnut's Civil War edited by C. Vann Woodward (winner of the 1982 Pulitzer Prize in History) (that's the American Civil War, 1861-1865) Tales From Chaucer ( A lovely, very old, old copy) Also, from Amazon: S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst....ya hafta see this to believe it!! It comes in it's own shrink wrapped slip case, and has all sorts of stuff inside the book....postcards, newspaper clippings etc. Amazing!! http://www.amazon.com/S-J-Abrams/dp/0316201642/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385170009&sr=1-1&keywords=s+jj+abrams The Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy (A Novel in Dramatic Form) The Stonemason by Cormac McCarthy (A Play in Five Acts) Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay Red Country by Joe Abercrombie For the books from the Estate Sale above, they only charged 5 USD. Yup, Five Dollars. Phew!!

I'm not surprised to hear that. I know he is only playing a character on the TV series House, but the character is so out-of-control-awful that I can't stand the actor on account of it! Sheesh. The sarcasm in the book sounds as though it's reflective of his character on TV.

Whoops! Forgot to post that I'm still reading House of Sand and Fog....love it. Even though it is so intense, and the story is building to something b-a-d, I can only read 35-40 pages at the time. I think I'm about 140(ish) pages in.

Husband actually bought me one of the Winnie books, as I've never read any. It's sitting on my night stand. Unread. Yet. Loved. Loved. Loved. Black Beauty. Cried like a baby. Of course, I was a baby.....

Just thought I'd post this little local thing going on Sunday. http://www.poboyfest.com/

Hurrah for packages! Snow! I had to run the air conditioner yesterday! oy! Of course, I'll have to run the heater tonight.......up and down, up and down, till I'm dizzy! Answered many questions on my book thread. Lovely, re the coffee shop! Maybe you could start some sort of book exchange there? One of our local coffee shops does that.....they always have books on their shelves. I'm glad you are feeling so much better, and getting back into the swing of things. And...great reviews. Almost makes me want to read Shakespeare. heh

Love Patricia Highsmith, have you read the other Ripley books? We have The Original of Laura, and were frankly a bit disappointed. At least I was. I think Dmitri should have left well enough alone. This is fabulous!

~LOL re Blanche Devereaux! I really liked that show too. She was a great character. ~The basic story is that Blanche has left the plantation, as everyone else has died off and left a mountain of debt.....so the property was sold off for settlement of the debt. And, it is World War II for Streetcar Named Desire.......it was the American Civil War 1861-1865 for Gone With the Wind. Blanche has come to New Orleans, the nearest city to her old home, and it is where her sister Stella and Stella's newish husband, Stanley are living in an apartment in the French Quarter of New Orleans, or right near the Quarter at any rate. The play is the dynamic between the three of them, and one other male character, a possible suitor for Blanche. ~Yes, as LP pointed out, Bond is very, very British. He is an agent of MI6 (Britain's Secret Intelligence Service), which I suppose corresponds with the American CIA...IOW, it operates out of the country, not supposed to operate within the confines of their own country. I suppose the films are a bit Americanized, but they are made by Eon Productions, not sure where they are incorporated. I do know they use British workers. Because, in fact, I dated a guy that worked on the Bond picture that was partially made in New Orleans, back in the 1970's. He was from Yorkshire. ~Kramer Books is not part of a chain as far as I know. In fact however, there used to be two Kramer Book stores, unrelated in the Washington D.C. area. I only know this because Charles's company had an office in W.D.C. and he worked down (I say "down" because at that time Charles lived in New York City) there for quite a while. Of course he knew both Kramers! lol Regarding book store chains......Books-A-Million has cut back on their stores, and the local BAM has changed to a second hand book/DVD/CD/LP/gaming store. It is still owned by the BAM company though. Barnes & Noble is still going fairly strong, we have one in the town below the closest town to us. There is also a large one across the lake, in Metairie. Probably more in N.O., but I'm not familiar with them. Borders is the huge chain book store that has gone out of business, completely. Others I don't know about. ~YES! New OR-leans.... stressing on the OR. In fact, some slur it, coming out more like N'Awlins...heh Yes, a pet peeve. Oddly enough though the city (name) is pronounced in the above manner, the name of the Parish (we have Parishes instead of the American Counties*) IS pronounced New Or-LEANS. I've never met anyone that can explain that discrepancy. *First is the Country, divided into States, then the States divided into Counties or in Louisiana's case, Parishes.

I received a notification from Amazon today informing me that publication for the new book by Diana Gabaldon, Written In My Own Heart's Blood would again be delayed. I'd put the order in last June (2013) for the hardback, and the kindle copy. It was first due, I think to come out in Fall of this year. Maybe December.....it's been so long I've forgotten. So. Then it was put off till March of 2014. Now it's been put off until June(ish) of 2014. And, according to some of the comments, it may be put off again.....it seems to depend on the mini series being put out. I'm really confused. On her blog, DG said she had to make the book better. Well, earlier this year, it was put off, supposedly, on account of the mini series on Starz network. I'm so confused, that I'm disgusted. I cancelled both orders on Amazon. I may as well wait a few more years to buy it second hand. Pox on it! Anyhow, here is a link to her "explanation". piffle http://www.dianagabaldon.com/2013/11/publication-date-change-sorry-about-this/#comment-19889

I've started House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III.

Red Country is presently residing in my cart on Amazon...... I'll click tonight or tomorrow.

Happy news! Saw and responded over yonder.

Thanks Marie. He is the author of House of Sand and Fog.....which I think might be my next read. His father is a well known author as well, I have several of his books on the shelf.

Always a good thing.

Hmmm, I haven't read Northanger Abby, only P&P and S&S (I think). Tess is around here, and I'll put it in the closest stack. Hooray for ordering Lolita! I'll second frankie's remark regarding starting your reading thread. I'm sure it would be most interesting.

I don't think I've heard of Joe Abercrombie before, but he is on my list now! Great reviews.

Both excellent reviews, Kay! It's been ages and ages since I read War of the Worlds, and I've not ever heard of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. Have to look it up! Thanks.

Dirty Love by Andre Dubus III 5/5 Dubus brings us four novellas, Listen Carefully As Our Options Have Changed, Marla, The Bartender and the last, namesake of the group, Dirty Love. Each a snapshot of a segment of a person's life, a pivotal change of their lives. This is Life on the ground floor, told in a beautiful, stylized prose that keeps the reader enthralled, despite the ordinariness of the actual tale. Ordinary in the sense that it is at least part of what we all, as humans, go through in some manner in our lives. Choices, the path taken.....instead of, what? It sounds trite to say a door closes, a window opens, but that is the exact truth. These novellas tell of the doors that have closed on the protagonists, and the windows they escaped through. They tell of second chances, changed lives and even some true love. Dubus has a way of weaving a story. He tells pieces of reality at a time, goes back and forth in time, till we finally see the whole cloth of the story. And understand the choices that are made, sometimes applauding, and occasionally gritting our teeth at other choices. We certainly feel their pain, cringe at some episodes, wish we could take them by the scruff of the neck and force them to face themselves. But, there is a finality of the choices, and just maybe another window at the end of the tunnel. Exceptional. Heart-breaking. Real. Highly recommended.

LOL I guess part of it may be that I grew up in the City, and was taught at a young age not to trust strangers. I think it's wonderful that a smaller town has that vibe of trustworthiness.

Dex, I think there is a misunderstanding. In the other thread I said regarding Defiance, and You'd mentioned how good the actors....I was agreeing.

Since many are totting up their book counts for the year, I will as well. My master list is the first post of this thread. I stand at 82 books as of today. I don't set that sort of goal for myself, as one never knows, and I just don't have that drive to do so. I admire those that are able to plan and organize though, and applaud them! Last year I only read 64 books, don't know why the difference, and 92 in 2011. hmmmmmm.

I used to not be able to give up on a book, once started. I finally concluded, for me at least, that I was wasting valuable reading time. Life is just too short.

My Aunt used to be the designated driver as she didn't drink, so when she and her friends went out she was the sober one. She always said she had more fun than anyone, as she could watch the others and their silly antics. Great entertainment!

/cringing/ Julie. Giving money to strangers, homeless or not.......I hate to say this, but otoh, I must. That is an extremely dangerous thing to do. I, unequivocally agree with Hubster. First of all, you are letting a stranger know that you actually have cash in the house. A definite NO-NO. Second, you're (evidently) keeping them waiting at the door, closed or not, while you get said money. It would be too easy for them to push the door open, and then they are in, in private with you. They can do anything. Third. I know this sounds hard and mean. However, better that than having one's throat slit. I well know that many, maybe even half of the homeless people are just in a terrible dilemma, BUT a good number of the ones that are homeless are that way because of a drinking or drug problem. When someone is an alcoholic or drug addict, or even a mental instability. It affects their behavior, and they cannot be trusted to act in a rational manner. The money that is given to them either goes up their nose, in their veins, or if alcohol, down their throat. Enabling them doesn't help anyone, much less the addict themselves. Please, please be more careful. I'm sorry if I am overstepping, but I just cannot let this go by without expressing my opinion.

Had some Moscato white wine earlier, and just now a bit of Nocello. Yum.