pontalba

Just finished Village of the Damned aka The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham 5/5 good stuff!

Great review BB. Wyndham is really terrific, yeah.

I really enjoyed Kraken a lot, and am very happy it was a choice to read......it made me get back to Wyndham again. I've meant to read more of him for years. I thought someone posted that not much was said about the couple themselves, can't find the post now. /sigh/ Anyhow. Their actions told a lot about them I thought. Mike and Phyllis, first of all were very much in love, and had seen each other through the loss of a baby. That they stuck together through that traumatic event says a lot right off the bat. When he was having nightmares after the taking of those people that they witnessed, the first time the tanks were seen, he did his best to keep it from her, so as not to worry Phyllis. I don't agree with that sort of secrecy, but it was done out of love. His nightmares were about her.....and her possible death/taking. They were able to allow each other to have their own careers, and intertwined them beautifully....that takes a lot of 'getting along'. Mike showed no jealousy when Phyllis worked her "magic" on various Navy and security guys to find out about the story. He was able to be secure in her loyalty to him. That is a good man. So, their love and loyalty for and to each other showed they were steady and sensible people that were able to deal with the horror of what was happening to the world they knew and grew up with. I just thought that Wyndham's characters remind me a great deal of the characters that Dick Francis created in his series of books. Stiff upper lip, steady, sensible but vulnerable and able to roll with the punches.

No, I don't know it. Is this it? http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Small-Place/dp/014200362X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382297888&sr=1-1&keywords=A+Short+History+of+a+Small+Place Looks very interesting. So funny! The cover shown on Amazon is the same color scheme/design that the old Half & Half Tobacco tins were like. My father rolled his own cigarettes....used Half & Half. Wow.

Thank you, all! I was knocked out when I opened the mailbox and there they were, filling the rather large, rural mailbox. Well, I must admit to stopping by B&N this afternoon. We managed only two books. Never Come Back by David Bell Others of My Kind by James Sallis Also, I added a few to my wish list on the iphone.

ARRRGGGGGG! You are right! Gad Zooks. Sorry 'bout that!

Good news!! /happy dance!/

Yippie!!!! The boxes of books arrived in today's mail! I can't believe it! We only mailed them from WDC Thursday morning....... :D The Kramer Books are: Dark Back of Time by Javier Marias When I was Mortal by Javier Marias Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett Priceless by Robert K. Wittman A Brief History of Thought by Luc Ferry The Obamians by James Mann Dusk by James Salter Cassada by James Salter

Great vids, Julie! :D

I forgot to mention I also finished All Souls by Javier Marias a definite 3.5/5.....bordering on 4/5 really. Marias, as always a slow moving, round about story of a man, a (single) Spanish professor, on loan to Oxford University. He chronicles his affair with a married woman that lasts most of his two year sojourn at the University. We hear all the juicy gossip of the professors, but told in a non-salacious manner. The interesting thing to me is that this character is the same one that comes to.......lets say a mystifying end in Marias's latest book, The Infatuations. Which I just happened to have read only last month. Synchronicity at it's best.

ROTFALOL! Good one, Julie. It's about the same here, we live 12 miles from the nearest small town, and about 50 miles as the crow flies from New Orleans. Of course, New Orleans has a large and invasive transit system. Busses and of course!, the streetcars downtown. Nothing up here, at all. No busses, no streetcars, nuttin' I tell ya! If you don't have a car, you are royally screwed. I'd love to live downtown in Washington D.C., or New York even. I love the idea of being able to walk anyplace I want to visit, or take reliable public transport. Just walk outside, and viola!, there is everything. Way too expensive though. I grew up in a suburb of New Orleans, and had the transit, and only had to walk two blocks to it. I hate being car dependent.

Wonderful news, Kell! Many congratulations to you and yours. Beautiful little fella!!

On our Library Thing account, I put the out of town books on a labeled shelf. I should write on the book itself though. Hmmmm..... We did have a great time. I was just thinking about the escalator that comes up out of the Metro at Dupont Circle....that's where Kramer Books is...the escalator is double the height of the others, and it's like emerging from the bowels of the earth. That day was beautiful sunshine, it makes an amazing experience!

Wonderful review, it is already in my shopping cart... Interesting. Great review....I think this one will also have to go in the cart. Yup, this one too! I've had this on the shelf for quite a while.....thanks for the encouraging review. Meant to ask, how do you like The Recognitions?

Great reviews, Janet. I'm particularly happy you enjoyed Night Circus. I have Cuckoo's Nest on the stack, and your review says about what I expected of it. Thanks.

My absolute favorite, and the most accurate rendition of the book, IMO, is the Timothy Dalton version. He is a fantastic actor, and brought off Rochester perfectly. The latest one was gorgeous, but soooooo incomplete! Half the story was missing, hence much of the motivation was gone. Hah, I have to laugh. We saw the latest Die Hard a while back, and yes, it is more or less as you say. However. I still loved it, the scenes of Helen Mirren shooting out of both car windows was absolutely priceless! And when she told the young spy to "show me what you can do...". I hadda love it! Anthony Hopkins character was well done also. Double-double!

I'm not sure, Julie. I believe it is only fiction, but I'll investigate. Well, back from our travels, tired, but happy. The train ride (25 hours) was tiring in a way, but very interesting. Lots of interesting people board and detraining.....families, couples and some singles. You see their baggage, and wonder what their story is. The State Dept Book sale was in full swing when we arrived there Saturday morning. Our train pulled into WDC about 7:30 a.m., and we'd checked into the hotel by 9:30 a.m. The hotel was incredibly nice, allowing us to check in that far ahead of official check in time. So we changed and showered and hoofed it over to the book sale. Good selection, I've posted that list above already. We also visited Kramer Books, a wonderful book store with a Café in the back with the most wonderful, mouth watering crab cakes I've ever tasted! /groan/ Wonderful! I'll list the Kramer books we bought as soon as they arrive here. We boxed and shipped them by Post Office (book rate). They should arrive next week. We were fortunate that the Phillips Museum was open, no shut down there, it's privately owned. The Van Gogh Collection had only just arrived a few days prior to our arriving in DC, and I can't begin to say how wonderful and absolutely gorgeous seeing his (own) replications and originals were. The differences in his portraits and scenes are amazing. We ate in great restaurants, and took the Metro almost everywhere. The Metro is a mind boggling experience to me, as, if here in N.O., we dig that deeply, we hit water! wow! When we returned, there were a few book deliveries waiting for us... That Awful Mess On the Via Merulana by Carlo Emilio Gadda Howard's End is on the Landing by Susan Hill Livia, First Lady of Imperial Rome by Anthony A. Barrett I managed some reading on the train, first I finished A Daughter of Warwick by Julie May Ruddock one of the many books on Anne Neville, Richard III's Queen. I suppose I'd give it a 4/5 rating. It kept me involved and filled in some holes in my knowledge. It presented Anne in a wonderfully loving relationship with Richard that dated back to their childhood. I thought it realistic, and jived with the Philippa Gregory novels I just finished a few months ago. I'm almost finished The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. I love it, I think more than The Kraken Wakes. It's on kindle and I'm about 80% finished. I just got too tired to finish. I also read several chapters of An American Spy by Olen Steinhauer.....picked up in the airport, whilst waiting for daughter to arrive in WDC. She stayed with us for 24 hours for a whirlwind visit. We both picked up a cold on the train ride home, but it's not too bad, so far.

The Crescent was great! Although we were about two and a half hours late arriving back in N.O., he backed up so much, I was afraid he'd back up to Slidell! heh There were several traffic delays on the way home, hence the late arrival. The trip was great. The staff on the trains was always helpful and kind. Yeah, the book sale was our first stop after arriving in D.C. Saturday morning. They were awfully nice. When we finished, they even had a guy manning a van for shuttle service to the nearest Metro. But! The driver wasn't that busy, and drove us back to the hotel. Really nice fellow. Typical diplomatic service fella. We figured it was a crap shoot as to whether the sale would be or not, but I couldn't find anything negative on their website, so figured it was ok. By then all the reservations were in place anyhow. Fortunately the Phillips was open, and the Van Gogh collection had just arrived. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful!!

Oh muggle!! OUCH! I'm so sorry that happened. Miserable feeling. I hope nothing was broken, and you're feeling much better now. Sending good vibes. Hey Elenora...sometimes waiting and being patient is all we can do. But I know it's horribly frustrating for you. I hope and pray something wonderful comes for all your good patience. Sending hugs and good vibes. Congratulations on your weight loss, Athena! Hope your hurts have healed somewhat by now. Very sorry to hear of your boyfriend's family problems, it's always family that hurts the most. gak. Hope his visit comes to pass, for both your sakes. June, I'm so happy you've found a new position! Talk about toxic! That place is it! Smaller, often times is much better, not all the bureaucracy of a huge conglomerate. Well, we are back in our little nest, north of New Orleans. Lots of walking, shopping and some museum looking was accomplished in WDC. Not to even mention book buying! Arrived home Thursday night, late.

Finished All Souls by Javier Marias. Will try to write a review when we return. Sorta started A Daughter of Warwick by J.M. Ruddock.

Thanks, Athena! Thanks muggle, we are. HAH! Lost cause, my friend! Reminds me of the saying.....How can you tell when a politician is lying? When his lips are moving.....

The Keene is both the literature, and short introductions to same. What makes it more interesting for us, is that Keene was Charles's professor at Columbia. Hah, anytime I start with my list, there is nothing on the list anyhow. So, I simply freestyle. More productive for me.

I wonder as well the kraken's motive for taking the people in that horrible manner. Fear mongering?? Dinner? Either way, yuck. I was trying to remember how Triffids ended...I think you may be right.

Beautiful Kay! What a great reading room.......even warm in the summer, the light must be perfect!

Here is the list (so far) from the WDC Book Fair. The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst The Tango Briefing by Adam Hall A Spy for Hannibal by Elisabith Roberts Craft J'accuse! by Andre Simone The Pentagon's New Map by Thomas P.M. Barnett Globel Disorder by Robert Harvey War In A Time of Peace by David Halberstam Raid! (The Untold Story of Patton's Secret Mission) by Richard Baron, Major Abe Baum, Richard Goldhurst On the Origins of War by Donald Kagan When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson Now & Then by William Corlett Anthology of Japanese Literature compiled and edited by Donald Keene Burr by Gore Vidal Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa Norwegen mit dem Postschiff Norwegian Grammer by Bjarne Berulfsen That is all for now.