pontalba

In the Gerard Depardieu version of The Count of Monte Cristo, they pronounced 'Dan-tez'.

I quite like it. Yes, I am prejudiced. heh Two of my favorite cuties.

Oh, I like that cover!

Lucky thing the cat didn't climb your legs to get your attention! I know, I have cats! So, how are you enjoying your new kindle? One of ours is always nudging the book/kindle to get our attention. heh He'll try to knock it right our of our hands.

LOL Henry James may well go on my list, along with Edith Wharton......./sigh/ I just wish I could pinpoint the exact reason. /more sighing/ lol

I started with The Redbreast, I think it has some real turning points for the characters. I didn't know that at the time though.

I've never been able to put my finger on the why of disliking Steinbeck. I know he is popular, and considered a classic author. But every time I start one of his books, something about the syntax, or phrasing, or the way he approaches a subject just gets under my skin. Like fingernails on a chalk board. Ever hear that? /shiver/ Nope, haven't tried that one. 3 or 4 others though didn't work for me. I've determined I should try Grapes, due to your take on the ending, but not just yet.........

It is pretty, isn't it. Well, the book I'm reading now, By Blood, is extremely interesting. Told from the POV of a rather twisted and neurotic man. Oh, goodness Athena, all the nutty, idiomatic phrases in every language must drive others to the breaking point. lol I googled briefly, and came up with this. http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/ According to it, there are over 12,000 idiomatic expressions/phrases in the English language. YIKES!! No one could know a small percentage of them! Your English is fantastic, and always absolutely correct. I really admire your talent to be able to truly immerse yourself in a foreign language! Charles has a stack of books on this present, keyboard Kindle, so he'll have those for his Kindle Fire, plus he'll be able to access the Internet. Neither of us are into the games. They are handy to carry out with us, instead of a laptop. LOL Boy version? I took what they sent. I didn't actually choose. /giggling/ Good one!

Funny thing is, I usually enjoy those generational sorts, but EoE, just grated on me. I'll work up to GoW......

Ok, this time on our Gulf Coast excursion, the Bay Book Store WAS open! The damage was......not too bad, all of the following from the book store were second hand and only came to 22 USD. Dakota by Martha Grimes Left for Dead by Pete Nelson (it's the story of the USS Indianapolis, sunk in the Pacific July 30, 1945) God's Philosophers (How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science) by James Hannam The Norton Sampler by Thomas Cooley (short essays for composition) Life Class by Pat Barker (Booker Prize winner) The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell Then, lo and behold! delivered from Amazon today... The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker Dreamland by Kevin Baker} Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker} these are two of a trilogy that I already had one of) and......from Powell's City of Books..... The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman !!!! And the cover is....................

Re the tim-tams....it looks like you can purchase them through Amazon. However you can purchase directly from Australian Food Online, they ship worldwide, they say. Here is their link. http://www.aussiefoodshop.com/australian_food_home.html They look yummy!

Chrissy, your trip sounds absolutely fantastic!! Everything is so varied and interesting that you've listed. And phooey on the one in the Italian railway station. Although I have to admit the drive on the San Gotthard Pass sounds a bit scary. But fun! We made another road trip today to the Gulf Coast...I should take pics. Will next time, for sure! Visited our favorite book shop and had a delish salad lunch.

Oh, groaning, I have always disliked Steinbeck, intensely. I've tried several books, only completing East of Eden (by the hardest)* I don't know why, but he just sets my teeth on edge. BUT, y'all have me thinking about The Grapes of Wrath, especially your remark, Julie, about the ending. /martyred sigh? *another strange expression.....?

Oh, man, I used to use "in a coon's age", never had any repercussions from it though. Everyone down here knew what it meant. Everything is so bloody "PC" nowadays, it's annoying to say the least. Narrow minded, I call it. grrr Of course, it's all in the manner it's meant as well, it's true. /sigh/ LOL re chewing up books, haven't heard that one before. But I seem to go in fits and starts. Had a spell recently that I didn't pick up a book for 2 weeks or more. Wasn't the book I was in, just life having it's way with me. lol The last book was #68...but that doesn't touch Athena's total of 100 so far! I have a plain list of books read so far this year and ranking on the first page of this thread. In the second post, I have links to years past. LP, I quite like it as well. I have to laugh, just now Charles ordered his own Kindle Fire...and since we have 2 day shipping I asked if we'd get it on this Friday......first he told me no, it wouldn't get here till the 24th! But I calmed down when he said, whoops, no, we'd get it on Friday. /phew/ I then told him, 'good, I won't have to land on them like a duck on a June bug!'.......so, there is another strange expression.

Finished Death of an Englishman earlier today, ennh. Have started and am intrigued by By Blood by Ellen Ullman.

Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb (a tepid) 2.5.5 The first half of this Florence, Italy based mystery is rather slow and uninteresting. As it is a fairly short book, I persevered and was rewarded with a fast paced second half. Billed as "A Marshal Guarnaccio Investigation", the Marshal was pretty much AWOL till the last quarter, but was quite a character. It is hoped he is more predominately featured in the rest of the series. The title, Death of an Englishman pretty much tells it all, mysterious death, lots of suspects, stolen artwork, red herrings galore featured. The British police aka Scotland Yard are called in, and the obvious translation problems ensue. AWOL: Military term for Absent With Out Leave

That is wonderful Athena! 100 books read already! Good show.

Hot, black tea.

I'm reading Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb. Murder mystery set in Florence, Italy.

Whoops! Sorry about that Athena. Yes, itsmeagain, that is a correct interpretation. It used to be a pretty common expression here, and as itsmeagain says, it means verrryyyyyy slowly. Here is a kind of informative and a bit of an amusing link to explain. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/4052/

Oh boy. All fingers and toes crossed that husband gets that position!! Sorry about the migraine. I hate the time change. Fer crimminies sake, leave the danged time in one or the other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Athena, I'll def look into it, but when I feel a bit more energetic I think. lol I really would like to manage to have the lists on my machine. er, sometimes, at least.......the really odd thing is, sometimes when I check LT from the iphone, a book will not show up. But when I input it on LT, it might come up either duplicate, or "another version exists". The nice thing about LT is that is will show duplicates, with no extra stuff to post. Goodreads doesn't do that. I know Frankie found out that there is a way to post duplicates on GR, but honestly, it's a bit of a pain (for me), so I don't bother with that.

Dex and Athena, great pictures, excellent organization!

For some reason my reading has been slow as molasses in January. In no way is it the fault of The Infatuations. The only reason I didn't rate it a 5 star was because I kind of wanted 'one more twist' to the story. But it was excellent as it stands. The Infatuations by Javier Marias 4/5 Slow moving, tangential prose, somewhat Faulkneresque in it's style. However Faulkner, in his round-about gorgeous prose, describes that which is real. Marias, on the other hand, describes what might be, what could be, not necessarily what is in a plainer style. In The Infatuations, Marias describes where infatuations can lead us, to what lengths a person might go to in order to fulfill their desire. At heart a murder...mystery would be too strong a word. Let me call it a murder story. A young woman observes a married couple, obviously in love, having breakfast every morning in a local coffee house. One day the husband is senselessly murdered. Ostensibly a random, violent act. The young woman goes to the widow to offer her condolences, and is swept into an affair with a man she meets through the widow. Marias brings into play the questioning of what is justice, or what is the greater wrong, beautifully and with compassion. He plays with moral ambiguity, and carries it to the nth degree. If you have no patience for round about conversations, don't read this book. If, however, you love the exploration of "what if?", I recommend it to you.

It's been a long time, but yes, I've heard of it, even bought the book way back when. I didn't implement it however and don't remember that much about it. Did you try it? Ok, thanks. It is true, sugar is addictive. I used to take quite a lot of sugar in my tea and coffee, but over a few years slowly decreased the amounts. Now I take tea and coffee black. I rarely drink a soda, the worst offender IMO. Trouble is, that blasted corn syrup is hidden in so many products that one wouldn't even expect it to be. Most annoying. That is really one of the reasons I like the Atkins Diet, it makes me examine labels far more closely and therefore avoid many of those things. You can eat veggies on atkins, and a balanced meal.