pontalba

They closed the Books-A-Million store in Covington, the closest town to us...but they kept the space and put in a 2nd & Charles store....it's a second hand book/DVD/CD/games/stuff store. They have great sales as well. Today they had a "Buy 5, Get 5 Free" sale. You know where we were earlier today, right? We bought......... Catherine deMedici, Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman Arming America, the origins of a national gun culture by Michael A. Bellesiles The Inheritance of Rome, Illuminating the Dark Ages by Chris Wickham The Great Fire of Rome, The fall of the Emperor Nero and his city, by Stephen Dando-Collins The Wall by John Marks Cloak of Darkness by Helen MacInnes Edward VI by Chris Skidmore Right As Rain} Drama City} all by George Pelecanos Soul Circus}

I have it, read it a long time ago. I have a few other of Smith's books, unread........as of yet.

We watched The French Connection with Gene Hackman the other night, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles with Steve Martin and John Candy the next night. Regarding The French Connection, there was extra stuff on the DVD, several interviews, and an interview with the director, William Friedkin. According to the interviews the famous chase scene was not choreographed, and was totally natural. Even the near misses of civilians. Gawd. I can hardly imagine.....!!!!

Yup, ^^^^^ reading now, very good.

Yes, that is the one. I haven't read it yet, but if I like it as well as the Kerr I've already read......I'll be happy.

Malkovich has directed a play in New York of Dangerous Liaisons....the reviewer is very lukewarm in his remarks. However from reading the review, I think the reviewer is not fair to the production. The first and only comment after the article disagrees with the review...says the play was good. Knowing Malkovich and the story, I'd have to agree. Anyhow, here is the link to the New York Times article..... http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/07/13/theater/reviews/les-liaisons-dangereuses-opens-at-lincoln-center.html?nl=nyregion&emc=edit_ur_20130712&_r=0

For an idea of price, try ABE books online. They sell from all over the place, small booksellers. If you search for a book title on there, and it's listed, there will be an array of prices and condition of the book. That will at least give you a ballpark figure from which to work. http://www.abebooks.com/

Oh, Devi. That was just too rough. Very sorry about it. That's right Julie, get out there, run around as much as you can. Raise general, bloody hell! lol It's good for ya!! Sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring is the pits to say the least. Plus, a watched pot never boils.

Finished The Red Queen, might read The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory next. May as well stay in the same century.........lol

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory 4/5 The Red Queen, named so for the red rose of the House of Lancaster, is the story of pious Margaret Beaufort, mother to the future King Henry VII of England. By will alone she brought her son to the throne of England through several York kings, lastly the infamous King Richard III. Her story is told in first person, as is the prequel The White Queen. This tale dovetails nicely with The White Queen, Elizabeth Woodville's story. The different takes on the events are illuminating, and the bigger picture begins to emerge.

My husband read An Unexpected Guest right after I did, and actually rated it higher than I did! I've got several Kerr books....some of that series, and Kill Shot as well. I'm glad! Just finished The Red Queen.....man that Margaret Beaufort was a piece of work! Yikes!

They are beautiful pictures Kay. I have to tell you, the first pic looks almost a twin for along the side of Jackson Square in the French Quarter in New Orleans! Here is a pic I found online. But, the next time we are down there, I'll snap a few pics.

Oh! Molly is just precious! Beautiful girl.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Don't you just love "organization"? Sorry they've done that Julie.....

Finished The White Queen, onto The Red Queen both by Philippa Gregory.

I've just read the first installment of The Cousin's War....The White Queen by Philippa Gregory...first of 6 I believe. Excellent, so far!

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory 5/5 A well written, and presented version of Elizabeth Woodville, the mother of the "Princes in the Tower" supposedly murdered by their Uncle, King Richard. This is so much more though, the story of the brothers is set in the historical background it deserves. The War of the Roses will be pretty much represented in this series of Philippa Gregory of 6 books. This, The White Queen is the first of that series. Gregory comes up with a plausible version of what might have happened to the Princes, that I think even their mother, Queen Elizabeth (Woodville, the first one) accepted. The period is brought to life by Gregory, beautifully. I look forward to the rest of the series. Maybe now I will get the time table of the War of the Roses. Recommended, great historical fiction.

Started and finished An Unexpected Guest by Anne Korkeakivi 4/5, review on my blog thread.

An Unexpected Guest by Anne Korkeakivi 4/5 What could have been a straight up and down story is turned into a personal search for......redemption perhaps. Clare Moorhouse is the American wife of a British diplomat stationed in Paris. Her life is mapped out for her in great precision, with every detail to be planned ahead of time. The possibility of her husband being posted as Ambassador to Ireland throws a definite spanner into her life. You see, Clare has secrets that even her husband of 20 years is unaware of and could threaten both her sanity and freedom. Other complications arise during her Mrs. Dalloway-like excursion into the markets of Paris to obtain the essentials of an important dinner party, a party that could affect the outcome of her husband's career. Is the person she has given directions to a terrorist, an assassin? And the face she continues to see, one from her past that haunts her.....is it real or imagined? The story is told in both the present, and flashbacks to Clare's youth, which for the most part is typical All-American girl. No fodder for the newspapers there. But for a few months her life is an open book, but those few months could blast her entire present life into smithereens. Recommended.

We've had the central a/c going since, either the end of April, or beginning of May. It's on a thermostat, so doesn't run continuously, but keeps the temp level in the house. It's raining right now and it looks like one of those all day rains, so the a/c isn't going at the moment. It's only about 76F/24.4C at the moment. That'll change as soon as the rain stops. It'll shoot up to the normal summer temp of 90F/32.2C to 93-97F/33.9C-36.1C. All with high humidity. Those high temps will last till the middle of October, then cool down a bit and have some nice weather. Finally, in December it'll be real fall weather. Of course it's all flexible. heh We drove across the lake to New Orleans yesterday. Didn't really plan it, we left the house in the mid morning, and were going grocery shopping. Then decided to go to the south shore. It's a nice drive, the lake is 24 miles wide, over open water. Beautiful lake. All in all, it's about a 80 mile round trip. We mucked around shopping over there, had a pizza lunch, bought some books and came back across the lake, did our grocery shopping and came home tuckered. Had a nice cold Vodka and tonic, read and talked and finally collapsed into bed. Good day.

Fantastic! Husband really liked Flowers for Algernon.

Oh, crikey....don't talk about age. I was trying to remember exactly how Rook ended......not Replay. Sheesh!!

Oh, yeah.

Oh! Adorable chicks and puppy.....beautiful! Frankie, that white shepherd sounds gorgeous. I. Love. Shepherds!! When you wrote of the dog that chased the squirrel up the tree, I thought of a story my mother told me about a dog we had when I was a child. Her name was Fritzi and she was a medium sized.....dunno...looked like a miniature collie. She hated squirrels with a purple passion. She actually chased one up a huge peach tree in our back yard...just ran right up the tree after the thing. Of course she got to a lower branch (miracle!) and didn't know what to do...she just sat, balanced on the branch looking terrified. My mother called Fritzi to her by patting her chest and calling out, come on baby! She did jump, landed on Mother's chest and they both went down in a heap. All ok though, and believe me, Fritzi was a happy camper!

I loved the Larsson trilogy, and husband liked The Snow Child...I haven't read that one yet though. I read Catcher, but didn't much care for it. Whoops, forgot to add.... I've started The Fall of the House of Dixie by Bruce Levine.....a history of the South (U.S.) after the Civil War. Or, as we Southerners prefer to call it, the Northern War of Aggression....... And...The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, first in the trilogy.