pontalba

Thanks, muggle! Hope you do reread them. Thanks, Gaia. See below for addition to Sara's link. Wowee! That's quite a system y'all have. I wish we'd had that 20 years ago in our old house. Man, that much water in the house is horrible. The reason we moved to the Northshore to begin with was a flooding of that nature. We had 16 to 24 inches of water in the house, but it flowed out in a couple of days. I said, that's IT, we're moving. It was because we had a super duper rainstorm that the weather people call "training", iow, a row of thunderstorms that crosses long-ways. It rained for 24 hours, straight......the total rainfall total was 20 inches in 24 hours. Phew! That was not fun.

I've started working my way through Louis L'Amour's The Sacketts.....19 or 20 of them. I've read the first three, so far. But as a break, I'm going to read Bridge of Spies by Giles Whittell. I want to read the book first, before we see the film.

I have it on the stack, husband has already read and enjoyed it. Hmmm, I'd classify someone like Lawrence Block as Hard Case Crime Novel material. I agree, not King so much.

I've started rereading The Sacketts by Louis L'Amour, along with The Sackett Companion that I recently purchased. The Companion lists the basic story along with a listing and description of all the characters, be they human or places/land. It's a nice combination, and expands knowledge of the background of places. So far I've read the first three, they being: Sackett's Land, To the Far Blue Mountains, and The Warrior's Path. They tell the trials and tribulations of (obviously) the Sackett family in the early 1600's, both in England and America. Barnabas Sackett is the patriarch of the family and the story begins with his forced flight from England as a wanted man. But it's through no fault of his own, as he is an honorable man through and through. The second and third books tell the stories of his sons, mostly in America. L'Amour writes beautifully of the people and land. He has a pure view, but presents the bad along with the good. His knowledge of history is astounding, and he brings it to bear well in his stories. I love the way he presents the family as seekers, longing to know what lies beyond the Blue Mountain Range. These men were explorers, family men, and lovers of truth, honorable as Barnabas was, and treated others as they wished to be treated. These early books are not "westerns" as such, although the later ones are of that genre. These speak of early Boston, before almost anyone was there, of Jamestown, etc. L'Amour tells the stories of explorers that came to this land hundreds of years before Columbus and his ilk. Recommended.

Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus 4/5 Layered, convoluted, a plethora of characters are intertwined in this mystery, but seemingly unconnected until the detectives manage to slowly pick the threads apart. Two young women, girls really, disappear. No bodies, no trace found. The courts managed to convict a young man through circumstantial evidence. He serves his allotted time, and is released from prison and returns home. Then the fun begins. Red herrings abound. Recommended.

I'm glad you were able to fight the floods off! Do you have to keep the flood wall maintained yourselves, or is it something that protects the area? Good grief!! Sneaky, they are. Charles had a light case, if anything to do with it can be called "light". He came down with it first, and I followed in two days. Thanks, Gaia. Funny thing is, my allergic reaction to the flu itself was a milder version of the reaction I had 15 years ago when I had the vaccination. Weird.

Chaliepud, I thought Disclaimer was excellent too! I'm reading Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus, about halfway through.

Interestingly, the movie did extend the story some. It took me by surprise. At first I didn't like it, but after digesting a bit, I thought it really added something to the story. Although, I have to say I liked the book much more. Next to it, I found the movie a tad flat.

I still have the original, much tattered copies from the '60's-'70's. . Plus the "new" set I purchased about 15 years ago. LOL Re: the rain/flooding around here......we are on about the highest land in the area, so no problems in my immediate area. Can't say the same a few miles from us though. It hit some folks pretty badly. I was very surprised at some of the areas that were wiped out. Thanks, Gaia. . We're doing fine, as mentioned above, no flooding right here, and I've almost got my whole strength back after the Flu. Makes me wish I could take the Flu shot, but I'm allergic. Charles has about finished setting up his "new" computer, and is happy with it. Our weather is absolutely gorgeous! Hah, compensation for all the miserable rain and local flooding!

The Man of Feeling by Javier Marias 5/5 This early novel by Marias shows all the earmarks of his loquacious formatting. His prose interrupts itself constantly, twisting about like any good maze should. I know that annoys some people, but it is music to my eyes. He makes this fairly simple tale of (would be?) lovers into something that sings. How reliable his narration is must be decided by each reader for themselves. Suffice it to say I loved it.

Yeah, that one is good too. Enjoy! Thanks, Gaia. I'm even getting my strength back now. I did feel like poor me! Miserable flu! Thanks, Sara. It is.

I use my iPad as Kindle, it has all books, and music and video processes. I don't listen to any books, so don't know about that, although I believe it must be available. The iPad is very easy to use. I actually like it better than the kindle.

I think my two favorites are "The Spy Who Loved Me", and a collection consisting of "Octapussy", "The Living Daylights" and one other. Barely anything like the movies. They are very telling of the Bond character.

I hope you are feeling some better by now. It's nigh impossible to concentrate on much of anything when you're sick.

Glad to hear you are ok now! Flu is miserable. Also happy to see you've picked up the Mary Stewart Merlin books. They are certainly in my top 10, ever. Wonderful presentation of the Merlin Legend!! Also, that's great that you've read and enjoyed The Stand. It's one of my favorites also.

Sorry to take so long to respond, been down several weeks with the Flu. Today is the first day I'm posting. Don't let me stop you from reading Marquez! At least try a sample. One never knows! I still haven't finished the Mary Beard book, haven't been doing much in the way of reading at all, just could hardly bear anything. But, thanks to Sara, I've bought a new Javier Marias, The Man of Feeling. I've only started, but it's vintage Marias. That means Good! He has a lovely way of round-about prose that just flows.

Thanks for posting the Marias article! Great reading. He is one of my favorite authors. I've read several of his, including All Souls. BTW, the main character in All Souls is the same one that features in The Infatuations. You definitely don't need to read one to enjoy the other though. Totally separate. Tomorrow in the Battle Think of Me is another I can think of off the top of my head. Thanks to your link, I'm now reading The Man of Feeling by Marias.

That is absolutely fabulous, muggle!! Thanks so much for sharing the vid. It's in my favorites now. Actually, I came over here to post a link to something I've just bought that you might be interested in. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553371029?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00 The Sackett Companion: Louis L'Amour. I couldn't resist a second hand copy.

Didn't see this thread before, great idea, Gaia! Hmmm, let me backtrack a mo. ~Dislike retellings, and "prequels" and "sequels" by another author to a classic. Yeech. ~I've never been able to think of books seasonally. "Beach reads", "Christmas reads", etc. Makes no difference to me. ~ I've nicked onto a newish author, Claire North.....she's the one that wrote The Fifteen Lives of Harry August. I read it last year and really like her style. She has a series of novellas out about....well it's hard to describe. Magical. Realism. sorta, kinda. ~Favorite "fandoms".......Star Trek, Star Trek, STAR TREK! ~Hmmmm, buzzwords to get me to read, or at least pick up a book. Psychological, twisty, thriller, ~Biggest Badasses.....LOL Um, James Bond, anyone?! James T. Kirk, Matthew Scudder, Jane Whitefield. ~Best Recommendation (ever) was Lolita, (or anything by Vladimir Nabokov) by the man that would become my husband.

Glad he is a "former" dentist.....lol.

I think some people just are looking for something to take offence about any little thing. It irritated me at first, but then I just let it go, in the end, so what. It really is, and totally unnecessary.

Glad you're still reading research books, James.

Gad Zooks woman! Well done.

I don't think I've read any of Ngaio Marsh's books, although I know I have a couple around here. You have great lists of TBRs!!! Hah, don't let Marie Kondo get ya!! Happy Reading!