pontalba

I'm glad to see that it's renewed. As is Blue Bloods. Yays! We just watched BB;s 5th season. Good stuff. We watched the first couple of episodes of Gotham the other night (on Netflix), and pretty much liked it. Yes, it is intense. BTW, just bought the Atwood, The Heart is the Last to Go......I'd read the first 4 parts on Kindle, but couldn't find the last and 5th part. So, bought the book.

We saw it last night. Husband and I had the opposite reaction, Kylie. I thought the book came across much more humorously than the film. I found Damon's performance totally lacking, well, almost totally lacking humor or stress/anxiety.. Physically he is exactly what I pictured for Watney. But. But. I didn't feel he projected much of anything in the way of emotion. Now whether that was the actor or director's fault.....I dunno. I do know the guy that played NASA's head honcho, Jeff Daniels, is capable of lots more emotional output, and he was pretty bland as well. Yes, the scenery was gorgeous although I have to admit I don't think it was properly exploited either. The film lacked the science/geeky stuff that I loved about the book also. It wasn't until almost the end (the actual rescue) that I thought there was any tension to the film. In real life, astronauts are at heart cowboys. They have to have the ego to believe they can survive. I saw none of that in the film. /sigh/ All in all, I'd rate it milquetoast.

It looks so comfortable and lovely! But what about when it rains?? New Orleans gets so much rain, I just automatically think of that...... Ooooooooh! Lovely! Poor little darling. Agreed, how can people be so unthinkingly stupid? Gad Zooks! Although, I've seen pictures of "houses" in New York City that are only 5 feet wide, set in what used to be the alleyway between houses, and sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.....same difference, I suppose.

Great logic! Makes perfect sense to me. Absolutely! FYI, I subscribe to a great book blog and thought I'd share..... /evil grin/ http://www.shelf-awareness.com/

I love it when the covers all match. It's somehow disrupting to see an unmatched set on the shelves..... And those are quite nice. No Way! Don't feel embarrassed (you shouldn't be), or worry about any accusation of arrogance (you are NOT). Your reviews, are as always excellent. In fact, I believe they are becoming even more nuanced as you go along. Well done! I like the sound of The Lost Daughter very much.

I've started The Last Exodus, the first part of The Earthborn Trilogy. I'm only about 80 pages in, but know I'll finish, probably the entire trilogy.

We've both read The Martian, so went ahead and watched the trailer. And YES, it contains spoilers. Definitely. But....all I can say is WOWOWOWOW!!! What a great trailer. It absolutely keeps the tone and excitement of the book totally intact. Can't wait to see it!

Alexi, hope your trip was wonderful! I'll look forward to your take/review of The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan. I have it, and actually started it last year, but for some reason couldn't get into it. Anna, I read N&A some years ago, and loved it. I've finished both The Silence and Claire North's Touch. High marks to both. I'm temporarily back to Havana Nocturne by T.J. English. All about the Mafia in Cuba back before Castro.

Yes, I'm really glad to be reading it. BTW, husband is reading it as well, and is actually ahead of me. Natch!

Yes! the music for MM is pretty neat! I have to say, Inspector Morse is to blame for my starting on those types of shows. John Thaw as simply marvelous. I always likes Lewis's character, but wondered when he got his own show......but I really like it and him a lot. Fringe was interesting to me, I really enjoyed most of it. There were times when it got a bit much between the two "universes", but all in all I'd give it high marks. I thought Walter was a wonderful character. Yup, and yup. Granted I've only seen the first few episodes of X-Files, but I liked Fringe loads more! Oh, I'm really glad to hear that! I thought he was "retiring", so had no hope of another season. The guy that played his "Lewis" is really good. Haven't seen Gotham, but have watched all of The White Queen, and yes, loved the conniving and battling women! Oh, meant to add that we've watched the first and only, so far, season of Madam Secretary. Pretty good!

Thanks for a most informative vid! It's great, Gaia. Yup, who knew? But not only English.....all, even ancient languages!

Ben, I have to agree with your analysis of the reasoning of the Booker people. And that isn't a completely bad thing. It's good in that it gets some readers out of a rut, perhaps. Hopefully it gets some of us to think outside of the box. Exploration of other/different books/genres is always a good thing. I think it makes us appreciate what we already know a bit more. And if that isn't the case, it opens our minds. The best of both worlds would be both! I know I was stuck in a rut in my reading. It wasn't until (I blush to admit) I was in my 50's that I bloomed as a reader. I mean bloomed as in getting away from History, mysteries, historical mysteries, sagas, etc. Not that it was a bad thing! I enjoyed myself and learned quite a lot. But. About 11 years ago I was introduced to Vladimir Nabokov........and the love affair began. Now I'll try about any book on any shelf. At least once.

Blue Guitar isn't one of the Quirke/Black series, it's one of his stand alones. The next Quirke is coming out in January of next year. Haven't started it yet, in any case. I'll get to it though. Shudda known!! LOL .....I've gotten about 30% through The Silence by Tim Lebbon. I wish I could remember who it was that recommended it to me....on here it was. It's taken me a long time to start it. Actually, last night I read quite a bit of it, and decided that I wouldn't read anymore....I was reading before bed and couldn't get those images out of my mind. But this morning I was talking to my husband about it, and since we share our books on kindle, he said he'd put it on his kindle. So, we are reading it together, more or less. And, it's growing on me more and more. The writing is very low key, but riveting all the same. Charles compared the beginning to the beginning of Orson Welles' beginning of War of the Worlds. And it's true.....parts are rather documentary-like.

Yeah, even though I haven't kept it up properly......I really like the idea of having the list. It is pretty accurate. The lists of books bought has not been kept up though. After that huge purchase at the Symphony Book Fair last May, I just didn't have the stamina. I'll probably catch it up before the end of the year though. I like it a lot, although it does seem a bit dragged out on occasions. Husband gets impatient. But he goes along with me on it. btw, I like Lewis as well!! Both of us do.

Have you read it before? Should I say, that I loved it? Maybe not........... Yeah, me too. Also received from Amazon, today, John Banville's new one, The Blue Guitar. /sigh/

I've been on the fence about ordering A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I know I'll end up getting it sooner or later. In the past I've ordered several of the nominees of the short list, and been generally disappointed. So, no more of that for me.

You can block out sensitive data.

Ahhh, now you're in for it! On Netflix, we've watched: Longmire - abandoned half way through the 3rd season, due to unmitigated stupidity..... Narcos - abandoned 3 or 4 eps in on account of too much brutality towards animals, namely dogs and cats. Hinterland - Welsh, angst ridden detective/murder mysteries. Absolutely fantastic! Midsomer Murders - always cozy. Rosemary & Thyme - abandoned after only the first ep. Gag me, please! Survivor - a great film! Sherlock - finally! we watched the third season, and loved it. I don't know why we didn't before!! Island At War Broadchurch Charlie Chan: The Secret Service CSI: Miami - all 12 seasons! Gotta love the redhead! The Fall Good Morning, Killer Thorne - all three series Hostage. Bruce Willis.....need I say more? Ok, on Amazon Prime: (we have Prime): Grantchester - love, love, love it! Jack Ryan - Shadow Recruit Philly - only one season of this great lawyer show based in.......you guessed it! - Philadelphia, Pa., USA Magician - The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles Fabulous! The Last Enemy P=NP/Travelling Salesman - This film is based on a real mathematical, unsolved problem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_versus_NP_problem The film, - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelling_Salesman_(2012_film) Honestly, this is in the top 2 or 3 ....... ever. Worricker Trilogy Newsroom The Tamarind Seed Godzilla (newest version) Loved it! A Most Wanted Man Philip Seymour Hoffman...../sigh/ Based on the John LeCarre book. So. Very. Well. Done!! Justified yeech Inspector Lewis The Professional I'll Follow You Down Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil The Carpetbaggers Fringe so far....................... Added in Edit: Actually, there is a complete list of TV/films we've watched on the first page of this thread,, fyi.

Well.......all 4-legged critters! We're about 7 eps into the 2nd season. At first I didn't care for this season, but have warmed to it. Really enjoyed the first season, although I wanted to shake so many of them, Paul primarily. Oy.

Your clues reminded me of a film, Nell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_(film) I've googled around a bit and the only connection I can find is a play called Idioglossia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idioglossia_(play)

Uck. Sorry you didn't like Dear Mr. M as well as Koch's previous book(s). I don't remember your mentioning Summer House With Swimming Pool, but I'd recommend it to you. I read it last year, and have to say I liked it a bit more than The Dinner.

My husband did, he hadn't been on in.....oh gosh, must have been months. What a rigmarole! They finally straightened it out though. Took lots of emailing to and fro. Hope yours turned out well.

Hey guys! Oh, yeah. Everything is fine over here, just the usual running around going mad, tearing paper. Cats are fine, we just had the yearly shots last week. Since we only have the two now we brought them in separately. That was fun......not! Haven't been reading that much the last month or so.....I partially blame Netflix... ...We've binged watched several shows, so between running around, Netflix and scrabble.....yeah, scrabble. Oy. Right now we are watching an HBO series In Treatment with Gabriel Byrne, a lovely Irish actor. Fascinating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Treatment_(U.S._TV_series) Howze about you guys? All significant others and kitties doing fine?

All of last week the highs hovered at 98/99/100F (37.7C), but this week it's cooling off a bit, down to the 89-91F (32.7C) range. Phew!

Both are on my reading stack, I've liked Rutherfurd in the past. (Sarum and London) Read your quote over yonder, and loved it, must get a copy! I've reread The Day of the Triffids for a group on GR, and loved it all over again. Also read Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz and was not impressed. Not that it was bad, just used a rather ordinary and (imo) trite twist. forgot I'd already listed this one, but it's worth repeating....in a negative sort of way......