pontalba

Everyone handles their book thread differently. And all of them are correct. So, don't worry about any of that! Just follow your heart with it. I know lots of posters here are very organized and have plans/lists etc, but that's way too organized for me. So, happy posting!

The Adventurers by Harold Robbins 4/5 To call The Adventurers great literature would be a misstatement, on the other hand to dismiss it as trash would be inaccurate and unfair. Published in 1966 it captures the "jetsetters" lifestyle with a political and revolutionary twist. The story follows the life and death of Diogenes Alejandro Xenos, and what a life it is. The reader follows "Dax" from the jungles of his native Corteguay (a fictional amalgamation of Latin American countries), to the Executive Boardrooms of Paris, London and New York. Not to mention the bedrooms of various and sundry extremely willing women. But while it would be easy to dismiss this story as light reading, there is an undertone, and possibly a warning. The political machinations, the obtaining and losing of power, whether it be political, corporate or personal is intricately told in a plausible manner. Upon my first reading of this book, shortly after it's publication it seemed more a tale of the coming and going of power in a small South American country, not much more. Now, all this time later, I see more in it. After all we've lived through Contragate, Watergate, and the various siblings of same. Robbins has an easy to read style of writing, and while there is not a huge amount of character description, what is there is sufficient for the reader to understand what we must of each character.

Hah, nothing wrong with you Ele...the Dubus is a very disturbing book. It was difficult for me to read too, but I ended up really loving the book. His writing is so powerful. It really stayed with me. I haven't seen the film of HoSaF, but I don't think I will. The book was vivid enough for me! Not sure I want to see that. Although I do wonder if the ending is the same. Very curious about The Wind Up Bird Chronicle....

Oh, that's a lovely edition, Gaia. And all the books! Nice!

Definitely better! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! It is definitely one of my favorites. Regarding his writing style, yes, I think it's pretty typical of his writing. He tends to be low key and "stiff upper lip", but there is an underlying emotion that the reader is able to hear in it. I've only read, I think, two other of his books. I loved them, although I think I need to reread A Town Like Alice. I loved it when I was young, but not so much several years ago. But, now in retrospect, I think I actually did love it. And yes, I know how screwy that sounds....... As far as their "sanity", I agree with you.....they did seem quite sane. But I don't really think that denoted insanity on their part. It was just a necessary coping system they managed to maintain for the most part. I really liked the way Shute kept on the positive side of things....in light of the events. But he did show that not everyone was coping....a couple of times he spoke of the bars being open all the time, and some sorts of criminal behavior by some people. And yes, I agree the racing towards the end was a form of suicide. And I don't think anyone could blame them one bit. I thought the title, was perhaps a take off of the expression 'washed up on the beach'....iow, these people, in the book were not from Australia, and they sort of washed up on the beach as it was the last place to succumb to the radiation. The last bits of civilization as we know it.

I miss her too, muggle. She was an interesting person.

Thanks, Gaia. I read the Oz books when I was a child, but we happened upon this copy at Barnes & Noble, on sale. It's the first five of the stories. It's such a lovely copy, I couldn't leave it. It's a hardback copy like this.... http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wizard-of-oz-l-frank-baum/1114704887?ean=9781435153899 And, mine is also yellow, and not the green shown. I don't know why the color difference.

Glorious! Highs about 80F/26.6C and lows about 60F(ish)/15.5C. I don't think it can get any better!

Only ten.........? OK, here goes. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Look At the Harlequins! by Vladimir Nabokov The Untouchable by John Banville Malevil by Robert Merle Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino Outlander (the series) by Diana Gabaldon Fortune's Favorites (one of the Masters of Rome series) by Colleen McCullough

You are correct, as far as that goes, muggle. But I must admit that part of the reason I came over here was that I was curious to see the forum of that lovely person that had told off and banned a /ahem/ certain person. That was in September of 2006, and I've been here on and off ever since. The last several years a lot more "on". I'm happy to have found this forum. It is the only one that I've stuck with, as it's only one of two that doesn't allow rude nonsense as I've seen everywhere else.

Some new additions: Brooklyn: An Illustrated History Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure by Cedric Villani The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter by Malcolm Mackay Every Day by the Sun by Dean Faulkner Wells Requiem For A Nun by William Faulkner A King's Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman Dear Life by Alice Munro The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison One of Us The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Asne Seierstad, and translated by Sarah Death The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks On The Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

The Silent Wife by A.S. A. Harrison 3.5/5 Is truth overrated? How much truth and how much repression is beneficial for a relationship, and what should be the repercussions of knowing? Is silence the answer to keeping a relationship smoothly running? Jodi thinks so, and fights to keep the status quo of her 20 year partnership on an even keel. But Jodi fails to follow the first rule of relationships. She fails to protect herself. The repercussions are devastating. Told in alternating "Her" and "Him" chapters we see the mind set of both Jodi and her serial cheating partner, Todd. I found the polar opposite views of the characters fascinating. How blind can one be?

Agree with Sarah, your buying habits have really improved greatly! I know how difficult that is to achieve. Thank goodness for Library Sales and Estate Sales!!

Now there is a series of books we can agree on, muggle not! About 30 years ago, I discovered L'Amour with the Sackett series. I bought 5 hardbacks from the old Literary Guild by mail book club. They contained all of the Sackett series. I really want to go back and reread them. Just marvelous story telling! Also, loved The Walking Drum.

On your excellent review, I ordered it, and it arrived yesterday! Got a lovely second hand hardback copy. I think you've got me on a Faulkner kick, I'm starting his Sanctuary, the prequel to Requiem for a Nun.

We pre-ordered it last December, I think it came out sometime in the first half of January. Haven't activated the voice yet. It's really easy to use.

I actually don't know, Anna. That's a great idea though! Oh, I'm fine, we've been clearing out that side gallery of all the junk that has accumulated over the years. First it was the room to put what wouldn't fit elsewhere, then cleared some for the cats. So, now it's being cleared out for us. We bought a second hand couch, chair and huge ottoman for the room yesterday. It's being delivered on Monday, so we have to finish getting the old stuff out of there. After that we will transfer 7 or 8 of the bookcases out there (it's totally closed in) clearing the middle of the living room. That and too much Netflix. We've been watching Fringe. We had a couple of clear days, but more rain is coming.

I have the YouTube app, but haven't done anything with it. There are some news apps as well. CBSN Live, WatchUp to name two.

You're not eavesdropping at all....nice to see you here! The Amazon Fire Stick that we have is this.... http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-W87CUN-Fire-TV-Stick/dp/B00GDQ0RMG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429365598&sr=8-1&keywords=firestick Just the one little "stick" to plug into the HDMI port in the side of the TV. The remote comes with it, of course. We don't have the gamers version.....yet. Ours did come with a cable about 6 inches, so the stick sticks farther out than the back of the tv for better reception. Works a treat. I think it does act as a sort of "mini computer" in that you now don't have to use a computer to stream, we use the fire stick. There is Home Page with listings for various "parts". i.e. "home", Prime Video, Watchlist, and for different apps that you can purchase. But most of the apps are free. Such as the Netflix app. The app is free, but you have to pay to subscribe to Netflix content. We like it a lot, it works well. Years ago we had cable tv, but dropped it about six years ago.....too expensive, too bloated, not content we wanted, etc.

Hey Julie! Great to see you back! Yeah, we've managed a couple of great Estate Sales in the last several weeks. Passed up on one this morning....just too rainy and crummy to get up early and get going. Plus, they didn't have that much we were interested in....a couple of iffy history books, that's all. It's been raining for a couple of weeks here, keeping the temps down pretty much. We did get up into the low 80'sF just before that, and with the humidity we have to run the A/C. Drat it! A high of 75F today with heavy thundershowers in store. Our lows in the mid 60'sF. All in all, not too bad temp wise, but the humidity is killing! I haven't been reading that much lately, I think only 8 or 9 books finished so far this year..... , but I blame Netflix! We subscribed to it after we bought the Amazon Fire Stick. Got it on sale before it "came out". I think we're enjoying it a little too much!

I know, certain scenes get into your head, and it's sometimes difficult to get them out!

Since subscribing to Netflix we've watched some great shows. Right now we are watching several. Fringe, Midsomer Murders, and Orphan Black. We'd given up on OB previously, but the reviews were so good we decided to give it a second chance.

Wowee! You are returning with a Big Bang! Very happy to see you back again, Julie! Great reviews and sketches of each book, some of which I've read, and some I'm very interested in reading. Sorry some were duds, but that's how it goes. Your take on Mrs. Poe is interesting. I've seen it around. Another author, Mary Doria Russell...(the one that wrote Doc, about Doc Holliday and the new sequel Epitaph) was going to write a bio of Poe but finally, after lots of research decided not to as there was already one book out (yours). It's a shame really as I think Russell's would have been far better and would have been more factual and not "romancy". I read To Serve Them All My Days eons ago. If I remember correctly, it's one of the sequels to God is An Englishman......really good stuff! Glad you enjoyed it for a second time! I bet The World of PostSecret was interesting, although I can't imagine anyone sensible actually sending a postcard to a stranger with delicate information! Yikes! Oh! Carter Beats the Devil.....Kay's nemesis! I'm glad you enjoyed it, redeeming it's reputation! Dare I Call It Murder : A Memoir of Violent Loss sounds very interesting. I seem to remember a case like that, a true story? Interesting, the two cold case books you've got on the list. Great to know they were eventually solved. Murder on a Lonely Road and Finding Bethany Oh, where did Murder on Rouse Hill take place? That is a local families name that owns a chain of large grocery stores in New Orleans and around the area. Hah, re I Am Sophie Tucker.....yes, back before the days of pencil thin models and Twiggy! I love your review, especially, of The Wrong Man The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case. I remember the case well, and always thought he could easily be an innocent scapegoat. The Bullet sounds great! Hissing Cousins is already on my wish list! I remember how horrifying it was when I read about this in the papers... No one Helped : Kitty Genovese, New York City, and the Myth of Urban Apathy Oh, Julie! I've read The Pines....in fact I've read lots of the Wayward Pines stories...yours is the first in a trilogy.......just sayin'. Good stuff! I like the sound of The Obituary Writer! Well done, Julie, and so glad to see you back posting!

!!!!!!!DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE LAST TWO EPISODES THAT JUST AIRED!!!!!!! Great cartoon of the last two episodes of Mad Men (first two eps of the second half of the last season) that just aired from The New Yorker magazine. http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/mad-men-cartoon-countdown-the-seventh-and-sixth-to-last-episodes?mbid=nl_041515_Daily&CNDID=36106963&mbid=nl_041515_Daily&CNDID=36106963&spMailingID=7666303&spUserID=OTY4MTI4NjU1NjUS1&spJobID=661434903&spReportId=NjYxNDM0OTAzS0

Oh, no doubt about it! Scads of other films that are just as capable. This was just a sampling, but interesting. Well, I am a Star Trek the original series (TOS) from the beginning, so that was why I originally wanted to see GQ. But the twist this article put on the actions and emotions in the film are very true. Teaching a good lesson in a subliminal manner. Oh, Memento is certainly a lovely twisty film, so well done! And we both enjoyed Ida tremendously. It's very low key, but powerful. And I definitely want to see Force Majeure and Gattaca. I really want to watch Memento again, for the 4th time....... If you liked Memento, perhaps you'd like Inception. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inception Gotta love the Nolan brothers! Have you read the short story Memento? Different, but most interesting. http://www.impulsenine.com/homepage/pages/shortstories/memento_mori.htm