pontalba

Good luck with the move.....it's a miserable thing to go through! I know if we ever move it'll be a nightmare. We're at just under 8300 books at the moment. His, Mine and Ours. And don't worry about a bit of a slump in reading....it happens to all of us. I think I'm just pulling out of one.

Thanks to you, I've fallen off the fence and on our stroll through B&N today, we picked it up. Will read it pretty soon. Hope all is ok with you, and you are not posting 'cause you're driving! :D

One of many favorites was The Martian by Andy Weir. Very difficult to choose, as there were many excellent reads!

All excellent reviews, James. I believe I have The Ruins of Time on the shelf here. The Violent Century sounds quite interesting.....it reminds me, in premise, a bit of these...http://www.amazon.com/His-Majestys-Dragon-Temeraire-Book/dp/0345481283 I've read several of them, and quite enjoyed them.

Just seeing your wonderful collections/pictures! Very organized and just beautiful! I love both boxes.....I do love owls, but the other one is gorgeous as well. I just love boxes anyhow.

We strolled through Barnes & Noble today. Gave into temptation as 40% off was just right for the newest Haruki Murakami, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, and His Years of Pilgrimage. The book is adorable, physically itself. Murakami always has the most interesting covers and this is no exception. Cutouts, of course. But the decoration on actual boards of the cover is wonderful. It's the metro system, possibly of Tokyo.....I can't find a definite answer to the precise location. Must be, though. Also another book I'd been on the fence about was The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker......Julie really enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give it a spin as well. Others we happened on... Americanah by Ngozi Adichie The Spymaster by W.E.B, Griffin The President's Club Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy

June, so sorry you're enduring such nonsense from the workplace....people can be so bloody petty. grrrrr But very happy for your wedding next week, sending the best of wishes to both of you. Great MIL! Anna, Poor kid! Yikes, what an introduction to school. I expect your course work will become more difficult as the course progresses. Even if not, practice looking at something from another viewpoint cannot be a bad thing. Perspective and all that. Gaia, /sigh/ sorry about your little hen. It's such a helpless feeling to see them like that. Glad your phone talks are going to be accomplished. Great news. Also, shopping..........Yays for shopping! Always a fun, therapeutic activity. /evil grin/ muggle, the peaches sound lovely! I like wine also, but almost any red wine gives me a terrible headache.....even if I take precautions. Even some whites.

Glad September is going on as planned. I see there are already a few discussion threads in the new section. Some more should be popping up soon, I think/hope.

Thanks, Athena!

Great reviews, Weave. I'm sorry you didn't care much for American Gods...I didn't much the first time, but then recently I reread it for a discussion elsewhere and really enjoyed it. For me, the second time was the charm. Haven't read Anansi Boys yet, it's on the stack. And.....I didn't know What Ever Happened to Baby Jane was a book! Saw the movie years ago....gotta look that one up. Yikes!

Just gotten to the 4th par t(I think). The 10th chapter anyhow. He recommends rereading a chapter almost immediately after finishing it. Then he has "sum ups" at the end of each part. Must be about 30ish%.

I'm in-between books again. Been watching too many DVDs. Still reading a chapter at the time of Dale Carnegie's book How To Stop Worrying and Start Living. He really has some good and very basic ideas. Ideas that should be obvious, but when one is in the midst of "worrying", kind of tend to slip one's mind. Good stuff. I know I have a copy around here somewhere, but couldn't find it. So I purchased it for Kindle. Good price. I might read the new J.K .Rowling book next, Silkworm....I think that's the name.

LOL, ^^^^^ goes for me too, Willoyd. Some of the timeline back and forth took me back a bit, and I'm used to shifting timelines! Meant to add.....please let us know some of the ideas your group comes up with!

As far as I could tell the next two installments are not available, over here at least. Not sure if you can get them, or for that matter I'm not entirely certain they are available on DVD yet. But def worth the wait. At the local library sale, they sell used DVDs for a dollar. So we bought a few. Would have bought more, but some thieves had stolen the discs out of the jackets. Anyhow, one we did purchase was Get Shorty. John Travolta, Renee Russo, Gene Hackman (my favorite!), Danny DeVito.....really great. Funny, absolutely bizarre. Loved it. However we also bought the 4th season of Nip & Tuck. Now, neither of us had seen it before, only heard some good reviews. Well after watching about 5 or 6 minutes of the first episode, we removed the disc, and the whole thing is headed for the trash bin. 'Nuff said.

We made it to the local Library Sale yesterday. Here is the haul. The Shades of Green, Architecture and the Natural World by Peter Buchanan The Geographer's Library by Joh Fasman Final Account by Peter Robinson The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards A Night of Watching by Elliott Arnold The Master Bedroom by Tessa Hadley The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz Hostile Witness by William Lashner Forests of the Night by James W. Hall No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay Black Blade by Eric Lustbader The Kaisho by Eric Lustbader Second Skin by Eric Lustbader The Son by Philipp Meyer Just Revenge by Alan M. Dershowitz Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist Great Words of Our Time Euripides translated by Don Taylor Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet by Gail Grant Fire in the Earth Poems by David Whyte All for about 17 USD. Not too shabby.

Great review, Willoyd. Even though the very things you disliked about The Dinner are some of the things that I either enjoyed, or was quite tickled by. Marmite, indeed. But I love despicable characters that break barriers.....and that is how I, at least, saw it. Please don't read his other book Summer House With Swimming Pool! It's more so........everything than The Dinner.

Well, we've finished the second season of House of Cards, the American version. WOW! Just WOW! It came out a while ago, but the price of the DVD was just too high. Then I noticed last week that the price was down to less than half. Hadda get it. Well worth it!

Anna, here is another link you might find useful. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/11/08/which-of-the-11-american-nations-do-you-live-in/?tid=trending_strip_6 Which of the 11 American nations do you live in? There is a map of the U.S., showing dominate cultures in each section of the country. I think it's probably fairly accurate. It is as far as my area is concerned at least. I'm just north of New Orleans, La., and as you can see by the map, we are not compatible with the Deep South. New Orleans has always been "different" from the rest of the South, interestingly so, IMO.

Just subscribed to the monthly kindle edition.

Ahhh, just looking at their website, the mag I mean. I'll check it out on Amazon. Seems to be a fascinating magazine! Thanks.

Drat, I thought there was a link.....googling.....

Going to go and look at the article now. Thanks a lot! Love Ian Fleming. I have his bio around here somewhere, a friend gave it to me many years ago. Fleming was an interesting fellow. Glad it could be of help! Absolutely, follow your instincts, I always say. Critical is good in this case, IMO!

Thanks, Weave. It's a great series. Different, but great. A bit up and down, like all series.

Wasn't directed to you, poppy.

When I rate books, I try to be fair and not only go by how much I "like" the book. Naturally it counts, but I take into account what the book actually is. IOW, what is it trying to accomplish, the genre, and how I think it rates within it's own parameters. If that makes any sort of sense. dex, going through a dry spell of books is annoying, maybe there is something in the air. lol Until this last read of mine, I'd picked up and put down 5 or 6 books. Nothing seemed to catch with me. All it takes is one good book by a trusted author to pull you out though. Good luck!