pontalba

Lovely lists of books! I've only read a few of the Donna Leon books, but really liked them too. The Diana Gabaldon books are tops! Tops! (even though I am thoroughly annoyed with her regarding the last one that hasn't come out yet!) I'd read, I think it was, the "R" book of Grafton's first, didn't care for it. Finally I started the series from the beginning, and it was lots better that way, and I enjoyed them all the way up to "S" is for Silence. Didn't finish that one, and haven't read anymore. I've read one, maybe the first, of the Spellman books.....I liked it but haven't read anymore, yet. Love the idea of your comfort series. Everyone needs one or two of those up their sleeves!

Ian, you've definitely peaked my interest in Game of Thrones.......blast it!

Great take on Alas, Babylon, dtr. It seems to me I may have read it, many decades ago, but I'd def have to reread. I like the idea of it being a sort of follow up for On the Beach. I read A Canticle for Liebowitz a few years ago. It's great! And different.

I've started and discarded several books in the last week or so. The latest is Alafair Burke's Angel's Tip, a police procedural that seems rather run of the mill to me. I'm not including it in my list of read books even though I read 68% before discarding it. It's ordinary, pulls all the politically correct strings and generally annoyed me. Plus, I really don't care for stories about serial killers cutting up young women. All in all, I found the book rather distasteful.

Hah! Too true.

Julie, just read your link to the Hemingway article. How wonderful! Makes me want the book Samuelson wrote! We've always wanted to get down to Key West, in a great part due to Hemingway's house down there. One of these days! I've only read part of A Farewell to Arms, and couldn't get through it. I've been told that his short stories are easier to get through, and different. So, one of these days, I'll get to that book on the shelf too.

I read 68% of Angel's Tip by Alafair Burke, daughter of one of my favorites, James Lee Burke. Finally discarded it, and removed it from Kindle Carousel. Her father, she ain't. Now I'm about 30% through The Postman by David Brin. Interesting, so far.

There is no doubt that I'd rather spend the last days with loved ones. And, I think in a way Dwight's loyalty was still torn between his wife and children('s memories) and Moira. So, there is that in the equation. However, he was a career Naval Officer. With that comes all the years of training and inculcation of military rules and regulations. Career Officer.....that is a lot of background to overcome. Plus, there is the fact that they thought the radiation cloud would dissipate in 5 years or so. Add to that the fact that they didn't know whether or not there would be any survivors, say in Antarctica that might be able somehow to make their way up North. Those possible survivors could potentially used the submarine and it's weapons on other possible survivors, and start another war. As I recall, the other Sub Commanders scuttled their subs as well. There is the distinct possibility that there were scientific explorers in Antarctica that could have utilized the technology. If they could have survived at all. Besides, it's standard procedure not to leave any weapons or technology that a potential enemy can use against you or yours. I think that is the premise Dwight was working under. So, in the final analysis, not a form of madness or 'going down with the ship', but practicality and adhering to standing orders.

Ooshie, I agree, Shute's style is quite dispassionate. That is a good way to put it. I'd seen the film years ago, and watched it again after we both read the book. I think I've kind of mixed up some of the versions.

33 1/3 here. /sigh/. Yes, I am old. Oh! And 45s too!

Or the MTSTs.....I know, ancient of days!

Thanks! It works a treat!!

Beverly: A Wayward Pines Novella by Ryan Cole 4/5 The Redundant Man: A Wayward Pines Novella by Marsha Morman 3.5/5 First Contact: A Wayward Pines Novella by Steven Konkaly 3/5 All are basically character studies of various members/characters of the Wayward Pines saga. Novella length, they are fairly concise and get to the point, assuming knowledge of the original stories by Blake Crouch. I've review the first two of that trilogy, last year, and enjoyed them quite a lot. They cover how and why certain of the characters came to be part of Wayward Pines and I find them great filler-inners. To really go into their stories here would be a disservice to the original, I feel, as it would give away too much of the plot of the original. The two reviews of the original books are here..... http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/11186-pontalbas-2013-reading-list/page-28

Hah, old! Yes. And a lot of work it's taken to get here! Every bump wore off those smooth edges and made vast improvements. It'll never be perfect, but will be mo' bettah. Those poor babies don't know what they're in for! And it's no use telling them, what do we know? We've only lived it.

Good choice. One of my all time favorites. Haven't been reading much, only "junk food" books, really....read a few more of the Wayward Pines novellas, and Thomas Perry's Big Fish. meh

I tried reading The Hobbit in my 30's. Hated it, couldn't finish. bleech. LOTR doesn't do a thing for me either. Nor does Dune (ducking and running!). Although I must admit to downloading Dune to my kindle recently. Cheap, practically free. Thought, what the heck. I'll try. One of these days............. I did finish The Book Thief, and thought it made entirely too light of that atrocity. So, thumbs way down from me. Read and finished Wuthering Heights by the hardest.

Yes, husband thought so as well. You all can't be wrong! I knew he'd had children, at least one, as one of the links up thread spoke of a daughter that mentioned that the Brit anti-nuclear movement may have been spurred on by this book. Hah, re Peter and Mary's irritation levels........... I thought that they sort of fed off of each other. Maybe a product of the times but she was the "helpless female" and he the "strong" one. But Shute showed the flaw in that typical scenario by the very thing that annoyed me. Which was Peter's abruptness with Mary, and what I considered his running off and leaving her literally holding the baby. Here she was, stuck out in the country with no transportation and not much in the way of diversion. Of course she'd dwell on things in and around the home. And who wants to think about your family dying in a few months. All through no fault or reason you had anything to do with. That'd be enough to drive anyone into fantasy-land. Denial. Denial. Denial. It was her only way not to go crazy. It bugged me too, a lot, that Dwight didn't bring Moira. But. He didn't allow any of the men to bring their S.O.'s. I don't think it was only on account of regulations and sticking to them. Can you imagine the hysteria (especially) on the part of the civilians when he ditched the submarine? Chaos would have been awful. The military has rules and regs for a good reason, and hysterical civilians in a chaotic situation is one of them. Actually, why did they think they had to ditch the sub at all? That's what I don't understand. It isn't like an enemy would come along and misuse it. What thinks thee?

LOL, thanks LW, but I actually meant the laptop was grandma. Bad sentence construction on my part.

The Nabokovian Society The Banvillian Society The Marcus Tullius Cicero Society Oh, and lest I forget! The Original Series Star Trek Society

Couldn't agree more, Virginia. "I'm sorry", is one of the most healing phrases in the language when applied with real repentance. I wonder if "healthy" love would be a more exact expression than "true". Angury, it's true, that some people mingle obsession with what they think of as love, but that is more of an unhealthy "love". I don't call that true/healthy love. Obsession is not a healthy state to be in.

Hah, I have a mini ipad now, and am very short in posting when on it. I haven't figured out how to highlight a sentence to copy and paste yet. Oh well, that's what grandma, here, the desktop is for.

You know, somehow that didn't sink in with me, and you are absolutely right. Especially considering how he did manage with her, in the end. But I'm trying to remember the exact sequence.....was he actually that reckless before she died, or did the actual racing come afterwards? It's been a month now since I read the book. I know, that depersonalization really grated on me as well. Could that have been part of his way of coping? I can hardly imagine it though! Peter annoyed me, in general. It wasn't until the end he showed real care for Mary. Well, mostly.

People claim to do many things "in the name of" love, God, or country. That doesn't make it true. True love does not do injurious things to the loved one. Because someone claims that doesn't make it so.

I didn't mean to imply that true love was always a beautiful thing.....I know it can be a difficult road at times. Difficult. Not obsessive and destructive. Haven't seen any of the film adaptations.

I've seen and been involved in excellent, and stimulating discussions online about books that did not cause the emotional distress that has happened here. I hope, very much, that the distress can be over, and we can go back to interesting as opposed to hurtful conversation. Accusations do not belong in any thread for a calm discussion.