pontalba
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Posts posted by pontalba
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Yeah, but more so, it looks cheap.
It isn't like the technology isn't available to make it more realistic. I know the original ST was, in retrospect a bit cheesy, but otoh, it tackled the themes that were way ahead of its time. the technology simply wasn't available back in the 1960's to do much more with that aspect. These guys have no excuse.
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The other day whilst driving out on some errands, the car thermostat hit 101F, aka 38.3C. So, its hot, and it might rain. Humidity so thick you can stand still and sweat like all heck. As I've said before, thank God for air conditioning! Sometimes I wonder how we did without it.
We didn't have any a/c until I was 16, and didn't have central a/c till 20 years ago.
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Always have kept eggs in the fridge. We used to have Muscovy ducks, and those eggs are absolutely delicious. Believe me, eggs need washing....can be pretty yucky otherwise.
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We've finished the 6th season of Vera, and miss it already.
I'm glad it is renewed, and that we have some of Cleeves's books to tide us over. We watched a lovely documentary on Bill Cunningham. He recently passed away, but was a photographer for the New York Times for decades. He was absolutely wonderful! We always looked forward to his montage of street fashion. He had a wonderfully diverse eye for the unique and interesting. Here is a link to the DVD, https://www.amazon.com/Bill-Cunningham-York-Anna-Wintour/dp/B0050I975Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1469381910&sr=8-2&keywords=bill+cunningham+new+york and a link to one of his videos on the NYT, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/fashion/bill-cunningham-winter-blues-and-pinks.html?_r=0
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I'm re-watching Alias. Love this show.
Me too.
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Great looking bookcases ! I have those complete peanuts too _ it'll be the full set by this October.
Kate, is that called a jade plant in the US then ? I think it's a money plant over here.
Yes, but now that you mention, I've heard it called a money plant as well,
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Ooh, I just kimpled that Claire north book this very afternoon ! It's like having my own reviewer.
LOL! Great minds, and all that.
I'm eager to try some Claire North, this would probably be my first choice.
I think I actually liked The Touch a bit more. Although I have to say that at some point, all of her books drag a bit. But they always pick up and deliver the goods.
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Yuck. 31C equals 87.8F. That's about the low we've been running. We have been averaging 87F to about 95F, or 35C.
Fun, fun, fun! Thank goodness for air conditioning!!!
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Oh, yeah, in fact Follett wrote spy/WWII stuff first. The Eye of the Needle, and Key to Rebecca are top rated. There were more, but those two are the two that come immediately to mind. I know that Needle was made into a film with Donald Sutherland.
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Great reviews, Noll. Distress Signals sounds good!
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Good looking and organized shelves.
Jade plant is pretty also!
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I read Francine Oomen - Rosa & Co 1: Hoe Overleeft Rosa In New York?. It was quite good. I read it in one day (okay the font was a bit big, that helped too). I really enjoyed reading this book. It is different than the HOI series though, there aren't as many tips and e-mails and such. There are tips, e-mails and chats and such occasionally though. Anyway, I really enjoyed reading this book.
EDIT:
I bought 2 books in Terre des Hommes:
J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter 1: Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
Joanne Harris - Chocolat 2: Rode Schoenen (The Lollipop Shoes)
I already own two copies of the first Harry Potter book (one English and one Dutch), but this is the same edition I read when I read the book for English class in high school (the first time I read the book). I doubted whether I should buy it or not, but in the end decided to buy it.
I haven't read Chocolat yet, and didn't actually know Rode Schoenen was the sequel (in Dutch), but another customer at the shop walked up to me and said she really liked the book, and that it was the sequel to Chocolat
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NewBooksTdH_2016-07-16_Spines_0125.jpgUnderlining and bolding in above quote mine.
GOOD Decision!! 
Nice pics too. The background is very pretty too!
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Shetland sounds great! Can't get it over here yet, at least not on Netflix but I'll keep an eye out for it. Meantime, I'll take a look at the books........
We've been watching the second season of Madam Secretary. Very fast paced and good.
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Some rotten migraines for the last few weeks, which has slowed down my reading speed. I've amused myself listening to the small intricate world of gerald c potter . Ian Carmichael and Charlotte mitchell play husband and wife novelists . And theres a cat,too. Lovely radio plays.
Ugh! Sorry, and hope by now you are feeling better.
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Some very interesting reviews, Anna. Sorry the Follett didn't come up to expectations. I've enjoyed his spy novels a lot in the past, and his Pillars of the Earth was excellent although I've yet to read it's sequel.
The only Massie I've read is Nicholas and Alexandria......years ago. Very good.
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I'm really looking forward to trying something by him now!
Glad to hear it! Try Death Will Have Your Eyes also...... 
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The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North 4/5
How would you live if within 15 or 20 minutes of leaving a person they had absolutely no memory of you? Not your face, not the conversation you had, not the love you made. When Hope Arden reached her teen years, slowly but inexorably her family began to forget her. She learned to live by her wits, using the forgetfulness of others to cover her criminal activities. North weaves a complex story of memory, identity, and the search for perfection to an exciting finale.
I'd have given 5 stars if not for what I considered over-preparation of the characters motivations. I bogged down in the middle for a while. However the last third really made up for that slowness, and sped to an exciting and fulfilling conclusion.
Recommended.
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After Willnot, I had to read another James Sallis.
I chose The Killer is Dying. Another 5/5The story, such as it is, is told by three......no really four narrators. The killer himself, a young boy that is living by his wits, and two policeman with their own problems. How Sallis intertwines those lives is fascinating. With hardly any actual meeting between them, physically, they combine to tell a story of identity, love, and letting go. As always, Sallis's prose is magnificently descriptive, and evocative of time and place.
Highly recommended.
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Oooh I've added Willnot to my wishlist. I usually like resolutions, but I'm okay with open-endedness if its done well!
Great!
This one was a little more open ended than his usual even, but I look on it as more a slice of life/lives (like life, itself) than something with the usual 5 acts. Introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement. -
TV is the main reason why I don't read enough.
There's always another series I want to watch (or rewatch).
I love the excerpt! Yeah, I have a couple I'd like to rewatch. The Wire, for one. And Lost.
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Indeed !
My favourite bit of the article :
Tsundoku, an untranslatable Japanese word that means “buying books and letting them pile up unread.”
Yes!!
Nice article
! For me, my books do spark joy. Admittedly there are maybe a few I don't care as much about - books I didn't like at all for example. But most of them are books that spark joy - whether read or unread - and I don't want to get rid of them.It'll be very hard once I eventually move out, to have to get rid of some of my books (I don't think they will all fit). I try not to think about it too much, because I find it depressing. I think I'll try to have quite a few piles around, as many as I can. I'll probably only have space for a few book cases at most.
I like the word 'tsundoku'.
You've expressed my feelings beautifully!
Nooo !
I think I`d rather give up pots and pans than books, and have a Library/Kitchen. 
Absolutely!! Really, I only need a few pots.....and a microwave.
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Willnot by James Sallis 5+/5
It's been awhile since I've read any of Sallis's books. /sigh/ Silly me. There is a wonderful, mellow flow to his writing that, in a way, reminds me of Nabokov. Yes, but no. Sallis has a dead-center way of looking at life, and describing it in an off hand manner whose profundity just suddenly pops you in the back of the head. The reader is forced to go back and reread the last page or two just for the immediate pleasure of reliving those thoughts.
The plot is deceptively simple. Small town, hometown doctor, several bodies found in the woods, mysterious comings and goings all assemble and then.....disassemble. Readers that need definite resolutions to their stories will be somewhat disappointed, I believe. But, for the pleasure of the journey, it's totally worth it.
Highly recommended.
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I can't say anything for types of equipment but I have a friend who uses his exercise bike while watching episodes of Breaking Bad. He doesn't allow himself watch it without being on the bike, and that seems to be pretty good motivation for him to do it and to pass the time with something that distracts him a bit. That might be totally useless information for you but there you go!
Great solution!
Yeah, I usually watch Seinfeld whilst on the treadmill.
If you've got the room, Lumo, go for it. Having something different is also a good solution.
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Agreed. But it's a great article in any case.
She'd probably faint at our book collection, and Marie Kondo would undoubtedly go into cardiac arrest.
pontalba's 2016 reading list
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Thanks, Gaia.
I'm partway through several books atm, another James Sallis, a Patricia Highsmith and something else.....oh, yeah, a Jim Thompson book. Thompson is about as bare bones as an author can get. But excellent. Back when I finish something to review.