pontalba

Good timing. I just realized it's been about 5 years since I've read any of James Lee Burke. That is another series I really want to get back to. Hopefully next month. I've just finished Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety...review on my thread. It's a 5 star.

Great review, Sari. Def going on the wish list.

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner 5/5 The wonderful, evocative prose tells the story of two couples, beginning around 1933, through their long, married lives. It's about Life, Death, Love, and Loss.......but most of all it is about the give and take in their Friendship that sees them through the highs and very low, lows. The unfolding of their stories, told partially through vividly orchestrated flashbacks, is artful, but never contrived. Highly recommended.

Wayward Pines: Before the Fall by Stephen Romano 3/5 (Kindle Words) This novel is back story to the Wayward Pines series I've read two of, and the third is due out in July. Apparently there is a lot of "fan-fiction" out there, and this is part of it. The writing is a little forced, and repetitive, but the idea, and the fill-in back story of the what and why of the main series was very interesting, and explained a lot of the unknowables from the series. I would only seriously recommend this if the reader is following the Wayward Pines series. Although it is ok as a stand alone, much is lost without the rest. IMO.

Barq's Root beer.

Oy. You are right, of course. My mind is slipping. I just had Davis on the brain. I looked at the books on the shelf, and now I remember what I was "matching". Not the translator, but the version. For the first 4 I found the Penguin Deluxe Classics Edition. Trade paperbacks, brown, blue, purple, and green. My bookmark is still at page 105. /sigh/ I've had them about 7 years.......

A few years ago I brought together all of the Proust books, and actually started, but didn't get very far. They all came from Amazon Marketplace, and the first four are the Lydia Davis translations. I don't think she has gotten any farther than that. But I've read that they are superior to the Moncrieff. Dunno how true that is.

Welcome back home, Noll!!

Happy reading, Noll.

Good grief. We had several nights of teens and 20'sF earlier in the week, but today.........Today was fabulous. Sunshine, clear skies and 70F. Yes. I'll take it. Criminey, June! You've done the right thing in scuttling that boat. You will find something much better, down the road. I'm so sorry that has dragged out so long, and they've been so mean and horrible about everything. But you are right, you've found out what they're made of, and you want no part of them. A great idea, Nollaig! And, baskets are cute. Taking a course like that has to be loads of fun too. Good Luck with it all!

I read The Mist years ago, and thought it was great. I haven't gotten any farther in The Secret History. I can't even articulate why. I like what I've read, but I can only think that I don't find any of the characters.....something. I haven't done much of any reading the last week or so. I read a short book...another of the Wayward Pines books, a fast action sort of read. But earlier today I picked up Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety, and the language, the prose just blew me away. I think I'll read that, and hopefully get back to the Tartt book later in the month.

We have put the kibosh on book buying. I succumbed, and bought one kindle book, part of that Wayward Pines series I'm reading, and I have 2 on back order, Ordered Last Year! They are due to arrive next week. Another pre-order coming in July, I think. When we see a book we really do want, it goes on the Wish List.

I'm very sorry to hear about your Dad, KM.

I find the groups/threads on Library Thing a bit sparse. At least for what I'm interested in. There was one several years ago that wrote comparative reviews, and I contributed a bit. Most of the reviews were really well done, and interesting. But no one has posted there in a couple of years, it just fizzled out, unfortunately. And, yes, they are difficult to navigate. Good luck in not!!

I read some of Archer's books, years ago.....a couple of ones to do with Kane and Abel....there was a sequel, I believe. But I've got some of his short stories as well. To Cut A Long Story Short has a couple of the very best short stories I've read. The last one in the book as I recall was absolutely fabulous! Y'all seem to really dislike him.....I know he went to prison for a few years and all that, but it wasn't a violent crime, as I recall. Is he thought of that badly over there?

Well, I'm glad you are chatty with us, Gaia. I enjoy reading your posts and stats. I think you are quite remarkable!

It's foggy right now outside my window. During the winter months, December through March or so, we have a lot of morning fog. There are so many natural and man made lakes around, people love to dig ponds around my area. We don't have one on this property, but they are all around us on other people's property. A lot of people commute from the North Shore to New Orleans and Metairie on the South Shore for their work. It's a long ride, the bridge itself is 24 miles long, and many times the fog is so bad that the Causeway Bridge Police form convoys to cross the lake. They completely close it down if it gets too bad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Pontchartrain_Causeway I can't imagine making that drive every day. From our house to New Orleans, it's about an hour and 15 minutes. Sometimes we go a couple of times a week, and that is enough!

I managed The Handmaid's Tale the second time around, several years after the first try. The first time, I abandoned it......can't even remember how far I got. But, I when finally decided to tackle it, I flew right through.

You. Are. Sooooo. BAD!

Catching up on this season's NCIS, on Amazon streaming. Plus we've watched a few of the original Inspector Morse I had on VHS tape around here, yes, they are that old. I'd love to get the series, but am thinking about buying an all region DVD player, so as to get the DVDs cheaper. Much cheaper!

The Perry book is part of a series, I've read the first two, I believe, a while back. It's been at least 10 years I guess. As I recall, they were interesting. Happy reading!

Missed this before....yup, that's a lot like around here. We have lots of pine forest here, thick forest. Charles said that the forests up North are walkable. Down here, you need a machete to get through the forest. Tall and huge pines around us, we have 5 acres, and it's pretty grown up, except right around the house. But, south of the Lake it's more lush. Every kind of Oak tree, Pecan trees, Magnolias, Crepe Myrtles, everything. Just huge and gorgeous. Everything grows so beautifully down there, in that black Mississippi River mud.

Yeah. Right, and don't forget to count the ones "on the cloud". Hah. I'll take a look at that ROOT...is it on Good Reads? We let the water run every night. Plus had the tank for the well wrapped up.

Thass a lotta posts, Gaia! Happy anniversary, and All That Jazz!

Thunder Over the Prairie sounds like a good one, Julie. I've put it on my Amazon wish list.