julie

Hi Hayley I like the way you are doing your reviews ! Great job !

Hi Michelle Just dropping in to say hello !

Hi Chrissy Hope you are doing well and finding some interesting reading material .

Hi Bobbly It looks as if you are into some majorly big books right now ! Hope you are finding some good ones.

Hi Kylie Dropping in to say hello .. hope you are doing well .

Hi Noll Just dropped in to say howdy and hope you are well .

Hi Athena I see you've read a mountain of books already this year ! Hope you are doing well .

Hi Kate I see you had a bout of the flu, then cataract surgery on top of that. Glad you are on the mend from both and back to normal . How long did you have to go without a book during the cataract surgeries, and how close together did they do them ? Do you listen to audiobooks ? You could have kept up that way for awhile if need be . Looks like you are plugging right along again now .

Hi there Pixie ! You have been a reading MACHINE so far this year ! Great job !

This question has me wracking my brain . Do you know, the books that seem to have memorable parents to me, are Fathers . Some of my favorite books had really good dads in them. This will be an odd answer, since she isn't "biologically " the mom, but I immediately thought of Pip's older sister in Great Expectations , who was "bringing him up by hand " . Poor Joe ended up also being brought up by hand himself ! I always thought that line was so funny , although I don't suppose it was meant to be .

Janet Great job on the challenge so far ,and for sticking with it . I like how you have the organized list with the ratings and dates and the colored map . Very nice job ! Are you going in any particular order , or just whatever strikes your fancy at the time ? And if you had to pick ONE favorite so far, which would it be ?

Lots more reviews to post ..... but not gonna bother posting them . The group doesn't seem the same here any longer. Very little participation , so why take time to post any more reviews ?

Anna I asked my husband about your question above. He said you can take the Stick with you and use it anyplace that has a tv with and HDI ? and WiFi ... he's not sure about downloading the episodes. He thinks you might have to buy them to be able to watch them anyplace else . He said he is just guessing though . Anytime I have a question, I go to Amazon Help page, then do a Live Chat . They have ALWAYS been able to give me the answers I need . Good luck !

Anna I'm sorry , I don't know about downloading episodes. I just watch them online . I'll ask the Hubster tonight. He'll probably know. He's more of the computer expert here than I am !

Good for you, Kate ! I hope you like it as much as I did . Let me know how the Faulkner book goes. One of these days, I'll screw up the gumption to try one !

Every Day by the Sun : A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi by Dean Faulkner Wells I loved this book ! Such a beautiful remembrance of an imperfect family ,which we all have .But this one was more famous than most. The Faulkners had an interesting cast of characters , including murderers ,thieves, adulterers , racists ,sociopaths and real bad tempers ( author's words) ,but they also knew when to come together to support each other in time of need . Dean Faulkner Well's uncle was William Faulkner . Her father was William's youngest brother, who was killed in his 20's in an airplane crash ,in which he was the pilot . Dean states that William never in his lifetime stopped grieving for his lost brother ,and somehow, feeling responsible. All the Faulkner boys loved airplanes , but William had given the airplane to Dean and encouraged his love of flying . Dean never had the opportunity to meet her father ,as she was born a few months after his death ,but William promised on the day she was born that he would always take care of her ,and he honored that promise, although, at times, he had many others who depended on him, in extended family and close friends. William also had his own demons to deal with ,which were depression and alcoholism . If you want to meet an interesting ,and good old Southern family, read this book . It was an honor to read it . (less)

Sunshine Grilling out hamburgers !

Hi Noll I'm glad you found some new books to add to your reading list . I've read more this year than in a long time . I hope you like the ones you picked ! I try to read a wide variety of things . Not too much into certain kinds of books myself, but I'm trying to branch out a bit . It seems weird that I like true crime, but don't much like horror or made up scary stuff . I probably still lean more towards nonfiction in general, but have tried other books sprinkled into the mix this year . Hi Athena Thanks , yes, I've read a few duds, but most have been good or ok at least. I'm just picky about certain things in books. I really dislike romance in books ,but I think it's fine if others like it . Just ruins a book in my opinion . They can casually toss in a little bit ,but that's enough ! I've actually found some really good YA books, too ,but it's hard to find the sort I like . I don't like the sci-fi sort, the future world sort .. I like the ones about kids in school and the issues they deal with . I guess it reminds me of my school days, which I really loved . Makes me feel a bit younger when I read about those days, maybe ! Doing ok -- mainly trying to focus on reading and less on other stuff as much as possible .

Probably a standout would be The Bullet --- also loved Whiskey & Charlie .... and Hissing Cousins for a nonfiction ......

James I loved Cranford.. I guess it has some meat, but maybe the meat is chicken . Nothing much to chew over .. maybe ladies would like it more than men -- it's mainly ladies in the book ( a few men tossed in here and there ), but the ladies steal the show. I like all the unusual characters in the book and the humor. More of an amusing book than a heavy-duty one .

On the Fire Stick -- saw it on sale a couple weeks back, so I got it for the Hubster. He loves it ! I haven't even tried using it yet or watching anything with it . Too busy reading lately I guess ... I have no clue how it works or anything. He did get the voice thing to work, which I thought was cooler than crap .

Hi James Thanks for the welcome back . Yep, I have been on a reading BENDER ..

Not From Here As the 60 year old author sits by his 93 year old dying father's bedside, singing to him , he thinks this will be the final act he can do for his dad . Not so, because when he receives his father's ashes, he realizes there is one more meaningful journey he must make : to find a place to put the ashes. His family had travelled extensively and lived in many places, so the author takes a trip to find the perfect spot for his dad. A well told tale of a son's final act of kindness he can give his father . Sometimes rambling ,but also beautiful writing in spots . This man can teach us all the meaning of family and importance of "where we are all actually FROM " .

Dobryd This was a short autobiography of a 5 year old girl ,who at the beginning of the book, was hiding with a small group of other Polish people ( only a few were related ),in the top of an old barn .It was the last few months of WW 2 . One day, some Russian soldiers came to rescue them and they slowly made their way back to their home town, where they had once lived a good life with a nice home,servants and plenty of everything . This was a sad time, as so many adults didn't know the fate of family members, but through the grapevine, were able to find out about so many who had died . To sum up the book, this was the story of the aftermath of a horrible war, seen through the eyes of a child .