julie

Thank you Miss Poppy I don't know who Colin Firth is,so he is safe with you . I won't try stealing him from you,because he'd choose you over me I'm sure . I'm sitting here tonite thinking of all the food I want to eat when this is done. Cake is high up on the list . I'd actually settle for a slice of bread .

Thank you Miss K -- Check out that email list of foods. I will definitely be ready for a cheeseburg. I'm already thinking of all the foods I want when I'm allowed to eat again . Even plain BREAD sounds like a delicacy . You're right, it's best just to get the worst junk done so I dont have to sit and think about it .

Thank you Laura and Chalie Yea, they said with it this low,they dont want to mess around too long . I cant even describe how tired I am today . Feels like it takes me 10 minuted to blink.

For those that have been following my updates : Doc just called. They want me in the hospital for the nuclear thing Friday (YIKES) at 7:15 AM . This is all moving too quickly. SCAREY . At least I'm getting it all over with fast and I can eat regular food after that . What a waste of rutabagas .

Hi Kidsmum Thank you for the good wishes. I already had the appt with the Cancer doc (yesterday). Tomorrow I go back to the surgeon for a follow up . I went this AM for bloodwork to check my levels . Got a phone call this afternoon ( while I was sound asleep,which I seem to be doing lots of. ) Never felt this tired in my life . Feels like you are doing everything in a big bog of quicksand. All in slow motion . Anyhow, the Cancer doc was looking for a reading of 30 or more to do the nuclear radiation therapy,and they called this afternoon to tell me it is already at 27. The doc seemed very surprised that it's already that high. Anyhow, his nurse is supposed to call tomorrow to set up a possible hospital trip one day next week to get the nuclear stuff put in . After that, I cannot have any physical contact with anyone for 4 days . My husband cant be closer than 6 feet , we have to sleep in separate rooms , I have to wash all my clothes, towels, dishes separately from his,since I guess this nuclear crap is actually dangerous to others until it has a few days to sink in . 10 days after that,they do a scan to see what spots might still be affected -- they glow on the xray scan I guess. Sure will be glad to get that part done. It doesnt sound like much fun . Also,this no iodine diet is pathetic. I'm allowed to have RUTABAGAS and I wouldnt even know what one WAS if it hit me in the head. I'm also allowed ot have marshmallows,so I just grilled one of them on my stove. What a diet,huh ? Anyhow, thanks so much for the good wishes . It's certainly scarey to find out what you have,but at least they found it and are taking steps to get it under control and fixed.

I think the answer to this would depend on the person . I myself like the feeling of having a nice selection of all different type books when I am looking for my next good read ,but I don't like to have too many books waiting or I feel overwhelmed when I look at them all,so it's nice somewhere in the middle,where you have a nice sized stack,but not too many . Kinda like Goldilocks with her porridge : JUST RIGHT .

Chalie Thunderbolt Kid was SO good ,especially if you are in my age range. I'd guess you are younger,but I think you'd still enjoy it. It was very interesting to me because so many things Bryson mentioned in the book were around when I was a kid,so it brought back lots of good memories. House of the Spirits was also excellent . You have a few others that I've read and also liked,and a few I have but havent read yet. Looks to me like you have some good books ahead of you .

Pontalba Right you are, he is still alive and from the sounds of things ,has adjusted well to life in prison . He was sane enough to know what he did was wrong,but yet, he really doesn't seem to concerned about the things he has done . His mother, I think tried at times, and I'm sure it was overwhelming to have a kid like that ,but forgot to say, her CAREER was as a psychiatric nurse,so you'd think she would have been educated enough to pick up on these things quicker than others might . I dont think I have ever read a true crime book in which they made the criminal the main part of the story,and the victims were just little tidbits tossed in here and there . An odd story . Now trying to find something new to keep my attention ....

Lost Girls by Caitlyn Rother I started this last night and finished it today,so not a long book. It's another true crime,but was written differently than they usually are. I can't really say I liked the way it was written. It starts out by telling you the killer's whole life story in all its' sad and sordid detail. A boy who was probably born with lots of mental issues. It ran on both sides of his family,and it seems he got just enough of it to truly mess him up. On top of that, his mother seemed to overlook many things during his early years that were definitely NOT normal behavior . He was in trouble in school frequently, seemed to have a severe temper,and hard time controlling it. Was put on medications very early in life to try to keep him controlled, but many of them caused awful side effects ,so those weren't always good news either . Anyhow, the majority of the book seems as if the author is almost siding with him and his family,telling way more than you really want to hear about a psycho who ended up killing at least 2 girls. There could be more they never tied to him. The book took a very small piece to tell of the girls and what they were like,and then went right back with the killer again ,etc ,etc . Come to find at the end of the book that the author had been in contact frequently with the killer's family,and even him in jail,so it seemed to me as though she possibly made a deal with them to "tell his story" . By the time you have read a couple hundred pages on this dude, you get pretty sick of it . The poor victims got only a small part. The rest of the book told what it was like to be the mother of this killer, what his family thought of him,and all about his "episodes" throughout life,in which his mother seemed to bury her head in the sand and not see that she had herself one really unstable son .It says he tried getting him help,but in the background,you feel that she didnt try hard enough . Anyhow I have rambled on long enough about it . Just another serial killer who got caught too late ,and 2 beautiful young girls who could have made the world a better place. I'd say if you love true crime, read this if you dont have any other true crime book,but if you do ,read the other one first . 2/5

Wow Poppy THAT was a super good review. I've not had the pleasure of dealing with Virginia myself yet. Sadly, I dont think I've read anything by her. It certainly sounds like she got quite a rise out of you and hit a nerve .She must be a very good writer to be able to show us TODAY how badly we would have had it if we had been born a hundred or more years ago . I guess I'm like you, I dont ever really think about things like that or pay much attention to them,but as you said, we dont really have it in our faces about how low class we are or how we dont deserve the exact same things in life that men do . Wonderful job,and see there, your reviews are picking up speed

Pontalba Great review. I read it when it first came out. I'm not a big fantasy fan,so it was a little hard for me to really get into,but I must say it is one of the neatest -looking books ever. I LOVE old pictures and the insides of the book with the old fashioned looking paper that looked almost like wallpaper ? That was so cool. I love old looking antique type things anyhow,so I was sold on the "look" of the book most of all . I'm pretty sure there will be a part 2 to this one .

Pontalba You talked me into it. Just now purchased Follow Me Down, plus Love in a Dry Season ,both for my kindle . You are so very lucky to be from the South. A treasure trove of writers from there. They know how to tell a story like no one else can .

Miss Poppy Yep, I'd definitely qualify as Gloomy Shoes . Strange thaqt the gloomier I get,the more I read true crime . Maybe it's because I find other people who are a LOT more gloomy than me in those books. I have yet to kill anyone or anything . I won't even kill a fly .I open the screen door, and shoo them out with the swatter . You definitely have to be in the proper mood to read some books,don't you ? Maybe you could come in and put a review on a book the minute you finish it ,that way it'd be fresh in your mind,and it'd also be DONE,so you wouldnt have to worry about remembering all the bits and pieces that you needed to make your review . Just a suggestion ! I usually do a review as soon as I complete the book or I'd totally forget what I read. My old brain isn't what it used to be either .

Miss Poppy Great job on the review ! I'm glad you were able to find a book to get your mojo to kick in a bit again . I,too,had a copy from the library a few weeks back,but took it back unopened . Haven't really been completing much of anything lately . This book sounds very good though,so will have to pick it up again at some point and give it another shot .

Kylie Looks like I'm late to the dance, but I will also wish you good luck on your career change . Your kitty looks like his name should be Terminator, or Clint Eastwood ( Make My Day ) ........ His eyes look kinda like them guys in the movies ! Funny !

Pontalba The Shelby Foote novel sounds really good ! Thanks for reminding me of him . I used to run an online book club back in the days ... maybe the early 90's ,that was on AOL . Our book group was called Southern Writers ,and I do believe Shelby was on our "nominated" list, though never got voted in . Gonna have to hunt me up one sometime. It sounds really interesting .

I grew up watching Andy and Opey and Aunt Bea . Very cute show. I still like watching reruns of it now and then . He will be greatly missed .

Pontalba Yep, I feel for you regarding the mammograms. Frightening when you get bad results .My favorite cousin in the world died ,age 50 from breast cancer . SO sad ... I'm sure we all have people in our families who have had it ,so it's a scarey thing to face . As for this board, yes, people do seem to be very polite and not judgemental to others about the books they like . I know what you mean about people being nasty on book group areas. I've seen many of those myself where people are so rude . I think our book likes and dislikes are the same as our tast in foods or colors,or anything else in life. We can all learn a lot from others by keeping an open mind and listening to their viewpoints at least. I myself wouldnt read a romance novel if my life depended on it ,but I have respect for anyone else who likes them . We all like different things, that's what makes it such an interesting place to be ! A colorful world !

Chrissy Great question ! When I choose a book , I'd say 9 times out of 10, if I am upset about something in my life, and I can MAKE myself read, I'll always pick a true crime. They are the only type books that can take me completely away from my situation . They don't tend to wander into areas that cause me more grief, like family situations, or health problems or money worries because of all your medical bills . So although it sounds odd, true crime is the only thing I would be able to read during a rough time in my life . When things are REALLY rough, I can't concentrate at all on ANY book . In normal everyday life if nothing huge is happening, I still stay away from the "sappy" books,but that has always been my tendency . I don't do SAP . I don't enjoy books that are simple-minded ,light-hearted fluffy type stuff that really has no point . I normally like to read a book that will TEACH me something about life. I lean heavily on nonfiction for that,but there have also been some fiction authors who really dig down deep and tell a story that is heart-wrenching and painful and really hits home. Severe family issues ,how to handle tragedy ,etc seem to be fiction books I lean towards. It's almost like if I keep on reading those, no matter how bad it might hurt inside, I need to expose those open wounds that are there ,read about someone else in a book who MAY be dealing in life with something I am . It helps me to know how another person might handle that situation in their life . Even though it might be fiction, I think a lot of times ,fiction book ideas are taken possibly from the author's own life experiences ,so it makes it seem more real to me . The older I get, the more serious -type books would be my choice,though .

Pontalba Thanks so much for the good vibes. I DID get a call from the surgeon's office late yesterday. They dont have all the results in (they had to biopsy SEVERAL growths in there). They biggest one is still "uncertain",as to what they told me .They said now that Thursday might be the soonest I hear . I may even have to wait til my follow-up which isnt til the 11th . With the holiday this week, the doc's office will be closed for a couple days I think . I know the waiting is the worst .I had a bad mammogram a few years back and I was literally scared to death. They had to test it 3 times to make sure of the reading. It apparently was a type of cell that turns cancerous,and they wanted to make sure it hadn't as of them removing it. I was sweating bullets that time .It was a week before I got the answer. SCAREY . On to more pleasant topics : Yea, the Shades books do seem to bring out the viewpoints in people . It seems to be controversial enough to bring lots of opinions out . I WOULD believe this board would be much more polite than others . Everyone here seems to be respectful of others ,which would help when discussing these books . For the most part, the book groups I have been in , it seems people are much more opinionated and sometimes want to argue to get their viewpoint across. It's refreshing to be in a place where people respect other's opinions,isn't it ?

Hi Miss Poppy Thank you for all your kind comments . I'm ok with this .I've had so many health problems, I'm getting used to them by now . Luckily I have good docs for this,so they'll take good care of me . Still no news on the tests. They told me now it might be Thursday at the earliest .I just have to keep busy and keep my mind on other stuff as much as possible .

Hi Pontalba Yea, I like reading about those old cold cases like that and wondering who actually did it and how they were able to go through the rest of their life without such guilt .It'd seem for sure as if one of the spouses of this murdered couple were guilty,but if I were guessing, I'd say they weren't . As for the 50 shades set of books, I've also heard of them ,but am probably unfairly judging them by not even reading one to see how I'd like it . Knowing how my reading tastes run, I probably wouldnt enjoy them,since I really don't like any type book that leans in a romance direction,and from what I've heard, these LEAN really far ... if you get my drift . I'll go in and read up on what some of the people commented about them. Should be entertaining to hear some other opinions . Hi Frankie Yea, I knew I had this Doc appt , I made it in Feb, and couldnt get in til June. This doc is a Cleveland Clinic doc, so it was a long wait to see him . They found some huge growths of some type on my thyroid .He sent me straight to a surgeon ,and a week later, I was in surgery .They removed my thyroid and are testing all the nodules and cysts in the lab. Both docs told me to be prepared for a possible cancer diagnosis, since some of them were really large. They said the larger they grow,they greater chance they are cancer . They both told me that if you have to have cancer, this is the place you'd want it,because it is slow growing ,usually stays in the thyroid,and is treated differently than other cancers. I won't have to do chemo or radiation,but some type of radioactive nuclear type stuff . It sounds like I will glow in the dark when done . Anyhow, I'm hoping to get an answer as to what they were ,one day this week, then my followup is next week,so I'm hoping the answers are good and I wont have to do that other crap . Thanks for posting. It's so good to hear from all you guys !

Moonlight Murder on Lover's Lane by Katherine Ramsland This "book"was a quickie on my Kindle. Not exactly a full length book,but I'm way behind on my reading list, so will :cheat" just a little and use some shortened stories to fill in a few gaps on occasion. This book was a re-examination of a Cold Case which happened back in the early 1920's . It is officially called the Hall-Mills Murder and has been in many unsolved true crime books I have read . It is about a minister who was having an affair with a married parishioner. He was also married. There are questions as to whether the other spouses were aware of what was going on. They both claimed they knew nothing in the beginning,but their stories changed throughout the entire buildup to the trial,and for long afterwards. They took 4 years to bring this to trial,the police had MANY suspects they thought for sure were the right ones, then later, changed rheir minds and chose new ones. In all, they called 145 witnesses to the trial .They tried convicting the minister's wife and her brothers as co-conspirators in the trial,but the story also brought up many others with an equally good reason to kill the pair. It seems the most brutality was on the lady ,so from that, it makes snse that it was someone who was angrier with her than with the minister . Anyhow, I wont give away the ending, other than to say it remains unsolved. The lady who studied this case and wrote about it brought up a REALLY interesting little piece to the puzzle that no one else ever noticed during all these years. It's still in the evidence box at the police station . Makes you scratch your head and wonder how the police missed this . It seems they blundered everything else,so I guess maybe it's not so hard to figure out how they'd blunder this one too. I have an opinion that they tried the wrong people for it and didnt let innocent people off ,but they needed to try some of the other key players . They may have found the real killer if they had . I'll give this a 4/5,although being so short. I have already read quite a bit on this so wouldnt want to read another big book on it,but the person who studied this gets a 4/5 for finding that TINY little missing piece that no one else has since 1922 .

Hi there Pontalba Great to see you too . Thanks for all the warm welcomes to all of you ! Finding any good reading material lately ? I have to get on the stick and get busy again.