Peacefield

Thanks, Paula! I'm just shy of the halfway point of The Technologists and might even finish it this weekend.

Love the AC/DC, Karsa! Right now I'm listening to the baseball game on the radio . Twins vs the Oakland A's and we are up 1-0! Go Twins!

Love mysteries! It's definitely my favorite genre. I haven't read a ton of series, but my most-loved would have to be: Thursday Next and Nursery Crimes by Jasper Fforde Flavia de Luce Mysteries by Alan Bradley Jonathan Argyle Art History Mysteries by Iain Pears Julian Kestrel Mysteries by Kate Ross I've just got the third in the Alan Bradley series so I haven't read it yet, but I loved the first two so I know I won't be disappointed. The Jonathan Argyle series is strictly a cozy but they are so lovely and hilarious! Love them .

Sending you loads of good vibes, Julie, and I hope today went well. Please know that I'm thinking of you and am glad you are right on top of this! :friends0:

I've been alternating the past few weeks... either Kashi cereal with fruit and yogurt on the side or a hard-boiled egg and a couple slices of this yummy grain-y bread toasted and topped with hummus or babaghanoush

I've only seen snippets of the Tour de France, but former winner Greg LaMond (or is it LeMond?) lives in MN and I took a Franklin Covey class with him once!

16 November is getting closer and closer! Thanks for posting that, Paula .

Hey there and welcome to BCF, Vicki! Glad you joined us!

Nice one, Paula! Love those guys always . I'm listening to the Dig, 'Red Rose in the Cold Winter Ground' .

Grrr! I can't find it, Frankie! I need to ogle Okay, I'm calm. Can you tell me what exactly you Googled to find him?

Aww, baby owls! Is it the one where he has one on each knee, Frankie? I just Google'd it and that's one that came up.

I like aquiring books as well. I don't feel pressure with my small TBR pile because I know they'll always be there. If a favorite author of mine comes out with a new book that I'm really excited about, I'll buy it. If I'm in a used book shop or at a library book sale, I'll buy because cheap books are my friends . If someone wants to lend me a book I'll take it because as long as they don't mind if I have it for an extended period of time, I'll get to it eventually. Keep in mind I don't buy massive amounts of books all the time, but it's a treat and it's exciting to have new things to look forward to.

Maybe a little bit of both, Frankie?? Come on, it's fun to be easy sometimes! Hubba, hubba, Chalie, gotta love the Depp man. As far as the site goes, Frankie, I'm totally unopposed to good posture dude on the Tube, Mr. Blue Hair and Orcas Island man. All very lovely

Woo for bumpage, Frankie! I'm always up for ogling hot guys, remember??

Ooooooh Simon! I saw Moonrise Kingdom yesterday and loved it. Honestly, if you guys will see only one film this year, make it Moonrise Kingdom. I've long said I'm a huge fan of Wes Anderson and that his first film, Bottle Rocket remains my favorite of his, but Moonrise Kingdom is the first of his that's come close to knocking Bottle Rocket out of the first place spot .

I didn't know he did a graphic novel, Kylie, cool! I will definitely have to seek that out. I haven't read his autobiography yet but am looking forward to it. I love him and pretty much everything he's involved in .

Well said, Frankie, I agree completely. These are just books. Yes I read the first book, no I don't plan on reading the rest, end of story. If someone asks me why I didn't like it I'll tell them, but I'm not going to actively tell people to steer clear of them. Yes it's unfair that some books are popular based on hype instead of true literary genius, but in my mind, life is sometimes unfair and it's not my responsibility to change what's popular. What is my responsibility is to ignore what I didn't enjoy and seek out what I know I'll like to read. Honestly, a majority of people who've read the SOG books have read them because of the hype. If half of the people who hated these books just stopped talking about them, they wouldn't be popular, seriously! People write these books because people buy them. I hold no judgement against people who like them. We all like different things and we're responsible for our own reading habits, so lighten up! Meanwhile, I'll keep reading my Matthew Pearl and be content .

Okay, so I mentioned on posting an updated TBR list for you guys. It's obviously changed since I last posted one, but keep in mind it's nowhere near the magnatitude of some of your guys' lists! So be kind . The Angel of Darkness Caleb Carr Ape House Sara Gruen Arcadia Lauren Groff The Book of Air and Shadows Michael Gruber Death in a Strange Country Donna Leon Delicate Edible Birds and Other Short Stories Lauren Groff Friends in High Places Donna Leon High Fidelity Nick Hornby The Host Stephenie Meyer How to Buy a Love of Reading Tanya Egan Gibson Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell Susanna Clarke The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Short Stories Susanna Clarke Luncheon of the Boating Party Susan Vreeland The Mysterious Benedict Society Trenton Lee Stewart Nerd Do Well Simon Pegg A Noble Radiance Donna Leon Palo Alto James Franco Popco Scarlett Thomas A Red Herring Without Mustard by C Alan Bradley Remarkable Creatures Tracy Chevalier A Scots Quair Lewis Grassic Gibbon Shopgirl Steve Martin Thursday Next in First Among Sequels Jasper Fforde Undead and Unwed Mary Janice Davidson The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami One of Our Thursdays is Missing Jasper Fforde The Art Thief Noah Charney No Humans Involved Kelley Armstrong Personal Demon Kelley Armstrong Living with the Dead Kelley Armstrong Frostbitten Kelley Armstrong Waking the Witch Kelley Armstrong Spellbound Kelley Armstrong The House at Riverton Kate Morton A World of Curiosities John Oldale Before the Poison Peter Robinson My Ever Dear Charlie: Letters Home from the Dakota Territory Edited by Arthur Draper The House of Velvet and Glass Katherine B Howe Shadow of Night Deborah Harkness Reliquary Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child Interview with a Vampire Anne Rice Marked PC Cast & Kristin Cast The Emigrants by Johan Bojer

Thanks for the info on Dead Ever After, Chesil. That's a long way off, and you're right, what's the point of just having a handful of days difference in release dates? Isn't it easier for everyone just to have one date? Weird. That's right, Kylie, she has read those so I'll have to ask her opinion as well. Yesterday I met my friend and her mom for breakfast and her mom brought me The Emigrants by Johan Bojer. It follows several Norwegian families from their life in Norway and their journey to the US and eventually west to settle in the (North) Dakota Territories in the late 1800's. Right up my alley! I've read pioneering books entirely set in the US, but it'll be interesting to read about life in their birthplace and what happened there that influenced their decision to travel to the US. I also stopped in Half Price Books on my way home last night and picked up the graphic novel of Shawn of the Dead . I couldn't pass it up when I saw it - I love that film!

I'm glad you're itching to read it now, Chesil . Do you know when the last official book of the series is being released? Have you or has anyone else here read any of Charlaine Harris' other works? Like her Harper Connelly series? I see these all the time and am curious about them.

I have One of Our Thursdays is Missing on my TBR pile, Kylie, so we'll have to compare notes after reading! Such cute pictures of cats. My Sascha is a constant talker and I'll admit sometimes I'm just not in the mood She meows when she wants something, or she'll try and carry on a conversation with me, or sometimes she just wanders my place and meows so I just assume that's something she does when she's bored, ha!

I had a bit of a shop yesterday at Half Price Books and came home with the following: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby Shopgirl by Steve Martin I'm only about a quarter of the way through The Technologists, but I'm really enjoying it and I know I won't be disappointed with the rest since I'm a diehard Matthew Pearl fan. Tonight or this weekend I plan on posting a new list of my books that are currently on my To Be Read bookshelf. I think the last time I did it was in 2010 and I can't find that on the forum any more so I'll make a new one. Stay tuned for further updates!

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris Synopsis via Amazon.com: It’s vampire politics as usual around the town of Bon Temps, but never before have they hit so close to Sookie’s heart… Growing up with telepathic abilities, Sookie Stackhouse realized early on there were things she’d rather not know. And now that she’s an adult, she also realizes that some things she knows about, she’d rather not see—like Eric Northman feeding off another woman. A younger one. There’s a thing or two she’d like to say about that, but she has to keep quiet—Felipe de Castro, the Vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), is in town. It’s the worst possible time for a human body to show up in Eric’s front yard—especially the body of the woman whose blood he just drank. Now, it’s up to Sookie and Bill, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl’s fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who’s set out to make Sookie’s world come crashing down. It was nice to be able to read a good old Sookie Stackhouse book again, especially to see the continuing differences between the novels and the TV show. Once I made my way into it though, I was reminded why I think it's probably a good idea that Charlaine Harris will be ending the series after the next (13th) installment. If I didn't enjoy her characters and writing as much as I did, I'd have probably left the series behind back about book 8, but never mind that. Deadlocked was a nicely paced, interesting read, especially since more was explored with the mysterious 'cluviel dor' that Sookie's gran left her. I enjoyed the way Sookie and Bill were able to work together, and Charlaine managed to open the curtain a little bit more on the world of the Fae and the ins and outs of life with them. I will say that I was really satisfied with the ending. I think it was very fitting and perfect, really. I'm curious to see if anyone else felt this way? Have any of you read this one?

It's funny, I was showing my new shelf to my mom yesterday and that's the exact same thing she said, that she wants it to have next to her bed! VF, it's from IKEA and meant to be a book shelf, apparently. They have wider versions too but this one I bought used and it fits perfectly in my little studio . Frankie, I agree, I love the shape of my lamp. I love any kind of 'drum' shade and it goes really well with the rest of my furnishings .

I'm not a huge Woody Allen fan either, but I will say that I absolutely LOVED his movie from last year with Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris. I just bought my own copy yesterday because honestly I could watch it over and over. If anyone here hasn't seen it, run out and do it now!