Wordsgood's 2012 Reads, Thoughts and other Drivel!

[Kylie]

You could have resurrected your thread, Wordsgood. I wish I had some helpful advice, but unfortunately I don't. I'm not that tech-minded.

 

I have this edition of The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. I love his writing and have read some random poems and tales from the book. It's quite a hefty tome, though, and the print is tiny, so I have bought one or two smaller collections of his stories as well.

[wordsgood]

You could have resurrected your thread, Wordsgood. I wish I had some helpful advice, but unfortunately I don't. I'm not that tech-minded.

 

I have this edition of The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. I love his writing and have read some random poems and tales from the book. It's quite a hefty tome, though, and the print is tiny, so I have bought one or two smaller collections of his stories as well.

 

About the old thread, I know I could have but I've been asking so many questions lately I'm trying not to wear out my welcome, so to speak.

 

Just checked out your edition and compared ISBN's and we don't have the same edition. I suspect though, that yours is the better copy just by what I read in the link. It's not that I'm terribly unhappy about mine, especially since I got it very cheaply, but I am a little surprised to have run across glaring typos right in the intro and then find out it's actually not as "complete" as the title indicates.

 

I've probably said this before, but I'm not that familiar with Poe's work so can't really speak to whether I will enjoy it or not. I've been more or less scanning it when nothing else holds my intention and some of it is catching my interest. However, and I hope I don't get hanged for speaking blasphemy, I did notice that some of the poetry sounded a bit like a phase teenage girls go though with their normal angst coming out in morbid poetry. (I was one of them, way back when... )

 

To be fair though, I will without anymore judgement until such a time as I am able really focus on what I'm reading! (She sighs as the crowd snuffs their torches, replaces the tar barrel covers and stop plucking the chickens. )

[wordsgood]

Okay, I finally managed to get some sleep. So, at least for the moment, I'm feeling a lot more human. Off to play now!

[wordsgood]

Edit: The mods have requested these two threads of mine be merged back into one, then kindly did it for me as I haven't a clue how to accomplish such a feat. Thank you Mods!

 

 

Okay, first off, yes I have started another thread!

 

I've decided to at least attempt to get back into writing reviews for my reads.

 

Please be patient though, as I don't know how often this will actually occur. (Especially right now with my latest life "news!") I'm at least going to try.

 

My original thread, as listed below, is already getting too bulky and hard to navigate when myself or anyone else tries to look for specific information - be it comments about any new books, or my haphazard partial and ongoing draft review of the Joseph Anton book.

 

I will still be keeping the other thread open too, but plan to use this one just for reviews and any comments or questions reader's might have about them.

 

This is not to be confused with my other thread - Wordsgood's 2012 Reads and new book acquisitions! - found here.

 

Hey, look...I just figured out, again, how to properly use the link button!

 

Please bear with me, my goals for this thread require a bit more explanation, so please do keep reading if you wouldn't mind!

 

Because I've been getting into book cataloguing software and building my own dictionary (which is specifically related to my own reading), I am also trying to locate any of past reviews of mine that are online to include with these projects. There were several others that I had on my hard-drive of the old computer, waiting to be cleaned up for postings, but they are now so deeply buried in hundreds of copied and compressed files that I many never get up the ambition to dig for them out. If I do come across any, I will post them here or in next years version of this thread.

 

I went through my 2008 blog to see what was there, and noticed it doesn't seem to be any of the actual reviews I wrote and posted at another site that year. Just snippets or hints about a few of them.

 

As many of you already know, I've been popping in and out of this forum for brief periods of time over the last 4 years. Life and computer issues kept getting in the way of my regular attendance here, until recently. I hope that no matter what chaos goes on in my life that any future disappearing acts will be far less often and for much briefer periods of time! As such I searched the site and I could be wrong, but it appears the 2008 blog is the only one I've done here, until now. When looking through that old one I noticed that I didn't really include much for reviews I know I've written, and nothing at all for other books listed there.

 

In the meantime, I'm now going to make at least 9 new posts after this one. The first 8 are books I've read at least twice and a few several times as I found them to be that good! I've gone back to the 5 star rating system as it seems to be the most popular on here. All of these 8 reads received a full 5 stars from me, then and now!

 

After I've got them posted, I will attempt to move all the various posts and comments about the Salman Rushdie book over to this thread, in as tidy a manner as I can make it for both threads.

 

Now, all that said, please keep in mind this project may take several days (or more) to complete. I've fetched the ones I had online but need to reformat and edit them first.

Edited November 5, 2012 by wordsgood

[wordsgood]

Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now, by Jan Wong

 

Trade Paperback: 416 pages

 

ISBN: 9780385256391

 

First published in 1996, I do know this is also available as an ebook.

 

Yes, this is a long post, but I hope if you are interested one or more of these genres - biography, history, current affairs, general non-fiction - you might want to continue reading.....

 

I've read this a couple of times now and give it an emphatic FIVE out of FIVE stars!

 

Side note: As I did not have my copy of this book readily on hand when updating my original review draft, I went looking online to locate a few details and happened upon a recent and rather shocking story about a protracted ordeal the author went through with her long-time employer. It has some creepy parallels to the book's subject matter. I've posted a link to it below my review at the bottom of this post, and recommend you take a look if you are interested in the issue of media censoring.

 

Amazon Book Link here

 

Book Blurb:

 

Jan Wong, a Canadian of Chinese descent, went to China as a starry-eyed Maoist in 1972 at the height of the Cultural Revolution. A true believer - and one of only two Westerners permitted to enroll at Beijing University - her education included wielding a pneumatic drill at the Number One Machine Tool Factory. In the name of the Revolution, she renounced rock and roll, hauled pig manure in the paddy fields, and turned in a fellow student who sought her help in getting to the United States. She also met and married the only American draft dodger from the Vietnam War to seek asylum in China.

 

Red China Blues begins as Wong's startling - and ironic - memoir of her rocky six-year romance with Maoism that began to sour as she became aware of the harsh realities of Chinese communism and led to her eventual repatriation to the West. Returning to China in the late eighties as a journalist, she covered both the brutal Tiananmen Square crackdown and the tumultuous era of capitalist reforms under Deng Xiaoping. In a wry, absorbing, and often surreal narrative, she relates the horrors that led to her disillusionment with the "worker’s paradise." And through the stories of the people - an unhappy young woman who was sold into marriage, China’s most famous dissident, a doctor who lengthens penises - Wong creates an extraordinary portrait of the world’s most populous nation. In setting out to show readers in the Western world what life is like in China, and why we should care, Wong reacquaints herself with the old friends - and enemies - of her radical past, and comes to terms with the legacies of her ancestral homeland.

 

My Review:

 

Jan Wong, a journalist, has a gripping writing style, a wicked sense of humour and a grasp of irony that makes for an enthralling read. More than just a tale of her youthful dabbling in communism, this book captures some of the darkest moments of China’s modern history, while starkly exposing the poverty and misery of the still badly oppressed rural populations. And yet, Wong also shows the indomitable spirit of a people that continue to face unimaginable challenges and heartache of a kind virtually unheard of in Western society, with tremendous courage and dignity.

 

Whether you have a passion the book’s subject matter, or are just a casual observer of China as it slowly leaves behind thousands of years of a traditionally feudalistic society (Communist government included), this book is a must read. Red China Blues provides keen insights into the both the distant past and recent history of China, its people and how they continue to confront the many challenges still facing them.

 

Wong uses her journalist skills to shine a bright light the dark side of China's lightening fast entry into the global, capitalist, consumer-based economy. A light that illuminates the many millions of peasants who still live much the same as they have for the last three thousand years; dirt poor, with little or no access to basic education or medical care, always at the ragged edge of starvation, and still at the mercy of their local overlords. Today’s government approved thugs have modern sounding titles like the “Party Secretary” something or other, and found everywhere, at all levels of society, even in the tiny villages of the poorest provinces, such as Gui Zhou. They use their position to fleece the peasants of what little is left after the Government's official taxation service gets their share, as has been the norm for rural communities for millennia, regardless of who ruled the nation. Be it the pre-20^th century emperors, or the communist party’s People’s Republic of China government that “liberated” them after the fall of China’s last dynastic family and a decades-long civil war with Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist party, “the people” are still treated and used as nothing more than expendable pawns in a never-ending power struggle that dates back thousands of years.

 

Planning a trip to China? Read this book before you go. It will help you understand that beneath the shiny new exterior of China's big cities, lies the very same people who have spent countless generations building kingdoms for various emperors and warlords. And, one might say, are still doing so for the Communist government that has been in power since 1949. Ordinary, common, hardworking people trying to survive in a system specifically designed to keep them down, while using up their life's blood to provide for the smallest portion of China's immense population - the elite, upper crust members of the Party, their families and connections. Yes, a lucky few have beaten the enormous odds and become part of China's nouveau rich, but countless millions are still left behind in a poverty level nearly impossible for even the poorest of many Westerners to grasp, myself included.

 

Do I believe, based on this and similar reads, that all, or even most, of the people in China’s massive government bureaucracy on the take? Of course not. Corruption is an unfortunate and perhaps unavoidable cancer found in any government. But in a one-party system with no real checks on the growth of their power or how it’s used, such as the freedom of press, the freedom of speech, or the ability to even stage a public protest without fear of persecution...basic rights and freedoms that we in the West tend to take for granted, governments like China’s can never truly claim to be working in the best interests of their own people.

 

No matter your taste in non-fiction, I can't recommend this book or the author highly enough. In some parts I wanted to reach in and choke the corrupt officials, at other times I was awed by the inner strength of a people who refused to be conquered or subjugated any longer. Tiananmen Square was just the beginning of their revolt. Slowly but surely, the people of China are regaining their power.

 

One lesson that this and similar reads keep driving home to me, is that while I might moan, groan and whine about the hoops I must jump through in my own government’s bureaucratic system to access and exercise my own rights and freedoms, I am fortunate to live in country where I can freely moan, groan and whine.

 

Related site note:

 

On an interesting and ironic side note, while looking up some information about the author and the original publication date of this book, I came across this recent story. It details Wong’s bitter struggle with her long-time employer, a major Canadian newspaper, over writing a story that “offended” the sensibilities of what could be termed the most xenophobic community of people in Canada, the French Canadians. The whole story is eerily similar to what she exposed in Red China Blues. Though in the end Wong did prevail (rightfully so!), I find myself suddenly not quite so proud of being Canadian. That I’m only hearing of this now, shows just how much power corporate media, and others among the “elite” actually have, especially in the eastern provinces. Okay, I'm not a news hound and don't read newspapers or watch the news with any kind of regularity, but still, you would think a story like this would have gotten more coverage.

[wordsgood]

Had more appointments today, which made me feel sorry for myself again, sooo, I chose my favourite forum of therapy and bought another book! I have to stop dealing with stress this way. That or learn we'll have learn to enjoy my books with a little seasoning. I wonder what would taste better, fiction or non-fiction?

 

Anyway, onto today's purchase.

 

Title: Leningrad: Tragedy of a City Under Siege, 1941 to 1994

Author: Anna Reid

Trade Paperback

Copyright: October 2, 2012 (First published August 3, 2011.)

Genre: Historical/Political Biography

ISBN: 9780143174172

 

Amazon Book Link:

 

Blurb:

 

On September 8, 1941, eleven weeks after Hitler launched his brutal surprise attack on the Soviet Union, Russia's historic capital-now once again named St. Petersburg-was surrounded. The siege was not lifted for two and a half years, by which time some three-quarters of a million civilians in Leningrad-one in three of its population-had died of starvation.

 

Stripping away decades of Soviet propaganda, Anna Reid's Leningrad is a gripping, authoritative narrative history of this dramatic twentieth-century tragedy, interwoven with indelible personal accounts drawn from diarists on both sides.

 

Drawing on newly available diaries, memoirs, and government records, Leningrad also tackles a raft of previously unanswered questions: Was the size of the death toll as much the fault of Stalin as of Hitler? Why didn’t the city fall to the Germans or collapse into anarchy? What decided who lived and who died? Impressive in its originality and literary style, it is a powerful work of history that gives voice to the dead and deepens our insight into mankind's inhumanity and generosity alike.

[wordsgood]

Another one I read and reviewed (elsewhere) a few years back.

 

 

 

********************************************

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, by Syrie James

Paperback: 303 pages

ISBN-13: 978-0061341427

My Rating: 5/5

 

Amazon Book Link:

 

 

Blurb from Amazon:

 

Many rumors abound about a mysterious gentleman said to be the love of Jane's life—finally, the truth may have been found...

 

What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen's memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? What if those pages revealed the untold story of a life-changing love affair? That's the premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen's life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.

 

Jane Austen has given up her writing when, on a fateful trip to Lyme, she meets the well-read and charming Mr. Ashford, a man who is her equal in intellect and temperament. Inspired by the people and places around her, and encouraged by his faith in her, Jane begins revising Sense and Sensibility, a book she began years earlier, hoping to be published at last.

 

Deft and witty, written in a style that echoes Austen's own, this unforgettable novel offers a delightfully possible scenario for the inspiration behind this beloved author's romantic tales. It's a remarkable book, irresistible to anyone who loves Jane Austen—and to anyone who loves a great story.

 

 

My Review:

 

If you are a hardcore Austen fan, then chances are you will greatly enjoy this book. Keeping so accurately to the known facts of Austen’s life as James does, it is often hard to remember that this is a work of pure fiction.

 

James writes in the 1st person as though she is Austen herself, confessing in her secret journal about the details of her one great love, now lost to her for all time. A talented writer indeed, she does a wonderful job of convincing the reader it is Austen herself. It effectively allows one to believe the situations, people and events described, acted as the actual inspiration for Austen's real works. For example, there are several various clues throughout the book which cleverly set up the "history" for how she came up with several of the scenes in her novels. If you know your Austen novels, you will recognize them without the footnotes that James provides.

 

All in all, this a powerful read that succeeded admirably in re-igniting my own love affair with the works of Jane Austen.

 

 

Related Note: The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte” by Syrie James

 

Based on the same “based on real life but not really kind of premise,” I thoroughly enjoyed it, but must admit that if I had bothered to write a review for this one, I would have given it only a ( ) 4/5. Perhaps if I’d not read the Austen one first, I would have expected quite so much. I’m not sure why, but the latter didn’t strike me quite as convincing as the former.

Edited November 5, 2012 by wordsgood

[wordsgood]

I've gotten about 100 pages further in Rushdie memoir and it's picking up. It's amazing how people vilified both his book, (The Satanic Verses) and him, without having read it or met him. I still haven't been able get my hands of on copy of his so-called insulting novel, but the fact that so many people all around the world decided to react so ridiculously to it - riots, hanging Rushdie in effigy, death threats - makes me want it even more than before. What's really sad is the mob mentality that follows this author and his work. People who had previously well received him and the "terrible" novel, that started this whole mess backed up quickly once others in power started denouncing Rushdie and the novel. And yes, I know I'm just stating this from his point of view right now, but really? Makes me ill when I think too much about it.

[wordsgood]

New Book and a Book Related Board Game!

 

Actually found these when out last Friday after an appt. and had the store put it on hold for me. Kind of forgot about them, but hubby was a sweetie and grabbed them on his lunch today.

 

First up, the book:

 

Title: Mao: the Real Story

Author: A.V. Pantsov

Translator of English Edition: Steven I. Levine

Copyright: Original Russian edition in 2007

Copyright: English Translation 2012

Hardcover - 755 pages

ISBN: 9781451654479

Genre: Political Biography

 

Amazon Blurb:

 

This major new biography of Mao uses extensive Russian documents previously unavailable to biographers to reveal surprising details about Mao’s rise to power and his leadership in China.

 

Mao Zedong was one of the most important figures of the twentieth century, the most important in the history of modern China. A complex figure, he was champion of the poor and brutal tyrant, poet and despot.

 

Pantsov and Levine show Mao’s relentless drive to succeed, vividly describing his growing role in the nascent Communist Party of China. They disclose startling facts about his personal life, particularly regarding his health and his lifelong serial affairs with young women. They portray him as the loyal Stalinist that he was, who never broke with the Soviet Union until after Stalin’s death.

 

Mao brought his country from poverty and economic backwardness into the modern age and onto the world stage. But he was also responsible for an unprecedented loss of life. The disastrous Great Leap Forward with its accompanying famine and the bloody Cultural Revolution were Mao’s creations. Internationally Mao began to distance China from the USSR under Khrushchev and shrewdly renewed relations with the U.S. as a counter to the Soviets. He lived and behaved as China’s last emperor.

 

 

And now the game.

 

Scrabble: Booklovers Edition

 

This has cards you can somehow use to increase your score by using literary words. Haven't really looked at it yet but between the blurb on that box and the 50% off sticker, I just had to get it!

Edited October 31, 2012 by wordsgood

[vodkafan]

Ah, Russian names can be so much fun . Pantsov is right up there with Alexander Kutiznutzov.

[wordsgood]

Ah, Russian names can be so much fun . Pantsov is right up there with Alexander Kutiznutzov.

 

[wordsgood]

More about the book: Joseph Anton, A Memoir, by Salman Rushdie

 

I have reached a point in the book where Rushie starts going into detail about when his book is banned in Iran, Khomeini's fatwa and the demonization movement about both his book and him starting to catch on worldwide. It got me thinking......

 

 

I realise that I am venturing into very deep waters here that encompass a lot of intertwined, complex and difficult issues which cross borders, cultures, race, and religion. I don’t have the answers on how to fix any of it, but also don’t think we should be afraid to talk about these things. After all, how will we ever learn to get along if we don’t?

 

This may all come across as anti-religious, but is not intended that way. I think religion can be a very powerful tool and a force of great good in many ways. My issue is that religion is, and always has been, historically speaking, used as one of many excuses to cause alienation, xenophobia, outright hated, horrible acts of violence, oppression, and war. To my way of thinking, it is the one of the biggest (though certainly not the only) barriers to creating a truly multicultural, global society in which we can all live peacefully. One where we can all believe and practice whatever faith, if any, we want to!

 

Why do I think this? Because it seems to me that too many people are unable, or unwilling, to separate culture from religion. It appears happen a lot on both sides of the immigration coin. Immigrants are rejected for looking differently, speaking a different language, having a different colour of skin, having a “foreign” religion and different views on morality and social norms. But the flip side is also true. There are immigrants who move to countries with a completely different culture, language, social mores and religious beliefs, but rather than trying to keep their culture and faith while adapting to their new home, refuse to integrate into their adopted society at all, instead demanding their new society change to accommodate their version of the “right” way to live.

 

I don’t always agree with some of the basic tenets of most religions, and I think that many of the things people believe in as undeniable truths, are simply wrong, even those of my husband’s faith. To be clear, I do NOT mean morally wrong, I mean just wrong as in I don’t personally believe in a higher power of any kind. I do not accept that the writings of any holy text as “proof” that such beings exists, being written as they were by fallible human beings. Nor do I consider personal anecdotes about someone’s near death experience, or some such, as “proof” of anything. By the same token, I will also admit that I could be wrong.

 

My purpose in expressing these thoughts is that Rushdie’s story, especially has he presents it, does a great job of showing the dangers of a mob mentality, as well as exactly how it can start, evolve and snowball far beyond anyone’s expectations. And his story as a whole shows how such things can be harmful, even deadly, to far more people than “just” the initial targets of such senseless mayhem.

 

You have only to remember relatively recent other events, such as the riots over the Danish cartoons to realize that yes, such situations are indeed often used as a trigger mechanism by those with an agenda, as I believe was the case with the cartoons, to incite hatred, violence and racism to fulfill those agendas. To be clear, I do not personally think the papers or the cartoonists did anything wrong. I believe there were certain people or groups that used the cartoons as a way to incite folks to achieve their own political agenda. There are many such incidents worldwide before that happened before the whole cartoon fiasco, and many since. Some have been relatively “minor” resulting in “only” a “few” casualties and minimal property damage, while many ended with considerably larger loss of life and billions of dollars in property/infrastructure damage.

 

Offensive or not, it is (or was until recently) and should continue to be, acceptable in ANY free and supposedly-secular, Western Society, to lampoon public officials like politicians, as well as historical and/or religious figures and icons. I am strongly against religion having any part whatsoever in state’s business, legal, educational, or other infrastructure. I DO believe in the freedom of religion and the ability to practice whatever faith you want so long as it does not infringe on the rights, freedoms and public spaces of the rest of society. Have your churches, temples and mosques, where whatever you want, but I emphatically do not agree with anyone - be it a religious group, political or any other special interest group - being able to influence, in any way, shape, or form, a nations laws, judicial systems, educational curriculum, freedom of the press, or what people can write or publish. The latter of which is the equivalent, in my opinion, of burning books.

 

Hate speech is, to me, an entirely different matter. The Danish cartoon fiasco, for example, was not hate speech; it was simply a couple of cartoons that lampooned a long dead, but still much revered figure in the Islamic faith. Were they in bad taste given the large Muslim community there, especially with so many being relatively recent immigrants, of whom many had come to seek sanctuary from war torn and oppressive regimes? Probably, but “in poor taste” does not automatically equal hate speech.

 

Rushdie wrote a novel – a fictional book – based on his own experiences a feeling not truly comfortable in the home or faith he was born into, nor in the nation he adopted as his home. He did not attack Islam or the Prophet, yet still found his book and himself being targeted as insulting, even satanic, before it was even published, with the initial attacks coming in based only on advance reviews and articles about it!

 

So without having even read the book, Rushdie suddenly found himself with a price on his head, not to mention the other people whose lives were threatened, and sometimes lost, simply for being somehow in his orbit, however remotely.

 

Regardless of the motives of those who started with the ban on Rushdie’s book, or those who initially slammed his character, his story as whole demonstrates how easily the mob mentality spreads, snowballs and catches up people you would normally think of as rational, stable beings that would never indulge in such violent activities. Basically, it’s schoolyard bullying on a global, and deadly, scale.

 

Responses are welcome!

Edited November 7, 2012 by wordsgood

[wordsgood]

I keep seeing a biography about Heinrich Himmler that is still in hardcover format so a bit pricey, but I really want it anyway. Problem is that I'm about 70% sure I've already have purchased a copy, but if I did, I've managed to somehow misplace it. Darned annoying and more than a bit puzzling since the thing is huge!

[wordsgood]

Well folks, I had my first appointment with the neurologist who will be treating me from here out. It was a more a brief check in to go over things and reassure me she will do everything in her power to help me, than a long consult with discussion about my history or possible treatment. She did say it is very likely that I have MS since childhood, but explained the main reason it wasn't caught then was mostly because doctors didn't think children could get such a disease. As for why not in the last 20 odd years, she said it's still a huge problem getting the medical profession in general to start listening more, communicating with each other more all across the different fields, educating themselves on things that are new or not their specialty, and in being open to accepting that tests are not the be all end all of diagnosis. Actually, one of her statements about her views on this disease and how it is so often ignored or misdiagnosed, was, "if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck..."

 

She agrees I have to get a new GP and has offered to speak with any I can get to meet with me to go over my case and assure them I'm not a rabid lunatic! It's still gonna be really tough, but I'm really hoping that's the going to be the ace card I need this time around. At the moment, she wants to wait for the next set of scans and some other stuff that's been ordered, before committing to stating what kind of MS I've got or starting me on a treatment drug.

 

All in all, I'm quite happy with the results of this meeting and some others I've recently had with our local MS Society. Folks are finally listening and I finally don't feel like I'm some kind of crazy loony imagining everything anymore.

[Brian.]

I keep seeing a biography about Heinrich Himmler that is still in hardcover format so a bit pricey, but I really want it anyway. Problem is that I'm about 70% sure I've already have purchased a copy, but if I did, I've managed to somehow misplace it. Darned annoying and more than a bit puzzling since the thing is huge!

 

I've done this. Many years ago I bought a superb book all about the evidence that had been discovered in Russian archives all about the final days of the war in Berlin and the death of Hitler. Sadly I managed to lend it to someone and forget who it was, so far no one I know has owned up to having it so I think its gone.

[wordsgood]

I've done this. Many years ago I bought a superb book all about the evidence that had been discovered in Russian archives all about the final days of the war in Berlin and the death of Hitler. Sadly I managed to lend it to someone and forget who it was, so far no one I know has owned up to having it so I think its gone.

 

I ended up giving up trying to find it since the paperback just came out a few days ago and I found out I could order the hardcover for less than the paperback version is going for. So I did. Oh well, the worst that will happen is I end up with two copies. Certainly wouldn't be the first time.

[frankie]

Re Gellhorn: I'd never actually heard of her before but I kept seeing this book put on sale repeatedly so finally gave it a gander at the store, and got sucked in rather quickly. And yes, I do like reading about the lives of authors so welcome all recommendations. I will definitely look into "Between the Sheets" so thanks for that one!

 

I only just spotted this, sorry! I googled Gellhorn, and she was the third wife of Ernest Hemingway, and that's why she was in the book (their coupledom was one of the nine represented in BtS). I can't believe I didn't remember that, Hemingway is someone I'm very, very interested in.

[wordsgood]

Hopefully I have found the right thread.  I mean I know it's mine, just can't recall if this is the one I'm supposed to use.  I recall having two merged, but that's about all I remember...

 

Anyway, I'm here so will dive right in.  As for actual books, I haven't really gotten any new ones in the last few months.  Must be a new record for me!  I have too many unread ones and my reading mojo is at an all point low. 

 

In other news, we have our house back.  Finally, at long last, we have our house back!  Privacy and access to your own bathroom is a wonderful thing!!!    Things with my Dad reached a boiling point so we didn't really give him much choice.  But he's with a brother, and it's better all around.  He's further away from town than he'd like, but it's better for all of us.  The truly surprising part was having one of my siblings actually step up for once. 

 

We did tell the kids not to get any ideas about empty rooms...    Seriously though, they can come for a visit, but no-one is ever, and I mean ever, gonna move in the us again!  Love 'em all, but from a distance please!

 

Hubby's out of work at the moment and while things are really tight, this was a break he definitely needed.  Actually, that was the major incentive to get Dad out.  I think they were both exceptionally patient, but...well, you get the picture.

 

Not really much else going on in my life.  Got my furballs to worship and spoil.  Doctors to avoid.  Books galore waiting for me to read.  Um...yup, that's about it!

 

WAIT WAIT WAIT........I DO have some exciting news to share after all!  This past May was our 18th wedding anniversary and hubby surprised with a diamond ring!!!!   I used to have one he gave me for our 5th, but it was stolen a few years ago.  Did not think I'd ever have another, but apparently hubby had been selling some collectibles and squirreling bits of cash away for a long time and boom, he got me another one!!!!  Isn't new, but I don't care.  It's very pretty and I'm deeply honoured to come before Star Wars stuff!    Seriously, you know a guy loves when he's willing to give up some of his toys!     

 

And now I really am done.  Cheers!

 

Wordsgood

[Athena]

Nice to hear things are working out for you. The ring sounds really sweet!

 

Happy (belated) anniversary!

[wordsgood]

Thank you, Athena!  The ring is very nice.  Shiny!  He even got the size right!

 

I'm actually very relieved things have worked out as they did.  I got so used to always being the one who took care of everything, I'd kind of forgotten what having my own life was like.  I do wish things had gone smoother with my Dad, but I checked in with him the other day and things are calming down.  One of the kids was feeling cheeky though when I said no more coming back and tried to pull out her puppy dog eyes. 

[pontalba]

Hurrah! Hurrah for having your own life back on track.   And, on top of that, a diamond. 

Smooth, schmoove...life never is, so you've made the best of it, I'm happy for you.

 

Glad to see you back here.

[chaliepud]

I'm glad things are working out for you WG!  And a diamond too; after a dog, a girls best friend!

[Chrissy]

That is wonderful wordsgood.  And to have a sparkly to cap it all!

[wordsgood]

Thank you ladies for the warm wishes, welcome backs, congrats and flowers!  They are all very much appreciated!

 

I'm very happy to be back too. These are for all of you....     

[wordsgood]

Hopefully nothing will go wrong with this post.  I'm having issues with my internet coverage at them moment so it's been kind of iffy about letting me post anything online.  Will hopefully have that resolved soon.

 

It's been a while since I lasted posted in my thread and I've purchased a few books since the last entry.  Unfortunately I can't recall or locate all of them at the moment, but here's a couple that haven't yet been lost in the ever growing stacks around the house.

 

First the Non-Fiction:

 

Title:  Wanted Women...Faith, Lies & the War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali & Aafia Siddiqui

Author:  Deborah Scroggins

Genre(s):  Political Commentary/Biography

ISBN:  978-0-06-08987-7  (Hardcover)

Link to Goodread's Blurb:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11663678-wanted-women

 

 

Title:  The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

Author:  Steve Pinker

Genre(s):  Sociology/Phycology/History

ISBN:  978-0-14-312201-2  (Paperback)

Link to Goodread's Blurb:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11107244-the-better-angels-of-our-nature

 

Title:  Diary of a Witness, 1940-1943: The Ordeal of the Jews of France During the Holocaust

Author:  Raymond Raoul-Lambert

Edited By:  Richard I. Cohen

ISBN:  9781-56663-740-4 (Hardcover)

Genre(s):  WWII/History/The Holocaust

Book Blurb: 
For years, the diary of Raymond-Raoul Lambert has been among the most important un-translated records of the experience of the Jews of France in the Holocaust. It covers three years of the war, terminating on the day before Lambert's arrest in August 1943 and his shipment to Drancy.  Four months later he and his wife and their four children were deported to Auschwitz, where they all perished. Because of his attention to bureaucratic detail and his careful relationships with his French and German overseers, Lambert may seem a less than heroic figure, but his diary has saved many lives and is a major addition to Holocaust literature.

 

 

And now one Fiction read:

 

Title:  The Third Kingdom: A Richard and Kahlan Novel

Author:  Terry Goodkind

Genre:  Fantasy

ISBN:  978-0-385-68136-0 (Hardcover)

About:  This is the 2nd book in new spin-off saga from the Sword of Truth series.  Peace had come at last to the newly expanded and re-forged D'Haran Empire.  The Mid-Lands, along with all the other lands of the New World have been absorbed into D'Hara under the rule of the Seeker and his bride, the Mother Confessor.  It seemed life without war and strife was finally over now that the war with Imperial Order had finally been won.  But in the midst of celebrating Cara and Benjamin's wedding - a first for a Mord-Sith - prophecy rears it's ugly head again, and this time it includes and ancient machine that no-one even knew existed until now.  What do you do when even the Seeker, the Mother Confessor, the First Wizard Zorander, and Nici, arguably the most powerful sorcerous ever to live, are at a loss about how to deal with this new threat?

 

 

That's all I've got for now.  Cheers!   

 

Wordsgood

Edited October 1, 2013 by wordsgood