Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

Folks, please continue this thread for as long as you'd like.

Meanwhile, I will start Part Five of this same thread for those readers who are intimidated by long threads.

I do this because it's been my experience that when I come into a group and see a thread with a large number of posts, I often feel it's too late for me to join in. By the same token, a newcomer may not feel comfortable jumping into a long established conversation.

Becky wrote: "Love Will Smith....

Loved Cold Mountain....

& the review that I read here on Goodreads was one of the most negative things I have ever read....it was almost trying to write as much bad as possibl..."I thought Cold Mountain was one of the best books I've read. nina

Today I finished watching the DVD of "Cold Mountain". I enjoyed it very much. It was heart-tugging and sad, but the magnetic chemistry between Jude Law and Nicole Kidman kept me interested. Renée Zellweger added a lot to the movie as well, as did many of the other characters in the movie. I'd give it 5 stars out of five. Great movie. It did a good job of protraying the awfulness of the Civil War.

Zellweger won an Oscar as "Best Actress in a Supporting Role". Her dramatization of the character, Ruby Thewes, was something to see!

Below is a link to the other nominations and awards:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159365/a...

It was a very good movie-I was wondering what you would think of it. I thought Jude Law was fantastic....

Becky wrote: "It was a very good movie-I was wondering what you would think of it. I thought Jude Law was fantastic...."

Yes, Jude Law was excellent. He was nominated for an Oscar, but Sean Penn won it for "Mystic River" instead.

Nicole Kidman was nominated for several awards but didn't win any of them. The 2004 Oscar went to Charlize Theron for "Monster".

Becky wrote: "Started A Tree Grows In Brooklyn...."


Best book ever!! I read this book as a young child, and have probably re-read it at least 10 times since. It sits on my book shelf for me to read again whenever I get the urge. Love it, love it, love it!

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Jim wrote: "The Day of the Triffids is also by John Wyndham. It was a good, grade B SF..."


I never read this book, but saw the movie years ago when I was a youngster. Scared the "you-know-whats" out of me!!

I am currently reading "Possible Side Effects" by Augusten Burroughs. He is one of my favorite authors.

Kathy wrote: "'The Day of the Triffids' ... I never read this book, but saw the movie years ago when I was a youngster. Scared the "you-know-whats" out of me!! "

Kathy, when I receive my Netflix DVD of the movie, I'll find out what scared you. They say it's a horrifying science fiction story, a "classic".

Kathy wrote: "I am currently reading "Possible Side Effects" by Augusten Burroughs. He is one of my favorite authors."

I've never read anything by Augusten Burroughs. His GR profile says he is "known for his New York Times bestselling memoir _Running with Scissors- (2002), which spawned a feature film of the same name."

Hmmm that sounds interesting. I've put "Running with Scissors" on my Netflix queue.

As for his book _Possible Side Effects_, the book description says that this book is:
===================================================
"his latest collection of memoir-essays. ... a series of funny, extremely eloquent takes on modern life ... Irreverence done to an amusing turn. - ALA Booklist"
===================================================

You should have some fun with that book, Kathy.

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I am currently reading "Possible Side Effects" by Augusten Burroughs. He is one of my favorite authors."

I've never read anything by [a:Augusten Burroughs|3058|Augusten Burroughs|ht..."


I read "Running With Scissors", and thought it was excellent. Augusten Burroughs has lived a bizarre life, and I love his writing style. Apparently, his brother and his "crazy" mother have also jumped on the literary bandwagon, so I will probably read what they have when I get my hands on them.

I think I will lump all my replies/comments into one post.

First off, I read in some earlier posts that someone gave a negative review of "To Kill a Mockingbird". That book is one of the greatest ever written, and one of the few movies that ever held true to the story.

I, personally, am not a Nicholas Sparks fan. Everyone I know raves about him, but I could not even get through "The Notebook". That's just my opinion, though, so please don't hold it against me.

Now, I am wondering if any members have read "Enemy Women" by Paulette Jiles. I really like this book, and it kind of reminds me of "Cold Mountain". The only thing I found difficult about it, is that all the conversations back and forth between characters have no punctuation, ie: quotes, etc. But, if you haven't read it, put it on your list.

I think that's it for now.

Kathy wrote: "Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I am currently reading "Possible Side Effects" by Augusten Burroughs. He is one of my favorite authors."

I've never read anything by [a:Augusten Bu..."
I totally agree with you about, "To Kill a Mockingbird." Great novel and great movie. My daughter who read it in high school thought it taught her more about civil rights than any history lesson. And I think Enemy Women sounds familiar..Clue me in again on the theme. thanks, nina

Kathy wrote: "I, personally, am not a Nicholas Sparks fan. Everyone I know raves about him, but I could not even get through "The Notebook"...
... Now, I am wondering if any members have read "Enemy Women" by Paulette Jiles"

Kathy, can you tell us what it was about Nicholas Spark's book, _The Notebook_, which you didn't like? I'm curious to see if your criticisms are the same as mine.

As for the book,_Enemy Women A Novel_ by Paulette Jiles. I haven't read it, but I see that the Goodreads description says:
====================================================
"Set in the Missouri Ozarks during the Civil War, Jiles's story focuses on the trying times of 18-year-old heroine Adair Colley."
====================================================

Kathy, thanks for the recommendation.

I am about to read The Thirteenth Tale. I have heard a lot of good things about it. I am anxious to read it.

Perpendicularandi wrote: "I am about to read The Thirteenth Tale. I have heard a lot of good things about it. I am anxious to read it."

Ah, the book description for _The Thirteenth Tale A Novel_ by Diane Setterfield mentions "dark family secrets". That always puts the hook in. :)

I see that our member, Cindy, said in her review about the book:
===================================================
"This book was totally engrossing for me. I couldn't wait to finish it but then again didn't want it to end!"
====================================================
Enjoy the book, Randi.

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I, personally, am not a Nicholas Sparks fan. Everyone I know raves about him, but I could not even get through "The Notebook"...
... Now, I am wondering if any members have read "Enem..."Thanks for the description; still doesn't ring a bell except for the title. I will check it out on Amazon.

Werner wrote: "Margaret, you asked me to recommend some SF titles that focus on the sociological side of the genre. I'd start with the five best (IMO) works of the dystopian tradition, which are, in chronologica..."


Thanks so much Werner for this - I obviously asked the right person! I'm intrigued to see William Dean Howells' name in this context. I read A Modern Instance years ago for an American Lit course in college (and I remember being surprised how much I liked it!) but I didn't know he had an interest in Utopian communities. I'll check it out! I guess I'm not surprised that the novels in the Utopian tradition are less interesting - reminds me of The Sheep's Song in Bernstein's CANDIDE, when the hero and his companions arrive at last in El Dorado:

"Every sky is blue and sunny,
Every face you see is glad,
There's no greed or need for money,
Or a synonym for bad.
Here each man is each man's brother
Here we sleep untroubled sleep
Every day is like the other -
Very nice, if you're a sheep."
:)

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Today I finished watching the DVD of "Cold Mountain". I enjoyed it very much. It was heart-tugging and sad, but the magnetic chemistry between Jude Law and Nicole Kidman kept me interested. Renée Z..."Cold Mountain was one of the few movies that stood up to the excellence of the book. I so admired the writing, aside from the heart wrenching plot. nina

Just watched DVD "Flightplan," and I don't say it is a great movie but it kept me on the edge of the couch until the very end..I recommend it if you are in for a bit of excitement..nina After all that I am ready to snubble up in between my pillows with Dear Dewey.

You're welcome, Margaret. Thanks for sharing the lines from "The Sheep's Song;" that quote is precious!

Margaret wrote: "...I guess I'm not surprised that the novels in the Utopian tradition are less interesting - reminds me of The Sheep's Song in Bernstein's CANDIDE, when the hero and his companions arrive at last in El Dorado:
'Every sky is blue and sunny,
Every face you see is glad,
There's no greed or need for money,
Or a synonym for bad.
Here each man is each man's brother
Here we sleep untroubled sleep
Every day is like the other -
Very nice, if you're a sheep.' :)"

LOL - Margaret, thanks for posting that precious verse from The "Sheep's Song" in Bernstein's operetta, "CANDIDE".

It reminds me of an anecdote I once read about a man who finds himself in a strange land where he's feeling depressed and painfully bored and tired of the world. He meets a postman and asks him "Where am I?". The postman replies: "This is the place for all the people who have everything they want and have accomplished everything they've ever wanted to do."

That's just a paraphrase of the anecdote; I can't remember the actual story. But you get the gist, I'm sure. :)

Below is the Goodreads link to Leonard Bernstein's operetta, "CANDIDE": ====>
Candide

I didn't find much there about the lyrics to "Sheep's Song" so I searched further and finally found out that the lyrics were written by Stephen Sondheim, one of my favorite lyricists. No wonder they struck a chord in me!

Evidently the lyrics to the different songs in Bernstein's operetta, Candide, were written by a number of different people.
Below are the notes I found about this and also the link to more info:
===================================================
Sheep Song [Sheep's Song:] (from operetta "Candide") [Sondheim:]
...It is one of the three songs with lyrics written entirely by Sondheim ...
FROM: http://www.sondheimguide.com/Candide/...
====================================================

Becky wrote: "I am finishing up A Mercy by Toni Morrison..."

I just finished A Mercy and I loved it. This is my first post so I hope I'm doing this right. Joy, I live in Cohoes, NY and I worked in Glens Falls many years ago.

Nina wrote: "Just watched DVD "Flightplan," and I don't say it is a great movie but it kept me on the edge of the couch until the very end..I recommend it if you are in for a bit of excitement... After all that I am ready to snubble up in between my pillows with Dear Dewey...."

Nina, below is the Netflix summary:
==================================================
Flightplan(2005) PG-13
"A mother's sanity is called into question when her child disappears during a plane flight in this tense thriller. Still reeling from her husband's unexpected death, Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) is on a plane heading from Berlin to New York when her daughter vanishes. When the captain (Sean Bean) and the air marshal (Peter Sarsgaard) begin to doubt that the child was ever on board, Kyle realizes she must rely on herself to find her little girl."
=====================================================
Oooo, I could do without a "tense thriller" right now, Nina. But I could do with curling up with a book, like you did. :)

Donna wrote: "I just finished A Mercy and I loved it. This is my first post so I hope I'm doing this right. Joy, I live in Cohoes, NY and I worked in Glens Falls many years ago."

Hi Donna - Welcome to the group! I'm happy to know you're familiar with Glens Falls.
Yes, your post is fine; you did it right.

Our library group is considering reading _A Mercy_ by Toni Morrison. I tried reading her book, _Beloved_ but couldn't get into it. They say that _Mercy_ is easier to read. I hope so.

A coincidence: A friend of mine in CA wrote recently to tell me she had just uncovered a book she loved but hadn't read in twenty years..She read it again and still loved it..The title, "Moonflower Vine." I think I read it long ago also, but she is mailing it to me so I can read it again. It originally came into print in 1964. The following morning after she mentioned this book I was reading the morning news and there was an article about a book being reissued because it was once so popular and very well written and yes, it was Moonflower Vine. Now I am quite anxious to read it again. Have any of you read it? nina

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "...it was Moonflower Vine. Now I am quite anxious to read it again. Have any of you read it?"

Nina, I haven't read _Moonflower Vine_ by Jetta Carleton, but I see from the Goodreads page for the book that many of the Goodreads reviews gave it 5 stars. It must be a good read.

Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "Joy H. (of Glens Falls) wrote: "...it was Moonflower Vine. Now I am quite anxious to read it again. Have any of you read it?"

Nina, I haven't read _[b:Moonflower Vine|1767774|Moonflower Vine|Jetta..."I will let you know my opinion of this book after I read it again. nina

I'm starting on the 4th book in the Twilight series: Breaking Dawn. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with Bella and I'm starting to really dislike Jacob too. As always, Edward is still my favorite character, he's a better person than either of them.

Here is a quote from our Monday morning edition:
"To the world you many be one person, but to one person you many be the world." Sorry but they didn't print the author but isn't it a nice quote to start the day? I am starting, "Called Out of Darkness," by Anne Rice today..Let you know later what I think of it. My priest friend suggested I read it; partly because he is one of the ones she dedicated the book to, besides to her father. nina

Jackie wrote: "I'm starting on the 4th book in the Twilight series: Breaking Dawn. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with Bella and I'm starting to really dislike Jacob too. As always, Edward is still my favorite character, he's a better person than either of them."

Jackie, I haven't read any of the _Twilight_ series, but when we saw the movie together, I didn't feel a dislike for any of the characters. I know that some people have been annoyed with Bella for being such a foolish girl for having such an infatuation for Edward. But I must confess, in my younger days, I had such infatuations myself. LOL

As for Jacob, I'm not sure I remember who he was.

Nina wrote: "Here is a quote from our Monday morning edition:
"To the world you many be one person, but to one person you many be the world." Sorry but they didn't print the author but isn't it a nice quote to start the day? I am starting, "Called Out of Darkness," by Anne Rice today..."

Nina, I love that quote! I've seen it online, attributed to two different people, Bill Wilson and Brandi Snyder. I'm not sure if either of them are the true authors. But the significance of the quote is so touching. It reminds me of something our vet said to us: "No one will ever love you like your dog loves you." LOL

As for the Anne Rice book, _Called Out of Darkness A Spiritual Confession_, I haven't read it, but I liked what Jackie said about it at the following topic:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
See Message 27.
Jackie is such an independent thinker.
I love it!

Thanks you Joy. I make up my own mind, I'm not easily swayed by popular consensus. It's a trait I've passed on to my son. He has a mandatory assignment about Lincoln and Obama, when they read his essay they're going to wish they were better teachers. I think he did a fantastic job.

This is about the Jefferson visit to your Lake George..Wasn't that a wonderful way he had with words? Now that is a cliche when we think of the Declaration of Independence..But the description was beautiful and I am sure you felt he did justice to describing your lake..Sounds so enchanting. nina

Jefferson and Franklin are two of my greatest heroes. What great minds they had, both of them.

Joy,
I loved the first one, Twilight, I can relate to the infatuation and easily forgive it in others, LOL But Bella gets so outrageously selfish in the next novels, it drives me absolutely crazy. In a way, I wish I never continued with the series. All I know is, Edward better wind up happy in the end or I'm going to be livid!
Jacob was the gorgeous Native American boy with the long black hair, his father was in a wheelchair. It's where Bella got her truck from. Does that help?

Jackie wrote: "Thanks you Joy. I make up my own mind, I'm not easily swayed by popular consensus."

I admire that, Jackie.
Your son is lucky.

Nina wrote: "This is about the Jefferson visit to your Lake George..Wasn't that a wonderful way he had with words? Now that is a cliche when we think of the Declaration of Independence..But the description was ..."

Yes, Jefferson did do justice to our lake and its gorgeous features. We have many groups who are trying to preserve the pristine beauty of Lake George. People used to drink the water right out of the lake. That's how clean it was. It's still pretty clean and clear.

The following link will take you to one of my albums which has a photo showing how clear the water is: ====>
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album...

Lovely pictures and yes, the water looked clear especially in the photo, HEADING HOME>and what were the beautiful red bushes: were they burning bushes? Nice way to get ready for bedtime with such peaceful scenes..Good Night, nina

Not to burts anyone's bubble but the lake isn't pristine clean. Probably cleaner than other waterways in the US. I work on the Lake and I've seen how nasty the bottoms(of boats) are after being in the lake only one week. I can't even bring myself to go in the water anymore. And there's no way I'd drink it. I won't even let Juneau drink out of it, I bring water for him on our walks. My husband lets him drink out of it though. If I didn't work where I do, I probably wouldn't feel the way I do; I wouldn't know it wasn't as clean as I'd like it to be. Sometimes I do think ignorance is bliss, LOL

Right now I'm reading Four to Score by Janet Evanovich I'm about half way into it. Really enjoying the Stephanie Plum series.

Nina wrote: "Lovely pictures and yes, the water looked clear especially in the photo, HEADING HOME>and what were the beautiful red bushes: were they burning bushes? Nice way to get ready for bedtime with such p..."

I'm not sure what kind of bushes they were, Nina.
But that whole day was a beautiful day.

Jackie wrote: "Not to burts anyone's bubble but the lake isn't pristine clean. Probably cleaner than other waterways in the US. I work on the Lake and I've seen how nasty the bottoms(of boats) are after being i..."

Jackie, you're at the southern end of the lake. We're at the northern end. There's much less boat traffic at the northern end and it's much more peaceful. I can always see through the water to the bottom of the lake. It looks very clear to me.

The islands at the northern end of the lake have no residences along the nearby shorelines. So they stay the most pristine. That's where we do a lot of our swimming.

Much of the shoreline is owned by the state or the Lake George Land Conservancy. They see to it that the area stays pristine and untouched. That's why we like the islands and the northern end of the lake.

Yes, there's more algae nowadays and that causes the boat bottoms to get coated, but the environmental groups are working very hard to remedy that situation.

Susan wrote: "Right now I'm reading Four to Score by Janet Evanovich I'm about half way into it. Really enjoying the Stephanie Plum series."

Thanks for the links, Susan.

_The Grand Finale LP_ by Janet Evanovich is #5 on the Bestseller Lists for Paperback Mass-Market Fiction. Evanovich is a such a popular author!

I wonder what the LP stands for.

BTW, see the Best Seller lists here: ====>
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/be...

Joy,
Yes, our end of the Lake is full of tourists and a lot of motor activity in the Lake. It makes all the difference. I'd love to see you end of the Lake, it sounds so much nicer and more peaceful that this end.

Jackie wrote: "Joy, Yes, our end of the Lake is full of tourists and a lot of motor activity in the Lake. It makes all the difference. I'd love to see you end of the Lake, it sounds so much nicer and more peac..."

Maybe we can arrange that, Jackie. I always love to show off the islands. When I share them, I renew my pleasure in them. By this time of the year, I'm longing for them. I guess it's the "call of the wild".

Now... if I could get Eddie to repair our boat seats, I wouldn't be so ashamed of our old boat. :) It's only 19 feet but it has a large comfortable cabin with a porta potty. It's hard to find smaller boats like ours with cabins nowadays. So many of them are bow-riders.

To stay on-topic and give it a nod (g), I'll mention the following boat-related book: _Salty Dog Talk The Nautical Origins of Everyday Expressions_ .

PS-BTW, I started a group for Lake George boaters. See it at: ====>
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
So far, no one has discovered it. My alter-ego "Seadancer" isn't a very good PR person. He just likes to sit on his tube and float around. :)

Ironically, I don't actually do much boating, my neighbor has a boat and always asks us to go, yet we never do. They like to drink and I don't so that's part of the reason. I think I like working on them better. Or maybe I'm sick of them after the week is done, LOL

Jackie wrote: "Ironically, I don't actually do much boating, my neighbor has a boat and always asks us to go, yet we never do. They like to drink and I don't so that's part of the reason. I think I like working..."

Being on the water (safe water) relaxes me. Since I'm a Type A personality, I need all the relaxing I can get. :)

Also, my first date with my husband was a boating date. We've always had the love of boating and the water in common.

And, of course, boats take me out to the islands... my escape from civilization. :)

I feel the same way about being on a boat/it is truly the escape mode as you are literally not on land so your troubles there are something you can do nothing about..Escape, yes. Somehow I felt the same way when I rode a horse. It was far away from dishes, supper times, children's homework etc..nina

That's how I feel when I go out & work in the shop or on the farm. I do have a phone in the shop, but often don't hear it or ignore it. I very rarely carry my cell out in the fields or woods. It doesn't work well & I don't care.

I don't even have a cellphone and there's no way I ever want one. And everyone knows if they call once I start TV for the night or wn I read during the afternoon, I'm not picking up the phone. I hardly ever use the landline. Why would I want to be so available? Not me.