You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Tejas Janet wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Peggy wrote: "Gone with the wind over a weekend? That is impressive, even for a teenager!"

What can I say, I had no life. LOL"

You were an armchair traveler : ) Not a substitute fo..."

I always say reading a book is the cheapest way to travel and the best way to make new friends- in most cases they don't talk back to you when you try to engage them in a conversation. LOL

Many years ago my husband and I saw a film which featured a place in Morocco. I whispered to him during the movie that this was Djiins Palace. My husband asked how I knew this and I said matter of factly that I read about it in James Michener's wonderful book The Drifters.

Today we have travleled to many many place both here in the United States and overseas and I love to read about a place where we've been. The book I am currently reading, The Bronze Horseman, takes place during WWII in Leningrad which is St. Petersburg today. I just read about Peterhof, Catherine's summer palace filled with unique fountains and beautiful landscaping besides the huge home, where the main characters visited. And it so clearly reminded me of our trip there and to other places in St. Petersburg in 2011.

So teenagers who read about places where they hope to travel to someday, find this becoming a reality. And if all we ever do is be an armchair traveler it's not so bad after all, is it?

So if CS Lewis said, "We read to know we are not alone," and I love this quote BTW, but I would also add a couple of more reasons why I read too.

Way to go y'all working on genuine chunksters! I'm kind of easing into this challenge. Decided to start by clearing out a bunch of library books on loan along with a few others on hand. I've only completed 2 (easy-pie) books, have 2 more books currently in progress. After knocking off the shorter books, I'll have the chunkier Smilla's Sense of Snow and Madam Secretary: A Memoir that I'm really looking forward to.

Nancy wrote: "I always say reading a book is the cheapest way to travel and the best way to make new friends- in most cases they don't talk back to you when you try to engage them in a conversation. LOL"

So true - hee hee!! Seriously, l liked reading your post about travelling. Like you, I greatly value how reading can take me places all over the world, and books really can connect us to others, both across time and space. Great quote. Thanks : )

Nancy wrote: "Peggy wrote: "Gone with the wind over a weekend? That is impressive, even for a teenager!"

What can I say, I had no life. LOL"

GwtW is long, but a real page turner! It's easy to get sucked in!! Peggy, maybe you'll be finishing it in 48 hours too. Or well, maybe not THAT fast since we're adults with responsibilities and all... *sigh* ;) I'll be looking forward to seeing what you think about GwtW. Scarlett is a bit of a polarizing character. Have you seen the movie already?

I think I may have seen it, or part of it, but I can't remember anything.

I'm in doubt what to read next. I planned Standing in the Rainbow because I thought it would be quite fast and uncomplicated. But now with recommendations for Gone with the Wind and The Book Thief I'm don't know anymore! I think I'll just see what I'm most in the mood for when I'm ready for the next one. I can definitely read them all at some point in 2014 :)

I can't wait to finish my first book too!! I'm listening to it here at work, so it'll probably be Monday, but then I'll be doing a happy dance.

Meanwhile, here around Charleston, WV, we're under a water ban. A chemical leaked into the river by the water company yesterday morning. So now, no bathing or brushing teeth, drinking, washing clothes or dishes - nothing but flushing toilets and putting out fires. Bottles water is being shipped in and the fun is just starting. Work is being pretty good. They're getting us all bottled water (for drinking here and a case each right now to take home) and they're renting some hotel rooms an hour away that we can sign up for to go take showers. That's about the closest area not affected. I have a friend on vacation, and I'm e-mailing her to see if there's a spare key so I can go take a shower and do a load of laundry. At least it's not summer with all the sweating :)

Yikes, that sounds pretty tough! I often think we don't realize how much we depend on water until it's not there. Any idea when things will be back to normal? Good luck!

Peggy, The Book Thief is such a great book!
And if I can reach the Roadrunner's Racers level in the challenge I'll include Gone With the Wind for sure. It has been in my TBR for so long...

Hope all gets back to normal soon jaxnsmom! That sounds bad both for everyone there and the environment! ugh.

jaxnsmom wrote: "I can't wait to finish my first book too!! I'm listening to it here at work, so it'll probably be Monday, but then I'll be doing a happy dance.

Meanwhile, here around Charleston, WV, we're under ..."

I'm glad to hear that you're holding out OK! It sounds like your work is really helping, that's great. It's probably a bad sign that no one has announced a time frame for correcting the water quality. If there were any chance this would be resolved in 1-2 days I'd suspect that would be announced! My family is from that area too, so it looks like I'll have a few unexpected guests for this weekend & possibly next week. ;) My 4-yo nephew called me to ask if he could visit here, where the water doesn't smell and he can get clean. It was cute but also kind of sad!

All they've said about the water problem is that it will be banned for an indefinite amount of time Doesn't sound too promising.

I don't how bad the river will get. It runs into the Kanawha, which runs into the Ohio River - I hope any effects don't get that far!

E - you've already got so much going on, but I know you'll find a way to make it all work. Oh, and congrats on the good stuff happening!

How horrible about the water situation, J'mom! We don't realize how much we rely on easy access to it until it's not available!

jaxnsmom wrote: "I can't wait to finish my first book too!! I'm listening to it here at work, so it'll probably be Monday, but then I'll be doing a happy dance.

Meanwhile, here around Charleston, WV, we're under ..."

I was just catching up on the news and read about the chemical spill, Jmom. Awful, awful!

Peggy wrote: "I'm in doubt what to read next. I planned Standing in the Rainbow because I thought it would be quite fast and uncomplicated. But now with recommendations for Gone with the Wind and The Book Thief I'm don't know anymore! I think I'll just see what I'm most in the mood for when I'm ready for the next one. I can definitely read them all at some point in 2014 :)..."

Peggy,
The Book Thief might be a good follow on for you after Sophie's Choice. NO Stingo - I promise! I am sorry you are not liking it, except for Sophie's parts. (I understand, though.)

It is bizzar, but I have no issues about not finishing my first chunkster yet. I promised myself not to get stressed out about finishing books more quickly than I thought I should after comming down to the eleventh hour on my ABC Challenge. I am trying to enjoy the reading more.

@ Alexandrea - The Passage took me over two weeks to get through. There is A LOT to read there.

I just finished my first Chunkster of 2014, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, narrated by Davina Porter. Per the rules, since I listened to the audiobook, the page count of 885 is taken from the hardcover edition. I loved this book and the narration!

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "I just finished my first Chunkster of 2014, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, narrated by Davina Porter. Per the rules, since I listened to the audiobook..."

Have I mentioned my undying love of this whole series? I'm glad you liked it Theresa. Are you going to listen to/read anymore of them this year? Good to know the audio narration was good....i've read them a few times, maybe ill listen next time around.

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "I just finished my first Chunkster of 2014, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, narrated by Davina Porter. Per the rules, since I listened to the audiobook..."

Yay! I plan to start my 1st chunkster probably Sunday. I need to read a book for the SRC task 30.1 that has ARGH in the title - don't think I have one on my list for that. =(

Hi Amy! Davina Porter is a favorite narrator of mine. She read the Outlander series and some of Philippa Gregory's books, among others. I have a long work commute daily, so audiobooks help me get in lots of "reading" while I drive.

I am interested in reading more of the series, though I don't think the rest are available as audiobooks. It will be a while, though, as I already have a large number of books on my 2014 TBR list.

Anne, for your ARGH book, may I recommend The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee. It's non-fiction, but a very interesting and informative read. The hardcover is 592 pages, so it fits the Chunkster category, too!

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Anne, for your ARGH book, may I recommend The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee. It's non-fiction, but a very interesting and i..."

Thank you, but I think I've found my ARGH book - . It is that or - can't decide.

LOL, Theresa, I've already edited my beginning list 3 times with the help of two friends in the group. I finally got the books I really want to read. =)

That's a very good attitude Cherie! I think I'm just overly excited to get it done with because it's the first one.

You seem to be enjoying the book, or am I wrong?

J'mom, how is the water issue going?

I was just checking news about the chemical spill that's affecting jaxnsmom and my family (the weather.com article is informative, here's a link in case anyone is interested). Still no expected timeline for correcting the problem. Apparently there is no way to treat the contaminated water to remove the chemical, and it will take "days" to flush the water system to reduce the concentrations to safe levels. What a mess.

I have a friend that lives in WV who is also dealing with the water/chemical issue. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be. :(

In other news I think it is going to take my forever to finish the first chunkster I'm listening/reading to. Winter's Tale. I'm listening to it, which is a good thing, because I doubt I'd continue reading it if I was actually reading it. It is very wordy. I only have 5 days left on my library loan though! Eek! I'll have to renew it for sure!

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "I just finished my first Chunkster of 2014, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, narrated by Davina Porter. Per the rules, since I listened to the audiobook..."

Was that audiobook 50 hours long? Oof, I think the longest audiobook I've listened to was around 35 hours.

Oh, I sooo want to read this series over. I have the trade paperback version published in 1984 and it lists 3 books in the Avalon series, The Mists of Avalon, The Forest House, and Lady of Avalon, all of which I've read. But there are so many other books, new to me, that I want to read too!

Goodreads lists more books to the series that I wouldn't mind reading. Does anyone have an opinion on Diana L. Paxson as the author who carried on the series after Bradley's death?

E :) wrote: "I was just checking news about the chemical spill that's affecting jaxnsmom and my family (the weather.com article is informative, here's a link in case anyone is interested). Still no expected tim..."

Thanks for posting that link! It's so shocking!

Robin wrote: "In other news I think it is going to take my forever to finish the first chunkster I'm listening/reading to. Winter's Tale. I'm listening to it, which is a good thing, because I doubt I'd continue reading it if I was actually reading it. It is very wordy. I only have 5 days left on my library loan though! Eek! I'll have to renew it for sure!"

I saw the movie comes out in February, with some big names in the cast.

E :) wrote: "I was just checking news about the chemical spill that's affecting jaxnsmom and my family (the weather.com article is informative, here's a link in case anyone is interested). Still no expected tim..."

Now they're saying about 7500 gallons leaked. The Governor had a press conference tonight, with all the involved officials. At that time nost, but not all sample were at the required level. They also have to all test correctly for 24 hours. Then we'll get instructions for what we'll need to do - basically flushing our pipes. So it's expected to be at least a few more days. Thankfully, water keeps being delivered.

You know though, this is extremely inconvenient, and there are lots of issues, BUT this isn't a life and death situation, except in dire cases. I've spent a lot of time lately focusing on the negatives of the world, and this has actually brought me out of it. There have been plenty of a-holes, but there have been a lot of good things being done by individuals, groups, and businesses. It's really nice to see such examples of humanity :D

It's true. In those moments you see the best of some people too.

Hope thing improve for those in WVa.

Peggy wrote: "That's a very good attitude Cherie! I think I'm just overly excited to get it done with because it's the first one.

You seem to be enjoying the book, or am I wrong?"

I am not sure I am totally "enjoying" it, Peggy, but there is nothing I hate about it, either. I was surprised by the sex talk, but it is not anything I cannot deal with. Some of it is hysterically funny - at least to me.

Glad to hear that Jmom's situation is getting better - What is going on in WVA now reminds me of the days right after Hurricane Frederic, Elena, and others I've been through.

It gets better Jmom - take 1 day at a time and soon everything will get back to normal.

Anne (Booklady) wrote: "Glad to hear that Jmom's situation is getting better - What is going on in WVA now reminds me of the days right after Hurricane Frederic, Elena, and others I've through.

It gets better Jmom - ta..."
This is so bad. But at least it seems to be organized. I do hope if gets better soon.

Living downriver from Lac Megantic, i was in the same waterless state last summer. (Not complaining, it was so awful). But it tooks months. The city had to spend 2 millions to temporarily connect us to another water source and started freaking out as fall arrived with possibility of frost. Water have gone on and off so much that I now always have a 4 liters jug around.

I feel so much better right now! I picked up two cases of water, went to my friend's and had a shower and did a load of laundry, and had some fast food (the sit-down restaurants were *packed). They're flushing now and will lift the ban by zones. I'm not in the first three - they're areas with hospitals, but I hope to have water by the end of the week! ☺ Schools are scheduled to reopen Tuesday, and some restaurants are planning on opening after submitting plans on how they'll meet regulations.

Esther, I can't imagine going through this long term, especially in summer!

Hope for people in this affected area that things imrove day by day.

I am now reading or listening to three books and I'm afraid I'm not making too much headway with any of them. At this time last year I read almost 8 books for a total of 2400 pages give or take a few. Now I've only read one 350 page book, am up to page 300 in one of my chunskters, 150 in the other and 100 in my reread book. I wonder why the chunkster books are going so slowly. In the past I was able to race through them but I guess age has its disadvantages, huh?

I seem to be taking forever to read Perdido Street Station but as it's a print book and being nearly 900 pages long, it's too big for me to carry about with me so I'm only reading it at home.

My reading pace has slowed down too. It's not the books - I really like the ones I'm reading. I feel like my brain has been on the fritz the last few weeks. Hopefully the upcoming holiday weekend will be a turning point.

I've decided to switch from audio to print version of Ask Bob. My pace with the audio has been too slow. I think the narration by Adam Verner is putting me off. I find his voice irritating for this particular book -- to me the voice and the character don't match. Meanwhile, I'll focus on The Road from Coorain and A Zoo in My Luggage.

Sarah wrote: "I seem to be taking forever to read Perdido Street Station but as it's a print book and being nearly 900 pages long, it's too big for me to carry about with me so I'm only reading it a..."

I took me forever also. I think the darkish feeling of this book slows us down. That and there is so much to process.

Esther wrote: "I took me forever also. I think the darkish feeling of this book slows us down. That and there is so much to process."

It is pretty dark. While it mimics life in our world to some extent there are so many extra things that are new - the many different races of inhabitants and what they look like, plus the technology and culture - like you say, there is so much to take in, imagine and process! I am enjoying it a lot though!

Nancy wrote: "Hope for people in this affected area that things imrove day by day.

I am now reading or listening to three books and I'm afraid I'm not making too much headway with any of them. At this time las..."

How can you read/listen so many at the same time! Personally that would be what was slowing me down. I thought about starting to read one and listen to another but I haven't actually did that, since I really need so spend most my "reading" time listening to the audio book. I checked it out from my library online via Overdrive media. It was only a 16 day loan! It expires Thursday!! There is no way I'm going to be finished and I tried to renew it and it will not because there are holds for the item! Grr! :( I tried another county library and it is not available there either. So it looks like I'll be on pause with that book for awhile. I am very upset about this because I do not just stop reading a book for extended periods of time and then pick it back up. I need to explore some more options to see if I can find Winter's Tale in any form to check out from any local library. I worry that I will not be able to get back into it if I stop reading/listening to it for awhile.

Robin- I was just thinking the same thing you mentioned. I have only finished one book so far and about to finish another small one for my f2f group. I think having too many is overwhelming me - in addition the two Chunksters I'm reading are just ok for me.

Tejas Janet wrote: "I've decided to switch from audio to print version of Ask Bob. My pace with the audio has been too slow. I think the narration by Adam Verner is putting me off. I find his voice irr..."

IMO the reader is so important and can make or break the experience. I also find that I often listen for so long and then switch to the book also. Reading is faster for me.

Robin- I rarely go back to books either. I hate to do this but would you consider being overdue at the library or buying it?

I would consider it being over due but it will just be automatically returned since it is an Overdrive media file download. I may consider buying it on Kindle ebook. Though at this point I kind of would rather just finish listening to it.

Does anyone here use Audible? I could probably do a free trial and get a free book. Isn't that how the free trial thing works with that?

Yes, that was how it worked when I joined, Robin. I love Audible. You can return a book if you didn't enjoy the book or the narrator. Huge bonus. I've returned several.

Robin wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Hope for people in this affected area that things imrove day by day.

I am now reading or listening to three books and I'm afraid I'm not making too much headway with any of them. At..."

Hi Robin,
I have run into the same thing you are experiencing with your book on Overdrive.
Like Nancy and others, I like to have an audio book and a printed book going at the same time. However, if the audio book is one that I own, I can take more time listening to it and the print book usually takes over the majority of my time. I usually only listen in the car and my drive time is rather short. However, if I borrow a library book, I have to concentrate on getting through it befor it expires (print AND audio). I have had to wait weeks to get back to a story that I was not able to finish before it's due date. For this reason, I tend to borrow older books. I can usually renew them without problems. I usually have an ebook on my iPod to read at times when I only have a few minutes here and there also. It is just a back of the burner story that I can go back to without forgetting the characters or what is happening. I read a lot of books on my Nook, and since I have two, I can have a book on both at the same time. Usually, one will get to a point where I feel the need to finish before the other.

I know it sounds crazy, and I used to feel the same way as you probably do. It is just something that gradually grew out of trying to get more books read.

Nancy wrote: "Robin- I rarely go back to books either. I hate to do this but would you consider being overdue at the library or buying it?"

You can't be overdue with the Overdrive downloads. It automatically expires and will not play after the due date. I don't have an e-reader, I download my books and transfer them to my mp3 player, where they never expire.

Robin wrote: "Does anyone here use Audible? I could probably do a free trial and get a free book. Isn't that how the free trial thing works with that? "

I'm addicted to Audible. :) I always have one audiobook going and one print book, sometimes more. I figure that reading more than one book at a time is like watching tv. I watch an hour long episode of a series that will continue the next week. Then, I switch channels to watch something different.

Sometimes, it seems like I'm making no progress on any one book, and then all of a sudden, I'm done 3 books.

Robin wrote: "I would consider it being over due but it will just be automatically returned since it is an Overdrive media file download. I may consider buying it on Kindle ebook. Though at this point I kind of ..."

I have an Audible account that I share with my daughters. We do not make a lot of purchase because of the cost, so we all have to agree on what we want to listen to. I also purchase audio books from iTunes (Again, depending on the cost - I really have to want to listen to something). LibriVox is a wonderful source for audio books - free is good but you need to listen to the samples. I shop library sales for books on CD and cassett tape (since I still have tape player). Some great bargins are available this way. My CDs and cassett tapes take me longer to get through because they are less mobile and I have a hard time sitting still and listening unless my hands are busy (or I fall asleep). I knit, do puzzles or crafts. I know this may sound crazy, but I recently found that I can sit and watch a movie with the sound on mute and listen to my audio book at the same time. It only works with movies that I have watched multiple times and the story and dialogue is familiar - like Independence Day. If I just sit and look out the window, my mind wanders and I start thinking about other things than the story being told.

I know that there are ways to copy the files on the CDs to make them available to my iPod, but I am currently not in a 100% audio mode to really care that much about this. I know this a lot, but might give you some things to think about. :p