Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

Thanks for the clarification, Nina! I'll keep your recommendation in mind --since we also have the BBC/Time-Life TV production of A Winter's Tale on VHS at the BC library, I might watch it in that medium first; I think the plays are best experienced in performance. Glad to hear that Shakespeare is "alive and well received;" I think a society that loses the ability to access and appreciate its literary heritage loses something crucial.

I'm on Princeps, the 5th book of L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s Imager series. I'm very impressed. The world is Medieval with only 'imaging' as magic. While powerful, it is also quite limited. As usual, Modesitt is quite thorough in his world building. The politics, economics, & even religion are complete & believable. Very much what fantasy is about for me, a what-if scenario.

The Norah Lofts fan group I belong to here on Goodreads decided to do a common read of her historical novel Hester Roon in July. Since I had to get the book by interlibrary loan and it's due back by July 21, and since I'll miss several days of reading the week after the 4th while we're on vacation, I decided to go ahead and start reading it yesterday.

Are you going to go to New Zealand?

No, Nina, we're not going to New Zealand (though I'm sure it would be a fascinating and beautiful country to visit). Nor are we going to Australia to visit Rebekah and Tony, though we did once, back in 2007. (We plan to host them here in the fall of 2015.) Next month, we're just going to visit Barb's family in the Fulks Run area again (and we plan to do that in August, too). That's typically where we go in the summer; unless I say otherwise in any post where I mention traveling, you're safe in concluding that that's the destination. :-)

Reading "A Paris Apartment," which is fun if you like antiques. The main character is an appraiser for Sotheby's. It is a novel. Not quite as good so far as the one I just finished, "Consiquences," by Penelope LIvely. Happy Fourth. My daughter is improved so that is reason enough to celebrate.

So glad to hear that your daughter's doing better, Nina! That is good reason to celebrate.

It sure is.

Glad to hear that your daughter is doing better, Nina.

Happy fourth tomorrow and Joy will you be out on the water?

Probably, Nina. Happy Fourth to all.

Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury was a 3.5 listen. There were quite a few 5 star stories, unfortunately Atwood & Takei turned in a 1 star one, though. Still, if you liked Bradbury, these stories written in his honor with afterwords about how the impact he had on these authors are well worth reading or listening to. I did the latter. Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I haven't had much time to read, or maybe I just didn't want it to end, but I finally finished All the Weyrs of Pern. A solid 5 stars and quite possibly my favorite Perm novel of them all.

Next up: Mythic Keys: The Culprit: 1, very excited for this one.

And an Irish Trivia book. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I just finished rereading an old favorite, The Warlock in Spite of Himself by Christopher Stasheff. I was worried because some of his other writing hasn't aged well, but this one was a lot of fun. Not a great classic, but a SF/fantasy that was quite entertaining & had some good ideas. While this is the first book in a series, I never cared for the rest & it stands alone very well. My 4 star review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

We celebrated a glorious fourth at my daughter's place complete with two funny dogs and horses providing entertainment for laughing grandchildren and great grandchildren and even my ailing from shoulder surgery daughter was able to join us. In the meantime my son who lives in Austin had come this week to help the ailing sister and he brought up his stepdaughter and neice. All was well until the next day when the small niece said she had lost her glasses at the farm near my daughter's where they had all gone to watch fireworks. So, off my son went in seach of the missing glasses as they were to leave this morning to get back to Austin for various appointments on Monday. Alas, my son came to a very confusing stop at an intersection/up to that stop there were various four-way stops and this one was only two way. He stopped the car and noticed a car coming and assumed it also would stop/it couldn't stop and his him broadside. Fortunatly, he ia alive and although in pain he'll get through this. My son in law who is the husband of the ailing daughter is driving him and his family back to Austin. Our fourth will be remembered as good times followed by bad. We think his car is totalled and his head is bruised badly as he hit the seat bealt armament. All for today. Ironicaly, I had commented on the danger of that particular stop en route home before this happened. He had been such a great help prior to this that it reminded me of the old saying, "No good deed goes unpunished."

Nina, I'm so sorry to hear about your son's accident. I hope he'll be alright. Sending prayers your way.

Nina, what Joy said!

Oy! Hope he heals quickly, Nina.

Same sentiments from me too Nina, please keep us informed.

My son is back home safe in Austin. My son in law who lives here drove him and the two girls 800 miles back to TX and turned around the following day and drove back. We haven't heard anything about his car yet. But, he could have been killed and so unfortunate the accident happened but he is alive and in pain but that will pass. Thanks for all your concern. Now, I must concentrate on the daughter who is still in much pain from her shoulder surgery. But, it the middle of all the problems we had a great fourth of July.

Switching from all the science fiction I have read this year, I am starting a historical fiction series called The American Chronicles by Robert Vaughan.. The first volume is Dawn of the Century.

The story starts at the St. Louis World' Fair in 1904 and goes thru several volumes to modern times. I picked up the first four in a used bookstore and am hoping for good things.

I finished the Mythic Keys books and now I've started Guy Gavriel Kay's Sailing to Sarantium, the first book of a duology. He's an excellent author, I've loved everything I've read by him so far.

I haven't had time to read, between my torn rotator cuff and Anthony's cousin's funeral, I can barely think. Ant's cousin is the JC Police Officer I'm sure you all heard about in the news last week.

That was sad, Jackie.

Sorry to hear this, Jackie.

Jackie, heartfelt condolences for your family's loss! And so sorry for the pain you're going through with your shoulder. :-( Barb and I have you and your family in our thoughts and prayers.

Sorry to hear the bad news, Jackie. You are in my prayers also.

Thank you all, my family appreciates it.
I just got back from my friend's mother's birthday, 93 years old and going strong! It was nice to have a happy occasion to celebrate.

I got on Amazon the other day & got some freebies. I picked up an interesting looking short story, Perfect Crime by Jack Erickson. It was readable, but I could only give it a 2 star review.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Sorry about your troubles, Jackie. Pain mentally and physically, no fun.

While I'm between novels, I'm reading the collected stories Robert E. Howard wrote about one of his series characters, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane. I've listed it on my "being read intermittently" shelf rather than "currently reading," since I don't expect to finish it before we go on vacation again in early August (and I have another common read in the Norah Lofts fan group coming up after that). Anyway, Howard is one of my favorite writers, so this collection is a treat for me!

I only gave 4 stars to The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. It was a great book in a lot of ways, but I did have to take a break in the middle which I explain in my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For our next "car book," Barb and I started yesterday on Mark of the Lion by Suzanne Arruda, a new-to-us author. This one is a mystery series opener set in British East Africa in the immediate aftermath of World War I, and features former ambulance driver Jade Del Cameron. I like the mystery genre (and Barb can get into it as well), and Jade seems like our type of heroine; I've had this one on my radar ever since it was published back in 2006.

I finished the first book of The Sarantine Mosiac, 4 stars. Now the second and final book of the duology: Lord of Emperors, continuing where Sailing to Sarantium left off.

I just finished The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It was pretty good, but not as good as I expected from all the 5 star reviews my friends gave it. My 3 star review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I liked TNOTW a lot, the second book wassn't as good.

Circumstances forced Barb and I to postpone our planned trip, but at this point we still plan to head out tomorrow morning.

The Norah Lofts fan group I belong to here on Goodreads is doing a common read of her A Wayside Tavern (1980), this month, so I started that book today. I have high hopes for this one, since it's been enthusiastically recommended to me before.

I hope your plans go better, Werner. Have a good trip.

Thanks, Jim!

I gave 4+ stars to The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth. Well read & SO much better than the 1980 movie, even if it did star Christopher Walken, one of my favorite actors. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Switching to non-fiction, I am reading a biography--Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1 (1907-1948): Learning Curve.

I am a long time fan of Heinlein and this newest biography of him so far seems pretty interesting.

Let us know how you like it. I am a real fan of his short stories & YA books, plus a couple of others. I became quite disenchanted with him after 1970, though. Then I couldn't make it through his first novel that was published posthumously. I'm not sure I want to know more about him.

Jim: So far it is very good---but Volume I covers his life only until 1948. the second volume, just recently published, will cover the remainder of his life.

So far, I am impressed with the intense effort Heinlein put in to enter and remain in the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Intellectually it was fairly easy for him---he was always bright--but health and financial problems plagued him. After serving for nine years---counting the Academy--the Navyr etired him for health reasons in 1934--pulmonary tuberculosis.

im, reading a quick short biography of Heinlein, I note that in 1970 he had a life- threatening episode of peritonitis and took nearly two years to recover. In 1978, he had a TIA (which can be associated with a stroke). He was one of the first people to have carotid artery surgery--much more common today.

I do wonder if these severe health problems affected his work and his outlook because like you I prefer his short stories and YA, Some of his later novels were disappointing. I will keep you posted as I continue reading.

I wondered the same thing about his health issues until that first novel Variable Star was published & then I realized that his work had been reined in by his publishers & the need to make a living. By 1970, he was popular enough to publish pretty much what he wanted & sell it. He had been working up to this if you look at his publishing history. Here's a list:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/r...

If you know the stories & look at the dates, the trend of his writing negates the idea of health issues affecting his work, IMO. His YA novels & short stories published prior to the 60's focused on SF adventure, although he was got preachy with Starship Troopers in 1959, but that was a sign of the times & his own history.

In 1961, Stranger in a Strange Land was a huge success. This was his first book where he started preaching his 'free loving' &, while it presaged the times to some extent, it was a very good fit overall. His popularity was suddenly mainstream. This success & the times allowed him to change to what he wanted to write, IMO.

While 'Stranger' was followed by Podkayne of Mars, very reminiscent of his earlier YA novels, it was the last he wrote like this. Probably something he'd had in the works or was contracted to. The publisher made him change his original ending, though. I've read both versions & agreed with the publisher.

In 1963, he published Glory Road. The first half was another innovative adventure with science so advanced that it bordered on magic. Fun, but the last half was all about the sexual relationship & awful. That was followed by Farnham's Freehold which epitomized the Cold War fears & tried to say something about segregation, but the hero is an old man who winds up separating from his wife & son to live with his daughter's girl friend.

In 1966, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress came out. It's one of my favorites by him, but again he spends a lot of time on marriage & sex. Manny often calls his senior wife 'Mum'. He didn't write anything new after this for a while.

1970 saw the first book of his that I actively disliked. As you mentioned, that was the year he got so sick & almost died, but it was also the year I Will Fear No Evil was foisted on us. An old man gets his brain transplanted into a young girl's body & then proceeds to make love to his old lawyer friend. The whole point of this novel seems to be about exploring sexuality & not in a way that I found interesting or enlightening - just gross.

In 1973, Time Enough for Love came out. Lazarus Long from the 1941 novel Methuselah's Children is back, 3000 years old & wants to die. He finds a new thirst for life mostly through sex & talking about it. Lots & lots of talk & preaching about it. While some of the book is interesting & I love the sayings, Lazarus goes on to have sex with his child clone 'sisters' & even travels back in time to go to bed with his mother.

Except for Friday, I pretty much hated the rest of his books. Way too much talk, incest, promotion of incest, & preaching. Interestingly enough, Friday is also an extension of a character from an early short story included in Assignment in Eternity & features a line marriage similar to those in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, so it was a step back into his older, better writing style.

It's also interesting to note that he was married to Virginia by this time (She seems like quite a piece of work from what he says in various nonfiction works.) & they were friends with Theodore Sturgeon & his wife. They belonged to the same nudist colony which was part of the backdrop in The Door Into Summer (1957). Sturgeon published the short story "If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let Your Sister Marry One?". Here's a link to it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_All_M...

I recently listened to The Door Into Summer (1957) & was fairly horrified by the love interest, BTW. In part, that's probably because I'm judging it through the lens of Heinlein's later work. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I agree, Jim. Heinlein's early work was so good--especially his YA for Schribner's, that I could hardly believe his later books.

I own all his early works and juveniles---but read the later books from and library and did not want to own them.

Still, he had major health issues from 1970 on, and I do still think that may have been a factor in his decline. Many people grab one of his later books and decide they do not like Heinlein and I urge them to read his earlier works--they are still worth reading and we are lucky to have them.

I gave 5+ stars to Tai-Pan by James Clavell read by the British actor, John Lee. It's a great book & Lee made it sing. Dirk Struan is quite possibly my favorite heroic figure in fiction, a China trader who fought for the acquisition of Hong Kong. The novel takes place in about 6 months in 1840 & is filled with memorable characters.

My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Great review! I read Tai-pan years ago and enjoyed it very much.

Thanks, Mary. I'm hoping I'll like Gai-Jin better this time through. It's set 20 years after Tai-Pan & was written about that long afterward too, I think. I didn't like it much at all.

Your excellent reviews puts those books on my library list. Thanks Jim.

Thanks, Nina! Hope you enjoy it.