Book Nook Cafe discussion

Deb, I find having a glass of water with a splash of lemon usually does the trick. I know when I ate at night it wasn't due to hunger but boredom.

I would say once the dinner dishes are done and the kitchen is closed for the evening it is nice to have that clean and done. In that regard I guess I do have more time to do other things.

Deb, I totally get what you say about the stress of thinking about food. I think that is why I usually eat the same few meals for breakfast.

Plain Greek yogurt with fruit, seeds, muesli etc. I can make this the night before. I probably eat this 5 days a week.

Eggs & toast - one day of the week.

Toast with banana and peanut butter

Sometimes oatmeal.

Good expression, “Kitchen is closed for the evening”. It speaks volumes to late eaters, IMO. Your lemon water reminds me that around that time i was also steeping and cooling ginger water to stave off hunger. Something about that taste satisfied.

Breakfast leads to easier choices for me too. This is mostly because i’m not an early eater, which also explains why the fast worked for me.

madrano wrote: "Good expression, “Kitchen is closed for the evening”. It speaks volumes to late eaters, IMO. Your lemon water reminds me that around that time i was also steeping and cooling ginger water to stave ..."

It's something my mom used to say. Her reason was she didn't want to wash another sink full of dishes after she had done the dinner dishes. :)

I will also have ice tea without sugar. I usually just put a few tea bags 1 flavored and maybe 3 black or green teas in a pitcher. Fill with water and set in on a window sill for a few hours. Some call it "sun tea".

I am not super strict. Sometimes I will have hot coffee or tea (no added sugar) with some type of milk. ( nut milk, soy, cow skim) I don't consider that breaking my fast. Though many who are strict would. It's working for me, so I am cool with it.

I am in the group that says tweak a diet to work with your needs so you can say on it long term.

I drink tea with artificial sweetener, but no milk!

I drink my coffee with milk but my tea “straight”.

Alias, I agree about adjusting your diet so it works for you and still keeps the spirit of the idea. Overall result is important. Continued success.

I don't drink coffee but I do drink hot tea without sugar or cream though the tea bags I get are usually flavored with spices. I don't drink alcohol or soda but will drink skim milk and sparkling water. I would rather eat my calories than drink them-something I learned from dieting. Now if could shake the chocolate habit, I'd probably be a lot thinner!

Julie wrote: Now if could shake the chocolate habit, I'd probably be a lot thinner! ."

Nope. That is where I draw the line. There are just some things that make life worth living. Chocolate is one. :)

I am not fond of straight up green tea, preferring it "cut" with rice (genmaicha, I think it's called).

Interesting, John. This is an unfamiliar idea to me. Do you buy it that way?

Julie, i’m with you on drinking all those calories. That written, i do like to drink my veggies sometimes. :-)

madrano wrote: "Interesting, John. This is an unfamiliar idea to me. Do you buy it that way?

Julie, i’m with you on drinking all those calories. That written, i do like to drink my veggies sometimes. :-)"

Yes, it's sold that way; I don't mix it myself.

Thanks, John. My sister likes tea and i enjoy surprising her with them.

Picked up After You and The Wanted today at our used book store :)

Both sound as though they are promising follow ups in their series, Stephanie.

I thought i would list some of the books we purchased on this trip. We are winding down and will be back in Texas next week. What a trip! The list of books might give you a taste of our trip.

First one i cannot find on the GR lists, probably because it is fairly local. Prehistoric Caddo Indian Pottery by Sam Johnson has numerous photos of pottery from ancient Caddoan tribes, who were the Mound Builders, if you are familiar with that. It’s mostly black &white pictures with little explanation but it had some unusual pieces i wanted to study. I’ve already finished reading this one, sparse as it is.

Jim Bridger by J. Cecil Alter is about an early US mountain man. It has been on my TBR for years.

Native American Legends of the Southeast: Tales from the Natchez, Caddo, Biloxi, Chickasaw, and Other Nations, edited by George E. Lankford.

This is one i’ve begun, Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico: The Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin, 1846-1847 written by the wife of a goods trader with Mexico around the Texas War with that nation, Susan Shelby Magoffin. It’s a journal of her trip. Thus far i like how well written and informative it is.

The above were bought at museums about trails west, mounds and pioneers. The next two were from the Little Rock Mosaic Templar’s Cultural Museum, visited yesterday in celebration of Juneteenth. It chronicled the history of African Americans in Arkansas. Most informative and full of good books. I found Clotel: or, The President's Daughter by William Wells Brown, which has been on my TBR for decades but hard to find. This is the first novel by an African American in the US and is about a child fathered by Thomas Jefferson.

Years ago i read Nella Larsen’s Passing and wanted to read another but found none at my libraries. Yesterday i found Quicksand, so snatched it up!

The following are books bought at used book stores & library book stores, which i think is a neat idea, IMO:

Poetry by Lily Peter, someone i’ve never heard of. No link to the one i bought, The Green Linen of Summer.

The Puma's Shadow: An epic tale of the Inca Empire by A. B. Daniel is a novel which caught my eye. It’s first in a series but...

A Guide to the Battlefields of Europe by David G. Chandler because we plan to spend a few months in Europe next year and want to visit a few of these.

These next two are long-timers on my TBR, both recommenced by an old Dakota Sioux woman who taught a culture class. Stay Away, Joe by Dan Bushman is about a Korean War vet returning to his reservation.

The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter is an autobiographical book of remembrances of the author’s boyhood in Eastern Cherokee mountains.

Plenty to read!

Wow ! What a great haul. It's fantastic that your travels are being enhanced by your reading. It is making the horizons of your travels limitless.

Also how serendipitous that you are finding hard to find books in your travels. Part of your trips are like book treasure hunts ! Love it.

LOL—true, they seem like a treasure hunt this time. When i found the first one, i was practically jumping with joy. As more added, i wondered which lucky star i was following.

Forgot to mention that Dan bought a Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon, which he’s never read. (And am i tired of being called “doll face”!) And today we return to the library bookstore to buy Complete Poems Of Robert Frost, 1949. My copy is an over-used paperback.

madrano wrote: "(And am i tired of being called “doll face”!) .."

lol

So I have no self-control when it comes to the library or buying books online. I have about a zillion books that my friend from book club loaned me, but I have an ever wandering eye and feel like I need to constantly be on the look out for new books.

At the library, I took out:
Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus
The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon
Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

I bought online:
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Sometimes Amazing Things Happen by Dr. Elizabeth Ford

And then I got my book of the month book in the mail today, I picked Riley Sager's new book Lock Every Door.

Needless to say, I will be very busy the next few weeks...

Very nice book haul, Kelli !

I think you will find all of us here at BNC have a bit of a book addiction. :)

I read and LOVED Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. I hope you enjoy it, too.

I liked Eleanor Oliphant, too. Really stressed that if you give others a chance to like you, rather than "playing defense" all the time, things generally work out. Author avoids making the story anything close to a sappy romance.

Current library book would be a novella My House in Umbria, which is proving interesting so far.

Kelli, the fact that i am a cheapskate is the sole reason i don't order much online &/or many new books. As a consequence, when i purchase books, i feel good about my under $5 deals, even if i do not care for the work. It's easier for me to donate them, too.

As Alias writes, though, most of us can identify with the addiction aspect of reading. Apparently in my case the thrifty person wins more often. ;-) Enjoy!

John wrote: Current library book would be a novella My House in Umbria, which is proving interesting so far. ..."

"Then one day her world is changed forever as the train she is riding in is blown up by terrorists. Taken to a local hospital to recuperate, she befriends the other survivors-an elderly English general, an American child, and a German boy-and takes them all to convalesce at her villa, with unforeseen results."

That does sound interesting. I haven't read a Trevor novel. Though I did purchase on Amazon a book of his short stories. For some reason I didn't look at the size of the book and when it arrived it was a million pages long. Unfortunately, it didn't make the cut when I moved a few years ago and was donated unread.

I see I can get a used copy of My House in Umbria on Amazon. I'll put it on my TBR list. Thanks !

I loved Trevor's novellas Miss Gomez and the Brethren and The Boarding-House. He's better known for novels like The Story of Lucy Gault, which aren't really my thing.

I recently purchased from the bookstore A Game of Thrones A Clash of Kings A Storm of Swords and for my husband who loves her lol. i do to Gold Dust Woman: A Biography of Stevie Nicks

Just received 4 new titles I ordered online:

Finally going to read Bukowski!

Also grabbed these:




And the next book in the Dresden Files I'm on:

Alicia, that's a lot of reading ahead for you. I hope you'll share your opinion of the Nicks bio, as i think my husband would like it. The only review i've seen about it was only so-so about it. Please let us know.

Anita, i've read a couple of volumes of Charles Bukowski's poems but didn't even realize he wrote novels, too. I hope you'll let us know what you think of this short one. The D.T.E. Madden novel sounds as though it could go either way but i like reading about fictional political possibilities. Of course the title reminds me of those Low-Country Boils we relish eating when in the Carolinas.

For myself, today i went to our local library. As we had quite a bit of time to spend there, books were lent. Books i probably wouldn't have otherwise reached. The first, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic, written by Jonathan Rottenberg it asks whether aspects of depression are residual from our early ancestors and explores why evolution would leave this with us. I thought i'd give it a try, as the numbers indicate humanity is getting more depressed than every before in history.


The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists by Gregory Curtis excites me because i have been fascinated by these drawings/paintings since i first heard about these 40,000 year old works found in France & Spain.

The Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Murder, Theft, and Detection is about the stealing of the Mona Lisa in turn of the century Paris. It is written by Dorothy Hoobler and her husband Thomas Hoobler. Apparently they also write a series of mysteries about an 18th century boy who helps his Samarui father uncover mysteries. First in series is The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn. If i like their nonfiction Paris book, i think i'll give the series a go.

For those following my Presidential Bio goal, i returned Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President to the library unread. I just wasn't in the mood yet. Soon...

Anita wrote: "Just received 4 new titles I ordered online:

Finally going to read Bukowski!
"

I read him years ago and enjoyed the book. I read his Ham on Rye

madrano wrote: For those following my Presidential Bio goal, i returned Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President to the library unread. I just wasn't in the mood yet. Soon...l..."

You will find one that speaks to you.

I just started a kindle book that I will read on the subway. It will probably take me a few months as I am not on the train that long.
Anyway, I knew once I started the book I was going to like the way this author wrote. The book seems very accessible. So I decided it was one I would want to own a physical copy of. If I really like a non fiction book I like to write notes in the book. So I will have to transfer my highlights to the hardcover.

I hopped onto Amazon and snagged a like new hardcover used edition for I think it was $8.
The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany---Thomas Childers

Which reminds me I need to transfer my numerous notes and highlights of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind to my hardcover copy.

I also picked up at the library a copy of The House of Broken Angels---Luis Alberto Urrea
It was the selection for the NY Times/PBS book club. Since I am not a huge fiction reader and I didn't select the book, I will put this one on a short leash. If it doesn't appear to be my cuppa back to the library it goes.

Interesting that you mention a Third Reich book, as I'm almost finished with an audiobook that I think is terrific on German history: Germania: In Wayward Pursuit of the Germans and Their History.

Alias, i liked Ham on Rye, too. You have set quite a challenge for yourself with the Childers book. Please let us know what you think about it.

John, i'm not familiar with the Simon Winder book. GR reviews seem mixed. I like to find books that address a nation's history but can't tell if this is what i'd like or not.

Alias, you mentioned transferring your notes from Sapiens. Writing down the notes i want to keep is a struggle when i'm reading a really good one. I take copious notes now and am not sure that is a good idea. It just seems some of them should have already been in my head, so since they weren't, i take note.

It all depends on whether the reader gets Simon Winder's sense of humor. I'm afraid that the mixed reviews are correct as those who don't appreciate it will find his books over the top.

John, that is a good point. It's true of a number of authors. Even in my own reading there are times a long-time favorite's humor or lack thereof bother me enough to pan a book.

John wrote: "Interesting that you mention a Third Reich book, as I'm almost finished with an audiobook that I think is terrific on German history: [book:Germania: In Wayward Pursuit of the Germans and Their His..."

Thank you for the title.

madrano wrote: Alias, you mentioned transferring your notes from Sapiens. Writing down the notes i want to keep is a struggle when i'm reading a really good one. I take copious notes now and am not sure that is a good idea. It just seems some of them should have already been in my head, so since they weren't, i take note. ..."

I write notes & definitions to help get the info into my head and stay there. Of course it's not 100% full proof, not even close. However, even if a little stays with me I consider that a win.

Second, if I write the notes on paper and not in a book I own, I try to write them as if I were trying to explain it to another person. Many times I find I really don't have a complete grasp of the item I am writing and that makes me research more on the internet or re-read the section in the book.

I do like the tap and get the definition option on the kindle. However, I know those definitions do not stay with me as much as if I look up the word in a book dictionary, highlight the word then write the definition in the book or in a notebook. Just the act of doing all this helps the definition stay with me. Is it a hassle? Yup. However, I think it's worth it.

I do know that audio books and the info I get from them are far less likely to stay with me. That is why I tend to listen to audio books that I don't care if the info stays with me. It's more for entertainment.

I seldom re-read but if I do it is always fun to look back over the marginalia or notes I've made.

I will note, in the future I will try to transfer my iPod highlights etc daily to my hardcover book. Apparently a lot of editing goes on between an initial hardcover and later paperback / kindle editions. So it can be difficult to find the section I highlighted. This is especially hard as on an iPod it's not really clear where on a paper page I would be. So it can take a long time transfer everything. It would be a lot quicker if I did it daily.

Never mind that my highlights don't seem to always transfer to by Kindle. So if I read the kindle at night and highlight there, those highlights seem not to always sync to my ipod. Lesson learned !

You've described more work than i attempt at my age. Once upon a time i wrote out words & the definitions i hadn't previously known. Once every few years i run across that notebook & am impressed by how much i've retained, letting me know it works.

I think our philosophy is similar--writing things down is part of the memorization process for me. This is one reason i remember less from e-books. The mere act of copy & paste doesn't cut the mustard for my brain. Which doesn't mean i take the time, only that i save more & recall less.

Even if i don't reread a book, it's fun to look at my own notes whether they are in the book or in my notes. Too much i've forgotten but each time i "learn" something "new". Not sure that's the way to phrase it--maybe i mean i again recall that "fact" or person.

I always enjoy sharing notetaking with you and others. It helps me see if there is a better way. Or what i can add to my process.

I take no notes whatsoever of anything I read. I do put just about all titles on my Goodreads Shelf, with at least a couple of sentences minimum regarding my thoughts on the book later, as I forget them sometimes altogether. I suppose it's kind of like face blindness, perhaps? Not that long ago I started a book, and then decided to check what Goodreads folks thought of it, to my horror realizing that I had left notes on it a few years back; not long ago I was thrilled to find a relatively cheap copy of a book that retails for astronomical sums on Amazon. You guessed it, turns out I had read it several years ago. Good news is that I think it will be new for me when I tackle it in future. I usually recall my impressions of a book, but am very weak at remembering specific plot points.

Unless it is for a book discussion I tend to only write in my non fiction books. In the book I will highlight & write definitions. If it's a library book I will write notes in an inexpensive notebook.

I used to save the notebooks but when I moved to a smaller apartment they had to go. :(

I have kept a hardcover blank book that I write one line for each title.
Date-title-author-fiction or non- my 0-5 rating- and the number that book is for my yearly total. I've had this book since January 1999.

I also put the titles on GR since I've been here. Though I don't make comments. I save my comments for this group. ;)

For a few years I had kept an annual spreadsheet, but abandoned that when I realized that I never actually consulted those. I used to just make no note whatsoever if I did not finish a book, but have started putting DNF reviews if I've stuck with it for a bit, pointing out the issue.

I have a notebook at my bedside since I mostly read in bed. Depending on the book, I usually keep notes. This helps me because some books have multiple characters and complicated plots and my memory isn't as good as it was when I was younger. Sometimes I just write down a page number to refer back to. I do have a reading journal but that just lists the title, author, my rating and the date I finished it.

I've been keeping track of Books Read (yes, i cap the words even in my brain now) since 1974. Mainly i began because i kept picking up the same Agatha Christie mystery every few months. And, worse!, not realizing it until i was well into it. Writing out a list helped me avoid that, i must say. When computers entered my life, i created an Excel spreadsheet & copied it all there--what a time saver! That written, as John mentioned, one must refer to the sheet in order to not repeat reading a book. Over those years i've probably reread 3 or 4 by accident, mainly because the title or author appealed, and i just didn't check the list.

I must also add that i like the spreadsheet (title, author, genre, and month/year) because i can "recall" when posting or writing about books to others. It's been remarkably useful, too, when i wonder where i first heard about a topic, such as dark matter.

As noted above, my "notes" have increased in quantity over the years to where they are almost too cumbersome to keep track, so i end up only referring to them in instances mentioned in the last paragraph. Most mysteries are noted only by "whodunit", so if i find i am rereading it, i can end the suspense (& the reading) by finding out the answer.

While i still have my original notes from the '70s, forward, most of my notes now are on computer. Yes, i have an external hard drive, with which we travel, so i try to add my notes there as we go. Ok, get off my back--i admit i actually have the notes on THREE external hard drives. I just don't want to lose them!

Final note, i enjoy rereading what i wrote when i first read a book. Sometimes i realize how deficient my schooling was, which is why i copied out what seems obvious facts today. But mostly, it's a sort of refresher course on topics i've enjoyed over the years. To be honest, the only one i have never referenced are the mysteries.

Julie wrote:s. This helps me because some books have multiple characters ."

I also have to write down characters. I usually use a piece of paper and use that as my bookmark. I am horrible about remembering who everyone is.

madrano wrote: "I've been keeping track of Books Read (yes, i cap the words even in my brain now) since 1974. Mainly i began because i kept picking up the same Agatha Christie mystery every few mon..."

Join the club. I think I must have purchased about 4 copies of O Pioneers!--Willa Cather because I would keep forgetting I already owned it ! I finally said to myself I have to read this book or I'll just keep buying copies !

My kindle is a complete black hole. I have no idea what is on it. At least seeing a book around my house reminds me to read it or at the very least that I own it.

Alias, i can imagine how easy it is to buy & lose kindle purchases. I have a few freebies from different services akin to Project Gutenberg and am dismayed every time i open them up. Apparently when we travel i see titles i didn't know from the 1800s or so, which are out of copyright protection, so i download them. Never to crack open again. Actually, that's not quite true. This year i read Bayou Folks, a short story compilation by Kate Chopin. It was such a pleasure to delete it from my machine...after taking the notes, of course!

Alias Reader wrote: "My kindle is a complete black hole. I have no idea what is on it.

I have 24 books on mine at present. Six of them are in a Currently Reading folder - two of those I haven't actually started yet, so they're" on deck" I suppose. Two are kinda "stalled", one I am nearly finished with, but have been sidetracked by the sixth one that I'm actively working on The Missing File. I really like having such a folder, as I can have it come up as primary rather than all of the titles at once.

I think having 24 titles is a lot, as it would take forever just to go through those. Unfortunately, I'm scarred by part of my Trip from Hell experience that included a 12-hour wait in the gate area at the Chennai (Madras) Airport years ago with one print book to last me all the way from there to New York. This was back in the days before ebooks and audiobooks.

John wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "My kindle is a complete black hole. I have no idea what is on it.

I have 24 books on mine at present. Six of them are in a Currently Reading folder - two of those I haven't ac..."

I was able to create folders on my old kindle. That doesn't seem to be an option on the Kindle fire.

John, that would have scarred me, too. Back then (none e-book days) i always took three books, leaving them behind once completed. As i recall i didn't take any 500+ books, though, because i had to tote my own luggage. :-) When we went on our last trip (US, that is) i had 5 ebooks on my iPad but access to the library (& book stores) was a breeze, so i needed have worried. Scary to have only one to last that long!

We were supposed to leave around midnight, but the locals were busy burning garbage which affected visibility so we couldn't take off until after it burned off in the morning, meanwhile the crew had gone illegal in terms of hours on duty even though they hadn't actually done much in the way of work, so the whole thing was a mess.

I just ordered “Welcoming the Stranger” by Matthew Soerens. I heard him on a podcast recently and he made me think and ponder immigration in a new way. I learned a lot and found it helpful.

John, sometimes it's a marvel to realize how what seem simple acts can impact other people, strangers even. Your experience is a fine example.

Sara, thank you for drawing my attention to Matthew Soerens's Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion Truth in the Immigration Debate. I hadn't noticed it but think it could be beneficial to many US citizens today. Here's hoping the book is as useful as his podcast info!