Readers and Reading discussion

Shomeret wrote: "I'm just starting Signora Da Vinci by Robin Maxwell, a novel about Leonardo Da Vinci's mother."

Looks like you are "into" a theme here with books about the women in artists' lives!

JoAnn, thanks for the title. Like you, i am fascinated by libraries & "feel" them, even when i only read about them. This book looks like a winner for folks like us!

When DH was stationed in Vietnam, i spent much time dreaming about our future. In the process i looked at books about fine homes across the world. It was the libraries which most often thrilled me. One i remember was J.P. Morgan's in NYC. It was the best "personal" library, the one i hoped to someday have--especially the two floors. Finally, i got to see it in person. While not as dreamy as i remembered, probably due to the fact it is museum standard, not sit & read. Still, i would never leave it if i had one like that. :-)

http://the-morgan-library.visit-new-y...

deborah

The Morgan Library is gorgeous. Thanks for the link, Deborah.

The thrill of my life, "librarily" speaking was my visit to the Long Room at Trinity College in Dublin after viewing the Book of Kells in the same building, in the Old Library. Oh, my

http://www.paddi.net/images/longroom.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_...

"The Library of Trinity College is the largest research library in Ireland. As a result of its historic standing, Trinity College Library Dublin is a legal deposit library (as per Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003) for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and has a similar standing in Irish law. The College is therefore legally entitled to a copy of every book published in Great Britain and Ireland and consequently receives over 100,000 new items every year. The Library contains circa five million books, including 30,000 current serials and significant collections of manuscripts, maps, and printed music. Six library facilities are available for general student use."

JoAnn, i've heard about the Dublin library for years. My SIL, a book lover like us, was enthralled with all of Trinity (she's quite into her Irish heritage) but that library stunned her. You've both whet my appetite!

deborah

When the Long Room at Trinity College was built between 1712 and 1732 it had a flat plaster ceiling and shelving for books was only on the lower level with an open gallery. By the 1850s these shelves had become completely full because of its status as a "Deposit Library". In 1860 the roof was raised to allow construction of the present barrel-vaulted ceiling and upper gallery bookcases. It would not be nearly as impressive with the original flat ceiling.

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Shomeret wrote: "I'm just starting Signora Da Vinci by Robin Maxwell, a novel about Leonardo Da Vinci's mother."

Looks like you are "into" a theme here with books about the women in..."

I didn't do that on purpose, JoAnn. Sunflowers and Signora Da Vinci were both books that I didn't win in GR Giveaways. When I didn't win them, I put Sunflowers on hold at the library and wish-listed Signora Da Vinci on PBS. Coincidentally, the hold came in and the wish was granted around the same time.

Shomeret wrote: "Sunflowers and Signora Da Vinci were both books that I didn't win in GR Giveaways. When I didn't win them, I put Sunflowers on hold at the library and wish-listed Signora Da Vinci on PBS. Coincidentally, the hold came in and the wish was granted around the same time...."

And if Johanna comes in at the library, you will be on a real roll!

I am really learning a lot from the illustrated history of libraries, but it is so heavy that I can barely hold it, and then not for long. Every page has an illustration, so the paper is very heavy, making the book pretty weighty.

I am totally immersed in and loving Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.

First of all, the cover is gorgeous LOL and the story just grabs you the minute you start reading. I love books like that. It is both tragic and hilarious....and totally charming.

As one reviewer said "I loved it because it is believable without being so depressing that I want to slit my wrists. It is truthful in its ugliness, yet hopeful in it's general belief that life holds a plethora of promise."

I am now reading Life of Pi and The Screwtape Letters. Next I will read Rebecca.

Catamorandi wrote: "I am now reading Life of Pi and The Screwtape Letters. "

What do you think of them?

A Happy Ground Hog Day Story From My Little part of the World!
http://www.courierpostonline.com/arti...

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I am really learning a lot from the illustrated history of libraries, but it is so heavy that I can barely hold it, and then not for long. Every page has an illustration, so the paper is very heavy..."

I have this one, but I need to read The Help first. Glad to hear something good about this one.

Nice story, R. It illustrates how PR is all, right?

deborah

JoAnn, I started "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" last night and cannot put it down. I love this book! Like you say it hooks you on the very first page. I am trying so hard to pace myself so that I can continue to enjoy it. Great book for a new author!!

RNOCEAN wrote: "JoAnn, I started "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" last night and cannot put it down. I love this book! Like you say it hooks you on the very first page. I am trying so hard to pace myself ."

I finished it last night in just three days. Considering that I had lots of other stuff to do, that is reallllly fast!

I loved it...... this is an author who really makes the most of every word.

She has a nice website http://bethhoffman.net/home/

I especially loved the photos of the historic houses on the website.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt A definite for my to be purchased or get out of the library in 2010! I so trust your opinion!

PS...Joan..you are correct about the nice website Beth Hoffman has!

I am in the middle of a series called The Greywalker series staring a PI character named Harper Blaine that can walk between the world of the living and the dead. This series is written by an author named Kat Richardson from Seattle so most of her books take place up and around Washington State. This character she came up with is very cool and tough. She has some interesting vampire contacts and gets into some tricky/twisted situations. I'm almost done with book two and plan on starting book 3 eventually.
I am planning to read James Patterson's new book Witch & Wizard. It's supossed to be along the lines of his version of a kinda Harry Potter type thing but I think a little darker and maybe setting the characters in places where witches and wizards are frowned upon. It starts out really good from the first few pages I read so I am excited to start that next.

Has anyone here read Marisa Silver's The God of War? I just finished it, and thought it was a very well done novel about a twelve-year-old boy, Ares, who lives with his somewhat flaky single mother and his six-year-old mentally disabled brother, Malcolm, in the California desert near the Salton Sea. It's beautifully written, and one of those books that makes you really care about the characters.

Carolyn (in SC) C234D wrote: "Has anyone here read Marisa Silver's The God of War? I just finished it, and thought it was a very well done novel about a twelve-year-old boy, Ares, who lives with his somewhat flaky single mothe..."

I have not yet read it, but it is on my online library list. I will have to move it to "reserved". Thanks

Hey everyone new here, :)

I am currently reading North and South by Gaskell and it is such a nice comfort reading, but with a social edge.

I am planing to such back into more James Lee Burke and the first of his novels 'Neon Rain'.

Hi, Lindz, and welcome to Readers and Reading.

I have not read Gaskell's North and South but I did see the show on PBS. Did you happen to see it? I thought it was very well-done. The social commentary was very powerful.

Hope you visit and post often.

Welcome, Lindz. While i haven't read North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell i have read Mary Barton, Wives and Daughters and Cranford by her. It's funny that initially i only knew she wrote a biography of Charlotte Bronte and over a decade later learned Gaskell wrote novels herself. I like her work & the social consiousness she brings to the good stories. Enjoy!

deborah

Thanks for the welcome!!!

North and South is my first Gaskell, and loving it, as you said there is a social consciousness blended throughout and it gives it nice texture and layers.

Yes Joanne I have seen the series, and loved it, rare I see something before reading it. The book is very different from the series, but works in its own way.

Just finished Secrets of Eden: A Novel
and my review is on my book list.

I just finished a novel set in Venice, and it was a dog. I have my review for The Lying Tongue on my Goodreads book list. Now I'm re-reading DuMaurier's Don't Look Now, and it is much much better.

I'm still plugging along with Roth's Call It Sleep. Someone in another group called it the worst book she and her group ever read, but I like it pretty well. What slows me down is the New York dialect, which I sometimes find myself reading aloud to make sense of. I really like the story of the tough life of a little immigrant boy and his family. There are just so many details about everyday living, and so many insights into what the child is thinking. It's really very vivid.

Then I'm reading a wonderful book, really just a collection of lecture notes, letters, and comments by the painter Robert Henri called The Art Spirit. I have spent so much time copying out quotes in my journal that I might as well just find a copy to keep.

Sherry, I think there is a series by Donna Leon set in Venice - Detective Brunetti.

Sherry (sethurner) wrote: "painter Robert Henri called The Art Spirit. I have spent so much time copying out quotes in my journal that I might as well just find a copy to keep.
..."

This is exactly how i decide whether or not to buy a book, Sherry. If there are too many quotes, it's a purchase! Sometimes i even stop reading the book, planning to continue once i've bought it. And too often i end up not returning to the book after said purchase.

Enjoy the book!

deborah

I just started Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and wow what a cool start. This book just shoots right out of the gate and doesn't slow down. I think I am going to start the Alex Cross books after this but I need to find out which book starts that series. I have quite a few Patterson titles that I am looking forward to reading soon.

Has anyone read The Eight by Katherine Neville? I'm finding it engaging, but a little hard to follow the chess aspect of it. I'd appreciate discussing it with someone who gets it!

Thanks

I'm starting The Lace Reader. I've put off beginning it because of the magical realism element (foretelling the future), but the opening chapters have pulled me right in.

Steven wrote: "I just started Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and wow what a cool start. This book just shoots right out of the gate and doesn't slow down. I think I am going to start the Alex Cross books after..."

The first Cross book is Along Came a Spider then it goes to [book:Kiss the Girls|13148. You will be very busy there is 16 in the series :).

Sarah wrote: "I'm starting The Lace Reader. I've put off beginning it because of the magical realism element (foretelling the future), but the opening chapters have pulled me right in."

This tickles my funnybone because I read the first 20-25 pages and took it back to the library! And I was kind of reading it because of the magical realism, which I often sometimes like.

I've been reading Dingley Falls by Michael Malone for a week now - it is a longish book :) This book about a small town in Connecticutt just whizzes along, full of characters, gossip, Republicans and Democrats, lechers, affairs, gay ministers, heart attacks, secret military bases ... very amusing and very well written. It's so easy to read, yet so detailed and in depth - I'm loving it.

Got a lot of titles this month from the lists - just keeps me reading forever when I hear about another good book!

Bunny wrote: "I've been reading Dingley Falls by Michael Malone for a week now - it is a longish book :) This book about a small town in Connecticutt just whizzes along, full of characters, gossip, Republicans ..."

I read and enjoyed this when it was first published. My enjoyment was partly because I moved to Connecticut just two years after the time in which the book took place. Malone really nailed it!

Lori wrote: "Has anyone read The Eight by Katherine Neville? I'm finding it engaging, but a little hard to follow the chess aspect of it. I'd appreciate discussing it with someone who gets it!"

I haven't read that one, Lori, but i read another Neville novel. Magic Circle or something? I was glad to have someone discuss it with me, as i felt i was missing aspects of it. Together my reading pal & i covered most of our concerns about the book. I hope you find someone who has read it.

deborah

Lindz wrote: "Steven wrote: "I just started Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and wow what a cool start. This book just shoots right out of the gate and doesn't slow down. I think I am going to start the Alex Cr..."

Hey there Lindz thanks for those Patterson titles. I think I might actually have one of them stashed in my library already :o) I'm Looking forward to starting that series. Have you read any of the Maximum Ride series by Patterson yet? Or maybe When The Wind Blows?

I just started Johanna and I'm enjoying it. Thanks, JoAnn.

Shomeret wrote: "I just started Johanna and I'm enjoying it. Thanks, JoAnn."

And I just got Sunflowers from the library!

Finally finished Call It Sleep, and am looking forwawrd to more of a page turner. My buddy loaned me Borderline by Nevada Barr, so that's up next.

Sherry for some reason, the avatar in your last comment is your profile, not for Call It Sleep. Odd.

When I pass my cursor over the book jacket in Sherry's post (#190) it is for a book titled: Borderline also by Navada Barr.

This is now the second time we seen this issue. It must be a GR bug.

Alias Reader wrote: "When I pass my cursor over the book jacket in Sherry's post (#190) it is for a book titled: Borderline also by Navada Barr.

This is now the second time we seen this issue. It must be a GR bug."

I see the second book jacket as BORDERLINE. It is the first one I was talking about....that one takes you to Sherry's profile....

Hmmm. Everything looks OK here. I clicked on the book jacket for Borderline and was taken to information about the book. My avatar is what I chose.

Sherry (sethurner) wrote: "Hmmm. Everything looks OK here. I clicked on the book jacket for Borderline and was taken to information about the book. My avatar is what I chose. "

When I saw the "picture" next to the first book you mentioned, I thought it was supposed to be a book cover. Do you always put your avatar in your posts? I never noticed before.

From here my avatar is not in my post.

I just finished Witch & Wizard by Patterson and now I'm getting ready to start the second book in Patterson's Daniel X books. It would be great if we could get this Patterson guy to join GoodReads somehow. He seems to have a great sense of humor and from what I've read of his work, he is really great at getting people excited about reading and putting that excitment in his books.

Steven wrote: " It would be great if we could get this Patterson guy to join GoodReads ..."

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He doesn't write his own books anymore. He's become more of a brand. Here is an interesting article on him.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/artic...

Alias Reader wrote: "Steven wrote: " It would be great if we could get this Patterson guy to join GoodReads ..."

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He doesn't write his own books anymore. He's become more of a brand. Here is an int..."

I just read a tongue-in-cheek article by a book reviewer that said " How about the iPatterson, a dedicated e-reader that can download only his books, movies and TV shows, and play video games based on his characters. With his prolific pace, you'd never be bored."

Alias Reader wrote: "Steven wrote: " It would be great if we could get this Patterson guy to join GoodReads ..."

-----------------

He doesn't write his own books anymore. He's become more of a brand. Here is an int..."

I will check out the artical but I figured as much with Patterson being that most of his books now have 2 author names attached. He seems to be attached to a lot of things now but from what I've heard he does promote reading in a big way and I have found all these books of his highly entertaining. I also read something on his site about a new TV show he is working on so I guess he will soon be writing more for his show than his book stuff.