Tips for First Timers

[Aunt_Beth_64]

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Oldesq wrote:

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Aunt_Beth_64 wrote:
I thought it might be a good time for those of us who have been around the B&N Book Clubs for a while to share a few tips with the Newbies. I'll get us started with some of the advice posted during a previous First Look, please chime in to add your tips and advice for our new friends.


WHO HAS TIP NUMBER 7..............

Message Edited by Aunt_Beth_64 on 05-31-2008 04:19 PM

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Great post Aunt_Beth_64. For number 7- please use a standard font. Overly large, or bolded letters seem like yelling (even though not in all caps).

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Good tip Oldesq, while my use of all caps was for emphasis (not yelling), I still needed the reminder.

Anyone else ready with Tip # 8 for our new First Look Friends?

Beth

[Maria_H]

Fantastic idea! I hope more of you chime in with your hard-earned advice!

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Aunt_Beth_64 wrote:
I thought it might be a good time for those of us who have been around the B&N Book Clubs for a while to share a few tips with the Newbies. I'll get us started with some of the advice posted during a previous First Look, please chime in to add your tips and advice for our new friends.

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[wbarker]

Ok - so I'm a newbie, and I was getting frustrated that I couldn't figure out how everyone is quoting other posters -

For other newbies:

To quote, hit reply, and the 8th button over on the toolbar above the area where you type (looks like a balloon quote, next to the smiley face) will add the quotes from the post you are replying to.

I'm SOOOO excited that I finally figured this out!

Hope this helps someone else!

[wbarker]

As a newbie, a HUGE thank you goes out to those of you posting the tips!  I'm learning as I go, and I'm really enjoying the First Look book club!

Thanks for your help.

[dhaupt]

Karen & Maria,
I just wanted to say how I really enjoyed this segment of First Look. I liked the flow of conversation and the way the threads were presented.
And Mr. O'Nan was incredibly cordial in all of his dealings with all of the different personalities that are here in this venue.
I have really enjoyed all of the parcels of the First Look program and want to thank Barnes & Noble and you and Maria in particular for letting us everyday folk feel special by being a part of something like this.

Message Edited by dhaupt on 06-18-2008 09:39 AM

[bookhunter]

Has anyone read The Fig Eater by Jody Shields?  (I bought it from the BN bargain book list!)  It is another book that takes a "different" look at a missing person case.  The main characters are a police investigator and his wife in Vienna in 1910.  A murder has occured, and the investigator goes about his job following all the latest (for 1910!) scientific CSI methods.  His wife decides SHE is going to investigate the case as well, and uses "gypsy" superstition and her intuition.

It is interesting to see the comparison in their methodology.  But like Songs, the ending is a bit anti-climatic or unsatisfying (to me, anyway).  The point of the novel is the investigations, not the actual solution, I guess. 

Our discussions in the Resolutions thread had me thinking about this book, because it is one where I did NOT connect with the characters and am wondering if that is why I was disappointed in the ending. 

Ann, bookhunter

[FrankieD]

Okay...Songs for the Missing is over and a book my wife gave me for Father's Day just didn't make it...so I've been looking around for something to read. Today we stopped in a Kent, Connecticut on our way home from Massachusetts and in  the House of Books I found my next adventure...In the Woods by Tana French. It has an interesting cover, and says that it is a psychological thriller about three missing children...and so I can try the same genre that we just finished. I suppose I'll get started with iut tomorrow and see how it goes...then I'll drop a note here...and tell you what I thought.

                                                                                FrankieD

PS - My wife and I retired on Thursday..........................YAHOO !!!!!!!!!

[Peppermill]

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FrankieD wrote {ed.}:

Okay...I found my next adventure...In the Woods by Tana French. It has an interesting cover, and says that it is a psychological thriller about three missing children...and so I can try the same genre that we just finished. I suppose I'll get started with it tomorrow and see how it goes...then I'll drop a note here...and tell you what I thought.

FrankieD

PS - My wife and I retired on Thursday..........................YAHOO !!!!!!!!!

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Congratulations! And the best to you both.

As for reading, if you haven't tackled him already, with a bit of seemingly extra time for awhile, you might want to try listening to Don DeLillo's Underworld. I just finished CD 8 of the 14 in Part One. I am convinced I prefer to listen to, rather than read, this, but am finding it intriguing albeit sometimes frustrating.

Pepper

[FrankieD]

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Peppermill wrote

Congratulations! And the best to you both.

As for reading, if you haven't tackled him already, with a bit of seemingly extra time for awhile, you might want to try listening to Don DeLillo's Underworld. I just finished CD 8 of the 14 in Part One. I am convinced I prefer to listen to, rather than read, this, but am finding it intriguing albeit sometimes frustrating.

Pepper

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Thanks...I think I'll look into your suggestion...and yes, we do have some extra time now

                                                                                                FrankieD

[pjpick]

Frankie D, I just picked up the Tara French novel a couple of days ago too. Haven't broken into it yet though. It isn't something I normally read but I'm always looking to change things up a little bit. You also might try Carter Beats the Devil by Gold (it's rec'd some good reviews from male friends of mine) or The Sparrow by Russell (it has an odd premise, in fact I never would have read if not for book club but it was extremely good) and if you like Sparrow it has a companion piece Children of God.

Congratualtions to your wife!

PJ

[gosox]

I will second pjpick's recommendation of The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell. One of my favorite books of all time despite a genre I don't usually read.

Also, if you are looking for other books with a similar theme to  Songs for the Missing, try  The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond or Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

In fact, as I read Songs for the Missing I felt as if it was a bit too much like Lovely Bones.  As in Songs, the first chapters of Lovely Bones follow the young girl who will disappear. It then focuses on the family's struggle with losing a daughter and a sister. Of the two, Lovely Bones is the better book, with well developed characters, it is a story that is poignantly told.

I have not had a chance to participate in the discussion this month so I am not sure if someone else has drawn the comparison, but I was a bit disappointed to find that Songs was too much like Lovely Bones! 

pjpick wrote:

Frankie D, I just picked up the Tara French novel a couple of days ago too. Haven't broken into it yet though. It isn't something I normally read but I'm always looking to change things up a little bit. You also might try Carter Beats the Devil by Gold (it's rec'd some good reviews from male friends of mine) or The Sparrow by Russell (it has an odd premise, in fact I never would have read if not for book club but it was extremely good) and if you like Sparrow it has a companion piece Children of God.

Congratualtions to your wife!

PJ

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[Peppermill]

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gosox wrote{excerpt}: ...In fact, as I read Songs for the Missing I felt as if it was a bit too much like Lovely Bones. As in Songs, the first chapters of Lovely Bones follow the young girl who will disappear. It then focuses on the family's struggle with losing a daughter and a sister. Of the two, Lovely Bones is the better book, with well developed characters, it is a story that is poignantly told.

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GoSox -- Interesting comment. At times, I (too?) have wondered how much Lovely Bones influenced SFTM -- if nothing else, by implying the best-selling potential of the topic. Although I didn't really like LB at the time I read it -- the imaginative aspects of it seemed over-contrived to me -- certainly aspects of the story have stayed with me, which always says something about a book read quickly. While I haven't looked at LB closely enough or recently enough to judge whether it is the better book, I did personally prefer the "down-to-earth" realism of SFTM. I also remember LB as being more about the victim than the family, but was wondering if the memory was accurate, so that made your comments particularly relevant for me. Don't know, however, that I liked LB well enough to go back and re-read it. Maybe a half hour with it someday when in the local library. Certainly participating in First Look will influence my retention of SFTM and its characters. (There is a sentence in the draft of my review of SFTM that I shall have to go back and reconsider, given this discussion, so thanks for it!)

Pepper

[FrankieD]

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pjpick wrote:

Frankie D, I just picked up the Tara French novel a couple of days ago too. Haven't broken into it yet though. It isn't something I normally read but I'm always looking to change things up a little bit. You also might try Carter Beats the Devil by Gold (it's rec'd some good reviews from male friends of mine) or The Sparrow by Russell (it has an odd premise, in fact I never would have read if not for book club but it was extremely good) and if you like Sparrow it has a companion piece Children of God.

Congratualtions to your wife!

PJ

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Thanks for more ideas...they're appreciated. I've been busy the past few days (retirement is tiring...ha-ha!!) so I haven't started Tana French's book yet either...although we're heading to Chicago next week so I'm sure that I'll do a lot of reading then.

Happy reading...

                                                                               FrankieD

[pjpick]

Chicago! I love Chicago! I've only been there once but it is one of my favorite US big cities. I wouldn't be able to find much time to read though, I would be buried in the art museums by day and the blues by night. Have fun!

[gosox]

Any news on the next First Look book?

Thanks

[EbonyAngel]

Thought I had missed it since I've been on vacation but since you're asking, I supposed it hasn't been announced yet.

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gosox wrote:

Any news on the next First Look book?

Thanks

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[FrankieD]

Okay...Chicago was great...then a week in Galena,Illinois and a lot of kayaking...not much reading time!!! We came home for a weekend and then went for a few days to North Wildwood,New Jersey to a B&B and some sun...so reading time was there and I finished reading In The Woods by Tana French and enjoyed it from start to finish. I would recommend it to everyone...as long as you don't have a need for complete closure at the end of a book.

I have a few gift certificates for books from my retirerment party so I'll be heading out in search of my next book this week...before next week's trip to Vermont and Maine for two weeks. This no more work thing is great!!!!

                                                                         Frankie D

[Jo6353]

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booser wrote:

Hi Everybody

This is my first go around in any book club. I'm excited to be a part of this. I was wondering if anyone has read The Night Country? It sounds intriguing, and very suspenful. Maybe I can get some feedback?

booser

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I haven't read it but I just recently picked up a copy.  Did you read?  Jo