barry2B wrote:
I am currently reading this. Joel is one of my favorite authors.
The Brotherhood (Precinct 11 Series #1)
Hi Barry, it's been a while, good to see you.
Right now I'm reading a classic holiday tale 
All I Want for Christmas Is a Vampire (Love at Stake Series #5)
Peppermill wrote:Somehow I feel like we are in Disasters 101 and I don't remember signing up.
Hurricanes, earthquakes, October snowstorms, .....
Hi Pepper, It sure has been a strange year so far ! And we still have a couple months to go, But for now anyway we have the power restored, 11 days ! It's so strange here some of the trees are still green, and it was 70 and sunny today.
optic_i wrote:
Peppermill wrote:Somehow I feel like we are in Disasters 101 and I don't remember signing up.
Hurricanes, earthquakes, October snowstorms, .....
Hi Pepper, It sure has been a strange year so far ! And we still have a couple months to go, But for now anyway we have the power restored, 11 days ! It's so strange here some of the trees are still green, and it was 70 and sunny today.
Optic
YEAH!
Many of our maples are just turning the reds they usually are in October. I was amazed at the brilliant scarlets in my neighborhood today. Yet we have so many branches everywhere broken off by the heavy snow on branches still heavy and dense with leaves, not allowing the snow to fall to the ground however many days ago that was.
Peppermill wrote:
optic_i wrote:
Peppermill wrote:
Somehow I feel like we are in Disasters 101 and I don't remember signing up.
Hurricanes, earthquakes, October snowstorms, .....
Hi Pepper, It sure has been a strange year so far ! And we still have a couple months to go, But for now anyway we have the power restored, 11 days ! It's so strange here some of the trees are still green, and it was 70 and sunny today.
Optic YEAH!
Many of our maples are just turning the reds they usually are in October. I was amazed at the brilliant scarlets in my neighborhood today. Yet we have so many branches everywhere broken off by the heavy snow on branches still heavy and dense with leaves, not allowing the snow to fall to the ground however many days ago that was.
Pepper, I'm glad that you are all okay where you are and I'm really glad that optic has power again.
Yesterday it was in the 70s here and today the high will be in the 40s whew. Changes are a coming
I just finished and reviewed
http://thereadingfrenzy.blogspot.com/2011/11/revie
Tomorrow's Gray Sky by Triston Robert Kelly
hwadsworth wrote:...just finished reading 'Tomorrow's Gray Sky'; it was incredible and a refreshing new collection of poetry! But, don't know why I couldn't leave a review, anybody else having problems leaving reviews?
I seldom write a review on the B&N sites (may do a short one here from time to time) so am no help on the problems you encountered. Thanks for the heads up on the book. It reminds me of my first November in Vermont, for when I always swore I learned a new color: "Vermont November grey." (I don't recall succeeding Novembers being as cloudy and overcast as that first one.)
hwadsworth wrote:Thank you Pepper and thank you Debbie! I'm sure it's fine. I've had two books waiting for me, Pat Buchanan's, 'Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War', and John Harris's new one. Was needing a break from poetry, I also just finished Phillip Levine's most recent collection.
HW -- you can use the add product feature to add links and pictures of books to your posts if you like.
Churchill, Hitler, and "The Unnecessary War" by Patrick J. Buchanan
(Not sure which is the new one by John Harris.)
coffee_luvr wrote:.... I also just finished Mudbound by Hillary Jordan -- this was a sobering subject but really liked the way the author had each character "talk" about the story from their perspective. [from Stephanie's column on what we were currently reading in June 2010]
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Coffee_luvr brought this to my attention in June of 2010, then it disappeared from my radar. (Stephenie and Ibis had read it earlier, according to posts here.) I don't know what brought it forward again, but I know I was looking for something as an adult antidote to another reading of To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee). This certainly fits that bill!
In a recent interview by Emily Scordato upon the release of her new book, When She Woke, Hillary Jordan said: “That Mudbound was thought worthy of being taught in universities and high schools was by far the most thrilling part of having the book published. The first time I got a letter from a teacher who was teaching the book to her tenth grade class, I burst into tears.”
Mudbound was quick read for me. Like some others, I was able to set it aside, but when I picked it up again, it was rather like a tall soda one doesn't put back down until finished, and then a bit reluctantly. (The analogy falters if pushed towards pleasantness -- Barbara Kingsolver has written of the story "Her characters walked straight out of 1940s Mississippi and into the part of my brain where sympathy and anger and love reside, leaving my heart racing. They are with me still.") You can see reader reactions elsewhere on the characterizations and the plot line, so I'm not going to summarize them here. I will only say, as Kingsolver and others have, this is a tale and a set of characters likely to stay with me, which is not a comment I make about many novels -- a few insightful ideas are about what I demand of an author.
The novel was published by Algonquin Books; it was awarded the 2006 Bellwether Prize (established by Barbara Kingsolver about 2000), recognizing an unpublished manuscript promoting social responsibility,
Peppermill wrote:
coffee_luvr wrote:.... I also just finished Mudbound by Hillary Jordan -- this was a sobering subject but really liked the way the author had each character "talk" about the story from their perspective. [from Stephanie's column on what we were currently reading in June 2010]
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Coffee_luvr brought this to my attention in June of 2010, then it disappeared from my radar. (Stephenie and Ibis had read it earlier, according to posts here.) I don't know what brought it forward again, but I know I was looking for something as an adult antidote to another reading of To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee). This certainly fits that bill!
In a recent interview by Emily Scordato upon the release of her new book, When She Woke, Hillary Jordan said: “That Mudbound was thought worthy of being taught in universities and high schools was by far the most thrilling part of having the book published. The first time I got a letter from a teacher who was teaching the book to her tenth grade class, I burst into tears.”
Mudbound was quick read for me. Like some others, I was able to set it aside, but when I picked it up again, it was rather like a tall soda one doesn't put back down until finished, and then a bit reluctantly. (The analogy falters if pushed towards pleasantness -- Barbara Kingsolver has written of the story "Her characters walked straight out of 1940s Mississippi and into the part of my brain where sympathy and anger and love reside, leaving my heart racing. They are with me still.") You can see reader reactions elsewhere on the characterizations and the plot line, so I'm not going to summarize them here. I will only say, as Kingsolver and others have, this is a tale and a set of characters likely to stay with me, which is not a comment I make about many novels -- a few insightful ideas are about what I demand of an author.
The novel was published by Algonquin Books; it was awarded the 2006 Bellwether Prize (established by Barbara Kingsolver about 2000), recognizing an unpublished manuscript promoting social responsibility,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellwether_Prize
This is the book I am planning for my next read! I think what brought it to the forefront for me is that the author just released a new book, one which I don't think I would be interested in, but it made me realize that I still hadn't read her first book.
Fozzie wrote:
Peppermill wrote:
coffee_luvr wrote:.... I also just finished Mudbound by Hillary Jordan -- this was a sobering subject but really liked the way the author had each character "talk" about the story from their perspective. [from Stephanie's column on what we were currently reading in June 2010]
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Coffee_luvr brought this to my attention in June of 2010, then it disappeared from my radar. (Stephenie and Ibis had read it earlier, according to posts here.) I don't know what brought it forward again, but I know I was looking for something as an adult antidote to another reading of To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee). This certainly fits that bill!
In a recent interview by Emily Scordato upon the release of her new book, When She Woke, Hillary Jordan said: “That Mudbound was thought worthy of being taught in universities and high schools was by far the most thrilling part of having the book published. The first time I got a letter from a teacher who was teaching the book to her tenth grade class, I burst into tears.”
Mudbound was quick read for me. Like some others, I was able to set it aside, but when I picked it up again, it was rather like a tall soda one doesn't put back down until finished, and then a bit reluctantly. (The analogy falters if pushed towards pleasantness -- Barbara Kingsolver has written of the story "Her characters walked straight out of 1940s Mississippi and into the part of my brain where sympathy and anger and love reside, leaving my heart racing. They are with me still.") You can see reader reactions elsewhere on the characterizations and the plot line, so I'm not going to summarize them here. I will only say, as Kingsolver and others have, this is a tale and a set of characters likely to stay with me, which is not a comment I make about many novels -- a few insightful ideas are about what I demand of an author.
The novel was published by Algonquin Books; it was awarded the 2006 Bellwether Prize (established by Barbara Kingsolver about 2000), recognizing an unpublished manuscript promoting social responsibility,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellwether_Prize
This is the book I am planning for my next read! I think what brought it to the forefront for me is that the author just released a new book, one which I don't think I would be interested in, but it made me realize that I still hadn't read her first book.
Laura -- Hope you find the time worthwhile as I did! When you are done, you may find it interesting to scan the reader reviews. I did. The name of her new book is in my text above.
Pepper, Thank you. If you or your friend read the book, which I really did love, I hope youlet me know what you thought of it.
Peppermill wrote:
Ryan_G wrote:This is the review I posted on the blog:
Have I ever told you guys how much I love my sense of humor. It tends to lean towards the darker side of things, which is why I find some circumstances funnier than most will. I guess a perfect example, a short one anyway, is from the movie Titanic. I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about, though I didn't really enjoy it that much. There is one moment that cracks me up every time I see it though. When the boat is sinking, tail end up in the air, passengers start to fall like confetti. There is one in particular that makes me laugh out loud, I know it's callous but sorry. It's the guy who falls and hits the propeller blade, the thunking sounds he makes sends me into stitches. Now you might say I'm morbid, but it will give you an insight into why I loved this book so much.
I'm not saying that I laughed out loud the entire time I was reading it, because I didn't. But I did find a lot of it humorous enough to say this was one of the most entertaining books I've read in a long time. Jean is one of those rare characters that I love despite everything that she does. She is a woman lost in pain who decides on being practical for the first time in her life. Unfortunately for her friends, that means killing them off before they grow old and suffer in the way her mother did.
It was a joy and a thrill to to watch the internal conflict as she meandered her way and started knocking of those closest to her. The only stipulation is that she has to make them as happy as she can before she does it. In once case that involves sleeping with the one that has had a thing for her since college. I love the way Jean is able to twist herself in an elaborate pretzel in order to justify what she is doing. Much like Serial Mom and those college kids from The Last Supper, Jean starts off doing what she thinks is right and just. For the most part, she is firm in that thinking by the end as well. She has her moments of doubt, but all it takes is remembering the pain and suffering her mother went through for Jean to realize she is on the right path no matter the consequences to herself.
This was a wonderfully complex and inspired look at friendship and morality in an age where both things seem to be expendable. The author, through dark humor and brilliant writing, was able to bring Jean and her friends to life in such a way that made me want to be Jean's friend, despite the risk.
pjpick wrote:
Ryan_G wrote:Practical Jean by Trevor Cole
Wow, that's definitely an original plot! I know the perfect person to recommend this to. LOL! Can't wait to hear your opinion of it.Thanks for posting your review here, Ryan, especially since I don't have yours or really any other book review blogs on my regular scan list!
Just listened to the Great Course's take on Crime and Punishment. Your review makes Practical Jean sound like a 2011 version (perhaps a sitcom rip?), i.e., decent person committing crime towards "good" purposes!
LOL...That's what I get for trying to respond while I'm eating and listening to music
Peppermill wrote:pjpick wrote:
Ryan_G wrote:
Wow, that's definitely an original plot! I know the perfect person to recommend this to. LOL! Can't wait to hear your opinion of it.
Ryan -- pjpick is the person with the friend to whom she intends to recommend this.
I do still need to check if this is in my library system.
