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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 8, 2007 18:02:09 GMT -6
I've added links to chapter one excerpts to most of my posts beginning with this one above.
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 14, 2007 16:54:14 GMT -6
The Island of the Blue Dolphins & Ella Enchanted.
S * P * O * I * L * E * R * * * S * P * A * C * E
I liked the 'Ella Enchanted' book a bit better than the movie, though there are parts in each I prefer over the other. I did not like how Lucinda helped Ella go to the ball. Parts were borrowed from both the Disney & Grimm's version of Cinderella. I thought an original ending should have been used. Somewhat like in the movie. No glass slippers, no pumpkin coach, no mice horses, no magic spells ending at midnight, etc. That blew it for me. I'm glad I saw the movie first, otherwise I'd have avoided it.
Also, if I had taken a close look at her other books and saw she does retellings of old fairy tales, I most likely wouldn't have bought/read Ella Enchanted at all. Then again, it was a good read up until the ball.
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 15, 2007 16:27:18 GMT -6
The Moorchild
I have to say, I like this author's idea of a changeling. That she was an innocent in the swapping; not some ogre out to cause mischief or do harm. And the ending was bittersweet. Both happy and sad. And to go into detail would ruin it for those who haven't read it. It's a good read.
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 16, 2007 23:51:00 GMT -6
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit
Yes, I've been reading children's books of late. I'm studying them. Sorta. I'm hoping to try my hand at writing a few. Up until now, I've been mostly writing picture books, and I want to try writing juvenile novels now.
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 22, 2007 19:16:35 GMT -6
Agnes And The Hitman -- Very good book. Well worth the wait. (I've been keeping up with their blog discussions of it for about a year or more.) Looking forward to their next book, which I believe is in the plotting stage as of right now. When they start up their blog/website discussions on it, I'll be sure to post a link.
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 28, 2007 18:17:24 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Aug 29, 2007 18:33:06 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 11, 2007 17:43:55 GMT -6
Finished reading: The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. Another good read.
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Post by moonglum on Sept 12, 2007 0:03:27 GMT -6
I'm reading A Northern Soul by Jimmy Nail, at the moment. I don't know whether you got 'Auf Weidersehen Pet' on tv in the US. Jimmy played the character Oz.
The book is a very vivid account of his life, growing up in the Newcastle of the sixties.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 12, 2007 0:18:45 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 17, 2007 16:41:13 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 17, 2007 22:36:11 GMT -6
I finished reading What the Lady Wants by Jennifer Crusie. And I'm now reading Anyone But You - also by Jennifer Crusie.
Anyone But You: Chapter One Excerpt
Yes, I'm stuck on Jennifer Crusie, what's your point? Not many more left to read though, and then I'm stuck waiting for new ones to come out.
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Post by vox on Sept 18, 2007 14:08:57 GMT -6
I'm into autobiographies at the moment, just read
Michael Caine's 'Seventy Not Out' really good, couldn't put it down! Terry Wogan's 'Mustn't Grumble' okay for a light read! Alan Titchmarsh 'Nobut A Lad' Jimmy Nail 'A Northern soul' I enjoyed that one! currently reading Ricky Tomlinson 'Ricky' a really good read! for those of you that don't know who Ricky Tomlinson is, he is a comedian/actor/musician who starred in a comedy series over here called 'The Royale Family'.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 18, 2007 16:43:18 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 22, 2007 18:18:21 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Sept 22, 2007 21:13:28 GMT -6
A few avid readers here, aren't there?
I've never read anything by Jennifer Crusie, Joxie - maybe I'll give her a try sometime.
And Vox - nice to see you pop in again. Autobiographies....I can't remember the last I've read. So many interesting people, and I should read what they have to say about themselves and their lives.
The latest books I've read....and I finished the last weeks ago, and haven't had much time to start another...I thoroughly enjoyed.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins was written just over three decades ago, and some of the governmental, social, psychological, and environmental issues covered in satirical humor still apply today. Aside from it being a great story about a woman born with a "deformity" - two grotesquely large thumbs, and what do you do with grotesquely large thumbs when you are outcast from society because of them? You learn to hitch-hike, and with grotesquely large thumbs, you learn to be the best damn hitch-hiker there is. Your hitch-hiking, in a round about way, may lead you to a cowgirl ranch, the last surviving flock of whooping cranes, and a guru Chink, who is actually a hermit from Japan, but unjust stereotyping is part of the satire.
And while the story is interesting, fascinating are the author's interjections, always preceded with a warning, "The Author thinks", as he goes on to give his opinion on what his characters should do, amoeba love, or poor sentence structure.
I have not seen the movie - I didn't know there was a movie until I was talking with a friend about the book just last week.
The other book, Leaving Small's Hotel by Eric Kraft, took me nearly three months to read. Not because it was boring, or difficult, or because I lost it. It sat there waiting until I had a spare moment, could sit and read a few chapters and put it back down again until maybe it'd be picked up a week or two later. Had I known what was between the front and back cover when I got it, I'd have bought all the copies they had and given them to everyone I know who likes a good story with undertones of sly humor: I found it in a bargain bin at the grocery store for a dollar. I loved this book. Apparently it is the last chapter in the story of the main character - I'll have to look for the other books this winter when I have more time to read.
Next up: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 24, 2007 16:26:14 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Sept 24, 2007 22:43:52 GMT -6
Funny how sometimes you just stumble on an author you can not get enough of - like you with Jennifer Crusie, Joxie. And me with Eric Kraft. Did a two minute drill, and discovered there are a lot more books before and after Leaving Small's Hotel than I thought. www.erickraft.com/peterleroy/pershist/pershistconts.html On Wednesday's agenda, my next day off: browse the used bookstore. And the character still reminds me of Moonglum, or the way Moonglum writes. I can't quite figure out which.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 29, 2007 20:55:46 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Nov 8, 2007 23:58:07 GMT -6
I started to read briefly In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, way back while I was on vacation over a month ago, and haven't picked it up again since this week. Tonight, I could not put it down until I finished. Fiction based on fact - and I'm glad it is over.
A completely compelling, powerful, and unforgettable book.
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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 26, 2007 1:34:01 GMT -6
Okay, I haven't been reading much since the new Fall TV Season started . . . and I'm reading out of the order I gave above. I have the book Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts, and the movie was on the Lifetime channel last Wednesday evening, so I recorded it. After seeing the movie, I decided to read the book. (The movie repeats this Wednesday afternoon, so check your local listings to see what time it airs in your time zone.)
Excerpt
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Post by Siren on Dec 10, 2007 21:24:13 GMT -6
I just finished re-reading "Nickel & Dimed - On (Not) Getting By In America" by Barbara Ehrenreich. Here's a description from amazon.com: "Essayist and cultural critic Barbara Ehrenreich has always specialized in turning received wisdom on its head with intelligence, clarity, and verve. With some 12 million women being pushed into the labor market by welfare reform, she decided to do some good old-fashioned journalism and find out just how they were going to survive on the wages of the unskilled--at $6 to $7 an hour, only half of what is considered a living wage. So she did what millions of Americans do, she looked for a job and a place to live, worked that job, and tried to make ends meet." This is a really good, interesting book. It'll give you a behind-the-scenes look into life in various low-wage, high-labor jobs, and will give you a new perspective on the working poor. Right now, I have a couple of books going. One is "A Day In The Life Of The American Woman" by Sharon Wohlmuth, Carol Saline, and Dawn Sheggeby: "Fifty of the nation's most renowned female photographers worked exclusively on portraits of American women as they pursued their daily activities on April 8, 2005. As women of all races and backgrounds across the country are photographed at home, at work, at play, on the town, at mealtime, and at bedtime, a vibrant tapestry reflective of the entirely unique persona of each woman emerges. Enhanced by essays and quotes, these photographs provide a stunning visual window into the heart and soul of American womanhood." I love photography, anyway. But it is certainly interesting, looking at the various lives profiled. I'm also reading "Strip Search", a thriller/mystery by Oklahoma author William Bernhardt. I also revisited the website of one of my favorite fan fic writers, Mary Morgan. Her stuff is beautifully written. I put her on the same level as Melissa Good, which is high praise, indeed. She is very talented. And her affection for Xena and Gabby is obvious. I wish she'd had a chance to write for the series. Give yourself a treat and check her out. And if you like her stuff, drop her an email. She's a very nice person. www.storycorner.org/marymorgan/index.html
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Post by Phalon on Dec 19, 2007 23:22:56 GMT -6
Siren, I remember back when you first posted about "Nickel & Dimed - On (Not) Getting By In America" probably two or three years ago, and I can only imagine how much harder it’d be for those women right now with the economic system seemingly on the brink of disaster. Gas is just an example: how can someone making six to seven dollars an hour even afford to drive to work! I wonder how even some two-income families can make ends meet.
Your mention of “A Day In The Life Of The American Woman" prompted me to dust off the dust-covers of two books we have: “A Day in the Life of America”, and “A Day in the Life of the Soviet Union”, published in 1986, and 1987 respectively. Twenty years ago! Some of the photographs seem very dated; some are timeless.
I haven’t been doing much reading lately, but I’ve done a whole lot of browsing, looking for Christmas gifts. I got my sister-in-law the best cookbook; it’s perfect for her! Food to Bring to Get-Togethers, or some such title. I saw it and it cracked me up – no more will she be resigned to bring the traditional “beans, rolls, and pie” to family get-togethers, a family joke. Actually, she loves to cook, and thumbing through this cookbook not only made me hungry, it made me want to bring something other than napkins and silverware to the next pot-luck I’m invited to, (another family joke).
I found the perfect book for my boss, got it home, read half of it ever-so-careful not to leave it looking like I read it before I wrapped it. I would have read more, but didn’t want the pages covered in cat hair, because a cat on your lap continuously nudging the book to let you know that yes, there is a cat in your lap, is a reading necessity…or so the cat thinks. I then called up the shop I bought it from; they had one copy left, and I had it held for me for another friend. The title is Garden Voices, and it’s about women and their gardens. The stories of these women are not garden tours, “Here I’ve planted pansies, and over here is my azalea.” They are stories about life. "Beneath the soil of every garden is a story. Garden Voices presents a dozen tales about heartache and triumph set within plots of lovingly cultivated land. While many outcomes of gardening are visible and tangible, these pages reveal the rewards of delving in the soil: daily wonders, gradual discoveries, and life-changing epiphanies."
I’ve also received a couple of really nifty things as gifts. The London Scene; Six Essays on London Life by Virginia Woolf, and not a book, but a six CD set of Edgar Allan Poe stories that aired on the radio from 1937 to 1957. The gifts are just “poe”-fect, and I can't wait to wrap myself up all toasty in Virgin Wool after getting in the Christmas spirit listening to "The Fall of the House of Usher" while sipping Edgarnog as I bake cookies, write Christmas cards, and wrap presents.
First comes the book I borrowed from the library though; the Biddies are breathing down my neck.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 2, 2008 0:32:08 GMT -6
I thought I'd finish. January 2nd is the due date, and I was barely halfway into the book when we started for Mom's Friday, but the nail-biter of a drive kept me from even attempting to read in the car.
Oh, I could renew it on-line - the Biddies always tell me I can when I bring my over-due books back. But that would deny me the opportunity to face their pursed lips and sullen stares as I dole out my dime-a-day penality for getting it there late, and hear the imagined tsk-tsking while I'm fishing around in my wallet.
I should not have checked it out; I knew I mostly likely would not have time to read it in the pre-holiday rush. At the library with a friend though, recommending a book for her to read, and I saw it, and could not resist. I could also put in it in drop-box outside, and listen to it unceremoniously plop into the catch-bin. But oh-no! I finished. It is I who will smirk as I hand it back to them on time! I love to mess with the Library Biddies.
The book was Herb n' Lorna: A Love Story, and the second book I read in a series of books by Eric Kraft. It also happens to be the second in the series, though Leaving Small's Hotel, was not the first, but rather the first I read in the series. Going in no particular order here, kind of like my thoughts as I type this.
I loved this as much as I did Leaving Small's Hotel. In Herb n' Lorna, Peter Leroy, the main character and narrator of the series, chronicles the lives of his grandparents in a posthumus biography - his sweet, sweet grandparents who he learns, upon his grandmother's death, that separately, and unbeknowst to one another during nearly all of their forty year marriage, practically pioneered the "coarse goods trade" - the erotic jewerly industry.
The women in these books are strong - they come with quirks, but are intelligent and wickedly witty. The men are good, but flawed...perhaps their biggest flaw being that they love their women too much. A cast of quirky characters comes with each book, and it very easy to fall in love with each of them....except the ones you're not supposed to fall in love with; every book's gotta have a baddie or two.
The Philiadelphia Inquirer says of the series, "“The sex is bracing and the boating can’t be beat…These books are awfully funny.”
BOLL. The review is as quirky as the books. Sex and boating as separate activities, and sometimes rolled into one, are entwined throughout, but it's a sublime twine. They are more about life - simple and good, or sometimes simply bad, but always fun to read.
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Post by Siren on Jan 2, 2008 22:26:43 GMT -6
Thanks for the tip on that "Garden Voices" book, Gams. I'll check into that for my mom, who has passed along her love of plants to me. My purple jew, waxy begonia, and a plant I received during my hospital stay (can't remember what it is) are on a garden bench my dad built for me, sitting beneath my back window. They're not getting all the light they want, and are (particularly the jew) reaching, reaching for the light. Makes me feel guilty, keeping them here when my mom has a sunny garden room down in Ada. The rest of my porch plants are already there. But I can't bear to give up these last 3. I want something alive to look at during these dreary months.
Lower-wage folks are indeed feeling the pinch, Gams. My friend David works at a Walmart Neighborhood Market, and says that just before every payday, he's having more and more co-workers ask if they can borrow gas money till payday. And it's only going to get worse. Milk is higher, cereal is higher, bread is higher - everything. If I'm feeling it on my middle-class pay, I KNOW his co-workers are feeling it.
OMG, that Poe collection sounds fantastic! Who is reading the stories aloud?
Right now, I'm reading a great book called "I'm With The Band - Confessions of A Groupie" by Pamela Des Barres. Pamela is not only unashamed to name the names of the rock greats she slept with back in the day, she's proud to. And it's not just the memoir of a flower child's coming of age. It's also a superficial look at the 60s, in general. It's as foreign and different from today's experience as a memoir from another planet might be. I wouldn't do the things Pamela did. But I'm glad I can read about them! This book is a guilty pleasure of the highest order. I've read it many times, and always enjoy it. She's a born writer. Read a sample page, and see what I mean. Just look up "I'm With The Band" on amazon.com.
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Post by HobsonsChoice on Jan 4, 2008 3:22:02 GMT -6
ah, sexy boating. you guys know how to pick 'em.
my school put on a play of Nickel and Dimed. i thought that was an odd choice for adaptation, but i did like the book. grabbed it at the text book store and got it back it before the no return date. i'd use the library, but i can't pay my fines. the book obviously touched me on a personal level.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jan 9, 2008 17:08:29 GMT -6
Jinx by Meg Cabot
Women & Money by Suze Orman
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Post by Phalon on Jan 10, 2008 23:21:01 GMT -6
I received a book for Christmas titled, The Magical Garden: Spells, Charms, and Lore for Magical Gardens and the Curious Gardeners Who Tend Them.
It's a weird little book filled with lots of plant and garden lore, chants and rituals. While it's fun reading, I can't see myself following any of its advice....though sloshing wine from goblets while dancing by the light of a full moon sounds like fun; I might have to try that. Some of the other things might be kinda neat to do with the girls too, if only to see their there-she-goes-again eye-rolls.
Siren, the stories in the Poe CD series are the original broadcasts performed by a cast of radio performers. For example, "Suspense's adaptation of "The Pit and the Pendulum"...features an expanded cast of supporting characters and outstanding sound effects. But the broadcast is largely a one-man tour de force by the legendary Vincent Price."
The radio version was broadcast before the movie of the same name, starring also Vincent Price. Price, the book that came with the CDs states, preferred radio over television and movies. While in the movie he played the executioner, in the radio broadcast he plays the victim.
Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to listen to any of these creepy tales yet. I need to remember to put them in the CD player when I'm in one place long enough to listen all the way through a story. Maybe in the kitchen while cooking.....I wonder what kind of dish I'd end up with? Poe-boy Sandwiches? The Murders in the Roue Morgue? The Sirlioned Letter, perhaps?
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Post by Phalon on Jan 11, 2008 7:40:11 GMT -6
Oh! and how could I forget "The Open-Pit Barbecue Sauce and the Pendulum"?
Sheesh. Somebody help me.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jan 12, 2008 23:46:40 GMT -6
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
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