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Nanci6

Nanci6

has 24 followers and is following 21 people

I learned to read as my mother read to me at night. Then I was crushed to discover that I was still required to go to school. I have always been much better at reading than attending class.
  • Newport, Or, USA
  • member since March 3, 2007

Public Notes

 
  • alysseum

    alysseum says

    Thank you for the suggestion. I haven't read Russell Banks yet, but I am certainly willing to give him a try. I liked a movie I saw of one of his books (was it The Sweet Hereafter?)

    I just didn't like the tone of White Teeth. I also felt that she didn't have enough respect for her characters. There were what I felt were cheap laughs at the expense of easy targets like Jehovah's Witness mother. Some of the characters felt too much like caricatures for me. I tend to be kind of hard on books though.

    I could understand liking it a lot more if I were listening to it being read to me, though. The story moves along and has a lot of things to laugh at. Myself, I am a lifelong New Yorker and don't even know how to drive at 42 years old. I have three hours of commuting each day which doesn't bother me, because I read that whole time. I find it interesting what you say about the difference between how you watch a film. I had not thought about that and have to consider it.

    I have to see what you mean about what you say about Banks' ending. I don't like cynicism, but I am not necessarily against an ending that says that kind of thing, if it really earns it. I love some pretty grim writers, like Beckett (I have tickets to see the new production of Happy Days with Fiona Shaw at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Wednesday and I can't wait!)

    Anyway, it was nice to get your note. Be safe in all that driving. I bet the coast is beautiful.

    A.

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • alysseum

    alysseum says

    Hi Nanci:

    Thanks for the invitation. I decided when I went online to change the story in my profile a little bit. I was inspired by what you said about reading versus school. When I was in high school, I was at the top school in NYC and was an average student. The biggest problem was that I never did my homework because I was reading other work too much.

    I love Doris Lessing. She had a profound effect on my life also. When I was 22 and really struggling with life, I read my way through her CHILDREN OF VIOLENCE series. As I was reading through the last book, THE FOUR-GATED CITY, she felt so much inside my head and inside my skin that I poured out a longlonglong letter to her to tell her how much I loved her. One of my favorite possessions still is the kind letter she wrote me on a Georgia O’Keefe card she sent me less than two weeks later. She is a difficult woman and they are my favorite kind.

    I haven’t had a complete chance yet to look at your shelf, but I noticed two books I just read recently. One was BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM which I liked a lot and the other was WHITE TEETH which I didn’t care for much at all. I have been mostly reading works written before the age of television for about eight or nine years now, but I have been trying to read more contemporary works lately. I tend to be less interested in entitled (mostly male) voices. They can be good writers, but I get bored with the feeling of having already heard from them. Do you have any suggestions for books you have read that I might like to read?

    Alyssa

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Lynn H

    Lynn H says

    Hi Nanci,

    I had all kinds of great tricks to get out of going to school so I could stay home all day and read.
    May I tell you a little about bang BANG? It's a novel about a Center City Philadelphia woman who gets really upset with all the guns on the streets and does something outrageous to make things better. Here's a review:

    *STAR* BookList (published by the American Library Association)
    . . . her close friend is shot in the street, . . . . Interviewed by a reporter at the scene, Paula later discovers that her grief-stricken words, taken out of context, are being used by a shady senator and the gun industry to promote the pro-firearm agenda. Suddenly finding herself the unwitting—and very public—proponent of a political stance she abhors, Paula embarks on a decidedly offbeat, one-woman vigilante crusade to bring the gun trade to its knees . . . the book is filled with anger and raw urgency. The characters are tough and believable, and the dialogue positively sings. In many ways it’s the literary equivalent of a Tarantino movie: edgy, streetwise, and a little arrogant (don’t expect a balanced look at the subject of gun control), with a strong and determined female protagonist. Brilliant might be too big a word for this novel but not by much.

    If that sounds interesting, you can read an excerpt and some reviews at:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601640005

    Lynn

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • francesca

    francesca says

    Hi Nanci, thanks for the invite! I'm slacking a bit at the moment but always have time for new friends :)

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Bodrugan

    Bodrugan says

    Hello, Nanci--
    You're good! You pegged me on five out of six of your guesses. Thanks for your note.

    I notice you have "Ninety-two in the Shade" and "Wisconsin Death Trip" on your shelf--two of my favorites. What do you think of them?

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Book Dreams

    Book Dreams says

    We didn't. Life got hectic. Now we're shooting for early July. I'm really craving the coast. I still have the information you gave me taped to my bulletin board...

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • KateT

    KateT says

    Sorry to hear that you had an interrupted experience with The Know It All. Maybe you're library will get a copy if you nag them...I thought it was hysterical and filled with useless facts, one of my favorite things to collect. :)

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • hipeaks

    hipeaks says

    Hi Nanci-
    Always glad to talk to another Sarah Vowell fan! The 3 books you mentioned--Whoredom in Kimmage, the 3,000 Mile Garden and Holding On are all really good in their own very different ways. Because Holding On consists of short chapters on a variety of people it's good for reading at short stretches. The 3000 Mile Garden also can be picked up and put down without losing the thread. I've never come across anyone else who has read Whoredom in Kimmage-if you're interested in modern Irish culture, you should enjoy it. I lived in Ireland for a year and still try to keep up with all the changes in the works there. If you have any specific questions on these books or any other ones on my admittedly add shelf, let me know!

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • golovin_benny

    golovin_benny says

    Down and Out in Paris and London? You're kidding! AWESOME! I actually read that book IN LONDON while backpacking around Britain.
    I'm sorry you haven't been able to leave me a note...I would love one from you. How's your web browser? I've found the best luck using Safari (download at mozilla.org) but I use a mac, not a PC.

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • golovin_benny

    golovin_benny says

    I've never read Assassination Vacation, but I like Sarah Vowell--they occasionally stick her on The Daily Show and let her write op-eds for the New York Times...cool shelf.

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • SanFrancisco

    SanFrancisco says

    I'm not sure if you have any of Anthony Bourdain's books. If you don't, you should start with those. "Simple Delicacies" is a keeper.

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • FutureAuthor23

    FutureAuthor23 says

    Hi Nanci-
    No I have never read The Borrowers. I will have to check it out. It's certainly okay with me if we have such different tastes in reading! I'm very open-minded anyway.

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • mjacobs

    mjacobs says

    Thanks for the feedback on Toast - and for the friendship request!

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • ike

    ike says

    Darn, I was hoping to be a Dan-Brown-hating recluse forever... oh well...

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • madamedefarge

    madamedefarge says

    Despite the name, I don't knit--Madame Defarge is just one of my favorite literary characters. A friend tried to teach me to crochet once, and I didn't even have much luck with that! :)

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
  • KateT

    KateT says

    Actually my wife, Amber, is the knitter in the family...I included our entire library on Shelfari so that I could catalog all our books (I am a tad obssessive). :) I will let her know about the book you mentioned though because she is allergic to wool and would love to hear of additional options.

    posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )

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