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Mary R

Mary R

has 9 followers and is following 8 people

I'm a mom, classical singer, lay historian. I love to read just about anything, and have a guilty pleasure of reading political thrillers.
  • Denver, CO, USA
  • member since July 13, 2009

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Mary R’s last login was Thursday, December 1, 2011.

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Public Notes

  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary,
    since i last wrote i have been to see a musical and it was awful. came away at the interval.
    hope you have had a good christmas and i hope you have a happy new year.
    best wishes
    your friend karen.

    posted 1 month ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary,
    sounds like you are going to be really busy up until christmas day.
    went to see jill in the play sand castles last wednesday evening. not really a seasonal choice for this time of year but enjoyable all the same.
    as the title suggests it is set in the summer and revolves around the owners of three beach huts and the area infront of each hut which they do not own but one of the families think they should making the area private. this is where the comedy comes in as other holidaymakes feel they have a right to use that area too. jill told us she didn't have a very big part but i thought it was a reasonable size. it's only the second time she has been in a play with this drama group. the one she was in before was a christmas play and we really enjoued it.
    the following evening i went to see somewhere over the rainbow. i had completely forgotten i was going to this play and was really glad i did go. the play was about judy garland and the time she spent with mickey deans in london. most of the action took place in a hotel room and the rest in a nightclub called the talk of the town. there were funny bits in it and some sad bits too. the actress did a really good job of playing the part and singing the songs too. have to have a strong voice to carry it off. she must have been exhausted when she had finished the performance as she was on the stage nearly all the time. there were nearly all the songs i knew from the films i have watched starring judy garland.
    did you read/listen to a spy novel?
    i have listened to two fast paced books and have just finished framley parstonage which was so slow. got to over half way through before i became interested in what was happening to the characters. was glad to finish it. sometimes i do seem to go from one extreme to the other then a book doexn't appear to be as good as it is because of the differences. hope that makes sense to you.
    bye for now.
    your friend karen.

    posted 3 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary,
    last wednesday went with my daughter christine to watch one day when we were young in the studio which is part of the crucible theatre. there wasn't a stage just an area surrounded by seating for the audience. i was surprised to see two people bringing in the props and the actor and actress getting made up and dressed for the action to one side of the area. it rather added to the play rather than detracting from it. the play started in the second world war and musical interludes whilst they were changing the props and getting ready for the next scene and parts denoted the years they were set in. it went from leonard being called up to them meeting again in later years. she (can't remember her name) had promised to wait for him but had married someone else when there had been no reply to her letters. she had received a telegram saying he had been captured by the japanese but i thought it would have been better if it had said missing presumed dead. the final secen was where they were old and had come together for what may have been the last time, she now being a widow. i thought the actor was very good starting from the young man and playing a convincing old man. the actress wasn't as good.
    the next play i go to is one my daughter jill is in. she is in an amateur drama group. after that i will see two dancers from strictly come dancing and then legally blonde.
    at the moment i am listening to two books, not done that before. one is a tongue in cheek history from 1944 to 20? and an audience for einstein a sci-fi sort of book. transferring one person's memories to another. good so far.
    write when you can
    your friend karen.

    posted 4 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    so pleased to hear from you again. i value the friendships i have made through shelfari.
    you must be so thrilled to be working with music again, reading scores. will you be doing something special for christmas for the church?
    at the beginning of october we had a hot week, temperature got into the low eighties on one day, a record for the time of year. now we are back to the usual october weather, cold and rain so its back into winter clothes and dark evenings.
    last thursday wernt to see fascinating aida at the lyceum theatre. they are a comedy folk group which jill found on youtube. they sang a song about buying a plane ticket so we decided to see them when they came to sheffield. i enjoyed the political songs they did and one about missing friends. the audience was fan based and they were loud in their appreciation which rather spoiled it for me as they laughed and clapped over the punch lines as they obviously knew all the songs.
    next week
    i am going to see the play one day when we were young which is set in the second world war.
    i am currently listening to wizards daughter and not sure of it yet but then i'm only just past the first hour. will see how it goes but its not exactly holding my attention at the moment.
    your friend karen.

    posted 4 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary,
    i was surprised to find enchanted april on audible and so bought it. will let you know what i think when i get round to listening to it.
    your friend karen.

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary,
    hope your daughter enjoyed camp. did she have a good time? we don't have anything like that here in britain.
    is it busy for you again now the children have gone back to school?
    i have been chatching up on books i burned to cd using our old computer. the ones i burned on the new computer only play on the computer which isn't much use to me. i have bought a recorder which i can download audible books to and am listening to a few on that too. got a big backlog commencing from march. my bought books are sitting on the shelf gathering dust but i will get around to them eventually. it doesn't stop me from buying more
    wrote when you can as i enjoy hearing from you
    your friend karen.

    posted 6 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary, i really enjoyed major pettigrew's last stand. a lot of people seemed to be reading it so i though i would try it.
    the childrens holidays here start next week and they go back first week in september. when i was at school it was six weeks and a day. in the beginning it was great being on holiday but by the time it came to be going back to school i didn't want to go, but when i met all my friends i was fine. because i am visually impaired (the new term now) i had to do an extra year at school which went against me when it came to getting a job. i was too old to be a junior and had no experience. i went to a college and learned to be an audio typist.
    i remember missing my girls when they went on a weeks trip with the school. christine went to york and jill went to france. your daughter will love being at camp and you will wonder how she is and be glad when she is back home. just thought, she may have a mobile phone. they didn't exist for my two. they both have them now.
    i have started listening to murder takes the stage but haven't got very far with it as i am trying to catch up on burning to cd the books i have bought from audible. they got left because of computer problems. this book is a crime novel and i am enjoying it. if i buy a crime novel it has to be different from the normal which this is. its a father and daughter team who investigate murders commited in the past. this one is about a clown who was accused and aquitted of murdering his wife. the crime was in 1952 and the clown's ghost is now haunting a shop. only found out after i started it that there are two books before this one. have put them on my wishlist.
    enjoy the books whilst cleaning and also being with your children.
    your friend karen.

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    i saw a review for enchanted april and thought it looked good. its not on audio here yet so am crosssing my fingers it will be soon. mind you i have lots to get through until then. just keep adding to the list.
    not long until july and you will be able to spend more time with your children. when do they have school holidays?
    starting september i will going to watch four plays, mainly at the lyceum theatre in sheffield. its a long time since i have been to that many in one season. will let you know what i think about them if you are interested.
    your friend karen.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary.
    i'm getting used to the new computer and keyboard. been writing reviews on all genres and sending notes to my friends.
    as i haven't heard from you i just wondered if you were really busy or had gone on holiday.
    write when you can
    your friend karen.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary.
    i'm getting used to the new computer and keyboard. been writing reviews on all genres and sending notes to my friends.
    as i haven't heard from you i just wondered if you were really busy or had gone on holiday.
    write when you can
    your friend karen.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    Hi mary,
    gave up on our other computer and ordered a new one which we have just started using. jill set it up for us last night. the only thing i was able to do on the old pc was my grocery shop and that was risky in the end.

    in the meantime i have been listening to books which i will put on my shelf.....

    your friend karen

    p.s will write again when i have got the hang of the new pc. i am dictating to christine at the moment

    posted 9 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    hope you enjoy rushdie when you can find the time to read it.
    our computer has been in for repairs so i got through three books fairly quickly. i have just finished non stop which is a sci-fi novel by brian w aldiss. i really enjoyed it and was surprised to find out at the end of the story that it was written in 1955. it is obvious from the beginning that the people are on a spaceship but they don't know that. i bought the book because i have a vague memory of watching something on those lines in a drama on t.v. a long time ago.
    did you find something mindless to read whilst doing all that cleaning?
    did you finish dancing at rascal fair and if so did you like it?
    write when you have the time
    your friend karen.

    posted 10 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    yes time seems to go by so fast. it doesn't seem so long ago when i was visiting my children as babies in the special baby care unit in hospital as they both were premature babies. christine was 11 weeks early and jill was 8 weeks early.

    i enjoyed the enchantress of florence by salman rushdie once i understood what it was - a sort of fairy story with historical facts. i kept thinking of the araban nights (sheharazade(not sure of the spelling)) although i have never read them. its rather a hard book to explain. i think a different reader would have improved it considerably as he sounded flat and bored plus he said taj mahal and himalayas different from us so initially i didn't understand where the book was set or the time period. give it a go if you want something completely different.

    ij have just finished chocolate wishes by trisha ashley and really enjoyed it. ate rather a lot of chocolate too. going to put a review on the groups i belong to later.

    first day of spring today - hooray, good weather hopefully soon.

    your friend karen.

    posted 11 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    we have been having a bit of trouble with the computer. died on me last week. had it fixed and it went again monday evening. was advised to pull out plug and put it in again - it worked. see how it goes now. we had been putting it on standby as three of us use the computer, les, chris and me. les uses it more than chris and me. he is doing a pub quiz - its his turn to do the questions and answers. the answers are themed so first he has to think of a theme. he enjoys doing them. we sometimes have a go when he has finished them.
    i'm listening to the enchantress of florence by salman rushdie. got it because chris said it was good. its definitely different. i just have to get into his style of story telling.
    so glad you enjoyed your holiday and found the time to listen to two books.

    write when you can.

    your friend karen.

    posted 12 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    i'm busy listening to books, its raining outside but not cold. hope we have left the cold and snow behind now. looked at my last year's diary for leslie to see when we had snow last year so according to that we may get some more - hope not.
    read remarkable creatures by tracy chavalier. first time i have listened to a book by this author. i enjoyed it and have two other books by her on my audio wishlist.
    i'm currently listening to the horse dancer by joyo moyes, only got through the first disc so far. looks like it could be good. when i download from audible to cd i usually listen to a bit of each disc and get an impression of what the book may be like. i wasn't really sure about this one so will see how it goes. some books i know will be good others look a bit iffy and one i am wondering if its worth listening to it at all. its called gods behaving badly.
    leslie recently listened to the diary of a nobody and i asked him what he thought of it. if it was worth listening to. two books he had listened to before he said were diabolical so they went straight into the rubbish bin. this one he said listen to it and see what i think mmm. i will get round to it eventually. i am listening to one bought book followed by two audible downloads, then start over again. i am hoping to get my tbr pile down quite a lot but knowing me will just keep buying books and the pile will get bigger and bigger.LOL.
    write when you can
    your friend karen.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    will your mum go out and buy fresh copies of the books your dad read? must admit when i could still read a book and borrowed them from the library i didn't like turned down corners etc. my brother-in-law nearly always gets books from the library. he was on a waiting list for a book and in the end christine, my daughter, bought it so he could read it. wasn't as if it cost much on a three for two offer. it would have been over two years waiting on the library list and as he is 82, well who knows. there is a rumour they will be closing the libraries here in sheffield with all the cuts.
    i'm over half way through the fifth vial and am hoping to finish it today. next up is the many conditions of love by farah zama. it follows on from the marriage bureau for rich people which i really enjoyed. learned about all the different items a bride needed on her wedding day and some of the customs too. recommend it if you want something different and to learn of another country's culture. the reader did a good job too.
    i remember reading books to chris and jill when they were young. oh happy days. they both love books but have completely diffeent tastes. chris likes historical fiction but the history has to be correct and jill likes fantasy. it was jill who introduced me to terry pratchett's discworld series and also j.k.rowililng's harry potter books. think i've grown out of the discworld books but still love the harry potter series.
    write when you have the time.
    your friend karen.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    you are giong to be busy with two jobs.
    i finished crimson room by katharine mcmahon and in the end thought it was a good book. the second half saved the book. it concerned the trial of a suspected murderer and the outcome. gave it four stars.
    i'm not quite sure what kind of books you like so have listed a few you might like.

    bellwether by connie willis.
    this story is of a researcher in a company called hitech who is researching fads from the past. she is trying to find where they came from and who started them. the fads got a bit in the way of the story but they were interesting. must have taken a lot of research on the authors part.
    i got my version from audible.co.uk but you should be able to get the book itself. i recommended it to a friend and she managed to get it from the library.

    twenties girl by sophie kinsella.
    this is a ghost story and i really enjoyed it. my first sophie kinsella book. i have downloaded the first in the shopaholic series and it will be some time before i will get around to listening to it.

    the apothecary's daughter by julie klasson. bought audio book from amazon.co.uk
    fictionalised history.
    lily prepares remedies in her fathers shop and when relatives offer to take her to london to mix in society she jumps at the chance but is called back home when she learns her father is ill. i think it is set in england, uk, in the sixteen hundreds but i have listened to quite a lot since then. recommend it.

    time and again by jack finney.
    this is a time travel book and i'm not sure if this is your thing or not but apparently it has some really good discriptions of boston usa and its society in the 1800's(?).
    you may only get the book form i don't know. i enjoyed it and recommend it.

    the widower's tale by julia glass. bought audio book.
    i have put this down because leslie by husband highly recommends it. he gets to listen to my books before i do. this was my christmas present from him and my daughter chris.

    if these aren't suitable, let me know what you like and i will look again through my books.
    your friend karen.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary.
    looked up dancing at rascal fair and found it on audible so have put it on my wishlist which is over sixty books long. i'll wait and see what you think of it before buying it. it does have good reviews.
    i rely a lot on reviews to decide whether to try a book or not. i have had some terrible ones which if they are bought ones i donate to a charity shop or if they are downloads, which i burn to cd, i throw them in the rubbish bin.
    i have got to disc 3 of crimson room and i can appreciate it is a good well written book but its one of those cases where whilst listening i am engrossed but when i have to break off it doesn't call me back - its not a page turner. will have to knuckle down and get on with it. will let you know what i think of it when i've finished if you are interested. its about a woman in 1924 who is a lawyer, one of the few at that time, who misses her brother james who died in the war. a woman comes from canada and claims james is the father of her son which isn't in any doubt as he looks like his father. that's as far as i have got at the moment.
    wishing you luck with your reading.
    write when you can. i like hearing from you.
    your friend karen.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    hope you enjoyed your visist to your parents.
    we had a quiet christmas. jill cooked dinner for us and it was delicious, a real treat for me. didn't stay up to welcome in the new year but heard a few fireworks. there weren't as many or as loud as last year.
    i have been watching some dvds lately. can't seem to settle to listening to a book, just a phase i'm going through.
    write when you can.
    your friend karen.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Karen R

    Karen R says

    hi mary
    happy new year.
    write when you can.
    best wishes karen.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )

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