Marie A
has 9 followers and is following 8 people
- member since January 21, 2009
Reading Timeline
Public Notes
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Silvana says
Hi Marie, I haven't heard from you for quite a while now. i hope that you are OK and enjoying your reading. I'd like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Proseprous New Year 2010, Keep safe and Happy Reading, Silvana
Posted 3 years ago. ( send a note )
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Marianne H says
I STILL haven't gotten it!! Ahhh, learning patience.
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Kathy R says
I finished "still alice"......thought it was depressing.....why do you like these kinds of books? don't you want a happy ending?
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Kathy R says
Did you finish your book? and did you end up liking it?
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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underhuntressmoon says
oh gosh i hate when that happens. i have a rule that i try to stick to where i wont stop in the middle of a book even if i dont like it. i have to finish it but sometimes its so hard. for me it was crime and punishment. it wasnt that i didnt like the book it was that i just couldnt keep my eyes open. then again this was also back in high school which was exhausting and i didnt feel myself capable of reading books as "complicated" as crime and punishment. if i picked it up again now im sure it wouldnt be too bad...but i still kinda cringe when i think about it.
if i was an author id be sure to get on her book list. i'd pull the whole "we are both from chiago" thing on her haha. idk if that'd work but hey if it does props to me :)
another suggestion for books to read is the watchmen. i just finished this and am in love. i cant belive its a comic book...ive read books that arent as good as this one.Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Kathy R says
You know, I finished JD Robb's new book in two days...it was so good to visit with the characters again....but now I find that I can't pick up another book just yet...
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Kathy R says
Why are you still reading it then? Why not just call it a day and read something that you will enjoy??? Why punish yourself????
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Kathy R says
I really havent started the book yet...but it is up next.....
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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uplandpoet says
Welcome to Better than Starbucks! Look around, make yourself at home, start a new thread or dig up an old one or just read and jump in on the more active ones.
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Leanne R says
Hi Marie, welcome to the women of lore group, hope you'll join in and have fun with us :)
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Katie P says
It was better than Scarlett. It isn't Gone With the Wind (how could it be?) but it made for an entertaining read.
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Bonita M says
I've tried them, but usually can't get into them. I did listen to all of The Copper Beech while working out. But while I love Bill Bryson's books, at least one of his books was recorded by some guy with a monotone voice. Ugh!
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Marianne H says
It's a 'plan' to read.... Long waiting list for me, too. I have the book you are reading, Little Giant...., and I am also on that waiting list. How are you enjoying that one?
MariannePosted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Angie L says
I've actually just started it but I think I'm going to love it. The writing is great and I already feel very protective of Truly. It's our book club selection for the month, so hopefully we'll all have some interesting things to say about it.
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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underhuntressmoon says
i totally know what youmean. the only time i actually do read her stuff is if i have to read it for a class or if i happen upon it by accident and it doesnt have one of the giant book defacing stickers that reads oprahs book club. this is one of those books that make you sad for maybe a chapter but the rest is very uplifting and encouraging. you work thorugh the story with the character. i cried but it wasnt a sad kind of cry, it was a good feeling cry, or a we just accomplished something really big cry. i definitely want to hear what you think. plus this is one of those books that you can read in no time :)
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Bonita M says
Welcome to Shelfari! I've found it's a great way to keep track. I've also found readers anonymous at .ning quite interesting. Check it out!
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Bonita M says
I see "Eve" on your TBR shelf. Have you read "The Red Tent"? Excellent book! I think that being familiar with the Bible added to my enjoyment. I'll add "Eve" to my list!
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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Bonita M says
I just read one page at a time! I keep a thin book in my purse, another in my car, a huge one (right now War and Peace) at my bedside. I drag the others around the house in a canvas book tote. Keeping them straight in my mind usually isn't difficult as long as I'm reading different genres with diverse characters. I laid On Beauty aside until I finish Saturday because the main characters of each were too similar. I set aside time for reading, but I do most of my reading when I'm waiting, or there's a lull in activity (commercials, stirring a sauce on the stove, etc). I can identify with the reading in bed. I take Ambien, which is an amnestic, so I've learned NOT to move the bookmark after I've taken it! lol
Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
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ghost of a rose says
I did like The Color of Water, I gave it 4 stars. I wish I could hear James McBride speak! And another Shelfari reader said that he is their favorite jazz musician, too.
Here's my review of the book:
James McBride is a journalist, and this is a book of nonfiction. It reads exactly like what it is. It doesn't have the excitement and passion of a work of fiction. But as is often true with books about history, the story of McBride's mother is interesting enough to keep you reading even when told in a dry, factual way.
Ruth McBride (born Ruchel Dwajra Zylska, aka Rachel Deborah Shilsky) was born in Poland to an Orthodox Jewish family, and immigrated to America when she was two. Her father was a rabbi (not a very good one), but a very strange and secretive man who sexually molested her and abused her handicapped mother. No wonder Ruth fled her birthright to find love and happiness in the arms of the African-American community served by her family's grocery store.
This was in the South of the 1940's, a time when a black man who dated a white woman was literally risking his life; and a white woman who dated a black man was shunned even by her own family. When Ruth married Andrew Dennis McBride, her family said Kaddish for her, and as far as they were concerned, she was dead to them. She never saw them again. When once she appealed to an aunt and sister for help during a time of desperation, they slammed the doors in her face.
Ruth's courage and openmindedness are incredible, and she was rewarded for her lack of racism by two happy marriages to fine men. James' father died of cancer early in her pregnancy with James, leaving her with 8 small children to raise. Eventually she remarried a man who raised those children as his own, along with the 4 more that they had together.
The family lived a life of poverty and often experienced harassment from both blacks and whites. But they had much love for one another, and from their extended family on the black side. All 12 children grew up to graduate from college and become professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers. Ruth herself went on to college at the age of 65, becoming a volunteer social worker after earning her degree, and now regularly travels to Paris, London, and New York.
Sadly, Ruth refused to discuss her past with her children, and when they asked her why she didn't look like the other mothers, denied that she was white, saying that she was only light-skinned. It wasn't until he was an adult that James learned the truth. It took six years and a great deal of research on his own, but finally the whole story came out, and Ruth agreed to help James write this book.
The story of Ruth's mother is equally interesting, and heartbreaking.
My only criticism of this book is that I wish it had included photographs. The only ones it has are on the front cover and collages on the front and end pages. All of them are soft-focus, so much so that no details are clear, and some of them are hard to make out. There are no captions, and no way to know who the people are in them. As far as I can tell, there is only one of Ruth McBride - it is on the book jacket cover, but so airbrushed (or something) that I looked at it long and often before I could tell that it might be her.
(228 pages)
Quotes by Ruth McBride from The Color of Water:
"This was around 1940 and black and white didn't do what me and Dennis were doing, walking around and such. Some folks did it, but it was all secret, or they were good-time, partying folks."
"The way Tateh treated her, they'd call her an 'abused woman' today. Back then they just called you 'wife.'"
"I was so sorry, deep in my heart I was sorry, but all your 'sorrys' are gone when a person dies. She was gone. Gone. That's why you have to say all your 'sorrys' and 'I love yous' while a person is living, because tomorrow isn't promised."Posted 4 years ago. ( send a note )
