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Phillip Smith

Phillip Smith

has 17 followers and is following 10 people

Books are my biggest passion in life and have been for as long as I can remember.
  • Cordell, OK, USA
  • member since July 19, 2008

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Public Notes

  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Handel!

    So good to see a note from you already! You are likely on board by the time you're reading this. I hope the tension of the last few months has started to melt away already.

    What books do you have on your Nook for your trip?

    I feel like I'm having a reading existential crisis the last few weeks (so glad you are still available in on the high seas!): I haven't read a book that when I was done I had the feeling of wow, that was a great book in quite a while. Again, I turned down the opportunity to go out with friends, which for Morgan's sake I really should have since they are our work friends and she needs to get out sometimes. I'm reading Proust, but not enjoying it, but for some reason I feel like I need to be able to say (to whom?) that I have read Proust. Why do I read? What do I look for in a book? I readily admit that there are books that elude me. I know I'm on the high end of normal in the bell curve of IQ, but some books need to be read with a reading group or better yet, a college class. Swann's Way, Magic Mountain are two examples I think of books that need to be examined and discussed while read. Why am I reading them alone when I don't really like and I know I'm getting little out of it? I have a number of half-read books that I wonder if I should just wrap them up or move on.

    I'm not saying I'm throwing my hands up and going for Nora Robb, the Twilight series, or the girl with a dragon tattoo who kicks a hornet net. I'll just switch to indie films before I do that, but what am I looking for?

    I think I will go for what I know I like for awhile, forget literary merit and just read what I want-Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Conner, Alice Walker, I know these women are very respected writers, but they are all short stories.

    I joined 2 shelfari book groups-Historical Fiction and Better than Starbucks. The Historical Fiction group is very active and very friendly. The morning after I joined about 6 people welcomed me and discussed my post about Sacred Hunger. I think I will dip my reading toe into some of those historical fiction series I used to hold in slight disdain i.e. The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Diane Galahbad(?) I know I spelled that wrong, but she wrote a lot of period books.

    ok, I feel much better. Thanks for listening! I know you have to pay for WiFi so I don't epect you to address my rambling here!

    Just enjoy your trip and we'll chat when you get back! Tell Cathy I send greetings to her as well and hope she's enjoying her downtime also.

    Wendy

    posted 7 days ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Handel,

    I know you won't read this for awhile, but I have to respond anyway. I hope younhave a wonderful time and will look for you on FB. I plan on spending less time on FB in general though. After Chris died it was a good waynto check in with everyone everyday, but now it's getting to be a time waster. I will look for you and the few out of town friends and that's it.

    I took a break from Swann's Way and am halfway through Cain, Saramago's last book. It's good of course, but not quite as dense as his earlier books. I would say then same thing about The Elephant's Journey. They are still better than most, but maybe his age took away a bit of his edge. I will finish Proust. I'm almost halfway there.

    You absolutely belong in New England. I think I do too, although I'm growing ever fonder of Ohio. We have a historical standing in the foundation of the country and, as I have said probably too many times, my family has long roots here. Ohioans aren't as Liberal as me or my kids ( our family photo is the picture of diversity), but that just means we get a lot of attention here! We don't blend in, that't for sure.

    I have a feeling we will meet when you are up this way. When you are settled in MA Dave and I will find a suite nearby and we can all 4 sight see together!

    See you on FB!

    xxoo,
    Wendy

    posted 9 days ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Handel,

    A cruise will be nice and relaxing-once you arrive. The move will be stressful, no doubt about that, but to go from OK to MA is well worth it. You belong in New England so I hope it's as smooth as transition as possible.

    I have to confess that I am getting tired of Swann's Way. I didn't expect to enjoy it at all, so was happy to find that it wasn't bad and I moved through it at a good pace, not too quick to appreciate the lyrical prose, but now I'm eager to get it over with and get on to books that I love-books that take place in the old South, India, the Middle East, or my old favorites-Marquez or Saramago. Proust writes in excruciating detail and it is beautiful, but I'm not that intellectual and I'm need good writing and story I can sink my teeth into. I love characters like Pecola Breedlove from The Bluest Eye or the wacky families in Cloudstreet the daily life of the bourgeoisie family in a village in France with servants is too slow for me. I need poverty and struggle, not ruminations on art and architecture. I'm on pg 199 out of 462 so I don't want to quit, but I don't make myself read books I don't like.
    I'm almost to the section Swann in Love which I've been told is the better part of the book so I'll keep plugging along.

    I finished the "Merchant of Venice". I watched the play, actually the movie of the play, at my parents' house last week. My dad loves Shakespeare. It was a great play and since I wasn't familiar with it I didn't know if Shylock would really cut out his "pound of flesh" from Antonio. It's better to be familiar with the play before one watches it I think. I have most of them on iBooks.

    I think "rest home" is a quaint way of saying "retirement home" so no, its not a nursing home.

    I didn't know you could stream audio books from the Gutenberg project! Does that have be via internet or did you download them to your PC? That's awesome.

    If you have time to write that would be nice, if not I understand. At least I know you're just busy. If we don't write before you leave I hope you and Cathy have a wonderful, relaxing, re-energizing week!

    xxoo,
    Wendy

    posted 11 days ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Hello Handel,

    Hope all is well. I'm on the way to work, but wanted to drop you a quick note. I'm reading Swann's Way, The Merchant of Venice, The Beauty and the Sorrow and enjoying all of them. I hope you're finding time to read.
    I hope to hear from you soon. No pressure...well, a little pressure :).

    Wendy

    posted 12 days ago. ( send a note )
  • Jessica

    Jessica says

    Sorry i gotta go also on that last note i ment to insted of yo. Haahahaha!

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • Jessica

    Jessica says

    I like those yo i just could not remeber the names.

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • Jessica

    Jessica says

    Hi

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Handel,

    I didn't read your post yet. I was actually posting on FB, but even at times like this I have to check my book site-my stepson died last night. Shauna called me to tell me one of the iguanas was dying so Logan, Morgan and I went there. We were with Tony (my 3rd serious relationship that ended a little over 2 yrs ago, but we've remained very close friends) when the police came and told Tony to call his son's girlfriend and that's how we got the news to go to the ER. When Tony and I got there the nurse said take the parents to the counseling room and I knew then what that meant. I actually knew as soon as I saw the officer at the door that either Chris was wanted or dead.
    Chris is/was Tony's only child and Tony is numb. I have been sobbing off and on since 8 Tuesday night, but I have my family around me so we'll get through it ok.

    I doubt I'll be on here much this weekend. I have much to do and am spending a lot of time at the house with Tony and his mother. It's really good that Shauna and Sarah moved in with Tony so he's not alone there.

    Chat with you soon.

    Wendy

    posted 1 month ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    ...that was weird! my screen went black and my post posted mid sentence??

    hmm....anyway. shauna and Sarah had cupcakes for them on their b-days but we haven't had a family party yet. Then this Friday Shauna turns 30 so we are having a little family party here, then the women will all go have a shot and a beer with her and her friends. ( On the 23 of Jan. Morgan is 27. Too many birthdays in Dec and Jan!)

    Did you recently read Wind in the Willows? I loved those when I was younger.

    I had to talk myself out of worrying about that number on the top of my shelf that states how many books I've read this year. I thought about gathering up my half-read books and finishing them so that I could rack up some numbers, but there's a reason I stopped reading those books half-way through, I wasn't enjoying them. Then I thought of what you said about quality mattering more than quantity so decided not be so silly. Some books I want to finish-Madame Bovary for one.

    Well, time to make dinner, then get some reading in. I warned Logan last night that he will have to chose a book tonight or I'll chose one for him :)

    W.

    posted 1 month ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Handel,

    I bet you'll get CSPAN3 when you move to the civilized world of MA. I love it. Book tv on CSPAN2 AND American History tv on CSPAN3. Fortunately you have Netflix.

    Yes, Guns of August is slow going, in spite of the glowing reviews. The solution for me is to read GoA along with The Beginning of Spring which is a novel by Penelope Fitzgerald about single father in Moscow in March 1913. It probably has little to do with WWI, but it struck me that Fritzgerald chose 1913 as the year for this story. The Beauty and the Sorrow are the journal entries of 20 people from various European countries involved in the war. It's a well rounded approach-objective facts, subjective experience, and a story with that period in the background.

    I've given up on River of Smoke with the rationalization that I'll pick it up again when the 3rd in the trilogy comes out.

    You misunderstood me, my mother doesn't like Cranford. My mother loves Cranford. She wants to live there!

    Glass Castle by J Walls is the book my mother was talking about. It sounds like an interesting story, just not one I want to read.

    I have a busy week, well, not busy, 2 things to do, both enjoyable, but I'm already mourning the time I could be reading. Tomorrow is the Princess Party for all 3 granddaughters who had b-days during the holiday season. Grace was 4 Dec 6, Madi was 7 Dec 17, Bell was 6 Jan 5. We are having one family party at my house for all 3.
    Shauna

    posted 1 month ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Handel,

    I so wish you had CSPAN3 American HistoryTV-yesterday was Philbrick talking about Mayflower (which I have to re-watch) and right now they are doing a show on Jamestown Archeology project! A guide is walking around Jamestown showing and explaining all that they discovered there. Perfect for you to get a visual for your reading now. They just said that the skeleton of Capt Gosnold is lying in state in Washington. If you go to cspan.org/history you might find some of it.

    Funny you should bring up Guns of August, that it what I am reading. I had started it years ago but only got in a few pages, Now I'm on the 2nd chapter. What slows me down is checking the internet for maps and background. I'm such a bibliophile that I went on-line to see if I could find a more appealing copy of this book. I don't need a leather bound with gold leaf to enjoy the book, but all I could and still can find is the mass market small paperback and I don't like it. The print is small, the pages are dull, and it isn't worthy of a classic book with a noble subject. But, I am reading it. I know because Ben told me and I read that WWI was started by the assassination of Ferdinand by the Black Hands, what I can't figure out is why Germany and France were already so prepared for war before that. I understand that it was part of German nationalism to be warriors and make war, so I'm guessing that they were just preparing in the event of war, not that anything was actually brewing. Kind of like the US and Iran I guess. Neither has declared war, but the hawks on the right are always making pronouncements of scenarios in which they would bomb Iran. I think it's like that. I'm sure there are US generals that have plans already made to attack Iran, Pakistan, even Russia and China if need be.

    So far I haven't found GoA quite as engaging as Jay Winik's The Great Upheaval, but considering it is military history, which is not particularly interesting to me, it has kept me interested and moves along at a good pace. I really wish I had the imagination to "see" the opening chapter of GoA where she describes the funeral procession of King Edward VII with nine kings in full regalia on horseback, three by three, followed by five heir apparents, forty imperial highnesses, seven queens, and "a scattering of special ambassadors from uncrowned countries" A good book would be bigger with a glossy cover, have an artist's rendering of this funeral scene, and easy to read maps of Europe in 1914 and after the wars.

    I had started The Beauty and the Sorrow, but thought this was a good time to finally read GoA and learn the politics and background of the war since TBatS is told from the point of view of the people effected by the war.

    I had a funny dream last night-I dreamt that I realized that one of my favorite books (I don't know which one) was written by Clive Cussar (sp?) and that I would have to tell Handel right away!

    I think my mother did what you did-she didn't read the books she had planned on reading, she read some light-hearted holiday stuff instead and watched her BBC specials about Cranford. My mother is an anglophile. Her dream is to live in a tudor house and have tea with the Queen of England...literally, she dreamt that she was having tea with the Queen mum and the Queen mum's friend.
    She's reading now. She keeps telling me to read Glass Palace, I think that's the title. It's a memoir by a woman who was raised by crazy parents in poverty.

    As to our diet and enery level I think you are right about a reader's sedentary lifestyle. A body in motion tends to stay in motion. I am not in motion if I can help it. I sit at work, sit on the drive home, and after dinner is made sit until I go to bed and do the same thing the next day. I have resolved again, like I do every year, to walk more.

    I don't think you are bad person for eating meat, I'm not even opposed to eating meat-that's the circle of life. I just want to start buying cruelty free meat, which I can do easily in OH. There are a lot of farms around here-the Amish for one, and my co-worker is raising cows, pigs, and chickens for meat. I want to get a deep freezer then split a cow, pig and some chickens with my parents and brother and Shauna. Until then it's easy for me to avoid meat because I only like cheeseburgers.

    It's too bad you couldn't have a used book store. Let me talk to Dave, maybe we can move to MA too and I'll help you open a book store! I would love to have a used book store. The book store near me plans on having the largest selection of business books-yawn. They also don't have much to choose from in literary fiction. I think I have bought every good book that was on their shelves because I have looked at every single book on the fiction shelves the last couple times I was there and found nothing. It's back to HalfPrice for me. If I had a bookstore I would specialize in literary fiction, with other genres available as well, sponsor book clubs, by sponsor I mean I would provide the meeting space, coffee and donuts, and suggest a book every month. I would love that. I think. Sometimes the fantasy does not measure up to reality. To spend the day with books, suggesting and discussing books with people who want to be well-read sounds awesome. Oh! and I would have really interesting maps for decoration and for sale.

    I am going to try again to read at least 52 books this week. I have enough novellas and shorter novels to make up for longer books, especially if I attempt Vol I of Proust which I ordered.

    I will start working on that goal right now and wish you a good day and pick up The Guns of August.

    W.

    posted 1 month ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Hi Handel,

    The crud might be the reason for your focus on Cokie Robert's book! I didn't get the impression that she was being disrespectful to the founding fathers, but was just saying their letters to their wives offers a more human, less self-conscious portrait of them. I haven't read the book though so I really don't know.

    We might be at the same point in The Tiger's Wife. The doctor just had the conversation with the deathless man while they were in a church near the pond where the virgin appeared in the water? That's where I am. I just finished the chapter after that where she went into detail about the life of Luca, the butcher who hunted the tiger. These last two sections about the deathless man and Luca and the tiger are much better, to me, than the book so far. My only complaint is that I like the grandfather, but Obreht hasn't managed to make Natalia or Zola very likable. Not that they are unlikeable, but I can't say that I care about them particularly yet.

    I'm about 2/3 through the book so maybe something will happen to make Natalia more human.

    Maybe I saw Pillars of the Earth and assumed you were reading it.

    I am anxiously awaiting The Beauty and the Sorrow. I will finish TTW tomorrow so I'll be ready for my next book.

    Is the crud seasonal- weather related, like seasonal affective disorder (SAD)? Is it about the holidays? The German friend I sat with the other night has bi-polar that developed from PTSD and she said that any elevation of emotions, even good emotions like the fun of the holidays, triggers her nightmares. I guess that any sort of emotional affliction could function the same way. Have you noticed that about yourself? I guess you could reply to that in an email. I check my email now.

    Enjoy your books!
    Wendy

    posted 1 month ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Hi Handel,

    Our mothers are the same age. My parents will be 82 and 74 in March. I can't believe my dad is 82.

    I'm watching CSPAN3 American History channel. I just watched Cokie Roberts talk about her book, Ladies of Liberty that was released a few years ago. My mother has it I think. I wasn't that interested in, which I know is sexist of me, but she read a letter from one of the wives to her husband in reference to the 40! pregnant, unwed women left behind after one of the conventions in which she suggested that the (I'm paraphrasing) esteemed body of moral men all contribute $1 of the $2 raise they just gave themselves to set up and fund a foundling society. That's hilarious. Roberts said that the men knew they were doing something extraordinary and that their correspondence would be saved and studied forever so they were formal and pompous (Robert's word) in their letters to each other, but in the letters to their wives they talked about their fears and insecurity and in the case of Marshall, the fact that he had no britches and hoped to get some in the next town but was unable! I saw Ladies of Liberty at my used bookstore so I think I will get it.

    Next week on Sat around noon Philbrick will be on talking about Mayflower!

    I am enjoying The Tiger's Wife. It moves along at nice pace. I'm already half way through it. It took me 2 weeks to read The Good Soldier which was not even 200 pgs. My only complaint, and it's not a complaint about the book, is that the reviews are so over the top. The cover say's things like, "mesmerizing, lyrical diction, gorgeous and extraordinary," and compares it to Tolstoy! Really? Tolstoy? It is a very good book, but it's more true to say it's engaging, I'd even accept captivating because it's a bit of a page turner, and mature writing especially as you say, from someone so young. Ozick was mesmerizing. This is engaging. There was one section that was lyrical and that was the sort of stream of consciousness passages when she was driving into the valley. I could picture Obreht typing away, caught up in the flow, but the rest of the book is simple well written prose.
    I guess compared to most popular fiction it's outstanding, but come on, Tolstoy? That's like the reviews for Serena, one of the worst books I've read, comparing it to no less than Steinbeck, Marquez, and Shakespeare! There were poor people, there was a paragraph about a blind old woman who predicted the future, and Serena killed every single other character in the book, that alone justified those comparisons.

    I see that you started Pillars of the Earth. That got a lot of good reviews, from people, not jacket cover writers, and our shelfari friend Jim Henderson said he enjoys Ken Follett. My mom hounded me to read it, but it didn't grab me. Maybe I should try again.

    I'm working tonight so I want to read this afternoon and it's already 1:30.

    Happy New Year, Handel!! Talk to you tomorrow!

    Wendy

    posted 1 month ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Hi Handel,

    You're very sweet.

    How old is your mother? Most moms do thrive on having family around. I can't say I thrive on cooking for mine though! Dave does most of the meal planning and all the cooking with some help from me. He is one of a kind.

    Those are some boring books you received, Handel! I am quite sure that none of them has a buxom woman swooning in the arms of a dashing man on the cover; I don't think even the most creative writer could work a good gratuitous sex scene into Fear and Trembling, and I bet there isn't even one vampire in Thomas Jefferson, the Classical World, and Early America.

    I did decide on The Tiger's Wife. I'm on pg 83, she just told the story of the deathless man, and I like it very much so far. My friend's father was born in Bulgaria, studied in Czechoslovakia, met his stunning wife in Germany, and they eventually escaped the Nazis to come to the US. He was an elegant man, a doctor who always had on his suit pants, starched white shirt, and at home, where I saw him, a smoking jacket, and leather slippers. No jeans, shorts, t-shirts, or flip-flops for him! I picture him as read about Natalia's grandfather the doctor.

    I read a short story and novella by Cynthia Ozick last night, The Shawl, both stories about Rosa, who saw her toddler daughter murdered in a concentration camp in the short story and then becomes a madwoman in Miami 40 yrs later in the novella. Ironically, I read them while sitting with the widow of the aforementioned doctor because she was suffering after a night of bad nightmares stemming from the horror of being a teenaged girl in Berlin during the bombings and invasion by the Russians during the war. I didn't plan it that way, I just grabbed the slim book-The Shawl-and then later the irony of reading about the Jewish victim while sitting with a sleeping German woman struck me. My German friend saw krystalnacht, she wrote about it in an essay. She would be the first to say she suffered far, far, in comprehensively far less than the Jews, but her family were not Nazis and she suffers still from what happened then. No one comes through a war unscathed.
    That's the only book I've read by Ozick, but I will look for more by her. She is an amazing writer.

    I'm really looking forward to The Beauty and the Sorrow.

    Sophie's World will be a long haul for Logan, but I'll read it too, so I'll let you know if it's any good.

    Well, it's after 11pm and I am working tomorrow and tending bar tomorrow night so I should go to sleep. Fortunately the bars I work at Pine Ridge are slow so I can read while I work.

    Wendy

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    I really, really want you to read my post so I posted it 3 times! I don't know why that showed up 3 times, but I can't delete any of them.

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    So glad to read that you had a nice visit and relaxing drive, Handel. I hope your mother is doing well.

    Was Santa good to you?

    I had a nice Christmas week as well. I ended it at the bookstore last evening. Along with 4 used books I got a new copy of The Tiger's Wife and ordered The Beauty and the Sorrow. I just finished The Good Soldier now I have to decide if I should finish Great Expectations or dive into The Tiger's Wife. I think I'll go with the latter while it's fresh in your mind so we can talk about it.

    I heartily agree with your statement about boring people, in fact I said almost that very thing to Logan last week. I told him that interested people are interesting people, which is basically what you said. One of the books I picked up is Sophie's World which is the history of philosophy at told to a 14 yr old girl through mysterious letters. It was a best seller which doesn't mean much to you or I, but it does mean that it will accessible to a hesitant reader. That is going to be the book Logan will read since I am reinstituting forced-reading-for-pleasure after winter break. No screen time on school nights and reading for 45 mins at least. I'm such a good mom.

    Speaking of destroying libraries, I posted on FB that everyone should read the article on The DailyBeast web site by...now I can't remember the writer, but the article is A Country with No Books about N Korea. There has not been a novel written about a character for 60 years, no one has books (not in view anyway, I'm sure there are some hidden treasures) unless they are about "dear leader"!! Can you imagine! That is a real Fahrenheit 451.

    I feel like I should be a little more clear about fantasy books. I truly do not have the imagination for fantasy, but I know that there are quality fantasy books written. I don't want to say that entire genre is silly. I haven't read much SciFi or fantasy, but maybe if I found the right book I would enjoy it.

    I don't think we can always avoid our book snobbery showing. Someone once told me that they thought Wicked was a difficult book! I didn't know how to respond to that. Not only is it not difficult, its juvenile. I just hope my expression didn't give me away. I don't usually have a problem with that because I don't know a lot readers.

    On the Nature of Things does sound interesting, interesting in a boring sort of way :) the kind of book only eggheads like us enjoy.

    I love the quote at the beginning of Sophie's World: He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living hand to mouth. Goethe

    I'm going to start my new book now!! WooHoo!

    much love,
    Wendy

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    So glad to read that you had a nice visit and relaxing drive, Handel. I hope your mother is doing well.

    Was Santa good to you?

    I had a nice Christmas week as well. I ended it at the bookstore last evening. Along with 4 used books I got a new copy of The Tiger's Wife and ordered The Beauty and the Sorrow. I just finished The Good Soldier now I have to decide if I should finish Great Expectations or dive into The Tiger's Wife. I think I'll go with the latter while it's fresh in your mind so we can talk about it.

    I heartily agree with your statement about boring people, in fact I said almost that very thing to Logan last week. I told him that interested people are interesting people, which is basically what you said. One of the books I picked up is Sophie's World which is the history of philosophy at told to a 14 yr old girl through mysterious letters. It was a best seller which doesn't mean much to you or I, but it does mean that it will accessible to a hesitant reader. That is going to be the book Logan will read since I am reinstituting forced-reading-for-pleasure after winter break. No screen time on school nights and reading for 45 mins at least. I'm such a good mom.

    Speaking of destroying libraries, I posted on FB that everyone should read the article on The DailyBeast web site by...now I can't remember the writer, but the article is A Country with No Books about N Korea. There has not been a novel written about a character for 60 years, no one has books (not in view anyway, I'm sure there are some hidden treasures) unless they are about "dear leader"!! Can you imagine! That is a real Fahrenheit 451.

    I feel like I should be a little more clear about fantasy books. I truly do not have the imagination for fantasy, but I know that there are quality fantasy books written. I don't want to say that entire genre is silly. I haven't read much SciFi or fantasy, but maybe if I found the right book I would enjoy it.

    I don't think we can always avoid our book snobbery showing. Someone once told me that they thought Wicked was a difficult book! I didn't know how to respond to that. Not only is it not difficult, its juvenile. I just hope my expression didn't give me away. I don't usually have a problem with that because I don't know a lot readers.

    On the Nature of Things does sound interesting, interesting in a boring sort of way :) the kind of book only eggheads like us enjoy.

    I love the quote at the beginning of Sophie's World: He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living hand to mouth. Goethe

    I'm going to start my new book now!! WooHoo!

    much love,
    Wendy

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    So glad to read that you had a nice visit and relaxing drive, Handel. I hope your mother is doing well.

    Was Santa good to you?

    I had a nice Christmas week as well. I ended it at the bookstore last evening. Along with 4 used books I got a new copy of The Tiger's Wife and ordered The Beauty and the Sorrow. I just finished The Good Soldier now I have to decide if I should finish Great Expectations or dive into The Tiger's Wife. I think I'll go with the latter while it's fresh in your mind so we can talk about it.

    I heartily agree with your statement about boring people, in fact I said almost that very thing to Logan last week. I told him that interested people are interesting people, which is basically what you said. One of the books I picked up is Sophie's World which is the history of philosophy at told to a 14 yr old girl through mysterious letters. It was a best seller which doesn't mean much to you or I, but it does mean that it will accessible to a hesitant reader. That is going to be the book Logan will read since I am reinstituting forced-reading-for-pleasure after winter break. No screen time on school nights and reading for 45 mins at least. I'm such a good mom.

    Speaking of destroying libraries, I posted on FB that everyone should read the article on The DailyBeast web site by...now I can't remember the writer, but the article is A Country with No Books about N Korea. There has not been a novel written about a character for 60 years, no one has books (not in view anyway, I'm sure there are some hidden treasures) unless they are about "dear leader"!! Can you imagine! That is a real Fahrenheit 451.

    I feel like I should be a little more clear about fantasy books. I truly do not have the imagination for fantasy, but I know that there are quality fantasy books written. I don't want to say that entire genre is silly. I haven't read much SciFi or fantasy, but maybe if I found the right book I would enjoy it.

    I don't think we can always avoid our book snobbery showing. Someone once told me that they thought Wicked was a difficult book! I didn't know how to respond to that. Not only is it not difficult, its juvenile. I just hope my expression didn't give me away. I don't usually have a problem with that because I don't know a lot readers.

    On the Nature of Things does sound interesting, interesting in a boring sort of way :) the kind of book only eggheads like us enjoy.

    I love the quote at the beginning of Sophie's World: He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living hand to mouth. Goethe

    I'm going to start my new book now!! WooHoo!

    much love,
    Wendy

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Greetings Handel,

    Or is it still Ebeneezer? Did you have any midnight visits from the ghosts of Christmas's past, present, and future to brighten your outlook?

    I hope you had a nice visit with your family and that the ride was de-stressing. I sometimes drive to NJ/NYC alone and I love it. I can listen to whatever audio book I want, sing out loud to Johnny Cash or Social Distortion, or just think and talk to myself aloud.

    I learned about the destruction of another priceless library this weekend on CSPAN. One of the attacks on civilization that prompted TR to involve the US in WWI was the burning of the Univ of Louvane (sp?) that destroyed that largest Medieval library in the world. Can you imagine? Whatever had survived the Dark Ages was gone. What makes men do that, even in the time of war?

    I'm like you, I would love to work in a beautiful, old research/academic or antiquarian library. Something with wood paneling, big globes and maps of the ancient world, big wood tables with the green shaded lamps right in the middle. Ah....silence, the smell of books, all that knowledge and culture. Nirvana.

    I would like to work in the kind of library that would not house The Time Traveler's Wife. A best seller is most likely not going to be a work of literary fiction. It's either popular fiction or literary fiction, but rarely both.

    Dave's brother and sister are both warm, generous and sweet. I have never heard either of them say an unkind thing about anyone, today they asked me if I had read any of the Twilight series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or any Harry Potter. Usually if I am asked about those books I laugh haughtily and let it be known that those books are not good enough for me, but my in-laws are both very intelligent people who love life and a fun fantasy book would be fine with them. I didn't want to offend or hurt their feelings. I told them that I enjoyed the Harry Potter movies and the Dragon tattoo movies look good, but I don't have a good enough imagination for those kind of books. It is true that I don't have a good imagination so I wasn't lying.

    I did get my hoped for $50 gift card to my local bookstore! I like this store because it's local and he has new releases as well, like The Tiger's Wife. I don't like the look of the store, it doesn't have a book store feel or look, just boring white walls, but I'll still support him. Maybe I can barter some books for painting his walls a warm earth tone for him :)

    It sounds like Poggio is lucky to have not been burned at the stake! Releasing books that contradict the Church was lethal wasn't it?

    My new Magic Mountain is the HT Lowe-Porter translation. The softcover edition is the John E. Woods. I'm getting backed up on books. I need to wrap up The Good Soldier today or tomorrow. I want to see what happens to Pip, Estella, Joe, and Biddy. I started the Saramago, who I haven't read in a long time, and now I have a renewed interest in Magic Mountain-a book I have in two translations, and $50 to spend! I need a sabbatical just to read.

    I think I do have a pretty good idea of the types of books you like now. I think that if you were in the mood to make yourself finish Super Sad True Love Story you wouldn't necessarily enjoy reading it, but once you finished it you would be glad you read it just because of the world he envisions as a consequence of current, popular culture is a world you and I would consider Hell, and discussing how to change things now would make for interesting conversation. That of course assumes you could find someone with whom to have that conversation!

    Well, I've a had a busy week and it's a battle of the bands where I'm sitting-Morgan has music coming out of her room, Ben has music coming out of his, so I think I will retire to my quiet basement bedroom and try to wrap up Ford Madox Ford.
    This is a good book and I think you would like it. There isn't one likable or sympathetic character in the story, but it is so well written and such a study of human weakness that it's very engaging.
    I guess we also need to have read Ford Madox Ford and this book in particular to be literate people. The Good Soldier was "formally innovative," making Ford one of the major writers of the 20 century.

    I hope to hear from you soon!
    Wendy

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • wendy w

    wendy w says

    Greetings Handel,

    Or is it still Ebeneezer? Did you have any midnight visits from the ghosts of Christmas's past, present, and future to brighten your outlook?

    I hope you had a nice visit with your family and that the ride was de-stressing. I sometimes drive to NJ/NYC alone and I love it. I can listen to whatever audio book I want, sing out loud to Johnny Cash or Social Distortion, or just think and talk to myself aloud.

    I learned about the destruction of another priceless library this weekend on CSPAN. One of the attacks on civilization that prompted TR to involve the US in WWI was the burning of the Univ of Louvane (sp?) that destroyed that largest Medieval library in the world. Can you imagine? Whatever had survived the Dark Ages was gone. What makes men do that, even in the time of war?

    I'm like you, I would love to work in a beautiful, old research/academic or antiquarian library. Something with wood paneling, big globes and maps of the ancient world, big wood tables with the green shaded lamps right in the middle. Ah....silence, the smell of books, all that knowledge and culture. Nirvana.

    I would like to work in the kind of library that would not house The Time Traveler's Wife. A best seller is most likely not going to be a work of literary fiction. It's either popular fiction or literary fiction, but rarely both.

    Dave's brother and sister are both warm, generous and sweet. I have never heard either of them say an unkind thing about anyone, today they asked me if I had read any of the Twilight series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or any Harry Potter. Usually if I am asked about those books I laugh haughtily and let it be known that those books are not good enough for me, but my in-laws are both very intelligent people who love life and a fun fantasy book would be fine with them. I didn't want to offend or hurt their feelings. I told them that I enjoyed the Harry Potter movies and the Dragon tattoo movies look good, but I don't have a good enough imagination for those kind of books. It is true that I don't have a good imagination so I wasn't lying.

    I did get my hoped for $50 gift card to my local bookstore! I like this store because it's local and he has new releases as well, like The Tiger's Wife. I don't like the look of the store, it doesn't have a book store feel or look, just boring white walls, but I'll still support him. Maybe I can barter some books for painting his walls a warm earth tone for him :)

    It sounds like Poggio is lucky to have not been burned at the stake! Releasing books that contradict the Church was lethal wasn't it?

    My new Magic Mountain is the HT Lowe-Porter translation. The softcover edition is the John E. Woods. I'm getting backed up on books. I need to wrap up The Good Soldier today or tomorrow. I want to see what happens to Pip, Estella, Joe, and Biddy. I started the Saramago, who I haven't read in a long time, and now I have a renewed interest in Magic Mountain-a book I have in two translations, and $50 to spend! I need a sabbatical just to read.

    I think I do have a pretty good idea of the types of books you like now. I think that if you were in the mood to make yourself finish Super Sad True Love Story you wouldn't necessarily enjoy reading it, but once you finished it you would be glad you read it just because of the world he envisions as a consequence of current, popular culture is a world you and I would consider Hell, and discussing how to change things now would make for interesting conversation. That of course assumes you could find someone with whom to have that conversation!

    Well, I've a had a busy week and it's a battle of the bands where I'm sitting-Morgan has music coming out of her room, Ben has music coming out of his, so I think I will retire to my quiet basement bedroom and try to wrap up Ford Madox Ford.
    This is a good book and I think you would like it. There isn't one likable or sympathetic character in the story, but it is so well written and such a study of human weakness that it's very engaging.
    I guess we also need to have read Ford Madox Ford and this book in particular to be literate people. The Good Soldier was "formally innovative," making Ford one of the major writers of the 20 century.

    I hope to hear from you soon!
    Wendy

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )

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