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Rebecca P

Rebecca P

has 8 followers and is following 8 people

I'm a teen services librarian in Kansas.
  • Baldwin City, KS, USA
  • member since February 14, 2008

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Rebecca P’s last login was 2 days ago. show recent activity »

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Public Notes

  • Hannah F

    Hannah F says

    Ok - I tried going through the email to "friend" you but I"m not sure if it'll change you to 100% complete since we're already friends. Maybe if you unfriend me and then add me...not sure if that works?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • carla p

    carla p says

    Hold up lol lol lol I was reading your review on Terry Mcmillians book "Getting back to Happy" so I take it that you didn't like it. So do you suggest that I get it? I read the excerpts from essence and it wasnt holding my attention. But I thought I wasn't giving it a chance. So if you will let me know if it is worth it? thanks

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    Wow! I love "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." What writing - there's not one excess word or comma in the book. I've been reading a lot of overlong novels, and Spark is so wonderfully terse.
    See you next week in Kansas.
    love, Suzanne

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    I see you liked "The Help." Hard not to like it! Our library has a zillion holds on it. We just keep buying more copies!
    love, Suzanne

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    "The Help" is entertaining, although I'm not as wild about it as most people are. People I know who've done it in their book discussions tell me it is a good book for discussion. I was surprised at my groups positive reaction to "Let the Great World Spin". I expected more negative reactions to it. I was impressed by McCann's writing, and I want to read more of his books. I'm halfway through "Zoli" about a gypsy woman in Europe. Has your gay bookclub read Peter Cameron? I just finished "The Weekend" which I read compulsively and finished yesterday. The ending made me pensive and a little sad. I think it could be a good book for discussion. I think the protagonist in his most recent novel "Someday this Pain Will be Useful to You" is a young gay man, but I haven't read it. I read a bunch of awful novels by well-regarded novelists. I finally gave up on "Shades of Gray" by Jasper Fforde. I think he appeals to youner readers. I found it unbearably tedious. I've read enjoyable things lately, for the most part, although "My Abandonment" turned out to be creepy. How about Sarah Waters for your gay group? I'm doing "Little Stranger" with my group, which is her non-lesbian novel, although there's a character who is probably gay. I heard Waters say in an interview that she had to prepare her gay readers for "Little Stranger" and some of them were disappointed that she had written a non-gay themed book. I'm reading a lot of nonfiction for my nonfiction group. I haven't read "Hunger Games". There are some YA novels I would like to read, but my "adult" reading list is so huge I can't keep up. Have you read Lee Child? I think it's interesting your readers in juvenile detention like him. His character, Jack Reacher, is a modern knight-errant, but he constantly breaks laws when they get in his way to right wrongs and protect the innocent. Have you read "True Notebooks" by Mark Salzman? His friend talked him into teaching a writing class in a juvenile facility in Los Angeles. It's wonderful. I love Mark Salzman. Are you ever coming east again? I would love to sit and talk to you for a few hours over coffee and food! Hannah and I visited Josh and Mary Ann in Durango. We saw beautiful places and ate great New Mexican food. They love it out there, but it's so far! The bonus of the trip was I got to spend a lot of time with Hannah.
    love, Suzanne

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    Congratulations on your new job! I'd love to talk to you sometime about what you're doing. Will you still read grown-up books? What's your book group reading next. I'm happy for you that you got a job in a public library. It has its pluses and minuses. love, Suzanne

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    I see you're not a Leif Enger fan. I read "So Brave, Young and Handsome" and I had to go back and read my review because I couldn't remember it. It was okay, but didn't make me want to read more Enger. Was this a book discussion title? Our April book was Colum McCann's "Let the Great World Spin." I was surprised at the overwhelmingly positive reaction. I guess McCann tried doing something original and largely succeeded. It made me want to read more of McCann's novels. How are you? Hannah and I are going to Colorado in a couple of weeks. love, Suzanne

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    Well, Marcel (the narrator Marcel, not the author Marcel) had problems with relationships. We haven't finished the entire novel, but I think ultimately he finds meaning in art. It takes him 3,000 pages to realize that.
    My book discussion group discussed "Pere Goriot" this week. They got into it, and we talked a bit about the differences between 19th century fiction and how people write today. Personally, I loved the omniscient narrator. I get very tired of novels written in the first person. Are all authors today on an ego trip? Balzac is fun - great characters and great melodrama. Pere Goriot's speech just before he dies is wonderful. Hope all is well with you! love, Suzanne

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    Pinky,
    Congratulations! Great news about your engagement. That is happy news. Are you going to set a date, or is this going to be a long engagement?
    Josh and Mary Ann are, as I'm writing this, on their way from Iowa to Colorado. They're taking 3 days to drive it because of the cats. The movers picked up their stuff yesterday. Did you get that dresser from Josh?
    Hannah and I want to go out to visit them, but we probably won't go until Josh finishes his academic year in May.
    What are the plans for Christmas this year? Any chance you will have it in Albany?
    As for books, I haven't read "Bright, Shiny Morning". I thought "Guernsey" was entertaining but mediocre.
    The best thing I've read lately is "The Lazarus Project" by Alexander Hemon, but it's very dark. I wouldn't exactly recommend it for everyone.
    love, Suzanne

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    What! You didn't like Donna Leon? I've read almost all of them. I love Guido and Paola and their kids and all the meals they eat. This series inspired me and Hannah to start drinking Prosecco. We love them. The stories don't matter - it's the characters, especially Signorina Elettra.
    Are you still reading the "Guernsey Literary etc. etc."? I thought you read that for your book discussion. What do you think of it? Did you throw it across the room?
    Read "Fieldwork" by Mischa Berlinski. It's my current favorite book I'm recommending to everyone. We're doing it in the book discussion next month.
    love, Suzanne

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Hannah F

    Hannah F says

    I'm not sure I'll read it. Maybe at some point. It turned up in that BBC list that everyone has on Facebook and I looked it up since I had never heard of it. I thought you might've though. Perhaps I shall read it one day. I was actually thinking the other day of re-reading The Eyes of the Amaryllis which I liked a lot when I was younger.

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Hannah F

    Hannah F says

    Hi! Have you read Swallows and Amazons?

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Hannah F

    Hannah F says

    That is so funny. I thought you'd read it because it's a big YA book, but you said it was for a book discussion. Ick. I told my coworkers, who are all reading it, that I would be more entertained to have them talk me through the other 2.5 books. they have a funny way of talking about them. I'm amazed that people are so eager to continue the series to see what happens. I am mildly curious, but there is no way I am going to slog through the other ones. A thesaurus would be a big help. Some of her adjective choices had me laughing out loud. They're books that could've each been about 200 pages shorter, which is sad. Where are the editors???

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Hannah F

    Hannah F says

    Ah, I figured you'd read Twilight given your interest in YA/Juvenile fiction. Are you going to finish the series? Everyone at work is hopelessly addicted to this. I could barely get through the second book. I told them they could read all of them and then have a good time telling me what happens, in their own words. I just can't take the 200 pages where nothing happens.

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    Yes, I liked the narrator in "Deaf Sentence". I loved his relationship with his father and the way he made the father funny but not pathetic. I think your book group should read whatever makes you happy! Having fun and getting together is a good goal. I have to be more "serious" with my group, because they look to me to introduce them to interesting books that they wouldn't read otherwise. I see you're still reading a lot of books at one time. I'm trying to get better at finishing books, although I still read a lot at once. I have ones I read for fun when I'm tired and don't want anything challenging, plus I have a book I'm listening to in the car, one on my Ipod I listen to at the gym or at home, and another one I listen to at home (usually a mystery or mindless thriller). I think it's a good exercise for my brain.

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    Ah, I see you are in a reading funk! I also start a lot of books and don't finish them all. I like to read a lot of things at once. I have a thriller I read when I want mindless entertainment, then I have my Proust which I'm reading in a discussion group with 3 friends, then I have nonfiction for when I'm in a mood to concentrate. Maybe you're just not finding the book that you want to read at that moment. Having a lot of books partly finished is only a problem if you think it is. Does it bother you that your book group is reading frivolous things? When I'm giving advice to book group leaders, I always say that a group should have "goals". Well, your goal can be just being entertaining and having a lot of social interaction (talking and drinking and eating) or you can have goals like reading a classic once a year, reading one or two award-winning books each year, reading books by foreign authors, or reading a mix of genres - anyway, whatever your group decides. Maybe you should suggest you alternate mindless entertainment with more "serious" books. As for Hemingway, I'm not going to say anything to Jason about books. "Five Skies" isn't that bad! Nobody talks like the characters in Hemingway novels, either. Tell him to recommend some manly books for me. I found "For Whom the Bell Tolls" riveting, but partly because I'm interested in the Spanish Civil War. Robert Jordan is a great character - but Jason will probably say he's too "sensitive", unlike the other Hemingway protagonists. The book could have used some editing, though.

    posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    Okay, "Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate" sounds interesting. Let me know how it is when you've finished it. Would it be a good book for a book discussion? What's your group reading now? We're doing "For Whom the Bell Tolls" on Wed. Each year we read a classic, and Hemingway is it for this year. I picked it after I read an article about how Barack Obama and John McCain both listed it among their favorite books.

    posted 3 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    Yes, I see you've added 36 books! Here's another Anna K. knock-off. "The Life Room" by Jill Bialosky. The New York Times said "In Bialosky's second novel, a scholar who studies Anna Karenina, approaching 40 and feling unfulfilled, has a passionate encounter with an elusive childhood friend that threatens her stable marriage and comfortable life." Hmmmm. I haven't read anything by this author.
    I haven't arranged my books in any logical order. If I decide not to read one, or start it and it's no good, I just delete it.
    I'm glad you had a good holiday. Happy New Year!
    love, Suzanne

    posted 3 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Suzanne F

    Suzanne F says

    Hi, Pinky, I see you and Hannah are shelfari-ing away in Vermont, and you've both added a lot of books. What's with the Anna Karenina thing? I read A.K. in high school, but I would like to read the new translation, which is supposed to be much better than previous ones. Happy holidays!
    Suzanne

    posted 3 years ago. ( send a note )
  • Hannah F

    Hannah F says

    I didn't read all those books this year. I sort of add them willy-nilly as I think of them. When I add something to "I want to read" I think of things by the same author that I already have read. I need to update the dates read for more accuracy. I am a bit harsh in my reviews, I guess. I only seem to give five for books that blew my mind and possibly changed my life. Four is more a very solid and enjoyable book where almost all the elements are perfect. Three is good book, fun to read. Two is sort of ho-hum, not necessarily sorry I read it. One is bad for the most part. If I didn't rate it it doesn't mean it was tinder though!

    posted 3 years ago. ( send a note )

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