|
|
11-22-2014, 12:22 PM
|
#1941
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 13,566
|
I loved that Lost in Shangri-La book. Very neat story and well written.
Gotta be honest, Wild was not as compelling. It seemed too much woo woo and about her personal life (the same way I felt about Eat Pray Love) than a real travel story.
Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
__________________
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”
Gerard Arthur Way
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
11-24-2014, 05:41 PM
|
#1942
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Yuma AZ
Posts: 274
|
I'm in the middle of book three of the 299 Days series, by Glen Tate. In essence the series is about a financial apocalypse caused by excessive government debt.
|
|
|
11-24-2014, 05:56 PM
|
#1943
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 10,864
|
Just bought 41. (George Bush)
I hope to read it over the holidays. Anyone read it yet?
|
|
|
11-24-2014, 08:01 PM
|
#1944
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: West Tx
Posts: 1,392
|
No, but I want to read it.
Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
|
|
|
12-02-2014, 06:01 PM
|
#1945
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: yonder
Posts: 2,851
|
Testing the Current by William McPherson:
The book revolves around a boy, Tommy, a second-grader in 1939. The story takes place in a mid-western city near the Canadian border. Most of the major characters, a group of friends, are well-to-do (financially upper-middle class). They summer on “The Island”--which is a series of islands located in the middle of a nearby river. They live in well-appointed cottages and there is a country club atmosphere (golf course included).
The book is seen through Tommy’s eyes as he observes the world around him--which mainly consists of adults whom he gets along with and who enjoy him as well. He’s quite observant and what he sees often has huge impact on him. It is also clear that he will be deeply impacted by his childhood observations as he moves towards his teen-age years and then into adulthood. The story has very little action--just people living their lives--and nobody doing anything particularly outrageous.
I felt the book was very well-written and enjoyed it. The author never breaks stride--the book is seen through Tommy’s eyes and stays true to that. You get the idea the this is how a bright, thoughtful seven (and later eight) year old boy might process his world.
As for a recommendation: I think some people will enjoy the book, but I also would understand if others were bored to tears and put it down before finishing it.
This book review is dedicated to Bestwifeever, who has not previously had a book review dedicated to her. (hard to believe)
__________________
When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich--philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
|
|
|
12-02-2014, 06:51 PM
|
#1946
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Ohio Suburb and WV Farm
Posts: 519
|
Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand.
Can't wait to see the movie!
__________________
"Everything becomes more itself." --C.S. Lewis
|
|
|
12-03-2014, 05:45 PM
|
#1947
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 13,566
|
redduck, thanks for that review, I have wanted to read some of his books after the sad essay he wrote that got such a lively discussion around here. I think HaHa was also going to read a few. Thanks for the reminder to check out my library for this one.
Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
__________________
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”
Gerard Arthur Way
|
|
|
12-03-2014, 08:18 PM
|
#1948
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Yuma AZ
Posts: 274
|
299 Days, books 1 thru 4, by Glen Tate.
US economic collapse.
|
|
|
12-03-2014, 10:10 PM
|
#1949
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: yonder
Posts: 2,851
|
Sarah, you are so in luck as "Testing the Current" (I couldn't figure out how to underline it here) is once again available--I just returned it to the library this afternoon (Wed.).
I suggest you get to the library tomorrow as it opens so as to beat HaHa in checking out the book.
I also suggest as you read the book you take notes on whom the characters are (at least for the first few chapters).
__________________
When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich--philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
|
|
|
12-03-2014, 10:20 PM
|
#1950
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by redduck
Sarah, you are so in luck as "Testing the Current" (I couldn't figure out how to underline it here) is once again available--I just returned it to the library this afternoon (Wed.).
I suggest you get to the library tomorrow as it opens so as to beat HaHa in checking out the book.
I also suggest as you read the book you take notes on whom the characters are (at least for the first few chapters).
|
Plus dedicate the review to me
I will try to check it out, now that it is back on the library shelf. Spoiler alert us if necessary, RD, but is there a reason the title makes me think it's a how-to book about rewiring one's home? Really that is a terrible title--think how poor Mr. McPherson's life might have changed for the better if the book had a different title.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
|
|
|
12-03-2014, 11:32 PM
|
#1951
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: yonder
Posts: 2,851
|
Bestwifeever, it's interesting that you mention "Spoiler Alert" because as I was writing the "review" I was thinking that even if I wanted to, I could not come up with a "Spoiler". Actually, the closest I could come to one would be to say, "By the end of the book, Tommy advances from second grade to third grade."
__________________
When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich--philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
|
|
|
12-06-2014, 06:44 AM
|
#1952
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NC Triangle
Posts: 5,807
|
I finished The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett. Excellent novel.
It was copyright 1929. The movie was released in 1941. They are so close, you'd think they coincided in time.
The casting of the movie was perfect, dead on, with one notable exception: Sam Spade. Bogart is physically nothing like the character described in the novel. But he had the attitude!
__________________
|
|
|
12-06-2014, 07:13 AM
|
#1953
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Little Trailer Down By The River
Posts: 190
|
Doubt by Susan Hecht. A study of religious doubt through the ages. Very well done and very well reviewed. Got it for cheap on my kindle via some "special" offer or other.
__________________
"Here's to them who would read,
Here's to them that would write.
There's none ever feared that the Truth would be heard,
But those whom the Truth would indict."
Robert Burns
|
|
|
12-06-2014, 12:39 PM
|
#1954
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,782
|
"A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. I liked it OK. It helped pass the time. I'm still searching for a replacement author for Philip Roth and John Updike. The search continues. Also reading a non-fiction book about the French Revolution which is pretty interesting.
|
|
|
12-06-2014, 02:38 PM
|
#1955
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Pittsburgh, PA suburbs
Posts: 1,796
|
I just finished Hilary Mantel's historical fiction novel "Wolf Hall" set in the time of Henry VIII and focusing on the rise of Cromwell. Next in the series is "Bring Up the Bodies" which I will have to pick up the next time I am at B & N (am using up some of the gift cards I received from generous co-workers when I retired). I read an ad in The New Yorker that these novels will be featured in a BBC TV series sometime in 2015 and this is what prompted me to seek out the book.
|
|
|
12-06-2014, 02:52 PM
|
#1956
|
Gone but not forgotten
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sarasota,fl.
Posts: 11,447
|
I just read "Full Dark No Stars " by Steven King . It is a collection of very weird but very good short stories ,
|
|
|
12-06-2014, 03:17 PM
|
#1957
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,773
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Galt III
"A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. I liked it OK. It helped pass the time. I'm still searching for a replacement author for Philip Roth and John Updike. The search continues. Also reading a non-fiction book about the French Revolution which is pretty interesting.
|
Do you know William Maxwell's work? DH really likes the authors you mention, and Maxwell is also one of his favorites, especially Time Will Darken It, and So Long, See You Tomorrow. Maxwell was the editor at the New Yorker who worked with Cheever, Updike, O'Hara and others. JD Salinger chose Maxwell as a first reader for the Catcher in the Rye manuscript. Overlooked classics: Time Will Darken It by William Maxwell | Books | The Guardian
DH also really likes William Kennedy, who wrote Ironweed and several other novels set in upstate New York, which you maybe have already read. They are a little dark for my taste. I am reading two murder mysteries instead.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
|
|
|
12-07-2014, 09:01 AM
|
#1958
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,782
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever
Do you know William Maxwell's work? DH really likes the authors you mention, and Maxwell is also one of his favorites, especially Time Will Darken It, and So Long, See You Tomorrow. Maxwell was the editor at the New Yorker who worked with Cheever, Updike, O'Hara and others. JD Salinger chose Maxwell as a first reader for the Catcher in the Rye manuscript. Overlooked classics: Time Will Darken It by William Maxwell | Books | The Guardian
DH also really likes William Kennedy, who wrote Ironweed and several other novels set in upstate New York, which you maybe have already read. They are a little dark for my taste. I am reading two murder mysteries instead.
|
No, I am not familiar with Maxwell or Kennedy. Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out!
|
|
|
12-09-2014, 12:15 AM
|
#1959
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,862
|
Just finished three books. Hack Attack (on going phone hacking scandal in the UK), The Berlin Wall, and part of a book about Sociopaths among us. I usually have a few going at any one time.
|
|
|
12-09-2014, 12:30 AM
|
#1960
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Thailand countryside, Sisaket province
Posts: 1,331
|
Just finished reading "Earth Abides" by George Stewart. It was a book club reading. It is an excellent post-apocalyptic story set in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was written in 1949 and holds up amazingly well. It was the inspiration for Stephen King's "The Stand" which I read decades ago and loved.
__________________
Happy, Wild, and Free
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|