Does anyone read? Part II

[Schmeelkie]

Almost finished the The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Great fantasy with lots of twists and fun with main character who seems pretty invincible at first, then tripped up well by bad guy, waiting to see how he recovers. This is, I believe, Lynch's first book and it's a whopping good one. One of the few books I've read with lots of flashbacks that really fill in information in a timely manner and help bring the story along, rather than draw it out. Sequel is out - will have husband pick up soon...

[Nicole Marie]

I'm reading Peter Lovenheim's book called "In The Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time". Great read! This is a true story about Peter's neighborhood. He lives on a street that has very little interaction between neighbors. After a tragic murder of a neighbor, he asks neighbors if he can sleepover thier houses to get to know them better. Few agree and most say no. It is a sad commentary on how defensive of a culture we have become where we can't even invite the person next door over for a cup of tea.

I live in a very friendly neighborhood with lots of interaction so I was amazed at how segregated some streets are. This should be required reading for all Americans.

[Shapley]

I live in a very friendly neighborhood with lots of interaction so I was amazed at how segregated some streets are. This should be required reading for all Americans.

One of the old drug store philosophers in my home town blamed air conditioning for the decline of the neighborhood. Used to be, on hot nights, you sat out on the porch, walked the neighborhood, or went to the park on warm evenings. Now, the doors and windows are shut tight to 'keep the cold in' and people don't venture out because 'it's just too dang hot out'.

I noticed that, in China, Rome, Vencie, and Greece, where air conditioning is not so prevalent, people still hang out on the porch or in the park.

[piqaboo]

he asks neighbors if he can sleepover thier houses to get to know them better. Few agree and most say no. It is a sad commentary on how defensive of a culture we have become where we can't even invite the person next door over for a cup of tea.

sleepover, cup of tea : these things are not equal, NM.
I've hosted a number of sleepover visits of various sorts, and of this I can assure you.(*)

I tend to agree with the AC thing. Keeps us separate, and indoors, where we gain weight, which makes us even less likely to invite you over to see us in our pajamas. Plus, the less we know you, the more we fear you, and the more we fear you, the less we try to get to know you.


(*) well, unless your name is <deleted>, in which case 'tea and crumpets' was the code you gave your teenage sons to tell them you were planning to spend the night with your girlfriend and wouldnt be home til morning.

[Schmeelkie]

Nicole Marie - I read a review of that book - very intriguing. Ancedote - next door neighbors invited all the neighbors on our cul-de-sac to their daughter's HS grad party. They are very friendly and we've had good exchanges with them. She introduced us to other neighbors we hadn't really met, but them seemed a bit standoffish - all are couples in their ~50s with kids out of the house. between my little kids running around and their not really making an effort to get me involved in their conversation made me feel less than welcome, but I also didn't have much opportunity to get into conversation with said kids running around and needing attention/intervention. Husband and I had a long chat with a resident who is only here about 3-4 months a year - has a place in Florida for winter. Oh, well.

I agree with the AC thing. After I pick up the kids from daycare, they're especially unmotivated to go back out if it's been particularly hot. I wish for more opportunities to go around the block as I know there are several families with Pumpkin and Bella-aged kids down the street... guess I just have to make the effort...

On topic - finished Scott Lynch's Red Seas Under Red Skies - sequel to Locke Lamora - another great read! Had fun with the fact that most of the last half is on board ship and I read much of that while on the cruise. Looks like third book is due out next year - apparently someone optioned Locke Lamora for a film and that's delayed the completion of book 3. I just worry about what they'd have to cut to make a good movie...oh well.

[Nicole Marie]

Sorry to hear about your neighbors Schmeelkie. As long as there are a few good neighbors then it helps to make up for the rest.

This coming weekend is our neighborhoods quarterly BBQ. So looking forward! There is a cemetery at the end of my road and there are only 10 houses on my street plus the guys who work in the cemetery. We close off the road, roll out the beer and food and have a great time. There is a mix of ages. Young couples in their 20's to Frida and Joe in their 80's. Some have kids, some don't but we all like each other. Some of us even have keys to each others houses when we vacation so we can get our mail and feed the cat. I am blessed to have neighbors who care so much about where we live.

I just started to read "The Girls Come Marching Home” by Kirsten Holmstedt. She is a reporter who has covered the war for some time. She put together a book highlighting the role of US female military members in this current war. I picked it up at my husbands AF Base and a few of the pilots I know had just read it and recommended it. So far so good!

[Shapley]

Reading about the preacher wanting to burn the Quran, and recalling all of the countless preachers and others that have burnt everything from Huckleberry Finn to the Bible, I think it's time we try to drag these people into the 21st century.

I propose that we encourage them to buy electronic books, and then hold mass 'book deletings' to get rid of the unwanted texts. It's more environmentally friendly, less antogonizing, and shows that they are not trapped in some sixteenth-century mentality. What say you?

[piqaboo]

Works for me!

Reading "Captain Blood". Nice recounting of the ugliness when the Duke of Monmouth (pretend son of Charles II) tries for the throne and the nasty way the rebels were handled. A different perspective from a simple recounting of facts.

[piqaboo]

Altoid is reading "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" to me. She doesnt like reading much (yet. Fingers crossed, that its 'yet').

[Schmeelkie]

Go Altoid! Was so proud in the end of K, when Pumpkin was reading The Cat in the Hat to Bella. His current favorite is Capitan Underpants - we have the first two, so it's likely he'll get some more for his birthday. Also was reading some books from the Goosebumps series in the end of summer camp - again, on the birthday list. He'd probably be happy if he got nothing but books (and another stuffed snake) for his birthday. Husband resumed his reading to Pumpkin after school on his days at home - yesterday it was The Magician's Nephew from the Narnia series.

For my birthday I received Robin McKinley's Chalice and A Door in the Hedge. Finished Chalice the other day - really interesting and fairly original fantasy - of the reluctant hero genre - she does that a lot, but always fresh enough, to me anyway. McKinley does a lot of rewriting of fairy tales, but her original tales are also quite good. Amusingly I had been rereading her Spindle's End - a retelling of Sleeping Beauty before my birthday (as we had borrowed the Disney flick from my folks for Bella - she's in that princess phase) so I'm on a roll with her books lately.

btw - totally against the burning of any books!!! but if you must, I like Shapely's idea much better!

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

XKCD said it already, and funny. Go look.

Book Burning

[piqaboo]

ROTFLMAO!

[Schmeelkie]

That's great Selma!

[Shapley]

The poet Keats lay in his bed
tired and penniless, and half dead.
When suddenly, from his windowsill,
a nightingale handed him a dollar bill.
"Keats" she chirped, in gentle tone,
"remember, this is just a loan."
That's why Keats wrote, though wan and pale,
of what he owed to a nightingale.

That poem has been in my mind for decades. I read it in a book of silly verse, probably when I was in high school. I have no idea who wrote it, and Googling has not helped.

I would like to find a copy of that book. I seem to recall that it had some real gems in it. Anybody have any guess as to where it may be found?

[Schmeelkie]

Pumpkin took some birthday money and wanted to go to the bookstore. Got 4 books from the Magic Treehouseseries. Basically, kids find magic treehouse filled with books. If you open a book, point at a picture and say 'I wish I could go there' - the treehouse goes there. So they can cover history and various locations in the world (I read Afternoon in the Amazon to Bella) and have a little story thread. Anyway, with those, 4 Goosebumps books and two more Capitan Underpants he's been reading probably an hour a day since his birthday - more on the weekend. Obviously his mother's child.

[Marye]

When my step son came to live with us (he was 11 or 12) we had little in common. I loved sports, photography and reading. He just loved his computer. So I looked for books that he might find interesting. My plan was to read them at the same time so we could at least have something to talk about. To encourage him to read, I paid him a dollar for each chapter he read. He dove straight into the books and would say, ''Mary... that will be $15.00.. and where are you in this book?" This was 1999 and the books we started with were Harry Potter. We had plenty to talk about then and when the first Harry Potter movie came out he insisted we had to see it together. He is now in his 20's, an excellent photographer and a great young man.

Ah.. the bridges reading can build.

[Shapley]

This was 1999 and the books we started with were Harry Potter. We had plenty to talk about then and when the first Harry Potter movie came out he insisted we had to see it together.

You've got to hand it to J. K. Rowling. The real magic of Harry Potter is that he was able to get a whole generation of kids reading books! It was fascinating to see the bookstores packed with kids at midnight waiting for the 'midnight release' of the next installment of the 'Harry Potter' series. I've never seen that before (or since) with any book series.

[Catmando]

Hey guys! Just recently joined http://www.goodreads.com It was brought to our attention by my stepson's Grade 7 teacher. It's an awesome site. You can add all the books you have read or would like to read, do quizzes on books and rate the books you have read, add friends and compare the books of your friends to yours, and compare the ratings you gave to books your friends have read, etc. You can also recommend books to others. It's definitely a site I can recommend to readers and book lovers out there! My avatar there is a young Brahms!

Ray Catellier

[Shapley]

I see Goodreads is on facebook, as well. I may have to check it out.

[Catmando]

I see Goodreads is on facebook, as well. I may have to check it out.

Is it? Hmm, didn't realize that. I'll have to add it on my Facebook pages.

I have to say, the BBB still has the best emoticons in the business.