A Book is Like a Garden in Your Pocket

[Spinner]

I picked up an ARC of Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind at work yesterday. Looks quite interesting, about an aging doctor with dimentia whose best friend is murdered and she can't remember if she's involved. Written in a stream of conciousness narrative style that invokes the torment of the mental breakdown of the main character, it's getting LOTS of good buzz in book circles online. So far about 50 pages in and it's really good!

[Allskate]

I did that once, for my sister in high school. I read the book, told her about it, she wrote the paper and got an "A". Three years later, I rewrote some of her paper on the same book, submitted it, and got a "B". Miserable teacher.

I had something like that happen to me. My brother was a year behind me in school. He was smart, but didn't like to read. So, a year after I turned in a history book report, he copied it and turned it in to the same teacher. The teacher not only failed to notice the plagiarism, but gave him a higher grade than I received. I didn't find out about it until I was about to go off to college and was rummaging through his room to find all my things he'd taken, and there were the papers. He ended up having to take a remedial English course when he got to college.

[skatingfan5]

Louisiana History. I have 4 books, not 5. In my I miscounted. ...The last is a thick book titled The Day Huey Long Was Shot. I find him interesting and it will be more modern so it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't A) quite long and B) focused on one day??? I hope the title is misleading.

I think that it does cover a bit more than just one day -- sounds like it would be a good read. Too bad you are "NOT a reader" or you could also read Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men and compare the novel to the real life events. Or you could just watch the movie (1949 version with Broderick Crawford).

[mysticchic]

I'm reading the Shawnia Twain book and so far it's very depressing. The thing that is making me mad is she keeps making excuses for her parent behavior.

[Artemis@BC]

And you couldn't have read pottery making descriptions as they didn't make pottery at that time.

Actually, there was one community that had "discovered" pottery (clay firing) in The Plains of Passage. It was that group led by the psychopath that captured Jondalar -- their spiritual leader had discovered it by accident when some wet clay fell into a fire or something. Then she perfected the technique.

Might have been the only significant discovery at the time that was not made by Ayla.

The big reveal in this book apart from the cave paintings is everyone begins to believe Ayla's wild theory that children come from having Pleasures with a man and not from random spirits. Men can be male mothers or as the term comes to be: fathers.

Spoiler alert!

[BigB08822]

I started reading the first book and it is the one on the convent. I don't have it in front of me but it is about the Ursuline Convent. I actually like it. It is a collection of letters written by one of the women in the group. I always preferred actual accounts over a boring history textbook anyday.

[Nomad]

The only other Gaskell novel I've read so far is North and South and I definitely prefer it thus far to Mary Barton. Although I have to say that the love triangle between Mary, Jem and Carson is starting to heat things up just a bit...

I really liked Ruth and Sylvia's Lovers. Haven't got around to Wives and Daughters yet, though.

While I wouldn't rank Jim Thompson with Willa Cather, Heed the Thunder
was pretty good in a gritty, sordid kind of way. I think I need another comic novel as a palate cleanser, though.

[PDilemma]

I have plenty of books for this darned history summer class if anyone wants to borrow. Maybe you could read it and tell me what they are all about so I don't have to, haha. I have 6 weeks to read 5 books. I am NOT a reader.

Two history courses. Eight weeks, eight books. Five book reviews. One research paper. Three essay exams.

It's roughly 400 pages of reading a week. But I am a history major so it is actually a relief to me to be reading history which I generally enjoy.

[mkats]

If you are planning on reading Land of Painted Caves, I suggest you skip Parts I and II. Literally (no pun intended), NOTHING happens.

Part III can be summed up as follows:

Spoiler

Ayla is busy. Very. Jondalar sleeps with Marona in his and Ayla's "special pool" and gets caught by Ayla. We then never hear from/about Marona again. Ayla takes out her revenge by sleeping with Laramar, aka Mr. deadbeat-father who just makes barma all day. Jondalar reacts by punching in Laramar's face.

Ayla gets "called" to the Zelandoni by learning that men also help produce babies and adds another verse to the already interminably long Mother's Song. She also finds in her cave some stuff that proves that Madroman (guy Jondalar punched ages ago) faked his "calling". Madroman gets mad and leaves. We never hear from him again.

Brukeval, the quarter (or half?) Clan guy whose role is mostly to run around yelling that he's not a flathead, is very displeased by Ayla's revelation. He also runs away and we never hear from him again.

Ayla gives up on life because Jondalar is mad at her and Laramar's face is ruined and it's ALL HER FAULT, so she brings out the ancient Clan Root and drinks a great big bowl of it with the rest of the Zelandoni and almost dies. Only Jondalar's overwhelming love brings her back in an incredibly cheesy Sleeping-Beauty sort of incident. (I think they actually say that legends about Jondalar and his one true love, Ayla, were told for years afterwards or something )

As a punishment for beating up Laramar, Jondalar agrees to care for Tremeda (his wife) and their many children.

THE END!

[Buzz]

Loved Elizabet Chadwick and I think I will check out more of her books.

[Nomad]

Well, so much for a comic palate cleanser. I picked up Strangers on a Train to see if that might be my next noir novel and then I couldn't put it down. I'm going to to have to get Highsmith's Ripley novels now.

Has anyone read Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson? I found a copy at the thrift store for $0.75 so I figured "Why not?"

[Cachoo]

Well Julia Spencer-Fleming is out with her latest mystery. Her first one won all sorts of awards and was set in the dead of winter in upstate New York. I read it in July (somehow refreshing.) And in addition to the mysteries I've enjoyed the developing relationship between the sheriff and the pastor (she's also an army reserve pilot.) But first I want to finish my four Charles Lenox mysteries by Charles Finch. That should fulfill my Victorian-era mystery craving for this year. I'm on the third one now (The Fleet Street Murders.)
I have a stack of other fiction/nonfiction I need to start on but right now I'm just in the mood for mysteries. I think they must be my "summer beach books."

[PrincessLeppard]

I ordered Robopocalypse for my husband, but I thought of PL first .

I will check it out.

The Meowmorphisis sloooooowwwwwsss waaaaaay dooooown about half way through. It switches to a parody of The Trial and is just zzzzzzzz. I'm hoping it picks back up soon.

[Jot the Dot Dot]

Read a book, "Bang: A Complete History Of The Universe", all about space and science. Book is chock full of information, photos and diagrams. And one of the authors? Queen gutarist Brian May!

[BigB08822]

Read a book, "Bang: A Complete History Of The Universe", all about space and science. Book is chock full of information, photos and diagrams. And one of the authors? Queen gutarist Brian May!

Was it good? I love anything dealing with the cosmos.

[taf2002]

A writer in my little town has ended up on the Times' bestseller list: Geralyn Dawson & the book is Heartache Falls. She was only on it for a week but that's still pretty good. I didn't even know she lived here but her house is very close to mine & I have actually read some of her books. One I remember reading is The Bad Luck Wedding Cake which was a romance but apparently she writes mysteries now. I didn't know my town had any claims to fame.

[Allskate]

Read a book, "Bang: A Complete History Of The Universe", all about space and science. Book is chock full of information, photos and diagrams. And one of the authors? Queen gutarist Brian May!

Brian May got his Ph.D. in astrophysics a few years ago. Now there's a multi-talented guy.

[IceAlisa]

Brian May got his Ph.D. in astrophysics a few years ago. Now there's a multi-talented guy.

He is one of the coolest people ever. I think he had recently published a paper that's pretty important in his field.

[zaphyre14]

I needed something lighter in tone than historicals and mysteries so I picked up one of Andrew Greeley's oldies "Angel Light" - it's pretty dated with regards to the computer stuff, but the plot is based on the Old Testament Book of Tobias and the characters are interesting.

[lmarie086]

Currently reading Phantastes and Lilith by George Mac Donald-some of the writing is a bit difficult to latch on to, if that makes any sense, but I'm reading it slowly and that's helping. Lilith is a fascinating story, so I really can't wait till I get to that part.

Next on my list is Lost Laysen by Margaret Mitchell. I always thought that Gone With the Wind was her only novel, especially since all her writings were apparently destroyed after her death (according to the inside cover lol). Gone With the Wind is one of my favorite novels ever so I can't wait for this one.

I used to be such an avid reader before college. Silly textbooks. Anyone have any good mysteries to recommend?