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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Nov 20 2012, 3:12pm
Post #1 of 14
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It's the Turkey Day reading thread!
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A very happy Thanksgiving to our US of A TORnsibs, and a lovely Thursday with good food and family to everyone else.
Me, I'm thankful Aunt Dora Baggins posted the reading thread last week, while I was hanging out in Colonial Williamsburg, one of the Gaffer's and my favorite (if non-LotR) places.
I read an entire novel on the journey home, a mystery titled A Drink of Deadly Wine and written by Kate Charles.
The story concerns a young-ish Church of England vicar who starts receiving blackmail letters and who recruits an old friend to help him find the person responsible. Of course someone eventually dies.
The plot is intricate and nicely worked-out, although, since I write these things myself, I did notice more than one piece fitting into place. Still, since the background of the story is based deeply in the practices of the Church, I missed at least one vital clue to the identity of the blackmailer.
The book was published in 1991 and was perhaps written earlier---it seems to me to evoke an era in England that is fading fast. (But then, I'm not English.) Also, if the main characters had had access to computers, a lot of the time spent driving around searching for clues would have been spent on-line instead, and some bits of the story wouldn't have been as colorful.
What have you been reading?
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NottaSackville
Valinor
Nov 20 2012, 6:00pm
Post #2 of 14
(142 views)
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Up against a huge work deadline, so I'll just say that I finished the free The Awakened by Jason Tesar and liked it enough to buy the second book in the series.
Notta
 Happiness: money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important and so are friends, while envy is toxic -- and so is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. - The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner as summarized by Lily Fairbairn. And a bit of the Hobbit reading thrown in never hurts. - NottaSackville
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Nov 20 2012, 6:30pm
Post #3 of 14
(144 views)
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"The Stand" in the morning and "Emma" at night.
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I'm still reading both of these, mostly listening on my kindle as I commute. Stephen King is so compelling, but if I read him before bed I can't sleep, so I'm using Jane Austen as an antidote. I'm about 70% of the way through each of them. In "The Stand" I just read the part where *spoiler* they're getting ready to send Tom Cullen out as a spy. It's pretty morally ambiguous. Maybe similar to what Gandalf did to Frodo, only on an even deeper level. I'm discovering that I love King's writing and characters and scenery and so on, but his plotting seems pretty hap-hazard. Not too surprising, since he writes by the seat of his pants and doesn't really plan out plots.
Emma is fun because it's a mystery without any murder. Who did send that piano? Who really is in love with whom? (I've read it before, so I know, but it really is a good mystery story.)
As for my subbing, you're very welcome. It was an easy thing to do, and I always enjoy the thread so much. Glad you had a nice trip.
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"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
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"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
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wendy woo
Rivendell
Nov 20 2012, 7:01pm
Post #4 of 14
(126 views)
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel
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Yeah, I know, it's not necessarily for my age group, but I find that this semi-autobiographical series is a hoot to read. My son and I will share the book (but since I'm buying, I usually get to it first  ). As a fellow Gen-Xer, I get some of the author's humor and his recollections. In fact, it's amazing how easily he can transport a reader to the years between 1981-84. It's like a time warp.
You'll see that in every contract. It's called a "sanity clause".
Ha-ha. You can't fool me. There ain't no Sanity Claus.
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Nov 20 2012, 9:56pm
Post #5 of 14
(110 views)
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Nothing like finding a good, inexpensive book, is there? Enjoy the next one!
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Nov 20 2012, 9:57pm
Post #6 of 14
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I never thought of Emma as a mystery
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But now that you point it out, I'll have to try re-reading it with that in mind. I can see where King would keep you up at night!
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Nov 20 2012, 9:58pm
Post #7 of 14
(122 views)
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...are more fun than the adult books. This one sounds like real winner---and you can share it with your son! Way to go!
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Alcarcalime
Tol Eressea
Nov 20 2012, 10:25pm
Post #8 of 14
(107 views)
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Well, I've moved a bit further into the 21st century!
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I got a Kindle with Christmas money from my sister. I have been getting nothing but the free books. There are quite a few old books I wanted to read, so I shall get them out of the way first. I read Innocents Abroad (Twain), The Age of Innocence (Wharton), Narrative of the LIfe of Frederick Douglass (Douglass), The Underground Railroad, A Record of Facts, etc., The Story of a Common Soldier of the Civil War (Leadander Stillwell), My Man Jeeves (Woodhouse), Little Women (Alcott), The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Christie), Incidents in the LIfe of a Slave Girl Written by Herself, and I still have The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin to go.
The literature said the battery would last 8 weeks if I read half an hour a day -- I haven't read only half an hour since I was 5 years old! At first I was charging it daily. Now, it is every other day.
I am also reading Nemesis by Isaac Asimov in real book form. I just can't give up holding a book.
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acheron
Gondor
Nov 20 2012, 10:37pm
Post #9 of 14
(133 views)
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Sequel to "Roma". Generational historical fiction in ancient Rome. "Roma" covered generations of a family (following an heirloom passed down to somebody in each generation) starting from the founding of Rome to about the assassination of Julius Caesar. "Empire" covers the period from Augustus to Hadrian.
It was kind of entertaining (read it while on vacation at the beach, so good for that), but I remember liking "Roma" more. Seemed to be a lot of "As You Know" conversations about events that happen off-page. It's part of the problem with dealing with a long time period and covering the gaps, but I think it could have been done more subtly. And it kept coming up even over short time skips -- i.e., events that could have been directly depicted rather easily, but just weren't. Especially frustrating when the events that are depicted are exciting and written well: one of the characters is present at the assassination of Domitian, which, despite the fact that you basically know what happens, had a pretty tense atmosphere to it. (Helps that, in this case at least, the point of view character is fictional, and previous POV characters have been killed off suddenly, so even though it's obvious that the assassination succeeds, you don't know what will become of the character you're reading about.)
Ah well. May not read it again but I did enjoy it anyway.
Jumping 1700 years forward and into non-fiction, I got started on David McCullough's biography of John Adams. Adams isn't someone I know a lot about so should be interesting.
For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars, and so on -- while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man, for precisely the same reasons. -- Douglas Adams
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Nov 20 2012, 10:39pm
Post #10 of 14
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I've heard about those Kindle batteries before
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They don't necessarily design those things for us avid readers, do they? But oh my yes, you still have to clutch some real paper books from time to time.
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Nov 20 2012, 10:43pm
Post #11 of 14
(160 views)
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You are a critical reader, I see
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And that's the best kind  Hopefully you won't find too many "as you know" moments in the Adams biography! (Joking here....) Seriously, that's very good book---I own a copy.
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wendy woo
Rivendell
Nov 21 2012, 3:25am
Post #12 of 14
(102 views)
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After you read the Adams book, watch the mini-series!
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That is, if you haven't seen it already  . It's very good!
You'll see that in every contract. It's called a "sanity clause".
Ha-ha. You can't fool me. There ain't no Sanity Claus.
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One Ringer
Tol Eressea
Nov 21 2012, 1:28pm
Post #13 of 14
(115 views)
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I'm heavy into writing right now, especially with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and it just so happens that my friend gave me On Writing for my birthday last month. Fantastic writing! Excellent pacing, and genuine advice that doesn't come across as advice ... I guess that'd be called inspiration. Really enjoying it and taking my time (a lot of essay writing and class readings happening right now). I'd definitely suggest it to anyone with a passion for writing and Stephen King, though I haven't delved into his stuff as much as I've liked.  Perhaps this is a good enough reason to start building him a space on my shelf.
FOTR 10th Anniversary Music Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33xJU3AIwsg
"You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain."
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Nov 21 2012, 3:30pm
Post #14 of 14
(123 views)
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I wish King wrote in a different genre, because I love his writing style, but I'm not a horror fan. I did like "The Green Mile' and "11-22-63" a lot, and I'm enjoying "The Stand", though part of that is the local places in it, familiar places I recognize. (I enjoyed "The Shining" for that reason too, but that was about the only thing I like in that book.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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