| Author | |
Karen T
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 16 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 927
|
| Posted: Feb 21 2009 at 9:10am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
SeaStar wrote:
I love the Mitford series. If you can listen to them on CD, even better. The narrator is excellent. The whole cast of characters really grows on you. I especially liked his dog, Barnabas the scripture lover.
|
|
|
Hmm, I tried listening to the first one on CD and just couldn't get into it. I loved the Katherine Valentine series (and there is another that is not part of the series but somewhat related called The Haunted Rectory which was chilling but good)
I"m not sure if I didn't like Mitford b/c I'd already read the Valentine series, or if I'd like it better reading in print. I only listened to about half the book and gave up; maybe I should try again.
karen
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SylviaB
Forum Pro
Joined: June 19 2008
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 288
|
| Posted: Feb 21 2009 at 9:12am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have to confess I"m another one like Laura. Although I love the movies, haven't been able to get thru the books. Maybe I'll give them another try....
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
folklaur
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2816
|
| Posted: Feb 21 2009 at 1:12pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have to say, I am so glad it isn't just me! 
Yes, I have never gotten past (or through) the first book, even after many attempts.
Okay. I am revamping Twilight right now, but am on the last book. When I am done, I will try LOTR. Again. 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Chari
Forum Moderator
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5228
|
| Posted: Feb 25 2009 at 12:24am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Go for it, Laura! I hope you will not be disappointed........at the least.....you will know, once and for all.......whatever the "hype" was all about!
You, too, Sylvia!
I actually like Mitford, better than Valentine......I thought it was written better.....at least the first few books. Of course, I loved the CATHOLIC angle in Valentine's books.
I never finished either series because my library did not have the last book in each. 
__________________
Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Chari
Forum Moderator
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5228
|
| Posted: Feb 25 2009 at 12:28am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Karen T wrote:
I've since re-read the trilogy many, many times. If you're a fairly quick reader, don't feel you have to read every single descriptive paragraph, just skim them and read the conversations. I think you'll soon get caught up in the language and characters enough to carry you on.
OTOH, I have been unable to get through The Silmarillon despite starting it at least 4 times now. I want to like it but just haven't found that same attachment to it yet. Same with some of the other earlier works, although I liked Leaf by Niggle.
Karen T
forgot to add - if you can't get through it reading it, try listening to the CD's. I love them; they are read very well. But, then you can't just skip over some of the descriptive parts |
|
|
All of what Karen says is true.......you can skim if you need to...and the CD's are great to listen to......but do go on for a really long time, of course. Maybe a book to haul around would be easier
I have started the Silmarillion at least 4-6 times......I want to read it just ONCE. Just once. To say I have done it! You know, Laura, I acttually feel a bit like a Tolkien failure for not having read The Silmarillion yet. We all have our failures, don't we? 
__________________
Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Chari
Forum Moderator
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5228
|
| Posted: Feb 28 2009 at 12:16pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk
I just finished this last week. I enjoyed it very much.......the setting is the year of my birth, so it was interesting to be "living" through that time period. My family is from the south, and I could tell a lot of it was still happening, illegal or not, when I would go to visit...even into the 1970's.
If you have not read it yet......give it a try, it goes quick. I hear the movie is not as good.......but it is on my queue.
__________________
Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Chari
Forum Moderator
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5228
|
| Posted: Feb 28 2009 at 12:28pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
So, what have you finished reading in February?
Somebody was doing Michael Philips' books.....was that Sarah? Lisa? They are near the top of my historical fiction book favorites. I read the second while I was visiting Willa.....I kept forgetting I was NOT in Scotland.
I feel like I am leaving another title off....but it is not coming to me now.
__________________
Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SeaStar
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 16 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 9068
|
| Posted: March 02 2009 at 10:58am | IP Logged
|
|
|
LisaD wrote:
| This week I finished The Duggars: 20 and Counting. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and when I passed it on to a dear friend to read, she squealed with excitement! . |
|
|
I also just finished this and thought it was great- very inspiring. What hard workers! They work on a cash-only basis. I especially appreciated how they sweated out a hot, humid Ark summer in their beautiful new house until they had cash for window AC units, then finally central AC. They said the dust was so thick inside from the open windows that they could always write their names on the furniture in the dust. They really stuck to their guns- and she was pregnant at the time. That must have been tough.
There was a lot of food for thought for me in this book. 
__________________
Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SeaStar
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 16 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 9068
|
| Posted: March 02 2009 at 11:00am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I had to warm up to the MItford series, also. I tried a couple of times and gave up, then I really got into them and truly enjoyed them
__________________
Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
insegnante
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 07 2006
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1143
|
| Posted: March 03 2009 at 12:35pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I've finished one book this year, He Leadeth Me by Fr. Walter Ciszek. I do not have the brainpower or typing ability to say much about it at the moment.
__________________
Theresa
mommy to three boys, 3/02, 8/04, and 9/10, and a girl, 8/08
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Kyra
Forum Pro
Joined: Jan 26 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 105
|
| Posted: March 03 2009 at 2:21pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I've read The Silmarillion, but I've never attempted the Lost Tales. I liked Leaf by Niggle very much.
I've been only reading cookbooks for the last week. I need to pull something else out. maybe something Lenten.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mary G
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5790
|
| Posted: March 03 2009 at 3:15pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
We've had "snow days" here in NoVA, so I've gotten caught up on a couple of things, like reading! (It's amazing what I get done when dh is here to help out !)
Anyway, I just read the sweetest, modern-day fairy tale book ... Paul Gallico's Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris which is a great story about a London charwoman who dreams of owning a Dior Dress. It's unbelievable and impossible but it's such a fun read! Her character is so sweet and honest and loving that everyone around her is positively impacted by her seemingly selfish (and obviously eccentric) wish!
Angela Lansbury did a movie version back in 1992 that's fairly close to the story (altho the story has a much more frail Mrs. 'Arris).
For a light read when you just want to feel good, this one is it!
__________________
MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Karen T
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 16 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 927
|
| Posted: March 18 2009 at 12:48pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Just finished reading Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, one of ds15's required books from SL core 300. It was absolutely wonderful, about some of the origin of apartheid in S. Africa.
I also read the book on Fr. Damien that SeaStar recommended last month - it was very good too.
Now I'm in one of the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters (Summer of the Danes - anyone else like these? I saw several of them as TV episodes from our library last summer but just started reading the rest.
Also still listening on audio to the Patrick O'Brian series - I think I'm on the 4th or 5th book now Desolation Island
Karen T
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Natalia
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1343
|
| Posted: March 19 2009 at 6:17pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I just realized I haven't posted in a while. These are the books I have finished since I last posted:
The Potato Peel... I loved it!! I can't believe I didn't come and posted about it.
Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett and Hershey Herself by Ceclia Galante- both reviewed here
I discovered a new author Gillian Bradshaw. Has anybody read any of her books? I read Horses of Heaven It was good. Enough to want to try some other of her books. (Review here) I read about her when I was doing some research about novels sent in Ancient Greece. A thread from Goodreads popped up and gave me some other authors to try.
__________________
Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SuzanneG
Forum Moderator
Joined: June 17 2006
Location: Idaho
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5465
|
| Posted: March 19 2009 at 6:55pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Natalia wrote:
The Potato Peel... I loved it!! I can't believe I didn't come and posted about it.
|
|
|
Me too!!!! I finished a couple weeks ago and forgot to post here! LOVED LOVED LOVED it! There are so many funny, clever passages in it!!! I'm tempted to buy my own copy, read it again, and mark all the TERRIFIC phrases and stories.
I also just finished The Mom Walk by Sally Clarkson. Very wonderful and inspirational. A Good mom-pick-me-up book.
__________________
Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Natalia
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1343
|
| Posted: March 27 2009 at 9:08pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Last night I finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. What a beautiful book in a heart-wrenching kind of way. A dad and his son, survivors from some kind of apocalyptic disaster, journey south struggling to survive. Beautiful, sad and full of hope at the same time. Very thought provoking.
__________________
Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Karen T
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 16 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 927
|
| Posted: March 31 2009 at 9:09pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I've recently read another Brother Cadfael mystery A Morbid Taste for Bones, finished another Patrick O' Brian book The Fortunes of War, and today I (started and) finished Fablehaven, a kid's fantasy book. It was very similar to the Spiderwick Chronicles but better (less language, for one thing, and no divorced family as seems to be commonplace in kid's lit these days). Anyway, if you are looking for something for fantasy-lovers it wasn't bad.
I'm partway through The Living Wood by Louis deWohl, about St. Helena and the True Cross, but so far it's not as engaging as deWohl's other books I've read.
Karen T
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
momwise
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 28 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1914
|
| Posted: April 03 2009 at 8:31am | IP Logged
|
|
|
SeaStar wrote:
He worked by himself for years, until he was finally so sick himself he got some help. His story is not for the faint of heart, but what an inspiration.
I can't recommend enough getting to know a little about him, especially during Lent. |
|
|
Melinda, this is exactly how I felt after reading the biography about Bl. Damien by John Farrow. I know it was about 14 years ago for Lent because we named our soon to be 13 yr. old after him following Easter that year. He will be canonized on October 11! I remember thinking that it was not humanly possible to do all the building that one man did.
Blessed Lent!
__________________
Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Gratiae ut Deus
Forum Newbie
Joined: Feb 27 2009
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 29
|
| Posted: April 15 2009 at 12:21am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh I love books, so "I must have my share in the conversation!" Anywho, I just started reading A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family by Mary Ostyn from Owlhaven. Is she on this forum? She's fantastic. I'm really enjoying it so far. Also, I'm enjoying reading Sense and Sensibility again, Story of a Soul, St. Terese of Lisieux Autobiography and also For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. It's a lot to read all at once but I can't help it. There is so much I want to read! It probably does take me longer to get through them then if I took it one at a time...not sure? What do you ladies think? Is it better to take it one at a time or several at a time? I'm not even mentioning the educational planning books or spiritual meditation books. Oh goodness! I just love books! 
__________________
Kelly Gratiae ut Deus
Wife to Mark
Mom to
DS 11
DD 10
DS 8
DS 6 1/2
DD 5
DS 3 1/2
DD 23 months
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Chari
Forum Moderator
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5228
|
| Posted: April 15 2009 at 12:56am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Kelly, I do not have enough time to chat....but can say YES!!! You most definitely belong in our book club!!
WELCOME!!!!
__________________
Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Book Club
Topic: Our 2009 Book List!
