What are we reading?

2

Comments

  • Molly72
    Molly72 Member Posts: 227
    edited July 2021
    I was sort of surprised, as I knew you had pets-- your dogs & had talked about them in the past.
    So Meyati, we're good -- bad Nazi's & bad animal abusers!
    Today has been bad for me- everything as gone wrong this week & i have surgery next week for melanoma, 5 cancer major surgeries in my life, so.....WHAT'S NEXT?

    Anybody got any happy books?
    Randy Wayne White's books are really fun & exciting-- Florida adventures & mysteries, great characters
  • MarcieB
    MarcieB Member Posts: 528
    edited July 2021
    Molly, I am so sorry to hear you are facing another surgery. Melanoma is such a monster, It will be good to have it removed. I know a young man who is being treated with immunotherapy for his original diagnosis of stage 3 melanoma and as of now he has been declared NED - his doctors are encouraged! Have you looked into that option, maybe after your surgery? Please come here and let us know how you are doing through this?

    Elizabeth Berg has a three part trilogy that begins with the Story of Arthur Trulove. The third book is called The Confession Club, and you can read it without the other two. It is light, and fun, probably a bit optimistic...(maybe even unrealistic...), but there are some conversations as to what these *women of a certain age* confessed to during their club meetings that can make you LOL!
  • meyati
    meyati Member Posts: 308
    edited July 2021
    Well, the VA said my son doesn't need surgery on his knee. They gave him a steroid shot-and it took only 2 hours. We went in radiology, and they said 3 hours for his turn--go walk around-feel free to drive to a fast food- set out on a shady patio or a less crowded waiting room. I told my son--SIT-STAY. They called about a dozen names, but they were out on the patio, so they called my son's name after 45 minutes. He's glad that he obeyed, and he's the bestest boy
  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited July 2021
    Molly72, I wish you all the best with your surgery.

    Re funny books: I suggest many of David Sedaris’s books. Also: “Bossypants,” by Tina Fey. “I Feel Bad About My Neck,” by Nora Ephron. “Grown Ups,” by Marian Keyes.

    Not always funny but sooo absorbing: Bill Bryson’s “At Home” — and many others of his books.
  • meyati
    meyati Member Posts: 308
    edited July 2021
    Yes, Molly. Could you tell us what your favorite animal is? I'd like to hear about that. My favorites are sea turtles and bees. They aren't exactly pet material, but there you are
  • legaljen1969
    legaljen1969 Member Posts: 763
    edited July 2021
    I read a lot when I was a child, and in my younger years as an adult. Now since I sit at a computer almost all day reading various things- my eyes are often so tired when I get home that I cannot sit down with a book to read.

    I have seen lots of great suggestions here about books to read. I will definitely be adding them to my list of books to read while on vacation or if I have a short staycation.

    Marcie, I have not read "Where the Crawdads Sing." I have not read Devil in the White City or The Zookeepers wife. I haven't read many of the books that a lot of you have read.

    My latest subject obsession was the books that were written by journalists and family members about the shooting at Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston. I personally knew the pastor, Clementa Pinckney. I knew family members of several of the victims and I took time to read all of the books written by all of the family members. It was sad to read the books, but something I felt compelled to do. All of them had such different perspectives on the event.

    I also have been reading some books about various court proceedings and crimes that were racially motivated. The Devil in the Grove highlights one of the earlier cases handled by Thurgood Marshall in his legal career while still a lawyer. I also read the book Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring- by Richard Gergel. Judge Gergel is now a US District Court judge. When I first met him, he was still in private practice and helped one of my clients with an appellate matter. He is a very interesting man. Of course since he wrote the book, I was interested to read it.

    I haven't read much fiction in a long time. The last author I was into was Vince Flynn. He writes thriller/CIA type books. I loved his books.

    I will be checking out some of the suggestions above.
  • meyati
    meyati Member Posts: 308
    edited July 2021
    Legaljean---I haven't read the crawdads-the Zookeeper-the Devil in White City either. I saw one of the TV shows--he had one of his ladies enter a walk-in safe-and he shut and locked the door. he enjoyed listening to her screaming, pleading and dying. I really like Eric Larson as a historical writer and entertainer, and like Carol, and Discovery ID, but I love puzzles, and the way different detectives and departments put the clues together. One thing I've noticed about old cases solved through DNA, and through DNA genealogy, is the puzzle of how the murderer was missed. Quite often a next door neighbor that looked too young or clean cut to be a murderer.
  • Bengal
    Bengal Member Posts: 518
    edited July 2021
    I read Devil in the White City several years ago. Someone had suggested it to me because at the time I had become interested in Landscaper Frederick Law Olmsted. I got so drawn into the serial killer chapters that I was skipping over the chapters about the Exhibition to find out what was going to happen next. After reading the book I went on to do more research on the case. I have long been fascinated by what makes these societal monsters among us.

    Someone mentioned favorite animals. Not pet material but I have always loved tigers. A stuffed tiger was the first childhood Christmas gift I ever remember requesting. Snow leopard -gorgeous (and endangered) and, of course, horses. I miss mine so very much. They were very much pets.
  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited July 2021
    Bengal, you’re a kindred soul to Meyati and me: we all love true crime. And I am especially interested in serial killers. I love it when they’re finally caught (and when ANY murderer is caught).

    I urge everyone who hasn’t read The Devil in the White City, to read it — and don’t skip the parts about the Fair!

    Meyati, domestic cats are my favorite animals, with African elephants a close second. I am very worried that elephants will become extinct. To me, killing any of them is participating in a genocide (well, I guess that, literally, it IS genocide).
  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited July 2021
    legaljen, I’m so sorry for your loss of people you knew in the Mother Emanuel AME Church massacre. It was and is awful for anyone with a heart, but for those who knew the victims, the pain is deep.
  • legaljen1969
    legaljen1969 Member Posts: 763
    edited July 2021
    Carool. It is interesting who we run across in our lives. I met Rev Pinckney randomly when he was with a friend of mine in law enforcement. After that, our paths crossed a couple of times a year at random places and times. Another one of the people I knew was the daughter of one of the women killed. Our firm had represented the daughter and her son in an automobile accident case. Another daughter of one of the victims I met when I was in college. She was a teacher/librarian at the school where I did my final practicum- basically "hands on" opportunity to work with students- before I graduated.
    The church was a beautiful church on Calhoun Street- one of the main thoroughfares in Charleston. I walked past that church dozens of times when I was in college and there was always some lovely church member outside the front door or sweeping the sidewalks. They always had a smile and a "God Bless You" for everyone. That has always been an amazingly gracious church. To have something like that happen anywhere is horrific. To have it hit so close to places and people I knew- it was hard to fathom. That church has gone through SO much in its history, and I know they are powering through and being the same gracious place they have always been. It's not "over" for them and it never really will be, but they will find a way to continue to show the world that their God is bigger than the world's evil. That's just the kind of faith they have.
  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited July 2021
    legaljen, what you wrote is beautiful.

    That killing will be remembered by most who heard about it when it happened. It was an utterly disgusting and transforming act (really, words are inadequate for any such act).
  • MarcieB
    MarcieB Member Posts: 528
    edited July 2021
    legaljen, I can't help but notice your taste in reading is parallel to your profession? You are reading legalize in your recreation time. (!) So you have never read John Grisham (The Pelican Brief, A Time to Kill, Sycamore Row, The Runaway Jury...etc?) Fiction, but legal themes. Every once in a while he strays away from that subject, (The Painted House), but legal themes are his wheelhouse (although I LOVED The Painted House!) Of course The Firm will always be a classic, I am tempted to read that again.

    Of course I understand your interest in reading about the AME church. Like Carool says - it will be remembered by most (if not all) who heard about it when it happened. Heartbreaking is not even a strong enough word. I can't imagine having a personal connection to people impacted by such a hate crime, no wonder you needed to read about it! If I were you I would have read everything I could find about it - then I would have to detox my brain by sleeping for 10 hours and/or a hike along the ocean shoreline at sunset.

    On a new note - this has been an interesting topic for so many of us. I am thinking we should do a once-a-month *bookclub* post where everyone can report on what they are reading and how it is helping. Even a book that simply lifts one's spirits or diverts attention away from scary stuff, is helpful!
  • meyati
    meyati Member Posts: 308
    edited July 2021
    Sounds good--Marcie
  • legaljen1969
    legaljen1969 Member Posts: 763
    edited July 2021
    Marcie, yes I have read John Grisham's works. It has been a long time though. Oddly enough, I was mostly obsessed with his books before I got into my current profession. I think he is a skilled writer for sure. I also like James Patterson's Alex Cross books.

    I have also read numerous books about the holocaust and holocaust survivors. I used to not tell people I read those books because they would say I had an unhealthy obsession with the suffering of others. On the contrary, I think when we talk to people and read about things, we can develop empathy. I didn't read the books because it brought me joy to read about the sufferings of others, but because it was incomprehensible to me that people could be so ugly. That particular "interest" began years ago, when my parents were heavily involved in a student exchange program- we had a young man stay with us. He was from Israel and his parents narrowly escaped being taken to one of the "camps." That program was a great thing for my brother and I when we were young. We learned so many things from so many people from different countries. My brother and I kept up with many of the students long after they went home. Yes, we were little kids and these students were college students, but we really enjoyed them all. We became more active in the events as we got into high school and college.

    I would entertain the idea of a "bookclub" where we can report what we are reading.



  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited July 2021
    Marcie, the bookclub post sounds good. Thanks! I can do that, unless you want to. I can post that question the first of every month.
  • MarcieB
    MarcieB Member Posts: 528
    edited July 2021
    Carool, I would love it if you could do that! The first of the month is a perfect time.
  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited July 2021
    MarcieB, thanks! It’s on my calendar.
  • meyati
    meyati Member Posts: 308
    edited July 2021
    That's a perfect way to have a new thread for each month--Looking at the many responses- perhaps the query should have What did you read this July? Book Club meeting #1 then next month # 2 We've found out a popular question can have hundreds of answers- and it takes forever to load. I know we had a question -- Politics---I myself tried to have Politics #100-LOL- I wrote down the name exactly, and nobody, not even me, could find it. Several other tried to have POLITCS 2, and more politics, nobody could find those either-so I decided to write the exact name down--- I really really hope this is a success.
  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited July 2021
    Meyati, good idea! My August bookclub question will be titled “August 2021 Bookclub Meeting.”
  • meyati
    meyati Member Posts: 308
    Who knows, I might finish reading my current, Nordic Noir, THE MIST. This author, Ragnur Jonasson, is very pro feminist, at least in his writings. They write these books, so I can't skip ahead and find out the ending. Anyway, an elderly farm couple are murdered, it looks like the Homicide detective's daughter is going to commit suicide because her father is forcefully incesting her-I have no idea what this algorithm will let me write. Then it seems that every Icelander is from a dysfunctional family--if the father wants to stay and provide for the family, the wife takes the kids to Norway. or they are business functioning alcoholics, or the man died when his fishing trawler went down.
  • MarcieB
    MarcieB Member Posts: 528
    edited July 2021
    Meyati, you read some complicated stuff! (I was going to use a triple x word, but it would only get triple x'ed)
    Stephen King wrote a novella called THE MIST, but there was not a dysfunctional Norwegian in sight. It was about a heavy mist that rolled over a lakeside resort town for the purpose of hiding giant spiders...maybe I'll read your version, (lol!)
  • meyati
    meyati Member Posts: 308
    edited July 2021
    Well, Marcie, I realize part of my problem is that I wasn't following you. I'm following you now, so I shouldn't be complaining so much. I need to make sure that I'm following the others.

    The Mist by Ragnar Jonasson--Yes, I kept looking at the Icelandic weather descriptions, but there wasn't any 'mist' - hypothermia? yes, blizzards? Yes. Ice? yes, even sunshine- Y'all need to wait until the August book thing before I talk about the "The Mist"

    Another thing that WN should have is---that I could leave this-and see who else I should follow and come back to this, instead of it disappearing, They do that on the Washington Post and Instagram.

    People say some things that aren't true. For example, that women weren't combat pilots in WW2. Well the Russians had several squads of lady combat pilots, and the Germans were terrified of them. So, I go to a link that greatly supports my thought. I love 'cut and paste'. They usually shut up, some still call me names.
  • MarcieB
    MarcieB Member Posts: 528
    edited August 2021
    Attention all book lovers! Carool has agreed to post a *book review* question the first of every month, but since we have no participating monitor....(do we??), it seems our questions go right on to our own wall. Which is useless if you want answers. So, if you want to talk books, please go to Carool's wall and find the question. And join the discussion.

    And legaljen, honey, where ARE you?
  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited August 2021
    Marcie, thank you!

    I’ll try a sarcastic shout-out to our moderator: Colby, hel-oooo! Hi, Colby! Where R U? We miss you! We knead yew! Please come back to us! We are driverless here, careening around! We are cancer survivors!!!!!! Don’t you even CARE? Pleeze come back to us!
  • legaljen1969
    legaljen1969 Member Posts: 763
    edited August 2021
    Marcie, I am here. My boss was out of town this past week so I was trying to get a lot done to try to get ahead of the curve, all of the stuff I can't get done when he calls me into his office for technical support 2-3 times an hour. LOL
    About the only thing I am reading these days is my daily "I Really Needed That Today" Hoda Kotb book. I am just trying to stay positive. We had a very disappointing situation happen with some friends we had planned to go on vacation with in late October. It was pretty rotten and my husband and I have been having a really sad weekend. It's just one of those things that really shakes one's faith in humanity.
    I know I need to come to my friends and be in fellowship with people who care, but it's just one of those times where I just want to withdraw from the world.
    I thought I posted a question earlier, but it's nowhere to be found.
  • meyati
    meyati Member Posts: 308
    edited August 2021
    Yes, check Carool's wall. I did that this morning and posted my 2 bits and a bit more.
  • Molly72
    Molly72 Member Posts: 227
    edited August 2021
    Carool-- "Colby come back", !!!!!
    He was really never here to begin with, and I truly think that he wants all of us & this site "Gone With The Wind".
  • Carool
    Carool Member Posts: 787
    edited August 2021
    Molly72, lol! I couldn’t agree more. But we ain’t going nowhere, now, are we? Bunch of middle-aged and old women still here and still willing to keep WhatNext going, in Greg’s honor and memory and for ourselves and others who need this site.

    Of course, my bravado will wilt if “they” take WN down, but so far, it’s here and so are we.
  • Molly72
    Molly72 Member Posts: 227
    edited August 2021
    I thought that "Colby" was going to hook this site up with some other cancer survivor site, but of course that never happened.
    Maybe I just imagined it------ Just a figment of someone's imagination.

    I really don't understand why "Colby" can't even answer our questions and comments. Damn rude I say & let's see what dirty word robot handles "DAMN"

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