Hey,there! I like your library and I especially like your profile page. Great job! How are you able to change fonts & highlight, underline, and so forth? I'm curious & jealous. I also see your on Bookmooch. I've been a member for a few weeks and love it so far! Take care! Mark

escrito por msf59 às 9:02 am (EST) em Aug 10, 2008

I'm in love with your cat, by the way.

escrito por margad às 11:34 pm (EST) em Aug 8, 2008

I definitely plan to add newly released novels at www.HistoricalNovels.info to keep the site as up-to-date as possible. It's not there yet, but I'm working on it! Another goal is to post as many reviews as possible. And as of today there's a new feature - a section for articles. The first is about Mary Renault and her historical novels.

escrito por margad às 11:33 pm (EST) em Aug 8, 2008

I made it 600 pages yesterday before my eyes got too tired to continue (I would have finished it yesterday if not for our The West Wing DVD break in the evening or if I hadn't lost my concentration daydreaming about Angel while ostensibly reading), but I did finish up this morning. It was my least favorite of the series, but of course, I had to see it through the conclusion.

escrito por chanale às 4:19 pm (EST) em Aug 3, 2008

You're done reading Breaking Dawn already?! :) I still have a little over 2 hours until I can pick up my copy. I think the Barnes & Noble a block away was having a release party last night, but since the indie bookstore was offering 20% off preorders, I couldn't turn away that opportunity to support them (I briefly contemplated doing both, but I figured I'd be too old for the B&N crowd). Anyway, I still have 2 hours and 11 minutes until I get my hands on it. I've already requested several hours alone today to read.

escrito por chanale às 10:49 am (EST) em Aug 2, 2008

I'm so glad you're enjoying HistoricalNovels.info. It's been an amazing and humbling experience putting it together. I had thought I was pretty well-read in the historical fiction area! Now I joke that my TBR list has almost 3500 books on it.

I enjoyed reading your reviews. You did an especially nice job with Never Let Me Go. I only wish every reviewer of that book had been similarly considerate. I haven't read the book yet, but I know exactly what the school's mysterious secret is, and now I can never have the same experience reading it as someone who doesn't know.

escrito por margad às 12:08 am (EST) em Aug 1, 2008

I'm not as squeamish about shows like Buffy where it's more fantasy - it's the realistic ones that make me squirm. The season 2 episode that most scared me had pretty much no gore (that was the one about the 1950s teen who kills the teacher and is haunting the school as a poltergeist). Still, when watching late at night, it helps to have the lights on and a cat on my lap.

It's promising to hear Spike's accent improves (I'm a language geek and am overly sensitive to accents). Hugh Laurie's House accent is spectacular (well, I'm fond of his usual British accent, too, but that goes without saying); I'd probably assume him an American if I didn't know better. I've been watching that show since day one - I managed to catch a commercial for it, and my jaw dropped when I saw Bertie Wooster as an American doctor. I don't like this current season quite as much as the first three - the new cast members don't have as good chemistry with House.

I didn't start getting into Heroes until the end of season one. It was Chris's show, and often I'd be in the room but doing other things, but eventually I started watching enough to wonder what was going on, and Chris got annoyed with my questions and told me I should pay full attention or none at all. I got the back story on the characters from the internet, but I never did go back to watch the beginning of season one once out on DVD.

Veronica Mars was astonishingly brilliant. I managed to watch three seasons in as many weeks - I was hopelessly addicted. The bittersweet part was knowing in advance that it had been canceled. The whole cast was amazing, really. I loved the relationship between Veronica and her dad, the writing, the atmosphere... wow... not to mention Jason Dohring (it's almost embarrassing to admit the mad, wild crush I had on Logan Echolls). Season three really fell apart near the end, but I understand why. I'm going to have the watch the series again next year. It's a crime VM was pulled.

I'm eight episodes into Gilmore Girls and loving it so far. Actually, I started watching that one because I saw you had rated it highly. That's one advantage of waiting to watch series until they're on DVD - you have a better idea of what's out there that's worth watching. I have this odd compulsion to finish TV seasons even if I find them so-so, so knowing what friends have enjoyed is very helpful to me. Anyway, I hope my daughter and I are still that close when she's a teen, although she turns 4 in a couple months and just started telling me when she's angry that she hates me (*sigh*). It's a bit odd to realize that in season one, Lorelai is my age (32); I can't imagine having a teenager. I find it interesting that the mom is the bubbly one and the daughter the serious book lover - both lovely characters.

Now you see why I'm not making any 888 challenge progress. ;-)

escrito por chanale às 12:26 pm (EST) em Jul 25, 2008

On Pride and Promiscuity, I was between 2 and 2½ stars - below average for sure. It was amusing in places (the chapter with Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins was the best) but I'm glad I didn't pay for it.

escrito por chanale às 10:14 pm (EST) em Jul 24, 2008

I've never watched a whole season of any procedural before. My mother watches a million versions of CSI (we joke that all she's missing would be CSI: Green Bay) and other "body bag shows," but I tend to be squeamish about corpses, graphic surgery, and the like. The article I read said that Bones aimed to set itself apart from the genre with more character development (good to hear it has some humor as well).

I used to just watch a few shows a year - in recent years, I've followed House, 24, Heroes and Lost - but this year my TV viewing has exploded thanks to the city library making internet reserves free (in my defense, my reading has doubled over recent years). So far this year, I've finished 3 seasons of Veronica Mars, 6 seasons of Sex and the City, 2 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2 seasons of Weeds, and 2 seasons of Rome (though that one was from Netflix). I'm currently watching season 1 of Gilmore Girls with Big Love and more Buffy to come soon. I heard Jason Dohring of Veronica Mars was playing a vampire on a new show but that it's not out on DVD yet (what is it with me and vampires? On a side note, somehow I'm worried Twilight won't live up to the book though).

I have to say I didn't care for Spike in season 2, and I really couldn't "abide" Drusilla. O think part of it was the clearly fake accents (that gives me new respect for Hugh Laurie on House) and part was that occasionally those characters just got too corny. I hope they grow on me in season 3 because I hear they're coming back season after season. I have seen spoilers for the series, so I do know when Angel leaves the series and also that something develops between Spike and Buffy down the road (I heard that tidbit alongside "jumped the shark" a few times).

escrito por chanale às 10:10 pm (EST) em Jul 24, 2008

Just moments ago I found out that David Boreanaz is on Bones. I intend to try out Angel after I finish the third season of Buffy, but it's good to know he's still on TV. I didn't see the appeal of the Angel character in the first season, but gradually I came to be very impressed with Boreanaz (end of season 2 ripped my heart out). It looks like you've seen just about everything he's in. :)

escrito por chanale às 8:20 pm (EST) em Jul 24, 2008

Sure! look for us at Myspace.com/sassenach65

Glad to have you!

escrito por MDLady às 2:06 pm (EST) em Jul 16, 2008

Look for 'Outlander Fans' on Myspace if you'd like. We're over 900 members strong!

escrito por MDLady às 2:04 pm (EST) em Jul 8, 2008

It couldn't be helped. ;-) I was neurotically wondering each time I passed within a few miles of that bookstore whether it would be gone from the shelves the next time I went in, so I just got it anyway and hoped I wouldn't be disappointed. I also picked up a mystery about violins set in Italy and another Victorian historical fiction/mystery by Stephanie Barron (her newest - not from her series about Jane Austen as a sleuth).

escrito por chanale às 8:43 pm (EST) em Jul 7, 2008

Before I forget, how was The Dark Lantern?

Flute was my primary instrument for 8 or 9 years (I picked up clarinet and sax later to participate in marching and jazz band, respectively), but I haven't played a note in many years now. I still have my old flute, but it's so badly beaten up that it can't play (and was cheap in the first place), so I plan to buy a new flute this summer: solid silver head joint with silver-plated body. Mostly I'd like to play for my own pleasure, but I'd love to join ensembles eventually.

The flute books I checked out from the library cover quite a wide range. There was one too-basic teach-yourself book that would have been suitable only for children and complete beginners. Another was this amazing handbook about anything you could want to know about classical flute from history through performance (it was good I had to buy a used copy because I could picture myself forever renewing it from the library). And just yesterday I read a slim volume that included folk flutes alongside the "Western" flute and had a new age vibe (not my bag, but the book was decent). Anyway, I just ordered a few flute books from Amazon, so I have the materials I need . . . all I'm missing is a (non-broken) flute. :)

Do/did you play anything?

escrito por chanale às 11:19 am (EST) em Jul 1, 2008

Thanks for the lovely comment about my belated 888 challenge. I have no idea if I will manage to fit in 64 books this year, what with work, home, husband, knitting, the million and one weddings I am attendng this year etc. but I liked the idea of the challenge. It gives me a purpose/goal and I like thinking about the links between the books I am reading and coming up with categorisations, even if they are only arbitrary like Books from Mount TBR.

I noticed that you read Amsterdam earlier this year - did you enjoy it? Ian McEwan is one of my favourite authors - I don't recall reading one of his novels and not really enjoying it (even Saturday, which I found a little difficult to get into turned out to be a really gripping read).

escrito por LynCollett às 3:40 am (EST) em Jun 24, 2008

I meant to read the Gabaldon book, but it came due at the library before I even started, and I haven't yet checked it out again. I'm really trying to prune my pile of library books. They allow me 40 at a time, but I need to keep it much lower if I hope to get to all of them.

The books I got last week were Kept: a Victorian mystery and The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë.

escrito por chanale às 10:48 am (EST) em Jun 17, 2008

I saw you just added The Dark Lantern. I came *this* close to buying it the other day, but I figured I already had two Victorian historical mysteries in my arms and a third would be overkill. :)

escrito por chanale às 12:03 am (EST) em Jun 17, 2008

ooh, The Tower. Thanks much for picking that, one of my favorite Welsh authors!

escrito por bookcrushblog às 12:41 pm (EST) em Jun 9, 2008

Thank you for the add, yes I agree we do seem to have a lot of the same interests! No problem!

escrito por ktleyed às 5:54 pm (EST) em May 17, 2008

DD was looking over my shoulder and wanted to know what your cat's name is. :)

escrito por chanale às 3:48 pm (EST) em May 5, 2008

Sigh. The Winter's Tale. Hmmm. Not my favourite Shakespeare, that's for sure. I actually saw it performed at a Shakespeare festival a few years ago and I really didn't like it, but then I thought maybe I'd had too much to eat and drink at dinner and I was just sleepy. Well, studying it now, and watching the BBC production, I didn't like it any better. And I had to memorize and recite 20 lines of one of Hermione's speeches too, which wasn't fun. BUT, by the time we had been through four classes on it, I didn't dislike it as much as I had, and I could see some merit in it. Here is what I learned that made me like it a bit better:
-Paulina is a great character. Takes no guff, speaks her mind, stands up to Leontes (the jerk)
-Look at it as a fairy tale, as the little son starts telling near the beginning. When I view the characters and events as elements of a fairy tale, they make more sense.
-Shakespeare was playing with the audience when wrote the first half as a tragedy, but then turned it into a comedy in the second half. Everything in the story turns with the stage direction "exit pursued by a bear".
-the statue scene at the end is supposed to be ambiguous. 68/70 people in my class voted on it as being Paulina's trick and that there was NO magic involved. Two people thought it was magic. Our professor said the 68 of us had no literary imagination and should drop our English majors and all become accountants. :-)
Does any of that help? I've been meaning to message Cariola about the Winter's Tale, because I believe she teaches it. She was very helpful when I started my Shakespeare course. You may want to ask her (there's a thread about Shakespeare and this play under the What are you reading now? group What Came Home With You Today December 2007.)

I hope that helps! What did YOU think?

escrito por Nickelini às 7:12 pm (EST) em Apr 3, 2008

I had never heard of Kate DiCamillo until earlier this year (I read ...Edward Tulane and Because of Winn-Dixie), but that's only because I hadn't read YA books except for the Harry Potter books for nearly 20 years. 2006 was the first year I started getting into YA and older children's fiction, rereading old favorites and discovering new ones, so I'm always up for recommendations.

The two books I just reserved should be at my branch by Tuesday. For sure I'll let you know what I thought.

escrito por chanale às 1:52 pm (EST) em Dec 7, 2007

I still need 14 more books to make my goal for the year, so I browsed your library to see what you thought was good that I haven't yet read. I just called over The Tale of Despereaux and The Truth About Forever. I'm so looking forward to them as it's nice to have something to go on. :)

escrito por chanale às 11:02 am (EST) em Dec 7, 2007

*wave*

Hi! Good to see ya on here. (I figured you would be! hehe) SO much to catch up on! :) Nice library, btw! You do have great taste, IMO.

escrito por ailish às 8:12 am (EST) em Jul 16, 2007

I just listened to the audio version of Iam McEwan's On Chesil Beach and noticed your comment about "what happened to Florence?" McEwan is interviewed at the end of the audio version and describes how in an earlier draft he explained more about her and decided that it was important to sort of follow just one person's later life. The earlier draft had her father in jail (!) later on for molesting a young woman---to possibly help explain Florence's problems. And, of course, that part about her looking at the one particular seat in her audiences was important. The interview went on a little long but it was fun to hear him talk about writing it.

escrito por nyiper às 6:24 pm (EST) em Jun 25, 2007

The first V.C. Andrews book I read (one of the few she actually wrote) was Flowers in the Attic. I got it from the school library when I was in elementary school. I figured if it had flowers, I just might like it. I had no idea what was in store for me!

I'm trying to get better about giving away books. The public library here sells 99% of donated books for a quarter rather than adding them to the collection, which is fine by me when you're talking about a mass market paperback you didn't like in the first place, but it can be a bit disheartening when I donate a fantastic book in mint condition (e.g. because I had a duplicate) and it gets tossed aside.

escrito por chanale às 1:10 pm (EST) em Jun 20, 2007

I see you gave V.C. Andrews scathing ratings. :) I have to admit I used to have a few of those in the house.

escrito por chanale às 10:21 am (EST) em Jun 20, 2007

Are you taking classes this summer, taking a break, or graduating very soon? I was awful about assigned reading in college - I'd read just enough to get by, but curiously enough, as soon as the class ended and I was free, I couldn't get enough (including the works I neglected to read just weeks earlier).

We're all doing well, although I'm turning meshugge having been housebound with DD for the last two months due to DH's bike accident. There are a few photos of my girl here.

escrito por chanale às 4:43 pm (EST) em May 11, 2007

Hi there! Of course, I remember you. :) I haven't posted to LJ in ages. We definitely have the English major library in common. I see you joined the "50 books" challenge. My goal this year was 100, but I'll be lucky to make 50 at this rate.

escrito por chanale às 10:35 am (EST) em May 10, 2007