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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2010 17:31:13 GMT
I don't recognize any of them T63. But, I am in full agreement with Bixa on your previous recommendations in the other thread.
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Post by traveler63 on Jan 14, 2010 19:23:13 GMT
I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife. I must say it was written well, but somewhere I lost interest in it. I know everyone that has read it just loved it, but while it was a good book it wasn't my cup of tea. What did I miss?
Thanks Bixa for your input. Somehow, since I got back from vacation, it has been so busy that I haven't been reading as much as usual. I haven't read any of the "The Girl Who......." books and I am patiently waiting for some of the reserves that I have, it seems everyone is reading the same books from the library. So, hopefully I will catch up quickly here. I just started Rules of Vengeanceby Christopher Reich. Yes it is a thriller, but it is so much better written, more like a Ludlum book(which I loved the Bourne sagas). I will let you know how I like it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2010 23:03:30 GMT
I went ahead and bought Mafouz's ,"Palace Walk" today. I have generally liked most of Tilly's choices.Now it's in her top ten...
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Post by Kimby on Jan 15, 2010 0:32:34 GMT
Rather than go for my alltime top favorites (that was my first list), I'll add 5 that I loved recently, assuming that they should be on the list for voting purposes whether they are the most worthy books or not.
1. Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd 2. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen 3. the curious incident of the dog in the nightime - mark haddon 4. Follow the River - James Alexander Thom 5. River God: A Novel of Ancient Egypt - Wilbur Smith
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Post by tillystar on Jan 15, 2010 10:06:16 GMT
I hope you enjoy it Casimira. I am feeling pressure ha ha. I particularly loved it as it reminded me of a street in Marrakech that I stayed on once and I could picture the sights and sounds and people I met…I hope it transports you too!
I am taking a recommendation from you and have borrowed The Children’s Book back (books are great gifts ha!), I was going to start it last night but fell asleep. I have never been keen on AS Byatt, but since both you and my Mum raved about it I’ll give her another go!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2010 11:14:49 GMT
I am deep in "Palace Walk "Tilly,I can't put it down.Rarely does a book grab me that early on.I am absolutely enthralled with.Thanks. I do hope you enjoy the Byatt.I found it was one of those books I know I will go back and read again.
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Post by traveler63 on Jan 15, 2010 19:17:53 GMT
River God: A Novel of Ancient Egypt - Wilbur Smith. I love anything by Wilbur Smith and have just finished the Assegai which is one of my favorites.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2010 13:25:04 GMT
Second list:
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien Tim - Coleen McCullough The Call of the Wild - Jack London Monkey Grip - Helen Garner
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Post by Kimby on Jan 26, 2010 17:29:56 GMT
(I thought I was the only person who had read "Tim" by the author much more famous for Thornbirds.)
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Post by existentialcrisis on Jan 28, 2010 11:10:02 GMT
Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. I think it's about time for a third round. I'm thinking, maybe another list of 5. This time including works other than novels, including plays, Bible, philosophy texts, non-fiction, short stories, poerty collections, and children's books. Please specify which category your selection falls into, for those of us who are unfamiliar. If there is enough demand, there will probably be more opportunity to add to this list.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2010 11:22:26 GMT
I am not going to include the bible on my list! (Then again, I've never read it, but I've heard quite a bit about it.)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2010 11:59:41 GMT
I won't be last for once. Here is my third list:
1. Guevara (biography) – Paco Ignacio Taibo 2. Mr. President – Angel Flores 3. The Velveteen Rabbit – Margery Williams 4. Les Misérables – Victor Hugo 5. The Day of the Locust – Nathanael West
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2010 12:52:22 GMT
I'm going to list all poetry this round:
1. Leaves of Grass,Walt Whitman 2. Flowers of Evil,Charles Baudelaire 3 Poet in New York,Federico Garcia Lorca 4. Selected Poems,Edna St. Vincent Millay 5. Five Decades:Poems (1925-1970),Pablo Neruda
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Post by Kimby on Jan 28, 2010 21:34:52 GMT
1. Aldo Leopold - A Sand County Almanac (nature essays) 2. Edward Abbey - Desert Solitaire (ditto) 3. Norman Maclean - A River Runs through it (autobiographical novella) 4. Barbara Savage - Miles from Nowhere: a round-the world bicycle adventure (travel journal) 5. Jung Chang - Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (memoir)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 29, 2010 0:01:25 GMT
Existentia -- I am so sorry. I procrastinated about adding to the second round. Do I put up two sets of five, or simply skip to a list of five for round three. (sorry!)
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Post by existentialcrisis on Jan 30, 2010 15:15:20 GMT
If you didn't post your second set of 5, go ahead and post it, as well as your list for this round.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 30, 2010 17:51:45 GMT
Thanks, Existentia. I really like how you've set this up & didn't want to mess it up because the dog ate my homework.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Jan 30, 2010 23:17:47 GMT
Well ... I take breaks! But my eye is on the prize!
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Post by existentialcrisis on Jan 30, 2010 23:20:10 GMT
Meanwhile, I'm struggling with this current list... one of the books that has impacted me more than any other is a philosophical work that I don't know if I should list because it's virtually impossible to read.
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Post by tillystar on Feb 1, 2010 16:17:39 GMT
Thank you to those who enjoyed and recommended The Book of Negroes as some friends and I have said we will start an informal book club (in a pub, with lots of wine involved) once a month.
We couldn't choose what our first book would be and this thread made me suggest that book (sneaky really as I wanted to read it!) and everyone jumped at the idea ;D
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Post by existentialcrisis on Feb 2, 2010 8:28:59 GMT
Glad to hear it, Tilly! The idea of a book club in a pub appeals to me, but alas, I seem to have no literate friends around...
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Post by traveler63 on Feb 2, 2010 23:19:21 GMT
Here are my third set of 5:
1. The Sonnets - William Shakespeare 2. Gifts from the Sea - Anne Morrow Lindbergh 3. Pieces of Eight - Sydney J. Harris 4. A Tear and a Smile - Kahlil Gibran 5. The Eve of St. Agnes - John Keats This is tied with False Dawn by Louis Auchincloss.
It has been a long time since I have read these but now I am going to go back and do that.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Feb 3, 2010 8:28:27 GMT
Oh dear... I will take a stab at this... umm... I will make this list of philosophical works. And maybe there will be opportunity to add more later 1) Jean Paul Sartre - Nausea (philosophical novel) 2) Dostoevsky - Notes from the Underground (philosophical novel) 3) Henry David Thoreau - Walden 4) Plato - Apology of Socrates 5) Rene Descartes - Meditations I tried to stick to "readable" philosophy texts that I think are worthy of readership. However, the philosophical works that have most influenced my life are Martin Heidegger's Being and Time and Introduction to Metaphysics. But I can't, with good conscience, put these on the list.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2010 8:52:13 GMT
I have a beautifully bound copy of Nausea (which I ashamed to say that I have not read), because I found a relatively damaged copy in the trash somewhere (when I see books in the trash anywhere, I am in the trashcan with them within 10 seconds). Shortly thereafter, a friend of mine who needed to get out of the house at least one night a week signed up for a book binding and restoration class, and he needed a couple of books to work on for the duration of the class. When he saw my copy of La Nausée, he knew it would be perfect.
And he returned it to me in perfect condition about 4 months later.
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Post by spaceneedle on Feb 3, 2010 9:17:36 GMT
I have a beautifully bound copy of Nausea (which I ashamed to say that I have not read), because I found a relatively damaged copy in the trash somewhere (when I see books in the trash anywhere, I am in the trashcan with them within 10 seconds). Shortly thereafter, a friend of mine who needed to get out of the house at least one night a week signed up for a book binding and restoration class, and he needed a couple of books to work on for the duration of the class. When he saw my copy of La Nausée, he knew it would be perfect. And he returned it to me in perfect condition about 4 months later. K2, You would not believe how hard it is to find those who are experts in the dying art of book binding here in the US. I have a lovely set of Charles Dickens' volumes I inherited from a grandparent and several of them were falling apart. They are really beautiful books, from the Edwardian era. They have pen and ink drawings inside... When they came into my possession they had been stored in a damp garage and needed a lot of help. I finally found a book binder in the midwest and sent two of the worst ones there to be repaired. It was VERY expensive but they did an amazing job. There are two others that need TLC but the cost is so high that I haven't gotten around to it. They are now stored in a cabinet with glass doors, inside... but still. I worry when I see the Kindle becoming so popular. I love the feeling of a book in my hands, there is nothing like it. I get worried someday everything will be electronic. Sorry for the thread drift... Back to topic!
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Post by lola on Feb 3, 2010 14:57:02 GMT
As the daughter and also the wife of philosophy majors, I tend to be philosophy averse. All poems, then, in no order.
1. The Iliad and The Odyssey -- Homer 2. Shakespeare's Sonnets 3. Borrowed Towns -- Richard Newman, a local guy. Whenever I run into him I tell him he's my favorite living American poet. Is it partly his deadpan delivery? Possibly. It reassures him whenever I say it, though, and poets need all the boost they can get. 4. Cold Mountain Han Shan 5. Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay
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Post by existentialcrisis on Feb 4, 2010 8:45:50 GMT
lol lola! I can't say I blame you, we are an annoying bunch.
Now that I think about it, Nausea was kind of an annoying read... I wish I could quickly go back and re-read everything so I could give a better informed opinion. I mean, the book has a purpose and it's good to have read it... but you could get by only having read a few pages of it... I may have to revise my list.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 4, 2010 19:12:48 GMT
I've been so remiss about contributing to this thread, but it's because of my dithering about books I read long ago and liked. Too many times I've gone back to such books, only to find that the intervening years have made them trite or jejune or whatever. So that's what you say above, Existentia, about wanting to go back & re-read is why I'm vacillating so badly.
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Post by lola on Feb 4, 2010 19:57:33 GMT
What if we call it a list of books we liked a lot at one time anyway? If we had to reread and re-approve everything it would be a long time between posts.
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Post by lola on Feb 4, 2010 19:59:12 GMT
Even if I survived to the end of the rereading, I'd be so much wiser by then I wouldn't be sure about the ones at the beginning.
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