Medlem: Nulla

Congratulations on wrapping up another school year!! Two weeks is doable!!
I hadn't heard of William Gay at all, but have now had a look and have added him to my interminable list. Do you know, I haven't read any of Margaret George's either although I know I have the Henry VIII one. *sigh* I thought I was going to read all the time in my retirement, and it just hasn't happened. I can, however, skip the S. Collins without regret, so that's liberating. I'm on an Orange Prize kick, reading the short list bit by bit. It happened that the ones I could afford and wanted ended up on the short list, the first time that's happened. So far though, my favorite book is one that didn't make it: Lord of Misrule. I recommend it whole-heartedly. It's not really a horse story although it is set on a seedy little racetrack in West Virginia. It didn't grab me immediately, but when it did, it had me. My other reading that I think would interest you is the 2nd volume in the Robert Caro LBJ biography - amazing research! WHAT a sociopath! - and Richard Morgan's Thirteen. It's not as good as the Takeshi Kovacs series, but is certainly entertaining.
I'll hope to see more of you this summer one place or another unless you are one of those fortunate folks who travels. I'd like to hear about that too.
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 8:46 pm (EST) Apr 30, 2012

I wish May could meet Angus!

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 10:36 am (EST) Jul 18, 2011

Hello, Friend.
I'm not sure whether I should be wishing you courage for the last push or congratulations on another year completed. Please consider this whichever is appropriate.
All is good here with us. I'm now trying to read more and LT less, but it's hard going.
Be in touch!
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 9:13 pm (EST) May 23, 2010

Computer Nullae, RIP!
I'm sorry about that.
Man, do I ever know about comfort reading in an uncomfortable school year! I'm just glad that you find stuff that you enjoy. Although I still love my mysteries and entertaining scifi when I turn to them, I'm finally becoming eager to read writing with more substance. I don't necessarily know what to do with it, but the yen to read it has to be a good thing. If I haven't mentioned that I'm finding retirement a Good Thing, I do!
TRP clicks along as usual. You will be most welcome when summer and new computer arrive.
(I once shook Art Buchwald's hand. I see I Am Not a Crook in your random books.) I'd be interested to know what you make/made of The Help. I can't make up my mind that I really want to read it.
Thanks for stopping to speak. I'm always happy to hear from you and feel that we can pretty much always pick up where we left off.
Good wishes as you wind down the school year!
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 11:02 pm (EST) Apr 11, 2010

Hope your spring is going well!
I just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and liked it as much as the hype had led me to fear I might dislike it. Have you read it? *Played with Fire*?
What's new?
Peggy the Liz

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 11:24 pm (EST) Mar 27, 2010

Hey, Nulla! I'm always happy to see you where and whenever you turn up. Yes, Rose designed the new site, and I'll express your praise and promise to come when you can.
About Anathem - I think it may be my favorite NS; at the very least it's the equal of Crytonomicon with the added bonus that I understood just about all of it! I was quite happy because I've never really gotten along with philosophy before. In the beginning I thought that he was writing a fantasy, but as I progressed, it became more and more hard scientific. I think I said that before. It's quite a doorstop though, so I don't know that I would have jumped in while I was teaching - or I might have tried to read it at lunch for the 10 months of employment.
We're gray today too with rain and rain and maybe a rain and sleet mix tonight. And since the weekend it's been so lovely. Oh well.
Peace,
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 12:36 pm (EST) Feb 24, 2010

I'm enjoying the new twist of "books in common" with the rarest on the site first. I'm amused to see that all of ours aren't necessarily science fiction. Where did that Charlemagne come from????
Hope things are good for you. Have you read Anathem?
Good night!
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 11:01 pm (EST) Feb 16, 2010

It's snowing in Lumberton, my hometown! Real, pretty, fluffy snow!! Not ice!!! Accumulation!!!! This almost never happens!!!!! (Just thought you'd like to know.)

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 10:11 pm (EST) Feb 12, 2010

Nulla, a quick note to say that Rose has built us a new home at The Reader's Place. I'm not sure that the link will work, but do come by when you can. The old gang is gathering.

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 11:21 pm (EST) Feb 11, 2010

What a lovely, long break you have had! Going back is never easy though.
I think I must have read some of the Val MacD dogs several years ago. I haven't read any mystery/thriller types in quite a long time, which is a shame since they compose such a large portion of my library. I suspect that the taste will return.
Oh, you got one of the Huxleys! Good for you!! I got Essays by Elia which I had never read and which is charming and satisfying. I just can't read more than a couple of essays at a time because they're so rich. I just this morning finished Wolf Hall. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure that I would have given it a Booker.......
Yeah. I fell at church Sunday and bruised my left knee through the bone. The swelling is almost gone, but I'm still hobbling around on crutches and moving very carefully. All incantations are welcome. I suddenly feel old - it was that kind of fall, and I can't say that I care for the feeling. On the other hand, I'm vastly relieved not to have broken anything, having gotten the word that Fosamax is doing nothing to prevent the deterioration of bone. ReClast, here I come. Boo. Hiss. Enjoy your last days of freedom and consider the fun of potential good students. And stay in touch!
Peace,
LizzieP

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 10:34 am (EST) Jan 20, 2010

Happy New Year for sure! I'm tickled that you'll be here occasionally for the next little while. Congratulations on pate! (I can't be diacritical, sorry.) I keep saying that I want to cook more, and then I keep not cooking more or practicing piano or cleaning house or any of those other lovely occupations that figure in other people's resolutions.
Instead, I read and play around on the computer. I wonder when I was supposed to get bored in my retirement.
(Isn't it lovely to have physical confirmation of a cyber-friend's existance?) I'm hoping that my copy of Elia, which I won from the December list, will show up tomorrow. Meanwhile, I need to finish Drood which the Dickens Disciple was bound to read, but which I wish I had waited for in a used pb copy. Oh well.
Goodies abound! Kindle for Christmas!!! Totally unexpected and now totally welcome. The instant gratification is a real test of character.
I'll be interested to see your review when it emerges.
Peace,
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 6:32 pm (EST) Jan 1, 2010

As to being hammered, lots of wind and rain and cold but nothing really dangerous. Hope you continue to stay warm and enjoy staying indoors.
As to LT, I want so badly to see what my friends are signing up for because I haven't really liked most of the ones that I've gotten and reviewed.....not enough, mind you, to make me stop trying. But then, I haven't gotten anything that I really wanted. Hope your current one is all you hoped it might be.
I'm off to visit my aunt who is back in the hospital. She is 90 with dementia and physical problems that threaten to take her off, but she is made of stern stuff and retains a great deal of her sweetness. All in all, it's a hard situation, so I'd better be on my way.
Meanwhile, it's a fine thing to speak to you more than once every 3 or 4 months!
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 4:20 pm (EST) Dec 20, 2009

No more ranting!
Thank you for the card which I GREATLY appreciate!!!
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 4:45 pm (EST) Dec 18, 2009

I do wish you luck with the cards. Our friends and relatives have always known that I am a crank and that Dear Husband is a curmudgeon, so they no longer expect cards from us and I'm glad to give the mail carrier's back a break. It's not exactly that I don't appreciate them, but I don't understand the point for people whom we see often and I do find myself enraged with people whom I don't see who don't write anything meaningful. I sort of like year-summary letters, but I can do that more easily with e-mail. Was that a rant? sorry....
As to Rothfuss, he has written one very entertaining fantasy called The Name of the Wind, and a sequel which was supposed to be published in April hasn't yet appeared. I can't remember whether you do fantasy although I guess I could look to see.....apparently not.
As long as you feel like teaching, I applaud you. I miss it, and I miss feeling useful. Unfortunately, I was missing teaching a couple or five years before I retired. I do NOT miss trying to baby-sit 5 year-olds in 16 year-old bodies. I don't miss, "I'm not going to study that." "I don't want to learn that." "Don't get an attitude with me." Would you and your spouse travel if you retired? We don't, but I can see that as a worthwhile reason for giving it up.
I'll be happy when the Honors come out in pb. It's not as though I have nothing to read until they do. When you run out, you really might enjoy the CJC series that begins with *Foreigner.* I think writing from the point of view of believable aliens with humans as the actual aliens may be her forte. I hope that makes sense.
I'm off to Wakulla (!) with my mother to see my aunt who is just home from a couple of months of bouncing from hospital to extended care. Any time she gets at home is a gift at this point.
Happy weekend!
Lizzie P.

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 2:12 pm (EST) Dec 12, 2009

Ah, Nulla. I sort of still envy you your willingness to get back into the fray at the end of the summer. We're having a moderately rough patch right this minute with a sick aunt and a sister-in-law preparing for hip replacement surgery and all my volunteer stuff coming due at the same time. It's fine though.
I have too many books to read right now, including two ARC's for here. I have to get them done because they're offering a couple that I really want in September. (I'm only moderately interested in the two I have. Oh well.)
S.E and Kokipy are the two to talk to about Cherryh. I haven't read any of the others set in the Alliance universe. I tried a Chanur and the first Atevi one instead and liked them. My main problem with her is her apparent fixation on internal monologues, as with Justin in Cyteen. I get it after the first time or five. If I don't get it, repetition isn't going to help me; it just makes me impatient.
I think I said that I tried to read Accelerando and put it aside. Now I think that it is not the Stross for a beginner, so I'll go back to another if I can only finish some of my current Mt. Bookpile. (I am truly loving Fifty Degrees Below. Magnas Gratias for KSR!)
The weekend is approaching! Rejoice and Enjoy!
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 10:39 pm (EST) Sep 16, 2009

I hope you are well. I never see your footprints at either place, and now I expect that you're back in school with less time to spend online. Hope you had a good summer!
We are well generally speaking. I'm reading less and buying more, I'm afraid. This is just a bad place for poor folks, but I'm loving it. Thank you again for setting me up here.

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 8:30 pm (EST) Sep 11, 2009

Thanks, Nulla.
Whereas I just wait for my friends who are led from short stories to novels to clue me in on the next fabulous author!
P the LD

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 11:08 am (EST) May 29, 2009

Of course, be my guest... ;- )

inlägg gjort av AsYouKnow_Bob kl 10:57 pm (EST) May 25, 2009

I am so happy to hear this excellent news!

Downbelow Station would definitely be the next place to go in this world, cf. my previous comment May 13th. After that, it is debatable. Keep in mind that her books are not of a piece -- not all tales of inner psychological torment as in Cyteen, though that is a common theme. She is quite good with intricate politics.

The author herself is quite straightforward in her notion that she likes the idea of her books read as history, and like real history, one can jump in at any point and fill in gaps at another time. She is quite courteous to her readers in making her books self-contained despite existing in a wider universe. There is never pressure to read a particular next book.

As far as Alliance Space, it is a re-release of Merchanter's Luck and 40000 in Gehenna bound in one volume. Many feel that 40,000 is comparable in importance to Cyteen and DS in this universe; I'm not so sure. ML is a lovely but lighter story that I enjoyed a lot; it is one I might recommend to a non-SF reader.

The others in this universe can be read in any order; they include Rimrunners, Finity's End, Tripoint.

There are many others that are somewhat more distantly related to this universe (The Alliance/Union Universe) including the Faded Sun books, the Chanur novels, and numerous stand-alones.

Many enjoy the stand-alone Cuckoo's Egg. Her long and persistent Foreigner series is ongoing and very popular. The Morgaine novels are more fantasy-like and the first of these, Gate of Ivrel, was her first novel.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

inlägg gjort av stellarexplorer kl 10:31 pm (EST) May 25, 2009

Hi, thanks for the "Interesting Libraries" linkage.

inlägg gjort av AsYouKnow_Bob kl 9:53 pm (EST) May 24, 2009

I didn't actually see the dove, but I heard her clarion call.... and she was indeed LizzieD.

One thing that is great about Cherryh's writing is that while she presents very different perspectives in different books, and she is always fair to people and societies from their own point of view. The other foundational book in this world is Downbelow Station, which I would suggest reading next. Wonderful intricate politics well-handled, and a terrific female starship captain. In it, Union (the Cyteen folks) looks monstrous, as it is seen from Alliance eyes. Happy to discuss!

inlägg gjort av stellarexplorer kl 10:57 am (EST) May 13, 2009

By all means, give it to the local library! I would really like to see book 4. Courage for the end of school! Stay with Cyteen; now that I'm about 2/3 through it, I wish it were a lot longer.
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 5:40 pm (EST) Apr 23, 2009

All right. Here's the thing with me and Cyteen. I read 200 pages and it was quite O.K. I read 27 more pages and it suddenly clicked with me. I don't think that it's going on my all-time favorite list, but I'm really flipping pages eagerly. I'll keep you informed of more than you probably want to know.
Off to read!
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 4:44 pm (EST) Apr 17, 2009

Well, hooray for the USPS! I sent it in the envelope that it came in and then feared that it might totally disintegrate before it got to you.
Enjoy!
And a blessed Eastertide to you too.
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 7:12 pm (EST) Apr 12, 2009

Will do ----- although I'm pretty sure that we're supposed to see Simon as a deeply conflicted character who lives in his head so much that he can't see beyond his own overwhelming needs..... or maybe he's just a twit. It's hard to say. Her other characters are quite satisfying to me.
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 10:13 am (EST) Apr 9, 2009

About Cherryh.... I don't know. I just saw her showing up in a lot of interesting places and asked some people. I thought (I think because of the cover of the only book of hers I owned) that she just wrote fantasy. Not so. I can't recommend Cyteen yet. Several people, including stellarexplorer have said that it's the best of her excellent stuff. I'll let you know in a month or two.
Meanwhile, I'm busy not reading my #*$@^%()^!!! ARC. Why I can't read titles here, I can't tell you, but I just finished Susan Hill's Risk so that I could be ready for the 4th one that I thought I was getting from here..... I got Risk, so I'll be giving it away too. I should be able to get the review in fairly quickly.
Incipient senility? Lord forfend.
I hope that work is satisfying since it's consuming your time.
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 4:51 pm (EST) Apr 8, 2009

Hey there. I'm always glad to see you back here or there or anywhere. Tell me, have you read C.J. Cherryh? (I don't see any in your library.) I've just found Cyteen, and although I can't stick to reading anything much for wanting to play around here, I think I'm going to enjoy it...... Some of the same kind of political stuff as the Honorverse. I'm still waiting for the science. Anyhow, I'm happy that stellaexplorer and you have checked out each other's libraries. I thought I was a fairly serious reader, but I'm finding that it ain't necessarily so.
Peace,
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 10:52 am (EST) Apr 8, 2009

I've added you too -- I'm away 'til Friday, but then I plan to have a more thorough look!

inlägg gjort av stellarexplorer kl 9:41 am (EST) Apr 8, 2009

LizzieD sent me. Your library is very interesting, and I am astonished as well. I can count on one hand the number of libraries on whose weighted list of "Members With X's Books" mine appears!

inlägg gjort av stellarexplorer kl 12:44 am (EST) Apr 8, 2009

Thank you again!!!!!
I am enjoying except that real life inteferes way too much. Did I mention that retirement is WONDERFUL??? JOYOUS??? FULFILLING??? SYBARITIC???
Peggy

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 11:02 am (EST) Feb 25, 2009

It does grow. Is there such a thing as a benign cancer? I just listed the 14 books I've bought since Christmas. Good grief! (I bought *Spin Control* too, but haven't opened it yet.
Happy reading!

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 10:52 am (EST) Feb 2, 2009

I just added some of my Pelican art history books and came over to see whether you own them. I shouldn't (own them) because I don't use them as they deserve, or rather, I should give them to some art student who would cherish them. Can't do it yet. I don't think that I ever told you that the Lumbee Indians (who aren't recognized by the feds as a tribe although they keep working on it) used to get truck loads of remaindered Penguin press books. They would then stamp them "Not for Resale," cut a one inch strip off the front cover, and sell them for 50 cents a book to cover the handling and the rental of the place to keep them. It was wonderful! Most of my classics collection and all of the art books came from them. Alas, no more.
While I was here, I saw that you did find a copy of *After Long Silence,* which I haven't reread but really liked. I also liked the way Tepper turned the whole thing into *Grass.*
And I wonder whether you've read and liked *Spin State*?
Hope things are going well for you. Retirement remains idyllic.
Peggy/Lizzie

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 8:51 pm (EST) Feb 1, 2009

I'm blown away. I want to stay here most of the day, AND I'm not sure what sitting for 5 hours and then swimming 20 laps is doing to the old body.

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 11:24 pm (EST) Jan 9, 2009

Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!! Oh my goodness!!! Are you sure that you want to do that? I'm so in love with this place that I would be over the moon to have a life membership. Think, Nulla, think - and if it happens, thank you. And if it doesn't, thank you for the lovely thought!

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 3:17 pm (EST) Jan 8, 2009

--- and did I ever tell you that I was in college with Susie Newsome of *Bitter Blood* fame? (No reason that I should have.) Obviously, we were not more than acquaintances, and I remember her best when one of my real friends gently nudged her off her self-erected pedestal (or "pedal stool" according to an AP English student here in Lumpyton.)

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 12:23 pm (EST) Jan 8, 2009

--- and I can put my CD's on here too? Good grief! I may never get up again. Meanwhile, I've had fun browsing in your library. Gee. We really do have a lot in common. (Just wait until I get around to listing my Pelican art books!)

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 12:16 pm (EST) Jan 8, 2009

Oh. Here you are. It's too bad that I have a life now and can't spend all my time adding books, but I'm doing a fair job.

inlägg gjort av LizzieD kl 3:13 pm (EST) Jan 7, 2009