February 2012 - Book of the Month

Just a short note everyone.  The February BOM will be:


It is a long one but most of the review have been dramatic.  I purchased my copy on I-books since I will be traveling and will carry my iPad anyway.  We will have to figure out how Jim and I can share!

Have a great day and happy reading!

Barbara

One for the Money Sunday - two days remain!

Hi  Everyone,

Yes, it is the end of January already!  Time flies when you are having a good time and if you haven't read One for the Money yet, there is still time.  It should only take a day or two!   Get busy!

Since the last post I have read Saying Grace by Beth Gutcheon.  This is the problem with books:  ya never know what your are getting until you read it.  Supposedly a book about the 'fragility of happiness and the strength of convictions', according to the fly leaf.  Well, I really didn't care about the happiness of the characters and the convictions seemed more fragile to me. The Character development was weak and there were too many of them to 'bond' with.  The subject matter and theme should have been interesting to me but it wasn't.   I do have to admit that I began skimming much of the last half of the book just to get to the end.  Has anyone else read this author?  What is your opinion?  I know I have another of her books around here somewhere, I have begun it multiple times and now realize why I never finished it.

February Book of the Month to be announced in two days!  Just one comment about February. We are expecting lots of ski visitors in February and we will be traveling immediately after they leave.  If you don't get a post, don't be surprised.  You can still comment on the blog at anytime!

Have a wonderful week.
Barbara

One for the Money Monday!

I did it!  Yes, I picked a book by author Janet Evanovich that I have read before!  Darn!  I have ordered another on e-books so I can compare her writing style from 1994 ? to later on her career.  We'll talk about One for the Money in a little more than a week.  

Eileen, one of our followers sent me the following comments via email:

Barb,
I finished this month's book and thoroughly enjoyed it!  It was so funny - can't wait to see who is cast as the grandmother!  It was also a bit scary - I made sure all doors were locked last night before going to bed in case Ramirez came across the river!  It was certainly a wonderful change from the books I've been reading.  Thanks for choosing it!  Can't wait for the movie!

Have to admit although I watched A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott version) and had read it back in high school or junior high, I didn't read it this time.
I do think that the term Scrooge is used to describe people because the book is mainly about him as a "scrooge".  Yes, it ends with him opening his heart and wallet but most of it is about how tight and unfeeling he's been.  I didn't remember the part about his lost love and the love he had for his sister - both of which played a big part in his personality development as well as his horrible father.  Have to admit I felt badly for him.

Since I seem to be in the confession mode, I also didn't read Unbroken although I started it and want to read it but just haven't made the time.  Maybe now, after this last book,  I'll be able to get into it.

Keep up the good work picking good books.  I just read Amish Grace for LCR's book club.  That was very interesting!  I'm anxious to go to the meeting to hear what others think.
Jess, suggested a book about President Garfield (something about destiny).  Mother read it and found it very interesting and informative.  I need to read that one too.

Thank you Eileen for your comments.  

Right now I am reading Drama, An Actor's Education by John Lithgow.  He was an actor on 3rd Rock from the Sun, The World According to Garp, and recently Dexter.  For some reason I find him to be fascinating.  It could be that I ran in to him (just about literally) when we were in California.  

We were at a business event at a luxurious hotel and Jim was the host so by default I became the hostess.  Greeting people and helping them to feel welcome was 'part of the job'.  Most of the business guests we saw once a year so their faces were familiar and I tried to remember their names.  There I am walking down the hotel hallway and this tall man is walking toward me.  I just jump in and say: 'Hello, how are you, are you having a good time.  Nice to see you again, etc.'  

I didn't realize until he was gone that he wasn't part of our group and was a famous actor!  He acted very gracious.  That was quite a trip.  We also saw Diane Keaton and maybe other famous people that I didn't recognize.  

Anyway, I like Lithgow's book and recommend it to anyone who likes autobiographies.  It is far more interesting than Julie Andrews autobiography and I love her acting and voice also.

Hopefully in 8 days I'll have an idea what the BOM will be for February!  

Have a wonderful day and week.  

Until next time,

Barbara

A Christmas Carol - any comments?

Let's wrap up  A Christmas Carol.

Since this is the first Dickens book I have read I really feel like I accomplished something good.  A Tale of Two Cities was on my high school requirement list but alas - cliff notes were easier!
My favorite character is Mrs. Crachitt.  She tells it like it is and even though her husband works for old Scrooge, she doesn't want to wish him well.  I  can identify with that!  Forgiveness isn't easy for that woman!

I think that Scrooge had a real and lasting epiphany after-all, it is the right time of year for that.  As with any time we have a truly life changing experience the newness of it shines a spot light on the change but then as time goes by it becomes a part of our nature.  One thing I wonder is why in society today does being a 'Scrooge' have a negative connotation.   If Scrooge truly changed why do we only remember him being a stingy, tight fisted, miserly, SOB?  Why not a giving, gracious, generous gent?  UMMM?  Scary that these things roll around in my head!

My favorite movie version is the George C.Scott one.  I thought the Alistair Sim version strayed further from the wording of Dickens.  Someone mentioned that the Muppet version was good but I haven't seen that one.

So much for A Christmas Carol this year.

Has anyone started the book for January?  I have!

Have a great week.

Barbara

One for the Money

Book of the Month for January

The past BOM's have been very serious and  I am in the mood for something light and easy.  I've read only one of Janet Evanovich's books in the far distant past (probably this one but I hope not) and it was funny and amusing.   Her books usually take place in Trenton, NJ, right across the river from our previous home so it strikes a chord with me.  So, lets read it before the movie comes out at the end of the month.  Maybe we can all go to the movies to see it on the same night - kind of separate yet together!  Then we can compare the book with the movie!

Begin the Wrap on A CHRISTMAS CAROL!

HAPPY NEW YEAR READERS!


2012 began for us with our neighbors setting off fireworks.  It looks like Jim will have some competition on the 4th of July!  Love the fireworks!  


So, lets begin the wrap up of the Dickens classic: A Christmas Carol
I must admit that I still haven't finished the book.  I am reading it on my iPad and it seems to be taking me much longer than expected.  The second spirit  has my attention at the moment.  Does any one else think that Dickens goes on and on with description?  My thought is that James Michener got his style from Dickens.  It makes for wonderful movies but not my preferred reading style.  


I found this via the Guardian today by writer John Mullan:

When Dickens's biographer Claire Tomalin came to the Guardian Book Club to discuss A Christmas Carol, it seemed inevitable that we would begin with its author's influence on Christmas as we now know it. His story has, as one member of the audience observed, become an endlessly revisited myth, from the early dramatisations that soon followed its publication, to the various film versions. Its peculiar mixture of horror and comedy seemed to accommodate adaptations – even the Muppet version was not thought a travesty. One reader advocated Scrooged, the 1988 imitation in which Bill Murray is a sour TV executive who, in the course of a broadcast of A Christmas Carol, is himself visited by three spirits who convert him to benevolence and the joys of Christmas. Tomalin thought that Dickens, ever the populist, would have relished the proliferation of film and TV versions.

Another questioner wondered about Scrooge's complete change of heart at the end of the story, and whether his creator had ever experienced such a transformation in his own sentiments. Tomalin pointed out that Scrooge's transformation begins very early in the tale, set in motion by his painful compassion for his younger self. But this was a book whose author "set himself up to be an exceptionally good man", even if his feelings about himself would later change. A Christmas Carol was the work of a morally confident writer.

You can check out the entire article if you want at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/30/book-club-christmas-carol-dickens?newsfeed=true


Some questions you can ponder:
Why did Dickens call this book A Christmas Carol?  
What character is your favorite and of course why?
Do you think Scrooge was changed still by the beginning of the New Year?
Can you believe that  Bob Crachitt and Fred refuse to speak against Scrooge?  Is that normal?  Do you think you could remain as loyal or unjaded in the face of cruelty and hardheartedness?  (didn't realize that was a word - will save that one for WWF!)
I already mentioned 3 movie versions of the book - have you watched any this Christmas season and do you have a favorite?  


Please share your responses even if you too haven't yet finished the book.  The new book will be announced very soon in a separate post.


Happy New Year to all and may 2012 bring you many blessings, books and beautiful experiences!


With best regards,
Barbara