If your care giving duties allow you time to read.....................I'm interested in what book you are in the middle of or just finished or have waiting on your bedside table.
I'm reading "Total Control" by David Baldacci
It's a crime/thriller drama. Quite compelling.
If you can't find the time to read, you should try. It helps to escape from it all in a good book.
You made my day! I haven’t met anyone else who had a pen pal like me. I absolutely loved having a pen pal. Yes, the gifts! He sent me silk bookmarks and photos of beautiful Japanese gardens which are lovely!
Just seeing the stamps made me smile. I wish I had kept those letters to show my kids. One day while decluttering I threw them out.
I tried to get my daughter to write to a pen pal. She selected a girl in Australia. They didn’t correspond long. I wrote faithfully for three years to my pen pal. We just clicked. My younger daughter didn’t even consider a pen pal. I think it would be seen as very old fashioned today. Maybe even dangerous in our modern society.
My gosh, my whole world was so different. I could walk or ride my bike, even take a city bus or streetcar and be safe. A child could never do that in New Orleans today!
He invited me to go ice skating in Japan. Like a foolish young girl I asked my mom if I could go. Of course she said no but I really wanted to go. I kind of had a crush on him.
Look at the women who wrote to the servicemen in WW11 and they fell in love and later married them. Sort of romantic really. Ahhhh, those days are gone and replaced with texting!
Oh, my pen pal, he had incredible writing skills with beautiful handwriting. Better than some of the American kids at my Catholic school! Hahaha 😂. and we had strict nuns as our teachers! They were actually good teachers but American kids don’t learn foreign languages as much as other children in far away countries.
My kids took French in junior high and high school. Their teacher was terrific! She was French Canadian. She was lovely. My daughters learned a lot in her class. They were only allowed to speak French. They couldn’t even ask to use the restroom or borrow a pencil in English. At the end of the year she held a French Cafe’ where parents were invited and we had to order in French. Hahaha 😂.
Some of the things in my school I loved. Other things were really hard for certain kids. We were two years ahead of the public school. If a child couldn’t keep up they were thrown out instead of helped. I think that is sad. I graduated from that school. My brothers were asked to leave and had to attend public school.
One of the girls in my class was a twin. She remained in our class. Her twin had to go to the public school. She said that her twin cried about it.
No one wants encyclopedias though!
The rehab/PC/hospice facility where Dad spent his last days has a fairly decent library. It wasn't unusual to see a guest relaxing in a comfortable chair while reading a magazine or book in the large lounges located throughout the building.
I've only seen libraries at one other rehab facility, an actual room full of books. A real library, quiet and peaceful.
Unfortunately, I think reading may become a lost art as people gravitate to texting and using letters to represent words. I wonder if those people work, and if so whether their jobs require any written communication. I would think there still are standards of communication in business.
NHWM, I loved pen pal mail! I don't remember when I started, but I know that when I took French I corresponded (en francais) with some French students, and later with a German woman who spoke 3 languages, including French and English. That was a very rewarding relationship, and I had a chance to practice writing in both French and German, and in turn, she had a chance to perfect her English (which was better than some native English speakers).
I also remember corresponding with Japanese students; that was sooo interesting and so rewarding. We exchanged small gifts; I know that somewhere I still have some lovely Japanese gifts. I do remember receiving a pair of the small Japanese clogs.
Unfortunately, I think abbreviated interaction through the written word is lessening, if not fading out. So many people think there are so many things to do in a day, and the relaxed environment of enjoying correspondence and preparing little gifts to exchange seems to be taking a back seat to sending texts, posting on social media, taking selfies, and less enlightening or educational activities.
Not to be maudlin, but I sometimes wonder if epitaphs in the future won't be so much of what someone accomplished, but of how many thousands if not millions of times people shared their selfies or texted. The focus is more on me, me, and me for so many people.
I often wonder if future generations will be able to write at all.
Fortunately though, there are still people who reach out to others and recognize that interaction is still a major facet and reward of the human life.
I was 12. I picked a 15 year old boy from Japan because I felt it would be interesting and it certainly was. We corresponded for three years.
He was a very traditional Japanese boy whose parents arranged a marriage for him when he turned 18.
So, when he turned 18 we had to stop writing each other. I learned so much about Japan. I spoke to him about America. It was a great experience for me.
Nowadays, kids would laugh at choosing a pen pal. Back then, the Sunday newspaper was loaded with children’s names and addresses to write to.
I read to my daughter’s classrooms every week. I loved it as much as they dad. The teacher really loved it because she could grade papers as I was reading to the kids.
2nd and Charles is a fantastic used book store. We stopped at this store in Birmingham, Al when we were in Alabama for a hurricane evacuation.
Books do get out of hand. We end up with a ton of books.
Our local libraries have annual book sales to raise money for new books. As some books age and are not as popular anymore, they reduce the number of copies on the shelves but they also accept outside donations. So it's one good way to provide your books with a good home and support the library at the same time. Between book sales, some of the libraries have started having a cart of used books for sale near the check out. Before the library, I used to donate to a used bookstore I liked too - there aren't too many of those around anymore.
Our main homeless shelter runs a thrift center for everything from clothes and toys to furniture and appliances that now accepts books; they particularly like to receive children's and young reader's books so I find myself picking up books in yard sales and dropping them off.
I’m enjoying getting to know that “Flowers” character especially because he always has his two burly sidekicks helping out.
Now with the new baby coming along, it should be good.
Did you know that he wrote and illustrated some children’s books?
charlotte
I shop at yard sales and thrift stores and get home and I’ve bought books I’ve already read! I try to keep a list on my phone of favorite authors and the names of books I haven’t read but I’m too lazy to look.
Sadly, the books did not sell well at all. I always planned to do a BOOK SALE and advertise so I could get readers only. I have enough for a small store, at least a good start.
So now I’m looking to donate them if I can find time. At least I have a car now. That will help a lot!
charlotte
I try to stay positive. Some days easier than others. You would remember if you had read sandford. He has some memorable characters.
I think the inclusion of co-authors shifted the focus of Cussler's books away from good quality writing, marine technology emphasis and limited physical entanglements, and deteriorated the enjoyment of his novels as a whole. Perhaps that's why the one I'm reading is so captivating. It includes not only basic historical research, with some speculation added in, but there's just as much focus on that as there is on beating up the bad guys.
I gave up on Patterson after reading some good novels. They deteriorated so much that I just lost interest. Same thing happened with the inheritors of the Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy rights.
Thought I've read Sandford but can't find any of his novels, so I guess I didn't. That's why I need to keep a spreadsheet on what I buy and a separate list of what I read, although I think it's time to combine them.
I used to love Victoria Holt and her various noms de plume novels.
Which Shakespearean literature are you reading? The plays? Sonnets? I'm partial to 12th Night. I took a Shakespeare class in college and learned so much; in some ways it's like reading a different language.
We had to read portions of Hamlet aloud; one of my classmates read Ophelia and played the part as she was made for it. She even kind of dissolved, literally sinking down and collapsing onto the desk as she read the famous mad scene.
You seem like a very adaptable and positive person, reading during dialysis and keeping such a positive outlook.
CharK, no hints at all about Karin Slaughter? Guess I'll have to make a trip to Barnes and Noble and check out her books!
Anyone ever read the Griffin and Sabine series by Nick Bantock?\
TreeArtist, sounds like your granddaughter is already "hooked on books". I've never read at a time; she must have quite an ability to focus and concentrate to read 5 books at a time.
Of all the stores I've been to throughout my life, there still is none to compare to Borders. Not only was it a store, but it transcended life and created an atmosphere of its own, separate from everything outside surrounding it. I so much miss it.
I do daily Bible readings, but it takes me, probably several years, to go through the entire Book, because I jump from the Old Testament to the New, and stop to read commentaries and history on what I read.
I read a lot too, though if I’m reading non-fiction, I will read several books at the same time.
The other day, at my daughter’s house, I happened to see my 6 year old granddaughter on her hands and knees in the living room with five books open and spread out across the floor. She was reading all five, one page at a time. I wonder where she got that from!! I took a photo that I wish I could post here. The funny thing is, that she has never seen me read several books at the same time, and I know her parents don’t do that. Genes!
Back in the 70’s/80’s I was that way with Victoria Holt/Jean Plaidy. I love the old Anya Seton novels. I read all the time. I always reread old Rosalind Pilcher novels in the summer.
Now that I’m on dialysis six times a week I’m tied to my chair for few hours and
reading keeps my mind off the treatments. Reading and knitting keep me still for that.
I keep a spreadsheet of what I read. My mother kept an alphabetical journal of everything she read. It was getting full when she died in 2016. She had started it after my dad and her mother both died in 1992. Her mother only read the Bible. She read it all the way thru every year. I took a class at church with my grandma when I was in high school to read the Bible thru one year. I made it thru, but barely. I only missed one Bible class that year. My grandma didn’t drive , nor did I. I walked with her to church every Tuesday evening. My boyfriend at the time would come pick us up and drive us home.
I actually am reading it again! As in, I finished it and started right back at the beginning. It is very exciting and riveting but I started it again because there’s too much I didn’t understand.
Sorry, but I’m not going to describe it as I don’t want to give anything away. Suffice to say, it’s about a grown daughter learning crazy stuff about her mother in an action setting.
It’s a real good read, the fault is mine for not understanding. I’ve been falling asleep as soon as I settle in and lose my place too often to keep track of the action.
Charlotte
And it addresses the mystery of whether Atlantis existed and presents a plausible theory for its disappearance.
In addition, it incorporates Cussler's knowledge of marine engineering and exploration. I'm beginning to want to go back to school again and learn more about the new technologies, including genetic engineering, which he addresses.
I could easily spend the rest of my life just reading and reading for hours on end
Pronker, are you pleased/enjoying The Goddess War trilogy? I read a fascinating semi nonfictional novel about the Minoan civilization several decades ago. If I can find it, I'd read it again.
I’m so used to reading ebooks, I find myself trying to swipe the paper page to make the font bigger. 🤦🏻♀️
A good, small village, British mystery. The narrator in the book is an 82 year old lady who is developing dementia and she’s typical of what we see so much in our elders, she has very muddled short term memory but good long term memory.
Reading the book was like being on the other side of dementia. She describes her confusion, her struggle to find a word, to recognize people. I saw my dad in this character. If he could describe what’s going on in his mind this would be accurate I think.
And besides the insight into dementia it’s a ripping good yarn.
CharK60, I haven't read anyone mention "The Life of Pi" in soooo many years. I think I may have it somewhere. Time for a trip back in time by visiting all the old book stashes.
The last book I read to my daughter was “The Life of Pi”
She was also 12.
Around age 10 I remember that we listened to the Harry Potter series on the way back and forth to school. We had a long ride and wouid really get into it. I got busted on listening ahead one day. Couldn’t get that tape back to the right spot. Ouch.
I love those memories.
Many, many times I finished her books after she fell asleep beside me. Watership Down, Charlie and the Chocolate factory, The Wizard of Oz, she didn’t like it much but I couldn’t put some of them down!
It is a crime drama and the third in a series. Kind of slow starting but it’s gotten very good.
I just finished “The 19th Christmas” by James Patterson whose books I may as well drink from a cup because I absorb them so quickly they fill my pores.