[luvnit]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac

Congrats, Oshunluva on reaching the Veteran Member level.

I never paid any attention to the number of posts anyone made until someone brought it up recently.

Originally Posted by Taltarzac

Anyone read a book that you would like to see others reading? I just finished reading No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. http://www.metacritic.com/books/auth...untryforoldmen

The title is really ironic for the Villages :joke:.

I want to see the movie No Country for Old Men http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/ too but seeing the movie first and then reading the book often spoils the book; whereas, I rarely find that reading the book first, spoils then going to see the film.

While seeing the movie August Rush at the Rialto this afternoon, I noticed that they had out a sheet of paper telling moviegoers that No Country for Old Men will be opening at the Rialto on December 21, 2007. That's great. Now I will not have to go to Orlando, Ocala or perhaps even Tampa to see it. :bigthumbsup:

[nhsnowbird]

I love to read and while I was working, I belonged to several book clubs. Trying to give away or "sell" about 20 years of books is not an easy task. Now that I am retired, I found the library. My favorites for this year are The Alchemist, Pillars of the Earth (an old one by Ken Follett) and Kite Runner. Hopefully, TV library will have a copy of World without End.

The grocery stores here in NH have just begun to recycle books ... used paperbacks for $1 and hardbacks for $2. Anything like that in TV?

[tony]

bump

[chelsea24]

I'm reading The New Earth, it's not for everyone, but completely fascinating.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by chelsea24

I'm reading The New Earth, it's not for everyone, but completely fascinating.

I just bought it but I have not started it. The writer has been around for quite awhile I think. Is the book about the mind/body connection? (It's right here beside me. I guess I should just read it.)

Are you a part of the class that Oprah was talking about having?

I just started The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes by Lauren Kessler. Pancho Barnes was a barnstormer, a racer, and a stunt pilot. She flew the fastest civilian airplane in the world. She hung out with Howard Hughes and Chuck Yeager, along with lots of other flyboy buddies. She ran the wild and rowdy desert bar and grill known as "The Happy Bottom Riding Club" which was featured in The Right Stuff. I am not very far into the book, but it has completely grabbed me.

[chelsea24]

Hi Boomer, yes I was part of Oprah's class, but too many people on and got cut off half way through. However, she did issue an apology and posted a download.

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

I am a voracious reader and complete at a minimum a book a week, sometimes two or three. I usually pick an author and then if I like them, read everything they wrote. Is there a book exchange club here? I got boxes and boxes I would like to trade. My favorite authors are Ken Follett, Wilbur Smith, James Clavell, James Patterson, Lawrence Sanders, Phillip Mongolian, Steve Martini, Nelson Demille, Grisham, Cleve Cussler, and many others. I also like Tolkien, King, and many others. Big savings opportunity for all us avid readers.

There are a few used book stores in the area (is that a used store that sells books or a store that sells used books?) I'm not wild about the one next to Spanish Springs but the one further south on 27/441 across from Water Oaks is pretty good. Like you, I find a new author I like, I'll go back and try to read their entire catalogue in sequence. I've found some jewels at used book stores and while in the DC area, at dead people sales. Found Anne George that way and thought her hilarious -- twas a pity she died. I'm a big "comfortable mystery" fan ranging from Sayers and Christie to Anne Perry, MC Beaton, Evanovich, and Jack Higgins. Also love the early guys like Gardner, Hammett, and derr Biggers. I've likely got about 500-600 paperbacks, some read, some not yet gotten to. I cannot pass a used book store. I'd love to own one on one of the squares, but who could afford the rent -- maybe after the lottery. Oh, I started Dust by Martha Grimes last night. Looks typically good.

If you passed a school that said Dale Earnhardt Junior High School, would it be a Junior High named for Dale or a High School named for Junior?

[DAH288]

My latest reads reflect my poli sci degrees (Indiana & Ball State universities) as well as a career of teaching world history. I hope that it's not too academic.

My favorite history book of the year is God & Gold by Walter Russell Mead. The author does a wonderfully entertaining job of tying together the development of the British Empire, the United States, and globalization. (I really enjoy his use of Alice In Wonderland analogies.) Mead stresses the continuities of Anglo-American history and explains why the Brits and the Americans have dominated much of world history for the last 300 years. His big-picture or global point of view explains both the strengths and weaknesses of America's position in the modern world as well as any writer I have followed. He counters some of the arguments made by one of my other favorite historians, Niall Ferguson. I would love to hear the two of them debate!

I also have enjoyed America's Three Regimes by Morton Keller. It's a new perspective that divides the United States' political history into three time periods instead of the traditional method that focuses on short periods such as decades. He identifies the Deferential-Republican regime of the colonial and early 19th Century followed by the Party-Democratic regime from the 1820's to the 1930's. He calls the current political system a Populist-Bureaucratic regime. I was impressed by his research and the way that he constructed his argument. This books makes it a lot easier to understand how the American political system evolved and how it operates today.

I'm currently reading The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis. So far, it's been an interesting analysis of events that all of us Baby Boomers know from our own experiences. The author's historical perspective does not always match that viewpoint that we or even American leaders had during the Cold War. However, newly released Soviet and American sources provide some surprising information that only a few insiders knew at the time. I gained a new understanding of several Cold War events after reading his analysis of the ways that the weaker non-aligned countries as well as weaker Soviet and American allies manipulated the two super powers. He also explains the conflict between America's democratic ideals and the quest for national security in a way that explains past events and relates to current events. If I wasn't retiring, this book would become part of my Advanced Placement World History Class.

Are the any other history buffs out there?

[beady]

Just finished World Without End. Just as good as Pillars of he Earth.*****Five Stars for both! First time reading Ken Follett, guess I am going to have read some more of his stuff.

A friend just reread Grapes of Wrath and is urging me to do the same. I have always said I'd like to revisit some of "required" reading I experienced in high school and college. Hoping maybe to enjoy them more this time.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by beady

A friend just reread Grapes of Wrath and is urging me to do the same. I have always said I'd like to revisit some of "required" reading I experienced in high school and college. Hoping maybe to enjoy them more this time.

Beady,

Your comment about high school reading just gave me a flashback.

When I was a senior in high school, a very long time ago, the librarian came into our class to survey us about our favorite books. When I told her that mine were Forever Amber and East of Eden, she looked at me over the top of her librarian glasses and said, "My deah, you certainly like spicy literature, don't you."

The snow is flying here today, so I think I will finish up on the Pancho Barnes bio I mentioned above, and then I will search our shelves for an oldie but goodie.

Thanks.

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by beady

A friend just reread Grapes of Wrath and is urging me to do the same. I have always said I'd like to revisit some of "required" reading I experienced in high school and college. Hoping maybe to enjoy them more this time.

I've got a lot of Cliff Notes, if you need them.

[cabo35]

Its not a new book but, "A Land Remembered" by Patrick D. Smith is a great read especially if you are a Villager. It is an historical novel that tells the story of three generations of Floridians starting in the mid-1800's. Great character development and lots of action right here in Central Florida. You can relate to much of the geographic descriptions of Old Florida because vestiges of it still surround us. It hard to put down when you start it.

[TallerTrees]

Originally Posted by Talk Host

This may not appeal to everyone, but I am finding it fascinating. "The Reagan Diaries" It is like having the ability to read a persons mind.

Yes, I have Reagan Diaries. Got a copy at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. What a great place that is to visit.

I also was fascinated by the Diaries. What a guy Reagan was. Wish we had another.

[TallerTrees]

The Mascot by Mark Kurzem
Deadheat by Joel C. Rosenberg
Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn

There are all great reads. The Mascot is a true story.