Books I am involved in at the moment:
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Bleak House
Seven Pauline Letter by Peter Ellis
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (purchased and started before Oprah picked it)
God, Evil, and Innocent Suffering by John Thiel

I am really enjoying the Sawtelle book. The child is portrayed so well and is a very believable character.

Bleak House needed some review as I has set it aside, and I made the mistake of picking up one of the Cliff's notes type things that my husband had with his teaching stuff...mistake! It doesn't just review each chapter, but each is chock full of spoilers! Bah Humbug!

The Bryson is my carry along book because it is so episodic that each section stands well alone and it can be interrupted. Best of all, is that the 50's were my childhood...my hometown downtown/business area came readily to mind with his description of his. I called my mother and we reminisced about the departmenet stores, especially some of their Christmas decorations and traditions.

And that brings up the cause of my reading malaise. My mother is ill and is in hospice...so my mind doesn't always track and concentrate well. Paragraphs need to be reread and reread. But our last good conversation was about the Bryson book and memories of hometown, state fair, etc.

The two theological books are ongoing projects...read and then mulled over. Also rather therapeutic at this time. It keeps the mind busy, but can be done in small spurts.

Im here Deborah. I was wondering about the lack of posts myslef. Most often I check this site every day, and post an answer whenever there happens to be a thread on a book ive read. And Ive looked back several times over the past few days to see if anyone has responded to my post on your Room With a View thread.
Im going to be reading The Great Gatsby in a day or so. Ive never read it before, but I really liked Fitzgeralds short stories.
-veronicae, Bleak House is my favorite Dickens. I bet the spoilers would take alot of the fun out of it. Thats why I never read the introduction (usually given by some literature expert) to a Classic first.
Come back everyone! There are still plenty of books to discuss!
CMK

I think Bleak is one Dickens I haven't read- I'll have to check it out.

Sorry to hear about your mother Veronica. I hope she isn't suffering too much. Do you find it difficult to keep all those books straight in your mind? I used to read several books simultaneously but I just can't do it anymore. I have to stick with one at a time.

I am still reading Sarum and enjoying it. I noticed that Rutherford isn't big on dialogue and conversation, more like a story teller and I like it that way. One of the things that keeps me from writing my own stuff is that I hate the dialogue I come up with, it sounds so corny so maybe I should try the story teller approach.

I prefer to read the introductions at the end, then I can make my own opinion.

It may be slow here due to the end of gardening season, at least in my neck of the woods. I've been busy planting mums, clearing garden debris, figuring out where the bulbs will go and generally getting things ship-shape for next year. I've also been completely pulled into the newest Nora Roberts, Tribute. Usually I only read at bedtime, but I've been reading instead of getting on the computer for the past couple of days.

As the economy here in the US has slowed down, so has my husband's work - he is a plumber. I have been taking extra hours at my job to cover the drop in income (health care - no drop in business there, yet...)so the time available to enjoy the computer has been on the decline. Maybe others are in the same situation?

BTW, has anyone else noticed a change in the appearance of the pages of the individual threads? It seems to me that the text in blue (used to display our names and a few other things) is kept very faded and light until I log in. Once I have logged in, the blue color resumes the depth and brightness that I have considered normal over the years. Is this happening to every RPer? Might this be a security upgrade?

I have noticed that there is already pinch in the economy of some of my friends and acquaintances, too, unfortunately, I hope this is merely the tip of the ice burg but
I fear that it is not.

Yes, I have noticed the lightness and I have to click on someone, anyone's, name to get them to be legible and dark. I find it kind of annoying actually.

Preoccupied with the economy and the political scene (my husband works for Congress so it's never far from my mind). I am reading The Welsh Girl, and have The Power of One and Wolf Totem waiting in the wings.

I haven't noticed the problem with the appearance of the pages, but I continue to be annoyed by the inadequacy of the search engine here. Many times I want to look up a particular book; I find it hard to believe it has never been mentioned and am reluctant to raise a topic already discussed...

kkay - go ahead and bring up any book you like. There are some contibutors here who are excellent at finding the old threads...some, I believe, have them archived. No one minds repetition. Also, there are always new people. And old people who like to be reminded of something they meant to read.

I noticed that traffic dropped off over the summer. Let's hope it picks back up again now that everyone is back to their normal routines.

Rosefolly

I have been coming here less and less lately. I'm finally ready to admit that this board may not be for me.

I'm used to message boards that have a readily accessible member list and an easy way to find all (or most) of the previous posts by a given member. If this board has either of these features, I haven't found it.

For a long time I thought it wouldn't matter, but now I wonder if the lack of those features may be one reason I never feel as if I "know" anybody here even well enough to post a reply in a thread.

Obviously others find this situation to their liking, and I'm probably just odd.

I have to admit, I rarely pay attention to who posts which message. If I respond to one, then I check to make sure I have the name right. In the past we have had threads to inroduce ourselves...do we have enough newer people that we need to do this?

I may just not be part of the computer age. I still think of people who post on boards as human beings, who have definite styles and opinions, and whose attitudes may vary from time to time. I like to read back over a poster's previous posts, especially the ones when the person first joined the board, to get an idea of what kind of person this is whom I'm thinking of replying to.

I find I'm less apt to hurt somebody's feelings that way. I find it hard to reply to a disembodied comment that just sits there on the screen, with no human being behind it that I know of.

I'm still present but my laptop is not too good! My home-visiting computer guy is sick too, so I can get on the net only when the wind is in the right direction or something!
I am reading my way through Catherine Aird's Detective Inspector Sloan murder mystery series at present also Jill Paton Walsh's Imogen Quy ones. Interspersed with light humorous novels from the "Oddments" section in my local library.
Spring is battling to get through late winter storms here, so, although I have planted a New Zealand Christmas tree, (Metrosideros excelsa) which I thought was a bush (but my daughter says can grow to a great height, oops!) I am not planting anything else yet.
I don't think we have had repercussions from the US financial problems here in Australia yet but we have had a program on TV about how to act in a recession. It mainly advised on cutting back on spending but how does that help the commercial sector, I should like to know? Won't shop staff be put out of work by this?

annpan-those are two of my favorite series.
I have been sub-teaching 3 or 4 days a week since school started-much quicker off the mark at the beginning of the year than normal. Lots of meetings about test scores and new technology, not so much sick teachers...although one has a child requiring surgery. With the economy being so scary (we stopped checking our retirement accounts and just tell ourselves we have at least 10 years for the recovery......)and a daughter getting married next year, the extra days have been great-but work and wedding planning do cut into my reading and computer time.

I'm still around, busy with work and the kids being back in school (troubled school system = stressful year; we're stuck with our property and unable to move to a better school district as long as the economy remains like this). I'm feeling buried alive in bureaucracy between those two things, in fact, but I'm still reading, but haven't as much time for it and often feel too mentally drained to compose any thoughts on what I'm reading. Sometimes I think I enjoy my books more when I'm not researching opinions so much. I've taken a step back from doing that so I can preserve the integrity of my own opinions. Makes for a healthier state of mind (for me, at least).

I like to read athe posts first without seeing who they are from...to avoid biases based on previous books or posts. I would have missed a lot of good books if I had thought...oh, that's so and so...I never like the books he reads. As I said, then I go back and see who posted. I talk about some of the people here, by name, to my husband all the time! (martin said...) I just don't have a great memory for names...in reality or on the internet.

I've just started coming back after an extended "vacation" through the summer and 1st six weeks of school. I read a lot over the summer, but hadn't much felt like getting on the internet. Once school started back up, I was focused on getting to know these kids, etc.

I haven't really posted since I've been coming back for about a week now, but I have been reading through missed posts. I was lucky enough to come upon one about the book "Garden Spells," which was in my TBR pile. The reviews here inspired me to read it, and I am very glad I did. Loved the book...the only trouble is that it is hard to get into another book after that one. I am now reading a mystery and finally have my mind wrapped up in this book.

As one poster wrote, I am also very preoccupied with the fate of the US economy and the political scene. I spend time at the Gardenweb forum called Hot Topics, where these issues are discussed in depth. I've learned a lot there.

Jwttrans, I think if you posted and checked Readers Paradise for several years, you would find revealed some of the unique interests and personalities of the long time posters. Such has been the case for myself.

Recently, I am doing a lot of re-reading of old favorites because I can't always find the newer books I want at our libraries. (Have had to make myself stop buying books).

I've been going through a horrible reading slump lately, hence why I haven't been posting or even lurking on my book-related message boards. I *think* the slump is maybe coming to an end, as I actually sat and read for almost two hours straight this morning. It's the first time in about a month I've been able to hold my attention that long on reading!

Kelly

woodnymph, thank you for your reply. I don't know what leads you to think that I haven't been reading posts here for very long. I joined this board in June 2004 and have been reading in here regularly and posting sometimes. I can't say I've read every post but I've read quite a number.

I was just giving my opinion of the way this board works--not well for me, given my experience with so many other message boards that do have easy access to the member lists and to each member's posts, searchable on an individual basis.

Although I can see that this board's format won't ever change, I was offering my reply in this thread about why some people don't post.

I'm here, reading and posting, although I don't feel I have much depth or insight to offer. I just like to be told stories, but I do enjoy reading others' opinions and especially recommendations for books they really like.

I miss Frieda's and Martin's posts.

I have a bit of trouble with the forum. Frequently I will click on a topic and I end up with a blank page. I have to close my browser and start over. A minor annoyance, but time is very valuable and if something on the computer becomes tedious, I tend to avoid it. I suspect this has something to do with my pop-up blocker. I only have this problem here, however.

Yes, this format is a bit different than other forums. I think it is a good basic style, but the lack of more advanced functions can be off-putting. I guess I have become used to it over the years.

I have been reading like crazy and also watching a lot of films, mostly foreign and independent. I just don't have a whole lot of insights to share. I get such great ideas from this site, I wish I could contribute more.

I have been reading a lot, but my work load suddenly jumped to ludicrous levels and I just didn't have the time or energy to check posts at the end of the day. (Usually, I check them throughout the day when I am not so busy.)

But I am back now and will be posting more often.

Hope others will as well.

Carolyn_ky,
Yes, actually I was thinking about Frieda yesterday; wondering if she were okay. I have seen Martin post in the last little while, but not Frieda. I enjoy her sometimes "tongue in cheek" posts. I do read most posts here, but I keep an eye out for friedag, and then pay special attention.

Summer has been taken up by "grandson", and it has been great fun. I imagine the reading season is pretty much here; I found myself reading an ebook last week, much to my suprise.

Regards,
Bob

As Martin works for a US bank in its London arm, I imagine that he has been fairly involved with other things. I hope all is well with him and he will be back to us soon.

Nice to be missed! Yes, I'm fine - as you say, my mind's just been on other things a bit. I still have a job - which in this business is something to be thankful for.

Martin, glad it wasn't you shown on TV the other evening playing the mouth organ on Hungerford Bridge and collecting small change in your bowler hat.
NB. I take a close interest in the goings-on of M's company in the 'Alex' Telegraph's cartoon strip, where his place of work is thinly disguised as the US giant Megabank, ruled by the American workaholic executive Cyrus. ;-) ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Alex

When I posted three weeks ago, I said that in Australia we did not seem to be affected by the crisis but this has changed. Now, to encourage spending, some groups of low income earners and pensioners have been promised money in December and asked to use it! This is what I thought should be done in my post! My concern, what should I spend my bonus (which is about a month's normal income) on to do the most good? I've already bought most of my Christmas gifts in the July sales!
Martin, as a banker,your thoughts on this please?

Where is Netla of Iceland? I always enjoyed her postings here.

I haven't really noticed much of a change in what people have been spending their money on (friends at least), but one thing I have noticed is that we don't eat out so often.
Lots more cooking now.

I have just got out of hospital where I was for five days. People tend to assume that you have lots of time to sleep and read when you're in a place like that, but it aint' true folks. I found that it was easier to sleep during the day than during the night when they seem to save all the tests for then. Don't understand it, but there you go.

As for reading, I was on a 24/7 morphine pump so I was pretty loopy for most of the time. I didn't read a thing which is a shame as it would have been a good bed to read it in - electronic backrest, elevated foot rest, good light and plenty of time. Oh well. Maybe next time!

lemonhead, I know what you mean about lack of sleep in the hospital, as I was there for 5 days in June. It's the last place to get any decent rest. I was woken up every few hours during the night to have various things checked by the nurses. It was such a relief to get home and have peace and quiet.

Another missing person: where in Jankin? She never did report back to us about whether she liked the writing of W.G. Sebald.....

A note to tuck away for the next time you're hospitalized (hopefully not any time soon or maybe never) - you can request to not be disturbed during the night for routine checks. You may be asked to sign a release or something as acknowledgement. You might not normally like sleep meds, but under the circumstances you might ask your doctor for something while you are in the hospital environment.

All this depends on your condition, of course. If you are critically ill and/or in an ICU, this wouldn't be a good idea.

ColorMeConfused hasn't been around in a while either. Oh, CMC, come out and play with us...

Missing RPers -- Come out, come out, wherever you are!

We miss you!