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Post by zoesam on Jan 21, 2015 19:50:25 GMT
I just finished Joe Perry's autobiography, Rocks: My Life In & Out of Aerosmith & it was excellent. Just enough fun stories, but without disrespecting others. It was a million times better than Steven Tyler's book & on par with Joey Kramer's, which was also excellent.
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Post by chapeaunoir on Jan 22, 2015 19:46:58 GMT
i'm reading 'the battle for god' by theologian karen armstrong.
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Shirley U Geste
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Post by Shirley U Geste on Jan 22, 2015 20:06:33 GMT
I just finished The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8 Lee.
It's a fascinating look at the history of Chinese food, immigration, culture and how they all intertwine.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2015 1:09:10 GMT
Haven't read it yet, but just picked up The Patriarch about Joe Kennedy/the Kennedys at Dollar Tree. They often have really good books there, if you've never thought to look.
I also recently read (also from there) Treasures from the Attic, which was about Anne Frank's family and very good - based on a huge stash of letters, photos, etc. they found in Otto's sister's attic after she passed. Started with Anne's grandparents or g-grandparents and went through to after the war, the publishing of the diary, etc. A bit heavy on her cousin's life/career b/c his wife was the one who helped go through and organize all the documentation, but still a pretty interesting read.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 3:54:08 GMT
Oh, and I'm currently reading Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (I guess I read more non-fiction then I thought). It's good, a bit different than the movie (I think in the movie she was single and fixing the house up by herself); kind of meandering, not a can't put it down kind of book (which may be a good thing, since I have no discipline and will read over doing other stuff I'm supposed to).
Before that I read Life is So Good about a man who was the grandson of slaves, grew up in Texas under Jim Crowe laws, lived to be 103 years old and through the entire 20th century and learned to read at 98. It was sort of Forest Gumpish - he played ball in the Negro leagues, traveled around the country, sometimes hopping boxcars, sometimes as a paying passenger before settling down and raising his family.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 4:00:00 GMT
... not a can't put it down kind of book (which may be a good thing, since I have no discipline and will read over doing other stuff I'm supposed to). I often read rather than sleep. I like to be snoozing by midnight at the latest but will read until 2 or 3 AM if the book is really good. Or if I'm not quite as close to finishing as I thought I was. Sometimes I have to have a second book to read at bed time. One that holds my interest but that I'm wiling to put down after a chapter or two and not gorge on it.
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Post by titus730 on Jan 31, 2015 23:00:48 GMT
I have no discipline and will read over doing other stuff I'm supposed to. My mother used to complain that it took me too long to do my Saturday chores because my nose was always in a book. Years later she confessed that she had been the same way when she was a girl.
I currently have three books on rotation: Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion. It's interesting but much of the information I've heard/read before.
Thoughts of Home: Reflections on families, houses, and homelands from the pages of House Beautiful magazine. This is a collection of essays from House Beautiful magazine. I've had this book for years and had read many of the essays in the magazine. This I read when I take a break from cleaning my bedroom.
THE WORST STREET IN LONDON. This is a history of Dorset Street in the east end of London. I've had an interest in Jack The Ripper for ages and this street was the setting of his last murder. I carry this in my handbag and read while waiting for appointments.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2015 0:07:20 GMT
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Post by deltas*delights on Feb 1, 2015 3:33:12 GMT
I'm doing a little light reading My goal for this year was the read the Bible cover to cover. I'm reading the Living Bible since it's easier to understand but still end up googling some things. I just finished Exodus tonight.
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Post by zoesam on Sept 7, 2015 17:44:19 GMT
I'm reading the DVF book that someone here recommended & I am really enjoying it, as a light fun read.
Diane von Furstenberg: A Life Unwrapped
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Post by chapeaunoir on Sept 9, 2015 3:41:04 GMT
... not a can't put it down kind of book (which may be a good thing, since I have no discipline and will read over doing other stuff I'm supposed to). I often read rather than sleep. I like to be snoozing by midnight at the latest but will read until 2 or 3 AM if the book is really good. Or if I'm not quite as close to finishing as I thought I was. Sometimes I have to have a second book to read at bed time. One that holds my interest but that I'm wiling to put down after a chapter or two and not gorge on it. LOL - I have books everywhere - a pile in each bathroom, a pile next to my reading chair downstairs, a pile next to the bed and two piles on the floor in front of my office/study closet. If we go anywhere and stay at a hotel, out comes about three books which get piled next to my side of the bed. I'm paranoid about running out of reading material, seriously. I've started selling piles of them on eBay just to thin the herd.
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Post by titus730 on Sept 10, 2015 10:53:25 GMT
For the CCLs I highly recommend Secrets of The Cat by Barbara Holland. I read it a few years ago, loved it, bought copies for fellow cat lovers and even lent out my copy. Which wasn't returned. So I bought a new copy.
Actually I highly recommend most of her books especially Endangered Pleasures: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2015 15:40:49 GMT
LOL - I have books everywhere - a pile in each bathroom, a pile next to my reading chair downstairs, a pile next to the bed and two piles on the floor in front of my office/study closet. If we go anywhere and stay at a hotel, out comes about three books which get piled next to my side of the bed. I'm paranoid about running out of reading material, seriously. I've started selling piles of them on eBay just to thin the herd. Same here. I go to the library once every 7-10 days, but I always have 6 books checked out. Even though with my responsibilities being as they usually are I only get through 1-2 a week at most. But just in case I find myself with a 36 hour day so I have extra time for reading, I need to be prepared. And I have my backups in addition to the library books. My paperbacks that I get at the paperback swap store. I like to have at least 10-12 of those on hand that I haven't read yet. I don't buy books anymore or keep books on hand that I've read. But if I don't have about 15 unread books in the house I don't feel like I have enough.
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Post by titus730 on Sept 18, 2015 20:50:21 GMT
Elly, are you a book hoarder? Do we need to do an intervention?
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Shirley U Geste
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Post by Shirley U Geste on Sept 18, 2015 22:06:49 GMT
Backing slowly out of the thread so nobody can see all the books stacked around my desk.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2015 22:10:11 GMT
Haven't read it yet, but just picked up The Patriarch about Joe Kennedy/the Kennedys at Dollar Tree. They often have really good books there, if you've never thought to look. I also recently read (also from there) Treasures from the Attic, which was about Anne Frank's family and very good - based on a huge stash of letters, photos, etc. they found in Otto's sister's attic after she passed. Started with Anne's grandparents or g-grandparents and went through to after the war, the publishing of the diary, etc. A bit heavy on her cousin's life/career b/c his wife was the one who helped go through and organize all the documentation, but still a pretty interesting read. Read the Patriarch a few months back and I do recommend it. He lived through and participated in some pretty interesting history and really was the driving force of that family.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2015 23:31:06 GMT
For some reason I'm as obsessed with getting rid of books as I am making sure I have enough. Once it's read, it's out of the house. Taken back to the library or recycled to friends/family/neighbors. Except for my paperback trades. But I don't buy paperbacks anymore, so the number stays about the same. Only the titles change.
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Post by chapeaunoir on Sept 19, 2015 23:15:24 GMT
LOL - I have books everywhere - a pile in each bathroom, a pile next to my reading chair downstairs, a pile next to the bed and two piles on the floor in front of my office/study closet. If we go anywhere and stay at a hotel, out comes about three books which get piled next to my side of the bed. I'm paranoid about running out of reading material, seriously. I've started selling piles of them on eBay just to thin the herd. Same here. I go to the library once every 7-10 days, but I always have 6 books checked out. Even though with my responsibilities being as they usually are I only get through 1-2 a week at most. But just in case I find myself with a 36 hour day so I have extra time for reading, I need to be prepared. And I have my backups in addition to the library books. My paperbacks that I get at the paperback swap store. I like to have at least 10-12 of those on hand that I haven't read yet. I don't buy books anymore or keep books on hand that I've read. But if I don't have about 15 unread books in the house I don't feel like I have enough. We have backup books for our backup books! Part of my hoard is that I'm a book collector. My study is full of books - built-in bookcases plus two huge cases and another smaller bookcase, plus two big piles by the door, but I can't get rid of them because they're all reference/texts and the like that I use a lot, or 18th century books that I have. Another two or three bookcases in the bedroom have a lot of paperbacks and the like, and I'm getting rid of those - some are so worn out and falling apart that I'm just recycling them - I keep thinking I'll give them one last read-through before they go. We also have a library - that's mostly Pat's books and all the walls save for where the tall windows are lined with bookcases - he reads no fiction that I know of save for the Brontes, Jane Austin and Dickens. He's a big Brontes fan. I'm the trashy/light fiction novel reader around here. His books are pretty much exclusively history - we're both history buffs but he's a history HAWG. The piles of software, computing and statistical texts are in his man cave/office/computer room. We keep saying "We need to thin the herd." So far I seem to be doing most of the thinning. I also chug through about 6 books for his every 1 book (he's a cinema buff so watches videos - I won't go into the DVD collection which is a whole 'nother matter) so I suppose I need to thin faster. I'm hopeless at the library - too absent-minded, and I've always been that way. When I was a kid once I ran up such a big library fine (for those days, and for an 11 year old) that after dad paid it I had to dig out the flower beds and do extra chores to pay him back - at a quarter an hour it was a lotta chores. He thought it might make me remember the next time, but it didn't. I ended up in chore-land again. Then in college once paid $40 in fines, which was painful.
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Post by atdahop on Sept 28, 2015 0:57:34 GMT
I found "In the Presidents Service" extremely interesting and enlightening. About the secret service agents who take care of the presidents and their families. Amazing how they view the different families.
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Post by zoesam on Sept 28, 2015 17:28:31 GMT
I found "In the Presidents Service" extremely interesting and enlightening. About the secret service agents who take care of the presidents and their families. Amazing how they view the different families.
I've read that book & bought it as a gift. I'm not that interested in politics, but it was a GREAT book, I loved it. A little gossipy, but made for a fun read.
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Post by chapeaunoir on Sept 28, 2015 23:47:21 GMT
Tip O'Neill's book "Man of the House" is fascinating for a look into the presidents of the man years Tip was in office. It sounds like it would be a great companion book for In The President's Service (it's not gossipy, though, given that it's Tip's own political experiences and his views on the administrations itself - he's a great story teller).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 1:46:16 GMT
Darn. I just did a board search and can't find the post, nor can I remember who it was that first posted about the Diane von Furstenberg Life Unwrapped book. I know several of us said that we picked it up and were reading it, but I wanted to find the first post about it. Whoever it was said that she was anxious for others to read it so she could discuss. Some nights I only read a page or two before I fall asleep, so it took me awhile, but I finally finished it.
Learned a lot about fashion and designers between the 70's and now and also learned to strongly dislike DVF.
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Post by zoesam on Sept 29, 2015 13:37:00 GMT
Darn. I just did a board search and can't find the post, nor can I remember who it was that first posted about the Diane von Furstenberg Life Unwrapped book. I know several of us said that we picked it up and were reading it, but I wanted to find the first post about it. Whoever it was said that she was anxious for others to read it so she could discuss. Some nights I only read a page or two before I fall asleep, so it took me awhile, but I finally finished it. Learned a lot about fashion and designers between the 70's and now and also learned to strongly dislike DVF. I don't remember who/where it was & don't have time to do a board search right now. Nor will I be around to discuss, but I am curious what you disliked? I didn't dislike her, I just remember thinking she became a success in spite of herself. She didn't really have much business acumen, at least not the way this book portrayed her. She also relied on men a lot, but a lot of women of her generation do that, so I won't hold that against her.
I did love the vivid descriptions of the 70s Studio 54 culture & I loved that she has & Egon had such a fluid sexuality & how wonderfully tolerant & understanding their kids turned out b/c of it. I love the unique marriage she has now, living in different houses. I can identify with it b/c of the 20+ years of travel that both DH & I did.
eta: while not a book, I recently did a little reading about Judith Leiber, after falling in love with the rock & roll rubber duckie purse that I posted. She had a fascinating life, that was touched greatly by the war. I hate reading or watching anything abt wars, it bores me senseless. This was the first time that it interested me, b/c it put into context the war's effect on a real person's life.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 17:09:56 GMT
Learned a lot about fashion and designers between the 70's and now and also learned to strongly dislike DVF.That's so disappointing! I watched a show she had on E! last year based on the the company's search for a brand spokesmodel type. I loved her on that. But I guess they didn't make a good pick (or the show was a big success), because I noticed while flipping channels the other night that they're doing a second season. She was bluntly honest when she gave the girls constructive criticism, but she was gentle about it (if that makes sense) and always let them know in what areas she felt they excelled. Even using that information to suggest alternate career paths where those skills might lead them to be more successful. That really made me like her. She seemed like she would be a boss who expected a lot, but is fair in her expectations and does what she can to help you succeed.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 20:11:16 GMT
DVF Spoiler Alert - Skip this post if you plan on reading the book.
Having three abortions because the timing of the pregnancies were inconvenient and living in a separate apartment above her two children and their nanny when they were small were just a couple of things that formed my opinion of her. Toward the end of the book, the biographer and Diane were leaving Diane's office and Diane's secretary told the biographer not to let her talk on the phone while she was driving. At some point before that, she'd had an accident while talking on the phone. Despite the warning, she picked up her phone and answered a call while she was driving back home with the author. Suffice it to say, my overall impression was that the only thing that truly matters to Diane is Diane. Not my kind of woman.
I had to laugh out loud at a passage at the end of the book where her son was critical of her ad campaign motto "Love is life is love is life". The story went on to say that Diane stands by the slogan "I believe in the circle of love. All the generosity and love you put out into the world over the decades comes back to you. I'm benefitting now from being nice my whole life," she says.
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Post by marsha91091 on Oct 2, 2015 2:20:14 GMT
DVF Spoiler Alert #2 - Skip this post if you plan on reading the book.
It was me who originally recommended that book. (I didn't even know there was a separate board where I should have posted.) I don't remember what I had said, but after reading the book my opinion of her really changed. I don't care about her having abortions, or how she raised (or didn't raise) her kids, it was about the business side. I had always heard she started from nothing and built the huge empire herself. I didn't realize she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She has always either been funded by family or bailed out by family. And I was surprised that there are many claims that she was actually not the creator of her wrap dress. Still..it was an interesting book.
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Post by marsha91091 on Oct 2, 2015 2:24:08 GMT
The next book I read and LOVED is The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman. I guess you could call it fiction based on a true story. I couldn't put it down...it was really beautifully written, and I recommend Googling it to see what its all about.
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Post by zoesam on Oct 4, 2015 17:39:30 GMT
DVF Spoiler Alert #2 - Skip this post if you plan on reading the book. It was me who originally recommended that book. (I didn't even know there was a separate board where I should have posted.) I don't remember what I had said, but after reading the book my opinion of her really changed. I don't care about her having abortions, or how she raised (or didn't raise) her kids, it was about the business side. I had always heard she started from nothing and built the huge empire herself. I didn't realize she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She has always either been funded by family or bailed out by family. And I was surprised that there are many claims that she was actually not the creator of her wrap dress. Still..it was an interesting book. I never gave a 2nd thought to abortions & nannies, pretty standard European stuff, esp. for women her age. IDK abt Western Europe, but in eastern Europe, abortions were common as birth control, as the pill was not readily available, but abortions could be gotten.
I didn't understand that she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth though I always knew she married a Prince when she was quite young. My understanding of her parents were more middle class & mother with an aspirational quality, probably related in ways to her Auschwitz survival. I always figured Egon's wealth was involved in her business startup, as well as his connections. That doesn't really bother me, as she's always run her own companies & many women of her generation rely on men to support them or have their men set them up with hobby businesses. She just seems to have chosen especially wealthy men :-) It's made me curious to read some other bios about her, as it seems like there are some pretty radically different POV's out there & also that she's rewrote history a few times. That's probably the thing I liked the least about her, is her seeming ease at re-writing her own history or portraying herself in not quite truthful ways at different times in her life.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2015 21:41:50 GMT
I'm reading a book called "Servants", by Lucy Lethbridge. It's a study of servants (duh) in England in the 20th century BUT it's got a fair bit about the late 1800s and at least half of it focusses on the very early 1900s. So Downton Abbey fans might like it to get an insight into the times. Reading it straight through would be a bore (for me) so I keep it in my handbag for waiting rooms etc. It's really clearly and logically written so reading it in a disjointed way isn't a problem, you can just take it up where you left off. And it quotes quite a few bits of stuff from actual servants of the time.
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Post by titus730 on Oct 13, 2015 22:02:20 GMT
I read something similar about 10 years ago Misspettigrew. What the Butler Saw: Two Hundred and Fifty Years of the Servant Problem by E.S. Turner. It wasn't boring to me at all.
I also read a funny memoir by Monica Dickens called One Pair of Hands. She was the great granddaughter of Charles Dickens. She was bored with her life as a debutante and decided to see what life was like below stairs.
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