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Yoda,

Fascinating topic. Mayhem and triumphs throughout history, right? Every generation has it’s challenges and achievements.
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I'm reading a book about the church leaders in eastern Europe who came after the Apostles and eventually pulled together what is called the Eastern Orthodox Church. My minor in college was history. I love reading history.
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Cwillie Mom and I also read the Plum books,,but they are sort of dragging now. I love MC Beaton, and her Hamish MAcbeth and Agatha Raison books.. Our library is closing for the next 2 weeks,, and we read a lot. I can read on my Kindle but mom its harder for . So luckily we have 2 boxes that my Aunt and moms hairdresser gave us.. so she should be OK I Also love Cussler, and any action books like that
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I blew through the first dozen or so Stephanie Plum books a few years ago but I haven't read any of the newest ones. Like in a lot of long running series I think the author ran out of ideas but kept on churning them out anyway, I thought they kind of lost their charm and got repetitive. It's not easy to find laugh out loud books, maybe I should check them out?
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I keep up with a couple of series, have to mention John Sanford again cuz I’ve had a crush on Lucas Davenport for years, we’re growing old together, and I like Virgil Flowers too.

I read the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evonovich, they are light and fun to read. She has a senior grandmother that is a real hoot. My mom and I would both crack up at some of their misadventures.

Grandma’s favorite pastime is going to all and assorted funerals, no matter who’s it is, she packs a gun in her patent leather purse and often finds a New “honey” at the bingo hall. As the stories are located in Trenton New Jersey her “honeys” are often old mafia soldiers.

Stephanie Plum is a bail bond officer that bumbles around until she catches her offenders to pay the rent.

I also like J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series. J.D. Robb is Nora Roberts but these are not romances. They are set in New York in 2060 and the main character is a police lieutenant named Eve Dallas who can kick ass literally. Besides the plot being exciting it’s fun to imagine the future world she writes about. The world has survived the “urban wars” and there are many new laws to protect equal rights for everybody. Licensed career moms get a salary as well as licensed prostitutes have protection laws. Police are only armed with stun guns and real guns can only be found in museums. Cars can drive above the ground to get around traffic jams, Pepsi is sold in tubes but real coffee is hard to find unless you’re very rich.

I also like the Jack Reacher series but I’ve already rambled on too long...

charlotte
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Other than gardening, I plan to spend my self quarantined time reading...and reading...and reading even more.    I'm actually looking forward to this opportunity.

Finished another Cussler novel and am back to Adm. McRaven's second book of memoirs.    He provides valuable insight into how he and other leaders think, how they plan operations, address and plan for a variety of alternatives.   

I'm just in awe of the precision of his planning and execution of special ops.  After I finish this reading, I'll reread it again for study purposes.  

Fixed a broken bookshelf the other day and found dozens of books I read but had forgotten about.   I almost wish it was still winter and not gardening season b/c I'm in a mood to read.
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GA,

I still love Old Man and the Sea. Read it many years ago in school. Hemingway is awesome.
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CWillie, yes I did, for a college English course.    I also read Hemingway's Farewell to Arms and I think the rest of his novels, against for a English course.
I also read one of Solzhenitsyn novels, but found it difficult to read. 

Now they're vaguely coming back to me and I'm rethinking the desire to read more on those horrors.    One of my relatives disappeared decades ago in Russia.   

I think maybe I need to focus on something more positive.


Golden, I've never heard of Bookhub; sounds like something to check out.

I've found that I'm still hooked to the attraction of a book store.  It's like a candy shop for me.    There are so many categories, so many books...I lose myself in a book store and come out refreshed and rejuvenated.  

I'll never forget the attraction and comforting atmosphere of the largest Borders store in my area.   It was 2 stories, with about 1/2 of the second story dedicated to CDs.   I could wander for hours and never be tired of exploring what was available, and I found some really interesting music, especially Pilgrim and Renaissance music.  

I think I've probably written this sometime before, but since I can't remember for sure I can plead old age and write about it again.    One day I was wandering around the CD section of Borders when a young man began playing a classical piece...I don't remember if it was a concerto, or piano only score for some other classical composition.

He played it on the baby grand on the first floor; the music reached the upper floor so clearly.    I recall that several other patrons stopped, walked to the rail and just watched, mesmerized, as he finished his concert.  

It was one of those events that "takes you out of yourself".  For a moment I was transported out of Borders and into the Ford Auditorium listening to a concert pianist.   

That memory of Borders and the emotional and mental stimulation that permeated every store will never leave me.    Of all the stores that have closed, Borders and Hudson's took the most memories, atmosphere, relaxation, and basic value of purpose with them.
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Has anyone tried bookbub? It's free to join and offers a selection of books at free or at very low prices. Of course if you want to read a series you will pay for the rest of the books.
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Surely you read All Quiet on the Western Front somewhere along the way GA...
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I don't recall reading any WWI books, but am interested and am glad others here are sharing their thoughts.

Had a surprise when I came home the other day.  Three shelves on one of my smaller bookcases had collapsed and spilled the books on the floor, blocking passage from the kitchen to the dining room.  Everything from Tom Clancy to Vince Flynn was on the floor.

I just gathered them up and put them aside.   I still haven't figured out what happened to the bookcase, although I suspect I overloaded the shelves.  

Oh, well, lessons learned.   I'll add some unbreakable knick knacks to the shelves to lighten the weight in case they protest and collapse again.
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Oooh - those look good. I love mysteries set in that time period My dd has recommended to me Maisie Dobbs, World War I battlefield nurse in Jacqueline Winspear’s novels. I much prefer to read book series in the order they were written.
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I like those Ian Rutledge books too, and the Bess Crawford ones as well.
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Read a few "Ian Rutledge" mysteries by Charles Todd in the last few days: Set in 1910-1920 England they're mysteries solved by exploring human nature. Unfortunately I cannot read the series in order because there's all kinds of wait times on the library holds. So I'm reading them in the order they become available.
No Shred of Evidence
A Long Shadow
A Cold Treachery
Watchers of Time
Cold Comfort
A Fearsome Doubt
The Black Ascot
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I've read some read Tony Hillerman novels, I didn't realize his daughter Anne was writing in the same genre - interesting.
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Cwillie, I just read the latest Ann Hillerman novel, the Tale teller. Also set in the reservations areas, with native American police,, I love them. I think she took over when tony hillerman passed ( at least I think he did) and she does a great job.
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Tonight I'll be starting book #19 in the Joe Picket series - Wyoming game warden and reluctant crime fighter - by C.J. Box.
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Jessie Mihalik. She has 2 ongoing series. I'm currently on The Consortium Rebellion series Book 2- Aurora Blazing. Sci-fi kick*ss female main characters. Book 2 is her sister's story (I'm on the 1st chapter and a bit disappointed it's a different female mc.) I ended up buying a used paperback book since it was less than half the cost of the ebook ($11.99).

I love that I'm able to use my handmade recycled material bookcover (with islander patches in front - coconut tree and a gecko, and hand sewn leftover material bookmarker)... I'm using detachable bookmarker in which I stapled on top 2 individual colorful paper bookmarkers (freebies) back to back (pictures facing outward). On my favorite side, I slightly trimmed the bottom marker to make it shorter than the back side. This makes it easier to slide the marker into the page. I prefer this bookmarker than the one I've attached to bookcover.
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I think the pressures on dancers accelerated over the years, especially with Balanchine's choreography.   He was brilliant, but from what I've read, also had high expectations of his dancers, including Kirkland, and was demanding in his standards.

I solved the problem of 180 degree turnouts.  After a lot of trying, I decided to do a 1/2 turnout at a time.   One foot was at a 90 degree angle while the other remained comfortable!

DizzyBritches, yes, I sometimes read two different books at a time, especially if I'm reading a fast paced novel and need to relax.   I have a good collection of the Chicken Soup books which I meander through very slowly.    I'm probably on the 5th or 6th reading of the Ocean one.

Peter Mayle's series on Provence are also ones I read intermittently, and repeatedly.
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I believe the instruction methods for ballet take into consideration movement of a more therapeutic nature to avoid examples of elderly professional widespread injuries.
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Ballet dancers are trained to maintain unnatural postures when they learn turnout. Some young dancers overdo it - at least they used to. Hopefully they are smarter about training in a healthier manner.
In the 70s and 80s some professional dancers used coke to get them energy and dampen their appetite. Gelsey Kirkland tried to live on an apple a day and cocaine. Incredible dancer, but no one could sustain that.
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Does anyone read more than one book at a time?

“No One Left to Lie To,” by Christopher Hitchens

and

”If You Tell,” by Gregg Olsen
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Riverdale, correction on the tv stations.    It should be WTVS instead of ANT TV.
Sorry. 

And I'm sorry to learn about the issues with Christian Science.   I'm not especially familiar with the tenets, but know enough to conclude that it's not something with which I would ever want to be involved.

I thought dancers had problems with their feet, especially their toes, but wasn't aware of hip and knee problems.    Ballet is so beautiful and graceful that it's hard to relate physical injuries with their graceful performances.

I wonder if the health issues are suppressed to maintain the illusion of dancers' litheness and beauty extending from dancing into their personal lives.

I've read also that many dancers are smokers, which surprised me given the demands for energy.
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GA - I also enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes movies and dd and I agree that Jeremy Brett was the quintessential Holmes. Reading the books is a different treat.

Riverdale - your mum - Wow!!!

cw - I haven't read them and just googled Mary Russel and her works. Looks interesting but I don't like the prices. I will pass on the info to dd who is also a Holmes fan. I may get them anyway once I have finished my two megapacks. They together cost only a few bucks which may justify the expense.
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GardenArtist, yes I took ballet and later jazz. I wish I kept up with it. It was my choice to stop but I wish I had more guidance. It breaks my heart that my mother let herself go physically. One would never know now she had been a dancer. She found religion in the form of Christian Science. She has had both hips and one knee replaced which is common with alot of dancers. She basically had to become immobile to have surgery thinking she could pray it away. Absolutely cannot stand that religion. It caused me years of pain and some needed surgery to correct problems that were ignored. You don't want to trade places with me. My mother drives me nuts with her choices. What I am grateful for is that she now is not overly difficult having had a stroke that took away many of her peculiarities. I don't wish she had it but we had to force her to get it diagnosed as she was relying on a person in the religion to pray for her who has now died of cancer. All her friends in that religion are gone partly because none of them sought medical treatment at the end.
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Golden have you read any of the Mary Russel books by Laurie R King? The books are based an the unlikely partnership of the aging Holmes and the much younger Mary Russel - I think they do a very good job of adding a new dimension to the Sherlock Holmes legacy, and they are also wonderfully fun to read 😁.
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Riverdale, it's either on World TV or ANT TV, both PBS channels.   My tv just went down so I'll double check when the channels reprogram themselves and let you know for sure. 

I am sooooo envious and in admiration of your mother's talent.   Your mother must have some very proud memories of her experiences. 

I don't recall - did you mention whether or not you took dance lessons as well?


Golden23, I loved watching the Holmes movies.   Even if a bit dramatic, Sherlock was played as such an insightful, brilliant, if not an eccentric character.   And I never even thought in terms of Watson as a foil, which he was, and highlighted both his and Sherlock's talents.   

Jeremy Brett was I think my favorite Sherlock; he just seemed to be a natural.
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GardenArtist, no I have not seen that. Is there a channel to look for it on. My mother was a ballet dancer. She was in the corps de ballet in the 1950's of the Metropolitan Opera and other places. In the 1960's she transferred to Modern Dance in California where my parents moved to in the early 60's. She taught modern dance. She taught in the studio on Hollywood Blvd that Eugene Loring had started.
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Reading Arthur Conan Doyle. I have finished A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four and the Hound of the Baskervilles and started The Valley of Fear. Watson is such a great foil to Sherlock.
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TNtechie, your current read on racism raises a lot of thought provoking concepts, and some that dovetail with current local and national issues, unfortunately.

I wonder though if the kind of racial hostility we see isn't evidenced by much earlier friction if not outright hostility between races, and/or is it part of man's desire to conquer?  I.e., and e.g., did dictators and leaders conquer other countries for territorial expansion, gains, and/or because conquered races often weren't of the same racial background?    Were conquests greed or racially based, or neither, or both?

Humans have unfortunately demonstrated such negative abilities to interact with others, and that seems over the years to have dominated history while those reaching out to help don't garner as much attention.

And, trying to avoid political issues, an example:  from what I've read, the Saudi "soldiers" have some sense of contempt toward actual combat, not aerial, but on the ground combat, and feel that others should perform these tasks for them.   I have citations for this in my database, but didn't take the time to look them up for this post.

Whites also enslave other whites; that's a nonracial issue and still is a problem.  

I think that mankind has a genetic blend of helping, but sometimes errant characteristics, such as these maniacal power grabs for land, tip the balance not only toward racial discrimination but toward more violent and powerful countrywide actions.   

Complicated issues.  


I've just finished another fascinating Cussler novel, this one addressing AI and achievement of the vaunted singularity, characterized by centuries old intents of good will compromised by contemporary greed.    It's another one of the fiction books that address the dangers of AI when used inappropriately and for gain.
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