All Things Books And Reading Thread - 2018

[Mamanyt1953]

Well, after reading The Collected Kagan I got nostalgic for Janet Kagan's novels:

• Hellspark
• Uhura's Song
• Mirabile

WELL SPIT! ~scampers off to add these to the "Must Have" list~ OH GOODIE! All three are available from Thriftbooks, and I have them on my Wish List. They'll have to wait till next month, though. I've already done this month's order.

I'm re-reading the "Cats and Curios" series by Rebecca Hale while waiting for my order to come in. I rather like this cozy series. Not only are the cats entrancing (I have a real soft spot for the long-haired and rotund Rupert, even if he is a bit of a coward with reprehensible litter box habits), but the mystery is intriguing. This isn't a simple whodunnit that starts with "our heroine" finding a dead body, no...while there is a dead body (several, in fact), this is a romp through San Francisco history with as many twists and turns as any mystery lover could desire! There are quirky characters (some long dead, some newly so, some you wonder about, some living), the history is well-researched, and the pace is just right!

RUPERT! OH, my darling RUPERT!

 

[rubysmama]

Mamanyt1953 : Usually when I search my library e-books for the "cat" books, nothing comes up. But this time I got 2 hits for "Rececca M. Hale". Unfortunately, it's books 2 and 3. Not book 1. Is each book a stand-alone? Or do I need to read book 1 first?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Yeah, "Cats and Curios" is one that you really need to read in order. You can order them quite inexpensively used from Thriftbooks. This is one where a single mystery threads through each books, and they build on each other. I generally prefer books that can be stand-alones, but...RUPERT!

 

[rubysmama]

That figures. Oh well, it's not like I don't have any other books to choose from on my wish list.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Drat, rubysmama , I tried to find this in ebook form for a reasonable price, but they were more expensive than getting them from Thriftbooks in used paperback! Sorry.

 

[Margret]

Drat, rubysmama , I tried to find this in ebook form for a reasonable price, but they were more expensive than getting them from Thriftbooks in used paperback! Sorry.

This is why I'm subscribed to BookBub. Put them on your watch list. Follow the author. It may take time, but every once in a while you strike gold.

Margret

 

[rubysmama]

Thanks for looking Mamanyt1953 . It's just weird that my library has the 2nd and 3rd books, but not the first.

Margret : I have it BookBub book-marked, and did download some books when I first got my e-reader, but I found I'd get a free book, and then there'd be sequels, and they wouldn't be free. I really should subscribe to it though, and then maybe I'd get some books I'm looking for.

 

[Tobermory]

So, I’m not saying I do this, you understand. But if one happened to move from one state to another and kept one’s library card number and password from the original state...and further, if one got one’s mother’s library card number and password from a third state, one could have access to three states’ library systems, thus increasing one’s odds of finding the e-books one wants. Theoretically.

And if one hadn’t stupidly gotten rid of one’s library cards from two other states one had lived in, one could have had access to FIVE library systems.

Perhaps one shouldn’t do this because one is no longer paying taxes in those other states, but if one is an insatiable reader, one might be tempted. Theoretically.

Hmmm. One wonders if one’s brother, who lives in another state, has a library card.

 

[catspaw66]

Does one get strange looks from people from referring to oneself as one?

 

[Margret]

rubysmama , yes, getting a free book and then becoming addicted to a series is always a hazard (it's the reason they give out first volumes for free, after all), but every once in a while there's a really great deal on BookBub. Between Christmas 2017 and New Year's Day 2018, for instance, both the 75th Anniversary Edition of Lord of The Rings and Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, for instance, were available for $5 or $6; I'd had them on my wish list for months and was very glad to pick them up.

And being signed up for BookBub in no way keeps you from getting books in other ways, say buying them from Thriftbooks or local used bookstores or checking them out of the library.

Margret

 

[Margret]

Does one get strange looks from people from referring to oneself as one?

I think it depends on context. In modern usage, "oneself" is basically the correct word to use instead of either "myself" or "yourself" when it could be either, or even possibly some stranger that you're referring to. In books from the 19th into the early 20th centuries it seems to have been used as a way to avoid saying "I," which seems rather stilted now. I wonder whether that's where some high school English teachers got the notion that we should never use personal pronouns in our writing for fear of sounding egotistical?

Also, I, at least, tend to avoid using it around people whose literacy I doubt. In the "All things books and reading" thread I think we're reasonably safe on that score.

Margret

 

[Tobermory]

Does one get strange looks from people from referring to oneself as one?

Since I’m not admitting anything, how would I know?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Does one get strange looks from people from referring to oneself as one?

Since I’m not admitting anything, how would I know?

LOL, well, there's that...we're speaking hypothetically here, remember? However, it isn't a bit odder than using "This writer" instead of "I," in my book. And that's a rather long and very odd book, come to think of it.

 

[catspaw66]

I ripped the question off of Sheldon.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Ah, Sheldon...I should have known that...

 

[rubysmama]

And being signed up for BookBub in no way keeps you from getting books in other ways, say buying them from Thriftbooks or local used bookstores or checking them out of the library

I don't buy real books anymore. And I don't buy e-books either. I just don't re-read them, so borrowing from the library works for me.

 

[GreyLady]

I checked out a book called "The big New Yorker book of Cats" from the library, its huge blue book of all different cat short stories, with some articles, poems and art. It's a really cool book!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I don't buy real books anymore. And I don't buy e-books either. I just don't re-read them, so borrowing from the library works for me.

If you don't re-read, that makes perfect sense. Especially with a good inter-library system. Now me, I ONLY keep books that I will re-read more than once. There are currently over 550 books on my shelves, with another almost 1200 on my "to buy" list. Of the 550 on my shelves, every book has been read 3 or more times.

 

[catspaw66]

I got a 3-book set of Hal Spacejock. There is a second set also. They read like a combination of Red Dwarf, Star Wars and the online comic, Freefall.

Humorous space opera, well written, with just a touch of pure science.

The set cost 99 cents. It was a BookBub recommendation.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'm currently reading the entire "Wishcraft" series by Heather Blake. I'm on #5, so there's only one...no, make that "two" more to go. SIGH...I think that next month I'll start working on completing my "Pennsylvania Dutch series by Tamar Myers. I really like Magdalena Yoder, and the recipes are excellent. There are 20 books in the series. I have four of them, so that will keep me busy for a month, anyway.