What Are You Reading Now?

DWilly · Post by **DWilly** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:10 pm

I just finished Marie Lowndes Belloc book A Study In Conjecture. It's a fictional account on the Lizzie Borden case. It was a pretty good book.

In this book Lizzie has a boyfriend whom she met while on her Grand Tour. The book is very conservative and downright chaste in its portrayal of the romance. As were most books written by writers of Lizzie's generation. Which Belloc was part of. It was a nice change from the sex saturated fictional books of today.

Belloc, I thought, romanticized Lizzie a bit but I am not surprised that she did. Again I think this may be due to Belloc being of a different generation. I noticed in the book The Rosary by Florence Barclay that the author romanticized the lead female character in that book. The Rosary was one of the books Lizzie had in her collection. Authors during Lizzie's time seemed to have that tendency to elevate woman.

Anyway, now I'm reading Witness by Whittaker Chambers. It's his biography and covers his leaving the Communist Party and of course the Alger Hiss case.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 6:16 pm

I liked the Belloc Lowndes, too.
Did you see the thing I posted with her name on it?
viewtopic.php?t=2597

I finished The Martha Grimes and also just finished Nora Ephron's new book I Feel Bad About My Neck. It's 137 pages- about a 3 hour book. I couldn't believe she was coming up to sixty-five! She can't either!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:24 am

I'm reading now The Way We Were- Remembering Diana, by Paul Burrell.
It has photos of Diana's private quarters in KP.
The weird thing is he says the more public rooms of hers had just been redecorated, and she only barely saw them before she ran off to France. So even the photos don't show her real entertaining rooms as she had them decorated in her lifetime.
Then he revisited there during the lawsuit over her gifts to him and items of hers in his safe-keeping and he described how one apartment (she had combined use of 8 & 9) was then completely derelict and even the lite switch plates had been removed. It was very sad to read that the place was a wreck, when it could have been a memorial, like part of Princess Margaret's apatments.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:37 pm

I am currently reading William Masterton's Lizzie Didn't Do It, a book I got for Valentine's day. Is there anything as delicious as having a new Lizzie book (new to me) to curl up with on a rainy day such as today? Despite some errors, its an interesting take on the Borden case.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 2:28 am

That's a good one for a *new* Lizzie book!
You're lucky!

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:30 pm

Well, I finished the Masterton and just finished reading Charles and Louise Samuels' The Girl In The House Of Hate. I was astounded, they took testimony and put it in their own words!!! Not what was actually recorded in the source documents, but their own, close variation of what was said! Not good.

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 11:38 pm

Has anyone read Farley Mowat's "The Snow Walker?" I haven't read it yet but I saw the movie version. It really floored me! A well put together film that you all need to rent. It's a shame that good movies like this one don't get all the recognition they more than deserve while the crap from hollywood gets the awards.

You all need to see that film! It was released in 2003 and filmed on location. I'm going to buy the book.

-1bigsteve (o:

bobarth · Post by **bobarth** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:38 am

Just finished reading Rebellos book and am now reading one of the BMC Durfee High School yearbooks and I also started the Samuels book "The Girl In The House Of Hate". I am finding it hard to read because of all the mistakes. They have totally twisted up the testimony and it has a Lizzie did it theme. Very one-sided!!!!

nishmat · Post by **nishmat** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 1:42 pm

At the moment... a book by my uncle published in 1964, not translated into English. Alas!

What kind of books do you think Lizzie prefered? Novellas, poetry or a play?

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 2:22 pm

William ( and others who might be interested), I just ordered Louise Brook's biography "Lulu Forever" because I've gotten very caught up in film history, and she is extremely interesting. I found The Louise Brooks Society online and they have a radio station called "Radio Lulu" which is just delightful. It plays all the jazz age 20's and 30's music, including people like Rudy Vallee, Russ Columbo, Marlena Deitrich, and even the one record that Rudolph Valentino made. The dance music is so upbeat and wonderful- I have it on at work a lot. Check it out.

nishmat · Post by **nishmat** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 2:27 pm

I've read maria rivas biography of her mother (marlene dietrich), thought it was quite good.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 2:49 pm

Thanks for the suggestion. That will be next.

stuartwsa · Post by **stuartwsa** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:50 pm

Thanks for the info on Radio Lulu, Angel. That's my favorite period of music to listen to. It is bright and infectious, and some of those old song lyrics are quite clever. I try to play mostly 1920's and '30s music in my shop. It is very appropriate for the vintage merchandise, and the customers really appreciate hearing something different from the standard "mall music."
For more music of the same period, check out dismuke.org.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:45 am

Thank YOU, Stuartwsa. Love it!

Constantine · Post by **Constantine** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 5:29 pm

At the risk of going slightly off-topic, if you like '30s music, you might like Dennis Potter's miniseries Pennies From Heaven (available on DVD). I can't recommend it highly enough! (The remake with Steve Martin can't hold a candle to it, though it's worth seeing for the musical numbers, which are nicely done.)

The Singing Detective, which has music from the '40s, is even better. (Again, the original is far better than the remake (which has '50s tunes.)

stuartwsa · Post by **stuartwsa** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:47 pm

Thanks, Constantine. I've had the soundtrack from "Pennies From Heaven" for several years, and it's one of my favorites. It's a two CD set, made in England, and rather hard to track down in the US; but it is well worth the effort! The music is so darn chipper it makes you forget how depressing parts of the series are.
I'd forgotten about "The Singing Detective." that was wonderful, too.

Constantine · Post by **Constantine** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:50 pm

There's still a third series, Lipstick On Your Collar, set in the '50s during the Suez crisis and using music from that time. I've yet to see that one, though.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:23 am

What are you reading or listening to now?

Anyway, that reminds me: I'm reading Lovejoy!
A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair. by Jonathan Gash.

One I missed somehow. Cool!

It was on sale at Books-A-Million and came from The Washington Village BR Lib, Boston Public Library, South Boston! It's hardback and almost unread condition.

Yay Lovejoy!

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:36 am

Angel @ Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:22 am wrote:William ( and others who might be interested), I just ordered Louise Brook's biography "Lulu Forever" because I've gotten very caught up in film history, and she is extremely interesting. I found The Louise Brooks Society online and they have a radio station called "Radio Lulu" which is just delightful. It plays all the jazz age 20's and 30's music, including people like Rudy Vallee, Russ Columbo, Marlena Deitrich, and even the one record that Rudolph Valentino made. The dance music is so upbeat and wonderful- I have it on at work a lot. Check it out.

I have Louise Brook's autobiography "Lulu In Hollywood" and I like it, Ellen. Barry Paris wrote a thick biography on Louise Brooks called, "Louise Brooks." I love it but my copy fell apart. Both books cover not only her life and work but also the times she lived in.

If you like Louise like I do, and that era, you will like these two.

-1bigsteve (o:

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:47 am

Kat @ Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:23 pm wrote:What are you reading or listening to now?

Anyway, that reminds me: I'm reading Lovejoy!
A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair. by Jonathan Gash.

One I missed somehow. Cool!

It was on sale at Books-A-Million and came from The Washington Village BR Lib, Boston Public Library, South Boston! It's hardback and almost unread condition.

Yay Lovejoy!

I never read the Lovejoy books but I loved the TV series! I heard that the author was a Gynecologist but liked writing more than practicing medicine. I love the "laid back" approach that Ian McShane brought to the character of Lovejoy.

-1bigsteve (o:

nishmat · Post by **nishmat** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:39 pm

At the moment, some poetry by Edith Södergran (1892-1923).

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:10 pm

At that Library book re-cycling sale last week I also found a Frances Fyfield I had not read: Undercurrents.
British Mystery. I'm so lucky!

$3 hardback.

I can't find anybody who reads Lovejoy- but they like the TV show!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:09 pm

Wow that Fyfield had a trick ending! I always guess who did it but don't always know why. This time I guessed who and probably why, but the ending just tickled me because I didn't see it coming.

I'm now reading my next $3 hardback -- Margaret Yorke, another of my old British mystery authors that I have read in quantity, but not lately. I really lucked out so far by not finding a repeat!

This book is called Cause for Concern. Yorke writes about a dysfunctional family and shines a really bright spotlight on them, so one almost becomes one of them, or you are looking in the window at least. There is usually a murder, and at that point you are involved and almost complicit but understand Why...

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:53 pm

"All The President's Men" by Bob Woodward.

I remember the Watergate flap but I could never understand what was on those tapes and why it was a crime for tricky-dicky to erase them. Maybe I'll finally find the answers.

"Debbie" by Debbie Reynolds.

From a top star with all the rich trappings of fame and wealth to broke-poor living in her car and back again! I love this book.

-1bigsteve (o:

Haulover · Post by **Haulover** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:27 pm

i also just finished the Marie Lowndes Belloc book. i like the idea of a mystery person involved. the window shade was a novel touch. i think the foreword where she explains her approach is very interesting. at least i enjoyed reading it, which is more than i can say for most of the lizzie books.

Nadzieja · Post by **Nadzieja** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:35 pm

I've read a couple books by Ellis Peters. Thats with Brother Cadfael. He is quite the detective. I started reading 40 Whacks, which is great but I've been reading some of the source documents. There is so much sometimes I wish I didn't have to sleep so I could read through the night.

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:11 pm

Just started a very interesting book called Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. I'll provide the description on the back of the book because I think it's the easiest way to explain what it's about without doing the books any injustice.

In the fall of 1991, in the frigid Atlantic waters sixty miles off the coast of New Jersey, weekend scuba divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler made a startling discovery under decades of accumulated sediment: a World War II German U-boat, its interior a maze of twisted metal and human bones. Equally astonishing: All the official records agreed that there simply could not be a sunken U boat at that location. Over the next six years, an elite team of divers embarked on a quest to solve the mystery. Some of them would not live to see its end. Chatterton and Kohler, at first bitter rivals, were drawn into a deep bond of friendship. As them men's marriages frayed under the pressure of the shared obsession, their dives grew more daring, and each realized that he was hunting for more than the identities of the lost U-boat and its nameless crew.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:34 pm

I'm reading a book that was written in 1969 by Lillian Gish. I found it in a second hand bookstore and I am really enjoying it It's called "Lillian Gish-The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me." I am fascinated by silent film history lately, so it is very good because she talks a great deal about D.W. Griffith, the making of "Birth of a Nation and "Intolerance. I'm halfway through it.

bobarth · Post by **bobarth** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:09 pm

I just received 4 Dickens novels.
Bleak House
David Copperfield
Oliver Twist
Hard Times

I shall be reading Dickens for quite some time. Quite apropos for upcoming trip.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 12:17 pm

I just bought another Anne Perry book over the weekend that I'm going to read next called "Dark Assassin." She's a good author to read if you want to get a really good flavor of what it was like to live in Victorian times. I saw part of the movie "Heavenly Creatures" again during the weekend and was again blown away by the fact this very charming, intelligent and sensitive woman who has written such wonderful books and lived such an exemplary life is the same person who, as a 15 year old girl, helped brutally bludgeon her friend's mother to death. The movie shows the gruesome crime, and it is quite disturbing. I suppose it is quite similar to thinking about the possibility that a young woman like Lizzie could chop up her parents and then go on with her life as this genteel lady helping others and saving animals the rest of her time on earth.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 4:11 pm

That's a good point.
I wonder if the 15 year old tho had the same boiling point as a 32 year-old Victorian lady. Maybe so- as Victorian ladies were kept on par with children.

Was that movie on TV? A regular channel or cable? If it's on again will you give an *Alert?* Thanks!

Nadzieja · Post by **Nadzieja** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:57 pm

Hi Kat, I think you just made a good point. Victorian women weren't allowed to to anything, of course except cook, clean & reproduce. However if you were well read & intelligent I can see where living in these times & conditions would be very frustrating. I've never heard of Anne Perry, when did this murder happen? I'll also be on the lookout for the movie.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:36 am

Get onto the "Crime Library" website and look up the name Juliet Hulme. There will be a huge write up on the case. It's very interesting. It will also tell you about the movie.

Nadzieja · Post by **Nadzieja** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:54 am

Hi, So is the name Anne Perry the pen name for Juliet Hulme?

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:57 am

She actually changed her name legally- she took the last name of her step father.

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:55 am

Angel @ Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:34 pm wrote:I'm reading a book that was written in 1969 by Lillian Gish. I found it in a second hand bookstore and I am really enjoying it It's called "Lillian Gish-The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me." I am fascinated by silent film history lately, so it is very good because she talks a great deal about D.W. Griffith, the making of "Birth of a Nation and "Intolerance. I'm halfway through it.

I've had that book under my bed for years and never read it. I'll have to get on it. I love silent films.

-1bigsteve

Nadzieja · Post by **Nadzieja** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:44 pm

I'm reading Volume 1 of the inqest source documents. It's the one with Lizzie herself. I have a question, on page (12) Lizzie was asked if she had a "night key." What is that? of is this an expression of some sort?

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Mon May 14, 2007 10:55 pm

I'm reading: "Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit" by her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer.

It is a wonderful story on her life loaded with documents and photographs. A beautiful book about a beautiful woman. Sean did a wonderful job writing this book!

I love it.

-1bigsteve (o:

Constantine · Post by **Constantine** » Mon May 14, 2007 11:34 pm

Right now, I'm reading Dickens' Pickwick Papers. I had avoided it for a long time, as it is one of the works included in a book called 50 Works of English Literature We Could Do Without, by Brigid Brophy, Michael Levey and Charles Osborne.

I recently saw the delightful 1952 film adaptation, which made me want to read it anyway. I am far enough into it to see that I can respect the opinion of the above authors even though I don't share it. The novel certainly has its share of dead wood, wisely omitted from the movie. (The interpolated tales, which are darker in tone than the light-hearted main story and were no doubt intended to contrast with it, are quite mediocre, at least those I've come to so far. Then there is Dickens' irritating habit of underscoring the obvious.)

(Brophy and Co. don't like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, either, though Through the Looking Glass meets with their approval.)

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:09 pm

As soon as I finish the biographies I'm reading I'll be starting, "Takeoff!" by Bonnie Tiburzi. It is her account of how she became the first woman pilot of a major american airline Co. People on the net say it is real good.

I also have, "Amelia Earhart Lives" by Joe Klass. I think the book is a bunch of bunkum but I think it will be fun to read just the same. A good dose of bunkum never hurt anyone as long as we know it's bunkum.

I'll also be rereading, "Lost!" by Thomas Thompson. It is a very good but sad story about two men and a woman on a sailing trip that turns into a fateful voyage of death and survival. It is all true, not fiction. It is rather sad.

-1bigsteve (o:

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:12 am

Oh Thomas Thompson is one of the best authors!
I've read everything by him- he died to soon.

Did you know that Joe Klass was (victim) Polly Klass' grandfather?
He has what one might call, a "different" world view of things...

I'm reading A Deadly Game, by Catherine Crier, 2005, about the Scott Peterson case investigation.
I had just finished After Diana.

Cheryl · Post by **Cheryl** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:46 pm

Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs (possibly my favorite author)

and

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil (again) :)

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:53 pm

I'm reading "Silent Stars" by Jeanine Basinger. In her words, it is a book that celebrates a group of silent film stars that are somehow forgotten, misunderstood or underappreciated. It is very good- I would recommend it.

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:16 pm

Kat @ Sun Jul 08, 2007 11:12 pm wrote:Oh Thomas Thompson is one of the best authors!
I've read everything by him- he died to soon.

Did you know that Joe Klass was (victim) Polly Klass' grandfather?
He has what one might call, a "different" world view of things...

I'm reading A Deadly Game, by Catherine Crier, 2005, about the Scott Peterson case investigation.
I had just finished After Diana.

I didn't know about Klass, Kat. Small world. The book was published in 1970. I'm at about page 30ish and so far it is all factual. It has turned out to be very interesting, so far. Earhart has already made some fatal blunders but so has the ground crew on Howland. I just heard on the news today that there is a group looking for Amelia's plane on some island/s. I didn't catch all the tid bits. Wouldn't that be a corker if they found it?

Angel- I love silent movies so I'll have to get that book, "Silent Stars." I love biographies anyway. Thanks for the tip.

-1bigsteve (o:

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:30 pm

I am currently reading Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. Its a fun read about a witch who is a bounty hunter that has a price on her head. If you enjoyed Anne Rice's vampire series then I think you would like this book as it is peopled with witches, vampires, fairies and such.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 12:57 am

I'm on my local Library's Harry Potter book list- the first name to reserve a copy!

I've not read any Rice books tho.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:32 pm

In June I stayed overnight at Lizzie's and was hearing the tail end of the tour when someone came in late to join us for the seance. I had to do a double take- I may have been caught up in the drama of the evening, but the fellow who joined us looked like he stepped right out of history. (Although I may be old enough to remember him personally, I never met him) it seemed like George Armstrong Custer joined us in the sitting room. He was a tall man, dressed all in dark clothes, had blonde, longer, curly hair and a big blonde mustache. He was there for the seance and was supposed to be staying for two nights.
Anyway, this prompted me into ordering a book on Custer called "Cavalier in Buckskin" by Robert Utley. I just got it and am about to start reading it. I am a Civil War nut, so I am really going to enjoy it.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:34 pm

I did get my Harry Potter on Saturday from the Library but other commitments kept me from starting it until Sunday.

1bigsteve · Post by **1bigsteve** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:04 am

Kat @ Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:34 pm wrote:I did get my Harry Potter on Saturday from the Library but other commitments kept me from starting it until Sunday.

So, you like kid's books too, Kat?

Has anyone ever read "Lorna Doone?" I've been tempted to read it. Does anyone have an opinion about how good it is? The book I mean, not the cookies. I heard it was made into ten movies and a mini-series but it all went past me. I saw a copy of it today.

-1bigsteve (o:

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:17 pm

I've been to England 9 times and plan to visit again in the future. Great bookstores there! The flooding there this summer is unbelievable!

I've be reading a little oddity called Quincy Adams Sawyer and the Mason's Corner Corner Folks: A Picture of New England Home Life by Charles Felton Pidgin (on Project Gutenberg). I came across references to this book when I was doing some recent research into the Sawyer and Gray families genealogy.

As a Bordenite, there are parts of this story which seem to be written "in code" to me, because they resemble people and places with which I am familiar. At any rate, it has given me fodder for reviewing certain scenarios in a different light. At any rate, it's a curiosity from the early 1900s...possibly even something that Lizzie might have read.