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Sep. 2nd, 2016 10:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tvordljI'm currently reading a quirky little book right now called Tooth and Claw. (by Jo Walton) It's all about family, two brothers and three sisters who lose their father and then have to contend with expections, dowries, law suits, love and betrayal. The quirk is that they're all dragons who eat their dead, the infirm and sometimes their young because that's how they get larger and stronger while servants have their wings bound and parsons bind their by choice. young virgin females have gold scales that go pink when they aren't any more and get redder and redder with each clutch of eggs they hatch. They become grey scaled when they're very old. The society rules are old fashioned but it's very inventive. Liking it a lot so far.
Books have always been in my life and I cannot imagine life without them. eBooks have been a godsend, now I always have something to read. I have been borrowing ebooks from the library using either Adobe Digital Editions to put them on my ereader or through an app called Overdrive. I've just discovered Open Library, an online library from where you can also borrow books in epub or PDF format or they also source the book in real libraries and link to various places you can buy a copy, hard copy or e-copy since I don't think they lend out kindle format books. I don't think Kindle will read epubs yet, right? My Kobo will read mobi format which is Kindle though I did have one that wouldn't work. It might have been DRM locked possibly. If i find a book that's only in mobi format I can convert it using Calibre anyway. You can go the other way and convert an epub to mobi and load it on the Kindle through the probram (Calibre that is).
Quite pleased to find it because i was looking for a copy of The Diviners by Margaret Laurence which is an older book and one that i need to read for a Goodreads monthly group read this month. My library hasn't had it available and yes, I could go to the library and see if they have a physical copy but i do prefer e-books. All the ones for sale were a stupidly ridiculous price which makes no sense as it's a good 40 or 50 years old. Someone pointed me in the direction of Open Library and they have it though I'll have to download it from home because I don't have ADE here at work. Or do i? Nope. Thought i might have had to install it for a course last year.
Long weekend this weekend. No plans. No decent movies on either.
My cousin is getting married today and the weather looks decent so far. Not sure when they're doing it. It's a very small, immediate family only ceremony. They're heading to Barbados tomorrow for a week and having a big party later in the month. He lost his wife suddenly nearly three years ago in December. He met this new lady through a Facebook group for people that grew up in Dartmouth and they were both at Dartmouth High School at the same time though I think she was a year behind. She offered the hand of friendship after his wife died with no intentions of more than that but it grew. Yes, they faced some disapproval due to it being less than 6 months after his wife died but she's proven to be a really nice, very genuine person and they have been very happy together. His adult children have accepted her from the start and they're the only ones whose opinions really matter. They're happy he's happy. I liked her immediately AND she's a Coronation Street fan!
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Based on a true story of a woman in the 1800s that was convicted of being a party to the murder of her employers. She wasn't hanged but spent a good many years in prison. CBC is making a tv movie of this book.
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Two sisters who became abolitionists two decades before the American Civil War. They lived in Charlston and moved north where their views were barely tolerated. Seems it was ok for men to be abolitionists but apparently intolerable for women, especially in the south. Also based on a true story though heavily fictionalized I think
The Mermaids Singing - Val McDermidd
Needed a good, grisly serial killer book at this point and I'm enjoying this series with the forensic psychologist profiler and the female DCI. This was the first book in the series.
The History of Us - Jonathan Harvey
He's a Corrie writer and a playwriter. I've read his other fiction books and they were quite good - sharp and witty but this one was a bit lackluster and disjointed. Didn't like any of the characters enough to care. Funny about that. Some characters in books are thoroughly dislikable but are interesting anyway. These weren't.
Ragged Company - Richard Wagamese
Quite possible the best book I have read this year and probably in some time. Definitely on my top all time favourites. IT's about four homeless people, an older Native woman and three men who go to a movie one afternoon to get in out of the bitter cold and meet up with a retired journalist who has his own shadows and demons. The four win millions on a lottery ticket they find but can't cash it because none of them has any ID or a bank account. The journalist ends up helping them and becomes their friend as do a woman who works for the lottery and a lawyer. They help the four adjust as best they can but the real story is the winners, how they adjust to a new life and how they hang on to the old one where they can. You won't forget these characters, even the ones that aren't very likeable as you learn about their individual histories. IT's about family even if they aren't blood related.
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
from there to a classic. Much shorter than I thought it would be. I've read longer novellas. Good, though. You probably already know the story from seeing the movies even if you haven't read the book.
Books have always been in my life and I cannot imagine life without them. eBooks have been a godsend, now I always have something to read. I have been borrowing ebooks from the library using either Adobe Digital Editions to put them on my ereader or through an app called Overdrive. I've just discovered Open Library, an online library from where you can also borrow books in epub or PDF format or they also source the book in real libraries and link to various places you can buy a copy, hard copy or e-copy since I don't think they lend out kindle format books. I don't think Kindle will read epubs yet, right? My Kobo will read mobi format which is Kindle though I did have one that wouldn't work. It might have been DRM locked possibly. If i find a book that's only in mobi format I can convert it using Calibre anyway. You can go the other way and convert an epub to mobi and load it on the Kindle through the probram (Calibre that is).
Quite pleased to find it because i was looking for a copy of The Diviners by Margaret Laurence which is an older book and one that i need to read for a Goodreads monthly group read this month. My library hasn't had it available and yes, I could go to the library and see if they have a physical copy but i do prefer e-books. All the ones for sale were a stupidly ridiculous price which makes no sense as it's a good 40 or 50 years old. Someone pointed me in the direction of Open Library and they have it though I'll have to download it from home because I don't have ADE here at work. Or do i? Nope. Thought i might have had to install it for a course last year.
Long weekend this weekend. No plans. No decent movies on either.
My cousin is getting married today and the weather looks decent so far. Not sure when they're doing it. It's a very small, immediate family only ceremony. They're heading to Barbados tomorrow for a week and having a big party later in the month. He lost his wife suddenly nearly three years ago in December. He met this new lady through a Facebook group for people that grew up in Dartmouth and they were both at Dartmouth High School at the same time though I think she was a year behind. She offered the hand of friendship after his wife died with no intentions of more than that but it grew. Yes, they faced some disapproval due to it being less than 6 months after his wife died but she's proven to be a really nice, very genuine person and they have been very happy together. His adult children have accepted her from the start and they're the only ones whose opinions really matter. They're happy he's happy. I liked her immediately AND she's a Coronation Street fan!
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Based on a true story of a woman in the 1800s that was convicted of being a party to the murder of her employers. She wasn't hanged but spent a good many years in prison. CBC is making a tv movie of this book.
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Two sisters who became abolitionists two decades before the American Civil War. They lived in Charlston and moved north where their views were barely tolerated. Seems it was ok for men to be abolitionists but apparently intolerable for women, especially in the south. Also based on a true story though heavily fictionalized I think
The Mermaids Singing - Val McDermidd
Needed a good, grisly serial killer book at this point and I'm enjoying this series with the forensic psychologist profiler and the female DCI. This was the first book in the series.
The History of Us - Jonathan Harvey
He's a Corrie writer and a playwriter. I've read his other fiction books and they were quite good - sharp and witty but this one was a bit lackluster and disjointed. Didn't like any of the characters enough to care. Funny about that. Some characters in books are thoroughly dislikable but are interesting anyway. These weren't.
Ragged Company - Richard Wagamese
Quite possible the best book I have read this year and probably in some time. Definitely on my top all time favourites. IT's about four homeless people, an older Native woman and three men who go to a movie one afternoon to get in out of the bitter cold and meet up with a retired journalist who has his own shadows and demons. The four win millions on a lottery ticket they find but can't cash it because none of them has any ID or a bank account. The journalist ends up helping them and becomes their friend as do a woman who works for the lottery and a lawyer. They help the four adjust as best they can but the real story is the winners, how they adjust to a new life and how they hang on to the old one where they can. You won't forget these characters, even the ones that aren't very likeable as you learn about their individual histories. IT's about family even if they aren't blood related.
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
from there to a classic. Much shorter than I thought it would be. I've read longer novellas. Good, though. You probably already know the story from seeing the movies even if you haven't read the book.
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Date: 2016-09-04 02:01 pm (UTC)