This past week I read Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Suite Francaise was about the Nazi occupation of France and the adjustments people made to accommodate the invaders. Irene was arrested by the Nazis and sent to a death camp in 1942 where she lost her life shortly afterward. I wonder about Irene. Did she believe we would eventually overcome the Nazi scourge? Did she hear the allied bombers overhead and take satisfaction in knowing we were fighting back? I guess we will never know.

After Suite Francaise I started Savage Run by C.J. Box. This is the second in the series. Once again I find that I have already read Savage Run. I seriously doubt that I read the third book but I hope to find out. Anyway, I will continue to re-read Savage Run as it is really an exciting fun read.

Mrs. Enthusiast read Black Widow by Randy Wayne White. She said this is action packed from beginning to end. She really enjoyed Black Widow. After Black Widow she read River Thieves by Michael Crummey. River Thieves will be with her for a while. She has yet to decide on a new book.

Maybe it was just me. I had difficulty with that book. I found it to be too weird from the very beginning. The house hanging on with all the cables started the weird.

I will admit that I got a lot of info on Newfoundland than I did not know.

I had the opportunity to live for many years in the woods of North Ontario and I have met a few people from Newfoundland. Good people, all. Haven't got to the part of the book yet where they are living in the house, but I can imagine. I lived in an old shack and there were challenges every day. But I loved it. Was glad to get away, finally, but it was a real learning experience at the time.

The wind off the Newfoundland coast is pretty wicked. I imagine there are a few places there holding on by cables.

I look forward to a further discussion when I finish the book.

and now reading David McCullough's Path Between the Seas, about the Panama Canal.
Last week read his book about Johnstown Flood.

He covers a lot of historical detail and social history, very accessible writer.

I now have all his books and plan to go thru them all in the next few weeks.

I hope you will share more about your readings as you go through them. Is this historical fiction? I think it's important to learn more about the South to get a better perspective on what's going on there now.

which is fiction based on a LOT of fact.

McCullough is a historian, writes non-fiction, but includes a lot of information about the time period he is writing about, and writes about
many topics.

Annie Proulx is a wonderful writer. I thoroughly enjoyed that one.

I started reading Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese and was thoroughly entrenched in the story when I got a notice from the library that one of the books I have wanted to read was available, so I've put aside Medicine Walk and started on Mary Doria Russell's book Epitaph--a novel of the OK Corral. I read her book, Doc and was really hooked, esp. since I had seen the film, Toombstone, with Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday--an exceptional performance IMHO. I have enjoyed all of her works, esp. The Sparrow Series and A Thread of Grace.

I look forward to getting back to Medicine Walk and am happy to have found a new author who has written several books.

Now I have MORE books on my list.

I haven't seen that movie with Val Kilmer, but now I want to. I did see the ancient movie about it, though. And I've been there, Tombstone. It left a life-long impression.

I look forward to hearing more about your current books.

It's one of the most perfectly cast movies I've ever seen. You might want a mint julep to go with it. It is a favorite of men and women of all ages.

This summer I'm trying to up my German reading to "comfortable" instead of painful. It was good enough to make my way through math papers or manuals, but I'm reading fiction now and that's a lot more fun

Finished last week the German translation of Hilary Davidson's _The Damage Done_ and yesterday, _Enders Spiel_. It still pisses me off the Card went so off the rails, because even in translation the construction of the book and the focus on the feelings of the child are really moving. Added bonus: this is my third time reading it and I'm turning 60 this year and I found myself really identifying with Colonel Graff this time around. I rarely re-read, but it is a pleasure, some times, to visit things decades apart.

Now I'm on to an older mystery, _Der Richter and sein Henker_ by Durenmatt. Not sure where I'll go from there, because my local libraries don't have fiction in German. Guess I'll go to the downtown Milwaukee library and see what they have. Went into B&N yesterday and the only foreign language fiction they had was in Spanish, which makes sense.

Not looking for classics--mysteries and SF and lighter novels are just fine. If I want serious stuff, I'll probably read it in English translation so I know I'm getting the right sense. But for entertainment, I'll be happy to peruse auf Deutsch.

I studied French for 4 years in college just so I could read Moliere's plays in the original language. So brilliant and funny! Enjoy your search!

I'll be happy to make you a host! As soon as I post this I'll find the instructions for how to do it.

Thanks and between us we can hopefully keep this thread current. Haven't had a chance yet to read about all my "powers" here but it was a very busy day. Tomorrow, for sure.

Honestly, the only powers I was ever interested in were the ability to pin and unpin threads - and that's all I've done up to now.

Making you a host was a whole new power! Wow! The rush!


You also have the power to ban people and lock threads, but I've never imagined ever needing to do those things in this wonderful group.

Thank you again for being willing to take this on! And DUmail me anytime if you want help! This summer has gotten increasingly complicated for me on the weekends (taking care of my 88-year old dad), so I'm really relieved to not have to feel totally responsible for keeping up the Sunday reading threads - much as I've loved doing them for these past months.

Have fun!

I'm grateful to you for hosting this group/Sunday thread for so long. Hope things even out for you and your father soon. Please don't leave us!!! I love your posts and book recs.

to attend to him. My mom died in 2008, and my sisters and I are bound and determined to keep our dad with us as long as we possibly can.

He's been our hero all our lives, for more reasons than I can count. But among those reasons are the love of books and lifelong intellectual inquiry, along with our strong, unwavering liberal political bent.

He's a WWII veteran (Navy), staunch Union man, and still damn intellectually sharp. For my whole life there's been nothing more satisfying and stimulating than discussing politics with my wonderful dad.

I've just bought a laptop for him - he finally decided that he really wanted to get on the internet. It's going to be a whole new adventure for both of us to get him online!

I'll for sure still be around. I'm planning on writing at length, at some point, about the Tibetan mystery novels I'm currently working my way through.

There's a good reason why my signature is a Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Wheel.

his way around the internet.

Thank you for all the wonderful posts and book recommendations.

I have no idea if the laptop is going to work out for him or not. For starters, he came up here on vacation and forgot it at home. LOL

Mostly he wants to get on the internet so he can look up information. He's a lifelong autodidact, and only just finally realized that he might really enjoy being able to travel around cyberspace and learn more stuff. We daughters have been trying to talk him into getting on the internet for years, and he's been resisting up to now - he's got a bad case of technophobia.

But, we'll see... Although I seriously doubt he will ever reach the point of wanting to post on DU!

Anyway, I'm not going away. I'll be reading here every day, and will post as the spirit moves me.

And as I mentioned elsewhere, reading this Tibetan series has been deeply involving - these are not light-hearted escapist reads. It will take me a while to digest and be ready to write about them. There are 8 books in the series, most of them over 400 pages long. It's a lot to absorb, and they are affecting me very emotionally and spiritually.

I would also like to thank you turn for all the wonderful energy and enthusiasm (Ha!) you bring here! It's been truly a joy hanging out with you! Give my regards to Mrs. E, too!

Someone sent it to me the other day, and I thought of you and your father when I saw it. It looks like the film came out last year and I haven't watched it yet, though it's now on the list.

We tried to interest our mother in the internet before she passed away at 91. She would have loved it. She was a wonderful writer, very accomplished. She was an avid letter writer with beautiful cursive longhand.

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written by John Dickson Carr - I haven't been reading much this year, though I've tried several books. I suppose part of it is that I am busier this year on a personal level than I have been in the last few years.

But I always read and now that I'm retired I read when I go to bed and then again when I wake up. Please stop by weekly to find new recommendations because we have a very diverse group here. You're bound to find something that piques your interest.

Now I have just been invited over to a neighbor's for an afternoon beer so I'm off for today.
l'll be back tomorrow, hopefully.

Happy reading, all!