Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, and books on tape. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us.
I realize that gift cards are popular so people on your list can choose their own books and order paper books, e-books or audio books. Gift cards are much appreciated, I am sure. Browsing in a store or on-line, or choosing from a wish list is lots of fun.
But I still like to give books, too. Luckily, I have grandbabies who love books. Some of them get in trouble for reading after bed time as I did, too.
Last year, one grandbaby wanted Nancy Drew books and I gave another one a boxed set of Judy Blume stories such as Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. For his summer birthday, I gave my ten year old grandson the Mildred Taylor books.
Song of the Trees
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Let the Circle Be Unbroken
The Road to Memphis
One of my six year old grandbabies was excited to get Return of the Library Dragon by Carmen Agra Deedy for her birthday. She had read the first book of the series at school.
My youngest son had been getting the Brandon Sanderson books that completed Jordan’s Wheel of Time series each year. He says he doesn’t have time to read anymore and I believe him, but I might still get him something for his January birthday.
This year my son-in-law is getting the complete set of The Wizard of Oz books that he loved as a child and he can share them with his children. He wanted to borrow mine, but I figure he deserves to have his own set. My two nine year old grandbabies are each getting a set, too.
My grandson is getting Redwall and Moss Flower by Brian Jacques. If he likes them, he will get more. For their birthdays next year, the girls will get some too, as both of their fathers mentioned that they thought they would like them.
The three year old grandbaby is getting Underwater Dogs: Kids Edition and Digger, Dozer, Dumper. The 2 ½ year old is getting Bitty Baby and Me.
There are also magnetic boards with a background and magnetic characters that a child can use to make up his own stories. There is a Fairy Tales board and a Make Me a Story Magnetic Playboard Animal Cottage by eeBoo.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
I bought the fairy tales for one six year old last summer and one of the animal cottage boards for the three year old for their birthdays and so the other six year old and a nine year old will get a fairy tale board for Christmas. My sister-in-law said she would have loved to have one of these as a child and I agree. They are good for a car trip since they are magnetic.
New books that are coming out in time for Christmas or have come out recently:
For mystery fans:
How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” —Leonard Cohen
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Through the Evil Days by Julie Spencer-Fleming with Clare and Russ, set in upstate NY in the winter.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
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The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series #14) by Alexander McCall Smith
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
Modern ideas get tangled up with traditional ones in the latest intriguing installment in the beloved, best-selling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.
Precious Ramotswe has taken on two puzzling cases. First she is approached by the lawyer Mma Sheba, who is the executor of a deceased farmer’s estate. Mma Sheba has a feeling that the young man who has stepped forward may be falsely impersonating the farmer’s nephew in order to claim his inheritance. Mma Ramotswe agrees to visit the farm and find out what she can about the self-professed nephew.
Then the proprietor of the Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon comes to Mma Ramotswe for advice. The opening of her new salon has been shadowed by misfortune. Not only has she received a bad omen in the mail, but rumors are swirling that the salon is using dangerous products that burn people’s skin. Could someone be trying to put the salon out of business?...
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People have mentioned Tony Hillerman’s daughter’s book and they say it is good. It is on my wish list.
Spider Woman's Daughter by Anne Hillerman
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
Legendary tribal sleuths Leaphorn and Chee are back!...
It happened in an instant: After a breakfast with colleagues, Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito sees a sedan career into the parking lot and hears a crack of gunfire. When the dust clears, someone very close to her is lying on the asphalt in a pool of blood.
With the victim in the hospital fighting for his life, every person in the squad and the local FBI office is hell-bent on catching the gunman. Bernie, too, wants in on the investigation, despite regulations strictly forbidding eyewitness involvement. Her superior may have ordered her to take some leave, but that doesn't mean she's going to sit idly by, especially when her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is put in charge of finding the shooter.
Pooling their skills, Bernie and Chee discover that a cold case involving Chee's former boss and partner, retired lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, may hold the key to the shooting. Digging into the old investigation with discriminating eyes and a fervent urgency, husband and wife find themselves inching closer to the truth with every clue . . . and closer to a killer who will do anything to prevent justice from taking its course.
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For fantasy fans:
Blood of Tyrants (Temeraire) by Naomi Novik. This newest book in the series of dragons and Napoleon begins near Japan. In saving the ship load of dragons, Laurence is lost in the sea.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
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Fiction
People have been talking about this one. A friend of mine is reading it right now and I just ordered it.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.
As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.
The Goldfinch is a novel of shocking narrative energy and power. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is a beautiful, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.
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Non-fiction
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.
On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.
Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.
I AM MALALA is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.
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Books to spend your gift cards on (that you hopefully receive) coming after Christmas:
Fantasy
12/31/13 The Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton is coming out in paperback.
I thought this book was one of the best I read this year.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
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For children and adults who love the same books:
Jinx’s Magic (sequel to Jinx) by Sage Blackwood
1/7/14
I reviewed this wonderful story at Bookflurries here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Also the first book in the series, Jinx, will be issued in paperback on Jan 07, 2014.
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This story has been added to my wish list at B&N because I have followed the Liaden series for many years, but the overview says it is a stand alone.
2/25/2014
Necessity's Child by Sharon Lee, Steve Miller
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
#16 in the popular and exciting science fiction Liaden Universe®. A man without a past caught between powerful Clan Korval and secretive kompani.
Stirring SF adventure from master storytellers Sharon Lee and Steve Miller—#16 in the award-winning Liaden Universe® saga. Space ships, action, adventure—all tied together with a strong dollop of romance and clan intrigue – make this a compelling series for a wide range of readers, from romance to military SF lovers...
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I have been waiting for this second story in a series for a long time and I am not getting any younger…sigh.
3/4/2014
Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive Series #2) by Brandon Sanderson
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
I think the overview which discusses the first story, Way of Kings, is full of spoilers so I will skip it.
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3/18/2014
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
Change is afoot in Ankh-Morpork—Discworld's first steam engine has arrived, and once again Moist von Lipwig finds himself with a new and challenging job.
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3/4/14
The Fall of Atlantis by Marion Zimmer Bradley
I read the two books being re-issued as one many, many years ago and I am not sure how the story holds up, but it is a prequel of Mists of Avalon, too. My old copies are so ragged, I think I will buy this new one.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
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I have been reading this series for years so I am glad to see a new one coming out...from the Nine Kingdoms series.
1/7/2014
River of Dreams by Lynn Kurland
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
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Mystery
2/4/14
Broken Homes: A Rivers of London Novel by Ben Aaronovitch
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
My name is Peter Grant, and I am a keeper of the secret flame — whatever that is.
Truth be told, there's a lot I still don't know. My superior Nightingale, previously the last of England's wizardly governmental force, is trying to teach me proper schooling for a magician's apprentice. But even he doesn't have all the answers. Mostly I'm just a constable sworn to enforce the Queen’s Peace, with the occasional help from some unusual friends and a well-placed fire blast. With the new year, I have three main objectives, a) pass the detective exam so I can officially become a DC, b) work out what the hell my relationship with Lesley Mai, an old friend from the force and now fellow apprentice, is supposed to be, and most importantly, c) get through the year without destroying a major landmark…
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1/21/14
Hunting Shadows: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery by Charles Todd
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
A society wedding at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire becomes a crime scene when a man is murdered. After another body is found, the baffled local constabulary turns to Scotland Yard. Though the second crime had a witness, her description of the killer is so strange its unbelievable.
Despite his experience, Inspector Ian Rutledge has few answers of his own. The victims are so different that there is no rhyme or reason to their deaths. Nothing logically seems to connect them—except the killer. As the investigation widens, a clear suspect emerges. But for Rutledge, the facts still don’t add up, leaving him to question his own judgment.
In going over the details of the case, Rutledge is reminded of a dark episode he witnessed in the war. While the memory could lead him to the truth, it also raises a prickly dilemma. To stop a murderer, will the ethical detective choose to follow the letter—or the spirit—of the law?
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Also, music cds and dvds make great gifts. I did buy some music for hubby for Christmas. He is getting a cd of Il Volo, the three young Italian tenors; and a dvd of Il Divo at the Coliseum. I also got him a cd, The Gauntlet, by Nathan Rogers, the son of Stan Rogers.
As for dvds, I am sorry that I don't remember who mentioned it, but I bought and watched Born Yesterday with Judy Holliday, William Holden and Broderick Crawford. It was wonderful.
There are so many new books by favorite authors that have just come out. I couldn’t mention all of the series that you might be interested in so I will hope you do so in comments. Feel free to mention music and films that you recommend as Christmas gifts. Thanks!!
Diaries of the Week:
Write On! Writing about what you've written.
by SensibleShoes
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Kos Katalogue Holiday Mothership Diary - HOTLIST THIS!
by Sara R
http://www.dailykos.com/...
SNLC, Vol. CDII / UDKCJ 28: Peter Grimes Edition
by chingchongchinaman
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Robert Fuller says:
This week's chapter update for The Rowan Tree follows Adam to Dakar, Senegal:
http://www.rowantreenovel.com/...
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NOTE:
plf515 has book talk on
Wednesday mornings early