Books--what are you reading & recommend

[Principessa]

For additional information there is also a USA descendant who has done a lot of research into her pedigree and everything around it. She was a great help to Annejet van der Zijl and indirectly inspired her to the story of Leon's and Juliette's descendants.

Karen Bennett

De Fremery family tree, at the end you will find Karen:
https://www.genealogybos....emery/Fremery.html#p88770

[Nappyolean]

I was at a thrift store and found “Finding Freedom” for free in their rotating book bin. (If books haven’t sold in a month or so, they give them away). I picked it up and read it to get some “palace intrigue”.  I don’t have a dog in that fight, so I really don’t care what everybody does or where they live.  But I must say, it is the most boring book in history. Nothing new: what they did before they met, then they met, got engaged, then they got married. A few pictures of both of them as babies. The end. YAWN.

[anneboleyn]

I was at a thrift store and found “Finding Freedom” for free in their rotating book bin. (If books haven’t sold in a month or so, they give them away). I picked it up and read it to get some “palace intrigue”.  I don’t have a dog in that fight, so I really don’t care what everybody does or where they live.  But I must say, it is the most boring book in history. Nothing new: what they did before they met, then they met, got engaged, then they got married. A few pictures of both of them as babies. The end. YAWN.

It was offered for free on my Kindle and so I read it. It was an absolute snooze fest.

[PruNordstrom]

Looking through the cart holding books to be reshelved at the library.

Came across "My First Guitar" by Julia Crowe. She interviewed guitar players (classical, rock, blues, jazz) that were willing to tell that story. Read one chapter every few days. Have discovered the works of quite a few musicians that I would have never found on my own as well as the backstory of some whose work I do know.

Also waiting to be reshelved was " Fascism. A Warning" by Madeleine Albright with Bill Woodward. The dedication reads: "To the victims of Fascism, Then and now, And to all who fight Fascism, In others, And in themselves." Book was written in 2018 and it never seemed to be on the shelf whenever I looked.

She was born in 1937 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The upheaval of WWII and subsequent re-ordering of governments led her family to emigrate to the US. Was a university professor, eventually becoming US ambassador to the UN and then US Secretary of State. She died 23 March this year and the book title was on that cart waiting for me to pick it up so I did. I've been reading the book more slowly than usual, stopping to reflect on what she had written.

[Gemsheal]

All those nice photos of Philip's German relatives in his memorial thread, made me go back to look at Marlene Eilers Koenig's Descendants of Queen Victoria. 

It's a bit out of date now because, well, they keep on having kids   but interesting & a useful refresher whenever I have a question in my head about so-n-so being related to whosey-what.   

[Cordelia Fitzgerald]

Just finished a domestic thriller set in England: "Circle of Doubt."  At first I was annoyed with the overplayed "insecure and slightly frumpy suburban mom compares herself to the seemingly perfect lives of her neighbors...but all is not as it seems" 

BUT:  Despite knowing it was a thriller with some twists, and of course trying to anticipate the twists, there were some genuinely shocking turns in it and I'm glad I stuck with it.

(Nothing violent or terrifying for my fellow squeamish Dishers!  Just a good thriller)

[jolene]

Just finished a domestic thriller set in England: "Circle of Doubt."  At first I was annoyed with the overplayed "insecure and slightly frumpy suburban mom compares herself to the seemingly perfect lives of her neighbors...but all is not as it seems" 

BUT:  Despite knowing it was a thriller with some twists, and of course trying to anticipate the twists, there were some genuinely shocking turns in it and I'm glad I stuck with it.

(Nothing violent or terrifying for my fellow squeamish Dishers!  Just a good thriller)

I'll check that out. I love thrillers.

[Duchess of Verona]

I specifically bought a Kindle for this trip and loaded 2 dozen books….only to find that Kindle is not compatible with Holland  America. So I have been at the mercy of the lending library. I just finished Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood, which was wonderful.

[Cordelia Fitzgerald]

I specifically bought a Kindle for this trip and loaded 2 dozen books….only to find that Kindle is not compatible with Holland  America. So I have been at the mercy of the lending library. I just finished Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood, which was wonderful.

That is a good book!!  The movie is a lot different, and the follow-up books are not as good.  But that book is such a good read, and it's a good re-read!

Bummer about Holland America not being compatible...that's strange and disappointing!

[fairy]

I specifically bought a Kindle for this trip and loaded 2 dozen books….only to find that Kindle is not compatible with Holland  America. So I have been at the mercy of the lending library. I just finished Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood, which was wonderful.

What is not compatible? The plug in?

[loveofenglishtradition]

Question to American members: Do you know the books by Kent Haruf?  Being somebody who is reading a lot, actually since childhood, and especially in English to keep up with that language, I am always searching for interesting new books. So, I discovered this author. Unfortunately he died in 2014 and only wrote 6 or 7 books. But, I just love them.
The most famous one is "Our souls at night" because it was used for making a successful movie with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. His other books are brillant but probably too difficult to make a movie of.
Most interesting to me is also the state of Colorado where he has lived and he describes a lot of the life in Eastern Colorado and how people have lived there in such lonesome and not at all beautiful places. For me it is fascinating looking some areas up in google. Is anybody from Eastern Colorado?  Such a strange and different world, at least for me.

[Principessa]

Still an avid reader here....started today in the 2nd part/book of novel 9 'Go tell the bees that I am gone' of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Mainly because it has to go back to the local library soon 

The Dutch translation of this book is soo huge they split it up into 2 books (each still about 700 pages). They did the same with novel 8 of the series.

[jolene]

Still an avid reader here....started today in the 2nd part/book of novel 9 'Go tell the bees that I am gone' of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Mainly because it has to go back to the local library soon 

The Dutch translation of this book is soo huge they split it up into 2 books (each still about 700 pages). They did the same with novel 8 of the series.

I love the Outlander series and loved Bree and Roger being back on the Ridge. It's crazy that she wrote the first book as an experiment to see if she could write a novel. She said she was sitting in church when she was inspired and was a fan of Dr Who and there was a time traveling Scot named Jamie MacCrimmon or something like that and used that as the main man's name. Fun fact, the actor who played in Dr Who was in season as a warden, IIRC.

[Principessa]

Still an avid reader here....started today in the 2nd part/book of novel 9 'Go tell the bees that I am gone' of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Mainly because it has to go back to the local library soon 

The Dutch translation of this book is soo huge they split it up into 2 books (each still about 700 pages). They did the same with novel 8 of the series.

I love the Outlander series and loved Bree and Roger being back on the Ridge. It's crazy that she wrote the first book as an experiment to see if she could write a novel. She said she was sitting in church when she was inspired and was a fan of Dr Who and there was a time traveling Scot named Jamie MacCrimmon or something like that and used that as the main man's name. Fun fact, the actor who played in Dr Who was in season as a warden, IIRC.

Fun story! 

For years I have seen the Outlander series in the library. Also heard from a few enthusiastic readers. However, I put off reading it for a long time. I have nothing against (very) thick books, but several in a row did bother me a bit. In addition, I was never a big fan of the phenomenon of time travel in books. Often it wasn't worked out so well. Until I suddenly came across the film version of the Outlander books on Belgian TV while zapping. This film adaptation was (is) well done and I decided to start with the books.

Nowadays, I am reading the last part of the main series. Also read various stories in the Outlander environment over time. But never really read one of the spin-off books, like the ones about Lord John.

[Gemsheal]

I just read a novel - Fellow Travelers, by Thomas Mallon - this is rare for me because I prefer history and biography, but boy, it was a good read.

The end made me cry, and that's also rare.