QUESTION for my thread followers:

As you may have gathered from my postings here and on other various threads on the Forums, I belong to a local BOOK CLUB that meets once or twice a month to discuss the common book title that we are all reading.  It is so very enjoyable to share thoughts with other readers as we progress through the book.

It is amazing to me that what one person gleans from a chapter may be completely different than the insights that someone else may read...  so when we discuss it as a group we can meld all of our thoughts together and get a great understanding of what the author intended up to capture.

Then, every so often, perhaps once a quarter, we get together for a potluck meal to share food, conversation and good fellowship with each other.   My Book Club group , including myself, has about 6 regular members, all women except for a guy that  infrequently attends.

Do any of you belong to Book Club or in a less structured way do you read a common book with a friend or two?

I am just wondering......
Hugs,
Danielle

I'm sorry to say that I don't at present. But as my new self, I find I am much more interested in socializing with good friends and stretching the limits of my comfort zone. I am enjoying the two support groups I've joined. One meets every week and the other meets every two weeks. I like science fiction and thoroughly enjoy learning about the cosmos. If I don't get a good dose of science documentaries each month, I turn into an evil gremlin . I would like to find a book club like that? In he meantime, I need to start at the beginning of this thread and catch up.

Hugs Danielle!
Donica.

Quote from: Alaskan Danielle on September 10, 2018, 02:39:17 PM

Do any of you belong to Book Club or in a less structured way do you read a common book with a friend or two?

I am just wondering......
Hugs,
Danielle

Kind off... I did read the famous "Alaskan *" Trilogy by Debbie Macomber with one of my dear friends  almost at the same time. (well, she inspired me). Hope this counts...

Hugs,

Sarah

Quote from: sarah1972 on September 11, 2018, 01:22:06 PM
Kind off... I did read the famous "Alaskan *" Trilogy by Debbie Macomber with one of my dear friends  almost at the same time. (well, she inspired me). Hope this counts...

Hugs,

Sarah

@sarah1972
Dear Sarah:
    Yes, indeed, I believe it does count !!!!

In many cases with my Book Club books and other books that I read and enjoy, I will pass them onto friends and acquaintances without ever worrying about seeing them again.... but in the case of the Alaska trilogy....  I am keeping them in my bookshelf for a re-read something in the future.

I have found that when re-reading a favorite book that new little details are discovered... much like watching a movie with a complex plot, new things are revealed as we go over it again.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
Hugs and hugs,
Danielle

Hello everyone...

Lately it has been kind of quiet on this thread....  but now that colder and nastier weather is coming to the Northern Hemisphere, and we are spending less time outdoors, it is close to the time to start thinking of what books that you may want to read.   

Nothing nicer on a cold and nasty day to sit in my very comfortable chair, perhaps with a blanket to keep my legs and feet warm and in front of my oh-so-warm fireplace....   then on the side table, a hot cup of coffee or tea, and perhaps a few cookies will complete the wonderful time of relaxing and reading a good book.

Hugs and well wishes to all of my thread's readers and  followers.....
Danielle

Oh Alaskan,

  So many.  I read so very much. 

  But a few months before I wandered into Susan's I was captured by a "young adult graphic novel" entitled Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash.  Oh the uncertainty and anguish of first love.  I cried.

  Then I found myself quoting in a post from a lifelong favorite poet from the 1930's, Don Blanding, and doing so sent me in search of the 4 or 5 books of his poetry that I have laying around -- somewhere -- among the bookshelves and boxes of my life.

  Which distracted me from the other 4 or 7 books that I have started and have been planning on finishing up sometime soon (fortunately the local library is tolerant in its renewals).

      Caroline 

   

I have just started reading 'Lemon Reef' by Robin Silverman. Good so far!  I will be following it up with 'Gonna take a homicidal journey' bu Sandra Scoppettone.

Read a lot and most lately have lesbian characters.

Hi, Alaskan Danielle,

I'm confused...

On this from your post:

WRITERS:  What kinds of things are you writing about?  Short Stories?  Poems?  Brief Ramblings?
I would like it if you posted anything you would like to on this thread...

I'm a writer and I asked about posting something about what I write, and asked the administrator if I could chat about it, but was told it would be considered "commercial" and would not be allowed.

I stumbled on this thread and now you are asking to post stuff on writing, etc.  So, I am a bit confused...

Yours, EvaB

Quote from: EvaB on October 01, 2018, 10:21:38 AM
Hi, Alaskan Danielle,

I'm confused...

On this from your post:

WRITERS:  What kinds of things are you writing about?  Short Stories?  Poems?  Brief Ramblings?
I would like it if you posted anything you would like to on this thread...

I'm a writer and I asked about posting something about what I write, and asked the administrator if I could chat about it, but was told it would be considered "commercial" and would not be allowed.

I stumbled on this thread and now you are asking to post stuff on writing, etc.  So, I am a bit confused...

Yours, EvaB

@EvaB
Please feel free to post shorter and more brief writings and poems or perhaps a teaser sample here on this thread, no more than a third or maybe a half of a screen page.   
For longer writings you can include a LINK on your posting here that goes to a writers blog site or similar site for writers that the longer work resides,
but NO commercial published book sales oriented LINKS or postings.

Book reviews are allowed of course as you can see the allowed examples of that in the various post replies all through this thread.

In your Google or other search engine search line enter "best free blog sites for writers" and you will discover many choices that will allow you to share your writings.

I am looking forward to reading what you have composed...
Hugs,
Danielle

Hi, Danielle,

Thanks for offer.  I am a writer, mainly of unreadable books (metaphysics), which only a handful of people have read, but lately, I have written a novel, and I highly recommend you avoid reading unless you are a masochist.    I am not here to talk about what I have written, but what this writing means to me.

There is an old joke about someone buying a lottery ticket and waving it and saying that this is his or her retirement plan.  I view writing is a more targeted form of lottery.  Let's say that I have a one in a million chance of making it.     That is sooo much better than the lottery, but it is still a long shot.

I am retired, and although I am comfortable (at least for the moment - in this political environment no retiree should feel safe), I still play my form of lottery, but there is more meaning about it for me.  For the first time, for my novel, I am using a version of my real name.  I see me and my name in print.  I am still not out to my family (planned for 1/31/2019), but this was an easy sell.  (If you read one of my unreadable books, you would know what I mean.)  More and more every day I am showing my femininity and this has become a form of expression for me beyond the book itself.

Secondarily, I have hope; this is my chance to be able to fund my transition if I hit the lottery, so to speak.

Like other mentions in this chat, I self-publish.  For my unreadable books, I have no choice, but for this book I am too impatient to send my book around.  The odds are long that you will ever hear of my book (no sex, very little violence and action; totally unsuitable to be a best seller), but maybe someone else needs to express themselves in this way.  When playing any lottery, there are no guarantees, but you always buy a little hope.  Sometimes, looking at a dim and potentially dark future, hope is the best medicine.

EvaB

Exactly! Success in writing depends partly on the writer's work ethic and talent, but there's a lot of luck involved too. Most art seems to be that way. You have to either know the right people or get noticed by the right people to have a shot at "making it".

It's a shame so much good stuff goes unnoticed, but finding cool new things most people haven't heard of is always exciting.

Eva, I'm glad you decided to get into writing, it's never too late to be creative and make a positive impact on the world.

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."    - William James


Chrissy

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on November 26, 2018, 10:04:54 PM
"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."    - William James
Chrissy

@ChrissyRyan
Dear Chrissy:
That is most certainly a great quote, very inspirational for sure. 
We all have our own unique "mission" in our social and family circles and this is a good way to look at it.

Thank you for sharing.
Hugs,
Danielle

I wrote this after I had to pick a Christmas gift out of two baskets.
There was two choices, female to the left, and male to the right.
I was frozen in place.
I picked the male  basket. 
In my mind I am female, but on the outside I look male.
This is dedicated to anyone who has to go through that same struggle.

To be asleep is to be wake
To be wake one must fake
Fake my feelings for I have practiced
And so I lie here on my mattress

@Coffeedrew  @SallyChoasAura

Thank you both for sharing your writings and thoughts on this thread. 
Please, as you feel so led, continue to contribute more here for all of us to read and to enjoy.

Again, thanks for coming here.

Hugs,
Danielle

Went to my recent Book Club meeting...
Here is our New Book that we will be reading and reviewing this coming month.

To my followers, what good and interesting books are your reading this winter?... Please share with all of us....  Winter time when outside it is cold, wet, snowy and otherwise miserable,  is the perfect time to curl up in front of a warm fireplace and sit and read while enjoying a hot cup of tea or coffee.
HUGS and well wishes as always,
Danielle

                      "Good Hope Road" by Lisa Wingate
       

About Good Hope Road

In a time of crisis, two women come together and set off down a road of hope in this novel in the Tending Roses series from the New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours.

Twenty-year-old Jenilee Lane, whose dreams are as narrow as the sky is wide, doesn't imagine any good could come out of the tornado that has ripped across the Missouri farmland where she makes her home. But some inner spark compels her to take action. To rescue her elderly neighbor Eudora Gibson from the cellar in which she's been trapped. To make her way to the nearby town of Poetry, where the townspeople have begun to gather in the only building left standing. To collect from the devastated landscape fragments of life that lie strewn about in the tornado's wake: letters, photographs, and mementos that might mean something to people who have lost everything.

Eudora Gibson didn't think Jenilee had it in her. But the girl she's hardly noticed for years is now surprising her—stepping forward with a bravery that inspires Eudora to face her own bitter past. Brought close by tragedy, the two will learn lessons about the resilience of the human spirit and the ties that make a community strong. And together, they will travel to a place that once lay beyond their dreams.

Hi All,
I just finished "The Dutch Wife" by Ellen Keith. It follows 3 characters, two in WWII in Germany concentration camps, and one in Buenos Aires in the mid-70s. The theme, sort of, is, What would you do to survive the unimaginable? This is generally relatable for us, but perhaps even more so in this book, since the character in the mid-70s is gay, and the mid-70s in Argentina was especially hard on that community.

I LOVED the book, although I was very unhappy with the actual tying up of the threads in the end.

Oh, and edited to add: The next book on my list is, "The Paris Architect" by Charles Belfoure. This one is on my list because my endo suggested it to me during our last appointment. She was also the one who recommended, "The Dutch Wife."

Kate

I am reading a fascinating book about anti-gravity.  I can't seem to put it down.      


Chrissy

@ChrissyRyan
Dear Chrissy:
I hope that you kept the book from going too fare up in the air....   

So, in all seriousness,  please tell me, what interesting books are you reading lately? 
Hugs,
Danielle

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 29, 2019, 06:04:04 PM
I am reading a fascinating book about anti-gravity.  I can't seem to put it down.      

Chrissy