Fourteen ‘ultra’s’ in one book???? That really is poor editing. What’s the title of the book so I can order it from booksfree and not buy it … I have enjoyed most if not all of his books, especially the ones with Kit Fielding and his twin sister, and Syd (can’t remember his last name).
I’m glad you remember how to post in GGOBIT! Now if we could get you to post more often . . . . .
(Darlyne’s daughter here–I post once every few years just so I can remember how!)
I knew Dick Francis was really overdue for retirement when I counted fourteen uses of the prefix “ultra-” in one book. That’s too many! What surprised me was that I would have thought that a big, best-selling name author like Dick Francis would have had better editorial services–to cover for him as he declined.
Julie
There is a fine line between familiar characteristics of the people in a series of books and language that’s monotonous. In Sue Grafton (or is it another female author whose name escapes me at the moment) I became irritated by the expression “she snagged her bag as she headed out the door,” in every single book. Silly? Yep. Years working in law offices sensitized me to “boilerplate.” It was a big advance in document preparation when with a few keystrokes you could insert paragraphs or whole pages into one you were working on. It beat typing every single word, page after page. I get the feeling some of these authors are doing the same thing.
Finally, in CD #4, there are some new angles in Zebra but I doubt I’ll care about any others.
Candace
I felt the same about Evanovich and just rearranging previous plots. I do like her characters but get tired of the same old same old reruns.
I think Alexander McCall Smith needs to end the ‘Precious’ stories; his too seem to be reruns with minor changes. I do still like the characters but think he has pretty much filled in their lives.
Am I getting cynical?
I enjoyed listening to the Plum series, although I spaced them as they tended to be alike. I enjoyed the reader. I didn’t care for her other books. I live in the area and that probably makes it interesting to me.
I’ve never read anything else of hers. I gather a lot of people like her Stephanie Plum character which this one isn’t. The one I picked up was Full House, much shorter and I imagine older than her later ones, judging from the size of the boxes on the shelf. It’s getting harder to find books on tape–most are on DVD or CD. I prefer tapes so I can change them if I want to listen to something else. My CD player is in the trunk. I must say that when I got in the car this morning and continued with the Ma. Ramotswe CD it opened a new direction which may be more interesting than the first part indicated.
Candace
What was the name of her latest, I read one that was written with another author and didn’t like it, I thought she just copied stuff from her previous books and changed things a little. I don’t know if that was her latest though,
I got the CD version of this book to listen to on the way to Austin. I thought it would be interesting to hear the pronunciation and rhythm in what I would think as authentic to the area rather than with my approach. One of the things I enjoyed in reading the books was the slow pace of life the writing conveyed. Listening on the other hand that slow pace was not enjoyable–instead I’ve become irritated by it. It is on seven CDs and I have only listened to three and found myself impatient with the story. I switched to Evanovich tapes I got at Half-Price Books. I don’t know how much more of what seems to be the story can be left to use four more CDs. Has anyone else read this latest one?
Candace
I too suggest a trap cage; bait it with the can of tuna and presto! you’ll make a catch. You can then determine if it is indeed a family animal and ‘fixed’ or not. Good luck. And keep us posted.
Jo
I’ve considered a trap but am still trying to determine if these are cats who have homes but are not confined. My neighbor across the street has an indoor/outdoor cat but he stays close to his house and is always inside at night. I once had a neighbor with one that was only let out at night. Some years ago when my son was living a few blocks away, we kept food on the porch for one that eventually got comfortable enough that I was able to trap her and take her to the vet to be spayed. They sedated her and started shaving–oops–there was the scar–already done! I never see these together but lately have seen each separately either in early morning and early evening. The gray and white one has the longest tail I’ve ever seen. He/she isn’t big but that tail is way longer than the length of his body. The Bluejay comes regularly. I can tell when the squirrels have been dining because they move the bowl and spill some–I think they’re looking for one particular type of nugget.
Candace
You might want to try a live trap. I think animal control or the SPCA has them. I used one once when a stray (I thought was living under our deck but I couldn’t catch him.) The trap worked and I alerted the police that I caught it. Animal control took it but the police had a lost cat on their record so it went to the thankful owner. It was an inside cat that had escaped and must have become frightened and couldn’t find its way home. It lived about three blocks behind me. The owner stopped days later and thanked me. A can of tuna was the trick.
I do hope you can get those three cats comfortable enough with you to find out if they need medical attention (!) or not. Good luck.
For several weeks I’ve been keeping a bowl of cat food on the porch. Ordinarily there are no feral cats around this neighborhood but I’ve had glimpses of a black, a gray and white. and a Siamese. I suspect one or all may have been abandoned by people who moved in the middle of the night up the block. I have hoped they would become comfortable enough to let me determine if they have been spayed or neutered and take care of that. They are wary because they know there are dogs here. Occasionally I see one eating the food but they usually eat during the night. Less wary is a Bluejay who comes looking for breakfast and two squirrels who turned up at the same time this morning when I was sitting in the swing reading the paper. The first one saw me, paused, then hopped up and helped himself. The second squirrel came from a different direction but he was obviously younger and deferred to the first one there. Finally he picked up some of the food that had been spilled on the floor. The cat food is one I was trying because I had a coupon–Good Life–supposed to have all kinds of good ingredients. Apparently there is something in there for everyone.
Candace
I’m waiting for life to slow down to read this, the first page really caught my attention. I got back from St Paul Sun eve, and my husband’s cousin and wife came this am in their motor home, they are very good friends, we were married a week apart 52 plus years ago, and have shared many good times even though they live north of Seattle, near MT. Vernon. They will leave Fri, and it looks like a quiet weekend.
My grandaughters and I read Bridge to Teribithia, and then rented the DVD. It’s a Newberry award book by Katherine Paterson. The author is interviewed at the end of the movie and said her son’s best friend was killed by lightening when they were 8 in the 70’s and in attemping to explain to him and herself, she did what writers do, she wrote a story. Its a touching story about relationships, bullying, and caring, and life and death.
I haven’t caught up with the messages, but will soon. Jacky
This novel takes place the last 30 years in Afghanistan. It is the story of two generations of characters brought together by the tragic sweep of the war. I knew that life was very hard for women especially but this really shows it and I believe the author is not making up the types of things that go on. I guess you would probably call this book a downer but it ends up happily and I think well worth reading. The author also wrote the Kite Runner. I think it was Bohl who alerted us to this book. Thanks Bohl.
What a nice collaboration, Jo. I remember telling myself about three years ago when I finished planting a big bed of impatiens that was the last in-the-ground gardening I would do. Coral vines come up on their own, ferns are hardy and the rest are in pots I can handle. Unfortunately, this year the lantana that has for 15 years come out after being cut back in the fall started leafing out and then every one of them died. My nursery man couldn’t find any reason why that happened. I’ve been collecting interesting driftwood pieces. Some serve as a base for bromeliads, others just because I like them. They don’t have to be protected from hot or cold and don’t require watering.
Talk about doing something dumb. I went out this morning to post the books on my part time job. Halfway there I remembered I’d failed to pick up something I needed to take. I had left in time to avoid Friday traffic but by the time I turned around and came back to get it, traffic had picked up dramatically and I’d wasted almost an hour. That kind of retracing is what my mother used to call “using your heels instead of your head.” Updated, it means using my wheels (and gas) instead of my head.
Candace
I could have called the library but there were so many holds on the book I didn’t think I had a chance. I needed a book for this daughter anyway. She expects one on her birthday, along with home made chex mix I make with an old recipe which takes more butter and salt than the one on the box now.
I figure that’s a great description for all of us - gently used. I love that expression.
Anyhow, I agree about kneeling - I can’t kneel either. I tripped at my oldest daughter’s driveway ages ago (concrete, too) and although nothing broke, I can’t stay down on my left knee. Now of course, being ‘gently used,’ I can’t kneel on the RIGHT knee anymore either.
So, Amy is 37 which is less than half my age and a whole lot more mobil than I am. So since she offered . . . . . . .
Couldn’t you call the library and tell ‘em what you did and get the book back? Oh gee whiz.
Jo
What a neighbor Jo. I just can’t kneel anymore to do much gardening but did a lot in the past. I canned and did it all. Now I have a window box and a few annuals planted in the ground. I also have a very shady yard so it is a little hard for most flowers to grow.
I did a dumb thing. I read half of A Thousand Splendid Suns and accidentally returned it to the library drop box instead of a book that was due. I had received it from the library and had put it on hold. There were many ahead of me so I was surprised when I got it. I put another copy on hold but it may be a year before I get it again. I really found it interesting so I cleverly decided my youngest would like it for her birthday coming up. I bought it and will finish it before gifting her with it. I will be honest and tell her it is gently used.
I found a couple of Agatha Christie I hadn’t read, at least not by the titles shown, but I’ve been busy enough that I’ve not yet read them.
My neighbor Amy lives on the second floor and has only planter dirt to play in. I’m on the ground from and have an plot approximately 6′x9′. So she said if I buy the stuff, she’ll do the work. She got the weeds etc out while I was in CO for daughter’s b’day, and when I got back, we went to do flowers. She got them all in but I hadn’t the $$ to get the mulch. As a result, we had weeds again. So she started on them and I went to get mulch. A few flowers also followed me home, can you imagine the audacity? THey went in, a few got moved and new stuff put in and then the mulch went down. It’s looking good.
I am also watching the Tour de France - as I said, I haven’t figured out who I’m cheering for yet.
Stay cool and dry or wet, depending on where you live and what you need. We’ve not had any rain in a while but we seem to have had enough. Judith says she is getting washed away; last year the rivers and lakes were low but now they are full and then some. She’d like to send the extra water to the west coast.
Well take care all and keep reading.
Jo
I went to booksfree.com and sure enough, they had this book. They also mentioned The Virgin Suicides (I hope I’m remembering that right) and that Middlesex was the long awaited second book by the author. So — I ordered both.
Thanks for the recommendation Jerry and I’ll let you know my opinion as soon as I get one! Opinion, that is.
LOL, Jo
I read that a few years ago and thought it a great book. It gave a good understanding of the problem.
I’m in the middle of this great book by Jeffrey Eugenides. It’s a Greek family saga narrated by hermaphrodite gir/boy which takes the reader from the family’s beginnings in Asia Minor and finishes in Detroit, Michigan. I know some of you don’t care for long books but I am thoroughly enjoying this (530 page) paperback. Also it is one of Oprah’s latest recommendations. I’ve had a lot of fun lately, reading her suggested books.
Huggz all,
Jerry
Darlyne, you certainly had a fourth to remember–as will all of the family. Your description brought it all to life so delightfully.
Candace
2 am having a great time at Nags Head,NC. We had a fourth that I will remember forever. All 21 of us were on the beach watching the fire works that the city put on from piers on both sides of us plus individual groups of families were setting them off also. We had those glo thingies which we all wore plus flag type things for our heads. One grandson sent up a kite that he had festuned with glo things and he had glo rings on the kite string. I left when the fire works were mostly over but the young ones stayed and said they sang The Star Spangled Banner and other family groups joined in and they all clapped when over. The ten older grands are from 17 -25 and even though they live a distance apart and aren’t real close they really bonded and had a great time together. They had the bottom floor of the house and I am not sure what went on but they stayed up very late every night. We will be driving home tomoarrow and I will have to get back to normal. I really hate to leave—even though there was little time for reading and I haven’t the slightest of what is going on in the world.