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.
Since we talk about books, I am thinking about books that we have on our lists that we have always meant to read or to re-read. There are books that are monumental classics that have been praised for years and we are interested in them, but somehow they get put off. Time flies, the kids grow up, we retire and there is the list waiting for us.
Or winter comes, life is boring and the book that seemed too long or too tough to tackle suddenly sounds good.
But I am also interested in things on your bucket list to see or do or music to hear. Last week several people were talking about their visits to Paris. I hope that is on everyone’s list and that you get to go there.
Mostly, my bucket list is of things that I am really glad we did while we could. Hubby would have to win the lotto before I could think of adding very much to a new bucket list so I will mention things I had wanted to do so badly and I did get to do.
My Fulfilled Bucket List and books it led to reading:
1. Gettysburg
With all the stories about the Gettysburg Address these past weeks, I am especially glad that we were able to go to Gettysburg three times. I read a lot of books about Gettysburg and the Civil War as a result and I still have one about Petersburg to read on my TBR pile. Two of my great-grandfathers were in the Union Army and one of them was taken prisoner on July 2nd at Gettysburg. He was paroled, reinstated, and later shot while at Petersburg. He survived to get married or I wouldn’t be here.
I loved Gettysburg and I would gladly take my walker and go again.
Non-fiction:
This Hallowed Ground: A History of the Civil War by Bruce Catton 1955
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
With My Face to the Enemy: Perspectives on the Civil War ed. by Robert Cowley
Gettysburg by Stephen Sears
Days of Darkness-Gettysburg Civilians by William G. Williams
Hallowed Ground by James McPherson
They Met at Gettysburg by General Edward J. Stackpole
The Battles for Brinkerhoff’s Ridge and East Cavalry Field by Eric J. Wittenberg
The Wheatfield at Gettysburg by Jay Jorgensen
Fiction
Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
2. Washington, DC
I wanted to see Washington DC when the cherry trees were in blossom and we managed that with the help of hubby’s friend who lived near by and did the driving. We also enjoyed seeing Williamsburg on the same trip.
A book set in that area that I loved is Michener’s Chesapeake. Last week, I mentioned the older film Born Yesterday with Judy Holliday, William Holden and Broderick Crawford. It was wonderful. Judy is taken to see the Jefferson memorial and takes the quotation on the dome to heart:
Inscription under the Dome
"...I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800
3. Europe
I had read James Michener’s non-fiction story, Iberia, with the wonderful pictures. We were visiting the East Coast and while in Maine, I looked at the ocean and I thought about how Europe was just on the other side. We were able to go for eight weeks in 1972 while we were still young and could walk for miles every day. It was wonderful! I still have such good memories.
We saw the Netherlands, England, France, Spain, Monaco (well we sat at the station for a few minutes), Italy, Austria, Switzerland (it was too expensive so we passed through without stopping), and Germany. Heidelberg was on my bucket list and I loved it.
Of course, when we were in England, we visited The Lake’s District because of my love for the romantic poets especially Wordsworth.
4. The US Rockies and the Canadian Rockies…three times. I love mountains.
5. The Redwoods at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and along the coast north of Eureka. The whole coastline north through Oregon and Washington is fabulous.
The pictures at this site about the State Park are breath-taking.
http://www.redwoodhikes.com/...
I enjoyed reading The Wild Trees by Richard Preston about people climbing and sleeping in the redwood trees.
6. The rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula.
7. Crater Lake and Lassen Park, CA.
8. The five Great Lakes and the Big Mac Bridge.
Since I live in Michigan, this has been easier than some other items on my list. I love Lake Michigan. I walked along the beach of Lake Superior one year when the water was actually warm and the waves were huge. Lake Huron is close to me. Friends had a cottage there. We visited Erie and Ontario on our trips East on business every fall for 25 years. After the business part was over we could play.
Good books are The Living Great Lakes by Jerry Dennis and River-Horse by William Least-Heat Moon.
9. The Freedom Trail in Boston that ends at the Old North Church. It was a hot day is all I can say, but we were young and I found a bookstore on Beacon Street. Even though Paul Revere did not make it all the way, I was raised on the poem Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
The poem is here:
http://www.nationalcenter.org/...
I also loved the book Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes when I was growing up.
10. New Orleans.
We went at Easter time in 1978. We had had a terrible winter and I wanted to see green grass if nothing else. My son was 2 ½ so we also visited the zoo there as well as the Cathedral. The square at Easter was noisy. It was warm.
Tennessee Williams’ play The Street Car Named Desire was on my mind, but I didn’t get to ride the trolley. Also Arlo Guthrie’s rendition of The City of New Orleans.
11. Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and Glacier National Parks.
Beautiful! I had always wanted to see The Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, too.
12. Niagara Falls, Toronto and Stratford in Canada.
We saw two Shakespeare plays at Stratford…Twelfth Night with Brian Bedford and The Taming of the Shrew.
13. Detroit
Detroit Institute of Arts Museum, the Historical Museum and the Science Museum are all in the same area. Oh, the Art Museum!! I went more than once. The Diego Rivera murals, all the paintings, the chapel, the court where you eat, and the armor are all worth seeing.
More about the murals here:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.acoustiguidetours.com/...
The pictures of Kresge Court don’t do justice to the ambiance:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.dia.org/...
A picture of the great hall:
http://www.dia.org/...
The chapel:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
Paintings and sculpture:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/...
14. Chicago
The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. The Shedd Aquarium. I did not get to see the Art Museum, but I have heard it is really good.
15. South Dakota
Mount Rushmore is more impressive than it looks in pictures.
I admit that I am sad at missing out on San Francisco, Yosemite, New York City, The Statue of Liberty, and the Grand Canyon.
Did books you read lead you to visit places?
I admit that without pico’s help I could never have managed Joyce’s Ulysses, but I had been curious about it for a long time. It is now off the bucket list. But there are so many more.
Do you have a list of books that you want to read, but you keep putting them off?
The Modern Library has a list of 100 best books:
http://www.modernlibrary.com/...
I have read 31 of the Board’s List and 42 of the Reader’s List and Shane is on that one. There are others that I may have read and I am not sure and some that I started and did not finish. But I don’t see any that are on my bucket list.
The Modern Library’s Non-fiction List
http://www.modernlibrary.com/...
I have read 11 of the Board’s List and there is one that I would put on my bucket list,
The Guns of August by Tuchman. I want to read her book The Proud Tower, first.
I have read 6 of the Reader’s List and some overlap.
Not very good.
I am doing better at Goodreads:
Books That Everyone Should Read At Least Once
Books that encourage thought
http://www.goodreads.com/...
I have read 73 and ½ (The one half is reading Book One of Don Quixote)
Best Books of the 20th Century:
http://www.goodreads.com/...
I have read 66 from this list.
Best Non-Fiction (non biography)
http://www.goodreads.com/..._
Sigh…15
Best Memoir / Biography / Autobiography
http://www.goodreads.com/...
I have read 30 and there are a couple titles that are on my wish list.
One more list:
The Greatest Nonfiction Books of All Time
http://thegreatestbooks.org/...
I read 10 of the first 100 and the list goes on and on…
No excuse…I should make up a bucket list from these titles.
So a bucket list of sorts:
1. We Die Alone by David Howarth
2. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
3. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
4. Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore
5. A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher by Sue Halpern
6. Beyond War: Reimagining American Influence in a New Middle East by David Rohde
7. Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
8. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis
9. Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
10. A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy by Thomas Buergenthal
11. Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
I do have 20 books ready for my challenge list of 2014 which I guess could be considered a bucket list, too.
What is on your bucket list of books, music, film or traveling?
What things on your bucket list have you already done?
Diaries of the Week:
Write On! Do you edit as you go?
by SensibleShoes
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Kos Katalogue Holiday Mothership Diary - HOTLIST THIS!
by Sara R
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Robert Fuller says:
Chapter 34 of The Rowan Tree is now up - Adam is becoming more engaged by his experiences with Palestinian refugee camps.
http://www.rowantreenovel.com/...
Also, those who want a free sneak peek at my memoir can check out the ongoing iterations at Smashwords. Comments welcome!
https://www.smashwords.com/...
Belonging: A Memoir
Paperback – October 24, 2013
by Robert W. Fuller
Overview
"How did you make the leap from Physics to Dignity?" This question arises at every Robert Fuller talk. Belonging traces Fuller’s personal evolution and suggests that taking one’s questions seriously will lead to a life of meaning and purpose. Accompany Fuller as he meets with “somebodies” like Robert Oppenheimer, Indira Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev, David Bowie, John Denver, and President Jimmy Carter, and share in the wisdom he finds in people whom the world writes off as “nobodies.” Belonging shows how transformative quests await anyone willing to learn from somebodies and nobodies alike.
Congratulations to another DKos writer who came by late last week and so deserves an announcement this week:
I just finished my first children's book that I started in 2002. After working on it on-and-off (more off than on!), I decided to finish it when I was laid off in October. It's a goofy little illustrated picture book called "Time to Walk the Frog!", self-published on CreateSpace. I used my youngest son Dane as a model and had our dog Roxy and older son Ian yank Dane around the neighborhood. Mostly a labor of love, but I won't complain if I sell a few copies!
by kpeddicord on Thu Nov 21, 2013 at 12:33:51 PM EST
from the comments below, melpomene1 says:
FREE on Kindle through 12/1, my Regency romance novella, A Perfect Duet. (Think Austen--no sex in this one!) Here's the back-cover blurb:
Meek Miranda Granville comes alive at the pianoforte--except when Andrew Owen is beside her. His playing moves her, but his critiques of her spoil the effect.
As for Andrew, he only wants to share his training with her, but he always seems to botch it. The trouble is he'd rather run his fingers over her than the keyboard, but she's promised to his rogue of a cousin.
When his cousin stands her up at the village bonfire, Andrew gets his chance to strike a chord with Miranda, but to do it, he'll have to outplay both his rival and Miranda's father.
Get it here.
If you don't have a Kindle, you can download a free app to read Kindlebooks on your computer, phone or other device--just Google "free Kindle app" and you'l find it.
by melpomene1 on Wed Nov 27, 2013 at 08:16:20 PM EST
NOTE:
plf515 has book talk on
Wednesday mornings early