Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    fiction, science and occasionally historical
    
    (Watching bits & pieces of 'Shogun' on cable a couple weeks ago
    sent me to the bookstore. This is the third time I've read it
    -in 15 years ;-) - and it's still so vast as to be new each time.)

        Science fiction, especially Star Trek and Darkover, and
        Robert Ludlum type thrillers.
        
        Dan

    Science Fiction, Fantasy, mysteries, fiction, these are the favorites. 
    I read some science but I'm practically a math-illiterate (innumerate?)
    and find that all science has to be simplified and explained.
    
    I like to lie down while reading.  In the winter, my preferred place is
    bed with extra quilts and pillows.  In the summer it's a raft in the
    pool and if someone forces a dove bar (chocolate covered chocolate ice
    cream) upon me...it doesn't get much better than that!  (Matter of
    fact, I've just wiped away the chocolate, and toweled off the pool
    water, and put a book mark (bend the pages?  anathema!)  (I don't know
    if you'd call the book mark cutesy, it says Booksmith) in _The Guns of
    Avalon_ so I'm about as mellow as I get.
    
    aq
    

    science fiction, fantasy, self-help, women's studies, religion, some
    light philosophy and metaphilosophy, children's books, poetry.....
    
    I generally read lying down also, usually with nonlyric music on (the
    words interfere with my reading).
    
    -Jody
    

    My favourite types?
    
     ... let's just say I don't do westerns and I can't face romance
    novels [no judgement intended, it's just that the emotional dynamic
    feeds on something that frightens me]
    
     In the non-fiction area, I adore history, anthropology and sociology.
    
     Fiction favourites are hard to classify :  Alan Gurganis, Margaret
    Atwood, David Eddings, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Sharon Kay Penman come to
    mind as a start.
    
    Where do I like to read?
    
      The beach, the jacuzzi, camping, in bed, in waiting rooms,
    planes-trains-and-automobiles.
    
      Annie

I also read good historical romances and stories of iron men and wooden
ships - does the name Hornblower ring a bell?  Alexandre Dumas Pere.

Sherlock Holmes and the wonderfuil August Derleth Holmes pastiches about
Solar Pons. Dick Francis thrillers.  Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey
novels, but I've read all of those...several times. 

Science fiction, an occasional Victorian romance - the most recent of
the latter having been Harold McGrath's "The Carpet from Bagdad."  A bit
of sword-and-sorcery, especially Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.

Ancient Rome, both histories and fiction.  My grandfather wrote half a
dozen Roman novels for 1920s-30s high school students.

Recent;y into American Civil War history.

Sometimes just words in a row are sufficient.  :-)

I read mostly in bed.  On airplanes when I am forced to ride on them.

-d

    I read mostly fiction. Current favorites are Margaret Atwood and Ann
    Tyler.
    
    Thrillers don't do much for me. I have read very little science fiction
    and found most of what I read boring.
    
    I like reading in bed. Maybe this belongs in true confessions, I can't
    read and eat at the same time.
    manisha

    re.6 (d!) You read the Hornblower books? I thought I was the only
    one alive!! And finding a new (?) Dumas book is always a treat. A
    few years ago I found a translation of 'Georges' which I'd never
    heard of. Sigh. I should've paid attention in all those French
    classes ;-)
    
    Dana
    
    

    Dana
    
    I've also read all the Hornblower books, but it was *years* ago.
    
    BJ

    
    
    	I love Agatha Christie and any other good whodunit's.
    
    	I've read just about every book that John Saul has written
    	and just purchased Second Child last night...
    
    	I'll read an occasional 'romance' novel but not like Harlequin
    	types....
    
    	JJ
    

    Varied interests, some Stephen King, sci-fi, romance, mysteries,
    children's books, but no westerns or war stories.
    
    I read just about anywhere, waiting rooms, in restaurants (beats
    staring at the other people), while eating, in bed, in a chair,
    at the beach.  If I'm not doing something else, I'm reading.
    
    Linda
    

    The question isn't when do I read, it is when do I *not* read.  My
    mother used to claim that I decorated in "early bookstore".
    
    As for what do I read:  category romances (maybe that belongs in true
    confessions), spy novels and thrillers, history, business, and lots of
    science fiction.
    
    Alison

    I like reference books.  TS Eliot says to always keep your books within 
    reach of the dining room table.  I like that!  I was horrified when
    my mother suggested that at the end of each semester in college I sell
    back my books to help with purchasing the new ones.  A large part of
    college to me was building a reference library!  I'll read some
    fiction, but unless it grabs me within the first 5 or 10 pages, I just
    can't get interested in some fake person's life and problems.  Books with 
    relevance to the here and now, books that improve my life and broaden my 
    knowledge are the ones that most interest me.  For pure escapism, I'll 
    read a stack of current magazines which I refer to as "conversational 
    sociology" and ok, ok, I've read every Harold Robbins trash novel and
    every Arthur Haley but Arthur Haley certainly educates while he
    entertains.  (He's not "Roots", that was Alex.  Arthur is "Wheels", "The
    Moneychangers", "Hotel", "Brownout", etc).  Right now I'm reading
    "Samurai Widow", Judy Jacklin's account of life before and after the
    death of her husband, John Belushi.  Interesting subject, so-so writing.
    
    Sandy, who would never write in a book, bend a page or lend one out
    without my identifying label inside.

if it's printed(*), I'll read it. (I have to dicipline myself in other people's
cubes not to read their screens over their shoulders.)

anywhere, anytime.  I probably read too much.  My sister-in-law once said to me,
admiringly, Sara you _read_!   and I answered, yes, but Susan,  _you_ get things
_done_!

Sara

(*)the only exceptions so far, _The_Catcher_In_The_Rye_ was boooring, maybe I
was too young or something but it was the first book I couldn't bear to finish.
I tried to read _Merlin_, the first of a (proposed) trilogy; hated it.  The
Sword of Shannara (or something like that) was dull, dull, dull.  And though
_Dune_ is excellent (in spite of extreme overuse of the word "shock"), every
next book in the series is worse than the last.  I've given them up.

    
    A small rathole....
    
    Yes, Sara, I know what you mean by "if it's printed, I'll read it".
    I seem to just suck in any kind of printed stuff.
    
    The only time I became really conscious of this was when I was learning
    to type. Once I got past the basics, I used to type on my knees
    *every* word that I saw - I suddenly realised that I was taking in
    an awful lot of words (aching fingers, bruised knees ;-)
    Adverts, signs, documents, books, handouts, placenames, pamphlets....
    
    Maybe this should be a true confession....
    'gail
    

    I'm like Sara %-), "if it's printed I'll read it."
    
    I love to read westerns, science fiction and fantasy, mysteries,
    women studies, philosophy, I have 12 magazine subscriptions,
    religion, elf-help... I also collect comic books... psychology, 
              ^^^^^^^^ hahahahahahahahahaha!  if there were such books
    I would definitely read them!  Anything written about Merlin
    and Arthur... paganism, goddess-worship and history... cultural
    anthropology... occult studies... mythology and tradition...
    
    I have abook by my bed, a book in the bathroom, a book on the
    dining room table, in the kitchen... next to the couch, next
    to the living room chair... a book for any room %-), any mood.
    sigh... I'm a readaholic.
    
    with love,
    cheyenne

    >religion, elf-help... I also collect comic books... psychology,
    >              ^^^^^^^^ hahahahahahahahahaha!  if there were such books
    >    I would definitely read them!
    
    ELF is *supposed* to be self-explanatory - I would worry about someone
    who needed elf help books...
    
    D!

    Re: last few, first define elf!
    
    .14>The Sword of Shannara...dull, dull, dull.
    
    Hear, hear.  Terry Brooks and Stephen Donaldson are both writers who
    bore and irritate me.  There are a lot of clunky writers out there.  
    I'm re-reading the Amber chronicles in preparation for the three I have 
    not read (_Trumps of Doom_, and I forget the other two).  While I think 
    the premises ;) are superb, I'm appalled at the plots which are both 
    meandering and gaping, and at the (pardon the expression) style in general.
    
    Some examples of well plotted and well written fantasy, in my opinion:
    
    	The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
    	LOTR, Tolkien
     	Narnian Chronicles, C.S. Lewis
    	Operation Chaos, Poul Anderson (Andersen?)
    	The Man Who Traveled in Elephants, Robert Heinlein
    	Parting Gifts, Diane Duane
    	Kai Lung tales (can't remember the author)
    	McCaffery's dragon books
    	much of Marion Zimmer Bradley's work
    	much of Fritz Leiber's early work
    
    Others not as well written, but still pretty good:
    
    	Taran books, Lloyd Alexander
    	Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld books
    	Robert E. Howard's Conan and King Kull tales
    	The Compleat Compleat Enchanter (authors?)
    
    The foregoing off the top of my head, and my opinion only - partly
    formed by reading aloud to my offspring (for example, _The Black Cauldron_ 
    doesn't read aloud very well at all, although I still think it's a fine 
    tale).
    
    aq
    
    	

    I'd been warned again Shannara and the Leper of Despair, so I've
    never read anything by Brooks or Donaldson (although he's nice in
    person, and told his Scene from My Youth most entertainingly).
    Zelazny's `first person tough' does wear thin after a while, but it
    works very well in small doses.
    
    Anne McCaffrey doesn't write fantasy.  (Hence the title, _Get_off_
    _the_Unicorn!_.)  The dragon books are straight sf, written for
    "Analog", fer Campbell's sake!
    
    The Taran books are reworkings from the Mabignobignon (no), the
    Mabnobignon (still no), the Mabinogion (yes), the Welsh myth cycle,
    which is pretty bloodthirsty.  (Quel surprise.)
    
    I see you prefer High Fantasy, none of this elves in a rock band,
    or dragon raids Tiffany's for you, eh?  Try _Three_Hearts_and_
    _Three_Lions_ by Poul Anderson.  Oh, the Harold Shey books (he being
    the incomplete enchanter) are by L. Sprague DeCamp and Fletcher
    Pratt.  (The latter is dead, but the former continues to turn out
    servicable fantasies and similar science fiction.)  You might also
    enjoy the _Arabesques_ anthologies, edited by Susan Schwartz.
    
    If you do enjoy fantasy interleaving with, uh, reality, beat your way
    into the children's section and get anything by Diana Wynne Jones.
    (I haven't finished checking out Esther Freisner yet.)
    
    						Ann B.

    I tried several times to read the first Shannara book only to
    choke on his blantant copying of Tolkien and his *boreing* plot
    line.
    
    I'll also agree with Ann on 'the leper of dispair' after so many
    pages of 'I can't I'm a leper' I tossed the first book. However
    Donaldson has a pair of books called Mirror of Her Dreams and
    A Man Rides Through that I love and have reread at least three
    times.
    
    In addition to SF, I also like good science nonfiction, mysteries,
    historical novels, and occasionally I binge on romance.
    
    I kinda sort almost read anything with print on it ;-).
    
    Bonnie

Leper of Despair, fair enough.  And one must have a strong stomach to wade
through parts of it.  But Thomas Covenant is anti-hero, which most readers
of F&SF seem never to have heard of, and thus some folks recommend against
it.  Me, I've never found so compelling a scene in the fantasy literature
as the Healing at the Greave, near the end of The Wounded Land, 4th of
Donaldson's 6 books about Covenant; I go back to reread it every year or so.

I've spoken with Donaldson a few times, I used to live in New Mexico where
he currently makes his home, and one could hear him speak at libraries and
the odd book convention here or there.  As one might expect, he has very
strong opinions about the purpose of fantasy literature, and his books do
serve as very strong examples of self-examination.  He was ... amused, I
guess I should say, when I questioned him about the work of another author
who worked with him on a project called "The Atlas of the Land"; maps of
the journeys taken from Kevin's Reach to the Lord's Keep, and the Sarangrave
Flat, etc, etc.  He really didn't see much point in the maps; for him, the
journeys in the novels were intended to serve much heavier metaphorical
duty than as word-guide to a travelogue fantasy experience.  He thought that
having a map and tracing little dotted lines from here to there was focusing
on precisely the wrong things.  He did say that the author who did the work
was very good at it, and did a good job, and he had respect for her work;
but he was a bit incredulous that consumers would so much miss the point of
the works, as to buy the Atlas.  Or such was the impression I received in
that discussion.

Suffice to say that there *are* people who enjoy the realms of fantasy
literature for reasons other than those which Donaldson pursues in the
writing of it.  His work thus won't suit all tastes.  But I found value
in it.

DougO

    re. 'the leper of despair'
    
    I, too, became angry with Thomas Covenant; however, I wouldn't part
    with any of the six books.  Having read them in sequence, I now re-read
    them piecemeal.  They resonate for me -- whatever Donaldson's intent.
    The balance, the wounds, the healings.
    
      Annie

    I'll read just about anything except science fiction.  Some
    favorites...
    
    Be Here Now (Baba Ram Dass)
    Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (Fannie Flagg)
    Jitterbug Perfume (Tom Robbins)
    
    Right now I'm reading The Gilded Leaf by Patrick Reynolds, about the RJ
    Reynolds Tobacco Company founder and family.  I live in Winston Salem
    and there's a lot about the history of this city which makes it
    interesting.  I'm also reading Bittersweet (can't remember the author)
    and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (again, the author escapes
    me...Steve somebody?).
    
    annie

    Another fan of the Covenant series.  It was very hard to wade-through -
    sometimes the self-pity and self-absorbtion of both the main character
    and the books themselves were enough to make me want to throttle
    someone!  And it took me awhile to get through all six books, but I'm
    glad I did.  (Although the last two weren't very good, and the ending
    left me distinctly unsatisfied.)  But I *do* understand the point of an 
    anti-hero, and I found Covenants reluctance and resistance to being
    in the role of "hero" much more realistic than the more typical
    swash-buckling fantasy hero.
    
    And the Giants of Seareach serve as my role models on a daily basis. 
    Serenity and understanding incarnate.
    
    D!

science fiction, good, well researched and footnoted biographies of WORTHY
persons in history (forget Nancy Reagan - try Winston or maybe the Russian
Czars), and mysteries - P.D. James is one of my preferred myster authors.
I have also enjoyed some modern fiction - mostly the well-researched historical
novels (no ROMANCE stuff, please!) I've happened to find here and there.  A
sorta guilty secret:  I enjoy Gore Vidal's stuff - nicely trashy, but literate
enough to make me feel "intellectual".  really guilty secret:  I actually
read...and enjoyed...a book or two by Mailer... but I will never admit this
in public.  Okay, I know, he's a sexist toad, but the books were really
interesting.

    Ah, reading...the ultimate luxury that I'll never get enough of.  Seems
    I prefer to read only when I'm alone, which rarely is the case.  It's
    the only good reason for having to wait in a Dr's office.  It was
    the only part I liked about going to the laundromat.  Not counting
    when I was a kid and used to go with Mom and the laundromat was next door
    to cannoli heaven!  Then again, I was one of those weird kids who spent
    lots of time alone, reading.  One summer I had this ritual of lying on
    the lawn after dinner with my latest treasure, reading until it was too
    dark to see and I was too chilled even though I had cocooned myself in
    the blanket.  I had this fascination with WWII and read a terrifying
    biography of Hitler.  At midnight last night when hubby and son had
    finally fallen asleep I forced myself to stay awake long enough to get
    in a few pages of Tom Robbins' <Skinny Legs and All>.
    
    Another bona fide word slut who just now was reading the label on an
    After the Fall juice bottle.  Fine print is my favorite.  Lucky me, I
    married a writer/wordsmith.  Also an intellectual snob, prefering 
    nonfiction.  Have David Bohm's <Wholeness and the Implicate Order> in 
    my car just in case.  Last vacation I bought some treatise on general 
    relativity in the airport bookstore for the ride.
    
    The only fiction writers I can remember reading more than one book by
    in my life (not including friends) are Tom Robbins (fun, sexy and true
    female characters) and Kurt Vonnegut (thought-provoking).  Also have
    read at least 80% of the drama published in the english language up
    until a few years ago.  This is my passion in the fiction dept.,
    although theater is more real to me than ficiton.
    
    Looking forward to reading lots of kids lit with my own since I missed
    most of it as the serious child I was.
    
    Nancy 

    see also
    
    COLBIN::BOOKS
    NOTED::SF

just got Jane Goodall's book _Through_A_Window_

bringing it to the beach this weekend

Sara

Re .27 - FYI
    
    There are more responses just to this note then in
    the total ::BOOKS notesfile.
    
    HRH

    Re .29: Are not. 
    
    It's just that, over in BOOKS, we don't talk so much.
    
    ;-)
    
    -b (who will read anything that holds still long enough)

    The following is my own opinion (naturally, since I'm usually the one I
    read to please):
    
    The Thomas Covenant, um, effusions, *were* tough going.  When I
    encountered Drool Rockworm, however, I knew these would be among the few
    books I've started and chosen to leave unfinished.  I mean, Drool
    Rockworm.  Gad.
    
    I read _The Mirror of Her Dreams_, and thought the ideas were good, but
    found the rendering banal and repetitious.  I recall thinking that if
    <I can't even remember the character's name> pondered one more time
    whether he should get involved, I'd hunt up a mirror and try to get
    through to tell him, "Please don't."  He did, and I tried but couldn't
    get through  :)  Haven't read _A Man Rides Through (through?)_ and
    probably won't.
    
    I do like Anderson's _Three Hearts and Three Lions_, particularly for
    two lines which I'll have to paraphrase, both spoken by Holger's
    baptized Paynim brother-in-arms:
    
    	Allah Akbar!  Merciful Saints, I meant to say.
    
    	Holger.  I sought thee, comrade.
    
    I still think of Pern as fantasy, since to me science fiction is more
    the Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov school, but I confess that for me
    the line between fantasy and science fiction is sometimes wavering, and
    the point is moot since I like both.  In any case, if an author feels
    that s/he is writing one or the other, or both, I'll note her/his
    intent and continue to form my own opinions.
    
    -b, I love your self-description "who will read anything that holds
    still long enough"   I've zipped down the road at excessive speeds more
    than once to read a wordy and/or small-print bumper sticker, or one which 
    is placed on the bumper so that only part of the message is legible.
    "Try Ignorance" was the latest such teaser I encountered.  When I caught 
    up with the car, passing on the right (it's possible that this should be 
    in True Confessions) so as to read the upper portion of the message, I 
    discovered that it read in its entirety:
    
    		If you think education is expensive
    			   Try Ignorance
    
    a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree, btw.
    
    Did I mention, perhaps in an earlier note, some of my favorite book
    marks?   "Books fall open; you fall in" and "A book is a present you
    can open again and again" and "Books get you away from it all" (this
    one with a line drawing of a cave made of books, in which the reader
    crouches) and one with no words, just a line drawing of the reader
    flying away on wings made of books.
    
    aq

<         <<< Note 897.19 by REGENT::BROOMHEAD "Don't panic -- yet." >>>
[...]
<    Anne McCaffrey doesn't write fantasy.  (Hence the title, _Get_off_
<    _the_Unicorn!_.)  The dragon books are straight sf, written for

I had heard that the title was originally "Get Of the Unicorn", as in
child of the unicorn, but that the person doing the typesetting (or whatever)
accidentally read it wrong and put two "f's".  Has anyone else heard this?

        Carol

    The story is true.  It wasn't the typesetter; I think it was the
    editor.  When Anne heard it, she decided she liked it more, and
    it did suit the theme of the collection better.
    
    		*		*		*
    
    Anyhow.  What/when/where/how I like to read.
    
    I like to read curled up on the couch, or propped up in bed.  Finger
    food and milk or soda are a nice but very risky addition.
    
    I like to read sf (Gahan Wilson wrote a charming essay in "Fantasy &
    Science Fiction" in which he started to use this term with trepidation,
    and ended up becoming slobberingly fond of it.), which includes
    fantasy, and mysteries, and the Heyer-class of Regency romances.
    There are some Gothic romances (Anne McCaffrey, her friend Elsie Lee,
    Elizabeth Peters, and Madelaine (?) Brent) I enjoy.  I have been
    slowly reading the children's classics I never got around to as a kid.
    
    I read fairy tales, legends, myths, and books about them.  I find
    myself plunging into research, generally in the archaeology/
    anthropology vicinity.  It looks like stories about Cape Cod are
    next.  I also like books of science essays.  Oh, and books about
    the forensic sciences, of course.  Right, b?
    
    						Ann B.

    Re .33: What I wouldn't give to check out your library, Ann!
    
    [I find something wonderfully perverse in lounging on the couch,
    reading about the onset of rigor mortis or the formation of adipocere,
    while noshing on a cheese-steak sub or chugging Dr. Pepper... Doesn't
    make quite the same picture as reading Jane Austen while nibbling
    cucumber sandwiches, but variety _is_ supposed to be the jolly old curry
    powder of life, as they say, eh, what?]
    
    -b

    I don't think I could list all the writers I like, but I will
    try. I was interested that Phil said he gives away all his
    favorite books, because I do exactly that! If I like something,
    I want to share it with someone, so I usually give him or her the
    book and end up buying it again later because I miss it!
    I especially pass on my books to two of my sisters who live in the 
    country in Ireland and don't have good access to books. 
    
    Here's just what comes to mind at the moment: Shakespeare (I read the 
    sonnets more often than the plays) Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Faulkner,
    George Eliot, Isaac Bashevis Singer (the stories), Milan Kundera, 
    Iris Murdoch, Nadine Gordimer, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood,
    John Updike, Bernard Malamud, Ann Tyler, Yeats' poetry, Brian
    Moore (the early stuff), Garcia Marquez, anything by Cynthia
    Ozick, in spite of the fact that I can't understand some of
    her stories; I can't say this about any other writer), Edna
    O'Brien, Vaclav Havel (the play with the Italian title, I don't
    like the others as well, but this one is wonderful), Arthur
    Kopit's plays (especially End of the World with Symposium to
    Follow), Frank O'Connor, Dennis Potter (The Singing Detective 
    is the only thing of his I'm familiar with, but I love it), Jane
    Austen, and Muriel Spark. There's also a young writer named 
    Michael Chambon who writes for the New Yorker and has recently 
    published a book of short stories. His work is very special, 
    particularly for someone so young.
    
    I could go on and on. Books must be my favorite subject.
    
    Eileen
    

    maybe we need to start a womannotes book exchange to borrow and lend
    all our favorites!
    
    i don't think i've ever seen such a concentration of people who
    love to read...i've always been made to feel somewhat odd because
    of my reading addiction.  i will read virtually anything, anywhere,
    anytime.  the word bookworm (or could it be booksquirm?) i think 
    applies especially well to me, i since i'm rarely immobile while 
    reading and often look something like a contortionist in the 
    positions i end up in.  i am never without a book, or several backups.  
    i always snoop around people's bookshelves when i visit their homes, 
    and it's a damn good thing for them that i'm able to keep my 
    booklifting tendencies in check.
    
    i have a love/hate relationship with libraries because i love all
    the books but i hate to give them back.  i don't mind lending my
    own books, though, because i love sharing what i enjoyed reading.
    
    hey D!  how about organizing a book party....it's been awhile
    since i've heard any voice except my own reading aloud!

    Well, I'm another one who will read anything that's got words!  Avid
    bumper sticker reader, you name it, I've even been known to read soup
    cans if nothing else is handy and I've got a minute with nothing
    filling it!
    
    I love horror and dark fantasy (which I think puts me in a minority
    here, although I did see at least one Stephen King fan a bit back!).
    If anyone's interested, the newest Woman of Darkness (II) edited by
    Kathryn Ptacek is wonderful and well worth a read!  I also read self-
    help, woman's studies, occult titles, goddess studies, paganism, and
    animal interest/environmental subjects.  On the lighter side, I've
    read every Calvin and Hobbes book printed and wish there were more.
    
    I believe I was born with a book in my hand, I'm happiest when I'm
    reading *something*!  And I only bend pages in paperbacks I don't
    care too much about - I have a love affair with books I hope never
    ends - I have some wonderful signed copies of some of my favorite
    books/authors.  I can't possibly keep up with my demand for bookcases!
    Currently I have three filled, with a need for about 5 more, books
    everywhere! piled in front of the bookcases, stacked as high on other
    books on the shelves as I dare, in closets, tables, corners!  Can't
    get enough, and I never give a book away, if it interested me enough
    to read it in the first place, I just can't bear to part with them!
    Sign me up as another bookaholic!
    
      -HA

    My mother has said that the biggest mistake she made in raising me, was
    to let my grandfather teach me to read when I was four years old. I've
    not stopped since. I read mostly Science Fiction, some fantasy, mostly
    comedy type fantasy (Myth series, flat Earth that stuff) Comics, some
    mysteries, Occult studies, Goddess studies, True U.S. History, Cerial
    boxes, soup cans, stuff in the bathroom, just about anything and
    almopst constantly. I'm one of those people who doesn't look you
    directly in the eye, but it's because I'm reading something while
    holding the conversation. Usually the sign in the window or something
    tacked up on the wall. I'm working on this and have gotten pretty fair
    at ignoring the letters around me and concentrating on someone's eyes.
    It's still a concious act though.
    
    PJ who is reading while he is typing this.

    A Book Swap Party!!!!!!!  That's a great idea!!!!
    
    Anyone interested????????
    
    HRH

    Book Swap Party?  Sign me up!
    
    aq
    

    I'd be willing to host it......We could make it a
    pot luck supper/bring your swappable books/your bathing suit
    /your own towel/and have a backyard book swapping
    party.  I live down 495S towards the Cape....which may make
    this not a feasible idea, but what the heck.....Maybe an
    evening after work?  
    
    HRH
                                                                
    

    There there are two women's book discussion groups that have formed
    out of womennotes members. (I'm assuming since the node is a number
    not a name that this isn't Brian writing.)
    
    Bonnie

    Sign me up! Although I have conflicts about book swapping. 
    Books are precious to me. I won't part with a book unless I didn't 
    like it. And that's no recommendation to anyone else. Maybe we can
    bring some of the books we love, not to swap? I would love to
    talk about books I like, such as Joseph Campbell's Powers of Myth.
    I might even read an excerpt or two if people are interested.
    
    Thanks for hosting it, Lynne. I don't mind driving halfway to
    the Cape for a book party. I've been know to drive all the way
    there for much lesser events.
    
    Eileen 
     

    To continue that thought.....we could *lend* some of our
    favorites.  I always return what I borrow!!!  Sure! 
    We could make it a Share/Lend/Swap book party.
    
    Re .42 - I don't know the significance of the number instead
    of my node.....It has always had my node name before! ????
                                                  
    Lynne a.k.a. HRH

    
    
     1) I enjoy reading technical manuals, documentation,
    	references, etc...
    
     2)	When I had pneumonia last month I could not read
    	while lying down without wheezing till it got too
    	loud to continue!
    
     3) I detested the first book about Thomas Covenant after
    	page 99 or so and never finished it.
    
    

    .....would a weekday be o.k. with everyone?  Say, a
    Thurs or Fri evening from 6:00 to ---?  My place is
    about 45 mins from Marlboro, MA - 495 South..........
    We could eat, discuss books, swim & even play a little
    pool volleyball.  If you are interested, please contact
    me off-line.  We can do a group decision on the date,
    food, drink, etc.
    
        Lynne Mandile @BOO (Allin1), or BOOVX2::MANDILE
                              
    
    L-

    Re .42 - Do you have a members name I could send .46 to?
    
    Thx-
    
    Lynne

    haven't got time to catch up here-but I'd be interested in a bbok swap
    party.
    
    Christine

    too far to drive but I have a few books in need of a new home, could
    I send 'em?

    Sure!
    
    HRH

    
    
    Tentative dates are Aug 15th or 16th...
    
    Her Royalness

    Some of my faves include:
    
    The Female Unich 
    The Superwoman Syndrome
    Sybil
    Poetry by:
    	Dylan Thomas
    	Robert Frost
        
    I don't read fiction. It seems like a waste of time. I hate Shakespear
    because it's too violent. I usually read magazines instead. I'll read
    anything from National Geographic to People to Omni. I love auto_bio-
    graphies and biographies. I think real people are fascinating. I've
    read stories about Eleanor and Franklin, Thomas Edison and many others.
    Truth is stranger than fiction. 
    
    I can not read in bed. I will be in Dreamland within 20 minutes or
    less. It's a great sleep aid but It would take me 2 years to finish 
    1 book.
    
    Kate
    
       
    
    

    The date has been chosen!  The "Bookworm Bash" will
    be Friday, Aug 16th from 6:00 to ---, at my place.
    Bring your bathing suits and towels, any books you
    want to swap/lend/share/discuss, and, of course, 
    B.Y.O.B.  Food is typical BBQ, pot luck style.
    
    For directions and/or more info, contact me off
    line.
    
    HRH 

    The Bookworm Bash is on for tomorrow night!
    
    All are welcome....see you there!
    
    HRH

    It was fun!  
    
    And, maybe next time we will discuss books, hmmmm? (-;
    
    
    HRH

    sigh.  Sorry I missed it!
    
    E Grace