Showing posts with label Books to Talk About. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books to Talk About. Show all posts

Monday, April 16, 2012

Books To Talk About - The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant




BOOK TO TALK ABOUT


The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant
Married couple Fred and Elly Bulkington won an Irish Pub in a contest. They  sweep up everything to move to Ireland. Fred takes on being in charge of the pub and Elly obsessed with her love of swimming in the Atlantic and discovers a island.   Both Elly and Fred learn lore of Ireland.  They lose part of themself and their marriage.




DISCUSS IN THE COMMENTS

1) What would it take if someone offered you a business to run in another country to up and move your family?  Would you worry that it would affect your family relationship with each other?

2) Do you believe any Irish lore you may have heard?  


SITES TO VISIT

http://mattbondurant.com/

Monday, March 19, 2012

Books To Talk About - Restoration by Olaf Olafsson


Taking place during WWI Alice marries surprising her family and friends with who she marries. Alice falls in love with a childhood sweet heart and is blackmailed by an artist because she is still married.   
She later meets a woman with past just as marred as her’s.   Together they realize that dwelling in the past is nothing compared to being in a war zone in the present. Together they try to Restore their lives


DISCUSS IN THE COMMENTS

1) Since this is set in the past during WWI do think that blackmailing a person because of an affair would have worked even in the present time?

2)  If you were living in a country like Italy during a World War what would be the number one thing on your mind to fix in your life?

Monday, November 21, 2011

Books To Talk About - Nikolas & Company: A Creature Most Foul by Kevin McGill


BOOKS TO TALK ABOUT

Nikolas Lyons is about to embark on an adventure, he is about to become a hero or try too at least.  His grandfather Nikolas Lyons XII has just told him that he does not come from the planet he lives on and the woman’s voice he hears is the voice of his planet Mon.  Which is actually the Earth and the Moon combined in the future.  All things that seem to make sense to him in a way.  His brother Tim is skeptical though.  He thinks there grandfather has lost it.  

Along with a group of refuge friends they travel to Mon heeding the voice’s warnings of disillusion.






DISCUSS IN THE COMMENTS

1) Some people feel that Mother Earth speaks in different ways.  Have you ever heard the voice of the planet in any way? or do you believe Earth has a voice?

2) If your life was going to be in peril would you bring all of your friends? (considering that their fates might have been subjected to deadly viruses instead of adventure)


SITES TO VISIT

http://www.nikolasandco.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tULUoQHcBkg

Monday, October 31, 2011

Books To Talk About - The Countess by Rebecca Johns


It's Halloween what better way to celebrate then to have a discussion about one of Bram Stoker's inspiration to Dracula.   

The Countess is a historical fiction about Erzsébet Báthory.  Based on the true story of the real Countess Bathory who killed 34 of her servants, mostly woman, for there blood.  One of the things she believed was if she bathed in it would make her young.  From how she became a Countess to her fate of being walled up into  her castle tower for her crimes.  This book brings to life the fascinating tale of the world's first female serial killer.

DISCUSS IN THE COMMENTS

1. Are there characters in the fictional world or the real world now that remind you of Countess Bathory? 


2. Do you think you could ever feel sympathy for a woman who killed 34 people for the reasons she did?


3.  What do you think drove her to kill?


Monday, August 29, 2011

Books To Talk About - That Day In September

Books To Talk About


That Day In September by Artie Van Why


Most of us remember the day and will never forget it.  It was a day that changed not only the lives of the U.S.A. but the World. 9/11 can be seen as a day of great tragedy for all the lives that had been lost that day.   It can also be seen as a day that many learned to live again or live for those that are no longer with us.

That Day In September is a memoir about a man who worked across from the twin tower the day of the attacks on 9/11 and how that day and the lives of those lost changed his life.  The novel takes you from the day of the attacks to present day of how it changed Artie Van Why’s life.



DISCUSS IN THE COMMENTS

1) Where were you the day of 9/11? What were your first thoughts when you found out about the attacks?

2) How has your life been affected after that day?  Do you live in fear or do you live your life more fully now?

*my answer will be in the comments. I realize I haven’t been answering the questions myself and will do so more often.


SITES TO VISIT
That Day in September Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/ThatDayInSeptember
That Day in September You Tube Trailer http://youtu.be/7KYI1qU5Hoo
Wikipedia Entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Books To Talk About - This Doesn't Happen In The Movies


Books To Talk About

Old crime noir movies--let’s say Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon--what does a film like that make you expect from current mystery novels, if anything? If the mystery you are reading is set in the present day, what would you not expect from it? Would there still be a femme fatale pulling the sheet over the detectives’ eyes until the very end? What would it take to turn a detective as smooth as Sam Spade into a more realistic present day detective?

This Doesn’t Happen in the Movies is a detective novel that pays humorous homage to the likes of Humphrey Bogart. Adding present day technology, wanna-be detective Reed Ferguson and a group of likable characters steal the headlines in This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies.


DISCUSS IN THE COMMENTS
1) When you think of Humphrey Bogart mystery movies, which ones stands out the most?

2) What kind of things happen in mystery movies that you don’t think happen in real life detective or P.I. cases?


SITES TO VISIT

http://www.reneepawlish.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Bogart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon_%281941_film%29

Monday, August 1, 2011

Books To Talk About : Speed of Light by Lee Baker



BOOKS TO TALK ABOUT

What if people could move the speed of light? Not faster then it but the speed of it.
Supposedly in recent news there has been proof that this will never be possible.  Einstein said we would not be able to, but what if (as some humans can be) Einstein is wrong.

This book, a work of fiction, is about Pierce Black a man about to make the first flight at the speed of light.   After the flight he awakens from a coma to a different view of the world. The past is not just haunting him but continually berating him with visions of his wife’s murder and now he is in danger.  Pierce tries to comprehend what is happening to him and whether or not he is loses his mind.

DISCUSS IN THE COMMENTS

1) Do you think it ever possible even with current scientific news that man could travel the speed of light?Why?

2)Do you think this would make a interesting movie premise?


SITES TO VISIT

http://leebakeronline.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_light

Monday, May 16, 2011

Books to Talk About - The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea Vol. I and Vol.II by S.D. Moore

The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea, Vol. 1   The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea Vol. II: Nothing But the Tooth

Let's Talk about about

Officially I am promoting Vol . II which just came out but how can you mention a Vol. II of the Adventure of PJ And Split Pea with out mentioning Vol. I

PJ a little boy small for his age and is known to get picked on gains a friend in a parrot name Split Pea, who has a British accent, also has things about his feathers that indeed make him a target for teasing..
Together they go on humorous adventures as the author uses kid logic and lessons in life to make it through troubled times.

In Vol. I  Fine Feathered Friends PJ and Split Pea met for the first time and PJ tries to help Split Pea with his feather problem.

 Then In Vol. II Nothing but the Tooth PJ loses a tooth just before school pictures and tries various way to come out with the perfect school picture.










 Did any of you readers get picked on as children like PJ and Split Pea do?
As bullying and teasing are big topics for today and  part of growing up for most kids (myself included).  Do you think a book like this would have helped you or would help any kid dealing with these issues learn to laugh and enjoy life a little more?
Leave a comment and discuss below.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Books to Talk About - The Answer by Allison Wynn


Today I would like to take some time and post about a book that I have not read yet but I think would spark discuss.   The book is called The Answer by Allison Wynn.

From Press Release
"...Wynn’s accessible narrative begins with Eric McPhearson stopping off at his favorite coffee shop for a pick-me-up before work. He is an angry man. His marriage is non-existent; his career seems on the rocks. While sipping his coffee, he spots and starts reading a stranger’s journal left on a table.
What he reads in the fine, leather bound journal suddenly silences all the anger inside him. He undergoes a breakthrough in his troubled marriage and his work, and he begins to live a happier, more peaceful existence.
Like Eric, the readers of The Answer will begin to explore the roots of the conflicts they’re experiencing in their relationships, and through the book’s simple, resonating message begin to make peace with those relationships. While that is sometimes easier said than done, Wynn acknowledges, her process does work and does restore the power of choice to create changes in one’s life.
Allison Wynn has spent thirty years as a professional in leadership effectiveness, personal empowerment coaching and family and relationship development. The two questions she’s been asked the most, she writes, are “How do I deal with anger in either myself or others?” and “How do I create a more peaceful life?”
This guide was written from her experience in helping others to find a practical way to answer those questions..."




I think those are good questions at the end there... How do you deal with anger in myself or others?...Then How can you create a peaceful life?

My answers:   With anger in myself I have in previous time let it build until I burst and something bad happens.   Then there is blame and guilt and anger at myself for not voicing what I felt in the first place.  
If someone is angry with me I am usually very sensitive about it I again blame myself feelings of fault and guilt.    They get angry with me I get angry with me.   

How do I create a peaceful life ...well trying to deal with issue straight forward now and not waiting until I burst and hurt someone or myself.  

How would you answer these questions and what are your thoughts on the book?  Post in the comments!!