Soooo, as caregivers , we often find ourselves with time on our hands-not free time really, as we are still watching our loved one, but time when we need something to do. I love to read! I love to read scary ( but not gory) books. I am reading a pretty good spooky story called "The Loon" right now which is about a psychiatric prison about to go bonkers when a white out snow storm cuts them off from the outside. -and it was only 3.99 -but , I fear, it may have some gore in it so be warned.
So-how's about you guys? Any readers out there? Any good books to suggest? Or do you have another activity that you do that keeps you sane?
"The Shack"; about a man who tragically loses his daughter to a child abductor and his struggle to overcome the trauma via faith.
All are so worth the time invested.
Right now I'm reading "One Thousand Splendid Suns" by the same Afghan writer who wrote "Kite Runner" (his name escapes me right now). It's such a good book, such a good story.
For the other side of things, another series set in Michigan is the Chocoholic mysteries by JoAnna Carl.
I enjoyed the Smilla movie with Julia Ormond (although it doesn't capture the whole shoe thing, which I thought was interesting) and the Millennium series movies done in Norweigian with subtitles. Peter Hoeg's "Borderliners" is an interesting book, which I claim is about how traumatic the passage of time, any simple thing actually, can be traumatic to a damaged person. It was available at the libraries when it was translated to English but not sure if it's still readily available.
Also want to mention Camilla Lackberg while she's on my mind.
Also, find it a treat to read some of the older classic mysteries. Anything by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ross McDonald, Ed McBain, etc... And I enjoy reading Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" and watching the Bogart movie version right away to catch the few differences, as they are really quite close.
I also love Jo Nesbo, Henning Mankel, Hakan Nesser Karen Fossum. Smilla's Sense of Snow is one of my favorite books. I also love mysteries by US authors, C.J. Box (his all take place in Wyoming) and Steve Hamilton (his all take place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan).
Also, for something not-so-scary and light, I've been reading the silly combination books such as "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Seth Grahame-Smith, "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" by Seth Grahame-Smith and "Queen Victoria Demon Hunter" by A. E. Moorat. I thought they were fun. I tried watching the movie of the Lincoln one but just couldn't get into the on-screen gore. As a book, though, I just kind of laughed as I tried to imagine Lincoln doing all that.
If you hit MsDaizy's name, it will take you to her profile. She has on her Wall the poem her daughter did with the perspective of her grandma (who had dementia).
I love all kinds of books: light romance, humorous romance/mystery, etc... fantasies, light sci fi and supernaturals (werewolves, vamps, etc..) It's been years since I read Nina Kiriki Hoffman. I saw her short ebooks on Amazon, and paid $0.99 each. I forgot how her books have a way of keeping my attention on it. When I'm work, I couldn't wait to go home to read the ending. When it ended, my mind kept dwelling on the story.
Yesterday, I just finished reading one of my favorite author, Patricia Briggs, on the Mercy series. Am now reading another favorite author, Ilona Andrews, other series (not very fond of this Edge series since it tends to be a lot of fighting, head flying off, being eaten alive, being turned to another creature/monster while alive, torture, etc...). But since I started her 1st book, I'm compelled to read the rest of the series. My favorite series from her is actually the Kate Andrew series. I'm on a break from reading because I just finished reading a gory fight and needed a break from that Edge book. I would skip the fightings but I learned from the past books, that the supposedly dead man was alive. I had to backtrack to the fighting and read carefully and saw where there was a possibility that he survived. So...
I should have mentioned that I can easily afford to be a compulsive reader with the library nearby.
msdaizy, you didn't tell us how to get to your daughter's blog.
Lately, though, with my mother having moved in and having memory problems, I've become focused on reading books about memory. It has made me think I can better understand and help her AND that I'm probably preparing for my own future, too.
A couple good memory/caregiving books: " Counting on kindness : the dilemmas of dependency" Wendy Lustbader and "Where Did I Leave My Glasses?: The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Loss" by Martha Weinman Lear,
I also cross-stitch like a maniac and like jigsaw puzzles. Plus, I love music. Both mom and I like movies and I'm lucky to have TCM (Turner Classic Movies) where I can find plenty of movies for both of us, but I also get free movies from the library quite often, too.
I am also lucky in that I can still keep my outside activities and once every other week get out to something or another on my own. I'm lucky both because Mom doesn't need 24/7 care but also because my spouse would take that for the couple hours that I'm gone. I do know how lucky I am.
My book recommendation is "The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo. For anyone that like the Millennium series ("The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and the like), that series was disturbing. Jo Nesbo's books aren't just disturbing but downright scary. I was reading them at night in the winter when there was snow and kept thinking how glad I was that the doors were all locked tightly.
finds herself eh? my ex found herself, working 12 hr shifts while her gutbag husband lays in bed till noon. i do love happy endings..
I am not very tech savvy myself , Standing Alone. I just got a disposable cell phone as I had to drive with my Mom for quite a distance alone and my husband insisted that I get one. I do not know the number! -haha.
But my Kindle-love it! I do miss book stores and , yes, that smell!!!, but I had books all over and did not want to get rid of them- And I now can go to my "bookstore" at 1 AM when I cannot sleep and have nothing to read. And it is cheaper, I think. But I do still enjoy a good paper back. But I do miss being able to click on a word I do not understand and get the definition. Ahhh, they are both good-as long as I can reeeeaaadd!
As for Twitter-I resisted for a long time -I do not like Facebook- but I made a twitter account not using any personal info- used a childhood nickname and use it as entertainment. I like the Real housewives series ( blushing-I KNOW-horrible but ,hey, it is a guilty pleasure) and you can tweet during the show with other fans and it is a HOOT! I do not use it for family just fun stuff. Lots of people tweet during GOT I bet. People will pick up on things and share them via Twitter. If you notice shows now show a hashtag - # - and a word to share your thoughts. It is just fun. OK-just saying' I did not think I would like it but I do! It makes me feel less , well, alone. Isolated. (sigh)
You sold me on GOT!! I will have to check it out after I read these new books I got. This Dead Size seems to be a weird twist on Gulliver's Travels.
Anyone ever read Phillip K. Dick? He is a science fiction writer from the fifties. He has some great short stories! I think short stories are awesome quick reads if you do not have time or energy for a whole novel.
Dean Koontz is another great author for some awesome creepy, crawly reading... He injects humor in there, and you don't know whether to giggle insanely, or be horrified... Love him... lol
I am so far behind the times it's sad...but at the same time, I'm kind of happy about it, too..
.I don't own a cell, and I've never twittered, watched Netflix, nor do I own a kindle, or any device besides my computer...*blushes* it's kind of weird, but I like my life simplified, and with all the new technology out there...to me, it's confusing as hell, and really complicated...
I can roll with it to a certain degree, adapt to it, learn how to use all this stuff...but to replace the real thing with a machine? No way!
I just want to go to the book store, the one that smells so deliciously like wonderful brand new books, and just...step into all these fantasy worlds in person, up close...where I can grab and see and smell books.... I hope no one denies themselves that delicious pleasure...
....or the caramel brownies they sell at their little shop in the back... And that delicious dark coffee they have that smells so good a mile away... Now I have an urge to hang out at the bookstore awhile. :) Now I'm rambling..
Dead Size....sounds creepy! Is it? I love a good, scary read... Let us know!
Right now I have found some cheap reads on Kindle that I am trying out-new authors that are selling their wares for cheap-it is a hit or miss kinda thing. Funny I am on Twitter and followed a few of the new authors I found and now other authors are following me trying to get me to read them. So weird how Twitter and Kindle and HBO and Netflix has changed the face of entertainment.
I am rambling. It is late and I cannot sleep. I guess I will read my new download-Dead Size. I'll let you know if it is a hit or a miss :0)
I love ESP books too!! Anything paranormal.-except paranormal romance books -I read sooooo many romance books in my teens I think I exhausted my interest. Still like the romantic movie , though. I will have to check out the one with Andrew McCarthy-a good eighties boy for ya!! ( ahhhh, St. Elmo 's Fire) .
Christina W-that is cool about researching the authors behod the books. I guess the closest I have come to that is meeting Stephen King!-love him!!!-and getting him to sigh my dog earred book-The Stand. No one make fun of Mr. King!!!-I adore his books!!! I saw him and his wife and son at their Three Kings reading. I met all three. They were all delightful! I never really researched into the author's though, that is a neat idea.
This topic makes me happy!! I am going to look up all the books talked about!!!
im mischievious but honestly its just a youtube documentary about law and order in philly. nothing gory, just cops babysitting derilects day in and out. theres a relatively new strategy in this country right now. drug dealers are taken downtown and threatened with some very serious prison time. then theyre told to go home and make sure one bullet doesnt fly in their respective neighborhood. the dealers are actually the ones preventing the violence. its crazy but its working and we are training european law enforcement in this concept. drugs are the only revenue these people have. weve settled for just stopping the gunfire.
americans arent going to give up weapons either. as eastern states are putting the pressure on gun manufacturers indiana is right now creating incentives to bring the manufacturers here. just good paying manufacturing jobs to us. we,ll take it..
Mishka, I watched a documentary on Agatha Christy this morning. I read all of her books when I was pregnant with my son! I am intrigued with her. I love mysteries, love to figure out the motivation of perpetrator. Have not read Dick, but he is another interesting character. I enjoy analyzing authors and what makes them tick after reading at least one on their books. I love Alistair MacLeod from Nova Scotia. Dark, Celtic stuff.