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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Nonfiction Galore

I finished Surely, You're Joking Mr. Feynman and enjoyed it. Will review soon.

Went to the library with a list of about 10 books--some were checked out, some just weren't on the shelves, one was reported lost. Came away with three from my list:

Marley & Me
- John Grogan (haven't seen the movie yet; have you read it or seen the movie?)

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time - John Kelly (recommended by Dorothy of Books & Bicycles)

Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love - Dava Sobel (via Stefanie of So Many Books)

Ordered Frozen in Time and Talking to the Dead through interlibrary loan.


Also received Starfinder sent by the author, John Marco (thanks, John!). It is a YA fantasy novel with a lovely cover, due out in May. I'm a great fan of fantasy and look forward to this one.

These join the stacks which are already quite tall, but somehow, I just keep finding great titles that I'm eager to read.

8 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed Galileo's Daughter. Well-written, educational, and enjoyable. I am wondering what Dava Sobel is working on now--I loved Longitude and Latitude.

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  2. I haven't read Marley & Me yet, nor have I seen the movie...but a co-worker friend of mine said he went with his wife this past weekend and talked about how touching of a film it was. He alluded to crying, but I fear the crowd intimidated him from admitting it blatantly!

    Please review when you're done!

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  3. Marley and Me is great! I have read the book and seen the movie. :)

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  4. I have my copy of Starfinder now too. I'm looking forward to reading that one too. :-)

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  5. Kim - I'm enjoying Galileo's Daughter, too. So different from the concise mentions in most history books. I may have to look at Longitude and Latitude since I'm enjoying Sobel's style.

    Chris - Uh oh...crying. Looking forward to reading it and will certainly review.

    Kailana - Wonderful! Can't wait to get to it!

    LF - Don't you love the dragon on the cover?

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  6. Galileo's Daughter was a great read. I remember being a bit skeptical at first (back when I really didn't read non-fiction) and was surprised at how engaging it was. Hope you'll enjoy it and all your other goodies. I got Starfinder too - can't wait!

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  7. I read "Marley And Me" when it first came out and I loved it.

    I posted this on my blog back then and thought you might like to read it too.

    What are you reading or what have you read recently that you would recommend ? I recently finished reading "Marley and Me", the book that Maria on "Silver Fox Whispers" recommended. I really enjoyed this story (true) about a misbehaving yellow lab and his owners trials tribulations and joy they found in loving "Marley" the big dumb ox. After reading about Marley, I felt I wanted to learn more about the author,John Grogan, so I looked him up at the "Philadelphia Enquirer" newspaper where he is a columnist. Then I sent him an email and got a reply:
    -------------------------------------------------------------



    My email to John Grogan

    Grogan, John Subject: Marley And Me Expose Column

    Funny I should happen upon your article about the "allegations" regarding you and Marley. I just returned home from dinner with my husband daughter, son in law, his mother and 3 grandchildren ranging in age from 5 to 9.

    During the dinner conversation I asked my daughter "Have you read "Marley and Me"? She said she had really enjoyed it. I also asked her if she really believed that Marley could have done all those wild and crazy things or if the author embellished some of the antics. She said yes.she did believe every word.

    And then she reminded me of the black Lab mix that could have been Marley's twin separated at birth as far as behavior is concerned. Daughter tried obedience training but "Georgia" just did not get it. After Georgia ate up a 5 foot long wooden planter and part of the deck, daughter could take it no longer so she gave "Georgia" to a friend who had a farm.

    On the other hand our son who had the litter mate to Georgia (he named her Allie since he and his family had found the two pups on the side of the highway on their return trip from Alabama to Georgia,) would not think of giving up his Lab who coexists with the two Jack Russells who were the original dogs in their family. We all think that Allie got more of the Lab DNA than Georgia did. I did not know until then that pups from the same litter can have different Dads.

    Anyway I am not quite finished with "Marley And Me" but I know how it will end as Marley is not feeling well and has lost his hearing so I am preparing to cry at the end.

    Our last dog was a Springer Spaniel named "Mollie". Smartest dog that ever graced this planet. She must have had a terrific internal clock. Every night she would get up from her favorite spot in the den and put herself to bed in the kitchen at exactly 10pm. When the time changed she went to bed at 9pm until her clock reset itself.

    Like Marley, our Mollie also went deaf a few years before her death. Sad. "Mollie" died in our kitchen from smoke inhalation after lightening struck our house while we were out for the evening. Sweet dog. that broke my heart. I still miss her.

    Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble but you probably know how 76 year old grandmothers love to talk. I just wanted to tell you I am sorry for even thinking you might have taken poetic license about Marley

    It is a great book. and a fine tribute to Marley. You really loved that big guy.

    Chancy Gardner

    PS: Daughter and her family decided they wanted a small inside dog so they got a Havanese. So all is well now with the children who were sad when Georgia had to leave.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    John Grogan's Reply:

    "Thanks for your note, Chancy...and yes, it's ALL true. As any Lab owner knows, these dogs do the darnedest things.

    best to you, John"
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  8. iliana - I'm enjoying Galileo's Daughter, although Galileo certainly crowds her off the stage! I love reading her letters to him. I'm looking forward to Starfinder as well!

    Chancy - I love that you emailed the author! Bet he printed and saved it. I'd like to read the book before seeing the movie, but we'll see!

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