I am really enjoying the Sawtelle book. The child is portrayed so well and is a very believable character.

Bleak House needed some review as I has set it aside, and I made the mistake of picking up one of the Cliff's notes type things that my husband had with his teaching stuff...mistake! It doesn't just review each chapter, but each is chock full of spoilers! Bah Humbug!

The Bryson is my carry along book because it is so episodic that each section stands well alone and it can be interrupted. Best of all, is that the 50's were my childhood...my hometown downtown/business area came readily to mind with his description of his. I called my mother and we reminisced about the departmenet stores, especially some of their Christmas decorations and traditions.

And that brings up the cause of my reading malaise. My mother is ill and is in hospice...so my mind doesn't always track and concentrate well. Paragraphs need to be reread and reread. But our last good conversation was about the Bryson book and memories of hometown, state fair, etc.

The two theological books are ongoing projects...read and then mulled over. Also rather therapeutic at this time. It keeps the mind busy, but can be done in small spurts.

Sorry to hear about your mother Veronica. I hope she isn't suffering too much. Do you find it difficult to keep all those books straight in your mind? I used to read several books simultaneously but I just can't do it anymore. I have to stick with one at a time.

I am still reading Sarum and enjoying it. I noticed that Rutherford isn't big on dialogue and conversation, more like a story teller and I like it that way. One of the things that keeps me from writing my own stuff is that I hate the dialogue I come up with, it sounds so corny so maybe I should try the story teller approach.

I prefer to read the introductions at the end, then I can make my own opinion.

BTW, has anyone else noticed a change in the appearance of the pages of the individual threads? It seems to me that the text in blue (used to display our names and a few other things) is kept very faded and light until I log in. Once I have logged in, the blue color resumes the depth and brightness that I have considered normal over the years. Is this happening to every RPer? Might this be a security upgrade?

Yes, I have noticed the lightness and I have to click on someone, anyone's, name to get them to be legible and dark. I find it kind of annoying actually.

I haven't noticed the problem with the appearance of the pages, but I continue to be annoyed by the inadequacy of the search engine here. Many times I want to look up a particular book; I find it hard to believe it has never been mentioned and am reluctant to raise a topic already discussed...

Rosefolly

I'm used to message boards that have a readily accessible member list and an easy way to find all (or most) of the previous posts by a given member. If this board has either of these features, I haven't found it.

For a long time I thought it wouldn't matter, but now I wonder if the lack of those features may be one reason I never feel as if I "know" anybody here even well enough to post a reply in a thread.

Obviously others find this situation to their liking, and I'm probably just odd.

I find I'm less apt to hurt somebody's feelings that way. I find it hard to reply to a disembodied comment that just sits there on the screen, with no human being behind it that I know of.

I haven't really posted since I've been coming back for about a week now, but I have been reading through missed posts. I was lucky enough to come upon one about the book "Garden Spells," which was in my TBR pile. The reviews here inspired me to read it, and I am very glad I did. Loved the book...the only trouble is that it is hard to get into another book after that one. I am now reading a mystery and finally have my mind wrapped up in this book.

Jwttrans, I think if you posted and checked Readers Paradise for several years, you would find revealed some of the unique interests and personalities of the long time posters. Such has been the case for myself.

Recently, I am doing a lot of re-reading of old favorites because I can't always find the newer books I want at our libraries. (Have had to make myself stop buying books).

Kelly

I was just giving my opinion of the way this board works--not well for me, given my experience with so many other message boards that do have easy access to the member lists and to each member's posts, searchable on an individual basis.

Although I can see that this board's format won't ever change, I was offering my reply in this thread about why some people don't post.

I miss Frieda's and Martin's posts.

Yes, this format is a bit different than other forums. I think it is a good basic style, but the lack of more advanced functions can be off-putting. I guess I have become used to it over the years.

I have been reading like crazy and also watching a lot of films, mostly foreign and independent. I just don't have a whole lot of insights to share. I get such great ideas from this site, I wish I could contribute more.

But I am back now and will be posting more often.

Hope others will as well.

Summer has been taken up by "grandson", and it has been great fun. I imagine the reading season is pretty much here; I found myself reading an ebook last week, much to my suprise.

Regards,
Bob

I have just got out of hospital where I was for five days. People tend to assume that you have lots of time to sleep and read when you're in a place like that, but it aint' true folks. I found that it was easier to sleep during the day than during the night when they seem to save all the tests for then. Don't understand it, but there you go.

As for reading, I was on a 24/7 morphine pump so I was pretty loopy for most of the time. I didn't read a thing which is a shame as it would have been a good bed to read it in - electronic backrest, elevated foot rest, good light and plenty of time. Oh well. Maybe next time!

Another missing person: where in Jankin? She never did report back to us about whether she liked the writing of W.G. Sebald.....

All this depends on your condition, of course. If you are critically ill and/or in an ICU, this wouldn't be a good idea.

We miss you!