Member: ggchickapee

Thank you for your positive comments, it's always nice to be appreciated. :o)

posted by laphroaig at 4:06 pm (EST) on Sep 27, 2009

You know I didn't and now I'm going to be in trouble as I go directly to Amazon.com and order!!! Good thing I have some reward points...Thanks for pointing that out. I wasn't aware of the first volume. Have a nice labor day.

posted by swkoenig at 8:52 pm (EST) on Sep 4, 2009

I'm am too. Though I'm not sure when I'm going to get to it. My list is so long and time so short between work and kids. Perhaps a chapter here and a chapter there....

posted by swkoenig at 7:01 pm (EST) on Sep 4, 2009

Thanks for the kind words! Your blog is great, too.

posted by bermudaonion at 10:37 am (EST) on Jan 19, 2009

Hi there...I actually got a copy of Justice Denied from a publicist for my book review website. You have quite a library on here!

There are a lot of other books I have reviewed if you wanted to check out the blog. It is at http://www.lettersonpages.com.

Thanks!

posted by lettersonpages at 11:49 pm (EST) on Jan 2, 2009

Hi,

I very much enjoyed reading your review of "In Hovering Flight". I also read it when I received it as an Early Reviewers book. You really "hit the nail on the head" with your review and have good insight on the books good points and bad. I was not able to really put my finger on what was missing from this book, it was good but somehow a little disappointing. You showed me why with your review. Well done.

Lorie

posted by loriephillips at 8:21 am (EST) on Dec 11, 2008

Heigh ho, me hearty! I see you have a copy of “A Pirate of Exquisite Mind” in your library. The Highly-Rated Book Group is boarding the Pirate Ship of William Dampier and heading off into the high seas for a rollicking Buccaneering Adventure in the wild blue yonder. We are splicing the main brace and trimming the sails to set off with the tide on 3rd November 2008. So don’t be a landlubber, come and swash some buckles by climbing on board at:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/apira...

-TT

posted by TheTortoise at 2:23 pm (EST) on Oct 9, 2008

My latest comment about Sarah Palin is a question. I hope that somebody can shed some light.

I started reading Oldest Living Confederate Widow, had trouble getting into it, and put it aside. But I still have it and will probably go back to it. It seems to be one of those books that people either love or strongly dislike. Sometime I don't give a book enough of a chance at first but am glad that I tried again later.

posted by ainsleytewce at 9:27 pm (EST) on Sep 20, 2008

Hi again. I just wanted you to know I have read several of the books you recommended to me and they were amazing. Thank you for your suggestions. I think some of them will always be listed with my favorites!Brenda

posted by wordwanderer at 1:01 am (EST) on Sep 3, 2008

Thanks for the welcome. So far things have been fun on the group and I look forward to further discussions.

Happy reading!

Bryan

posted by OriginalOgre at 10:33 pm (EST) on Aug 30, 2008

Hello again!

Thanks for the wonderful comments on my blog. Yours looks great, and I really need to spend some time reading it. I love making book lists too. In fact, I would love to share some of mine with you. I need to make a list of the political books I've been reading and plan to read. Once I take a minute to do it, I'll send you a copy. A couple that I've read have dealt extensively with Hillary Clinton. It made for interesting reading as Obama shored up the nomination.

I will certainly be in touch.

Lindsey

posted by russelllindsey at 3:52 pm (EST) on Aug 23, 2008

Hello!

Thanks for the comment. I love the name of your blog. I actually originally thought that you were from Rose City, Michigan until I went to your blog. Your blog looks great. I will have to dig much deeper. I went ahead and added you as a friend.

Lindsey

http://www.russelllindsey.blogspot.com

posted by russelllindsey at 9:00 pm (EST) on Aug 19, 2008

Hi!

Thank you for the comment on my blog! I was starting to worry about my pacific NW stats. You're the first from that area.

To be honest, I haven't read any of Poe's prose work, so I would say, absolutely go ahead and "The Beautiful Cigar Girl" first. I think if I'd read his mysteries first, I would just have gone back and had to re-read them after reading this one. I can't wait until I can get to them, myself.

I, too, have been in a 19th century mood lately. I don't know why. But I'm trying to put as much variety in my reviews as possible so I have to hold my steam on some things. I wish I had more time and was a faster reader. I'm very slow.

By the way, if you're at all interested in the sideshow folks of that era, try "Chang and Eng". It's about the "siamese" twins that worked for Barnum. It's a fictionalized bio. but really interesting.

posted by retropelocin at 11:19 pm (EST) on Aug 17, 2008

And I thought I was a reader. Well, actually, I'm more of a writer. Thanks for the invite to the Oregonians group -- people in the western part of our state should all be curled up with books for a good six months out of the year. Glad to see that at least some of us are! Thomas Hager

posted by relhager at 6:26 pm (EST) on Aug 7, 2008

Thank you for the welcome to Political Conservatives. I have always been a conservative, starting in the Eisenhower era when I was first introduced to National Review by a college classmate.

These are challenging times for conservatives, not only in terms of political chances, but also in the realm of ideas. If you check out my library, you will see many books on Islam, military history, and terrorism. After a initial burst of activity, I have not been as active as before on LT, and I have only posted a few messages in the Political Conservatives group.

Oh, I have been to Portland, on my way to visit my nephew in Battleground.

posted by davidt8 at 9:57 am (EST) on Jun 20, 2008

Thank you for the welcome. As a fiscal conservative, social liberal, and somewhat of a constitutionalist, I often have no idea where I stand. The major problem is a party platform (no matter which one) written to please a certain few while leaving out many. This is where my libertarian leanings kick in. I started out by selling cans of Goldwater, campaigned for Hillary, now they are both gone. I am thinking about starting a campaign to have McCain choose Susan Collins of Maine as VP.

Really appreciate your welcome as I was exasperated with the thread "The Feminist Disease" and ready to split and run. I tend to be analytical in my approach. I guess that's why I'm such a fan of Senator Collins.

I haven't had a chance to look at your library, it's good sized, but intend to. Mine has a bit of everything as I rarely read a book I don't enjoy for one reason or another.

posted by muzzie at 9:03 pm (EST) on Jun 17, 2008

Actually, the comments on my blog are moderated which is why it didn't show up immediately. I have to authorize the posting (which I did today). I really do recommend the older BBC adaptation of Mansfield Park and it's available on DVD at a fairly reasonable price. It consists of 6 or eight episodes so you get at least a full day or week's worth of viewing.

I do enjoy the Julia Fleming-Spencer mysteries that you reference. I don't think I've reviewed any on my blog as yet.

I will go visit your blog now and get to know you a little bit more as well!

Jill

posted by jillmwo at 12:44 pm (EST) on Mar 23, 2008

Thank you for the welcome. The way to keep coffee grounds at the bottom of the coffee pot when serving (assuming you've boiled the coffee as done in times past) is to pour out a saucer of coffee and let cool. Then pour the cool saucer of coffee back into the pot. The cool liquid will sink to the bottom taking with it the suspended coffee grounds. Serve.

I haven't tried it but maybe I will someday.

posted by kb1dqt at 4:33 pm (EST) on Mar 22, 2008

Thanks for the welcome. I don't know if I'd label myself a conservative, but I enjoy the back-and-forth.

posted by davedonelson at 8:20 pm (EST) on Feb 27, 2008

Thanks for the welcome to the PCG. It's interesting and I have enjoyed it.

posted by tcgardner at 8:59 am (EST) on Feb 26, 2008

Thanks for the welcome to the Political Conservatives group. I find it interesting reading.

As far as audiobooks go, I do not own an Ipod, I just stick to cassettes and CDs at this point. I do not work outside the home, so I just sit at my computer and listen as I am playing or web surfing.

posted by alcottacre at 7:04 am (EST) on Feb 26, 2008

Wow how fascinating! You sound very accomplished :-)
It is very different in Australia. It seems that in America you spent alot more time in school! We graduate from high school at 18 and then go on to university where we start a generic law degree which covers all aspects of law over 5 years. The 5th year allows you to gain a practicing certificate. However, you cannot study law without studying another degree at the same time (to be completed within the 5 years)i will therefore be graduating in 5 years with a communications degree and a law degree. Does that make sense?

posted by lawrose at 11:21 pm (EST) on Feb 25, 2008

Thanks ggchickapee :-)
You are the first to write a comment on my profile! I thought perhaps my library was too humble at this stage to be noticed. I was extremely happy to see a group devoted to the discussion of political conservatism and was especially pleased to see women involved in discussions.
I see that you practice law part-time, if you don't mind me asking, what do you specialise in?

posted by lawrose at 5:53 pm (EST) on Feb 25, 2008

Thanks for the comment - yeah, the Amazon thing is a bit of oddness. Not that I don't love the site to death (my debit card knows it all too well!), but the whole sub-culture of top reviewers is something itching for an in-depth sociological study.

=)

Steph

posted by stephmo at 2:18 pm (EST) on Feb 21, 2008

Just preordered Nothing to Lose from Amazon and thought of you.
Besotted

posted by bookbesotted at 11:15 am (EST) on Feb 19, 2008

Thanks for the note on Anthony Powell- I sort of went into morning when I finished Dance to the Music of time- I had been reading one of them every other month or so for a LONG time.

Just looked at the Modern Library 100 Best Fiction again and realize that I haven't read any new ones in quite a while. I think I like the Radcliffe List more! Started reading the Modern Library list because my father was doing it too- I think he may have finished the list.

I have a sister who lives in Joseph, Oregon, by the way- Beautiful!

Best, Michael

posted by belgrade18 at 8:21 pm (EST) on Dec 14, 2007

Hello "g". ;-)

Here's the "Teutonic" version. I'm German through and through and prefer order to chaos, but honestly, skip around. He had an early, middle and late period but there's plenty of bleed in all three and the one Huck & Tom bit of sequel juvenalia, TOM SAWYER ABROAD doesn't have much in the way of character development.

A crude person who I will not name but who's initials match up to my own right down the line would liken this reading method to "always starting with the toe sucking, no matter the results" - so it's a good thing he's not here.

****************************************...

Here's the uber-teutonic version...

This list is only good and reliable up to to 1965. A fair amount of trunk material including a metric ton of correspondence and early journalism has surfaced since then. ***DO NOT*** read the 1916 version of THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. That is a corrupt version assembled by Albert Bigelow Paine from 3 different partially completed manuscripts and heavily edited (censored) by Paine. Read one of the two or three (it's complicated) more recent California Press editions.

- Barney Dannelke

(1867) Advice for Little Girls (fiction)
(1867) The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (fiction)
(1868) General Washington's Negro Body-Servant (fiction)
(1868) My Late Senatorial Secretaryship (fiction)
(1869) The Innocents Abroad (non-fiction travel)
(1870-71) Memoranda (monthly column for The Galaxy magazine)
(1871) Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance (fiction)
(1872) Roughing It (non-fiction)
(1873) The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (fiction, made into a play)
(1875) Sketches New and Old (fictional stories)
(1876) Old Times on the Mississippi (non-fiction)
(1876) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (fiction)

(1876) A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage (fiction); (1945, private edition), (2001, Atlantic Monthly).[55]

(1877) A True Story and the Recent Carnival of Crime (stories)
(1877) The Invalid's Story (Fiction)
(1878) Punch, Brothers, Punch! and other Sketches (fictional stories)
(1880) A Tramp Abroad (travel)
(1880) 1601: Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside (fiction)
(1882) The Prince and the Pauper (fiction)
(1883) Life on the Mississippi (non-fiction)
(1884) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (fiction)
(1889) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (fiction)
(1892) The American Claimant (fiction)
(1892) Merry Tales (fictional stories)
(1892) Those Extraordinary Twins (fiction)
(1893) The £1,000,000 Bank Note and Other New Stories (fictional stories)
(1894) Tom Sawyer Abroad (fiction)
(1894) The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson (fiction)
(1896) Tom Sawyer, Detective (fiction)
(1896) Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (fiction)
(1897) How to Tell a Story and other Essays (non-fictional essays)
(1897) Following the Equator (non-fiction travel)
(1898) Is He Dead? (play)
(1900) The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (fiction)
(1900) A Salutation Speech From the Nineteenth Century to the Twentieth (essay)
(1901) The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Updated (satire)
(1901) Edmund Burke on Croker and Tammany (political satire)
(1901) To the Person Sitting in Darkness (essay)
(1902) A Double Barrelled Detective Story (fiction)
(1904) A Dog's Tale (fiction)
(1904) Extracts from Adam's Diary (fiction)
(1905) King Leopold's Soliloquy (political satire)
(1905) The War Prayer (fiction)
(1906) The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories (fiction)
(1906) What Is Man? (essay)
(1906) Eve's Diary (fiction)
(1907) Christian Science (non-fiction critique)
(1907) A Horse's Tale (fiction)
(1907) Is Shakespeare Dead? (non-fiction)
(1909) Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven (fiction)
(1909) Letters from the Earth (fiction, published posthumously)
(1910) Queen Victoria's Jubilee (non-fiction)
(1912) My Platonic Sweetheart (dream journal, possibly non-fiction) [posthumous]
(1916) The Mysterious Stranger (published posthumously)
(1924) Mark Twain's Autobiography (non-fiction, published posthumously)
(1935) Mark Twain's Notebook (published posthumously)
(1962) Letters from the Earth (posthumous, edited by Bernard DeVoto)
(1969) No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger (fiction, published posthumously)

posted by Dannelke at 11:06 am (EST) on Oct 4, 2007

Hello (mumbles...I'm never sure how to address one when there is only a handle),

A "strict" chronological reading is difficult because of so many special cases - and not recommended since there is no reward to that approach. He was a cross-genre writer (and inventor of genres) on a scale few others approach.

He began as a journalist and was writing "squibs" as a teenager working for his brother Orion. Much of his newspaper writing was re-worked and folded into his books as both fictional and non-fictional elements. Just to give one example, when Twain wrote "The Innocents Abroad" (an account of one of the 1st European "grand tours" and the beginning of a particular type of travel genre) these were serialized - in more than one newspaper and at variable lengths depending on the needs of the paper - and then Twain re-wrote and reassembled the newspaper articles as the book THE INNOCENTS ABROAD. He "softened" some of the articles - but not all - to more broadly appeal to "Eastern" sensibilities (and avoid at least one libel suit) and did some other monkeying around. About 100 years later one of the University Presses (Iowa or California, I forget) released a book with all of the original articles in the original publication order (somewhat different from the book ordering) with annotations comparing the articles to the "variant" chapters of the travel book. So, really, given that with Twain there is A WHOLE LOT of this, how deep do you want to go?

The BEST complete affordable modern edition is the set of 20-some volumes (they're two floors away as I type this) done by Oxford in the 1980's and edited by Shelley Fisher-Fishkin, who is probably the best living Twain scholar at the moment. These were done in chronological order by publication date ranging from JUMPING FROG, the 1st edition of which was so loathed by Twain that he had the plates destroyed, to SPEECHES, which was published posthumously but is considered part of the canon.

You can read them that way if you like... but there are a couple you'd be well served to skip like THOSE EXTRAORDINARY TWINS and JOAN OF ARC. Just sayin'.

The only Twain I have in my store at the moment are to obvious and to beat for your consideration. I would track down a set of the Oxford's. I put my set together one at a time. The last one I found was SPEECHES, which I got an Amazon for $6.00 plus postage. It came with a sticker that said autographed and I thougt, "I don't bloody think so" - and then I turned to the introduction, which is all about Twain on the speaking platform and there was the autograph - Hal Holbrook. I grin just typing it.

ROUGHING IT, INNOCENTS ABROAD, HUCK FINN, PUDD'n'Head Wilson and LETTERS FROM THE EARTH (1966) are the "required reading" course, IMHO.

Regards - Barney Dannelke

posted by Dannelke at 12:00 pm (EST) on Oct 3, 2007

Thank you for the welcome. It is nice to find someplace where I don't have to stop thinking just to partcipate. As for Reacher, I do like his style. He is also one of the few authors my mother and I both like, which is really nice. Hope to talk soon, but alot of the time I do just lurk. Again, thanks for the welcome.
Sten

posted by sten at 7:22 pm (EST) on Sep 22, 2007

Great picture - you look quite happy there.

posted by NativeRoses at 2:30 pm (EST) on Sep 18, 2007

I am fascinated by your interest in lists. I have read all the Pulitzer fiction winners, and all of the Modern Library panel's list of the 100 best works of fiction in English in the 20th century except Finnegan's Wake (I looked at the first page of it on line and said my life was too short to wade thru that). I am sporadically trying to do all the Booker winners, and Pulitzer winners in other categories, tho reading some of the old Pulitzer history winners, for instance, seems maybe not worthwhile. I am thinking of titles like the 1929 History winner The Organization and administrtion of the Union Army. I feel there has been better stuff done on the subject since, so should I read it just because it won in 1929? And some of the winners are a pain to read: for instance, I read the 1983 history Pulitzer winner and was bored positively spitless. I have read 40 of the History Pulitzer winners, which shows how incomplete I am on that category. I hae all my life kept track of what I read, and since 1944 of when I finished a book, and have post-reading notes on all the books I have read since 1969. National Book Award fiction winners--I have read 47 and could probably read them all if I set out to do so.

posted by Schmerguls at 6:58 am (EST) on Sep 18, 2007

I have read To Kill A Mockingbird which is a lovely book.When I am on LibraryThing I am reminded of all the books I still want to read. There are some on your list I have intended to get to and never have ...but I will.

posted by wordwanderer at 1:03 pm (EST) on Aug 19, 2007

My method is more the "chicken with head cut off method". I do try to pick some from the 1001 books to read before you are allowed to die. I am thinking I might want to die after a couple hundred years.
I just recently got interested in the Pulitzer list. Some of the other lists just didn't interest me.
Of course I read a lot of this and that which has made my way to the TBR shelves. Only a few weeks ago, I had 1/2 a shelf of TBR, now I am up to three shelves.
I am trying to get copies of the first two Pulitzers, I think I will attempt them in order, but not re-read the ones I already have.

posted by mydomino1978 at 10:52 pm (EST) on Aug 10, 2007

No, I don't live in Bend, but I was just there with friends less than two weeks ago (we spent that recent 102 degree day climbing in the much cooler mountains west of Bend). And then we visited your city-- Portland-- for a few days. We ate good food (at Higgins and other places), went to Powell's (of course), visited the Japanese and Chinese gardens, etc.

Long story to say that I live in Klamath Falls, but I did grow up visiting Bend every summer, and my extended family still gathers there often enough.

Welcome back to Oregon! (I've enjoyed perusing your library.)

posted by HighDesertHome at 10:50 am (EST) on Jul 17, 2007

Thanks for the welcome. The Skeptical Environmentalist is a good read. Bjorn Lomborg is a rare voice of reason in the global warming debate, and follows the evidence where it leads (rather than massaging it to fit his agenda). He sees plenty of things that can be done to improve the world, and advocates putting money where it will do the most good.

posted by twebonebadpig at 7:57 pm (EST) on Jul 12, 2007

Just finished your recommendation of The Assistant. Thanks so much. What a wonderful novel, and what an ending!

posted by awalter1 at 11:36 pm (EST) on Jun 29, 2007

Thanks for the welcome. I'm not what you'd call conservative, but I'm equally not a liberal. I'm just me. I do appreciate the civility of your welcome -- the bickering of the past, what, 15 years? - is just boring at this point, especially bickering over received ideas that came from people who wear pancake makeup in a professional capacity.

So, here's to non-sectarian discussion of a sectarian nature. Does that even make sense?

posted by gregtmills at 4:57 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2007

Hi There from a former Eugenian. Thanks for welcoming me, but here's the thing. I'm not a political conservative, more of a slightly-to-the-left centrist, so I withdrew from the group, preferring to not be an interloper. Unfortunately, the American Politics site doesn't appear to be very active.

The entire political spectrum appears to be represented on C-Span and Book TV. In recent weeks I watched Brian Lamb interviewing R. Emmett Tyrell, Jr., founder of The American Spectator and author of "The Clinton Crackup" in which he demonstrates his profound hatred of the Clintons and his obvious bitter resentment of their continuing popularity and accumulated wealth. Yesterday I watched Phil Kent discussing reasons why he wrote "Foundations Of Betrayal" (the Rockefeller Foundation has funded "radical" environmental groups, etc.).

Chalmers Johnson's "Nemesis: The Last Days Of The American Republic" and "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq" by Thomas Ricks are two books that I would highly recommend because of their well-reasoned portrayals of American foreign policy blunders. Both authors have been interviewed on Book TV.

I post only books from my home library on LibraryThing, so my "reading history" is quite incomplete, given that our local library is an excellent resource.

Cheers! Carol

posted by tropics at 11:32 am (EST) on Jun 4, 2007

In case you didn't see it in the Booze group:

"There is nothing quite so stimulating as a strong dry martini cocktail."
-- T. S. Eliot

from Creators by Paul Johnson

posted by deniro at 7:12 pm (EST) on May 23, 2007

Proud to be your understudy. However, I'm pessimistic about the robust economy continuing after '09. I'm afraid the Dems are poised to capture the White House, which will mean: higher taxes, more regulation, more restrictions on trade and weaker economic growth. Hope I am wrong.

posted by steiac at 7:11 pm (EST) on May 19, 2007

Thanks for the recommendation to try La Seranita -- it was fabulous!

posted by pdxwoman at 6:58 pm (EST) on Apr 23, 2007

Thanks for the note about "Finnegans Wake." The weekly readings were my greatest success as party host. They were nonpareil. I really do recommend getting a half dozen or more people together, each with their copy of the book, and reading aloud.

Have someone prepare for the sung portions, though.

posted by wirkman at 3:25 pm (EST) on Apr 23, 2007

I just read your book recommendation in the Christianity group and I plan to look up that author to find her book. I am our church librarian and I'm always trying to find books to challenge minds, even if they don't like it sometimes. :) I have some elderly ladies that only want Harlequin style "Christian" romances. ;) Your description of the author reminded me of one of my favorite authors, Francine Rivers, who also had been a popular writer, then became a Christian, and now is possibly an even more popular author. Have you read her? I recommend The Last Sin Eater and Redeeming Love if you haven't. Another good one is Leota's Garden.

posted by MrsLee at 1:22 am (EST) on Mar 30, 2007

Thank you for the welcome!

My Catholic sensibilites however are offended!

Why must I be either "a jerk or a comedian" it's not an either or thing you know, I could be both!

And chicks do dig me, at least my wife and two girls do!

Thanks again for the nice hello'

Joe

posted by ocianain at 7:09 pm (EST) on Mar 26, 2007

Hi there ggchickapee!
Thank you for the "welcome" to the Political Conservatives group. The topics look fascinating! It's nice to discover like-minded conservatives within the LT universe. So often, book lovers are automatically assumed to be raging liberals.
By the way, I see you too are a member of "Booze!". Wonderful! We conservative lushes need to stick together.... if only to trade cocktail secrets!
:-)
Best wishes,
Trish
(a.k.a. emmathrice)

posted by emmathrice at 5:01 am (EST) on Mar 25, 2007

Thanks for the welcome--I'm truly not conservative at all, although I am militant about Catholic doctrine--I've only voted for one Republican in my whole life. I know it doesn't make sense, but I'm the one who tries to convince the Democrats to see certain issues correctly. On top of that, I'm a native of Little Rock and have both my degrees from the University of Arkansas--when Bill and Hilary got married, I was two blocks away. It was quite a day! I have something of a different view on the whole Bill and Hill thing, since I've seen it from the beginning, worked in Bill's very first campaign (he lost), and then worked very closely with Hillary on some projects when Bill was governor, and had many, many friends affected by Kenneth Starr. So I have extremely mixed feelings about them and the next President--but I am also militant about W. I cannot think of anything kind to say about him, and it's Lent, so I'll shut up. But I do have a widget on my desktop that is counting down the time until he is no longer president.

So I'm basically in the wrong group, but I want to be in it because of my very conservative stance on several issues. Does that make sense?

posted by tluneau at 9:07 pm (EST) on Mar 23, 2007

As a long-time lurker, and beneficiary of your open posting policy, it seemed the proper thing to do. :) With my odd patchwork of opinion and uncertainty, I'm less comfortable claiming to BE a political conservative than I am delighted to belong to and join in the Political Conservatives Group. It's an excellent and interesting gathering, which I've greatly enjoyed. Leaving it open only adds to the benefits (even if there are occasional dust-ups :) ).

Many thanks for the group, and what one might term your hospitality!

posted by Eurydice at 4:45 pm (EST) on Mar 23, 2007

Welcome to Books Compared. I'm so glad you joined! Your English teacher's old rules don't apply here - feel free to share whatever random reflections occur to you after considering two books that inspire you, whether positively or negatively. I'll be eager to read your posting.

posted by margad at 3:23 pm (EST) on Mar 20, 2007

Thanks for the book tip, and though I have heard of and seen displayed Hayward's anti-Jimmy Carter book, I haven't read it and it's a real low priority read for me, though I perhaps will eventually read it as Jimmy just will not go away, and with his new religion in the works it may come in helpful to have that little extra info. I'm not much into ad hominems and would rather focus on the substance of Carter's advocacy (for that is what it is), however, sometimes certain propensities or patterns do demonstrate conflict of interest and/or lack of credibility, etc. For ex, Carter has some racist incidents in his past, yet now he is portraying himself as pro-Africa, fighter for the oppressed Black Americans (going on Tavis Smiley, specifically mentioning Black Baptists as among those to be appealed to in his new religion, etc), an so on, yet he diminishes the attrocities of South African apartheid as well as the Rwandan genocide when he says that Israel's treatment of Palestinians is "worse" than those. Also he's starting this new Baptist religion because he's criticizing the Southern Baptists for one thing for being racist, yet Carter only got out of the Southern Baptists (after a 65-year membership) AFTER they apologized for their pro-slavery past, and the Southern Baptists are said to be the most racially integrated denomination now.

I would like to think the Jimmy Carter and his Arab-financed Carter Center would be irrelevant, but seeing as how Bill Clinton, spouse of a presidential candidate, is his new Immmoral Majority religion partner, and Carter is of the Democratic Party now in ascendancy and in need of a ready-made Middle East plan, and Carter's got global contacts, that Hayward book may well be necessary. Amazing that Carter book supporters include Louis Farrakhan and Islamic Jihad, yet somehow the average joe doesn't get it that he isn't a neutral honest broker but an advocate. Thanks again - ER

posted by EncompassedRunner at 11:03 pm (EST) on Mar 6, 2007

Thanks! As for the vegan desserts...well I guess that fingers me as an atypical conservative...if the interest in hardcore punk rock didn't already give that away!

I suppose that being in academia has pushed me towards self-description as a conservative even though I'd like to think that my views are more nuanced than the "conservative v. liberal" dichotomy.

Anyhow, many recipies for baked goods don't require much modification. All you need usually is commercial egg replacer and you're good to go. Of course,I'm no star in the kitchen, but there are a few serious vegan bakeries out there that can seemingly work miracles.

posted by NoLongerAtEase at 11:57 pm (EST) on Jan 15, 2007

Thanks for your comment and for starting the "political conservatives" group. Once I start using the site more, I hope to be quicker with responding to comments!

I love Nickel Mountain... and pretty much anything that John Gardner ever wrote. He was a great force in the literature of modern traditionalism. I also highly recommend his books Grendel and On Moral Fiction as well as the novels recently reissued (!) by New Directions: October Light and The Sunlight Dialogues.

posted by awalter1 at 11:45 am (EST) on Dec 29, 2006

I had licked my wounds long enough and I think the hair finally grew back on my balls. ;) Remind me again why I can't seem to resist convos about religion and politics?

posted by imaginelove at 12:44 pm (EST) on Dec 15, 2006

Thank you so much for the welcome! It's so nice to find some like-minded readers after spending my day in a library with co-workers who are only a little less liberal than most university professors! I'm the token conservative at our library and though I don't do any of the actual book buying, I make a point of requesting the purchase of specific politically conservative books - and those are still outnumbered at least 20 to 1 - so I'm very interested in what other conservatives are reading!

posted by prissy at 10:34 pm (EST) on Dec 9, 2006

Sorry for taking so long to reply. The reason the young Roth thinks he is responsible for killing Mrs Wishnau(?) is that when talking to his Aunt she gets the idea that Seldon (her son) is his best friend, and so Aunt Evelyn arranges for them to be sent to Kansas with the Roth's. They then end up being sent out west, while the Philip gets to stay in Newark when his father resigns.

posted by jargoneer at 8:17 am (EST) on Nov 23, 2006

I have to say I'm glad that we will finally have a female (and Italian!) Speaker, but Pelosi is just not it!! 8-(

I am also quite glad the the Dems. grabbed the House (I think that I might be the only one after looking at threads in our group). I'm starting to think that Congress was becoming a rubber-stamp for Bush. It is a shame to think that these rubber-stampers (few as they are) are getting some really great guys (and gals) kicked out of the House just because of their affliation. In CT, Nancy Johnson, a 24 year incumbent really got a good wallopping, and rightfully so. Unfortunatly, our best (or should I say my favorite) GOP incumbent of 6 years, Rob Simmons, is in a deadlock behind 150 votes amid a recount because of the stereotype. It is really sad that our country is voting based on party affilliation instead of the issues each candidate represents.

Oh well... Only 2 years until the real test.
Go Guliani!!!!! 8-)

posted by NewEnglandGOP at 10:09 pm (EST) on Nov 11, 2006

Thanks for the kind words!

As for a global warming site--I'd recommend TCSDaily.com without hesitation.

Check out the article on the front page entitled Eden Without Us?

Just so you can get to know me better, I thought it would be a good idea to let you know where I stand on a few of the issues.

I toe the conservative line most of the time, but there are circumstances where I'll be more comfortable with a libertarian position--global warming is one of those issues.

While not an issue I'm really knowledgeable on, my position on global warming is that it's one of those issues I think is way overrated as I think people don't really have that much of an effect on the weather.

I say this only because these changes in temperature are cyclical and take several lifetimes to manifest themselves--I'll bet we'll be hearing about global freezing in a few hundred years.

Just to be clear, I'm all for making our environment cleaner and our energy production and consumption more efficient, but not at the expense of the headaches of bureaucratic regulations and overly invasive laws that do nothing to address the problems and waste money, time, and cause all sorts of hidden opportunity costs.

I hope that this helps give you an idea as to what I'll say and I'm looking forward to participating in the group.

posted by bluemcduff at 2:14 pm (EST) on Nov 4, 2006

Thanks for the invite. Coming from the homestate of Gay Marraige by court fiat, Massachusetts, I struggle everyday with my existence in this "mindset of liberalism" pervalent here.
I am a self employed companion animal Veterinarian, who did not need to be mugged to develop my conservative leanings. I simply needed to observe my surrounding, the floundering of the many who subsist on the public dole, and the observed lack in most to change their lot in this life.
I am an American first and am PROUD of our President, Mr. Bush.
GOD Bless America, and may He bless ALL who choose to be. TY

posted by BadDogBill at 12:24 pm (EST) on Nov 3, 2006

All the way from the South, thank you for the warm welcome! :) I surprise most people by having conservative leanings as I am 25, a fine artist and author, and work with a bunch of liberal graphic designers... But who ever really knows? *raises a glass* Here's to many great conversations and getting to know each other!

posted by imaginelove at 9:47 am (EST) on Nov 3, 2006

Thanks for the welcome! I live about an hour south of Eugene, though I spend a fair amount of time in Portland. My family and I used to vacation in Oregon. This went on for a decade, until we finally gave in and moved up from California.
My father - also an outspoken conservative - attended law school in the Bay area and frequently entertains me with his anecdotes; I suppose that I should offer you the best of luck. Of course, things may have changed since then (OK, so maybe they haven't...).

posted by jordan.sherman at 12:05 am (EST) on Oct 31, 2006

Coffee, wine, or Martininiiiis are on me, whenever you get here.

posted by haylan at 12:16 pm (EST) on Oct 25, 2006

"Feminine and competent". Yes, that works. By the way, this is relevant to a theory I have been entertaining for a couple of years, observing the advance of women into the higher levels of power: Consider the top ten or twenty thousand positions in government and business and civic institutions. Historically, they have been almost entirely male, and even now, are largely male. I think this will change dramatically in the next century. More and more, the right to compete for these places is being opened to women. And although on average, women are (I believe) less aggressive and competitive than men, and although on average, women have babies which severely limits their ability to compete in the early stages of their careers, these considerations do not apply to exceptional women -- the "tail" of the distribution. So the very top places may be open to women in a way that, as a practical matter, the middle level positions are not, or are not so much. Now consider that women, if they want, can easily manipulate most men. I will say no more about this, it's obvious. Conclusion? Within a few decades, we may see the top of the pyramid dominated by women, with what consequences, I cannot say.

posted by Doug1943 at 3:35 pm (EST) on Oct 23, 2006

A very nice picture, by the way! I drink too much and have built up quite a tolerance--except for martinis. Two will loosen my inhibitions (I start flirting shamelessly with liberals) and three will often put me under the table. The only time I ever "blacked out" was after three martinis. I couldn’t remember how I got home. Cheers!

P.S. Gin or Vodka?

posted by oakesspalding at 2:48 am (EST) on Oct 19, 2006

Thank you for your welcome to the political conservatives list. Re: membership in both the "liberal" and "conservative" group. My personality is not split; I am quite sure who I am and where I stand (a small d democrat -- liberty and justice for all). I suppose that on many of the issues of the day, that puts me in the "liberal/proressive" camp, and I am fairly sure much more of my library will be shared by that group.

But in my view the categories that popularly divide the political landscape are all but incoherent and are used by the pundits and politicians for their own purposes to the detriment of political discourse in general. I am particularly disturbed by the sense in which so-called conservatives and liberals almost seem to inhabit separate realities -- reading only the things that confirm their views and steadfastly ignoring or demonizing those who disagree with them. I am not naive enough to believe we can (or should even try) to resolve all political differences. But I do think it would be nice to try and live in the same world. Hence, I try to read a bit more broadly, and joined both groups simply to learn what books are being read across the spectrum.

posted by PrinceLackadasia at 7:20 pm (EST) on Oct 16, 2006

Thanks for the welcome. Whether I shall participate in the near future remains to be seen, as I've become terminally distracted while going through my bookshelves, and there are many thousands left to go. Trouble is, I start to catalogue something, then end up reading in it for half an hour.

The nice thing about being asked to join the Political Conservatives group first thing (someone there is quite eagle-eyed) is that membership will serve to frighten off other, and potentially tedious and/or hysterical, groups.

Best wishes to all.

posted by machinemolle at 3:30 pm (EST) on Oct 13, 2006

A pickup truck with a "W" sticker, in San Francisco??? As a conservative of course I admire courage, but there is a point where it overlaps with foolhardiness.

Doug

posted by Doug1943 at 4:42 am (EST) on Sep 14, 2006

Thanks, but judging from your reviews and posts, I do not see evidence of ADD yet. (Well, unless you write really really fast.) I would love to see more reviews though. :) I’m glad my discussion of the “conservative” label didn’t make me sound “more nuanced than thou.” On the labeling issue, it is amusing to see that your group has been much more active than Classically Liberal. I had thought that’s where the Hayek action would be, but those guys seem to have reached an equilibrium, so to speak, after a few pints. :) (I mean no disrespect to thecardiffgiant, and once I get up the courage to join ONE MORE group, I shall probably join his group as well.) Cheers!

posted by oakesspalding at 4:10 pm (EST) on Aug 14, 2006

Thank you for inviting me to join Booze! I accept with pleasure. Though, I confess to being a bit curious (and perhaps slightly paranoid) about what made me fit the invite criteria. Was it my disjointed and sometimes incoherent writing style?

posted by oakesspalding at 7:21 pm (EST) on Aug 10, 2006