Lissa’s Comments (group member since Jul 12, 2011)

Lissa’s comments from the Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library group.

Tish: The Chronicle of her Escapades and Excursions by Mary Roberts Rinehart is a comic adventure of a group of 50-something women, originally published as magazine stories about 1910. Tish is forward-looking, independent, resourceful, capable and madcap.
We will also be looking at magazines from 1910 from the library's periodical collection to see the articles and advertising of the time period!
Read the book!
Download the ebook from Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3464
Interlibrary Loan a print edition of the book
http://www.tscpl.org/ill
All titles discussed are freely available in the public domain.
For more information contact
classicsmodern@tscpl.org

So, when I'm stressed, I read. A lot. And with access to a bunch of teen fiction ebooks before they are published later this spring, I've read A LOT this month.
Here are the books I would recommend that I've read recently -- I have notes posted on my goodreads account but I will eventually review some of them for the library website also!

A School for Unusual Girls (Stranje House, #1) by Kathleen Baldwin
The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
The Trouble with Destiny by Lauren Morrill
The Swift Boys & Me by Kody Keplinger (technically middle grades fiction, and I re-read this author's "The DUFF" twice this month, once before and once after seeing the very-different-not-as-good-movie-version)
The Truth About Us by Janet Gurtler
Kissing Ted Callahan (And Other Guys) by Amy Spalding
Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark (AWESOME!)
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp (THIS ONE IS AWESOME!)
Some Kind of Normal by Juliana Stone
Jesse's Girl (Hundred Oaks series) by Miranda Kenneally
Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School) (more middle grades fiction) by Jen Calonita

I'm always looking for more teen fiction recommendations that aren't overly scary/sad/dystopian. :) - I like to keep my escapism as happily-ever-after as possible.








The Season

If you are finding it a slow start - don't worry and keep reading -- the action of the book happens quickly quickly quickly once it starts! This is one of my favorite books and I just re-read it late week (still great!). I am so happy it is a big read because I love the way that other people's experiences and discussion will expand my own enjoyment of the book!!

I've never read it (yet) but I think it's going to be a great discussion. This group hasn't ever read a book with an animal main character, that I can remember. Should be interesting!

What do you know about Sylvia Plath?

Our guest this episode is Miranda Ericcson, who shares her knowledge and passion about Sylvia Plath's life and works.
Listen to the library's HUSH podcast: http://traffic.libsyn.com/topekalibra...

Did you learn anything new about Sylvia Plaths' life and work? Which of the books Miranda mentions sounds the most interesting to you?

Sweet! I started the new (teen sci fi) Eoin Colfer book "The Reluctant Assassin" last night and it is modern day London and Victorian 1880s London...so far. Of course, it also has an extremely creepy bad guy and I won't be reading it late at night again....

A movie? with Colin Firth? NOW you're talking.

At the Classics Mad Modern book group, participants are often quite interested in comparing the book and movie versions of classics -- you should come tell us what you thought about them!

In this special episode of the library's podcast, we divide our recording into half an hour about books http://traffic.libsyn.com/topekalibra... and half an hour about movies http://traffic.libsyn.com/topekalibra...

Our guests this episode are Julie Nelson and Brian Adams. We discuss books and movies about disasters and why people might enjoy those types of stories.

Have you read any of the books we recommend? What can you recommend? What are your favorite disaster movies?

This wasn't depressing at all. It also wasn't "bad things happen to good people" -- Elizabeth-Jane's last few paragraphs take a differend perspective on that.
It was a quick read, with a drama-filled plot, almost soap-opera style. The fact that is was originally serialized shows in some of the cliff-hanger endings of chapters, and the foreshadowing. Discussion was centered around whether "fate" is a valid excuse, whether people make the bad things in their lives happen to them (especially Henchard) and whether men are scum -- just kidding! -- but we did discuss Hardy's tendency to portray his men as either all bad or practically perfect. His negative/immoral portrayal of anyone with ties to France was also noted, and the discussion of perfectly pure Elizabeth-Jane hinted that she might not have been smart enough to act differently.
It was a great discussion, with everyone engaged and talking, and we all enjoyed sharing our opinions about the book with the group.

When rereading a classic, I always see more about what has changed in my own perspective and this re-read of The Great Gastby will be my first reading of it since becoming a mom. I've spent the morning paging through 1920's fashion and home magazines from the library's collections and I am sort of captivated now by the idea of womanhood that is advertised in their pages. Not really capitivated actually. More like horrified. But the multitude of advertisements for milk-replacement-products for feeding infants is making me feel more lenient toward Daisy's treatment of her own kid, which I was fearing I was going to find unforgiveable. Seeing all of those ads means that maybe I will just find it...a likely product of the times? I'm hoping.

Have you read The Great Gatsby before? Are you re-reading it for The Big Read? Why do you think this book is worth reading and discussing? What themes do you find in the novel? Who is your favorite character? What is the most memorable part of the book to you?
Listen to the podcast discussion when Lissa and Thad interview Valerie Reif and Tanya Walsh about The Great Gatsby. Listen now at http://tscpl.org/?p=43047

I haven't read this one...yet. But I've liked him in the past. Honestly this one is probably a tad depressing :) But that is what book group is for--- to help you cope with depressing literature!

Just in time for Christmas! Thad Hartman and Lissa Staley host a (31:31) discussion with a variety of guests about what they read in December. Get inspired with great holiday reads and share your recommendations with us!

Listen here: http://tscpl.org/podcast/hush-a-podca...


Do you like classics like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens or Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore or are you into the quirky Christmas reads like An Idiot Girl's Christmas: True Tales from the Top of the Naughty List by Laurie Notaro? What Christmas stories do you remember loving as a young reader -- were you a fan of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss or did you prefer something sentimental like The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry? And most importantly, have you ever read the book that the famous 1983 movie A Christmas Story is based on -- Jean Shepherd's In God we Trust, All Others Pay Cash?

What do you love to read or re-read at the holidays?

Redshirts by John Scalzi -- I LOVED this book, although it has enough quirky twists that I basically can't tell you why I loved it so much. I can tell you, if you are a reader, a viewer, or a writer, you might really love it. And everyone that I have recommended it to has really enjoyed it also (at least that they have told me). It's probably classified as science fiction. And if you get the redshirts reference, you might like it even more. (BUT, I didn't get the reference, not being a long-time science fiction person, and I still thought it was delightful!)

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911) brings Mary Lennox, orphaned by cholera in India, to her grieving uncle’s house on the Yorkshire moors. The book explores family secrets and the healing power inherent in living things. Read the free ebook and discuss it here, or at http://www.tscpl.org/tag/classics or in person at the Classic Made Modern eBook Discussion at the library -- Marvin Auditorium 101C, 1:30–3:00 pm, Mon Dec 9, 2013.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903) details Buck’s struggle as he is snatched from a pastoral ranch in California and forced into the harsh life of a Yukon sled dog during the 19th century Klondike Gold Rush. Read the free ebook and discuss it here or at http://www.tscpl.org/tag/classics or in person at the Classic Made Modern eBook Discussion at the library, Marvin Auditorium 101C, 1:30–3:00 pm, Mon Nov 4, 2013.

Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England. Stoker defined the modern form of the vampire in this gothic horror novel, and includes themes of immigration and colonialism. Read the free ebook and discuss it here, or at http://www.tscpl.org/tag/classics or in person at the Classic Made Modern eBook Discussion at the library, Marvin Auditorium 101C, 1:30–3:00 pm, Mon Oct 14, 2013.

Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901) presents a portrait of the people, culture, and religions of India through the story of an orphaned white boy gone native who is recruited as a spy in Britain's struggle to maintain its colonial grip on India. Read the free ebook and discuss it here, or at http://www.tscpl.org/tag/classics or at the Classic Made Modern eBook Discussion at the library --Marvin Auditorium 101C, 1:30–3:00 pm, Mon Sep 9, 2013.

Middlemarch by George Eliot (1874) studies provincial life in the 1830s with multiple plots, a leisurely pace, a large cast of characters, and themes ranging from the status of women and marriage to religion, political reform, and education. Read the free ebook and discuss it here, or at http://www.tscpl.org/tag/classics or in person at the Classic Made Modern eBook Discussion at the library -- Marvin Auditorium 101C, 1:30–3:00 pm, Mon Aug 12, 2013.

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (1898) is one of the first stories to detail a conflict between mankind and an extraterrestrial race, focusing on the adventures of a man and his brothers outside London as Earth is invaded by Martians. Read the free ebook and discuss it here or at http://www.tscpl.org/tag/classics or in person at the Classic Made Modern eBook Discussion at the library,
Marvin Auditorium 101C, 1:30–3:00 pm, Mon Jul 8, 2013.