Sorry, that was tongue-in-cheek, Alexander! I was referring to "Scantily Clad Women II", the long-awaited sequel! I picked up some stuff by Fannie Flagg at the library today because people keep recommending her to me. I wonder if I'll read them?

what has she written? and welcome, sheryl!

She wrote "Fried Green Tomatoes at the WhistleStop Cafe" for one...

was that the one the movie was based on? (loved that film)

I have the audio tape...was a gift. Have never listened to it because it seemed to be alien to anything I would otherwise be interested in. Shall I give it a listen?

Yes, it was...sorry I did not answer your question in my last post!

Marcia, I really enjoyed Fried Green Tomatoes and think you should definitely give a listen. But I LOVED Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man! I'm currently working on Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! which is OK but not as enjoyable as the previous two were. What are you all reading?

Well, that does it. I shall listen to it as soon as my life gets back to normal. Thanks, Autumn! I really appreciate your recommendation. Sometimes I'm a bit of a snob about books and I would have probably passed this one over without your approval of her works. I just might become a fan, also.

Reading consists of catching up on my Archaeology, Odyssey and Biblical Archaeology Review publications as well as hunting down things for Geo. I get so absorbed in books I do not surface until I have read the last page. I think I will reread some of my Arthurian books and get that topic going again.

i loved fried green tomatoes (the movie-didn't know it was a book).... have been trying to learn about investing....

Good for you...I inherited some and mess about with it a little. Mostly I let a good thing just get better.

I've been learning about investing also, wolf, maybe we could talk about it in one of the stock market conferences that's seldom used, like dsm. I've found some wonderful stock sites with cool recommendations and real time tickers that I'd like to share.

May I tag along?

Sure.

Waiting for a topic to show new activity. I just added dpo and business and the other investing conference to my hotlist.

Sure ask me about stock websites in the appropriate topic and I'll respond.

well, i gotta go explore that conference. in the meantime, i've joined suretrade and right now, just am watching a few penny stocks that came up during a search.

Go for it, Wolfie, and when you are rich and famous, remember the little people like me who knew you way back when...(and tell us how you are doing...!) *hugs*

*smile*

Below Deck in a Storm at Sea Ted pursued a Ph.D. in English literature at Oxford for awhile, but dropped out when he decided that his studies were "astonishingly irrelevant." In 1950, Ted invented the word "nerd". In 1984 he won a Pulitzer Prize. After dropping out of Oxford, Ted worked 9 years for Standard Oil as a designer of brochures. In the summer of 1936, he found himself below deck on the MS Kungshold, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines in a focused attempt to distract himself from a terrifying scene. To further distract himself, Ted began writing a nonsensical poem to the motor's pounding beat. "I was trying to keep my mind off the storm that was going on. This rhythm persisted in my head for about a week after I was off the ship and, probably as psycho-therapy, I began developing the theme." When his nonsensical poem was finally complete, Ted decided that instead of signing it with his real name, Theodor S. Geisel, he would use only his middle name. And as long as he was writing nonsense, he would give himself an honorary doctorate. And in a singular, magical moment worthy of all the pixie dust of Tinker Bell, the world's beloved "Dr. Seuss" was born. "Although I knew nothing about children's books it sounded pretty good, so I decided to get it published. It was rejected by twenty-eight publishing houses before the twenty-ninth, Vanguard Press, agreed to take a chance on bringing it out." The main reason given by the other publishing houses for rejecting Ted's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was that it was too different from the other children's books on the market. By the time of his death in 1991, the 46 books written and illustrated by Ted Geisel had sold more than 200 million copies and had been translated into 20 languages. Former Random House president Bennett Cerf once remarked, "I've published any number of great writers, from William Faulkner to John O'Hara, but there's only one genius on my authors list. His name is Ted Geisel." What keys did Ted use to unlock the vaults of wild success? Key 1: Ted surprised Broca's area of the brain by using unpredictable words in unusual combinations. In fact, Ted often made up his own words altogether. Key 2: In mimicking the rhythm the ship's engines, Ted created echoic retention in the phonological loop of working memory, located in the dorsolateral prefrontal association area of the brain. You can't get Ted's stories out of your head. Key 3: Ted refused to pay attention to the established rules of his category: children's books. He dared to do what had not yet been proven to work. Key 4: Instead of writing about what was, Ted wrote about what was not. He knew the public was more willing to believe fiction than non- fiction. Now that you have all four of Ted's keys, why don't you do what he did? I can assure you that the keys still work and the vaults are right where they've always been. ---Roy H. Williams

Greetings all! I call myself Carys and I'm here for the book conference. I'm a fan of mysteries myself. Most recently I've read the historical mysteries of Laura Joh Roland. Her books are set in late 17th century Japan.

welcome carys!

Hello, Carys! I just finished I am of Irelaunde, by Juilene Osborne McKnight. It is about St. Patrick's experiences in Ireland with the Druids, with beautifully woven legends. Great storytelling.

Hi Carys, nice to see someone else likes conference hopping!!! I'm reading Patricia Cornwall, Point of origin ...murder mystery. Just finished and Elizabeth Goudge binge, I think I may pick up on her again after this rather gory murder....I think I need something a little gentler...

Hello all! Great to be in the presence of book-lovers. Like many of you I too love the Mary Stewart books about Merlin. My son is now eight. So I think in a few years he should be ready to read them. For now there's Harry Potter.

Have you read the Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons Series??? I read them to my kids when they were about your sons age ....I've just seen that they've been republished in paperback.

Thanks for the suggestion, Maggie. Is it just me -- or is it easier to find books for little girls than it is for little boys. Girls will read books where the protaganist is a boy with no problem. With boys it is different. If the protaganist is a girl, it gets dismissed as a "girls' book". I will look for the Arthur Ransome series though.

Probably depends on the age of the boy .. When my girls were a bit older we were still reading aloud to them every night ...the literature changed though ...one of the best was Patriot Games ..by Tom Clancy (we actually read to them until Esther was 16!) I've talked about that elsewhere I think .. we didn't have a TV for many years and in the evenings we'd read to each other and the girls and I would sew (by oil lamps often ..dreadful for the eyes!). My husband is brilliant at voices, and I only read when he gets tired!!!

i think that is wonderful!

(Wolfie, did you decide what book you wanted me to read to you???? *grin* Elizabeth Goudge makes nice bedtime reading ...Maybe I'll make a topic here on her books sometime ...)

Oooh, yes, and I found an early 1400's version of Merlin - quite a work - from Spain! Must post this information in Arthuriana here...

I did find the Arthur Ransome books. So far my son is really enjoying them. If he really likes a book, he likes to make-up further adventures for his favorite characters from it.

oh yes, you can do that with those books ....at least I think the characters lend themselves to it ..our girls did