What book are you currently reading?

[lainiepop]

I got 50 shades of grey yesterday to see What all the fuss was about haven 't Started it yet am pretty girl its not gonnab an amazing read!

[Cordelia]

    that's how I started reading 50 shades too, to see what the fuss was all about.

You either like it or you don't with the Series, there is "no in between"

[MooseMom]

MooseMom, I want to read that JFK Stephen King novel! My sister gave it to my brother-in-law for Christmas, and she gets to read it after he does. I don't think he's read it yet! I haven't read much Stephen King, maybe a novel or two. But anything JFK is probably worth a read for me.

KarenInWA

Karen, I've had to put aside the Stephen King book for the moment.  It is enormous, and I can't hold it in a comfortable position.  I usually prop up such big books on my belly, but with my enormous incision, that's not gonna happen.

My husband is a big Stephen King fan, and he keeps pushing me to read more of his stuff.  A few years ago, I finally relented, and I hated hated hated it.  I swore I'd never read another, but my husband just won't shut up about this JFK book.  It is an interesting story, but the style is just so pedestrian and lacks art, in my mind.  The older I get, the more I appreciate style and the use of language in fiction. 

CebuShan, what are the "between the numbers" novels? 

[monrein]

One of the most stylistically, poetically beautiful novels I've ever read is "Fugitive Pieces" by Anne Michaels.  It took me over completely.

[jbeany]

My husband is a big Stephen King fan, and he keeps pushing me to read more of his stuff.  A few years ago, I finally relented, and I hated hated hated it.  I swore I'd never read another, but my husband just won't shut up about this JFK book.  It is an interesting story, but the style is just so pedestrian and lacks art, in my mind.  The older I get, the more I appreciate style and the use of language in fiction. 

I was huge King fan in my teens for a while - nothing creepier than reading them under the covers in bed on a cold winter night when you are alone in the house.  I didn't read anything of his for a while - I found other interests as I got older.  I've tried picking some of his newer stuff up at thrift stores, but I don't seem to get into it much now.  I'm not sure whose style has changed now that I'm older - his or mine.

[MooseMom]

One of the most stylistically, poetically beautiful novels I've ever read is "Fugitive Pieces" by Anne Michaels.  It took me over completely.

Ohhh, thanks for that recommendation!  I'll see if it's available for Nook downloading, and if it is, I'll add it to my wishlist tonight.

Jbeany, I know that as I've gotten older, my tastes have changed.  I still love a good story, but I appreciate literary style more than I did when I was younger.

[kitkatz]

Finished Fifty Shades of Grey.  Good story line.  Hard at the beginning to read.  The character development left something to be desired until about half way through the book.  I like the guy in the book in spite of his Fifty Shades of Grey.  I hate the way it ended. Now got to get the second book. The sex scenes are not really X-rated or pornographic, just detailed.

[cariad]

I've also finished "Unstrange Minds", written by a man with a PhD in cultural anthropology whose eldest daughter is autistic.  So, he decided to write a book about how different societies around the world view and treat (or ignore) autism, and why.

Hello, did someone say Cultural Anthropology??!!

I have to return books to the library today and need a little something to pick up. This sounds right up my street - medical anthropology, which is what I am attempting now. My advisor said to try reading books by other medical anthropologists to try to find a framework/style that I can use as a guide. I've already read Rayna Rapp's amazing Testing the Fetus but autism is such a uniquely fascinating condition, I suspect I'll enjoy this one just as much if the author put a good effort forward.

MM, what did you think of it? Was the author competent?

[MooseMom]

Hee hee...I thought that might interest you, Cariad.  LOL!

Yes, the author was competent, mainly because he chose a subject matter that that, I suppose, was dropped into his lap.  Since his own daughter is autistic, it seemed a natural topic for a cultural anthropologist.  He is not a lyrical writer.  His style is, well, there is no STYLE, per se, just an straightforward interest in how other cultures see and cope with autism.  Since autism IS mysterious, in those cultures who see "different" people as some sort of spiritual symbol, these people can be revered.  In other cultures such as our own where personal responsibility and competence and independence is highly prized, services might be better but there is more of a stigma.  And in a culture such as South Korea where higher education and cultural homogeneity is most highly valued, something like autism is frightening.

He ends with more personal stories about his and his wife's experiences with dealing with his daughter's condition here in the US.  They have a younger daughter who is neural normal, and hearing about her is interesting, too.

[jbeany]

I've been picking away at Temple Grandin's "Animals Make Us Human".  She intersperses her thoughts on autism (she's autistic herself, and incredibly successful in her field) with a lot of research on animals and her perspective on what we're doing right and wrong with our pets. 

Most interesting thing so far - Wolves don't actually live in packs in the wild.  They only form packs with an alpha wolf when wolves of different families are forced together into a group - like the relocated or zoo packs that are so frequently studied.  In the wild, wolves live in family groups, and the dominance that exists in the group is no more than that of a human family that respects the mother and father.  She correlates this with how we are raising our dogs - and discussing if the common "Be the Alpha" approach of the "Dog Whisperer" is actually the best way to deal with them in a family setting.

I was disappointed in the chapter on cats, though.  She gets really in depth on offering ideas for getting your dog to follow the house rules - but no helpful hints on training a cat NOT to do something.  She stresses that negative reinforcement doesn't work for them - just clicker training and treats.  Peachy.  How do you give a cat a treat for staying off the table and get them to make the connection?

[MooseMom]

Oh, I've been a huge fan of Temple Grandin's for decades!  I don't know, however, if any neural normal person can really understand cats, much less an autistic person!  LOL!

[cariad]

I've been picking away at Temple Grandin's "Animals Make Us Human".  She intersperses her thoughts on autism (she's autistic herself, and incredibly successful in her field) with a lot of research on animals and her perspective on what we're doing right and wrong with our pets. 

Most interesting thing so far - Wolves don't actually live in packs in the wild.  They only form packs with an alpha wolf when wolves of different families are forced together into a group - like the relocated or zoo packs that are so frequently studied.  In the wild, wolves live in family groups, and the dominance that exists in the group is no more than that of a human family that respects the mother and father.  She correlates this with how we are raising our dogs - and discussing if the common "Be the Alpha" approach of the "Dog Whisperer" is actually the best way to deal with them in a family setting.

I was disappointed in the chapter on cats, though.  She gets really in depth on offering ideas for getting your dog to follow the house rules - but no helpful hints on training a cat NOT to do something.  She stresses that negative reinforcement doesn't work for them - just clicker training and treats.  Peachy.  How do you give a cat a treat for staying off the table and get them to make the connection?

Temple Grandin is a fascinating person. I'll have to look for the film about her on Netflix, the one that played on HBO? I've only seen clips.

She is widely criticized, though, I believe by other people with autism. The argument, which is a bit difficult to dispute, is "If you love something [animals] you don't perfect ways to KILL THEM." I do understand her reasoning, though. They are going to die anyway, so she may as well make it as non-traumatic as possible. I heard her on NPR a few months back and it was interesting how her career has shown this progression - I think she said she now is primarily in the business of advising the consumers of animal products, McDonalds and the like, how to pick the most humane suppliers.

Jbeany, have you tried one of those sour apple sprays for your table? I had two cats once, a Himi and a 'street cat'. The Himalayan, AJ, was easy to train, hated the negative consequences enough to stop doing what we wanted him to stop doing. I trained him to stand up and beg for food just because I thought it was cute. He would eventually get to the point where he would walk into the kitchen, stand in front of the fridge, meow, then stand up on his back paws (just in case I was THAT stupid and didn't realise what he wanted.) The street cat, Barney, I swear he loved the challenge of doing something naughty then running full-speed at us as we wielded a spray bottle and were pelting him right in the face. He did this for an entire evening before we decided he must be enjoying it, so it was counter-productive.

MM, thanks for the assessment of Unstrange Minds. I did get it from the library and have read the intro so far and I think I can already say that you are absolutely right about his style, or non-style. His structure seems to be that of the basic thesis or dissertation and he has yet to say anything that I didn't already know, but it's early yet and I have no doubt that will change. I am not sure why he said cultural anthro was about the intersection between biology and culture, because I don't think many would agree with him on that definition. Maybe as a definition of medical anthropology, but plenty of cultural anthropologists wouldn't know the difference between a chromosome and a kick in the head!

As for the having the subject dropped in his lap - what a cheater! That would be like me studying.... oh, wait.... I can actually remember saying to a professor that I thought Rayna Rapp was able to write such an amazing book because not only had she been through the horrifying experience of having to choose whether or not to abort a baby with downs syndrome, but she also was fluent in English, Spanish, and French. His response was "Yeah, you work with what you have." So, when I feel weird about exploiting my transplant, I think of her. She found something positive in terminating a wanted pregnancy, and I hope to find the same somewhere in all my medical madness. 

[Mr. B 123]

Bible

[jbeany]

Temple Grandin is a fascinating person. I'll have to look for the film about her on Netflix, the one that played on HBO? I've only seen clips.

She is widely criticized, though, I believe by other people with autism. The argument, which is a bit difficult to dispute, is "If you love something [animals] you don't perfect ways to KILL THEM." I do understand her reasoning, though. They are going to die anyway, so she may as well make it as non-traumatic as possible. I heard her on NPR a few months back and it was interesting how her career has shown this progression - I think she said she now is primarily in the business of advising the consumers of animal products, McDonalds and the like, how to pick the most humane suppliers.

Jbeany, have you tried one of those sour apple sprays for your table? I had two cats once, a Himi and a 'street cat'. The Himalayan, AJ, was easy to train, hated the negative consequences enough to stop doing what we wanted him to stop doing. I trained him to stand up and beg for food just because I thought it was cute. He would eventually get to the point where he would walk into the kitchen, stand in front of the fridge, meow, then stand up on his back paws (just in case I was THAT stupid and didn't realise what he wanted.) The street cat, Barney, I swear he loved the challenge of doing something naughty then running full-speed at us as we wielded a spray bottle and were pelting him right in the face. He did this for an entire evening before we decided he must be enjoying it, so it was counter-productive.

Water in a spray bottle makes them run away quickly, but doesn't do a thing to keep them from jumping up there in the first place.  I've got lemon juice and lemon extract - I might have to try adding some citrus to see if it helps.  Although, given that these two eat pretty much everything, they might like it.

I'm well aware from previous kitties that I'm really only training them to stay down when they have an audience, but even that is better than them jumping up when I have company there.   I've always scrubbed all my surfaces down with disinfectant before cooking or serving food on them.

Grandin has a section in this book explaining how she can say she loves animals and still design slaughter houses and pens for caged animals.  I guess I didn't question it in the first place - probably from spending time as a child on friend's farms and helping with various 4-H project animals.  The animals were always treated well, but there was never any question that the cute little calf we were bottle feeding was going to be auctioned off by the pound.

[MaryD]

Dr Harry showed on TV his way of keeping cats off benches.  He put a strip of double-sided sticky tape around the top edges of the bench and their favourite walking place on the bench/table.  They get up there and don't like their paws sticking to the bench.  He reckons that it doesn't take long before they learn.

[jbeany]

Mine learned how to grab the tape and pull it off and drag it around the room for fun.  I had duct tape in a web across the kitchen table, with the sticky side up,  ends stuck to the underside of the table where it wouldn't destroy the finish.  I think I was successful with the kitchen counters because I could leave cookie sheets with water in them for the cats to jump into.  I couldn't do that with the dining room table, though.  The kitchen had laminate counter tops and lino floors.  If they knocked a sheet off the table, the wood finish would have been ruined, not to mention the carpet.  Aluminum foil is supposed to bother them to walk on too, but not that I've noticed.

[cariad]

Your cats are waaaaaay too clever for me, jbeany! I remember buying the sour apple cat repellent to place on the Christmas tree one year (our cat nearly needed surgery because he would stand under the tinsel and eat it like spaghetti). The sour apple scent kept AJ - who was not the problem - in a far corner of the apartment, but Barney again seemed to take it as a challenge. He would stand by the tree with his head extended as far as possible, as if he were inhaling deeply just to desensitize himself to it. Don't misunderstand, Barney was the sweetest, most lovable feline, he just had authority issues his entire life!

We would lock the cats in a back room when we were eating or had guests over who did not want a giant beast like Barney to follow them around demanding their attention. AJ was very stranger-shy, so he would voluntarily hide himself away until he got to know someone.

[jbeany]

I think it's having two siblings that makes the difference.  No dominance issues to work out - just them ganging up against Mom. 

If you've ever read the Mrs. Murphy mysteries by Rita Mae (and Sneaky Pie the Cat) Brown, she does a fabulous job of writing the inner dialogue of the pets who help their owner solve mysteries.  She not only has them acting like super smart sleuths, she also has them hiding under the bed, giggling when they've shredded the throw pillows in retaliation for being locked in the house. 

I look at mine sometimes and think they must have the same kind of thoughts.  I had one years ago whose favorite trick was "Made You Look!"  He'd stare at a spot on the floor or wall and track it like he was watching a bug.  When I'd get up to go kill it, he gleefully run in circles before plopping down in my chair or warm spot on the couch. 

Brown definitely has pets of her own!

[Rain]

I'm reading Divergent by Veronica Roth (Book1 of a trilogy).  Its similar to hunger games and I like it.  I want to get back into reading non fiction to learn something but I haven't gotten the desire.

[jbeany]

Just finished the first of two mystery novels I got at the thrift store.  Not impressed.  It's a series called "A Culinary Mystery With Recipes" by Nancy Fairbanks.  The food columnist/detective doesn't so much solve the mystery as stumble into the answer when the murder is finally committed right in front of her.  Meh.

[Poppylicious]

I trained him to stand up and beg for food just because I thought it was cute.

Ha, Qyzen didn't need training, he's just taken to doing it, the cheeky moneky (he's thirteen-ish weeks).  Dora doesn't do it so he hasn't learnt it from her.  I've never actually been owned by a cat which does it before, but it is one of the sweetest things (especially when he uses his baby-squeak meow at the same time!)

 

And back on topic ... I'm reading Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five (as per the recommendation).  It's the first grow'd up book I've read for a while and makes a pleasant change from teenage vampires ... !

[kitkatz]

Finished Fifty Shades Darker

[CebuShan]

CebuShan, what are the "between the numbers" novels?

MM, They are Stephanie Plum books that she wrote for different holidays and aren't "numbered". The very first one I ever read was "Visions of Sugar Plums" That's what got me started on the whole series! Let's see...

Visions of Sugar Plums (Christmas)
Plum Lovin' (Valentine's Day)
Plum Lucky (St. Patrick's Day)
Plum Spooky (Halloween)
These are the books that introduced a character called "Diesel". Janet Evanovich just started a series with him revolving around the "seven deadly sins". The first one was Wicked Appetite. It was pretty good. I ordered the second and the bookstore just called and it's in.

[kitkatz]

I have finished All three Books of Shades of Grey.

Does anyone want them? Free, you pay postage?

[okarol]

I have finished All three Books of Shades of Grey.

Does anyone want them? Free, you pay postage?

I should have borrowed them for Jenna!

I am going to read the newest Dean Koonz book, I have it, just no time.