Yeah my dad read the Shackleton book & said it was amazing. Not hard to imagine considering the subject matter. So sad to think they went through all that just to get home in time for WW1 & trench fodder. Dad’s been to South Georgia himself, said it was amazing. He made friends with a penguin 😉

My brother recommended The Gates of Fire to me a while ago and I was surprised to find I really loved it. It’s a dramatic portrayal of what may have been close to what actually happened at the battle of Thermopylae (rather than the graphic novel ‘300’ version). There’s also the amazingness that is A Song of Ice & Fire (Game of Thrones etc.). If you haven’t already started the series you might want to wait until George RR Martin has at least finished the next one though, otherwise you’ll join the rest of us, desperately awaiting the next installment.

USA – Do let me know if & when you get into ‘Carter’. it is a real fave of mine. I must re-read it sometime 🙂 Nighty-night.

USA and TracyJ, ( and anyone else who wants to join in), our book thread has been saved! Common sense has prevailed! See suggested improvements. USA won’t be able to watch vid til weekend. Then discuss. Hope your fasting went well.

Rocky, lots of fiction has meaning too, it records the human condition, makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you think!

@ toms mantis

” lots of fiction has meaning too, ”

Yes, I can appreciate the drama in fiction.

I’ve been on a fiction fast for many decades now & just wait for the movie version.

I feel that I can make a contribution by being better informed in areas that have real life impact.

In most cases, I also enjoy it.

➰

I also thought “Into Thin Air” and “Into the Wild” made great reading, and another book “Wild”, about a young woman hiking the Pacific Crest trail for 3 months is great. I think of it when I hike up a steep hill back home each morning, 20″ down and 25″ back up, and find it keeps me motivated.

USA
You’re right, “Into the Wild” is pretty heavy (what happens to him), took me a long time to get over
that one, although very well written.
Today is a fast day for me, skipped yesterday, and I’ve been reading “the Lowland”, from the library.
Its helping me through some hungry hours.

USA
“the Lowland “is set in Calcutta and Rhode Island in the 60’s, I’m getting drawn in more and more as I read on.
Phew, another fast day under my belt!
Enjoy your “pure escape”, I love those too.

Mulville, will look out for into thin air in the library. Sadly we can’t buy every book we want to read. Love stories of human fortitude and endeavour. Don’t think I would be able to withstand all those hardships. Didn’t think I could fast either but do!

Just checked out MM’s fb page . Very amusing.

Piper, hi. Only one on your list I’ve read is The Name of the Rose. Really enjoyed it. Is this your way of getting through a fasting day too? Will look out for some of the other titles in the library.

Toms
No. Sometimes. I get home late and you are all,

mostly, in bed or should be.
(WILTLDNR?!!!) Mostly ,I drink herbal tea, to cut caffeine and be able to sleep.

I’ve been looking up on other links here, some of which I really liked. I am pretty new and have been ‘catching up’.

I’m not sure if I’ve read the same ‘Wild’ as others have referenced. The one I read was a travelogue by a woman who went to 4 or 5 diverse landscapes – the Amazon jungle was definitely in there and she spent a while living in the Arctic with inuit folks, trying out the ‘seal blubber’ diet. Have to say, I really don’t fancy that one! 😉

piper – I’m afraid I haven’t read The Name of the Rose either. I read Foucault’s Pendulum, also by Umberto Eco. It was a great book, in hindsight, but I found it a real slog to read. I’m always like that with translations – when I look back after I’ve finished it I realise what a great book it was but while reading it it just seems like it’s an endless chore. I had the worst time with Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment and Balzac’s Cousin Bette too. I’m much better with Northern European translations weirdly(another one I thought of the other day was Sophie’s World).

Another great book I read this year (haven’t seen the film version though) is Cloud Atlas. If you haven’t read that give it a try – it’s technically brilliant and a really good story to boot.

Hi USA. Watched most of the you tube film you put me onto. Well, my OH had his cholesterol checked and it was 6.7. He joined me on the FD and he has lost 22lbs, which takes him to his ideal weight and now he is trying 6:1 to maintain. He went to get his cholesterol re checked and it is now5:2. Apparently still high cos he has reduced his “good” cholesterol as well as his “bad”, thus cancelling out the “bad” loss! He has been researching this subject now as it has really cheesed him off. He has come to the conclusion that he is ok as he is, and that doctors seem to be in a rush to get you onto statins ASAP. Really, you are at a loss as to know what to do for the best, as in the latest Mosley tv program he interviewed 2 doctors who had totally opposing views on wether statins actually did you any good or not. Also a cardiologist said on the BBC breakfast show last week how we needed the fat we keep getting told not to eat for the health of our hearts while a nutritionist totally disagreed. The only thing you can do is to weigh up the information and make your own decision on the subject. But it’s so tough. What do you think?

It’s half-term this week, so I had to rearrange my fasting schedule too. I usually swim after work on a Monday, so I use it as my fasting day (to maximise fat-burning) and just don’t eat til I get back from the pool about 9:30. Unfortunately they always cancel the Monday swimming session during school holidays, so I had to swim yesterday afternoon instead. I hate fasting at weekends but it’s worth it to fit a swim in and it does mean I get the unusual opportunity to have a ‘troughing’ day on a Monday 😉

Foucault’s Pendulum is great if you get the opporunity to have another go at it. I read Labyrinth a little while afterwards and it’s kind of a watered down, inferior version of the kinds of themes and subject matter explored in FP and don’t even get me started on The DaVinci Code, which is the ‘writing-by-numbers’ not fit for a 10 year old version of those 2 books. Actually, now you’ve reminded me how superior FP was to Labrynth (I’m not even going to compare it to ‘the book that shall not be named’), I do feel bad for not investing the brainpower and time to get through The Name of the Rose too. I shall sort that situation out ASAP – as soon as I’ve finished the book I’m currently on.

Mosley did take the decision to take statins, according to the film. He did take them before, then stopped, then began again, as I remember. He did say that if he were female, he probably wouldn’t just yet, as women appear to have heart attacks when they are older! Looking at Dr. Fung the older we get the safer we are! Will watch more of his films when I can. I intend to see my doctor about coming off statins and having my cholesterol checked then again after a couple of months. What you’ve put about you and statins is quite scary! OH was fed up because the first advice he was given was “time we gave you statins” because the person he saw either couldn’t or wouldn’t give him information on what to eat to restore the balance. Hence he is researching himself and I have an extensive shopping list!! Oh well.

Sorry USA, it stands for Other Half! Others have used it here, thought it was a normal thing. Forgive me for taking things for granted. Never heard of Water for Elephants. Will look it up. Have you read any Henning Mankel? They’re not all crime novels.

@wiltldnrusa

“Water for Elephants
by Sara Gruen
was very good writing could not put it down
however,
i heard the movie was ugh”

Few movies meet the expectations of the entire book.

Movies attempt to depict it as best as 2 hours can do so. It’s like visualizing the Cliff’s Notes.

This movie I enjoyed.

➰

USA
Water for Elephants- forgot about that one. I liked it a lot, too. I’ve also looked up the Dr Fung videos and will watch them soon.