Reading Media Nov. - Dec. 2014

[Nancy]

I am discontinuing this thread after this month.

[FelineFriend]

Why are you discontinuing this thread after this month? Don't you like it anymore? Has anybody posted anything offensive? I hope I have not, DNancy.

I enjoy this thread. It's enjoyable, for me, to see what others are reading and watching on TV and in the movies.

But, then again, perhaps not enough people are posting,to actually keep it alive? Is that, perhaps, another reason for discontinuing it? I'm curious.

But, then again, with a New Year, such as 2015, there probably comes a whole new slew of threads and forums at that time.

[Nancy]

Rethinking it and I need to make a change maybe to members only after the first of the yr. I want to be able to post about qt books and talk about that. So maybe in J & C still thinking on it.
I just read more in summer too. On this new board I cannot tell what forums threads are in. Moving this discusion to members only.

[Harriet]

Nancy, are you talking about the reminder post from the moderators on Tuesday morning in PWYC? That post said to remember that it's a GOOD thing we have the Reading thread to post about what books we've read. It wasn't criticizing the thread at all. In fact, it was recommending it. It's no problem for anybody if one of our members recommends a book they read that is religious - that has happened a lot, for a long time, and everyone is fine with it.

The moderators were saying we don't want the boards to change and start having religious back-and-forth discussions like scriptural studies, which we've never done before and could make members uncomfortable. We just want things to stay the same as they've always been.

[Nancy]

I want to have this where only members can read it. Sometimes I want to have discusions on faith or a book on a sesitive topic so need to consider where that would go. Thinking on that.

So I am thinking it will be good to change and put post this thread in members only forum with a slightly diff. Name would be even better! So look for Reading and media room there next yr.

[Nancy]

So many holiday movies on this time of year what are your thoughts on those? Have favs. Love some, hate others, sappy, kid favs. Much to choose from.

I have Barbie nutcracker dvd Franklins Christmas and one other in with the holiday stuff gkids love. I hate It's a wonderful life too depressing for me. H. Likes it how ever.I watched one with Wilie Nelson H Harry Conic Jr. And Connie Britton (of the show Nashville) in it that was excellent but the name of that one escapes me now.

[Sunny]

I have watched some of the holiday movies on Hallmark Channel. I have liked most of them. I have also been watching the mystery programs on one of our PBS stations as well as Doc Martin.

Nancy, the name of the movie with H. Connick Jr. is Angels Sing.

[Nancy]

Thanks Sunny.

I just watched a show Killing Kennedy a diff. Perspective produced by Bill O'Rielly. It was timely for Nov. Robe Lowe did a good job with his part I thought.

[lucylee]

Book Review:
Ruth's Journey/The Authorized Novel of Mammy from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, by Donald McCaig

This book was sooo sooo good!!! I just finished it and I put off reading the last few chapters b/c I didn't want it to end! If you liked Gone with the Wind, you will like this one. As it says, it is "authorized" by the Margaret Mitchell estate, and the characters all seem so true to what you would expect from reading GWTW. This author also wrote another authorized prequel, Rhett Butler's People, which I have also read, and also enjoyed -- but Ruth's Journey is better, I think.
It starts out when Ruth/Mammy is just a small child, orphaned in a revolution in Haiti. She comes to America with the French lady who will later become Scarlett O'Hara's grandmother... but her journey from Haiti to Tara is not quite as straight a path as you'd expect.
On the other hand, you see her growing into the exact character you expect. Aside from Melanie and Scarlett's mother, Ellen, Mammy is probably my favorite character. As I told someone who criticized the book for various reasons, I think the goodness and wisdom of those three characters outweigh the bad, selfish parts of Scarlett's character by a long shot.
Anyway -- if you have a GWTW fan in the family, or if you are one yourself, this is a GREAT Christmas gift idea.

Unfortunately, I have raved about it so much that now I find myself having to loan my copy to a dfriend. DH says I'll never see it again.

Oh -- and a
Movie Review:
Saving Christmas

This is the new movie from Kirk Cameron. It is maybe a little serious or slow, for children, but the message is wonderful. I left the theater feeling a little less Scrooge-like.
So often I am the one complaining about all the busy-ness of Christmas... the trouble of decorating, the hassle of shopping and choosing and wrapping... all that stuff. I love to look at my Christmas tree lights once it's all done, and I love being with (most of) my family, but all the social-ness of it sorta stresses me out, and the changes that are brought about by the loss of family members and familiar homes depresses me and makes me nervous.
However, after seeing this movie, I had the clear conviction that all the * stuff * we "have to" do for Christmas is just a small way of sacrificing for the people we love... and our sacrifice of time and energy and money is just NOTHING compared to Christ's sacrifice for us -- so all this busy-ness is just a way of showing our love, and being His hands and feet for the people we love, and hopefully for others who are less fortunate.
Also, the movie does a very good job of putting a Christian spin on the many decorations and may even give you a new perspective on some of the old ways of looking at things, even when you do try to keep a Christian perspective.
I really admire Kirk Cameron (and probably should say I admire his parents too), because he spent his youth as a child/teen actor and surely faced the temptations that Hollywood lifestyle offered, and apparently he has grown into a fine young man, dedicated to his family and devoting his life to making movies that have a message of leading others towards a Christian lifestyle.

[ellyphant]

Hello all! I always enjoyed this thread.

Must report that I have read from Genesis to the middle of the book of Luke this year in my new English Standard Bible. I will need to step it up if I'm going to finish by the end of the year. Have not been following any schedule, just reading on my own. It occurs to me that I should probably not try to finish by any deadline, but rather just read and enjoy God's Word.

Have read a slew of other books this year, but find that I promptly forget most of them. I may start listing them here again.

Have been watching a murder-mystery series called Gracepoint. Also, DH and I are hooked on Doctor Who, which we see on netflix.