Monday, July 24, 2023

Monday Mash Up

 

Monday, July 24, 2023 ~ Books & More...

THOUGHTS

It was a slow week for reading.  Lots of little things that needed to get done  and a visit with my son.

Earlier this year, I suggested to my son that his grandmother was really starting to lose it and that, if they were planning on visiting her, they should do it sooner rather than later.   They spent the past Monday visiting with Nan and Pop, then flew to Boston the next morning. My son meticulously planned the visit so that they would have quality time with the people they wanted to see -- his parents, his sibs his nephew and a few close friends.

Thursday was our day. They planned a day-trip with us to MASS MoCA -- Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.  Cool campus, a series of old factory buildings along the Hoosic River. The buildings are so old that they were once run by water power -- and thus their proximity to the river. In other words, MASS MoCA is one of those museums where I like the building a whole lot more than I like the collection.  It was all too short a visit -- not enough time to just sit and talk and no chance to have my whole family all together in one place.

MASS MoCA

 

100 DAYS OF SUMMER

As the days roll by, it is getting harder and harder to find slots for the books I'm choosing to read. In fact, I was able to find slots for only half the books I read this week ;-). Maybe if chose the slots first...

   38. Book set in Canada or written by a Canadian author.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Pts: 2     RT:  290   Avg: 7.07

THE BOOKS

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

This one was DNF, more like DOA. This book was definitely not for me. Too depressing. Too brutal. And definitely not what the blurb promised.

 

Sea of Tranquillity by Emily St. John Mandel

Beautifully written. Magnificently performed. Speculative fiction. I like how short and simple she made a complicated conundrum.
4 stars

Bibliomysteries Volume 2 with short stories by Peter Lovesey, F Paul Wilson, Lyndsay Faye, Bradford Morrow, R. L. Stine, Joyce Carol Oates, Thomas Perry, Elizabeth George, Carolyn Hart, Megan Abbott, Stephen Hunter, Denise Mina, James Grady, Ian Rankin, James W. Hall

Available only in audio format. All of these mysteries involve books in some way. With a couple of exceptions, they were excellent. One story was DNF; poorly written and even worse performance (she sounded like she was reading porn not a mystery). One story was almost DNF but I soldiered on and was rewarded in the end. They all ended with a lovely and satisfying unexpected twist. Bring on Volumes 3 and 4.
3.75 stars

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