Monday Mash Up

 

Monday, September 4, 2023 ~ Bingo, Books &...

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THOUGHTS

• Many thanks to Moonlight Reader for "100 Days of Summer." It may have been simple but it was a lot of fun. Looking forward to what new games retirement brings us. Something nice in a Spring or Dead of Winter game, maybe?

• Heading to visit the Patriarchs, to celebrate Mom's birthday and their anniversary (73 years). Between the family visit and other obligations in September, Monday Morning Mash Up will not be publish on a Monday morning until October 2. But don't despair, I will manage to post an Un-Monday Morning Mash Up or two in the intervening weeks.

 

OUGHTTOBIOGRAPHY...

is on hiatus for a while. There is so damned much that I know I should be doing right now that is all going to get swept under the rug and I don't even want to think about it. It's Bingo Time! Well that and a whole bunch of other stuff.

 

HALLOWEEN BINGO

I gave up Wind in the Willows in favor of DRACULA and kicked off the game in the very wee hours Wednesday morning with , which I really enjoyed but am now having trouble deciding exactly how to use it. I have no reading plan! I was thinking of just going through the list of my squares alphabetically; that plan didn't last for very long. I'm trying to work my way through a print edition of Chocolat for Film@11.
My first Square was called on September 2 -- PSYCH (oddly enough, same date as last year but different call). I have finished 4 books and have 2 in progress, one audio, one print. Six days of travel will put an end to my current pace.

On Hold at the Library, Halloween Bingo Edition:

• The Road to Roswell, placed July 14 , 6th in line (was 13th), 11 people waiting on 2 copies.
• The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves (for release Sep 5) 31st in line. 51 people waiting on 1 copy
Will they be delivered in time?

 

 

THE BOOKS

The Best American Short Stories 2019 edited by Anthony Doerr

I was neither enthralled nor impressed by most of the editors choices. I didn't even keep a story by story list -- or stop to make notes about the individual stories. I just wanted to finish the stories before Bingo. I wonder why I threw this title on my wishlist in the first place.
3 stars

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

8/30 ~ What a fun way to kick off Halloween Bingo -- with orcs, dwarfs,succubi and more. The book is fresh, bright and funny -- and they all live happily ever after. Just my speed.
Squares: Good question. I'm not a regular fantasy reader and don't know the lingo.
3.25 stars

The Black Cat by Martha Grimes

8/30 ~ As soon as a saw that Martha Grimes had titled a book The Black Cat, my choice was made. No discussion needed. I don't have a lot to say about this one. I am slowly bouncing my way around the series with no rush to finish reading them because they make good fill ins when I don't know what I feel like reading.
Squares: Black Cat, Genre: Mystery
3.25 stars

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

8/31 ~ I was looking for a "magical realism" title but realized that this would also work for Film@11. The only stumbling block is that this title is not available as an audiobook. So, I have taken the plunge and I am very slowly working my way through the book. I am not even 10% in. I love the movie and never read the book, so reading this breaks one of my cardinal rules: read the book or see the movie but not both. AND, I still need a magical realism title. Any suggestions?
No rating at this time

Lonesome Road by Patricia Wentworth

9/1 ~ For Amateur Sleuth (first on the list of books on the "read the alphabetically" plan), I turned to the huge stash of audios I bought earlier in the summer at deep, deep discount -- from here on out known as "the stash." I decided that I would read one of the Miss Silver titles that I had bought. Wentworth kept me guessing till the very end. I liked the suspenseful ending, the red-herrings and how she kept me guessing.
This one will work for multiple squares: Amateur Sleuth, Vintage Mystery (1939), Country House, Home/Hurt, Genre: Mystery and maybe Cozy Mystery, even thought it was written well before the genre was defined.
3.5 stars

Nerve by Dick Francis

9/2 -- When PSYCH was drawn as square of the day, I rushed to choose a book so that I could claim a Square and feel like the game had really started. I quickly settled on a tried-and-true Dick Francis title. This mild bit of dueling mind-fuckery has always worked for me. It was written in the early 60s but you are so engrossed in Rob Finn untangling the problem and setting up to resolve it that you don't miss the modern tech. You said it; I am a died in the wool Dick Francis fan.
Works for: Psych, Amateur Sleuth, Vintage Mystery (1964), Genre: Mystery. Other Dick Francis that work for Psych include: Blood Sport, Banker, Longshot, Come to Grief (warning: animals are victims)
4 star