Monday Mash Up

 

Monday, December 18, 2023 ~ Books & More

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THOUGHTS

I have been trying not to think too much this week. It only gets me into trouble.

While I have not been thinking, I have decided that my 'necessary roughage' tagline needs a logo. I started looking but I won't have time to find what I am really looking for before I go to press. So, the logo debut is going to have to wait until next week. And no, Archimboldo is not in the running. He's just here to attract your attention.

 

TICKETS

We went en famille to see A Christmas Carol. This was the grandson's first time to seeing a stage play. Given the nature of the show (ghosts, loud noises, etc.) my daughter decided that we should go to the sensory-friendly performance. That and the fact that the 1pm curtain time is perfect for a little guy with an early bedtime. We made a day of it -- lunch before the show and hot chocolate & cookies after.

THE BOOKS

Wings Above the Diamantina by Arthur W. Upfield

Published 1936. Third in the series. Still introducing us to the MC and what life was like in the Australian outback.
3.5 stars

Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym

DNF.  Killed by the narrator. She was a-w-f-u-l. Like finger nails on a blackboard. Less than10 minutes and I was done. Apparently I'm not the only one to say so; in fact, every single review on Audible complains about the narrator. Unfortunately, except for Excellent Women read by Jayne Entwhistle, the same wretched narrator reads the remaining four titles available on Audible. In other words, I am shit out of luck and may never get to read any more Pym.
No rating

It's A Wonderful Woof by Spencer Quinn
A Christmas/Hanukkah read

It has been a few years since I last read a Chet & Bernie mystery. Either you love this series or you don't, there doesn't seem to be an in between -- and I love it. The opening of this story was a hoot: the local Hell's Angels annual holiday party, motorcycle races up the stairs, motorcycles dancing the hora. I was rolling on the floor. But, the humor aside and in spite of a canine narrator, Quinn weaves a baroque plot of kidnapping, family feuds and art history. IMHO, this was one of the best of the series.
4 stars

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
(Recommended by DD1 and Wanda)

"Family is not whose blood runs in your veins, it's who you'd spill it for."

It was so much fun to read. Stevenson boldly goes where no author has gone before. Australian noir? An oxymoron, right? The narrator is constantly breaking the fourth wall -- and I like it; it builds a rapport with the reader and sucks us in even further. I also like how he builds the Detection Club's 10 commandments into the story.

He has a second book in this series and honestly, I'm afraid to read it. On one hand, I want to see what jiggery-pokery he has up his sleeve for this tale. On the other, what if it isn't as good as the first.
4+ stars -- for creativity and for breaking the rules of good writing as they are currently imagined

Eternity Ring by Patricia Wentworth

The only thing I want to comment on is the cover. How many different ways can I say that I like the Miss Silver series, knitting needles not withstanding? I do want to say that the cover really does not fit the material yet it was so typical of the competition.

3.25 Stars

The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon

I enjoy Maigret but some days it is necessary to poke fun at the books. There is no doubt that Simenon cranked them out like sausage and some days you just have to call it as you see it. This one was really a case of Maigret being cranky and bouncing from pillar to post and then sitting down at the very end and explaining to everyone what really happened, because there weren't really any clues in the story. It felt like one big deus ex machina.
3 stars

Death on the Downs by Simon Brett

Book two of the Fethering series. Not quite as good as the first but still a delightfully complicated puzzle of murder and mayhem. We are slowly getting to know our MC's and the secrets they keep.
3.5 stars

Murder by Milk Bottle by LynneTruss

Definitely filed under "necessary roughage." Pure farce. Wicked satire.
3.25 stars

With this last book, my reading list is as long as it was last for all of last year. Sadly I am nowhere near having read as many hours as I did last year. I've started the recording breaking book and I look forward to telling you all about it next week.