Monday Mash Up

 

Monday, January 8, 2024  ~~ Books & More

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THOUGHTS

It snowed Saturday night into Sunday evening, a nice way to end the first week of the new year. We were happy to hunker down and do absolutely nothing but watch football and movies all weekend. The condo association handles the plowing and shoveling for our over-55 community. I took advantage of the quiet to track down some artwork for Monday Morning Mash Up, which you will see further down the page. Kids sent pix of fun and frolics

I finally settled on an image for "necessary roughage." For those who are wondering  what I am talking about, it comes from a quote I came across in THE WEEK magazine a couple of years ago, "A bit of good trash now and then is good for the severest reader. It provides the necessary roughage in the literary diet. " (Phyllis McGinley, author) It fits my reading to a T and I frequently slap the label on a read I find to be fun and tolerable but not necessarily well-executed.

OUGHTTOBIOGRAPHY

I ought to be figuring out when we are going down to Philadelphia next. My sister drives down once a week or so but not when the driving weather is bad (heavy rain or snow). DH would prefer to avoid the snow as well. I won't go through the whole litany of why we probably won't get down there before June -- although it would be good practice for explaining to my sibs why I am not getting down there sooner. But that is how it is -- and that is why we have the aides coming in to help him each morning.

READING MY HOARD

I have actually been reading fairly regularly from Mt. TBR since I stocked up on titles in a sitewide-sale-that-could-not-be-passed-up in July -- and then went on to double its size in December (another sitewide sale) with more titles I could not pass up because they were so cheap and not available from my library.

To keep track of the stack, I am using the "Collections" feature in my Audible Library. I went through and cleaned up the existing collection ditching what I had read and removing freebies that I wasn't going to read. Then added everything in my Library that I had not yet read -- new purchases, old acquisitions and new selections from the freebie catalog. It was more 100 titles when I finished the initial clean up.

I don't know how many TBR titles I read in 2023 and I'm not going to worry about it. Right now, the count is down to 83 . Mt. TBR does not include any print volumes or ebooks, even though there are a LOT of them, some going back to my university days. I know I won't be reading them but I am not ready to part with them.

Finally, about the artwork and why it isn't a dragon. The truth is I like the pun in the challenge title. I like puns in general, right down to the pun in my blog name, Peregrinations. I was raised on them. My mental image of my TBR is 'horde', not 'hoard.' It is a band of crazies on horses riding straight at me which, like a freight train in the night, is not stopping for anything in its way. I scoured the 'net for hours looking for the right thing and kept coming back to this one, which comes closest to the mental image that pops into my head anytime the word is mentioned. It is a bit more bellicose than I wanted but we can't have everything.

This week's RMH total was five.

 

THE READS

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

This is the first year since the Agatha Centenary read started that I have actually kicked off the year with an Agatha; it felt good! I have to admit that I did not see this one coming at all; it just never crossed my mind. I enjoyed it very much.
3.25 stars

Sticky by Laurie Winkless

Surface science for non-scientists. Just my speed. I might even have learned something in the process.
3.25 stars

 

Star Trap by Simon Brett

Book three of Brett's first series of mystery novel, published in 1977. MC Charles Paris is an actor who has a side line in amateur sleuthing. Wow, has Brett come a long way since he wrote the Charles Paris series, which isn't bad at all. I'm glad he kept at it -- and so will I.
3.25 stars

Diamond Dust by Peter Lovesey

I hated that Lovesey killed off Diamond's wife but I loved the book. I loved the way Lovesey treated Diamond's grief and mourning without being maudlin. I loved the dead-ends and the twists and turns of the plot. Very devious, Mr. Lovesey, very devious.
4 stars

The Substitution Order by Martin Clark

I can't remember how this one ended up on my wish list. I love the cover but it did not take very long to realize that this one really is not for me. I don't like books where the set up involves putting the innocent MC into a lose-lose situation thus forcing him to do something he absolutely does not want to do. I find it too damned frustrating. However, I do think that there are a few folks here who might actually enjoy this one.
DNF -- no rating

The Case of the Silent Partner by Erle Stanley Gardner

What can I say? It is a Perry Mason story. File it under "necessary roughage"and let's move on.
3 stars