Wednesday April 10, 2024 -- Books & More...
THOUGHTS
WooHoo! Taxes are done, ready to be sent off.
Otherwise, I am just too busy to think, let alone write about what I am (not) thinking about.
TICKETS
Sunday can't come soon enough! Twelfth Night!!
READING MY HORDE
As it turns out, everything I read this week was from 'the horde' putting me at 39 books so far this year. It wasn't anything intentional, it is just the way the week worked out.
AT THE LIBRARY
Still waiting patiently.
THE BOOKS
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
A pre-travel, scene-setting read. Another look at the Blitz. More focused on the players than the events. A long but easy read.
3.5 stars
This House of Sky by Ivan Doig
DNF. I've read a couple by Doig and really enjoyed them. I could not get into this one. There was something about his language and the overwrought descriptions that drove me bonkers.
No rating
The Night at the Crossroads by Georges Simenon
This was written in the first year he published; one of 10 books he published that year. Yes, he cranked them out like sausage but that doesn't bother me. They are a quick read when I don't feel like anything else and I like his tales. Simenon found his niche, his style and his character and he stuck with it.
3.5 stars
Murder at the Museum by Simon Brett
The more I read Simon Brett, the more I want to read more Simon Brett. Good thing he has a large back catalog. Sorry it isn't all available on audio. I continue to enjoy his sense humor and the way he has perfected the art of not letting the humor pull the reader's attention away from the story. He just drops his little bombs and keeps going; he doesn't hang around to make sure that you got the joke or the commentary.
3.75 stars
Mrs. Pargeter's Principle by Simon Brett
This is the first that I have read of the Mrs. Pargeter series. Unfortunately, books 1 -6 are not available on Audible or the library, so I had to jump into to the middle of the series. I hope that eventually I get to hear the whole series. Yes, the humor continues, as unobtrusive as ever.
Simon Brett narrates this series. He is an exception to the rule, an author who knows how to narrate a book and sounds good doing it. Give me more.
3.5stars
THOUGHTS
Nothing doing. I am patiently waiting my turn. Nothing expected until June -- but watch, something is going to be delivered while we are away and I won't have time or inclination to read it!
Same plot structure as before. First person narrator, author of true crime stories in which he ends up involved in the events of which he is writing while laid up from injuries sustained. Fourth wall completely shattered (could we call this 2nd person narrative??). Before you pick this one up, get your hands on The Detection Club Decalogue (https://murder-mayhem.com/the-detection-club-rules) and VanDine's Twenty Rules (http://gaslight-lit.s3-website.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/gaslight/vandine.htm ) because Stevenson references them frequently. Keep in mind that Van Dine is deadly serious about his rules, while the DCD (mostly written by Ronald Knox) is somewhat tongue in cheek (The Detection Club members knew how to have fun).
I found a new recording of this title and decided to give it a try. It does make a difference but one I'm not sure that I like; maybe I've listen to the Cornelius Garrett recording so much that it is set in my brain. No, I don't think so. I think that this is the story of a 45 year old man and that it needs to be read by a man, not an ingenue. Avon is dark and menacing and the voice of a young female narrator is not.
Wow!
This is the sequel to These Old Shades and is about the dissolute son of Avon. It is more romantic fantasy from a naive young woman, although by this time she has been married for 7 years. Nonetheless, I do ever so enjoy reading these two books, over and over again. BTW, awful cover. They look middle-aged and seasick.
After his wife died in 2000, Dick Francis stopped writing. His books were a collaborative effort with his wife even though published under the name of Dick Francis. In 2006, the first of 5 books written in collaboration with his son Felix was published. Crossfire was the last they would write together. It is one of the better tales to come out of the father-son collaboration.
I found it had a dreadfully slow start -- but a whiz bang finish. I might even read it again before the month is out.