MID-WEEK MASH-UP

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 ~~ Books & More...

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THOUGHTS

I've been thinking about my reading plan for April. It is going to be a very busy month; April always is. So some of my books are going to be easy reading and some of my books are going to be in preparation for our May adventure. And some are going to be to reduce the horde/hoard, which I really do need to work on (especially the ones I paid for). Exactly what I am going to read remains to be seen.

READING MY HORDE

Nothing this week but I am now picking up the pace for April -- but not necessarily to the January-February pace.

AT THE LIBRARY

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!

 

 

THE BOOKS

A very read-y week.

Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

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).
Stow your baggage and hang on for dear life.
3.75 stars

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

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.
I also want to point out that this is one of her very early titles, written when she was barely twenty. It is the romantic fantasy of a naive, innocent schoolgirl; she just doesn't seem to understand the deeper implications of some of the things she writes. But, hey, it was a best-seller in its day and has never been out of print.
It is interesting to watch GH mature over the years as she learns personally about love and marriage. It is hard to believe that the woman who wrote this book would go on to write A Civil Contract, another one of my GH favorites, forty years later.
4.0 stars, if you can get around some of the stupid stuff

Comeback by Dick Francis

Wow!
Career diplomat figures out who is trying to ruin a local vet. Loved it. Twisted, twisted characters. More of that moral bankruptcy that DF does so well.
4.0 stars

Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer

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.
3.75 stars

Crossfire by Felix Francis and Dick Francis

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.
Injured soldier comes home to find his estranged horse-trainer mother up to her eyeballs in trouble. It is now up to him to fix it.
3.75 stars

They Do it with Mirrors by Agatha Christie

I found it had a dreadfully slow start -- but a whiz bang finish. I might even read it again before the month is out.
BTW, there are multiple recordings of this one. I had somehow gotten my hands on the Joan Hickson recording but it was just awful. She spoke as if she had marbles in her mouth, especially when she had to pronounced character names. I lasted 10 minutes before I went to Audible to get the Emilia Fox edition.
3.5 stars