Wednesday, March 13, 2024 ~~ Books & More...
THOUGHTS
OUGHTTOBIOGRAPHY
It is March. Time to get the taxes done.
READING MY HORDE
Just one this week-- and for the rest of the month. I am on hiatus. I've decided that I miss my old favorites and will devote the rest of the month to spending time with Dick Francis (all of them in alphabetic order), Georgette Heyer (just my favorites), Nevil Shute and, in memory of newscaster Bob Edwards, the book he wrote on Edward R. Murrow and the birth of broadcast journalism, which I re-read every few years because it is fascinating and thought-provoking. RMH=34 books this year
THE BOOKS
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jesse Q. Sutanto
I definitely hope that Sutanto does not turn Vera Wong into a series. Vera was a hoot but I think her story has been told. This was a definite improvement over Dial A for Aunties (which I could not finish).
3.5 stars
The Greek Coffin Murder by Ellery Queen
The mystery was marvelously clever but the storytelling dragged terribly.
3 stars
Banker by Dick Francis
If I was forced to rank his books, this one would be near the top of the stack. It builds slowly but deliberately, like an old-fashion rollercoaster that slowly draws you up to the top of the super-structure before you can start the long, twisting, turning wild rush to the bottom. This is a good one for HB Psych for multiple reasons -- but mostly because the perp had to have been dreadfully off kilter.
4.25 stars
The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer
Historical romance set just after the Jacobite Rebellion. The missing heir returns home to claim his title and establish his children in their rightful place in society. Regardless of the authors intentions, the book is a burlesque (an absurd or comically exaggerated imitation of something, especially in a literary or dramatic work) and you will get more fun out of it, if you don't take it seriously. The heir is over the top -- especially as voiced by this particular narrator. The romances are pure cotton candy. The villainy is dastardly. Kidnapping, duels, swordplay abound. This is early Heyer and she gets better with age. Still, my favorite Heyer hero comes right out of this book.
4.0 stars.
THOUGHTS
Another weekend filled with amazing music. Mnozil is an Austrian brass septet founded 30 years ago. They are sublime instrumentality combined with ridiculous stage antics. I only wish that they had shared the play list in advance because I think that I missed a lot not knowing which genre of music were so artful combined in each piece. I did recognize the swirling melodies of Vivaldi's Four Seasons but what the hell else did they melt into it? If you ever get a chance to hear them, say yes.
I LOVE THIS BOOK. I have read it multiple times and I continue to be fascinated by the combination of painstaking research and serendipitous encounter that go into finding "lost" paintings. I'm re-reading it now because hopefully I will get a chance to finally see this painting when we visit Dublin in May. How did a Caravaggio end up in Dublin of all places? Read the book; it is fascinating.
Oh, my. Another Hallmark story. Trite but enjoyable with a HEA ending. I'm glad the MC got the kick in the butt she needed to get on with her life. 
If I could see this play once every year, I would. It is such a hoot. It is also one of the first plays that I saw in an actual theater performed by professional actors, as opposed to in the school auditorium with student actors. This was a re-read for me. I already have the LATW version but I decided that in preparation of our upcoming travels to the British Isles, that I wanted to see what other performances I could find. I was thrilled to find one with Gielgud and Evans, two terribly classic British actors. How could I pass it up? My only problem with the performance is that it felt like bits and pieces were missing; it didn't feel long enough (especially when compared to the LATW version).
Closing up the apartment was not that difficult considering that we had done a major, major clean out when we moved them a year ago. The most heart-warming moment of the week was when the shipper came to pack a painting that was being shipped to California. The packing team had to move the dining room table -- and it was broken so it had to be handled with care (because we still needed to eat one more family meal on it on Saturday night). After that, it was going out on the Junk Luggers truck with the rest of the furniture in the apartment. The dining room set was my grandmother's. She bought it in the late 1950's in Copenhagen and had it shipped home (back in the days when shipping by sea was dirt cheap). It was the new Danish modern that would become all the rage in the next few years. We all grew up with that table and we all love it but none of us has room for it and shipping would be expensive. It was going to Junk Luggers.
Busy, busy month of listening. For some reason, I booked a lot of tickets for February and March this year -- when the white weather can be the worst. So far we have missed two theater productions, one of which was "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" which I really wanted to see. The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine kicked off its US tour at our local concert hall -- and they kicked it off with a very long and very loud standing ovation as the orchestra walked into the hall to take their places. And then we sat down and listened to two hours of virtuosity followed by another standing ovation. The next night we were back in our seats for VOCES8 an a capella ensemble --and another standing ovation. What a weekend. We bookend-ed the local concerts with trips into Boston for Handel + Haydn Society concerts -- heaps and heaps of classic classical music.