Book a Week 2019 - BW2: Whodunit bookology - Hercule Poirot

[Kareni]

4 hours ago, aggieamy said:

Still trying to figure out my new gadget. . . .

4 hours ago, aggieamy said:

If anyone has any marriage of convenience stories they love please give me some recommendations. It's one of my favorite tropes. 

Some suggestions--

Historical:

The wedding Journey by Carla Kelly

The Arrangement by Mary Balogh

His At Night by Sherry Thomas

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/114166.Devil_in_Winter

Tempt Me at Twilight (The Hathaways, #3) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6264710-tempt-me-at-twilight

Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold   https://www.romance.io/books/54552da48c7d2383163d9079/eyes-of-silver-eyes-of-gold-ellen-oconnell

Contemporary:

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29367958-the-wall-of-winnipeg-and-me

Regards,

Kareni

[KathyBC]

10 minutes ago, Robin M said:

@aggieamy  Although I love John Malkovich, I'm not getting a very good Poirot vibe from him and based on the trailer, I don't have plans to watch it.  Just totally ruins the image I have of the detective.   I think your girls however, will love Kenneth Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express. I saw it on a plane last year, which watching on a tiny little screen really didn't do it justice. Despite that, Branagh is wonderful and look forward to watching it in the next few days.  Since James has tortured me with Alien one and two, as well as Terminator one and two, it's only fair I torture him with Hercule Poirot. 😋

 

John Malkovich is cast as Poirot? But Poirot is short! That is one of his defining characteristics.

On 1/6/2019 at 10:49 AM, Robin M said:

Poirot was an extraordinary-looking little man. He was hardly more than five feet four inches, but carried himself with great dignity.

It's like the inverse of Tom Cruise cast as Jack Reacher :

Quote

Reacher is described as being 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall, weighing 210–250 pounds (95–113 kg) and having a 50-inch (130 cm) chest.

Just... NO.

[mumto2]

1 hour ago, KathyBC said:

John Malkovich is cast as Poirot? But Poirot is short! That is one of his defining characteristics.

It's like the inverse of Tom Cruise cast as Jack Reacher :

Just... NO.

Last year I happily clicked on the Reacher movie on Prime and discovered short little Tom Cruise as Reacher and turned it off.  Just could not have that vision in my mind the next time I pick up one of the books!

I really loved the new Murder on the Orient Express.  I will admit watching Poirot without the real Poirot 😉 was odd but the scenery was incredible.  

I finished listening to The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg for one of my I’s in the spelling game.  It’s also my second Ice book in a book chain......and my first in my Nordic Noir category. 😂😉It was a really convenient book and it was good.  I will be reading the rest of this series which is set in a rural area in Sweden.  Highly readable......I have the second book on hold.

[Bookwoman]

So far I am making good progress on my challenge.

I finished book #3 which was Michelle Obama's Becoming. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I particularly liked the section where she talked about her determination and persistence in high school. From her reaction to being told she "wasn't Princeton material" to her discussion later in the book about why UChicago was never on her radar, her writing about her high school to college experience really spoke to me. 

I'm currently reading book #4 now, Richard Russo's The Destiny Thief.  This is his book of essays about writers and writing and it is excellent so far. It is pretty short so I hope to finish it up in the next few days. The library just called to let me know that my book club book  that I put on hold is in, so that will most likely be book #5. We are reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I'm not familiar with the book or author - does anyone have thoughts to share?

Happy reading!

Terri

[Liz CA]

8 hours ago, aggieamy said:

So far this year I've finished books!

A Mary Balogh novel that was okay. Only a Promise. It's a marriage of convenience story which I like because then if the story gets racy it won't offend my puritan sensibilities because they're already married. It was good but not amazing. 

If anyone has any marriage of convenience stories they love please give me some recommendations. It's one of my favorite tropes. 

 

 

This made me laugh because I am right there with you. Even though I am okay with just a good mystery and no racy at all. Several of Colleen Coble books are in this vein. She must have gone through a phase where she was stuck on marriages of convenience as well. 🙂

I think these are some of them: Lonestar Sanctuary, Lonestar Secrets, Lonestar Homecoming and Lonestar Angel - also collectively known as the "Lonestar Series." They are very light, entertaining mysteries.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Liz CA

[Liz CA]

On 1/6/2019 at 2:53 PM, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Lonesome Dove was one of my favorite books, starting as a preppy teen girl, LOL. I read it until the covers fell off and I had to get a second copy. Lonesome Dove and GWTW were by far my two favorites into my 20’s. I haven’t read it since because I’m afraid to spoil it for myself like I did with GWTW in my 30’s.

 

I liked Lonesome Dove better than GWTW (the book) because Scarlett's constant, "I think about it tomorrow" drove me batty. However, the film was superb in no small part due to the woman who played Mammy (Hattie McDaniel); she was outstanding. I also liked the series with Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones.

[Mary in VA]

On 1/6/2019 at 1:49 PM, Robin M said:

You may even want to consider comparing the books to the movies.  I'm looking forward to watching the most recent film adaptation with Kenneth Branagh.  Currently in my stacks are: Murder on the Orient Express, The Man in the Brown Suit, and Sparkling Cyanide. 

 

As a BIG Hercule Poirot fan, I will have to strongly share my opinion of the film adaptation!! I have seen it and enjoyed it, BUT Kenneth Branagh DID NOT portray Poirot correctly. The actor who owns the role is David Suchet. He portrayed Poirot in a television episode or movie for every single short story or movie over a 30 year period. Before doing so he studied the books and stories and made a list of all physical and personality characteristics described by Christie which he used in his portrayal . He is the only actor who portrayed Poirot on film that depicted the man in the books. Of course this is all just my humble opinion 😉  There is a great DVD available of "Murder on the Orient Express" from 2010 with David Suchet available on Amazon.

Warning, the Poirot in "Murder on the Orient Express" is a darker, moodier Poirot than usual, as he struggles with his morals and ethics. No more, or I'll give too much away!

 

Mary

[mom22es]

10 hours ago, Bookwoman said:

We are reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I'm not familiar with the book or author - does anyone have thoughts to share?

 

My daughter and I read it a few months ago.  We both loved it.  I wasn't familiar with the author beforehand, but it was fast paced story with a quirky main character that we enjoyed.  For us, it was on par with a good Liane Moriarty book.

[mom22es]

DD finished her 1st read of the year - Louise Penny's The Long Way Home.  Suffice to it say it was her least favorite book in the series.  It was my least favorite too.  But she is excited to start the next one because she has loved the series so far.

[aggieamy]

24 minutes ago, mom22es said:

DD finished her 1st read of the year - Louise Penny's The Long Way Home.  Suffice to it say it was her least favorite book in the series.  It was my least favorite too.  But she is excited to start the next one because she has loved the series so far.

I can see that. How the Light Gets In was so incredible that I'm not sure she shouldn't have stopped the series right there. I felt like all the story arcs of the previous book came together perfectly. If I do another (it would be my fourth) reread of the series I'm going to stop with that one. 

Relevant side note is that Louise Penny has said in interviews that she loved Poirot as a character and Gamache is styled to be a modern Poirot.

 

[mumto2]

1 hour ago, mom22es said:

DD finished her 1st read of the year - Louise Penny's The Long Way Home.  Suffice to it say it was her least favorite book in the series.  It was my least favorite too.  But she is excited to start the next one because she has loved the series so far.

 

1 hour ago, aggieamy said:

I can see that. How the Light Gets In was so incredible that I'm not sure she shouldn't have stopped the series right there. I felt like all the story arcs of the previous book came together perfectly. If I do another (it would be my fourth) reread of the series I'm going to stop with that one. 

Relevant side note is that Louise Penny has said in interviews that she loved Poirot as a character and Gamache is styled to be a modern Poirot.

 

Ok guys, I resisted temptation for all of maybe two minutes and now have the Still Life audiobook ready to start.  I have never listened to this one and did not love it when I read it several years ago......liked it but the big puffy ❤️Ganache Love did not come from that book!  So my threatened reread will start after I give The 71/2 Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle a try....I need an E.  I guess a reread of the Louise Penny series makes sense before I read the latest and before March when Gamache is our dectective of the month! 

[madteaparty]

I finished Jude the Obscure this morning though it was more than a week. Also reading Cold Comfort Farm (will finish today. It’s ok. It’s not adding to my life, but I’m consuming it like people read easy bestsellers and that seems to be my speed ;))and now everyone there sounds like Arabella to me...this because we read Jude the Obscure along with the audible, as we are lazy, but the audible is unbearably slow and we had it at 1.5. It’s funny when I forget I have at 1.5 and switch to the other audiobook I listen to while driving  alone (Invisible Man Ralph Ellison)😂

also read a couple of Marcel Ayme short stories in french, these are great but no major achievement since they’re all three words long.

i decided I want to read something than has nothing to do with anyone else and will try a used book i’ve had on my shelves a while: Umberto Ecco’s Diario Minimo, in Italian.There is a parody of Lolita here that is one of the most hilarious things I’ve read but can only get it if you read in Italian. Will take me a lifetime for sure. 

 

[Kareni]

I thought of another marriage of convenience title for you @aggieamy 

Morning Glory  by LaVyrle Spencer

It's a historical romance set in Depression era America.

**

And here's a currently free book for Kindle readers that sounds rather bizarre.  

Virtue at Market Price: A Saucy Tale of Airborne Pirates and Sins Personified (Empyreal Privateer Trilogy Book 1)

Regards,

Kareni

[aggieamy]

4 minutes ago, mumto2 said:

 

Ok guys, I resisted temptation for all of maybe two minutes and now have the Still Life audiobook ready to start.  I have never listened to this one and did not love it when I read it several years ago......liked it but the big puffy ❤️Ganache Love did not come from that book!  So my threatened reread will start after I give The 71/2 Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle a try....I need an E.  I guess a reread of the Louise Penny series makes sense before I read the latest and before March when Gamache is our dectective of the month! 

Kevin listened to Still Life a couple of weeks ago and was not impressed at all. He though Beauvoir was an idiot. I am half in love with Beauvoir so I couldn't discuss the book with him any longer after that. He had very rational problems with the book but I'm ignoring those because I like the character/plot so well.

[aggieamy]

@Kareni and @Liz CA Thanks for the suggestions. I've added a bunch of holds to my library.

Edited January 9, 2019 by aggieamy

[madteaparty]

On 1/7/2019 at 1:43 AM, Junie said:

 

I'm reading Wuthering Heights this week.  I didn't like it when I was in high school -- I much preferred her sister's Jane Eyre, which I still love -- but I decided to give WH another chance.

I'm only a few chapters in and I'm not having a lot of hope for it.

 

I’m reading this next week with DS, instead of Jane Eyre (I’m extremely rebellious. Revolutions will be started in my name). We do the audiobook alongside and this one is supposed to be good, it’s the actress that plays Anna in Downton Abbey. Will see. 

[Junie]

Wuthering Heights is improving.  I just finished chapter 7, so there's still plenty of time for it to redeem itself or ruin itself.  :)

[Robin M]

Questions of the week: 

Coffee or tea?

Candy or Ice Cream? 

If you could invite four famous people to dinner, who would you choose and why?

[Kareni]

A bookish post from the Word Wenches site:  Life Lessons in Writing

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Kareni]

16 minutes ago, Robin M said:

Questions of the week: 

Coffee or tea?

Neither. I vote for hot chocolate.

17 minutes ago, Robin M said:

Candy or Ice Cream? 

My sister signed me up for an ice cream of the month club as a Christmas gift, so now I have five different pints of ice cream sitting in my freezer. Off to have some ice cream....

Regards,

Kareni

[Ravin]

My coworker rode with me to court so I picked an audiobook more suitable for sharing: American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures by America Ferrera. Quite enjoying it. Good to have a break from The Stand!

[Ravin]

36 minutes ago, Robin M said:

Questions of the week: 

Coffee or tea?

Candy or Ice Cream? 

If you could invite four famous people to dinner, who would you choose and why?

 

Coffee

Yes

President Obama, Michelle Obama, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Neil Gaiman. 

Edited January 10, 2019 by Ravin

[aggieamy]

56 minutes ago, Robin M said:

Questions of the week: 

Coffee or tea?

Candy or Ice Cream? 

If you could invite four famous people to dinner, who would you choose and why?

 

Fun.

Yes to both. Coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon.

Other. Brownies or cake. 

Four people - I'm going to limit myself to non-fictional living people. (If we went with fictional people then see above comment on Inspector Beauvoir.)

Stephen King because he seems like such an interesting but terrifying person, George and Laura Bush because I went to high school and college in Texas and they were such an integral part of that time down there, and Mary Stewart because I love her books. (Off to google Mary Stewart and see if she's still alive.) I couldn't have them all at once though because that would be a weird group. Although honestly Laura Bush would probably do just fine. She was a librarian after all. 

[Kareni]

Earlier today I finished a contemporary romance which I quite enjoyed. It had me laughing aloud several times despite the dark backstory each character had.

Detour   by Reesa Herberth  and Michelle Moore,

"Ethan Domani had planned the perfect graduation trip before tragedy put his life on hold. Smothered by survivor’s guilt and his close-knit family, he makes a break for the open road. He doesn't know what he's looking for, but he's got the whole summer to figure out who he misses more: his boyfriend, or the person he thought he was. It’s just him and his memories . . . until he almost runs over a hitchhiker.

Nick Hamilton made some mistakes after his younger brother died. His violent ex-boyfriend was the most dangerous, and the one that got him shipped off to Camp Cornerstone’s pray-the-gay-away boot camp. His eighteenth birthday brings escape, and a close call with an idiot in a station wagon. Stranger danger aside, Nick’s homeless, broke, and alone. A ride with Ethan is the best option he’s got.

The creepy corners of roadside America have nothing on the darkness haunting Ethan and Nick. Every interstate brings them closer to uncharted emotional territory. When Nick’s past shows up in their rearview mirror, the detour might take them off the map altogether."

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I drink a whole lot of tea all day long but consider coffee to be a treat.

I love ice cream,  not quite as much as my daughter who will eat ice cream anytime, anywhere, even outside in the snow!

Famous people are hard.......

 

[Junie]

1 hour ago, Robin M said:

Questions of the week: 

Coffee or tea?

Candy or Ice Cream? 

If you could invite four famous people to dinner, who would you choose and why?

Neither

Both

Mayim Bialik.  I think that she and I are fantastically alike and different at the same time.  And if she came I would want her all to myself.

If I had to invite four, I would invite: Kate, George, Charlotte, and Louis.  If I could invite a fifth, William could come, too.  And I would hope that they would reciprocate the invitation.  😉

 

[aggieamy]

34 minutes ago, Junie said:

Mayim Bialik.  I think that she and I are fantastically alike and different at the same time.  And if she came I would want her all to myself.

If I had to invite four, I would invite: Kate, George, Charlotte, and Louis.  If I could invite a fifth, William could come, too.  And I would hope that they would reciprocate the invitation.  😉

 

This answer wins!

I think next week the questions should be what famous literary characters would you invite to dinner. I think there'd be some interesting answers in that. I'd love to know what rogues VC would invite. I picture Karen with a tableful of shirtless hunks.  Based on my reading I would be woefully underdressed at any dinner party I hosted with characters I read about. There's be a few people with aliens. Lots of us with a good mix of murderers and detectives. Now I'm getting silly. I probably should go to bed.

 

[JennW in SoCal]

I finally finished a book!!!!! The Space Between the Stars is a hopeful dystopian-ish sci-fi. The premise is that a virus has killed 99.9% of all humans across several planets, and one survivor, a woman, wants to go home to earth. It isn't great literature, but it was absorbing, thoughtful and hopeful. I didn't know what to rate it on Goodreads, so I just didn't!

Coffee or tea, but coffee for breakfast.

Can I have a brownie with that ice cream for maximum gluttony?

And I'd rather have dinner with some of my long time friends from here. 

[Mothersweets]

3 hours ago, Robin M said:

Questions of the week: 

Coffee or tea?

Candy or Ice Cream? 

If you could invite four famous people to dinner, who would you choose and why?

Fun question!

Both!

Ooh this is a hard one...ok, candy wins out.

David McCullough, Oprah Winfrey, Emily Blunt, and Niall Horan because that would be some fascinating conversation (and maybe a little music, too!).

[mumto2]

8 hours ago, JennW in SoCal said:

I finally finished a book!!!!! The Space Between the Stars is a hopeful dystopian-ish sci-fi. The premise is that a virus has killed 99.9% of all humans across several planets, and one survivor, a woman, wants to go home to earth. It isn't great literature, but it was absorbing, thoughtful and hopeful. I didn't know what to rate it on Goodreads, so I just didn't!

Coffee or tea, but coffee for breakfast.

Can I have a brownie with that ice cream for maximum gluttony?

And I'd rather have dinner with some of my long time friends from here. 

I agree, a table full of BaWers would be much more fun.  I kept thinking about how my famous guests dislike each other.

9 hours ago, aggieamy said:

This answer wins!

I think next week the questions should be what famous literary characters would you invite to dinner. I think there'd be some interesting answers in that. I'd love to know what rogues VC would invite. I picture Karen with a tableful of shirtless hunks.  Based on my reading I would be woefully underdressed at any dinner party I hosted with characters I read about. There's be a few people with aliens. Lots of us with a good mix of murderers and detectives. Now I'm getting silly. I probably should go to bed.

 

Miss Marple and Nightengale would love each other.  St. Cyr..........

9 hours ago, Junie said:

Neither

Both

Mayim Bialik.  I think that she and I are fantastically alike and different at the same time.  And if she came I would want her all to myself.

If I had to invite four, I would invite: Kate, George, Charlotte, and Louis.  If I could invite a fifth, William could come, too.  And I would hope that they would reciprocate the invitation.  😉

 

I agree, Kate and her family would be fun!

[hjffkj]

On 1/8/2019 at 7:40 PM, Robin M said:

What are you in the mood for?  Comedy - Try A.J.Jacobs. Travel book - Bill Bryson.  Memoir about great books - Tolstoy and the Purple Chair.

 

I'm not sure what I'm in mood for. Comedy sounds like a good idea.  I'll try that

[aggieamy]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

 

I'm not sure what I'm in mood for. Comedy sounds like a good idea.  I'll try that

Have you read any Pat McManus? He's a cross between Dave Barry and the Great Outdoors with a little bit of 1950's childhood thrown in. 

The Night the Bear ate Goomba

I think it was Mrs. Mungo that first recommended the Pat McManus books to me and it's made me a bit sentimental to my early days on this board. 🙂

[ErinE]

.

Edited December 3, 2023 by ErinE

[ErinE]

.

Edited December 3, 2023 by ErinE

[moonflower]

I logged in for the first time in I think a week just to post in this thread - I kept wanting to and just couldn't resist any longer!

Poirot is my favorite Agatha Christie character by far.  We discovered Christie about a year ago and have read through all the Poirots.  I've also watched the entire series of Suchet's Poirot episodes.  I liked the books before watching the series but Suchet's portrayal of him really rounds out the character for me.  I think Suchet likes Poirot more than Christie liked him, and so he gives him a bit more gravitas and soul.

Also, Lonesome Dove was my dad's favorite book.  He tried to get me to read it a zillion times and I always sort of brushed him off.  He loved the miniseries too, but it just looked like a bunch of dusty horses to me.  I wasn't interested and I wasn't interested in being interested.  

Then in 2012 he died, and that summer I read his copy of Lonesome Dove.  I wish, wish, wish, wish I'd read it while he was alive.  I think it's a magnificent book, and, like with Poirot, I think the miniseries improves the experience of the book.  Mostly I don't like TV/movies made from books as it interferes with or underwhelms the book, but the Lonesome Dove miniseries is a masterpiece, imo.  ("Gus, you'd argue with a possum.")  (Spoiler in white text) If I'd read it, I would have understood my dad's death better, I think.  He died of pneumonia as complications of COPD, partially because he was just too tired to keep going.  I was angry for a while that he didn't just try harder - be willing to live with a feeding tube and supplemental oxygen and maybe a wheelchair.  But I realized after reading Gus's death in Lonesome Dove that for him, just being alive wasn't enough.  He was tired. “You don't get the pint, Woodrow, I've walked the earth in my pride all these years. If that's lost, then let the rest be lost with it. There's certain things my vanity won't abide.” 

He also took a lot of his idiomatic language from Gus, and had since I was a child, and I never knew.  Reading Lonesome Dove was like reading Shakespeare - I'd read something in Shakespeare's plays like "all that glitters is not gold" or "dead as a doornail" and my first reaction would be wow, why'd he resort to such cliched language here? and then of course realize he came up with it in the first place.  I had the same experience reading Lonesome Dove; it was like Dad talking to me although he was gone.  

He was born and raised in central and south Texas.

[Kareni]

8 minutes ago, moonflower said:

Lonesome Dove was my dad's favorite book.  ...

Moonflower, thanks for sharing your experience with the book as well as the memories of your father.

Perhaps one day I'll try my father's favorite series again -- the Lanny Budd series by Upton Sinclair. My father and I made an agreement that I'd read one of his favorites and in return he'd read a romance. I read World's End (The Lanny Budd Novels Book 1), but it did nothing for me (perhaps I was too young). [Admittedly, I'm still a tad annoyed that he never read that romance!]

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Regarding Morning Glory:

1 hour ago, ErinE said:

This is my favorite Spencer novel! Plus there was a movie with Christopher Reeve.

I was sad when she retired. She wrote such fantastic romance books-most of her characters didn't have stupid misunderstandings.

It's my favorite of her books, too, and a story I've reread many times. I'll admit that I've never seen the movie. Do you feel it did the book justice?

I too was sad when she retired, but it was hard to argue with her decision to spend more time with family. Looking at Wikipedia, I see she retired in 1997 (time flies!) at age 55. I hope she's enjoyed the past twenty years.

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

@mumto2 and @KathyBC  The minute I heard Cruise had been cast as Reacher, it ruined the whole idea of even watching the movie. I never did.  Lee Child received so many complaints from his readers about Cruise that he realized it wouldn't work for the long run and won't be using him anymore.  Child is working on a tv series and searching for an actor that matches the character. 

17 hours ago, Robin M said:

Coffee or tea?

Candy or Ice Cream? 

If you could invite four famous people to dinner, who would you choose and why?

Tea definitely.  Gotta have my Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream for desert.  Four famous people - an eclectic assortment of  Lady Gaga, Neil Gaiman, James Rollins, and Queen Elizabeth.  Four dead famous people I'd love to chat with. Another eclectic bunch  - Leonard Bernstein,  Ella Fitzgerald, Marcel Proust, and Thomas Merton.

 

17 hours ago, Ravin said:

President Obama, Michelle Obama, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Neil Gaiman. 

Would love to be a fly on the wall with this group. 

17 hours ago, Kareni said:

My sister signed me up for an ice cream of the month club as a Christmas gift, so now I have five different pints of ice cream sitting in my freezer. Off to have some ice cream....

What a wonderful sister. Yummy! 

 

16 hours ago, aggieamy said:

Stephen King because he seems like such an interesting but terrifying person, George and Laura Bush because I went to high school and college in Texas and they were such an integral part of that time down there, and Mary Stewart because I love her books. (Off to google Mary Stewart and see if she's still alive.) I couldn't have them all at once though because that would be a weird group. Although honestly Laura Bush would probably do just fine. She was a librarian after all. 

Another fascinating group and yes, could talk with the Bushes and King all day long. 

16 hours ago, Junie said:

Mayim Bialik.  I think that she and I are fantastically alike and different at the same time.  And if she came I would want her all to myself.

If I had to invite four, I would invite: Kate, George, Charlotte, and Louis.  If I could invite a fifth, William could come, too.  And I would hope that they would reciprocate the invitation.  😉

Love watching Mayim Bialik's you tube videos. She is so smart. The royals are awesome.  

 

15 hours ago, JennW in SoCal said:

Can I have a brownie with that ice cream for maximum gluttony?

 

Yes, please.  My sister and brother in law came for dinner a while back and brought brownies and vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Heavenly. 

15 hours ago, JennW in SoCal said:

And I'd rather have dinner with some of my long time friends from here.

Of course.😘

 

14 hours ago, Mothersweets said:

David McCullough, Oprah Winfrey, Emily Blunt, and Niall Horan because that would be some fascinating conversation (and maybe a little music, too!).

Sounds like a fun group!

15 hours ago, aggieamy said:

I think next week the questions should be what famous literary characters would you invite to dinner. I think there'd be some interesting answers in that. I'd love to know what rogues VC would invite. I picture Karen with a tableful of shirtless hunks.  Based on my reading I would be woefully underdressed at any dinner party I hosted with characters I read about. There's be a few people with aliens. Lots of us with a good mix of murderers and detectives. Now I'm getting silly. I probably should go to bed.

Also a mixture of angels, vampires, and werewolves. Oh my!   

[Kareni]

51 minutes ago, ErinE said:

@Kareni if you have any recommendations for humorous romance novels, please let me know! I've read everything by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, but I'm on the lookout for other authors.

The first author that comes to mind is Julie James; her characters have some witty banter. I'd start with Something About You (FBI/US Attorney, #1).  But humor is so subjective. I'm looking at this list  5 Romance Authors Who Will Make You Laugh Out Loud.

 I've read all but one of those books; while I likely laughed, none of them begged to be reread.

I'd also recommend Lucy Parker and her London celebrities series which begins with Act Like It: A Slow-Burn Romance (London Celebrities Book 1)

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

On 1/9/2019 at 7:10 AM, mom22es said:

DD finished her 1st read of the year - Louise Penny's The Long Way Home.  Suffice to it say it was her least favorite book in the series.  It was my least favorite too.  But she is excited to start the next one because she has loved the series so far.

I think my favorite in the series is The Beautiful Mystery, but they are all so good.  Now I want to start reading them all over again.  If only I could find my copy of Still Life. It disappeared into storage in the garage and I haven't the slightest idea which box its in.  🙃

 

1 hour ago, moonflower said:

Also, Lonesome Dove was my dad's favorite book.  He tried to get me to read it a zillion times and I always sort of brushed him off.  He loved the miniseries too, but it just looked like a bunch of dusty horses to me.  I wasn't interested and I wasn't interested in being interested.  

Then in 2012 he died, and that summer I read his copy of Lonesome Dove.  I wish, wish, wish, wish I'd read it while he was alive.  I think it's a magnificent book, and, like with Poirot, I think the miniseries improves the experience of the book.  Mostly I don't like TV/movies made from books as it interferes with or underwhelms the book, but the Lonesome Dove miniseries is a masterpiece, imo.  ("Gus, you'd argue with a possum.")  (Spoiler in white text) If I'd read it, I would have understood my dad's death better, I think.  He died of pneumonia as complications of COPD, partially because he was just too tired to keep going.  I was angry for a while that he didn't just try harder - be willing to live with a feeding tube and supplemental oxygen and maybe a wheelchair.  But I realized after reading Gus's death in Lonesome Dove that for him, just being alive wasn't enough.  He was tired. “You don't get the pint, Woodrow, I've walked the earth in my pride all these years. If that's lost, then let the rest be lost with it. There's certain things my vanity won't abide.” 

He also took a lot of his idiomatic language from Gus, and had since I was a child, and I never knew.  Reading Lonesome Dove was like reading Shakespeare - I'd read something in Shakespeare's plays like "all that glitters is not gold" or "dead as a doornail" and my first reaction would be wow, why'd he resort to such cliched language here? and then of course realize he came up with it in the first place.  I had the same experience reading Lonesome Dove; it was like Dad talking to me although he was gone. 

Aw! Thank you for sharing about your dad and the story.  Totally understand as my mom had copd as well. Hugs!  

[Lady Florida.]

On 1/8/2019 at 2:46 PM, aggieamy said:

I just had a friend send me a link to this:

The clothing/scenery looks awesome but David Suchet has ruined anyone else for me for Poirot. Is anyone going to watch it? 

Wow. Look at you go! LOL.

Interesting. Evil Under the Sun is one of my favorite AC books. It's the first one I thought of listening to when I saw Robin's challenge. It looks like he's also in Death on the Nile ... another of my favorite AC books. I think I'll have to force my family to enjoy a movie night with me. 

I try not to do anything after 1952 but sometimes I'll go as late as 1955. Every time I break my personal rule I regret it. 

"You darn hippies with your long hair. Good help is so hard to find." *Insert bizarre unbelievable twist here* "And the murderer is ... someone random!"

🤔

 

Thanks. I thought it was some time in the 1950s but I wasn't sure just when. I think of you as our Christie expert and trust your opinion. 🙂 

 

On 1/8/2019 at 3:12 PM, aggieamy said:

@Lady Florida. - Did I miss your update on the Flowers of the Killer Moon book? Or am I completely confused and thinking of someone else?

I think I posted about it here but I also thought I reviewed it on Goodreads. Apparently not. I found it really interesting (I listened to the audio book). The author did a good job of balancing both parts of the title (the murders and the birth of the FBI). I think it's a shame that this part of history is news to most of us. It isn't taught and though others have written books about it (including several who were actually involved). Hopefully more people will read this book so the history isn't lost. I think it's important for Americans to know that this kind of thing happened and I think it will help us understand how such treatment (because it's about more than just the murders) affects Native Americans today. I also have to say I was surprised that J. Edgar Hoover was gung-ho on having the murders solved. In spite of all his heavy handedness in a number of different ways, he seemed to really want the killers found. It seems unusual for that time and for someone like him to have cared about murders of NA people. 

Now I should probably copy and paste this and go put it on Goodreads. 😄 

On 1/8/2019 at 7:36 PM, Robin M said:

@aggieamy  Although I love John Malkovich, I'm not getting a very good Poirot vibe from him and based on the trailer, I don't have plans to watch it.  Just totally ruins the image I have of the detective.   I think your girls however, will love Kenneth Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express. I saw it on a plane last year, which watching on a tiny little screen really didn't do it justice. Despite that, Branagh is wonderful and look forward to watching it in the next few days.  Since James has tortured me with Alien one and two, as well as Terminator one and two, it's only fair I torture him with Hercule Poirot. 😋

 

I liked Branagh's Poirot even though I love David Suchet and watched nearly all of the episodes in which he starred. 

Oh, and @aggieamy I loved your response about what happens if you don't read 52 books. @Robin M when are we leaving? You'll swing down to Florida, right? Everyone from a cold climate can take a break here before we head out again to TP. 😂

[Kareni]

Here's a currently free historical romance about which I've heard good things.

Nearly a Lady (Haverston Family Trilogy Book 1)  by Alissa Johnson

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Trail of Lightning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36373298-trail-of-lightning is a book that was mentioned on a few best of 2018 lists that I finally got around to reading.  Urban Fantasy that was special because all the fantasy (pretty sure 😉) came from Native American legends.......other favorite authors use bits and pieces like Patricia Briggs and Faith Hunter but blend in vampires, werewolves, etc.  this book was sort of the urban fantasy Hillerman might write.  Climate change has broken society apart and a wall has been built around a large part of New Mexico by NA.  The main character is a monster hunter from the monster hunting clan.  Loved this book so much and can’t wait for the next one.  I was thinking about who among the BaW friends would like this and think @melmichigan, @Robin M, and @JennW in SoCal all probably would.  I was thrilled to see @ErinE post and want to recommend it to her too.  

Erin.  Recently I have been reading some modern romances so have a couple of authors/ series to recommend.  I loved Sarina Bowen’s series starting with Man Hands.  It was reviewed as laugh out loud funny and it was!  It was also fill with adult language...  as in from the first sentence and adult scenes but it was hilarious.  I have also discovered Jackie Lau recently.  Her books aren’t quite as good but I keep reading them.😉 

@aggieamy my audiobook is not a classic Flufferton but it is good.  It  is a mash up of Groudhog Day and a classic Flufferton complete with a house party.  There is going to be a murder at the end of the day and the main character is reliving the day in different bodies until he solves it is a very uncomplicated description.  I have passed the half way point and can’t wait to start quilting tomorrow so I can listen to more.  The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is one of the best of’s at my Overdrive on audio which appears to mean unlimited copies are available.  I suspect you would like it and so would your Dh.

[Robin M]

10 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

Oh, and @aggieamy I loved your response about what happens if you don't read 52 books. @Robin M when are we leaving? You'll swing down to Florida, right? Everyone from a cold climate can take a break here before we head out again to TP. 😂

Yep, we’ll swing down for some surf and sun and pick you up. Of course you have to donate a package of tp to the cause.  😁

 

2 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I was thinking about who among the BaW friends would like this and think @melmichigan, @Robin M, and @JennW in SoCal all probably would.  I was thrilled to see @ErinE post and want to recommend it to her too.  

Definitely and received a copy for Christmas.  Maybe I’ll read it next. Finished a fluffy read by Casey Griffin Must Love Weiners, a fun, doggie rescue, mystery romance.  Also finished my Agatha Christie read - Murder on the Orient Express.  

[marbel]

Ugh, I'm going to out  myself as a bad person.  :-)  In my quest to read USA-based nonfiction, I started Killers of the Flower Moon. I've seen so many wonderful reviews, and I know several of you have read it and rated it highly.  I have the audiobook from the library.  

I've listened to almost an hour of it and I am just wondering if it ever gets better.  So far it's "read" like a novel, and (just being honest with my opinion here) not a very good one. There's just so much detail about one woman/family so far. I get the connection to the murders, but it's so painful listening to it. 

Did anyone else have a slow start with this book and find it got better?  I think I'd rather just read some articles about this piece of US history.

It's probably not helping that I'm also reading John McPhee's Rising from the Plains which is nonfiction at its finest. But John McPhee can make any topic interesting, in my opinion.

 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Ladies - I have one request. Please stop tempting me to watch Hercule Poirot movies and TV shows. I have enough to do as it is and you're not helping me stay on task. 😉

Questions:

Tea - I am on a hot tea mission. I want to learn how to blend and brew the best cup of tea. DH is making me a tea shelf for my kitchen wall.

Candy - I love mints, jelly beans, candy corn (unless it's too waxy) and so much more. I have to stay away from it all.

Four famous people:This is tough. I have always wanted to meet Sting. He seems like an interesting individual. I'll have to think about this one a while.

Edited: I finished a second audiobook -A Taste For Monsters by Matthew Kirby. This was an audiobook we listened to after we abandoned David Sedaris. It was a neat book to listen to - a juxtaposition of the elephant man and Jack the Ripper tales. It was macbre, containing scenes about malevolent ghosts, attempted rape, possession, murder.  I was a bit shocked by the darkness as the book is published by Scholastic for 6-9 graders. I must be getting more conservative in my old age because I would not let my junior high student read this book. It's a great story for adults and provides an interesting theory as to why Jack was never caught but for a young reader, I think it would be terrifying.

Edited January 11, 2019 by The Accidental Coach

[Robin M]

Wonderful absolutely gorgeous and creative surprise I received today from Sandy (Mumtotwo)

 

 

 

😘

[hjffkj]

5 minutes ago, Robin M said:

Wonderful absolutely gorgeous and creative surprise I received today from Sandy (Mumtotwo)

 

 

 

😘

I love those!

[Lady Florida.]

6 hours ago, marbel said:

Ugh, I'm going to out  myself as a bad person.  🙂 In my quest to read USA-based nonfiction, I started Killers of the Flower Moon. I've seen so many wonderful reviews, and I know several of you have read it and rated it highly.  I have the audiobook from the library.  

I've listened to almost an hour of it and I am just wondering if it ever gets better.  So far it's "read" like a novel, and (just being honest with my opinion here) not a very good one. There's just so much detail about one woman/family so far. I get the connection to the murders, but it's so painful listening to it. 

Did anyone else have a slow start with this book and find it got better?  I think I'd rather just read some articles about this piece of US history.

 

There's more than one narrator and I really, really disliked that first one. Try to stick with it. The narrators get better, though as a frequent listener of audio books I wouldn't put any of them on a great narrators list.

[Matryoshka]

7 hours ago, marbel said:

Ugh, I'm going to out  myself as a bad person.  :-)  In my quest to read USA-based nonfiction, I started Killers of the Flower Moon. I've seen so many wonderful reviews, and I know several of you have read it and rated it highly.  I have the audiobook from the library.  

I've listened to almost an hour of it and I am just wondering if it ever gets better.  So far it's "read" like a novel, and (just being honest with my opinion here) not a very good one. There's just so much detail about one woman/family so far. I get the connection to the murders, but it's so painful listening to it. 

Did anyone else have a slow start with this book and find it got better?  I think I'd rather just read some articles about this piece of US history.

 

11 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

There's more than one narrator and I really, really disliked that first one. Try to stick with it. The narrators get better, though as a frequent listener of audio books I wouldn't put any of them on a great narrators list.

I read this last year and indeed did really like it.  But I have to say that the wrong narrator can really ruin a book.  Last year I switched to reading a book midway (not this one) from listening because the narrator just grated on me, but the book itself was fine.  Considering what Kathy added about the narrator, maybe that's something to try.  I read this book (ebook, actually), and it was very good that way.