Book a Week 2019 - BW40: Whodunit Bookology - Toby Peters

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday and welcome to week forty  in our 52 Books rambling roads reading adventure. Greetings to all our readers, welcome to all who are joining in for the first time and everyone following our progress. Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges, as well as the central spot to share links to your book reviews. 

Our October Whodunit Bookology detective of the the month is Toby Peters, created by Stuart Kaminsky who has authored more than 50 novels and is the former president of the Mystery Writers Association. 

There are a number of ways to complete the bookology challenge, including but not limited, to the suggestions below:

Read the first book in the series.
Read one book per letter in the character's first or last name.
Read one book per letter in the author's first or last name.
If you're really ambitious, one book per letter in the character's first and last name.
Follow in a character's footsteps and read a book set in the country or time period of the character.

Learn more about the character Toby Peters, the late Stuart Kaminsky, and his interviews with mystery writers in Behind the Mysteries.

What are you reading?

 

Link to week 39

[Robin M]

Totally exhausted and the move is complete. While we unpack, organize, get all systems back online, we are open for business which is equally stressful as we try to figure out where everything is and should go. We are all taking Sunday off to recoup before we hit the trenches again. James has been a real trooper, staying home by himself for most the time the past week or so. He's matured a lot but all the stress and craziness at the job site for my sensitive aspie kid wouldn't be to his benefit or ours. He's keeps telling me not to feel guilty. Hard for momma so we're going to try to get back to normal so he isn't home alone as much. The Citrus Heights Chamber of Commerce will throw a ribbon cutting ceremony when we are ready. Huzzah!

Diving into the newest book in Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series - Archangel's War 

"The world is in chaos as the power surge of the Cascade rises to a devastating crescendo. In furiously resisting its attempts to turn Elena into a vessel for Raphael’s power, Elena and her archangel are irrevocably changed. . .far beyond the prophecy of a cursed Ancient. At the same time, violent and eerie events around the world threaten to wipe out entire populations. And in the Archangel Lijuan’s former territory, an unnatural fog weaves through the land, leaving only a bone-chilling silence in its wake. Soon it becomes clear that even the archangels are not immune to this deadly evil. This time, even the combined power of the Cadre may not be enough. . . .  This war could end them all."

 

[mumto2]

@Robin M Thanks for the great update.  You guys deserve a day off!  Looking forward to seeing a picture of the ribbon cutting which is such a fun thing to have!

Once again this month’s detective is another one I have never read.....for that matter I have never read any of Stuart Kaminsky’s Detectives .  I picked a really fun audiobook to try for this detective, Murder on the YellowBrick Road https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16096469-murder-on-the-yellow-brick-road, which I can’t wait to start listening to.  I love the Wizard of Oz and was so excited to see a mystery set on the set.......seriously.  I have to finish my current audio first and may skip TV with the kids tonight to finish Vendetta in Death, JD Robb’s latest.

I still have one book to read for last month’s Darko Dawson detective challenge.  I just need one more O and have Balducci’s One Good Deed on my Kindle ready to start.  

I am currently reading the latest Flufferton by Lorraine Heath who is a favorite author of mine.  I am still working on Anita and Me and Bones of Contention https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7771161-bones-of-contention.  I have also started (but just read a few pages of) What is a Girl is Worth which is a recommendation from @Ottakee which is definitely not middle of the night reading for me.  I need to start reading it during my morning tea break........because it is infuriating. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44288534-what-is-a-girl-worth?ac=1&from_search=true

[Kareni]

Mumto2, thank you for your most recent Brit Tripping pictures; I enjoyed them all!

**

Today only, a free book for Kindle readers ~

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Also free, this urban fantasy ~

Between Jobs (The City Between Book 1) by W.R. Gingell

Regards,

Kareni

[aggieamy]

This is a bit embarrassing but the only book I've finished in a while was one we listened to with friends on a road trip. Our friends picked it out because it was Brandon Sanderson and it was short ... four hours. 

Well.

Mistakes were made.

It was actually a two part series so you had to listen to both books so halfway through the trip we were trying to figure out how to buy the second in the series because we had the first one from the library.

And ...

It was written to be a tie in to a game that people played on the phone. It was so silly and awful and we had no idea about a few things that were going on because it tied into the video game. 

Just to give you an idea of how bad it was, we pulled into our driveway with fifteen minutes left in the book and our friends asked if we wanted to borrow their phone to finish the book. DH, DD, and I all said NO. We were able to put it down with fifteen minutes left. 

Highly recommend avoiding this one even if you're the world's biggest Brandon Sanderson fan. Infinity Blade. 

[aggieamy]

@Robin M - Happy to hear good updates on the construction and business!

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~

A Quiet Hero’s Journey: Processing Trauma in Fantasy by Leah Schnelbach

https://www.tor.com/2019/09/18/a-quiet-heros-journey-processing-trauma-in-fantasy/

Some fascinating choices here:

8 Solo-Travel Memoirs Written By Women That Will Inspire You To See The World On Your Own

https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/inspiring-travel-memoirs-by-women

12 Books to Read If You Are Obsessed with Downton Abbey

https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/g29094017/books-like-downton-abbey/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CYS - 92419&utm_term=BookRiot_CheckYourShelf_DormantSuppress

8 NOVELS FEATURING ATYPICAL AMATEUR SLEUTHS

https://crimereads.com/8-novels-featuring-atypical-amateur-sleuths/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CYS - 92419&utm_term=BookRiot_CheckYourShelf_DormantSuppress

Regards,

Kareni

[Teaching3bears]

I recently read:

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. It really made me think. I found it to be a page-turner and read it really quickly.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. This book was too violent for me and there were stuff that bugged me in the book like SPOILER ( We never find out what happens to her first husband). It was escapist, not badly written, and I got through it fairly quickly even though it was 850 pages.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for homeschooling. It was very different and my sons seemed to find it interesting.

I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. I just started this but am already on page 95. It is long though at almost 950 pages but it seems easy to get through. It just seems very depressing and the narrator reminds me of the narrator in his other book (the one about the shooting). Somehow I have read his two other books too at some point in my life.

[aggieamy]

5 minutes ago, Teaching3bears said:

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. It really made me think. I found it to be a page-turner and read it really quickly.
 

That's a book that sticks with you forever. Every so often I'll still stop and think about it. 

[Violet Crown]

On the third week of reading Vanity Fair, which is really wrecking my weekly book average. But I had to say hi to Amy! Amy! Be around more! - she said selfishly.

I also read, again, Thomas de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater so I could discuss it with Middle Girl, as it's part of her English curriculum. This English course we're doing is so fun, and she's learning so much - best high school English literature curriculum I've ever found, hands down - but it's not contributing to my weekly average either, as this section has been mostly Romantic poetry. I loved reading Shelley with her, and helping her with close readings of Skylark and West Wind (and realizing that, three decades after I studied it, I still have no idea what Mont Blanc is about) - but none of that really counts for Book a Week. Anyway de Quincey was good, and this time I read the 1821 original instead of the 1856 revision and thought it better. 

On with anti-hero Becky Sharp. 300 pages to go!

[tuesdayschild]

@Robin M hope your can get some rest and regroup in after your (long haul) efforts.  Well done, and to James too, so good to read .

@aggieamy seconding @Violet Crown greeting and suggestion.  (VC I think I need to go back and see if you've been discussing Vanity Fair - it's one title I want to re-read at some point as my first go through as a young adult wasn't a success)

15 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for homeschooling. It was very different and my sons seemed to find it interesting.

Both my dc liked this, my Ds more so than Dd. (It's a favourite of mine)

18 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I still have one book to read for last month’s Darko Dawson detective challenge.  I just need one more O and have Balducci’s One Good Deed on my Kindle ready to start.

Well done!  Looking forward to seeing the titles you used to spell that.   Love the beautiful pictures that you (and @Negin) shared last week.  Thank you both for making the effort to share them.

@MothersweetsDaphne is adorable 😍

[tuesdayschild]

This post is lengthy, as I'm posting my books read during September.   It's term break here, so I'm going to try and carve out space to do some more catching up on the BaW threads.   We’re racing towards summer here, and the end of highschooling my dd, and then Christmas:  I’m hoping that Christmas break will gift me with time to complete a few books I haven’t made space to get to, or back to this year.

Reading /listening to:

I'm still working on completing spelling Rabbi in July's(?) whodunit challenge.  Finally started Silmarillion ~ Tolkien, I've been trying to get to that book for ages.  Also listening to Sweet Danger  by Margaret Allingham,  relistening to Mrs Pollifax on the China Station narrated by Barbara Rosenblat, and, buddy reading The Brothers Karamazov with Ds.

Completed:

Septembers whodunit spelling challenge (Darko Dawson)

113:  O=   25/08 – 3/09  One Pair of Hands ~ Monica Dickens, narrated by Carole Boyd (4-) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2852438924

114:   D=   Confluence: Linesman Bk3 ~ S. K. Dunstall, narrated by Brian Hutchison (5)  Space Opera https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2958883002   

115:   O=  The Eleventh Orphan: Elfie and Joe Bk1 ~ Joan Lingard, narrated by Diana Bishop (5) London   new author https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2615729579?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

116:   S=  The Read-Aloud Family ~ Sarah Mackenzie  (5)   https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2240174220

117:  R=   The Howards of Caxley ~ Miss Read, narrated by June Barrie (4)  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2820709386

118:  A=  The Autobiography of Peter Cartwright ~ Peter Cartwright (3) (amazon ebook) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2643811459

119:  N=  The New Girl: Gabriel Allon Bk19 ~ Daniel da Silva  (epukapuka) (3) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2951686674

120a:   The Urban Sketching Handbook: Working with Color. Techniques for Using Watercolor and Color Media on the Go ~ Shari Blaukopf  (5) 112pgs  This is one art handbook I'd really like to own, just the artwork in it is lovely, and then add the technique helps and instructions ....     I'm keen to give some of the challenges a try out of this book (Shari lifts 25 in total).

120b:  A=  Inside Out & Back Again ~ Thanhha Lai  (5) Juvenile fict verse novel (epukapuka) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2971798115

121:  K=   Katherine Wentworth: Katherine Bk1 ~ D. E. Stevenson,  narrated by Leslie Mackie (5) (Scotland)

122:  D=  Mrs. Pollifax on Safari: Bk5 ~ Dorothy Gilman, narrated by Barbara Rosenblat (4)  repeat listen. 

123:  K=   Katherine’s Marriage:  Katherine Bk2 ~ D. E. Stevenson   (4+)   (Scotland)  Still really enjoyable,  but I didn’t find this as charming as the first book  – perhaps it had too much of Zilla in it.

124:  I=   I Hear You: The Surprisingly Simple Skill Behind Extraordinary Relationships ~ Michael S. Sorensen (3)

125:  A=   Flowers for the Judge: Albert Campion Bk7 ~ Margery Allingham, narrated by Peter Franks  (4.5)

126:  20/9 – 24/09   R=  At Home in Thrush Green, Bk8 ~ Miss Read  (3-)     Dorothy is not a favourite Thrush Green dweller for me, and she features quite a bit in this book along with her annoying brother and his wife, so that made this a barely 3 star read for me.

127:  22/09-  26/09 The Goblin Emperor  ~  Katherine Addison (kindle)  ( 4+)   new author  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2858727812

128:  19/09 – 28/09  B=  A Blunt Instrument ~ Georgette Heyer, narrated by Uli Burve  (2+)  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2987231983 

[Mothersweets]

Hello everyone! Not much reading being done here - usually just a few pages every night before bed. I did just come across this excerpt from an Agatha Christie book that was recently released The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie and am intrigued. Has anyone read this particular story from AC before?

excerpt from "In a Glass Darkly" by Agatha Christie

[mumto2]

3 hours ago, Mothersweets said:

Hello everyone! Not much reading being done here - usually just a few pages every night before bed. I did just come across this excerpt from an Agatha Christie book that was recently released The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie and am intrigued. Has anyone read this particular story from AC before?

excerpt from "In a Glass Darkly" by Agatha Christie

I haven’t read In a Glass Darkly before.......at least I don’t remember it.

@tuesdayschild Now I know I really need to get reading both the Linesman ( on hold) and The Goblin Emperor( waiting on hard copy)😉. Thanks for the reviews!

Edited September 30, 2019 by mumto2

[Violet Crown]

On 9/30/2019 at 8:50 AM, tuesdayschild said:

(VC I think I need to go back and see if you've been discussing Vanity Fair - it's one title I want to re-read at some point as my first go through as a young adult wasn't a success)

The thing I love about Vanity Fair is that Thackeray is very honest about his anti-hero, Becky Sharp. Even though she starts out poor and despised, near the bottom of the early 19th-century English class system, and claws her way up to the height of society by her wit and determination; and even though there are definitely scenes that make the reader cheer Becky on, she isn't a con artist with a heart of gold. She's just a grifter, incapable of actually loving anybody (despite some moments of nostalgic sentiment, quickly passing), and even though it seems to have been her poverty and maltreatment that made her that way, she's nevertheless not sympathetic. Thackeray deplored social injustice and needless poverty as much as Dickens, but he refuses to sentimentalize the poor, and recognizes that poverty doesn't usually improve people's character.

I also, by the way, love Thackeray's illustrations; particularly his initial letters for each chapter, which often have a symbolic meaning that becomes clear only as the chapter progresses. For instance, one shows a flying Greek goddess carrying a torch and sword, whom I learned (after a little digging) was Bellona, appropriate to the chapter's events. Another illustration shows two lovely little girls of the upper class in their mansion, reading a book together tenderly under a heraldic shield; one notices in a moment that of the swords arranged behind the shield, one is pointed directly at the innocent girls beneath it: the sword of Damocles, poised above children whom the reader learns have insanity in their near family and are likely to fall prey to it as adults. 

It's very hard to find a copy with his illustrations, almost certainly due to the added expense: neither the Penguin Critical Edition nor the older Oxford Edition had them. The new one does but I can't afford it, so I'm making do with my old Everyman with very very old and worn type plates, but with the illustrations. Don't read an edition without them!

Edited October 8, 2019 by Violet Crown
spelling incompetence

[Kareni]

I've finished three books recently.

Ends, Means, Laws and an Angry Ship by Lyn Gala

This is a new book (the fifth) in an existing series, but it introduces new characters. I liked where the book ended; however, much of the book felt like an introduction for what comes next. Don't get me wrong -- I am certainly interested in what comes next. I do miss my favorite characters from the previous books.

 "The new Rownt contracts have helped Command retake the rebel planets. And now refugees are fleeing toward the edges of space.  Ex-Command officer Tyce Robinson has a price on his head. He and the crew of the Dragon have all broken laws, and they refuse to be condemned to an Earth prison.  Tyce's grand escape plan goes south when an alien ship attacks both his ship and the Command cruiser chasing them. With both ships disabled, Tyce throws a Hail Mary. What he doesn't know is that his academy roommate is the officer charged with arresting him.

Sub-Commander John Burden has always put his world first. He once thought his academy roommate Tyce was the same. Command sends John out with orders to arrest his ex-best friend, leaving John caught between demanding an explanation from the friend he remembers or throwing the traitor in a prison cell. But when unfamiliar aliens attack, his feelings are unimportant in the face of immediate danger. He has to survive, protect his people, and warn Earth that the Anla and Rownt are not the only aliens interested in humanity. "

**

I also read Clutch (Forbidden Desires Book 1) by Piper Scott which was a light story that I enjoyed. (Significant adult content)

 "Bookish, snarky, and fiercely independent Nate Boudreaux leads a solitary life. Between teaching classes at the university and working toward his PhD, he doesn’t need a partner to occupy his time, and he certainly doesn’t need a man like Alistair Drake complicating his future.

Alistair Drake, black sheep of the tremendously wealthy Drake family, is more interested in adding another notch to his bedpost than another zero to his bank account. When a Grindr message brings him to Nate’s doorstep, then straight to his bed, he has no reason to believe that what they share will be more than a simple hookup, until, three months later, a tug on his soul informs him otherwise.

For the Drake family has a secret—one that will force Nate and Alistair together as much as it will demand that they be torn apart. One that Alistair and his brothers have carried all their lives… and one that Alistair and Nate’s future children will carry, too.

Bound to each other by the three precious impossibilities, Nate and Alistair have no choice—no matter the consequence, they will fight for their forbidden clutch. "

**

And I read the non-fiction The Red Dragon & The West Wind: The Winning Guide to Official Chinese & American Mah-Jongg by Tom Sloper which clarified a few Mah-Jongg questions that I had and taught me some new things.

Regards,

Kareni

[Liz CA]

Audiobook:

Vendetta in Death by Robb (shamelessly taken from upthread poster 🙂 ) because my brain is on overload right now.

Reading:

Will also check out "The Poisonwood Bible" by Kingsolver

Finished Charlotte Link's trilogy which I read backwards 🙂 

Very meager selections this week but I need to simplify. Weekends are taken up with preparing for the week ahead and house projects (the roof!) before it starts raining.

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by Liz CA

[Negin]

I haven't had time to look at this thread yet. I hope to catch up later today. 

Kindle book on sale today - health/nutrition

 

[Kareni]

Today only, a free book for Kindle readers ~

Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope

Also free ~

Inspirational romance: After the Rain - Rita Gerlach

The Ones Who Got Away by Roni Loren

Wedding of the Century - Patricia McLiinn 

A Love so True (A Greatest Generation Love Story Book 1) by Caroline Mickelson

The Consorts (Forbidden City Book 1) by Melissa Addey
 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I listened to a “new to me” book that was recommended on @Kareni book recommendation thread.  The Blight Way was the first in the Sherriff Bo Tully series which was really entertaining with a really likable main character.  @Liz CA definitely look for these, short but fun. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/87020.The_Blight_Way. I ended up giving it five stars and checked the next one out already!

I also finished listening to Vendetta in Death which was really good.  It’s the first time I have listened to one of the In Death series books and it took a whole lot of adjustment......the actual narrator sounded nothing like the narrator in my mind.  Not sure that I will do audio for that series again.😉

[Kareni]

A free book for Kindle readers ~

What Dead Women Want by Linda Schmalz,

**

Some bookish posts ~

Horror Recommendations for All Tolerance Levels

https://www.tor.com/2019/10/01/horror-recommendations-for-all-tolerance-levels/

From the Word Wenches: What We're Reading

https://wordwenches.typepad.com/word_wenches/2019/09/what-were-reading.html

Add These 18 Inspiring Leadership Books For Women To Your Fall Reading List

https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/inspiring-leadership-books-for-women?utm_source=The Daily Good&utm_campaign=f50e1256a2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_12_06_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfbed2f865-f50e1256a2-146326457

5 Wonderous Wonderlands and the Lasting Impact of Lewis Carrol

https://www.tor.com/2019/09/25/5-wonderous-wonderlands-and-the-lasting-impact-of-lewis-carrol/comment-page-1/#comment-829279

Regards,

Kareni

[Liz CA]

22 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I listened to a “new to me” book that was recommended on @Kareni book recommendation thread.  The Blight Way was the first in the Sherriff Bo Tully series which was really entertaining with a really likable main character.  @Liz CA definitely look for these, short but fun. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/87020.The_Blight_Way. I ended up giving it five stars and checked the next one out already!

I also finished listening to Vendetta in Death which was really good.  It’s the first time I have listened to one of the In Death series books and it took a whole lot of adjustment......the actual narrator sounded nothing like the narrator in my mind.  Not sure that I will do audio for that series again.😉

 

I searched for "The Blight Way" on my Overdrive but came up with nothing, then I entered the author and now I downloaded "The Tamarack Murders," also a Bo Tully mystery.

I am on the waiting list for the audiobook "Vendetta in Death" but I am #124 of 23 copies. It's gonna be a while...

[Emba]

I have not been finishing much lately, just reading bits and pieces for a co-op personal writing class I’m teaching. I use the bits for examples. But yesterday I got hooked on Flat Broke With Two Goats by Jennifer McGaha, and I finished it. It was not as funny as the title made it seem like it might be, but I liked it.

I also have listened to the audiobook Sadie, by Courtney Summers. It was really good, but depressing. I also hate books without a real ending. They infuriate me. Like, it breaks the contract implicit in fiction (for me). I reconcile myself, to it, I make something up in my head, but it’s not the “reflection” thing if the author didn’t write it. In this case it was not so bad since it seemed pretty clear what happened, but still.

Also I didn’t like the voices for some of that audio. The text describes how people sounded (like a rough voice, for example) sometimes, and even though it was s full cast recording, they would make what seemed like no effort to match voice to text.

Ive started the audio for Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet, and The Willpower Instinct, by Kelly McGonigsl. I’ve never tried to double dip with audiobooks, though I keep several paper books in progress st most times. I have s feeling I won’t be able to get them both finished before the checkouts expire.

[Penguin]

Hello, All.

I have been on the same two books for quite some time:

De nærmeste by Lotte Kirkeby Hansen. It is a better-than-average family drama. It is taking me a long time to read because I read slowly in Danish.

1968: The Year That Rocked The World by Mark Kurlansky. It is taking me a long time to read because it is 480 pages long. Its primary focus is on the student protests that took place in the USA and Europe in 1968. I have learned a lot about what happened in both Western and Eastern European countries.

And because I needed a change, I started Thrush Green #6 (Gossip From Thrush Green) last night.

[tuesdayschild]

On 10/1/2019 at 4:31 AM, Mothersweets said:

Hello everyone! Not much reading being done here - usually just a few pages every night before bed. I did just come across this excerpt from an Agatha Christie book that was recently released The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie and am intrigued. Has anyone read this particular story from AC before?

excerpt from "In a Glass Darkly" by Agatha Christie

I haven't but  I'm interested to see what happens next.

On 10/1/2019 at 5:22 AM, mumto2 said:

Now I know I really need to get reading both the Linesman ( on hold) and The Goblin Emperor( waiting on hard copy)😉. Thanks for the reviews!

I'm sure you'll enjoy them. They're both good!   (Thanks to @Kareni  Linesman, bks 1 & 3, have become another definitely going-to-read again series .)

@Violet Crown thank you 🌼for typing up your thoughts on Becky Sharpe, and , Vanity Fair.   I'll refer to again before I start a re-read (pastes it into reading file) ... which definitely does not have illustrations .

7 hours ago, emba56 said:

I’ve never tried to double dip with audiobooks,

Love the terminology!    ( I think that means I'm triple dipping at the moment with audios.)

3 hours ago, Penguin said:

 

1968: The Year That Rocked The World by Mark Kurlansky. It is taking me a long time to read because it is 480 pages long. Its primary focus is on the student protests that took place in the USA and Europe in 1968. I have learned a lot about what happened in both Western and Eastern European countries.

And because I needed a change, I started Thrush Green #6 (Gossip From Thrush Green) last night.

Looking forward to your final reviews of the Kurlansky book, and, Gossip From Thrush Green: that is one of the Thrush Green titles I haven't read or listened to yet, I keep side stepping it... 

[tuesdayschild]

I'm looking forward to starting my first introduction into Toby Peters world, via the audiobook  of  Dancing in the Dark

Quick update on The Silmarillion by Tolkien, I think this work is beautiful, it reads like a biblical styled myth and is not a book I'm able to 'plow through' as I'm needing to pause and reflect on the biblical and mythological parallels Tolkien seems to have penned  (I've chosen to read and listen which I think, probably fancifully,  adds that layer of a "Legend" being passed on).   This is one of my Ds favourite books and he's so pleased that I'm appreciating it too. 

The Karamazov Brothers is not going that well, perhaps I should have stopped with Crime and Punishment? 😉

[Violet Crown]

3 minutes ago, tuesdayschild said:

The Karamazov Brothers is not going that well, perhaps I should have stopped with Crime and Punishment? 😉

I've read Karamazov twice, and felt guilty both times that I didn't like it more; like if I were just a better and more deeply spiritual person, it would be my favorite book. But it isn't.

[mumto2]

I finished spelling September’s Detective, Darko Dawson.........

D.......Vendetta in Death by JD Robb

A.......Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews

R.......The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion

K.......Wife of the Gods by Kwai Quartey

O.......One Good Deed by David  Baldacci

 

D.........Medusa Uploaded by Emily Davenport

A..........Terns of Endearment by Donna Andrews

W ........The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang

S..........Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

O.........Death Overdue by Allison Brook

N........The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan

 

For the Baldacci fans among us.......One Good Deed was an enjoyable book but not as fast moving as his Puller series.....honestly the main character was a law breaking Puller set post WW2 which was perfectly enjoyable.

[Kareni]

I finished two books today.

A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg: How to Play the Game & Win by Elaine Sandberg

I'm a fairly new player, but I would say this is a good book for someone who wishes to learn to play National League Mah Jongg or someone who is interested in knowing something about the game. 

**

I also reread  Earth Fathers Are Weird by Lyn Gala which I enjoyed once more. (Significant adult content),

 "Captain Maxwell Davis and his entire unit scrambled to engage alien ships over Iowa. The aliens snatched him out of his destroyed jet before they continued on their interplanetary hot pursuit. Then they informed Max that Earth was too far outside regular shipping lanes to return him to his planet.

So Max ends up in an alien spaceport looking for work. To afford a ticket home he can either spend three hundred years working with linguists to improve the computer's questionable ability to translate English or he can take a job as a nanny for an unpopular alien.  That way he can afford the ticket in four years.  The problem is that the computer may have mistranslated the word "nanny" and there might be a reason an alien is willing to pay such a high fee. "

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

Saturday Brit Tripping..............This is the end of my place photo’s that are on my iPad from last summer, prior years are stored on hard drives.  One of my projects this fall is to get my favorites moved on to my iPad so I can actually enjoy them.  If I find some fun ones I will share......

Dh and I went solo to Calke Abbey on a dreary wet day in hopes that the weather report was accurate and it wouldn’t be actually raining there.  It wasn’t........but not sunny either.  Calke is a huge estate near a really attractive village,  Ticknall was a contender in our family’s original “where do we want to live” lists but we wanted further north.  We spent many Sunday afternoons walking on the estate when we were attending a church in nearby Birmingham and the grounds are beautiful.  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/calke-abbey/features/the-history-of-calke-abbey

That said the inside of this house is National Trust’s version of my favorite estate Brodsworth Hall( English Heritage) and both have been purposely left unrestored, simply cared for.  The owners of Calke took the aristocracy’s love of collecting to a whole new level and they basically filled the huge house.  Huge rooms filled with cases and in some cases sort of a jumble of stuff.  We started going shortly after Calke was acquired and it could be a bit of a place of horrors for us and we stopped visiting the house after one of the kids cried over an extinct stuffed creature.....they knew it was extinct and spotted it.  I believe that efforts to curate the massive collections have been made.

This part is from memory so could have an error or two 😉.......The house was sold to National Trust by an American who inherited it in the 70’s or 80’s.  They actually tried to make a go of it while they were figuring out what to do with it a lived in a small self contained area the previous owner had hollowed out.  They ended up selling the main estate but still own their properties in the village......which possible means most of the village.  Not a lot of property for sale there ever........

We didn’t actually tour the house in total as we wanted to walk.  There are sheep, deer, and many cows wandering on that estate.  Many are heritage herds.  We did go in and take a couple of pictures.  I spotted these scary looking otters and immediately thought of the “  Otterkin” in Patricia Brigg’s books.  As I said before I no longer look at otter’s the same way.😂

Edited October 5, 2019 by mumto2

[Kareni]

Calke Abbey sounds like a fascinating place, mumto2. (I'm thinking now of Edwardian hoarders.) Thanks for sharing its history and your pictures.

2 hours ago, mumto2 said:

...immediately thought of the “ Otterkin” in Patricia Thompson’s books.

I suspect you meant Patricia Briggs. I got excited for a moment and wondered who else was writing about otterkin!

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

2 hours ago, Kareni said:

Calke Abbey sounds like a fascinating place, mumto2. (I'm thinking now of Edwardian hoarders.) Thanks for sharing its history and your pictures.

I suspect you meant Patricia Briggs. I got excited for a moment and wondered who else was writing about otterkin!

Regards,

Kareni

😂I’ll fix that......I was debating writing Mercy Thompson and decided Patricia Briggs was better known,  apparently I went with the unknown Patricia Thompson!

Edited October 5, 2019 by mumto2

[Robin M]

Waving Hello!  Will catch up with y'all tomorrow.  Last couple weeks have been rather hectic to say the least.  Not much reading getting done as we're all exhausted by the end of the day.  

😘

 

[tuesdayschild]

@Violet Crown The K Brothers ..... ( I must need to be more spiritual, or something, too)

Congratulations!!! on completing September's spelling challenge @mumto2  ( thirty nine steps is a loved family read here, so fun to see that in your mix. Are you reading for  "Scotland" still, too?

Love the pictures you posted. Thank you. ( I popped on here to see if you'd posted any).

 

[Pen]

I hadn’t heard of Toby Peters before this week’s OP.  Had some trouble finding one and ended up with Never Cross a Vampire.  For some reason I cannot seem to stay with enough focus on it to follow the story.  I may need to go back and read the links about the character and author, then try to find first book in series.

I have a feeling it might be quite funny if I could focus and follow it.

 

in re Funny detective stories, I very much like Bo Tully / Patrick McManus books.  I like his essays about camping, fishing etc too.

[mumto2]

23 minutes ago, tuesdayschild said:

@Violet Crown The K Brothers ..... ( I must need to be more spiritual, or something, too)

Congratulations!!! on completing September's spelling challenge @mumto2  ( thirty nine steps is a loved family read here, so fun to see that in your mix. Are you reading for  "Scotland" still, too?

Love the pictures you posted. Thank you. ( I popped on here to see if you'd posted any).

 

I loved The Thirty Nine Steps, the audiobook was so good!

Still working on Scotland for the 10 by 10.  It has ended up being my hardest category.  I am quite behind on that one and my Nordic Noir category.  I have both planned out but need to actually read the books!

9 minutes ago, Pen said:

I hadn’t heard of Toby Peters before this week’s OP.  Had some trouble finding one and ended up with Never Cross a Vampire.  For some reason I cannot seem to stay with enough focus on it to follow the story.  I may need to go back and read the links about the character and author, then try to find first book in series.

I have a feeling it might be quite funny if I could focus and follow it.

 

in re Funny detective stories, I very much like Bo Tully / Patrick McManus books.  I like his essays about camping, fishing etc too.

Bull Tully has totally distracted me this week!  I am now the third audiobook in the series.....those books are additive.  I need to switch from audiobooks after the one I am on so have some hold’s out there.  This will slow me down at least!

I haven’t even tried my Toby Peters because of Bo Tully!

[Robin M]

Week 41 is live