I’m going to say this once, and then I’ll drop it for those who are not yet retired. I love retirement. I hate snow, driving in it, walking in it. We had snow in the middle of the night on Sunday, and it continued into rush hour on Monday. And, I didn’t hae to go anyplace! Yay! That was my excitement for the week, that I didn’t have to go anywhere. Nothing else to report.
I’m currently reading Dark Humor, Matt Goldman’s fifth Nils Shapiro mystery. Sammy Sykes is evading the law―and justice.
Nils is on a mission to hunt down Sammy Sykes, the drug kingpin responsible for the ambush that led to his wife’s death two years ago. Despite the efforts of local law enforcement and the FBI, Sammy is still on the loose. It’s time for Nils to take the law into his own hands. A trip to see Sammy’s daughter in prison gifts him a lead that’s impossible to ignore. Resuming his life as a private investigator, Nils goes deep undercover. Fueled by revenge and a deep sense of justice, Nils’ pursuit of Sammy takes him all the way from Minnesota to Europe, where his survival skills―and resolve―are put to the ultimate test . . .
What about you? What are you reading this week? What have you been doing?
Lesa, I must admit I’m hesitant about driving in the snow but I sure do love walking in it. Especially when it’s newly fallen – so clean and white, and that particular sound of snow crunching underfoot, and the wonderful stillness, and if I can walk in snow where no one has walked before I got there, well, it’s one of the things I love to do.
I only managed to read one book this week because we had a lot of errands to run and secret shopping to do. We did get our Christmas tree and decorate it, so our living room is looking festive at the moment. We also had to pick up 8-year-old Evelyn from school one day and look after her for a few hours. They live about a 45-minute drive away from us. But seeing her run to us after school and then having her put her little hand in mine for the walk home was totally worth it.
The book I read was THE DOG SITTER DETECTIVE by Antony Johnston (first in the Dog Sitter Detective series)
Sixty-year-old actress Gwinny has been out of the acting business for the past ten years in order to look after her ailing father. He has just died and her solicitor tells her that there is no money left and she’ll need to (horrors!) ‘get a job’.
She’s happy to take her mind off things for a while as she looks forward to attending the wedding of her best friend Tina, which is to take place at Tina’s large country estate. Alas, just before the nuptials are to begin the groom is found dead in the library and Tina has been arrested. The police feel confident they have the murderer dead to rights and are not interested in pursuing any other leads.
The dead groom’s sister had gifted two Salukis to Tina as a wedding gift, and it is with these two large dogs in tow that Gwinny sets out to investigate the crime and clear her friend’s name. She also has the help of a new acquaintance, DCI Alan Birch, retired, and his labrador.
I found this to be a light, straight forward cozy mystery. There were no heart-stopping moments of suspense, just solid investigating on the part of the amateur sleuth as she worked her way through the puzzle of who and why. I did guess the killer’s identity early on, and the addition of all three dogs added fun to the story. I liked it enough that I will likely read the next one in the series sometime.
Oh, I get that, Lindy. But, I’ve lived in suburbs or cities forever, so there’s no pristine snow, and no being the first one to crunch through it. I know others love snow, and I’m glad you enjoy it! I just had to drive in it for too long.
I love decorated homes, though, and decorated trees!
We’ve had relatively warm, sunny weather here. People are starting to hope for a gray, rainy, Christmas just to get some rain, though.
This week I read:
The Dinner Party by Viola van de Sandt; A certain class of people seem to have a real hang up about dinner parties. I never thought they were that big a deal.
The Life and Death of a Sensei by Loren W. Christenson; A martial art instructor asks a neophyte writer (and student) to write his biography and promptly dies. The writer meets the love of his life, and learns more than he wants doing his research.
Unbearably Loyal: The Highs, Lows, and Laughs of Loving The Chicago Bears; About being a fan of a team that stinks for years and years. I can’t say I like Da Bears, but being a fan of The Sacramento Kings really isn’t much different.
The Diva Digs Up Dirt by Krista Davis; I think this might be the last book in the series. Our sleuth gets signed up for a backyard makeover TV Show. Along the way, she finds her supercop boyfriend’s wife’s purse. Then a body is found, but not the wife’s. I’m glad I don’t live in this neighborhood.
The Madness Pill: One Doctor’s Quest to Understand Schizophrenia; Biography of the doctor who discovered the meds so many of the mentally ill take. Before this, Psychoanalysis was the preferred method of curing it. The trouble is, despite what the author seems to think, is that neither of the methods actually seems to work well.
Oh, Glen. The Diva Digs Up Dirt was only the 6th in the series. If you include the upcoming May release, there are 13 more. Unless you mean the last one that you’re going to read in the series?
Boy, did I read that wrong. I read The Dinner Party as “The Donner Party”, which really made me howl with the following sentence when I realized what it really said. “The Dinner Party by Viola van de Sandt; A certain class of people seem to have a real hang up about dinner parties. I never thought they were that big a deal.”
Lesa, the Diva entry certainly read like the last book in the series. I keep waiting for someone to kill off her obnoxious neighbor. Maybe the author is saving THAT for the last book.
My locality is where most of the surviving members of the Donner Party settled, so I actually know quite a bit about them.
No, she has a lot of mysteries to come, Glen. My favorite one is still #5, the Halloween one.
That’s interesting that I read it Donner and you know quite a bit about it. I don’t.
I’m insanely jealous, Lesa. Today of all days. It’s fiscal year end (slightly off fiscal year for this accountant), and I got out of work late due to some last minute things that came up. Of course, some departments were still going strong when I left, so I am counting myself lucky.
Big excitement around here? My Christmas shopping is done. Stuff is either ordered online or I know what I need to pick up (gift cards, etc.) Always a huge relief. Of course, I need to wrap it when it all arrives, but I can throw on a Christmas movie and do that.
Reading wise, I’m about 2/3 of the way through NO STONE LEFT UNTURNED by Annette Dashofy. Her publisher decided to release books 3 and 4 in the series about 5 weeks apart, so I’m enjoying a second book with these characters in the span of a few weeks. I’m enjoying it. Still trying to figure out the why since we’ve figured out the who. I have a feeling I’m not going to want to put the book down. Good thing I’m planning to finish it on Thursday.
Hang in there, Mark. Your time will come, and it’s wonderful when it gets there! And, you probably really think about it when you have to close out books for the year.
I’m done with presents, too, except for wrapping!
Good morning from Bern, everyone. Here, we already had a first snow that stayed on the ground for a few days in November, then melted. Now another is due tomorrow. I like walking in snow, as long as I’m dressed for it, complete with a warm cap, and it isn’t very wet snow. Walking on ice is something else–that I try to avoid, which isn’t always possible in Switzerland!
Last Saturday, my husband and I contributed six pounds of mashed potatoes, two apple pies, and green beans with parmesan in a vinaigrette dressing to our traditional potluck Thanksgiving, which has been going on for at least 30 years. Participants have come and gone, but there remains a core of four couples (American wives and Swiss husbands) with our adult kids and their partners (no grandchildren yet, but we all keep hoping!) We had a great time eating all the traditional, delicious Thanksgiving food and enjoying each other’s company. We felt very grateful for each other.
I also had company for dinner this past Tuesday, so I’ve spent much more time cooking than reading this past week. But I did read and greatly enjoy Julia Spencer-Fleming’s latest mystery, AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY. It’s #10 in her Fergusson/van Alstyne series. Reverend Clare, an Episcopalian minister, and her husband, a small town police chief who has just retired in this book, are as likable as ever, and several previous characters whom I’ve come to care about make repeat appearances. The plot involves a white supremacist group training in the rural Maine forests and the race against time to find and protect their targets. I have enjoyed the whole series, and I strongly recommend this one. The epilogue suggests that this will be Julia’s last Reverend Clare book. We’ll see.
I’m listening to the second book in a fantasy series by Martha Wells, famous for her Murderbot books. The first book was THE WITCH KING (although the version I bought was called THE DEMON KING–why the same book has two titles, I don’t know, unless it’s US versus UK). The second in the series, QUEEN DEMON, still features Kai, the witch/demon king and the main character of the first book, as its hero. Both books have been reviewed as over-complicated, confusing, and full of strange names for individuals and tribes that are impossible to remember. I agree! But I like Kai very much, his companions (non-mortals of various types, plus a few humans) are interesting to get to know or revisit, and there’s enough action (some of it very exciting) to keep me going. I guess I can’t really recommend either book to others — I can only say that, despite their faults, I like them! As I’ve said before, I’m fascinated by world-building, and, despite its elaborate (convoluted?) complexity, I’m drawn into Martha Wells’s world when I’m listening to QUEEN DEMON.
I’ll finish this audiobook soon, so I can report my final verdict next week. I’m also about to start the new Karen Pirie (cold case) police procedural by Val McDermid, SILENT BONES.
Good morning, Kim. I can see why you’re all grateful for each other’s friendship. That sounds like such a wonderful gathering of friends at Thanksgiving.
I really need to read that series by Val McDermid. I love cold cases. The size of that first book just intimidated me. I’m not one that thinks the bigger the book, the better.
And, I’m glad you enjoy Martha Wells’ books!
Enjoy the snow as well!
Kim, we agree on the Julia Spencer-Fleming, but it is Upstate New York, not Maine, the huge Adirondack Park.
Your Thanksgiving sounds great.
Of course, you’re right, Jeff. Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve met Julia, and I know she lives in Maine, but that doesn’t mean her books are set there!
Kim, your Thanksgiving gathering sounds perfect. I bet it was a lot of fun!
Good morning. Back in October Princeton University finally opened its new art museum after 5 years of construction so we went to check it out. The outside of the building is ugly and really doesn’t fit with the older part of the campus that it’s next too but they did a nice job with the interior.
I only finished one book this week, BLACK TIE AND TAILS, the second book in Wen Spencer’s Black Wolves of Boston series.
A high school student who’s still trying to figure out how to be a werewolf gets thrown into protecting Boston from everything from were-penguins to an old god. I preferred book one since this one got a bit slow at times. It needed less teaching and more action.
That’s such a shame, Sandy, that Princeton didn’t make the outside of the art museum fit with the rest of the campus. I’m glad, though, that the interior is nice. I hope yu enjoyed the exhibits!
Oh, a Boston setting! That sounds interesting.
Good morning, Lesa – you know what a huge Nils Shapiro fan I am, so this book is definitely on my TBR soon list! Along with the Diane Freeman book later this month. Thankfully driving in the snow this year hasn’t been too bad yet, but I too am grateful that I am not doing the one hour, plus, drive each way that I used to do when I worked full time.
I attended an annual bingo party on Tuesday night and have a lady’s luncheon today. We take filled stockings that will be donated to the local shelters. Typically there are about 100 filled stockings – it is always a site to see. A tuba Christmas concert this Saturday. Enjoying all of the activity!
This week I read an ARC from NetGalley – the 2nd book in The Trials of Gabriel Ward KC series by Sally Smith. I loved the first book and this one is equally as good. Gabriel Ward is once again pulled into solving a mystery. Someone is sending cadaver body parts to different members of the Inner Temple with cheeky messages. While the messages are innocuous, the presence of a body part arriving in a box is extremely off putting. Things come to a head when the Inner Temple’s church’s Reverend, who had a weak heart, dies when he opens a box that contains one of said body parts. Gabriel and policeman Wright once again team up to determine where the cadaver is on the property, then identify the deceased, and catch the person behind the ghastly boxes. Simultaneously, Gabriel is defending an actress whose reputation has been sullied in the local newspaper. Both of these threads make for an unputdownable read!
I also read Christmas with the Princes – the 3rd in the A Manor House series, by Hannah Langdon. A cozy Christmas romance – likable characters. Perhaps a bit too predictable?
Mary, I’ve just started the new Nils Shapiro. I hope we both enjoy it!
I’m looking forward to Christmas with the Princes. I actually expect predictable with Christmas books.
And, I get it. I had to drive yesterday, but the roads are clear by now, even though yards are not. That’s all that really matters to me – roads and sidewalks clear
I’m not yet retired, but I work from home and completely feel you, Lesa! This has been a great week to not leave the house much. I’m in Toledo where it’s supposed to get down to 2 degree tonight.
I just finished The Wedding People by Alison Espach, which I thought was funny and smart. I just started on Heartwood by Amity Gaige. It’s a mystery about a woman who disappears while hiking the Appalachian Trail. It seems like a very slow burn so far, but it’s gotten a lot of great reviews, so I think it will be worth a little patience.
Isn’t it wonderful to be home, Kate? And, I know Toledo gets hit worse than where my Mom lives. Cleveland and Toledo get it, but the lake effect goes straight across the lake. Mom lives in the dip in the state, so it usually passes her by. I went to school at Kent Statee, right in the snow belt.
You have more patience than I do, to wait for the slow burn.
Lesa, so totally agree on retirement, and snow. The weather here since the start of November has been awful, the coldest November (overall) since 2019. And we face possible snow (a little) tomorrow? This is the kind of weather where we stock up on food and don’t leave the house any more than we have to. We canceled the trip to Arizona, because…all of the above, plus getting home after 11 pm on frigid Wednesday.
Books, then. Jackie is reading Margaret Mizushima’s DYING CRY, and she has the new Richard Osman up next.
This week I finished:
Mark De Castrique, Secret Lives. Thanks to Lesa for recommending this series about 75 year old (and feisty) retired FBI Agent Ethel Fiona Crestwater, who runs a boardinghouse of sorts for FBI and Secret Service agents in Washington. The only problem for me was, this story is all about cryptocurrency and the MEGO Effect (My Eyes Glazed Over) kicked in. Otherwise, a good, fast read.
Mick Herron’s Slow Horses series is definitely Flavor of The Month lately, especially with the Apple+ TV series. Standing By The Wall collects the Slow Horses novellas and is a must for a fan of the series.
It has been five years since the last Julia Spencer-Fleming book about Upstate NY Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne and his wife, Army helicopter pilot turned Episcopal Priest Clare Fergusson. The new one, At Midnight Comes the Cry, is set a few months after the previous book (as mnear as I can remember), with their son Ethan now eight months old, Clare finally sober, and Russ retired from the job (to save the local police force; it’s complicated). Now Hadley Knox, one of his officers, comes to him because Kevin Flynn, who she was involved with before he quit and went to Syracuse to work, has gone missing two months, after an undercover operation ended. She wants the Chief’s help in finding him. This is an up to the moment story about white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and I pretty much raced through it in a couple of days. The end seems like it may be the last in the series too. Good one.
Also read The Basket Case, the third in Tim Sullivan’s free short stories about Sgt. George Cross. This is a little shorter than the previous two and definitely now as interesting overall, though still worth reading.
I’m still reading the William P. McGivern collection of old science fiction stories, plus Sheila Schwartz’s collection IMAGINE A GREAT WHITE LIGHT. But mostly I am involved with Val McDermid’s new Karen Pirie book, SILENT BONES. This is just a terrific series, much (in my opinion) better than the OK TV adaptation, and really needs to be read from the first book. Karen heads the (three person) Scottish Historic Cases Unit, the Cold Case Squad, and has two very different cases here, including the dead body that popped up after torrential rains uncovered a section of the motorway. Outstanding series, one of my favorites. Highly recommended, but read them in order.
Jeff, Maybe my New Year’s resolution should be to read the first Pirie book. Yes, that’s a good resolution. I can keep book ones. My other resolution is to get back to Tim Sullivan’s books.
I imagine you’re looking forward to Florida with the lousy weather you’ve been having. When do you leave?
I like that MEGO effect. Very good!
January 3.
I really think that once you read the first book in the series, you will want to read them all.
I think you’re right, Jeff. A good New Year’s resolution.
I am reading A Latte Like Love by Michelle C. Harris; it is almost 500 pages long. I loved it at the 200 page mark, now at the 300 page mark, and I am thinking that it may be too intense for me! It reminded me of Beauty and the Beast! It is a story of emotionally broken people who love each other. The woman had a drug addicted mother, then a series of foster homes, finally that last one was wonderful, she finally had a loving mother.
The man comes from a wealthy family on his mother’s side. His mother was a famous lawyer and he barely saw her, only nannies who were not motherly., She and her brother want him to continue the family tradition of a law firm that has gone on for 100 years. She neglects him but his uncle is even worse, his manor is vicious and demeaning. The man’s father was an auto mechanic! The pair of parents were too different to stay together long and divorced.
The man went to one year of law school, aced it and dropped out because he hated it. His true love was working with neon! He has degrees in electrical engineering, and others. There was a tragic accident; his father died, heart attack while driving and he blames himself for the accident. He was riding in the car at the time and he was scarred dramatically from his face down his torso. He almost died. But the emotional scars of his past and the accident are tremendous. I can’t stop reading it but I am not sure that there will be a true resolution!
That would be a tough book to give up, Caro, after reading so much. But, if it’s too emotional, it’s difficult to keep going. Good luck?
Good morning! As Glen said, we haven’t had rain lately, but it has been pretty cold (down to 38 at night, which is not normal for us). It has been a strange 2 weeks, without any card games, but they will resume next week. In the meantime, I went with a group of 13 to see Wicked: For Good and went out to eat afterwards. I liked the first movie better, as I think the music is better and the tone is more positive, but I still enjoyed it. Yesterday I attended a holiday luncheon (137 attended!) and missed winning a prize in a drawing by one number! Oh, well . . . Thanksgiving was wonderful, at usual, at my daughter-in-law’s sister’s house. And I’m looking forward to an event this weekend at the Harris Center featuring the Pops Chorale and Symphony Orchestra. The theme is Christmas, of course. My tree is up but not yet decorated, and I need to continuing decorating the tree and the house interior.
Somehow I managed to read three books this week, and I’m in the middle of one for next week’s book club.
I read THE FULL MOON COFFEE SHOP by Mai Mochizuki, having won a copy from Goodreads and read a recent review by Lesa, and I’m happy to say it was far better than a book in the same vein by a Japanese author that I read in translation last year. It’s another “gentle fantasy,” according to Publishers Weekly, an apt description. The coffee shop of the title appears only when someone has treated a cat kindly or in a special manner. Those individuals are treated to free food and drinks and some valuable advice by . . . talking cats! These guests are all at an important point in their lives, a point where they need to make a change in order to fulfill their true purpose and achieve happiness. In turn, we meet a screenwriter, a movie director, a hair stylist, and a website designer, who can’t figure out where the mysterious shop has come from but find themselves ready to suspend their disbelief and truly consider what the host cats are telling them. It involves astrology and Mercury in retrograde in such a way that even non-believers are entertained. I enjoyed this little book–the straightforward writing style, the human characters, and the cats (of course). I understand there are two more in this series–one already published and one coming in 2026.
Ever since I read Nora Goes Off Script three years ago, Annabel Monaghan’s books have been must-reads for me, and I think DOLLY ALL THE TIME may be her best so far. The central couple of Dolly and Stewart are beautifully detailed characters–each strong in some areas of their lives and vulnerable in others. Dolly is a single mom whose own mother left when she was 12 and who has fashioned herself as someone who can always provide solutions when her family is in need. Working in Boston as a kindergarten teacher with several side hustles, she moves herself and 13-year-old son Gus to the seaside Rhode Island town where she grew up. Her father is in danger of losing the family home and his seafood business because the house is in dire need of a very expensive new roof. The solution that drops in Dolly’s lap is the opportunity to earn the money for the roof by pretending to be the girlfriend of Stewart, the heir of an uber-wealthy family business who has just had a painful breakup from his fiance. Without a potential wife in his life, he might lose the opportunity to become CEO of the company to his obnoxious cousin Grant. Fake dating is a popular trope in romances, often with the couple falling in love for real, but this one stands out because of its character development. One of Stewart’s traits is his willingness to work around the clock, forsaking any meaningful kind of personal life for the benefit of the company. But it has led to panic attacks and the inability to enjoy himself or even handle the details of day-to-day life. He meets Dolly by chance when she helps him change a flat tire, something he has never had to learn. And as they attend upscale events together and meet each other’s family, things begin to change for both. Even the supporting characters in this book are stars, undergoing development throughout the story. Those especially include Dolly’s adorable son Gus, her stalwart father, her damaged brother, and her enthusiastic best friend Naomi, not to mention Stewart’s unappreciative parents and his irrepressible sister Busy. Take it from me–this is an emotional, upbeat, very well written book, and Dolly and Stewart are both memorable characters who are easy to root for. Annabel Monaghan, keep writing, please! (May)
MAGIC UNCORKED by Annabel Chase sounded like fun so I gave it a whirl. With “magic” in the title and the mention of witches in the description, I expected a frothy story with a healthy dose of magical realism. But it is actually the story of five mostly middle-aged, mutually supportive women who gather weekly for cocktails, to discuss their personal lives, and to give each other (sometimes much-needed) compliments. When Inga, the 85-year-old “firecracker” who founded and leads the group, dies suddenly, they are shocked to learn from the lawyer and executor of her will that she was really a witch, and that they are the beneficiaries of her assets. All they are told is that witches are not born, but that each inherits her powers from a witch who has passed on. And for this group, it seems that only single parent Libbie, so far, has inherited a new ability that might be called magical, although each of the four has inherited one of Inga’s cats. Talented chef Libbie’s live-in boyfriend of three years has betrayed her, and Libbie is unhappy working as a cook at a small restaurant where her boss sternly resists any changes to the menu. But after receiving a mystical journal from Inga that includes cocktail recipes that suddenly appear with unusual ingredients and trying them out on herself and others, she garners the gumption to kick her boyfriend out, quit her unsatisfying job, and pursue a new, more promising occupation. The only problem is the alarming financial situation in which she finds herself. I won’t describe the three other cocktail club members because, as I found out after finishing this book, each has her own book in the Midlife Magic Cocktail Club series, to be released in 2026. They are all distinct characters, and I look forward to reading about what they inherited from Inga and how it changes their lives. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the characters of Libbie’s teenage children, who are normal kids, her pursuit of being her own boss, and the overall tone of the book. It took me a little while to get used to a world where a lawyer and a chef can have a conversation about witches and agree that there are witches among us, but I was glad I did. I don’t think this actually qualifies as a romance, although there is the hint of a possible relationship in the near future. (January)
Dolly All the Time, Margie. That one sounds good. I’ll have to look for it. Thank you.
Even without cards, it sounds as if you had a good week. I’m glad you moved close to your son’s family.
Sending hugs!
We got about 4 inches of snow. Now it is just cold.
Two books for me this week. And Then There Was the One by Martha Waters. This was a cute cozy mystery that was a send up of all the genre. Georgie Radcliffe lives in the Cotswolds and solves four mysteries in a single year. When the council chairman becomes the fifth victim, she is convinced it is murder instead of a heart attack. She reaches out to a renowned London detective for assistance. He sends his secretary Sebastian Fletcher-Ford instead. Although Georgie doesn’t think he is qualified, they become a good team with a side of romance. This wasn’t over special, but I liked the whole tongue in cheek vibe of these small villages with more than their fair share of murder.
My second book was Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. A mysterious stranger arrives in Golden where he visits a coffee shop with 92 portraits on the walls. He decides to purchase the portraits one at a time and bestow them to their rightful owners. He becomes a beloved staple in the town. The ending was a little shocking when everything is revealed. This was a long (nearly 400 pages) uplift novel. This was a self-published book so it could have used a professional editor to perhaps pare it down a little. Overall, it was good uplift novel.
Happy Reading!
Oh, a shocking ending, Sharon? I don’t know how I feel about that.
And, the cold is only going to get worse. I’m ready for spring!
My current read is Illusion of Truth by James L’Etoile. This third book of the Detective Emily Hunter Mystery series and comes out in January.
You’ve been keeping up with your reading, Kevin. Enjoy it!
I am late, again. We are home today, and I am glad about that, but I can’t get started early enough in the morning to join in early.
Yesterday, Glen went to his retina specialist. His ophthalmologist had noticed some swelling in the retina of one eye, and he had taken drops to relieve that for 30 days. The doctor said everything looked OK and not to continue the drops, so that was good. Next week I have an appointment with our ophthalmologist to have a routine laser procedure to clean up some film on one of my cataract lenses. The other one was done a few weeks ago.
We had a quiet Thanksgiving and watched three movies on Thursday and Friday: DARK CITY (1998, with Kiefer Sutherland, Rufus Sewell and Jennifer Connelly, a noirish sci fi film), NOISES OFF (1992, with Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve, a farce based on a play by Michael Frayn), and an MST3K episode, INVASION USA (the movie was from 1952, the MST3K episode aired in 1994).
Glen is finishing up BRITAIN AT BAY by Alan Allport and has read all the short stories in A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE by Marian Enriquez. Although he did not like all the stories in that book, he is keeping it. Soon he will start a book of Christmas short stories, CRIMSON SNOW: WINTER MYSTERIES, one of the books in the British Library Crime Classics series, edited by Martin Edwards.
This week I finished reading all the stories in SIDNEY CHAMBERS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, the first book in the Grantchester Mysteries. There were six short stories, although not very short. The shortest one was 50 pages, the longest was 80 pages, so counts as a novella? Anyway, I liked all of the stories, not sure which is my favorite, and I have ordered the 2nd book in the series. I have not seen the TV series but we will try it sometime soon.
Now I am reading GOODBYE TO BERLIN by Christopher Isherwood, from my Classics Club list. It is a connected series of six short stories, and was first published in 1939.
Tracy, we saw NOISES OFF on stage in London in 1982 and loved it. I don’t think we ever saw the movie adaptation.
Jeff, I had wondered if anyone had seen the stage production of Noises Off. And you saw it in London! How cool. We also wondered if the stage productions differed from the movie.
No, I’ve heard of Noises Off, Tracy, but haven’t seen the stage production or the movie.
Good luck with the ophthalmalogist, although it does sound like it’s routine.
You’re right. I would think of 80 pages as a novella.
And, that’s okay if you’re not early. I’ll still read your posts.
I have to be good driving in the snow! I went to law school in syracuse, land of the lake effect snow. I now live in NH where we get snow at all times!
I’m currently reading a Court of Mist of Fury and listening to Project Hail Mary (which I’m almost done with). My next listen is probably going to be Isola with my next physical book being Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy.
Syracuse and New Hampshire will do that for you, Melissa. I just never had confidence driving in snow. And, then I spent 18 years in Florida and 10 in Arizona, so that took care of any confidence I did have.
Andy Weir. I knew Project Hail Mary sounded familiar.