I haven't seen one for a good long while and I love the what are you reading threads. I'm always the one in the group that is guaranteed not to be pleasure reading "The Making of the English Working Class", "Guns, Germs, and Steel", "A History of the Mandan People", "Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age" or "Until I Am Free" (although I'd be better for it).

Rather, I much prefer English cozies to curl up with on dark winter nights, with a current bio-/autobiography or a sprinkling of recent history now and then. I can do gentle mysteries, no real violence or gore, but can't stand suspense so I most often read the last chapter first. I always want to know whodunit from the outset. It doesn't spoil the story for me. Rather, if I don't already know the answer before I've read the dénouement I inevitably wind up saying "who's THAT?" when all is revealed in the last sentence of the last paragraph of the final page. Like, if I'd known that character was the bad guy I would have paid them more attention throughout.

Today, on an unexpected rare day off, with grey skies, sprinkly rain and the kettle on, I'm enjoying an Elly Griffiths tale ("The Postscript Murders"), the first one of hers I've come across that doesn't feature her gentle archaeologist-amateur sleuth Dr. Ruth Galloway, who inevitably (in a murder mystery series) runs into crime amongst the bones she digs up. There are a couple of delicious paragraphs in Postscript Murders I can't help wanting to share. Because they are well written. Because they make me laugh. Because the character is a former monk so that's a bit on-topic-ish.


(Pg 20-21):

Benedict grew up in Arundel, a scenic market town on the River Arun, complete with castle and cathedral. The youngest of three children, he attended a private Catholic school where he was usually known as 'Hugo's brother'. The only truly memorable thing that he ever did was to announce, age eighteen, that he wanted to become a priest. His parents, who were Catholic in the stubborn way some old recusant English families are, sticking to their faith all through the Reformation, never expected any of their children to take it this far. They clearly found it embarrassing and rather self-indulgent, in the same way that you don't expect your gymnastics-loving daughter to join a circus. 'I thought only Irish people became priests,' his mother said once. But the truth is that even the Irish don't become priests any more. Benedict's private Catholic school had used to turn out two or three a year but he had been the first for almost a decade. Even his teachers found it embarrassing. And then to become a monk! It wasn't even as if he was a hard-working parish priest, living in the community and trundling about giving communion to the housebound. 'What are you going to do all day?' His mother again. 'Lock yourself away and chant?'

But Benedict had loved the chanting and he'd loved the monastery too. If he tells people that he used to be a monk - and it's not something that comes up in conversation often - he knows that they assume he left because he lost his faith. In fact, his faith is as alive and as terrifying as ever. He left because he fell out of love with God and realised that he wanted ordinary, mortal love. In fact, he wanted to get married."

-----

I love those passages! I have read them over about a dozen times now. They make a reader laugh, and think. That's a pretty good combo I think.

I especially chortled over the bit about Benedict's faith being as "terrifying" as ever. It's so deliciously blasphemous. I'm not a fan of Catholicism myself but I think I would laugh anyway whatever Benedict's former denomination had been. I mean, you have to laugh sometimes.

I pay Amazon $9.99 per month to participate in Kindle Unlimited.  This allows me to download kindle editions of ten books.  To get a new one, I must 'release' one I'm holding.

I read for pleasure since I've already learned everything I need to know.  And anyway, I can either Google it or read The Cat's posts if there's something I 'NEED' to know.

I don't remember the names of the two books I'm currently reading, one on my phone, and one on my tablet, but they're both very entertaining.

I just looked up Kindle. I used to have one but lost it somewhere along the way. I favour holding an actual book in my hands but no doubt the Kindle comes in handy when reading at night in bed or in a car maybe and it certainly saves having to cart actual books around that may be heavy. :)

Anyway, yow. The least expensive I see is $125.00 and the next is well over $200.00. I don't recall my first one being anywhere near that price. Of course, it was small and didn't have that "white" element to it that they advertise as some big improvement.

And those are US dollars too. That's about a thousand up here.

I can't read on a screen for the same reason I can't read without a pen. In short, I underline and write marginalia constantly as I go; I engage with the authors, argue with them, curse their stupidity, learn from them, and, as a result of that engagement, remember a lot more than most people from what I read.

The markings also make it possible for me to retrieve information since I've highlighted the most important points and often even remember the patterns of lines on the pages I'm searching for. On the other hand, no one but a masochist would ever try to read what I've already perused and defaced.

I've never owned a Kindle reader. I read on my phone or tablet.

I favor physical books as well, but you can't beat a tablet for traveling.

I have read perhaps a dozen books in my lifetime. Sadly, the book of mormon was one of them, but it was under duress. The last book I read was Of Mice and Men. I remember hearing about this title and finally read it.

I remember reading Lord of the Flies and a few Alistair MacLean fiction books as a kid. Oh, and Hardy Boys.

In high school we were supposed to read Great Expectations but I bluffed my way through the class and received a D grade.

One day I would like to read War and Peace, but between taking naps and looking at RFM, I doubt I will ever get around to it.

Naps are good!

War and Peace is great! It's basically one long (and highly entertaining) soap opera interspersed with war scenes. There is a very good and extended description of Masonic ceremonies, if you have an interest in that.

Great Ex is one of my two favorite books, it is a tie with David Copperfield. You really should make the time, wonderful tale :)

I've currently got two books going. I very much miss the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries TV series, so I've been reading Kerry Greenwood's The Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions, which is a collection of her Miss Fisher short stories. I like that I can read a short story, put the book down, and pick it up at a later time. The characters are very much like the TV series.

I'm also rereading Any Weir's science fiction book, Project Hail Mary. It remains to be seen if I reread the entire thing, or just my favorite parts. He's the same guy that wrote, The Martian, which became a really terrific move starring Matt Damon. I'm not sure if Project Hail Mary would translate to film well at all.

I like English cozies as well. I've got lots of books queued up, including Anne Cleeves's The Rising Tide, part of her "Vera" series.

The Rising Tide is in my bookbag to read too, summer. I love Vera! Do you ever catch that series on TV? She's quite grumpy in it. I feel sorry for her squad and wish she would go out and about a bit socially to unwind a little. The actress is incredible. She is Vera come to life.

Too bad - I think they're winding up the TV series. All good things must come to an end. Same with my all-time fave the Inspector Morse series at Oxford. The actors move on or age out or both at some point, although we could wish they would carry on forever. But "young Morse" is getting to be "middle-aged" Morse in the current series and to preserve the integrity of the original series they have to keep it real in the prequel. John Thaw, the original Morse, was completely brilliant. I don't know who will ever be able to assume that part again. Maybe years from now when there's an audience that didn't see the original.

I saw Miss Fisher too. Again, brilliant. Really enjoyed that one. I'd watch it all over again if it ever comes back. I'm going to order in the short stories. I didn't know there was such a thing. Thanks for the tip.

I like the Vera and Endeavor TV series, and I also enjoyed Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis. Shetland was another favorite.

One interesting thing about the Miss Fisher books is that about half of them were never turned into screenplays. The show's writers started off using the books, and then just found it easier to come up with original scripts. There are also some characters in the books (i.e. Mrs. Butler) that never made it into the TV series. Author Kerry Greenwood sounds like someone that I'd enjoy spending time with.

Just finished Ian Rankin's latest Rebus novel "A Heart Full of Headstones". Wondering if it will be the last given the ending. Also finishing up "The Promise of the Grand Canyon" about John Wesley Powell. As the sage said: "Reading maketh the full man".

Oh yes Rebus is fabulous! I've read them all twice, except for the last one, that you mention. That too is waiting in my bookbag. I'm saving it for extra special.

I met Ian Rankin when he came to Vancouver a couple of years ago. His visit just happened to be scheduled in my favourite bookshop of all time but I didn't know about it. I was standing in the shop one Saturday, as usual, looking at a huge display of his latest Rebus book when the owner approached me (I am a regular weekly customer so we know each other well) and she said that Ian Rankin was coming in soon to do a book signing event. I thought she was kidding but when she said no really he is, any minute now, my jaw hit the floor. My reaction made her laugh. "NG, your face" she said. I just couldn't believe it. I'm not usually much of a fan-girl type but for him I make an exception. How you can develop feelings for an author through their work is a lovely mystery to me. I was the only customer near the display at that moment. I was turned looking outside, my eyes dazzled by the sun streaming in, and then I saw a man framed in the doorway in the shimmering sunlight, smiling at me. I melted. Then, spontaneously I spluttered, "Hey, I know you!" I didn't intend to say that and didn't even really know what I meant in that moment but he replied "I know you too!" It was just so cute and darling. As he settled himself to start signing books I blurted out inanely "I love Rebus". He grinned and looked up and said in his charming Scottish accent "Aye. I'm quite fond of him myself." We both laughed, he signed my book 'To NG with love', I melted again and then managed to move on, although I wanted to hog his time.

Ian was there again this past Christmas, signing his newest book, 'Headstones' as you mention, but I missed him. Oh well, I still got a signed copy but without my name in it this time.

Ian and his wife have a disabled son, I read somewhere. He has written movingly about their boy.

I think that most authors are gratified to have their work so cherished by readers. It must be an amazing compliment to them. They can create a world only they see but then they manage with their enormous talent to share it with so many. And we love them for it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2023 07:48PM by Nightingale.

I've watched a bit of the TV series. I love the scenes shot in Edinburgh. It looks like a lovely city.

Love Vera, pet. Brenda Blethyn is excellent. Her credits include BAFTA, Golden Globe award and two Oscar nominations

I love Vera too, kentish. Yes, they found the perfect actress to play her just exactly right. I think they're saying they're coming up to their final season. Not sure why. But people age out and maybe at some time they run out of story ideas. Or the actors have other projects.

I don't only stick to the light mysteries. I sprinkle in some history here and there. I need to learn more of that.

I've got about 5 books stacked up awaiting my attention. One of them maybe you'd enjoy, kentish: Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris.

Harris describes it as "an imaginative re-creation of a true story". It's about the men who killed King Charles I, the aftermath of which Harris describes as "the greatest manhunt of the seventeenth century".

Harris managed to uncover in his research some facts that were previously unknown. However, he reminds readers that this is a novel.

Very clever, how some writers can weave true events into historical novels, filling in a lot of background and missing pieces just from their own imagination. This one must have taken Harris a lot of research. There are 3 pages just listing character's names and identities and a 2-page map. It may be a bit of a challenge for me. My brain is in summer mode at the moment. I also don't like violence so other than killing the king I hope they don't get up to too much other gory stuff.

I had read a glowing review though so couldn't resist buying the book. All 458 pages of it.

It's partly set in America, starting in 1660, so it's going to be quite a story I'm thinking.

I am re-reading the C J Box series because he has a new book coming out the 28th.

I forgot to include the sweet part at the end:

"It never occurred to Benedict that he would find himself, after two years, living alone in a bedsit, having not had a date, or even anything approaching one, since he'd left St. Bede's. 'Go online,' his sister tells him but it's not meant to be like that. You're meant to meet someone while you're walking by the sea, or taking your books back to the library. A gorgeous woman, perhaps slightly quirky, a bit dishevelled, will turn up at the Shack and they'll have a cute conversation about vanilla latte and, before long, they'll be going to art films at the cinema and laughing as they run along the beach in the rain. He doesn't want to give up his dream of Quirky Girl even though he's never seen anyone remotely like her in Shoreham."

-----

"...laughing as they run along the beach in the rain".

I could certainly do this today as it's pouring buckets. But I'm nowhere near a beach. And there's nobody to run with. :(


I already feel for Benedict and I don't even know him yet. But I hope by the end of the book he's found somebody. Because even in a fictional universe I want everybody to be happy.

Too, I can relate to Benedict's quandary. To monks, females are off limits. It can give you a complex I imagine. As a student nurse I was assigned for a while (too long a while) to work in Male Urology. I really think they shouldn't do that to young impressionable females. I wasn't interested in dating for six months after that experience. Different but similar somehow to the fictional Benedict where one's environment puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to their private lives of the romantic variety.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2023 08:12PM by Nightingale.

Is that Shoreham in Kent?

Shoreham-by-Sea, kentish. I'm not so good with the geography. It's in Sussex I think - near Kent?

The murder site is just across the street from the beach.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2023 08:16PM by Nightingale.

Just down the coast from Brighton where I was born. "Dear old Sussex by the sea..." Shoreham, Kent has many happy memories of when I was a kif

That's lovely, kentish.

My parents took us to Brighton Beach when we went back to England for the first time after emigrating. I was 13. And they had 3 more kids than they'd had when they left England.

And I still remember the ice cream.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2023 08:40PM by Nightingale.

Brighton rock. A stick if hard candy with Brighton somehow imprinted all the way through. And on topic because Graham Greene wrote a grilled by that name.

Thriller.

Oh yes. I remember that too. Mum was worried we'd break our teeth on it. One of my favourite family photos is us at Brighton Beach. It was sunny too.

Brighton Rock. That's a brutal book.

The penury of the people who lived and worked there, the brutality of gang life, the overlay of Catholicism, the cheap color and music: Greene liked to explore the dark interstices of, particularly, British life.

Your reference brings to mind similarly dark Anglocentric books: The Captain and the Enemy, England Made Me (one of my favorites due to the remarkable character of the protagonist's sister), The End of the Affair. . .

To me one measure of a very good book is the sense of regret I get when I finish, wishing I had not read it so that the pleasure of reading fresh can be had again. The end of a great reading experience can have a touch of sadness for me.

A series I have enjoyed has been William Horwood's Duncton series. I have read every book in the series except the last, which sits on my shelf unread. I love the series but to read the last book means it has ended and I don't want it to end. Kind of silly but there you ate.

Another great series for me is C.S Forester's Hormblower series. I first read them as a teenager but read them again every year or two.

Did you ever happen upon the YA books about Dave Dawson, the American, Freddie Farmer, the Brit, and their adventures in the RAF?

I saw a low budget old movie about him when I was growing up on late night television. Years later, I found it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lugrE3ej8iA

Little did I know back then that this was the famous Di Renji (A.D. 630-700), a real life Tang Dynasty county magistrate judge who is regarded as the "Sherlock Holmes" of ancient China ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di_Renjie ). A Dutch Sinologist named Robert van Gulik found some old books about him, translated them into English, then wrote a series of fictional stories based on the judge that blend Ancient China with modern Westernm detective fiction.


https://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php?author=van%20Gulik,%20Robert%20Hans



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2023 08:29PM by anybody.

I'm currently reading some excellent Canadian science fiction: Fear No Darkness by Eric Thomson (all his books are great - in their genre).

I'm also reading a a fascinating book by David Graeber and David Wengrow called The Dawn Of Everything, which re-examines the ways of life followed by early humans and the evidence for the 'rise of inequality" among them. I'm not sure I always agree with them (and I often lack the knowledge to judge what they say), but it's very thought-provoking.

4 books

Mark Douglas "Trading in the Zone"
Don Miguel Ruiz " The 4 Agreements"
Brad Thor "Path of the Assassin"
terry Brooks "First King of Shanara"

FUN!...FUN!...FUN!...FUN!!!!
Sadly, no scriptures, conference talks, etc
which actually used to occupy A LOT of my limited spare time

Soft Machine Wrote:
------------------------
> I'm currently reading
> some excellent Canadian
> science fiction ...

So, maple syrup, hockey, moose, and canoes in outer space?

Sounds good!

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Soft Machine Wrote:
> ------------------------
> > I'm currently reading
> > some excellent Canadian
> > science fiction ...
>
> So, maple syrup, hockey, moose, and canoes in
> outer space?
>
> Sounds good!

And beaver. And the maple leaf.

I must say I don't care for science fiction much. I am not fond of suspense or anything too weird or out there, literally or figuratively.

C'mon, who doesn't like the Beaver?

Or Wally...

Ha! We had an investigator in New York who was making a living making up dirty stories and selling them to the porno magazine publishers. I'm a missionary at the time and I go, you mean Penthouse Forum isn't real? He's like how do you know about Penthouse Forum? Busted!

Anyways this guy was making shit up just like Joseph Smith did. Writing bullshit can be lucrative as long as you know how to sell it.

Surely you've read the Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series set in the "Three Pines" village of Southern Quebec?

I'm not much into mysteries but each of her books is meticulously researched and has a unique circumstance/setting for the murders - curling, archery, Gregorian chants, a hermit hoarding items smuggled from East Germany, the tension between the English and French.

Her writing is lovely and calming, despite the murder, as she describes meals in exquisite detail, eaten by fireside in the Bed and Breakfast, and the tender love between Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie. Gamache quotes classic poetry, as well as poems written by the elderly curmudgeon character, Ruth.

Each book can be read on its own but if read as a series, the characters interact and build progressively.