One of the best books (or novellas) I have read in a very long time. I listened to it via Hoopla and the reader was sensational.
Also reading and enjoying THE SHADOWS WE HIDE by Allen Eskens.
Saw THE FABLEMANS, which was very good. I think this was a terrible title though. I am not sure what would have been better. Michelle Williams gives a knockout performance. There were fifteen people in the audience. Movies will only be made for TV very soon, I guess.
On TV, THE WHITE LOTUS, VERA, SLOW HORSES, MY BRILLIANT FRIEND.
It is cold but no real snow yet. May that continue. The winter darkness has already gotten on my nerves. We can weeks without sun here.
How about you?
19 comments:
Just finished Desert Star by Michael Connelly which I liked a lot. Just starting The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz.
Watched Decision to Leave on Mubi. A very good Korean movie. Liked Where the Crawdads Sing more than I expected. Watching White Lotus and Three Pines. The later based on Louise Penny's books, staring Alfred Molina who seems to look the same age as he did 30 years ago.
The Detroit Lions win again. They are actually playing very good.
Cold but still around 38-40 degrees which is pretty mild for December. Hate the gray skies though. Last winter was rather sunny for Michigan.
I'm glad you've enjoyed your reading lately, Patti. Your TV watching looks good, too. All of that really can help when the weather gets winter-like (if not actually snowy).
_till limping around with a broken keyboard. Ptah!
To help _tave off the winter grayne__, I'll be happy to mail you _ome Florida _un_hine, but I have to warn you: it may contain MAGA and un_pecified weirdne__.
Mark i_ officially _mart. having fini_hed college on Thur_day. Becau_e he i_ very low-key, we had a low-key celebration. The entire tribe went out to lunch at a _eafood place on Pe_acola Beach, then we went bowling, and fini_hed up with homemade_undae_. None of u_ are very good bowler_; in fact, we all _uck. At lea_t, any mon_ter_ lurking in the gutter_ were in mortal fear of u_. (I did not bowl -- ju_t captained -- becau_e the bowling alley refued to carry _ize 16 bowling _hoe_. One advantage of big feet.) Marked did hi per_onal be_t by _coring over 100 point_. All in all, it wa_ a great day to celebrate the awe_omene__ of Mark! Now, to find him a job in which he can _upport the re_t of u_ in the lu_ery we de_erve, hopefully one dealing with venomou reptile_ and/or crocodilian_.
Walt made it home for the weekend in time to put up Chri_tma_ decoration_ and to cook up big batche_ of chili and Thai chicken and rice to hold u_ through the week. Chri_tina, Mark, and Jack put up Chri_tina'_ Chri_tma_ Village, which ha_ now grown large enough to merit it_ own zip code.
Je__ie turned down a job offer from another department. The _ituation in her own department wa_ becoming unbearable becau_e of a Peter Principle bo__ who made policy change_ ba_ed on whim, without realizing the day-to-day con_equence_. The County Clerk did not want to lo_e Je__ie, _o _he arranged to give the _upervi_or a lateral move, removing a thorn in Je__ie'_ _ide and giving her more automony. They al_o threw in a 10% rai_e for Je__ie. Je__ie'_ happy and the people who work for her are e_tremely relieved, _o all i well.
I actually _tarted watching TV again. I'm _i_ epi_ode_ into WEDNE_DAY. A _mall _tart, but hey.
Fini_hed the la_t John Crea_ey; any more will have to come from ILL or other _ource_. Alo fini_hed reading all the available Tom _wift novel_ online (38 of the 40 book_ in the original _erie_, which ha_ grown from mildly offen_ive racial _tereotype_ of moderately offen_ive one_). In one book near the end of the _erie_, Tom and hi_ chum Ned (who both _chew violence) joyfully u_e machine gun_ to mow down dozen_, if not hundred_, of native_, killing mo_t and maiming the other_. Tome al_o get_ to be a bigger and bigger d*ckhead near the clo_e of the _erie_. Methnk_ Howard Gari_, wrote penned the fir_t 35 volume_, w_ getting tired of hi_ _terling young hero.
I al_o read two late 19th century anonymou_ly-edited anthologie_: _TRANGE TALE_ TOLD BY A. C. DOYLE AND OTHER_ and ONE OF THO_E COINCIDENCE_, AND TEN OTHER TALE_. Mi_ed re_ult_ there. Getting back to 2022, I read Jo_h Malerman'_ DAPHNE, a rather _trangely con_tructed horror novel.
Coming up thi_ week -- Jerry get_ to cur_e a lot a_ he attempt_ to wrap Chri_tma_ pre_ent_! (And maybe he'll get a working keyboard!)
May your coming week be cur_e-free and joy-filled, Patti. _tay _afe.
The Buffalo Bills beat the NY Jets in a snowy sloppy game yesterday. Since the workmen who are residing our house have taken over our garage, Diane and I have to scrape the windows of our vehicles that sit in the driveway until we have to move them for the trucks with vinyl deliveries. We hope the Detroit Lions help us out by beating the Jets next week.
While we were watching the Jets v. Bills game yesterday, Diane and I put up the Christmas tree. Diane has decorated the all the other rooms. Patrick and Katie will fly in for holidays next week.
Covid-19 and flu rates are climbing again here. Stay safe!
Glad things are mostly good, in reports so far!
WHITE LOTUS and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN came to suitable conclusions for the season (or forever), so far. Amusing (and possibly noted before) that the two adult leading women of LET are playing earnest, likable characters (with flaws and withing reason in one case), while the last time I saw them, Akika Noni Rose and Grace Gummer (such an unfortunate surname) together was when playing horribly smug adversaries of the protags in THE GOOD WIFE. ZIWI last night was probably the best episode of that series this season, as well.
It's been the kind of month where sleeping patterns are odd, and I managed to hurt the feelings of someone whose work I've admired for almost 50 years (leaving aside the death of Marijane Meaker, whose work I've been reading for just shy of 50 years now). I'd posted a discussion from a Canadian talk show from the '70s that she wished her kids to not see. Then I didn't see her request for weeks on end. But it's down now.
Good luck finding a good keyboard replacement, Jerry!
I'm just catching up with the 2015 series RIVER. Pilot's good.
The only new show we've been watching is THREE PINES. Neither of us has read Louise Penny - Jackie tried the first but it wasn't for her - but this seems very well done. I've liked Alfred Molina for a long time. He seems the right choice for Gamache.
Also watching the French SPIN (second series), ASTRID, CHERIF and TANDEM. Finished NORDIC MURDERS (German). Watching STAR TREK: PICARD (a disappointment), TREME (second watch), INSIDE NO. 9, WHITSTABLE PEARL, MURDER BY THE LAKE (German-Austrian, on MHz Choice), CRACKER (again), POIROT.
Todd, we watched RIVER the first time around. Surely Nicola Walker is one of the busiest actors working in Britain today.
Like Steve, I read Connelly's DESERT STAR, which I liked...except Bosch's actions near the end. Read and enjoyed (mildly) Donald Westlake's non series PUT A LID ON IT, which I'd missed when it came out 20 years ago. Still reading Dan Chaon and Amy Hempel short stories.
I was surprised there was no second season of RIVER. I am also watching THREE PINES. I have read three of the many novels so I am not so familiar with the characters to find fault with the casting as many have on Facebook.
Very upsetting information about the Oxford shootings of last year coming out today. What a tragedy.
Diane has read ALL the Louise Penny books, except for the new A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES which is on her nightstand. The books just keep getting better and better! Diane is waiting until after Christmas before se start watchiNG THREE PINES. Diane really liked the article on Louise Penny in the last issue of MYSTERY SCENE. In the MYSTERY SCENE article, Louise Penny sounds just like the women we, the Meyersons, and the Criders talked to at the Toronto BOUCHERCON! Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québe is based on her husband.
Remember her coming to Bouchercon just after his death and admiring her fortitude.
Nuts, today is Monday. My wife, Boy #2 and I went to Tuba Christmas at the Wisconsin State Capitol rotunda on Saturday. Boy #2 played along with 160 tuba players. The WI Capitol is a great building and the rotunda is 280 feet high. A neat time and a huge crowd.
While Boy #2 was in rehearsals my wife and I were able to walk around a bit and get a coffee. We all had a late lunch afterwards. I ate too much at lunch and collapsed into bed when I got home.
I've been reading a tie-in novel based on the RED DWARVE TV show. I'm enjoying the book more than I expected. I should find out where the show is streaming and watch some episodes.
I watched the horribly titled series THE WOMAN IN THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW. A bizarre ending. There had to be a few jokes I was missing with how the plot and characters were acting. Maybe I need to read the "chick-lit" thrillers I presume they were playing off of.
I listened to Mick Herron's SLOW HORSES after a blurb about how great the spy series is. Novel had a slow start but sped up and I enjoyed the story.
I had to look into more about Claire Keegan. I had heard a lot about Foster, her book from 2010, but not this one. And she has a book of short stories titled Antarctica, and that might be interesting.
We had rain all day Saturday and a bit into Sunday and that was nice. The temperatures continue to be colder than usual here which is hard to get used to.
I read a Christmas mystery, SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE, by E.X. Ferrars (AKA Elizabeth Ferrars), part of a series about a widower in his mid-seventies (who accidentally solves crimes, I guess). Set in the UK. I haven't read any others in the series but I liked this one a lot. I like her writing. Now reading MURDER AFTER CHRISTMAS by Rupert Latimer, reprinted by the British Library for its Crime Classics collection. It may be a bit too screwball and humorous for me but I am liking it pretty much.
We also started THREE PINES, only one episode but we liked it. I have read 10 of the books, and I don't mind the differences in the characters. That is inevitable in most cases. But they did not get really deeply into any of the characters from Three Pines in that first episode.
I enjoyed Madison the year Bouchercon was there.
I remember reading Ferrars a million years ago but that series strikes no chords. I hope it warms up in CA before we arrive on the 14th of January.
Odd indeed that RIVER got no second season, if it keeps up this standard. I'm also amused that it's being syndicated by the partnership of WETA in DC and Georgia Public TV, rather than being fed through PBS or the usual UK crime-drama syndicators (the only other series I'm currently aware of popping up on PBS and other public stations from that partnership is their package of the contemporary Australian "western" McCLEOD'S DAUGHTERS, which was first run in the States on the WE cable channel a decade back).
At this moment recording the season finale of THE CLEANING WOMAN, probably the best crime drama on Fox these days, while hoping to feel up to a late run to the grocery store...already saw (and still mostly recommend) the AMERICAN MASTERS episode on PBS running now, on Saul Bellow, which will repeat in all the likely places including the World Channel network.
So--best current-season crime drama per US broadcast network poll?:
As noted, my vote runs to THE CLEANING LADY on Fox
PROFESSIONALS on CW
oddly enough, Ion gets to play (barely), with LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION
for NBC, it's a bit of a reach, the revival of QUANTUM LEAP
for ABC, I haven't seen enough of ALASKA DAILY yet, but it does seem well-intended and Not Bad
for CBS, I'll plump for the CSI revival, CSI: VEGAS, though Alexa Davalos has the Best Voice of any current tv actor on CBS on FBI: MOST WANTED, and SO HELP ME TODD (not really that clever a title) perhaps the most attractive female cast on balance.
for PBS, I simply have not been keeping up with the imported series. Hence catching up with RIVER, seven years after introduction in the UK, not sure how many since first appearing over here some way.
I wonder if any streaming channel is doing THE CLEANING LADY. Will look.
Bellow seems to have been a real pig despite writing great novels.
https://www.elle.com/culture/books/a32033/10-mysoginistic-novels-every-woman-should-read/ includes THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH. As one example of people noting even the work...
Hulu and HBOMax for no-further-payment streaming, and Fox.com for the second season only.
Follow-up: Books I Forgot To Mention
Listened to another BILLY BOYLE series novel from James R Benn. I'm about 4 novels behind on the series and Been has kept a steady schedule of a novel a year.
Now listening to a Vietnam War memoir entitled A VIETCONG MEMOIR by Truong Nhu Tang. Other memoirs and novels I've read from the Vietcong or NVA perspective are the soldier's experience. Tang was a highly educated son of wealth and worked in business and government in South Vietnam with connections and relationships with movers and shakers. An interesting read to me because his focus was on national independence and unification from the French and then crappy and incompetent governments of the late '50s and into the '60s. Seeing the decades long event as a civil war rather than a U.S. intervention.
I think most people here are at least a bit older than me and have their own views on the war.
That war is a hole in my heart.
I might be just a couple-few years older, if any, and I certainly have no love for that war (nor any other) nor its results in any way, though the current regime in Hanoi seems perhaps a bit less insane than those in China (fascist), Russia (fascist), at least NK (Stalinist), Philippines (not really backing away from fascism), Burma (fascist), Singapore (fascism with a smile), etc.
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