Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910282 times)

salan · « **Reply #2080 on:** March 27, 2011, 02:00:22 PM »

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Discussion Leaders: BillH and JoanK

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Ditto for me Steph and Rosemary. I read Behind the Scenes at the Museum, but can't even remember what it was about. I just remember thinking that I didn't need to read any more by that author.
Sally

JoanK · « **Reply #2081 on:** March 27, 2011, 07:04:53 PM »

Hmmmm. Sounds like I don't need to bother with that one.

just read a book by Marcia Talley. She's won all kinds of awards, and the subject was interesting, but the book really dragged. Won't look for more of hers either.

Steph · « **Reply #2082 on:** March 28, 2011, 06:21:50 AM »

This is funny.She must be simply a boring writer for so many of us to vaguely remember her, but not interested in reading anything new by her.

nlhome · « **Reply #2083 on:** March 28, 2011, 08:25:40 PM »

I tried Case Histories by Atkinson also, and I was bored. I remember trying it once before, when it first came out, and didn't finish it that time either.

However, I am in a "state" where few books appeal to me now, so my opinion shouldn't carry much weight.

Steph · « **Reply #2084 on:** March 29, 2011, 06:20:45 AM »

Reading an older Marcia Muller.. It is the one set in Hawaii and Sharon seems to be getting cold feet about Hy... Since I have read more recent ones, I know it doesnt last..But her series are always interesting.. Sharon grows and changes with time.. Kinsey never seems to quite grow up.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2085 on:** March 29, 2011, 11:58:51 AM »

nlhome - I hope you are OK?

Rosemary

serenesheila · « **Reply #2086 on:** March 29, 2011, 12:43:52 PM »

Thanks for all of your feedback about Kate Atkinson. I decided that if all of you were in agreement about the author, to pass on her books.

Right now, I am well into Jodi Picoult's newest novel. It is really holding my interest.

Sheila

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2087 on:** March 29, 2011, 03:05:13 PM »

Serenesheila, I have not read any Jodi Picoult but I know she is very popular. What are her books like? What sort of things does she write about?

Rosemary

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2088 on:** March 29, 2011, 03:16:40 PM »

Picoult writes about topical subjects, she writes beautifully. She is not afraid to approach subjects from a "political" angle though. I have thoroughly enjoyed all her books and look forward to this new one, "Sing Me (You?) Home" (I didn't look up the title before I started typing, sorry, just working from memory, which is often skewed! Check out her books on Amazon, or I think she has her own website, and it will tell you about subject matter.

JoanK · « **Reply #2089 on:** March 29, 2011, 03:30:05 PM »

My daughter loves Picoult, and keeps lending me her books. Haven't been able to get into theem though.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2090 on:** March 29, 2011, 03:48:18 PM »

www.jodipicoult.com/

this should get you there!
“Picoult writes with unassuming brilliance.”

— Stephen King

“It's hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes.”

— Financial Times

“Picoult writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the delicacy and complexity of human relationships.”

—The Boston Globe

“Picoult is a master of the craft of storytelling ”

—Book Review, AP news wire

follow... or dialogue with Jodi @
SING YOU HOME!
Learn about my new novel, Sing You Home, which arrived in bookstores March 1. On March 10 Sing You Home debuted at #1 on the USA Today book list, and at #1 on the NYT print & e-book list! You’ll find an excerpt, the story and research behind Sing You Home, my thoughts about gay rights and Evangelical Christianity, and probing questions for your book club. Find out what others are saying.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2091 on:** March 29, 2011, 05:10:50 PM »

Thanks everyone, i think I will give her a try. I must admit someone did lend me one of her books a while ago and I haven't opened it (and now it is in storage) - I will have look in the library.

Rosemary

nlhome · « **Reply #2092 on:** March 29, 2011, 07:47:51 PM »

Rosemary, I am ok, just sad. Thank you for asking. Too much to go into, and nothing that earthshaking, but it does affect my ability to enjoy. So unless a book is particularly engaging or particularly relaxing, I can't seem to pay attention.

I am rereading Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith just now. I must have skimmed through it once before, because it is vaguely familiar, but now I am paying attention and appreciating some of the simple (or so they seem, but aren't really) thoughts of Precious Ramotswe.

roshanarose · « **Reply #2093 on:** March 29, 2011, 10:56:52 PM »

I have only read one Jodi Picoult, and it was excellent. I love reading to learn, and in this book I learned about eugenics.

Second Glance - highly recommended.

Expertly entwining a powerful drama of the heart's redemption and the disturbing real-life history of the VT eugenics project of the 1930s, Second Glance asks if truth is always something that can be measured… and if what can be measured is indeed always true.

Steph · « **Reply #2094 on:** March 30, 2011, 06:13:05 AM »

I have read maybe half of Jody Picoults books. I like them, you do learn, but oh me,, my problem is she ends the books on such an odd note mostly. Still they are quite worthwhile even thought she skews the odds on some of them.

salan · « **Reply #2095 on:** March 30, 2011, 06:32:43 AM »

I used to read Jodi Picoult, but not any more. She usually ends on a "down" note, and her books are usually topical. I don't care to read about all the terrible things that I hear in the news. She's a good writer, but.....Ever since my husband's terrible illness and death (2 yrs ago), I look for books that give me comfort and peace.
Sally

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2096 on:** March 30, 2011, 12:59:27 PM »

Thanks Salan - I'm glad you told me that, because I really am not in the mood for depressing endings. I am presently wallowing in Debbie Macomber and Jennifer Chiaverini, and would be happy to read some more Ladies of Covington.

Have just been unable to resist visit to charity shop in Banchory (the nearest small town to where I am staying), came out with Mr Bridge and Mrs Bridge, Wolf Hall, and a book called Last Tango In Toulouse, which says it is about a 50 year old Australian woman who "ran away" from her home, family & work for 6 months to live in a remote French village. I'm not sure if I'll enjoy the latter at all, as I expect I'll get piqued by how she managed to afford all this self-indulgence (there was absolutely no way that I was going to go and see "Eat, Pray, Love"), but it was three books for £1 and I couldn't see anything else I liked the look of.

Rosemary

ursamajor · « **Reply #2097 on:** March 30, 2011, 01:39:57 PM »

I have been reading Anita Shreve's newest book, Rescue. I am about to give up on it although I have enjoyed her previous books. In this book the female leading character is, not to put too fine a point on it, a slut. I don't like her.

jane · « **Reply #2098 on:** March 30, 2011, 05:24:45 PM »

Salan...I'm with you on depressing topics and endings. I see more than enough of
"the human condition and behavior" on the evening news and the newspaper. I'm not going to use the leisure time I have to wallow in more of that.

jane

salan · « **Reply #2099 on:** March 30, 2011, 05:49:41 PM »

Has anyone read the Aunt Dimity series by Nancy Atherton? She has a new one out, Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree. If you like like light mysteries that border on the paranormal; then you will love this series. Start with the first one, Aunt Dimity's Death. I haven't read any of hers in a while (I tend to "glut" myself on an author, & then....), but I have put Family Tree on my reserve list in the library. Rosemary, you might enjoy these as I am a Covington fan also.
Sally

JoanK · « **Reply #2100 on:** March 30, 2011, 07:22:20 PM »

I'm revisiting books I read as a child or young adult, since many of them are cheap or free on the kindle. One is a series by Mary Roberts Rhinehart about "Tish". Don't know whether to recommend it or not: it's about three "middle aged ladies" (they are 50 -- I wish I was 50 again!) who have adventures. It makes fun of them (how funny that they think they can still have adventures at 50), and start out treating them as silly,but in the end Tish always conquers all by being unbelievably competant and resourceful. (when she finds their canoe has a hole in it, she just tells the one with the most padding to sit on the hole so the water won't come in).

Not quite mysteries, although some come close. You might find them funny or annoying --- but they seem to be what I need now.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2101 on:** March 30, 2011, 08:04:46 PM »

Finished Margaret Maron's Uncommon Clay, a Judge Knott book about N. C. potters. A little slow at the beginning, but ended up a good story. Not so much about the brothers, so didn't have to keep them straight. Picked up Darling Dahlia, which i think is the beginning of a new series by Susan White Albert and an Elliot Rosevelt i haven't read, thr aren't many left.

And a J. d. robb, again, not many of those left i haven't read.guess i have to look for some new authors. That won't be difficult, the library has almost as many "mysteries" as " fiction".

Gumtree · « **Reply #2102 on:** March 30, 2011, 10:51:44 PM »

Rosemary Last Tango in Toulouse - haven't had sight nor sign of Mary Moody for what seems like aeons. She was a well known TV gardening personality before she took off for her 6 months in France. She's written several books - some on gardening, some on her adventures in France and her 'affaire'. I believe she and her husband now live in France though why she felt she had tosettle there is something of a mystery - she already lived in a beautiful rural spot about 2 hours outside of Sydney in the Blue Mountains - I think initially the move was motivated by some kind of mid-life crisis - or maybe she just wanted to get away from her four grown children and the grandchildren.

Steph · « **Reply #2103 on:** March 31, 2011, 06:08:04 AM »

Actually the draw with Jody Picoult is that she is an excellent researcher and some of the books are truly remarkable in what they tell you about some types of diseases.. Some of them caused me to throw them around the room at the end since the endings are generally things I dont agree with.. but still I never think of them as depressing, just annoying.. Hmm..
I like the Murder at San Simeon.. Not really a solution to the Ince Murder, but a good try at it. Made Marion into something of a twit however.

Babi · « **Reply #2104 on:** March 31, 2011, 08:40:12 AM »

ROSEMARY, I feel the same sense of dismay, or astonishment, when I watch shows about
some young couple shopping for a wildly expensive house big enough for a large family.
They won't need a house like that for years...if ever. what kind of salaries are people
earning these days, to even consider taking on a burden like that?

JoanK · « **Reply #2105 on:** March 31, 2011, 03:35:36 PM »

Especially when you realize we are eating up the planet with our over-consumption.

FlaJean · « **Reply #2106 on:** March 31, 2011, 03:55:44 PM »

Susan Wittig Albert has a new China Bayles (the 19th and I still enjoy them) mystery that will be out in April. I'm on the reserve list for that and "The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies" which is being released in July. Her final Beatrix Potter book will be released in September--Beatrix and her (secret) lawyer fiancee are getting married---finally.

Donna Leon has a new one coming out in a couple of months also. Some series I never get tired.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #2107 on:** March 31, 2011, 03:58:17 PM »

OK what is the source of this mystery do you think - copied from the Jakarta Globe

Quote

In truly bizarre scenes outside Indonesia’s Communications Ministry in Central Jakarta on Thursday evening, hundreds of onlookers resorted to praying and chanting Allahu Akbar to force a man to stop behaving like a monkey and climb down from a tree.

The man, a security guard identified as Fika who worked at the ministry, scaled the tree after evening prayers and began to swing from one branch to another, beating his chest and screeching and howling in the manner of a monkey.

Attempts by the man’s colleagues to urge him to climb down from his perch failed, with Fika only climbing higher into the upper branches of the tree. They then began to pray and chant.

Though many of the hundreds of bystanders thought the display was amusing, firefighters who arrived at the scene at 6:30 p.m. were less than happy, particularly when Fika refused to jump down on to a specialized air mattress.

They were even less pleased when they raised a ladder and Fika began jumping from the tree to the ladder and then back to the tree.

This prompted security guards at the ministry to come up with a new approach to encourage Fika to abandon his lofty perch — bananas.

This, however, also failed with Fika eating one of the bananas whole, including the skin, as he began to hammer his fists against the tree.

Then the shaman arrived.

They invoked spells to “drive away the spirit of the monkey,” which they believed had possessed Fika. The security guard, however, seemed unaware of their presence and instead began munching on the leaves of the tree.

This brought about another round of praying and chanting.

At 8:45 p.m., Fika finally began to climb down from his aerial abode, but when he touched the ground he began walking on his knuckles toward the security post before rolling around on the ground.

As he was held down, the shaman again began attempts to exorcise the spirits, which caused Fika to faint. He was taken away.

The spectacle caused massive traffic congestion outside the ministry.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2108 on:** March 31, 2011, 05:48:15 PM »

Babi - I do so agree. I think people seek to fill up the void in their lives with spending. I have never really wanted lots of "stuff" and as I get older I want it less and less. I know that we are lucky - we already have tons of things, not to mention a roof over our heads, food in the kitchen, heating, etc - but I really find this frantic over consumption quite repellent and also frightening. As for the taking on of huge debts - you are so right, we do not need huge houses, top of the range cars, etc.

At the moment most of our possessions are in storage, and Madeleine and I have lived the past 6 weeks very happily with a tiny fraction of our usual things, which just goes to show we probably don't need most of them - it really is quite liberating up to a point, and the only things I have so far wished I hadn't packed away are two Mary Berry cake books and my sandwich cake tins!

Rosemary

roshanarose · « **Reply #2109 on:** March 31, 2011, 10:27:33 PM »

Barb - I think that there are two plausible reasons for the monkey incident.

1) On some Indonesian islands shamanism is still practised. Spells are the order of the day. I once taught a class of 12 Indonesian public servants, and one vulcanologist. There are lots of volcanoes in Indonesia. All these students got on wonderfully well. One day I said that I was happy that they all got on so well. One replied with that dazzling Indonesian smile. "Yes, Guru. But we would all kill each other if we were in Indonesia." I thought it wise not to follow up on this comment. Another day we were talking about Indonesia and they told me that one of their number actually was from an island that practised just the sort of thing you mentioned, Barb. They pointed to the smallest in their group. He was under 5 foot tall with the biggest, whitest smile I have ever seen. This young man stood up and explained that he came from the island where the Boogie man originated. They weren't joking. The man's name was Bugi.

2) Tongue in cheek here and I do hope that no Indonesian public servant or diplomat will read this or it could start an international incident. Perhaps the monkey man was acting out his opinion of "The Communications Ministry"?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #2110 on:** April 01, 2011, 12:53:04 AM »

What I found fascinating is they brought a Shaman and not someone with a straight jacket which I could see happening in most of our western nations.

It is a mystery though how folks flip and become not think but actually become someone else - with so much work on the mechanics of the mind of late maybe that part of the brain will be discovered and discussed - I wonder how it starts - if it starts on Q or on demand - what an interesting mystery story that could make - a cat burgler does his job while an accomplice becomes a monkey grabbing all the attention - or even a slight of hand artist working the crowd or someone in the crowd knifed - oh dear but it would be a mystery plot worthy of Poirot.

Steph · « **Reply #2111 on:** April 01, 2011, 06:11:34 AM »

Hmm, Went by our Borders which is closing and stopped in.. 50 to 70%off is irresistable.. Found some mysteries of the cozy type, that I had never heard of, so tried a few of them.. Who knows, I may find a new author.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2112 on:** April 01, 2011, 06:25:34 AM »

What did you buy Steph? I am very much in the market for "cosy" books at the moment

rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #2113 on:** April 01, 2011, 08:28:40 AM »

I'll look forward to that Beatrix Potter book, FLAJEAN, but I'm sorry to hear it is the
final one.

Nothing like learning what's important, ROSEMARY.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2114 on:** April 01, 2011, 01:27:57 PM »

Finished James Patterson's Third Degree. Good one about domesticate terrorism in San Francisco. There's a surprising twist about one of the four women he wrote about in the first two of the series. I wonder why the tv series of the four women didn't make it. I am right aren't i? It was to be a series, not just a movie? I can't remember who was acting the parts, but i remember a good show..... Jean

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2115 on:** April 01, 2011, 02:03:44 PM »

Are you referring to "The Women's Murder Club"? If so, the lead actress is Angie Harmon, now starring in Rizzoli & Isles, which is a better show .

Steph · « **Reply #2116 on:** April 02, 2011, 06:22:49 AM »

I was digging around in my tbr in the bedroom.. Came up with Hurry Down Sunshine.. by Michael Greenberg.. A true story about his daughter who had a psychotic break at 15.. Whew.. Cannot imagine, but it is compelling. Probably not a good bedbook, since I did not want to put it down last nigh.. I need slightly less compelling at bedtime, but it is interesting..

FlaJean · « **Reply #2117 on:** April 03, 2011, 05:30:34 PM »

Thanks for suggesting the Flavian de Luce series (I think it was Steph). I just finished A Red Herring Without Mustard. I wish I could have gotten his first two. I'll have to see if they have come out in paperback.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2118 on:** April 03, 2011, 11:59:25 PM »

Tomereader - yes, it was w's murder club. Was it a series or a one shot show? If it was a series, i wonder what happened to it? ...... Jean

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2119 on:** April 04, 2011, 12:53:09 PM »

Jean, Women's Murder Club was, indeed, a series. It ran, I think, only one season which was kind of chopped up, i.e. it would run one or two weeks, then be interrupted for possibly something going on that would take viewers away (probably World Series, Basketball March Madness, or something like that). Then after the one season, it kind of died a quiet death. It wasn't a bad series, but just didn't get the viewer response it might have. I am still chafing at the fact that one of the "very best" mystery series to come along, "Rubicon" was cancelled. It was exciting, without a bunch of blow-ups or gross murder scenes, rather cerebral, and spy-like. It had unfamiliar (for the most part) actors, but the characters were played terrifically.
Did anyone else on here watch it? I keep thinking it will come out on DVD, but not yet apparently. I know there was a write-in by viewers to keep it on, but to no avail.

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910282 times)