Having come to the end of the unread murder mysteries on my shelves, and with the library still not reopened, these two reads were found via Amazon Kindle, for a very reasonable price. I’m lining up some others, though the library has now reopened (huzzah!). The Division Bell Mystery by Ellen Wilkinson Murder in the… Continue reading British Crime Classics Challenge Update
Tag: reading
Scribbles in the Margin
Funny how things change as you age. Perhaps it's the realisation that life's too short, and, really, it's not that much of a bother. When I was at school, I disliked marginalia with a passion. It was sacrilegious, almost. I hated it to the extent that, when I was studying To Kill a Mockingbird, I made… Continue reading Scribbles in the Margin
Recently Read: Cats and Poison Pens
Apparently Japanese has a word which means a book or pile of books which has remained unread in the corner of your room for a certain length of time. Back in April, I pulled all my unread books off the shelves and stacked them in a corner of the room. It was supposed to encourage… Continue reading Recently Read: Cats and Poison Pens
Learning to Like My Kindle
I bought my Kindle many more years ago than I care to remember, back when they were relatively new and shiny and an internet connection was not as standard. In my excitement, I filled it full of classics I ought to read, and modern freebies which sounded interesting. I didn't read very many. I discovered… Continue reading Learning to Like My Kindle
The Trouble with Larks: Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King’s Daughter
Let me start by saying that I like PG Wodehouse’s dim-witted Bertie Wooster and his gentleman’s gentleman, Jeeves. Mostly short stories, these are narrated by Wooster himself, who is a generally idle man-about-town between the Wars. His narration is as vague as his thinking, but is still amusing. Wooster spends his time getting into scrapes,… Continue reading The Trouble with Larks: Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King’s Daughter
Recently Read: From the Cotswolds, to Botswana, to London
My recent reflections on the last year of my blog have led to me looking forwards to the next year, and how I want to continue. Part of this is due to needing to reorganise posts due to increasing the weekly number, but also because otherwise I shall become bored again and have a little… Continue reading Recently Read: From the Cotswolds, to Botswana, to London
British Crime Classics Update
There is something very comforting about detective fiction. Better than the happy-ever-after of romance, it’s the (hopefully) neat tying-up of all loose ends and the “Oh! Of course!” or “Hah! Knew it!” of the answer. It’s the question asked at the start of the novel being answered. I like puzzles – I’ve whiled away several… Continue reading British Crime Classics Update
Book or TV show: Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates
In taking on the British Crime Classics Challenge and rediscovering my love of a good detective novel, I’ve decided to rummage through the shelves for non-Golden Age detectives of a similar nature. I discovered Miss Fisher via the quite wonderful Australian TV adaptation, currently on Netflix, and was hooked from the first note of the… Continue reading Book or TV show: Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates
An Adaptation of an Adaptation: Expecting Someone Taller?
My favourite of the Norse myths is the Saga of the Volsungs, Odin's descendants including Sigurd the Dragon-Slayer. It's a saga which was well-known throughout the mediaeval Germanic world, being vaguely historical (one of the characters is Attila the Hun) and turned into the German poem Nibelungenlied. It's the story which Richard Wagner used as… Continue reading An Adaptation of an Adaptation: Expecting Someone Taller?
Reading Lists: June 2020
I've been reading a lot of detective fiction recently. Some for the Classic Crime Challenge, and some because the challenge has reminded me how much I enjoy a good murder mystery. I probably read Agatha Christies before it, but the first murder mystery I remember reading was Strong Poison, by Dorothy L. Sayers, wherein Peter Wimsey… Continue reading Reading Lists: June 2020
Life Ever Crafting 