Carol's Notebook – Page 169

Ten Character Traits I Love

October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 by Carol12 Comments

Happy Tuesday! I’m linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for Top Ten Tuesday & the topic this week is: “Character Traits I Love.” Common Sense - I don't want my amateur detectives to head off into the dark woods without flashlights in high heels without telling anyone where they're going.Witty - Someone who's clever and funny and has good timing with their commentsIntelligent - I read a lot of mysteries. The detective, amateur or professional, needs to be smart enough to see the connections and learn from their mistakes.Quirky - Has that peculiar trait or traits that makes them stand outSelf Control - Knows they can punch your lights out but doesn't have to. Or doesn't sleep with the married man.Resourceful - Gets things done even if there are difficulties in the wayFurry - I tend to like the pets in cozy mysteries, but I'd rather they not talk.Romantic - The people who wear rose-colored glasses, who thinks every young couple should fall...

Mailbox Monday – 10/7

October 7, 2019January 6, 2020 by Carol18 Comments

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. Tell us about your new arrivals by adding your Mailbox Monday post to the linky at mailboxmonday.wordpress.com. I finally picked up A Better Man by Louise Penny. My mom says I'll enjoy this one. And I picked up a Kindle freebie, Uncanny Collateral....

Sunday Salon – 10/6

October 6, 2019October 7, 2019 by Carol12 Comments

Thanks to Deb at Readerbuzz for hosting The Sunday Salon. Stop over there or at the Facebook Group to participate. Week’s Highlight: My mom and I went shopping yesterday, had lunch and dinner. It was a nice day. Friday we went to the high school football game. We wanted to see the new turf. It looks really sharp. Out team won 48-3. Reading: I finished two from my Classics Club list this week. I really enjoyed both of them. Bleak House by Charles Dickens Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (my Classics Club spin read) Playing: We played Eternal: Chronicles of the Throne for the first time the other day. It's a card game where everyone gets a similar basic starting hand and yes that to buy better cards. You attach and defend using the Mondays and spells in your deck; last person standing wins. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It plays up to 4 players, which is good many we had, but in our game David was...

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

October 3, 2019October 4, 2019 by Carol7 Comments

Bleak House is like a soap opera, in a good way. It was originally written as a serial, so it had to have qualities that kept you coming back, day after day or week after week. There's murder and romance and everything in between. You've got some plot lines that are the same no matter how many months (years) between the last time you watched it. Here it's the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, the longest-running case in the Court of Chancery. This book actually spurred on legal reform in England. There are probably 60-ish characters, some that show up on an irregular basis and play their bit: a dance instructor, a man who constantly lives off others' generosity, a devoted housekeeper; and others who are the core characters. Bleak House shows us all the types of people in England, the poor, the destitute, the rich, the lawyers and law enforcement, the sick, the lonely. The central character is Esther Summerson,...

Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers

October 3, 2019October 3, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

Did you listen to the bell video above? Do, because it's the background to the book. We start with church bells and end with church bells, but it's not a tune like the carillon at our church plays. It's change ringing, more mathematical than melodic. The story actually talks about it a fair amount, but basically, the bells are rung in a sequence, but then go through the "changes" or permutations of that sequence. It can more complicated and the jargon itself is interesting, with bobs and hunts and dodges. Lord Peter Wimsey is the series' amateur detective, an English gentleman, second son of a duke, who is wealthy and solves mysteries for his amusement. On New Year's Eve, his car goes off the road near the village of Fenchurch St. Paul. It just so happens that the church has a fabulous set of bells and Wimsey is recruited to help ring a nine-hour peal, as one of the regular ringers is...

Ten Mysteries with Numbers in the Titles

October 1, 2019October 1, 2019 by Carol12 Comments

Happy Tuesday! I’m linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for Top Ten Tuesday & the topic this week is: “Book Titles with Numbers in Them.” My current read fits the category. Dorothy L. Sayers also wrote another "number mystery" that I haven't read. I always love Agatha Christies' books. And a Holmes, of course. These are not quite as vintage, but all good. What are some of your favorite "number" mysteries?...