Carol's Notebook – Page 190

Murder at Larkfield Barn by Betty Rowlands

February 4, 2019February 4, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

Murder at Larkfield Barn is the second of the Melissa Craig mysteries I've read, so while I usually avoid books with serial killers, I knew the type of book it was going to be and wasn't too concerned. Melissa is a mystery writer with a Private Investigator boyfriend, so it's really no wonder she gets mixed up in these mysteries. The blurb gives you the lay-out. There's a serial killer in the area who paints horrible smiles on the victims. But the police aren't convinced the murder in Upper Benbury was committed by the same person, maybe it's a copycat. It turns out that of course there's more than one killer. And Melissa is always at just the right place at the right time to put all the clues together. Rowland can be a little heavy-handed in this one. The foreshadowing is annoying rather than suspense-building. It's pretty easy to guess who the killer(s) are, just based on how they're portrayed, but...

Sunday Salon – 2/3

February 3, 2019February 3, 2019 by Carol14 Comments

It's Super Bowl Sunday, which means I'm sitting on the couch and reading while my husband watches the game. At least we have snacks. I am participating in The Big Game's On Read-a-thon hosted by Jenn at Jenn's Bookshelves. Celebrating: This week we celebrated Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. Yum! https://www.instagram.com/p/BtY2uoAHK-2/ Reading: I’m reading about a chapter a day of Don Quixote. I still don't love it. Maybe I should be reading it faster, keeping a continuity? I finished The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and Murder at Larkfield Barn - my comments should be up in the next few days. I posted a couple reviews this week: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre DumasSapiens by Yuval Noah Harari Playing: We played Roll for the Galaxy with the Ambition expansion Friday. I enjoy the base game and the expansion adds some variety. Planning Ahead: We're starting to think about where we want to go for our anniversary. We're thinking a week-ish in mid-October or early November. Our current idea is to do a couple...

The Big Game’s On Read-a-thon

February 3, 2019February 4, 2019 by Carol4 Comments

For a change, it's just David and me for the Super Bowl tonight. Which means while he watches the game, I can read. So, I get to join in on Jenn's The Big Game's On Read-a-thon. The details: No rules, no guidelines, just readNo start/end times, just read at your leisure.Mini-challenges will be created to break up your reading time. Participating in these challenges is not mandatory, but you will be eligible for a number of great prizes! I have three chapters to catch up on in Don Quixote. After that, I think I'm going to start The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. I've also got The Voice of the Violin ready on audio so I can get some laundry/cleaning done for a couple of hours before the game. We've got food planned. We're having shrimp tacos, potato chips and dip, and brownies. Finished: I read the three chapter in Don Quixote I wanted to. I listened to about an hour of The Voice of...

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

January 30, 2019January 29, 2019 by Carol8 Comments

I knew I'd love The Three Musketeers. The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas is one of my favorite all-time books and this is even more mentioned/read/known. So, I was happy when the Classics Club Spin hit #1 and my challenge was then to read The Three Musketeers by the end of January. Dumas takes the historical events of France, 1625-27, and plays with them to bring us one of the best adventure stories ever. The beautiful Anne of Austria is Queen of France, but she is lukewarm, at best, toward her husband, XIII. Cardinal Richelieu, the true ruler of the country, has made advances towards her, but been rebuffed; he's eaten up by jealousy and spite, especially since he knows through his network of informers that Anne's heart in fact belongs to the handsome Lord Buckingham. These fictionalized historical figures are at the center of the story, it's their loves, desires, conquests and favors that everyone else's life revolves...

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

January 29, 2019January 28, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

Sapiens looks at our history, but that history is 100,000 years long, so it's more of a quick overview of our history. I found it rather fascinating though. He takes us through the history of human development and migration, through the Cognitive Revolution, and Agricultural Revolution. He looks at how currency and coinage developed, the creation of religions, the arrival of imperialism and capitalism, and the history of inequalities and injustices. Yes, he has his own biases, but I loved the bits of information. So many things from this book pulled into conversations I was having, like the worth of a slave's life and the bank run in It's a Wonderful Life (which I've never watched by the way). In the end, he veers off into predictions for the future. I, personally, didn't find it particularly pessimistic, and there was a lot of hope too, like how relatively peaceful it is now. If you love history, I wouldn't suggest reading...

Sunday Salon – 1/27

January 27, 2019January 27, 2019 by Carol6 Comments

24 in 48 ends tonight at 11:59 pm. Of course, I'll be asleep long before that. As always, I didn't get in as much reading as I'd hoped, but had a lot of fun. I still have a couple of hours left too. Week’s Highlight: We went to see The Tempest today in Pittsburgh. It wasn't what I had expected when we first got the tickets, but it was really good. It's an all-female production. It started with a silent scene in a Pittsburgh hospital room in the oncology ward. Prospero is in the bed, dealing with breast cancer. Prospero begins to dream, and in the dream she is transported to a magical island full of fairies and sprites. The turmoil of the story stems from Prospero feeling abandoned by her family during her illness. Tamara Tunie was a grand Prospero and Ariel was perfect. I would have preferred just the straight play, I think, without the cancer framing, but I...