The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

by Carol8 Comments
I have been a Poirot fan for as long as I can remember, so of course I had to pick up The Monogram Murders. I have to admit I was disappointed. As a mystery, it was okay, if you can overlook the horrible  Scotland Yard detective Poirot has paired himself with, Catchpool. He's incompetent and spends way too much time dwelling on events in his childhood, on his weaknesses. The mystery, the way the murders are committed and how the bodies are laid out is interesting enough. There's even a nice little bit that confuses the time of death and the clues fit together well. The mystery itself could have been good, but it relied on the Poirot hook and in that it failed. Maybe give me an original character, or even a better sidekick and I would have felt differently. Poirot is just not Poirot. He's too Poirot, if that makes sense. It's like he's overly conscious of his own mannerisms and...
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Book Blitz: A Dead End in Vegas by Irene Woodbury

by Carol1 Comment
Excerpt: Dave interrupted Pam. “Excuse me,” he said sharply.  “Your husband claimed the suggestive e-mails were written by a hacker?  Who on earth could that be?” “How should I know?” she snapped.  “Maybe some disgruntled student who didn’t like the grade they got on a term paper, or a tech major trying to make a name for himself.  This is a college campus.  There are always precocious students who are bored with regular class-work and amuse themselves by hacking into professors’ e-mail accounts to make trouble.  They have some laughs over a few beers and move on to the next victim.  It’s everyday life on a college campus.” Dave sighed. “So you’re telling me that my wife was an Internet stalker, and the e-mails and photos came from some student hacker?” “Yes, that’s right,” she confirmed with a nod.  “My husband was the victim, not the perpetrator.” “Excuse me, Mrs. Daggett, but I can’t sit here and listen to this garbage one more minute.  Your husband...
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Thursday’s Tale: The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener

by Carol2 Comments
Today's story, "The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener," comes from Joseph Jacobs' More Celtic Fairy Tales, 1894. He, in turn, sites his source as Patrick Kennedy's Fireside Stories of Ireland. It's a confusing little story, mostly do to the quests, each person adds to the list of things that must be accomplished. In standard fairy tale fashion, the youngest son is the hero of the story, the one who actually completes the tasks. An animal helper is also common in fairy tales, in this case the fox, who is a pretty amazing creature.  And we have a happy ending all around, even for the foolish brothers. If you get a chance, read the whole story - it's available at Sur La Lune. I like the Irish tilt to it with the phrasing and words. I learned a new word, pishogue, which is an Irish term meaning sorcery or an evil spell. Thursday’s Tales is a weekly event here at Carol’s Notebook. Fairy tales, folktales, tall...
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Readers’ Workouts – 11/12/14

by Carol2 Comments
I usually try to keep a daily log, which I failed to do this week. I know I went to the gym on Thursday and did the elliptical and some ab work. I took the dog for a few walks. We brought in the outside furniture on Sunday. Yesterday I went to the gym in the evening while Amber was at band. I did 35 minutes on the stair climber machine and man, that thing's tough. I was dripping by the end. It said I went up like 75 stories, which I think is probably an exaggeration. Then I did some of the arm machines. It was a good evening. I know I feel better when I exercise more and eat better - so why don't I do it consistently? Readers' Workouts is hosted by Joy's Book Blog. Thanks, Joy, for keeping me accountable. 133.5 - Aug 12, 132.5 - Aug 19, 134 - Aug 26, 132.5 - Sept 9, 131- Oct 1,...
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On DVD: Still Life: A Three Pines Mystery (2014)

by Carol6 Comments
Few movies, including those made for TV, live up to the books they're based on. Still Life is no different - of course it doesn't help that it's based on the first book in one of my favorite series. Overall, though, I think they did a good job. I recognized all the characters immediately except one, who was just wrong, practically missing from the movie when she is a fairly prominent secondary character in the books. The town may not have been exactly how I pictured it, or the people for that matter, but I think it stayed pretty close tot he story, at least as much of it as I remember - I don't have the world's best memory though. I was pleased, glad I watched. I'd love to see them make more of the books into movies. My husband hasn't read any of the books, even though he may have heard bits and pieces from me along the way. He...
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Invisible City by Julia Dahl

by Carol4 Comments
I almost didn't get pass the first hour of this audiobook. Rebekah is young. The story is told in the first person and I had a tough time relating to her. I don't need to hear about her and her roommate's marijuana use, about her sex life, especially no details please. I understand that her mommy abandoned her, but she was like 6 months old at the time. Yes, I get that she has anxiety issues, but she dwells on everything - she's young, 22, only months out of journalism school and still relatively new to New York. I was going to tire of her quickly, but once the actual mystery kicked in it was a lot better. I will say the narrator had the perfect voice for Rebekah. It was like Rebekah was telling me the story. She did well with the other characters to, but she was best at Rebekah, which is how it should be in a first...
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