Audiobook – Page 64 – Carol's Notebook

The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

August 20, 2020June 21, 2021 by CarolNo Comments

The Dark Forest is amazing. While the first book in the series, The Three-Body Problem, explains the history of how contact was made with the Trisolarians and their intentions, The Dark Forest details how humanity is trying to prepare for an unknowable future and what extent will we go to for survival. Let me just say, some of the ideas in this story, while being brilliant, are also scary. Sometimes simple solutions are the best answers. But, when dealing with time and space the answers can take decades, or even centuries to show themselves. There is a mix of old and new characters in this installment. Da Shi, a planetary defense officer, has returned. He is cunning, with street smarts that a lot of the more intellectual characters lack. However, our main character, Luo Ji, is new. He is an astronomer and sociologist who is tasked with becoming part of a UN project known as The Wallfacer Project. He is lazy and somewhat self-absorbed,...

Murder at Archly Manor by Sara Rosett

July 30, 2020July 30, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Aristocratic, but down on her luck, Olive Belgrave is searching for employment in 1920’s London, which is a fun time period if you're reading about society. Not as fun for servants or other lower classes, I'm sure, but they were not the main characters here. This is about people with money or standing or both. However, even Olive's connections aren’t getting her anywhere when she receives a telegram to return to her family estate. Olive’s cousin, Violet, has become engaged to Alfred Eton, a young man whose life in the India and his family are a bit of a mystery. He may not be a suitable match at all. Aunt Caroline employs Olive to use her skills and social connections to find out more about him, offering her a generous fee. Olive heads off to an extravagant house party hosted by photographer Sebastian Blakely, Alfred’s wealthy godfather and friend. Her plan is to mingle with the partygoers and find out more...

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

July 23, 2020August 5, 2020 by Carol4 Comments

I really wish blurbs would stop comparing book to Agatha Christie's. Lucy Foley is not Agatha Christie and her book really has little similarities to Christie's except a dead body. We don't have a detective, amateur or otherwise. This isn't even a traditional mystery, more of a psychological thriller. I think the comparison is misleading and not fair to Foley. The Guest List alternates between many points of view, with a different narrator for each. Usually, I'm not a fan of multiple narrators but it works well here. We have the bride, the groom, the best man, the plus one, the wedding planner, and the bridesmaid. We know something bad has happened but we don't know exactly what or who got hurt. The timeline also jumps back and forth between the past, two days before the wedding, to the chaotic wedding day in the present. Details are revealed slowly. The tension just keeps building as we learn the characters' fears, secrets,...

Finder by Suzanne Palmer

June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

Finder is fun ride. Fergus Ferguson, a large, redheaded man from Scotland by way of Mars, has made a “career out of chasing things and running away.” Right now he’s focused on chasing an expensive spaceship, Venetia’s Sword, that was stolen from its makers by Gilger, a criminal mob boss. This mission has led Fergus to Cernee, a space colony where Gilger has his home base. Fergus has a plan and a secret method of taking control of Venetia’s Sword, shared with him by the shipbuilders. But things go wrong for Fergus right from the start, when he almost gets killed in a cable car explosion in the space colony. Fergus allies with Gilger’s enemies, who have their own issues with the power-hungry boss, and puts his plan into play, but there are complications … including some mysterious aliens with their own agenda. Finder is more or less a heist story, just with some added complications and a sci-fi background. It's a...

Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton

June 5, 2020June 5, 2020 by Carol6 Comments

Happy Money was referenced in the Coursera class The Science of Well-Being, which is why I picked it up. From the class, I already knew the basics of what Happy Money was going to discuss, but it was still interesting and worth reinforcing. The authors are both professors and share a lot of their research, but they've tried to keep it enjoyable too, sharing amusing stories and funny tidbits. Its goal is to help readers learn to spend money in ways that will make them happier. It also touches on businesses and even countries and how they can help their employees/citizens become happier people. Basically there are five principles. Buy experiences rather than material objects.Treat yourself. You enjoy things more if they are occasional treats, rather than everyday things. That one latte a week will make you happier than having one every day.Buy time. Consider how any given purchase will affect your time.Pay now, consume later. Waiting for things makes them...

Murder Wore a Mask by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

June 2, 2020June 2, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Sir Harry Mortimer and his American wife, Kat, are settling into married life in the small town of Mydworth. Murder Wore a Mask is the fourthin the Mydworth series and can be read as a stand-alone, but since they’re each only a little over 100 pages, it might just make as much sense to go back and meet Harry and Kat at the beginning. They make a good couple. They’re both smart and resourceful. And the books are enjoyable, quick reads. This time around we're back at Aunt Lavinia's house for a masked ball. A man is found dead by the lake, apparently of a heart attack. Thankfully, many of the guests are spending the weekend at the manor, so when Harry and Kat find out that it was actually murder, all of the suspects are still around. There are a couple of interesting twists and the characters are fun. The masks everyone was wearing fit into the solution too, which was...