Messages

586

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Who are some of your favorite mystery pairings, like Holmes and Watson?

« on: February 18, 2020, 04:14:59 pm »

I like Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane but I also liked Peter Wimsey and his butler Bunter. I have to pick up some Dorothy L. Sayers and reread them, it's been too long.

Gaudy Night is one of my favorites, but I think in most of the other books Wimsey and Bunter are the important duo.

I was just thinking of Albert Campion and Lugg - I almost like Lugg more than Campion.

587

What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 18, 2020, 03:56:35 pm »

I'm currently reading Mo Moulton's THE MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY: HOW DOROTHY L. SAYERS AND HER OXFORD CIRCLE REMADE THE WORLD FOR WOMEN (Basic, 2019). There's lots of interesting insights into Sayer's life and work plus a good deal of info on life in Oxford and in community theater in England between the wars, health & education of children, developments in women's rights, etc. A thought-provoking book about a group of exceptionally accomplished women.

I've only read her mysteries and this short story collection (which I loved): https://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Sayers-Stories-Dorothy-L-ebook/dp/B00AF099FC/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=dorothy+l.+sayers+short+stories&qid=1582070074&s=books&sr=1-2

The book you're reading sounds fascinating - I'll check it out!

588

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Book surprises!

« on: February 18, 2020, 03:51:16 pm »

Brian and I give a lot of books to our local library for their fundraising sales. It's happened more than once that I've bought back books we've donated. All of a sudden they look so good!

My husband collects books on psychology and theology. We donated a couple thousand books to Half Price Books in Cincinnati before we moved to Chicago. The next time we went to Cincinnati and visited Half Price Books, most of the books on the shelves in those sections were books my husband had donated. He bought several of them back!

589

What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 18, 2020, 02:25:09 pm »

I'm halfway through Elly Griffiths' THE STRANGER DIARIES - I like it a lot! I'm looking forward to reading books from her Ruth Galloway and Magic Men series soon, too.

I'm reading THE HOUSE AT SEA'S END, a Ruth Galloway book by Elly Griffiths. I have several of her books in my to-be-read pile now. I think I've read THE JANUS STONE - both the title and the cover are familiar. I may even have it buried in my bookcases someplace.

590

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!

« on: February 17, 2020, 12:37:06 pm »

I started reading the Carlene O'Connor novel Murder In An Irish Pub. I won a copy of it on Goodreads and now that it showed up in the mail, I finally got to start reading it.

Love the title!

Becke, you'd probably love the series as well.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check my to-be-read shelves (and bins) before I buy any. I think I may have one or two books in that series just waiting to be read!

591

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!

« on: February 17, 2020, 12:21:50 pm »

I started reading the Carlene O'Connor novel Murder In An Irish Pub. I won a copy of it on Goodreads and now that it showed up in the mail, I finally got to start reading it.

Love the title!

592

Welcome and General Discussion / Who are some of your favorite mystery pairings, like Holmes and Watson?

« on: February 17, 2020, 01:33:02 am »

I thought of doing this as a poll, but there are far too many mystery duos and I don't want to limit your recommendations.

Some of my favorites:

Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James (Deborah Crombie)

Hercule Poirot and Capt. Arthur Hastings (Agatha Christie)

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin (Rex Stout)

Roderick and Troy Alleyn (Ngaio Marsh)

Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane (Dorothy L. Sayers)

Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn (Tony Hillerman)

Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles (Tess Gerritsen)

Inspector Rutledge and Hamish (Charles Todd)

Dalziel and Pascoe (Reginald Hill)

Spenser and Hawk (Robert B. Parker)

I could list another fifty or more but I'd rather see what detective duos YOU come up with!

593

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!

« on: February 17, 2020, 01:12:56 am »

It's been hard figuring out what to read next, since I have so many books I'm eager to read. I started reading an edition of Malice Domestic short stories edited by Katherine Hall Page. I'm also reading another short story collection called Bodies in the Library. I have two more short story collections I'm eager to read - one by Lee Child and one by Peter Robinson. The trouble with short story collections is that they are easy to put down and come back to, so it takes me a long time to finish reading them.

Today I read MURDERS AND METAPHORS by Amanda Flower. I loved the magical aspects of the story I have one of her gardening mysteries waiting to be read. Not sure if I'll read that next, or Hilary Davidson's new release DON'T LOOK DOWN (a thriller, not a cozy).

I enjoyed MURDERS AND METAPHORS, loved the talking crow, the cat who behaves like a witch's familiar, and the books that appear whenever the magical bookstore feels they are needed. The books appearing as needed reminds me of another book with quirky, magical aspects - Sarah Addison Allen's THE SUGAR QUEEN. Her books aren't mysteries, just quirky stories with lovable characters and usually a bit of magic.

594

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!

« on: February 14, 2020, 04:10:50 pm »

That's a pretty cool thing for your husband to have played with Townsend and Lane. And getting to meet John Mayall too!

The singer I interviewed was metal singer Leather Leone who fronted the band Chastain for years. I'm a huge fan so having her actually call my house to do the interview was a really cool thing.

That is so cool!

595

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Book surprises!

« on: February 14, 2020, 04:07:12 pm »

Even if it turned out to be fake, it definitely would've been worth the investment to have that Christie book. Just on the off chance it turned out to be real.

Yeah, I've been kicking myself about passing on that one.

596

What I'm Reading / Re: My latest read is...

« on: February 14, 2020, 04:04:42 pm »

I took the Lee Goldberg book Lost Hills out of the library yesterday. It was such a thrilling page-turner that I finished it in one sitting just before midnight last night. I loved the book and just couldn't put it down.

Here's my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3182489279

It's on my list!

597

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!

« on: February 14, 2020, 12:50:52 am »

My husband is a music lover - how cool that you also write album and concert reviews! I squeeze in reading time when I'm not taking care of my grandkids and a friend's foster baby. Sometimes I stay up later than I should, but when I'm reading a good book it's always hard to put it down.

I'd hazard a guess that we don't have the same tastes in music. I'm a rock and metal guy. But it is great to be able to write my reviews. It gets me into some concerts for free since I'm covering the show for review purposes. I even got to interview a singer that I've been a fan of for more than 3 decades. That was very cool!

My husband's claim-to-fame among rock-loving friends is that when he performed an original song at an event at Meher Baba Oceanic in London, Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane got on stage and played with him.

My husband started out as a blues fan (he met John Mayall at a concert recently and impressed him by still remembering his membership number to the Bluesbreakers Fan Club from 50-odd years ago.

We're both longtime Beatle fans, but we like all kinds of music. Who's the singer you got to interview after being a fan for so long?

598

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself

« on: February 14, 2020, 12:45:04 am »

Hi Denise, and Debbie and Molly! It's great to see you all here! Sorry I'm late in welcoming you, I'm still clearing the wreckage after finishing the Spring Issue #163. We just got our finished issues in the office so it will be arriving in mailboxes soon.

Yay! I'm excited for the next issue to arrive. Although considering all the books I added to my wish list and my to-be-read pile after reading the last issue, I'd better read fast to make room for the books I'll be adding from the spring issue articles and reviews.

599

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Bookmarks?

« on: February 14, 2020, 12:42:17 am »

I love collecting cute bookmarks. Although they go in a book and I never see them again... Years ago the Agatha Christie Society had a series of bookmarks dedicated to Christie, Poirot, Miss Marple and some of the collectible first editions. I really enjoyed working on them.

*gasp!* Agatha Christie bookmarks? I don't think I have any of those. I just Googled "Agatha Christie bookmarks" and there are some very cool ones (I'll have to start a new Pinterest bookmark page). :-)

600

Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Who are your favorite kick-ass women of mystery (any genre)?

« on: February 14, 2020, 12:34:07 am »

Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield is definitely a kickass character. Her specialty is helping people in trouble disappear. Some of the middle books in the series (RUNNER, in particlar) are formulaic but Jane is always an interesting person to watch. Her Seneca heritage is often a part of the background and provides her the impetus for her work.

Uh oh. Another series I haven't read yet. I will look for RUNNER and others in this series!