Moorhead Public Library’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2020)

Moorhead Public Library’s comments from the Classy and Trashy Book Club with the Moorhead Public Library group.

I hope everyone is enjoying our April pick, 'Get a Life, Chloe Brown." Here's a link to our Tuesday night meeting: meet.google.com/won-itde-hgk

Hope to see everyone there! - deb

Here's a spot to chat about anything you happen to be reading.

Karen - I saw you read Newburyport last month - I'm curious about that one. I read a review that intrigued me, but I'm kind of intimidated by the whole stream of consciousness thing...you didn't have any trouble listening to it?

Also - I keep meaning to go back to Dorothy Sayers. I listened to the first one, but didn't necessarily love the narrator. I think the later ones have a different narrator though? I'll have to get back to those.

I'm listening to a few books right now: Dead Man in a Ditch, Aunt Dimity: Detective, and Mary Stewart's Madame Will You Talk. I'm liking Dead Man in a Ditch so far, although I feel like the language isn't quite as colorful as in Last Smile in Sunder City, which makes me a little sad. Thus far Madame Will You Talk is not my favorite Stewart, but it's not bad (it seemed like there was a lot of time spent on the main character just running around France); and again I've been enjoying the Dimity books. I recently finished Aunt Dimity's Beats the Devil and that might have been my favorite one so far. - deb

Hi Everyone! Here's a place to post any thoughts you have about our April pick, Talia Hibbert's "Get a Life, Chloe Brown," I'll post a link to our virtual meeting closer to the third Tuesday. - deb

Just a quick update - I took a break from Amelia Peabody to read the new Patricia Briggs, Wild Sign. I know Karen reads these, not sure if anyone else on here does? Anyway - I thought it was good (although probably not a favorite), but the best part was the end where it seemed to set up A LOT of possibilities for the future. And now I'm impatient for the next book which doesn't even have a publication date! argh.

I also finished Aunt Dimity's Christmas - another very cozy read that promotes a general happy feeling. I'm now trying to decide if I want to go back to Amelia, check out Erin Hart, check out the Bryant and May series, or do Dead Man in a Ditch (which I kind of started before but then got distracted finishing an Amelia book before it was due....). So many options :) - deb

I've read a few good things so far this month. I'm continuing my Amelia Peabody kick - I think I'm up to maybe the 10th one? Ramses and Nefret really help keep things interesting as the series continues.

I also listened to the new Elly Griffiths - The Postscript Murders. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes The Stranger Diaries or Thursday Murder Club. It's definitely got a contemporary British Cosy vibe.

The last book in Buroker's Star Kingdom series, Layers of Force, finally came out on audiobook so I listened to that. It was entertaining, but I'm not sure I liked it as much as some of the previous books....although some of that might have been me being sad that the series was coming to an end. I love all the characters in it.

I also may have finished listening to the Murdbot books for the second time. Because I love them that much!

And finally, I'm just about to finish The Last Smile in Sunder City (also for the 2nd time) and plan to go on to the next book in that series, Dead Man in a Ditch. When I first started Sunder City for book club I was second-guessing my picking it, but the further I get the more I remember how much I loved it and why. Can't wait to discuss it with everyone! - deb

Hi Everyone! Hope you're reading good things this month! Go ahead and post any thoughts about your reading here :)
- deb

Feel free to post any thoughts you have while reading the book, and hope to see you all Tuesday, 3/16 @ 7 at meet.google.com/afm-tndz-hpp

- deb

I almost forgot! Since I think most of you are in other book clubs, I wanted to let you know that we now have Book Club Kits! A bin w/ 10 copies of the book that can be checked out and used for your book clubs. Let me know if you have any questions about them. - deb

And - here's a link to use on the 23rd: meet.google.com/msa-rjrd-zta

Hope to see you then! - deb

I've gotten into a really nice groove book-wise - for starters, I'm continuing my Christie kick. I finished both the Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Moving Finger and am currently on The Murder on the Links. I like the lack of emotional drama in the Christie mysteries - they seem more cerebral to me and thus are a nice chance to give the heart a rest and exercise the little grey cells (to speak metaphorically). However, to give the heart a little exercise too I'm also throwing in some Mary Stewart! I don't think I've read her since high school, but some coworkers were talking about her and I remembered that I'd really liked her back in the day, so decided to revisit. Thus far, I'm still liking her. I listened to Touch Not the Cat and am currently on Nine Coaches Waiting.

So, to speak to the books themselves a bit (and the recordings of them) - I like listening to the Poirot books read by Hugh Fraser. Since Hastings narrates them and I'm already familiar w/ Fraser's voice as Hastings from the tv series, it works out really well. And he's a good narrator in general - gets other voices well. Perhaps influenced by my appreciation of Fraser, but at this point I'm feeling like Hastings really is what makes the Poirot books. He adds the humor and a way to emotionally connect to the stories; otherwise there would just be this odd little man walking around making cryptic statements.....hmm, it would be interesting to try reading only the parts where Poirot makes observations. Not interesting in terms of a good story, but interesting to see if the solution to the mystery becomes clearer that way (I never have it worked out right by the end).

As for the Marple books....she's hardly in The Moving Finger! Its fascinating that there's this larger-than-life figure in my mind who doesn't actually have much page space in the novels; it adds a whole level of humor for the reader who gets to feel like they're in on a secret of how cool she is, while so many around her hardly even notice her (and if anyone disagrees that she's cool, I will happily debate that with you - she's probably one of my all-time favorite characters).

I can't remember the character names at the moment, but I really like the relationship between the Vicar and his wife in The Murder at the Vicarage; the relationship between the Jerry (narrator of The Moving Finger) and Megan however is fairly ridiculous. It would not fly today; however, maybe because it's so dated I find it easier to be amused and entertained by it than offended by it? Although that doesn't hold true for all dated things I read....I really don't know why I was entertained by it even as I thought it was so ridiculous.

Anyway - so quick notes about Mary Stewart - it's possible that my love of a gothic atmosphere stems from reading her books when I was younger (along with Barbara Michaels). She is so incredibly good at setting a scene that incorporates secrets from the past, romance in the present, and a little fear of how both of those things will impact the future. Strangely, the only thing I remembered from Touch Not the Cat was a minor thing from the very end of the book (which for some reason in my memory played a bigger role in the book than it did...I actually thought there was an archeological dig in the book because of it and there totally isn't). But my pitiful memory means it was almost like reading a book for the first time and that was great. Once I got over rolling my eyes at the psychic connection and the repeated use of the term "lover" (which for whatever reason I just can't take seriously - I remember also thinking it was ridiculous the first time I read it) I completely got into it and enjoyed it. - deb

I'm continuing my mystery kick - I cruised through the first few Daisy Dalrymple books which are very light and easy. I enjoyed them and think I'll go back to them, but after the 3rd one I was craving something slightly different. So I'm diving into Agatha Christie audiobooks!

I've only actually read a few of her books, although I've seen every Poirot w/ Suchet and every one of the recent Marple adaptations that were made along with them at one point, so I actually know most of the mysteries and am kind of hoping it turns out they changed them a bit when adapting them.

I finished The Murder at the Vicarage last night and enjoyed it. I started listening to a version read by Joan Hickson (who excellently played Marple in some earlier adaptations) thinking that might be the best version, but then realized the book is narrated by the the Vicar, and it kept confusing me because I'd hear the voice of Marple but it was a different character actually speaking. So i switched to the version with Richard Grant, which was easier for me to follow. I'm now moving on to The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It's kind of hard choosing which version to listen to; Hoopla has A LOT! For this one I went w/ the Hugh Fraser version because he's so good as Hastings in the tv series, and I think Hastings is also the narrator, so should be much less confusing. - deb

Diane wrote: "Thanks for reminder, Karen. That was such a good book and author talk would be interesting. I have been getting the Book Reporter and Readding Group Guides newsletters for some years now and find t..."
I've checked out their Reading Group Guides, but haven't actually watched any of the Bookaccino events or anything - definitely need to find time to! ....Because I have so much trouble finding something to read ;) - deb

Here's a spot to discuss anything we happen to be reading in addition to our monthly pick. And as a reminder, here's a post from last month's Salon to keep in mind:
Karen shared some information about an upcoming author event that will be featuring an author we've read: Kim Michele Richardson ('The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek'). Bookreporter.com has something called Bookaccino: a Lively Talk About Books, and they have Richardson scheduled for Thursday, March 25th at 8pm ET. You can find information at: https://www.bookreporter.com/features...

And they also have regular talks about upcoming books, so that could be interesting too! I'll try to repost this information in the upcoming Book Salons so we keep it on our radar. - deb

Karen shared some information about an upcoming author event that will be featuring an author we've read: Kim Michele Richardson ('The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek'). Bookreporter.com has something called Bookaccino: a Lively Talk About Books, and they have Richardson scheduled for Thursday, March 25th at 8pm ET. You can find information at: https://www.bookreporter.com/features...

And they also have regular talks about upcoming books, so that could be interesting too! I'll try to repost this information in the upcoming Book Salons so we keep it on our radar. - deb

Hi Everyone! In order to avoid a conflict with the William Kent Krueger event, we're going to move our virtual meeting to the 4th Tuesday of February, the 23rd. I'll post a link to the meeting closer to the date. Hope to see everyone there! - deb

Kathy wrote: "Hi Ladies! I recently finished Becoming by Michelle Obama. A most interesting listen--the book was read by Michelle herself. Can't remember if I told you about Redhead by the Side of the Road by An..."
We'll miss you and hope you can join us again soon! We were just talking about Marie Benedict a bit last night and are looking forward to discussing her Christie book this coming fall. Let us know what you think of Lady Clementine.

I forgot! I also read the new Ilona Andrews, Blood Heir. I really enjoyed getting back to the world of Kate Daniels (although this book focuses on Julie/Aurelia). I've got my fingers crossed they turn it into a series. - deb

Hope everyone's able to join us on Tuesday night at 7! Here's the link for our virtual meeting: https://meet.google.com/ztx-uhsd-bnv?...
- deb

Looks like I'm not the only one who hasn't taken time to post what I'm reading....it's almost as if there have been external events distracting everyone.

But I've read some good things this month, first and foremost the (published-so-far) Murderbot series by Martha Wells. I fell in love with this series - I feel like there's a little bit of everyone I know in Murderbot, except it's a little more damaged (at least I hope it's more damaged than the people I know - it's had a horrible life) and a better fighter. I pretty much recommend the series to everyone.

I've also been getting caught up on the Her Royal Spyness series - they were kind of annoying me and the audiobooks changed narrators, so I had taken a a break from reading them. I've now discovered I don't mind the new narrator, and although the books can still be kind of annoying (I think I have to be in the right mood for aristocratic characters), I enjoyed having them to listen to because they don't require high levels of concentration.

I also re-read the first part of Julia Quinn's The Duke and I after watching Bridgerton on Netflix. If anyone else has read/watched, let me know so we can chat! - deb

Happy New Year! Post whatever you're reading and your thoughts on this thread - here's to hoping for a year of wonderful books! - deb