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.

Hi Everyone! I'm posting this a little early since I'll be on vacation next week. Feel free to post any thoughts you have about the book as you're reading (or listening). I'll post a link to the virtual meet closer to the third Tuesday. Hope you all have a Happy New Year! - deb

I am way behind on posting my reading. I read the new Anthony Horowitz, 'Moonflower Murders.' It was awesome. Still would like to discuss his books - there's so much to discuss!

I also finished the 4th Aunt Dimity book, 'Aunt Dimity Digs In.' Those are great for light-hearted entertainment.

And I've been catching up on Lindsay Buroker - since I last wrote I read the 3rd book in the Death Before Dragons series (urban fantasy with dragons, elves, etc). So far I haven't gotten as sucked into this series as her others', but still enjoying it - and the audiobooks are on hoopla! (except for some stupid reason the 4th one).

And I read two more books in her Star Kingdom series, 'Planet Killer' and 'Homefront.' This series I've really gotten into, and will hopefully read the final book before christmas - although I'm a little bummed there doesn't seem to be an audiobook for it yet. The Star Kingdom series has everything you could want in a space opera, so if you're looking for anything in that ballpark (or just want an entertaining read full of characters who try to do the right thing), check it out! There are roboticists, knights, androids, biochemists, princesses - they have EVERYTHING!

And finally, still working my way through PD James - I went a little out of order because I was on hold for one of them - so I've read through 'A Taste in Death' (probably my least favorite so far), but skipped over 'Black Tower' which I just got checked out and will start soon.

Hi everyone! Here's a link to Tuesday night's meeting if you come looking for it: meet.google.com/zxm-qwas-qft

Hope to see you there!
- deb

Amy wrote: "Check out stacking topics tool for books at NPR:
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/08/944128..."
Thanks, Amy! I hadn't looked for that yet this year....guaranteed to entertain :)

Kathy wrote: "Hi Ladies! I like Anthony Horowitz's writing too and I see he has a new one just published. It's exciting to know that Magpie Murders will be a tv series. Do you know anything about which network w..."
So - I just looked up A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich because I hadn't heard of it (evidently a big hole in my education)....and that looks pretty serious. Good luck with it! - deb

Hope you're all able to get a copy of this and join us on the third Tuesday to discuss! Both the ebook and eaudiobook are available on hoopla (no wait times!) if you're still trying to get ahold of it. - deb

Just realized I hadn't gotten the thread up for December yet! Here it is - here's hoping we all enjoy some entertaining and/or informative reads this month! - deb

Kathy wrote: "Hi Ladies! I like Anthony Horowitz's writing too and I see he has a new one just published. It's exciting to know that Magpie Murders will be a tv series. Do you know anything about which network w..."
I think Masterpiece on PBS might be behind adapting the Horowitz books into tv? Hopefully, because then it should be easy to catch it pretty early on :)

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday night! If you're one of the regulars, you should have gotten an email with the link, but in case you're thinking of checking us out for the first time (or you lose track on the email), here's the link to our meeting: meet.google.com/hen-jcei-his
- deb

I finished 'Magpie Murders' (for the 2nd time). There was A LOT I didn't remember. Anthony Horowitz is probably pretty high on my list of favorite....creators? In case you don't know, he created Foyle's War and has worked on Midsomer Murders and Poirot. Basically, he has a way with tv mysteries, and I think it carries over to the mystery novels he's been producing (and now Magpie Murders is being made into a tv series!).

With that said, I wonder what he's actually like in real life. His mystery novels tend to get very po-mo/meta and make me wonder what's really going through his head. The murder victim in Magpie is a very unlikable mystery author (and I think his existence kind of destabilizes murder mystery fandom, at least making fans question loving it so much, as I do), and Horowitz himself is actually a character in 'The Word is Murder' and 'The Sentence is Death' who works with an unlikable detective (if I remember right - I need to re-read those too).

So what I'm working around to (while trying not to spoil anything): Horowitz creates these great mysteries that none-the-less tend to include some element that also leaves a bad taste in my mouth; I end up loving them but also questioning them. It's fairly confusing and I can't decide if it's brilliant or just annoying. Everybody else should read them so we can talk about them without fear of spoilers.

In the meantime, I've now gone back to (speaking of Magpies) 'The Gift of the Magpie' by Donna Andrews. I'm now in the right mood for it and completely enjoying it.

Okay - I'm going to squeeze one more entry in this month. I've been continuing my mystery marathon. I've read a total of 3 Dalgleish books (the 1st 3 in the series). I've been enjoying them even though they're a little more serious than my usual cup of tea (and really, Dalgleish is kind of annoying).

Then for a break from Dalgleish I gave Ngaio Marsh a try and read 'Artists in Crime,' the 6th book in the Alleyn series. Normally I try to go in order, but I couldn't find the 1st book available in Hoopla or Libby. I enjoyed it - it had a lighter tone than the Dalgleish ones, and some of the dialogue made me think of Gilmore Girls, which I appreciated.

And since I finished that one I guess I've been in a mood because nothing's been making me happy. I've started: 'The Gift of the Magpie' (Donna Andrews), 'Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding' (Rhys Bowen), and 'Shroud for a Nightingale' (PD James). None of them were quite what I was in the mood for so I stopped 1/2 an hour or so (of listening)....

...but then I remembered the new Anthony Horowitz is coming out soon, a sequel to 'Magpie Murders' which I don't remember at all, so I started re-reading that - and it made me happy! Am I only only moody reader? - deb

Happy November, everyone! Feel free to discuss your reading progress through 'The Chaperone' here, and we'll meet online to discuss on the third Tuesday (Nov 17th) @ 7:00. Happy Reading! - deb

Here's some space to discuss we we're reading this month besides what we'll be talking about on the 3rd Tuesday. Here's hoping we all find rewarding reads! - deb

Kathy wrote: "Karen, you get a medal for all the reading you accomplish!! I've read a bit too--much more than normal, but then life isn't normal right now! I've recently read Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis..."
Kathy - how was Eight Perfect Murders? I've checked out out like 5 times but haven't managed to start it...

So, I just realized I never put up a separate post for October's Salon...so I just renamed September so it includes October. I'll get a new post up in November. In the meantime, I've finished a couple of books since my last post. I'm all caught up on the Deborah Crombie series, having finished the most recently published one, "A Bitter Feast." I'm not sure why I've enjoyed this series so much - the characters behave in ways that would cause more problems in real life I think than they do in the books - but I'm sad to be all caught up. The mysteries kept me thinking, and I really liked the narrator (I listened to all of them). I hope another one comes out soon while I'm still on my mystery kick.

So I went searching for another mystery series to start, and landed on P.D. James's Dalgleish. I've finished the 1st book in the series - 'Cover Her Face.' I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much as the Crombie books, but I did enjoy it. Keeping track of all the characters helped keep me focused, and although I noticed some people have complained about the narrator, I quite like her.

There's some definite....snobbishness?...that seems to be built into the books and kind of dates them (I've started the 2nd one). Many of the characters are condescending, which makes it easy to keep an emotional distance and be critical/condescending of them. I'm all about emotional distance and not getting caught up in angst right now, so I'm enjoying that. Hope you're enjoying whatever you're reading! - deb

Also, here's a link to some discussion questions (and gnocchi recipe!) on the author's website: https://adrianatrigiani.com/books/the...

It's been a while since I posted and I've finished a few books. I read a couple of Lindsay Buroker books from the Star Kingdom series - "Crossfire" and "Gate Quest." Buroker is an independent author I really like who writes sci-fi/fantasy. I think she'd be the opposite of grimdark - so noblebright or hopepunk? I'm not really in on that whole discussion - but while her books definitely have some serious aspects it's well balanced by camaraderie and humor. I'd compare her tonally to something like "Firefly." (but let's not bring up Joss Whedon....it's all too disheartening). I'd tried requesting some of her books for the library some time ago and we couldn't get them through our distributor, but now some of them are on hoopla! She also has really good deals on the kindle formats on Amazon if any of you read that way.

I also FINALLY got through the book that at least starts to wrap up (and maybe completely does?) the whole conspiracy theory storyline in the James/Kincaid series by Deborah Crombie: "Garden of Lamentations." After futzing about and not communicating they finally all worked together to get a handle on things (really, it stretches belief that these characters are able to maintain strong relationships - but I still love 'em).

Hope you all have been reading some good things! I'm now on 'The Shoemaker's Wife' for Tuesday's discussion :)
- deb

Hi Everyone! Hope you're enjoying the book this month. Here's the link to click on Tuesday night @ 7: meet.google.com/nvr-vtok-var

Hope to see you there! - deb

Hi Everyone! Here's a place to post any thoughts you have as you read 'The Shoemaker's Wife.' Just a reminder, you can include things that might be spoilers as long as you hide them. Here's an explanation of how to do that if you're interested: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I'll post the link to the video meet closer to the date. Hope to see you on October 20th @ 7! - deb

I finished the next book in the Deborah Crombie series - 'To Dwell in Darkness.' There's still the ongoing possible conspiracy, made more complicated by the introduction of a character who seems to have been threatened (and eventually possibly killed) by people with power to cover things up. And the murder in the main story line was especially creepy in this one. So still waiting for the series to veer a bit away from the suspense and more towards the cozy. With that said, I'm still enjoying it, especially the relationships between the different characters and some of the random historical/geographical info you get about London. - deb