C. (Comment, never msg).’s Comments (group member since Jan 30, 2014)

C. (Comment, never msg).’s comments from the Gentle SPECTRUMS group.

Ladies, get ready to rumble! Actually, let's get ready to cool ourselves off with fans like old-fashioned women because the beginning couple of chapters of "Under The Dragon's Tail" are adult! If you struggled to wonder quite what I mean by "standard mystery", my favourite genre tone, this novel is the clearest example.

It is no "thriller / horror". It describes dirty households and people, details about murder scenes. However, it is not disturbing or scary. At once, it very clearly is more adult and serious than the "cozy mystery". This is why I remind people that if there is a light and heavy tone of literature: lighter or heavier than what? "Standard mystery": don't forget the middle original source they come from. I like that we know that the contents won't be terrible but furnish a serious, adult story to consider and discuss.

I am nearly at chapter 4. Does anyone have any idea where the boys are from and why Dolly was not clear about their biological Mamas so they at least had that history and connection to them? Don't we owe children birth information?

Unfortunately, I wonder if they are stupid. When they gave their names to William after reporting their carer's death, they knew their first and last names and they were different. It is like they do not think and live in a daze. Lily is a mystery entirely.

I dislike multiple narrators, especially all of these are unlikeable or disgusting, including the boys. Having little money and working hard does not mean you don't rinse yourself and clothes. Even if either of you favour parcelled out narration, Shirin & Kerri, doesn't it feel like a bright light and relief whenever William enters? Those chapters positively glow and I am always entertained in them.

I am entertained with a grin about William acknowledging sexual urges and being ready to forge a new relationship, even though he misses his fiancée. I guess then and in some cultures today, you do not contemplate any physical fun until official marriage. Values are also personalized individually within cultures, naturally.

Now then, don't let me steer the conversation by being first. I am only jotting down intitial reactions. I'd rather the two of you take me wherever your minds went. I am at page 48. I shall enjoy BEING age 48 for two more days: woo hoo!

I embrace and celebrate my birthday with excitement, the gift of aging and continuing to live healty and well and I also fondly honour the age I am about to surpass. I have a feeling fun mail will start to arrive beginning today! Happy mail coming later is wonderful too. Let the happy celebrations, fun, friendship, and love not narrow into one day, right my friends? Hugs, Carolyn.

My review for "Except The Dying" is fresh off of the press. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I was re-reading something you wrote earlier, Kerri, about the annoyance of updating software. I have asked a few people for a few years if they have a Windows 8 CD they could give me. No one did or they were using it. It is too much for me to download and I like to have an installation CD on hand anyway. The computer shop from whom we buy those dial-up modems said it was not worth it and that we ought to go to Windows 10.

When discussing our PC another time, they asked for the specs and realized Windows 8 is the most recent version we can have, which is fine by me. This is a good PC with lots of memory space. However, Windows 7 is no longer supported and I have imagined there are things that would work better if I upgraded that little bit. I am back to asking for everyone to be on the lookout for a spare Windows 8 CD. My thanks.

Friends: a question of what you like best, because I cannot decide myself. I have edited and trimmed this list each time we have read a book that is on it. Do you like that tactic, or does it keep an old list dragging to the bottom of the topic thread?

Can you think of other alternatives? Another way is to maintain this comment number position as a history perhaps. Then, I can occasionally re-post a cleaned-up list.

Here is our list of book ideas for the year 2022.
May update: please see "Message #20" for our master list from now on. I will still subtract finished books from here.

Series: Sue Grafton 1, Nevada Barr 1, J.K. Rowling 1 (yes, I am last to indulge), Frances Fyfied 1, "Half Light" novel in her name, 'Frances Hegarty'. David Handler 4, P.D. James 1, Rex Stout 3, Agatha Christie "The Big Four", Carlos Luiz Zafón "The Angel's Game".

Various: "Pride And Prejudice", "The House Next Door" Anne Siddons, "The Land Of Stories" Chris Colfer, "Midnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil", "All Creatures Great And Small", "Anne Frank, Diary Of A Young Girl", "Wuthering Heights", "Behind The Scenes At The Museum", "A Dry Spell" Susie Moloney (Winnipeg!), "The Winter People" Jennifer McMahon. I'll save the same Phyllis A. Whitney title for later. "The Starless Sea", "The Dreaming" Barbara Wood, "The Wizard Of Oz".

"Artemis Fowl", "Treasure Island", "The 39 Steps", "Black Beauty", "The Time Machine", "The Mysterious Benedict Society", "The Maze Of Bones", "Lady Of Hay", "The Kitchen God's Wife" Amy Tan, "Prelude To Foundation", "The Phantom Tollbooth", "Garden Spells", "The Dragon Rider" Cornelia Funke, "Eragon", "The Raven Boys", "The Wind In The Willows", "The Canterbury Tales".

Biographies: Margaret Laurence, wildlife activist Biruté M.F. Galdikas "Reflections Of Eden", Anne Murray, Kirk Douglas "My Stroke Of Luck", John Candy, Melissa Gilbert, Goldie Hawn, Jeanne Cooper, Amy Poehler, Elton John "Me", Susan Boyle, Brooke Shields "Then Came The Rain", Nicole Richie, Chelsea Handler.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I am carrying over our proposed buddy reading books into a fresh, new topic for the year 2022 so that folders are not clogged. I think it leaves a nice diary of stories we shared together in its particular year: what do you think?

It is November, my birthday month: yay! If we read anything from our list this year, we will keep it in the original "Buddy Reading" folder. If I missed any proposals that have not been read yet, please add them here. This is your group as well as mine: participate any way you like without asking.

To quiet and new members: hello! Please suggest books you plan to read in the months ahead, that someone might read with you in tandem. I deal in only physical books and thus draw from what I own rather than pulling them out of the air. However, our home library is rich in abundance, variety, and heart. Buddy reading is not required to include me. Maybe your selections will shake other members awake. :)

Be well, be happy, be healthy, and safe. Your friend, Carolyn.

What beautiful things to say, Shirin. The snow is coming down fluffy and fast. Someday I hope you both visit Manitoba's seasons - and me for yourselves. When it is safe politically, I would love to explore Iran and when it is affordable, New Zealand. We relish the weather and landsacpes of our friends across our world.

Kerri, in addition to the general New Zealander questions posed in my e-mail letter, you have me wondering where the cut-off is for countries whose summer is opposite to our winter. You will not be very cold, so it is fine if a little rain or breezes pop back in through your season change.

All right, Shirin will let us know when her Persian copy has arrived. If we can slip in Ian Rankin before then, it depends on how avidly I go to bed and make progress with Cliff McNish's ghost story hardcover. So much to read, so much fun with friends!

P.S. If you have the PDF of Colin Cotterill "Hidden Genders", I would love to try his new series. I am ordering the first two novels.

I mean the nighttime low of -1C of course. It is very warm for November in Manitoba. When I came home from the hospital 48 years ago, there was a blizzard and my Dad & Mom had to drive carefully. Right now as I write, we are only having our first snow on November 10. :) Here is comes swirling! I wish I had fast internet to take a little video clip and show you but I have still photographs of course.

Kerri, your message is lovely and there will be more to say soon. Meanwhile, I look forward to an e-mail all about your birthday. Remember that whatever I updated cancels out the former e-mail. We have turned to the good and the happy. :) I am curious if sympathy cards for Spirit & Marigold already went but no rush on cards or presents. Part of the pleasure is looking foward to them.

I am reading an excellent new hardcover novel from Ron last year, called "A House Of Ghosts" and like it already! If I whiz through it and finish in only a couple of days, Shirin, we can start "Tooth And Nail" right after it. If you are free to move onto "Under The Dragon's Tail" next, we will read that together with Kerri around Monday either way. I look forward to sharing a birthday buddy read with two of my closest friends from this site: such a nice way to spend my special month! Hugs, Carolyn.

My Dear Friends, November, my birthday month has a tration for me: I treasure all of it in ancitipation of the 18th!

I watch for cards and gifts by mail, e-mails and thoughts from family & friends, sweet words and attention from Ron, and dearly loved pastimes at home with our cats. One tradition, cozy at home with all of them, is to indulge my favourite genres & authors!

Thus, I am happy to return to the tantalizing world of "Murdoch Mysteries" with you, my friends any time; as well as that of Ian Rankin's "John Rebus". I also plan to read Erin Morgenstern's "The Starless Sea" and the second of Kate Milford's mystery masterpieces, "Ghosts Of Greenglass House".

How is your weather where you live? It is still green, bright, and warm here; including at night, which only goes to about -1C. However, tomorrow we are expecting rain that might turn into snow. If it does not, Thursday, which happens to be "Remembrance Day" for Canadian soldiers, will yield our first real snowfall of the year. We have only had a few flakes but snow has always heralded my birthday, if it did not precede it.

Don't worry: the garden plants are picked, retired, or transplanted and everything portable is inside the house and library. Rain water has been gathered and moved just today, to where I can save the pails for a few months. The library building has no plumbing and it will let me refill the cats' secondary dish and water the plants with ease and good health. Our bright, colourful, vibrantly living flowerbeds have been protected as needed and shall be covered in earnest tonight. Your young & happy friend, Carolyn.

Yes! Louise Penny was just on "The View"! She co-authored a US political crime novel with Hilary Clinton. Louise did us proud by not taking long to identify herself as Canadian. Even better, I am thrilled she told everyone that today is Thanksgiving Day here. For the first time, an American talk show wished Canada a happy Thanksgiving!

The media blares American elections for 2 years before their voting day. We just had an election last month on September 20. Anyone know that? We hear all about the US Thanksgiving on TV shows for a month and they send gifs to each other, which is sweet. But I do not see, even among fellow Canadians, a peep about our turn at the holiday.

This was very nice of Louise Penny to bring attention to. It was also very special to see that Whoopi Goldberg is a fan of Armand Gamache's series. Aren't we all! Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends, like I said earlier in the week.

Yes Shirin, I love not only secondary and tertiary characters. I primarily am saying I prefer different lead characters and books from average readers. For example, everyone loves Hercule. I prefer so far the books that do not contain him. You like him but have a creative mind that is appreciative of creativity, something new, and whimsy. You will love "The Man In The Brown Suit" and "The Secret Adversary"! Read anytime, for they are the first novels of their mini series.

Dorothy Gilman, famous for a "Mrs. Pollifax" spy series. I waited years to start those and was in love with her standalone stories, for adults and youths. She was a remarkably whimsical, original authoress and I have some of her books that are rare.

I wrote the conversation above this morning and a tiny power surge ruined my dial-up modem! Luckily, Ron & I were already going to Winnipeg and someone helped us find one place with an internet modem to give us! We have no Smart phones, telephone book, and no other way to look things up, you can imagine. We are grateful for the help today. I pasted everything to upload what I was saying to you.

I think I might enjoy reading "The Big Four "in January. Do borrow it from a library so you read it thoroughly in Persian. Is the library near you? I like to picture where you live and how you spend your day. Before that, any time you have P.D. James handy, I would love to read "Cover Her Face". I do not recall which format you have this first mystery of hers in. Your friend, Carolyn.

Happy Thanksgiving to our fellow Canadians this long week-end! Yours sincerely, Carolyn.

Hi Shirin. What do the filters do? I am unfamiliar with them and certainly don't want anything to make updates for me and with others annoying. Thank goodness we have private e-mail (and I hope, mail!) for all our communicating needs. I know the application removes a lot of features, like profile comments and the "edit button" in comments. I edit often. I always use Goodreads as a website. I have never used an application because I don't have a smart phone.

You remember the trouble laptop keyboard typing caused, when I stayed at my parent's place two months ago. I had all week and just won't get used to that stupid "sensory mouse". At home, I type like ligthening on standard PC hardware and reach everything I need with ease. If you ever have trouble finishing a sentence, e-mail me instead, or I will help you in some way.

I wrote the conversation above this morning and a tiny power surge ruined my dial-up modem! Luckily, Ron & I were already going to Winnipeg and someone helped us find one place with an internet modem to give us! We have no Smart phones, telephone book, and no other way to look things up, you can imagine. We are grateful for the help today. I copied everything to now upload what I had been saying to you.

You have my support and pride in your PhD, dear Shirin. Your mail should be with you any day. It should not take 3 weeks to receive a plain letter envelope, unless the Middle East is very different.

Oh no, I thought we agreed that the twist was terrible. I said in my review that I usually support creativity and originality but doing it badly does not count. Making a good story is better than putting all your effort into fooling a reader with a twist. I love well written stories even when there is no twist. Please help me ensure I understand you correctly.

I hope you add your review link when you have it. I think leaving the links in our conversation folders is a great way to find them easily. I won't wait long to read "The Big Four" early next year. If you have it, nothing is better than reading along with you. :)

I did find Hercule Poirot much better this time. Do keep in mind: liking him much less than Agatha Christie's other protagonists, means I give love to characters that do not receive enough of it from other people! I often like what is less popular. There is enough love going around the popular places, right? :) Your friend, Carolyn.

Kerri & Shirin,

The only thing I can think might have occurred, because I remember what I typed to both of you, is the internet disconnecting before I sent it. Did I forget I had not e-mailed it through, or did it seem to have gone through? It is not even in a drafts folder.

The message is that I mailed you a letter, Shirin and you a birthday parcel, Kerri, on election day September 20. That is why I said "Happy birthday to my Mom" at that time. Please e-mail me when your envelopes arrive! Love, your friend, Carolyn.

My review is written. "Fait accomplit"! That is French for "I have accomplished what I wanted to do!" and "It has been made a reality". In slang it means "It is a sure thing" and "It is a done deal". https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Kerri & Shirin,

I am glad to learn the distance from New Zealand to Australia. I did not know all these years. I am glad you are safe from things occuring there and with Australians and animals wellness too.

Ladies, it is bizarre that I can't find an e-mail I am sure I sent you, probably on September 20. That was re-election day. Do you remember me writing to you both saying that I had mailed your birthday gift, Kerri and your letter, Shirin?

It is not in my sent items or trash bin, unless Google mail confused it by packing it into other messages. However, it was fishy that neither of you replied to that short mail, which included a happy birthday to my Mom for September 23. So it may be that it did not send and get logged into any e-mail folder for some reason, even though I remember what I wrote.

Oh well, you know now that mail for each of you was sent on re-election day, three days before my Mom's birthday. Your friend, Carolyn.

Hello my friend! Please let me explain better about last names / family names. Here too, it is a sign of respect not to use a first name / given name, unless invited to. Or unless that person is our age or younger. We place "Miss, Ms., Mrs., Mr., Dr., Professor" in front of the last name and use them together. This has been a common custom of respect for centuries. Perhaps it is the same for you, whichever the words are for these prefixes in Persian.

What I mean is that I dislike last names without their prefix. It sounds strange and lazy to use them like a name: such as "Bowie", instead of "Mr. Bowie". If we discuss someone we know well, or someone who is famous, or a person in a book or newspaper, say "David". If we are speaking in person, we show respect via "Mr. Bowie" until he invites us to use his first name. Do you know what I mean?

In person and by telephone, I practice the respectful custom of all countries and households I visit, as long as I know it. Friends, fellow pupils, colleagues; unless that person is older, I agree, it is lovely to be on equal ground enough to use the familiar first name. In summary, I am only calling last names in books and public discussion strange without the "Ms." type prefix. We don't say "Gates": we say "Bill Gates", "Mr. Gates", or "Bill". Does this make better sense? In the novel, they called the women "Miss" or "Mrs." but just last names for men, which gets on my nerves.

Oh, I am glad you are not disappointed with my feedback about this mystery novel and that you share it, Shirin! You are generously giving it 4 stars. Would you tell me what you liked? Yes, we are smart enough to suspect James or Caroline as the culprit but we don't believe we are supposed to. Deus-ex-machina indeed. I hope you like the history of the old Greek plays wheeling a machine onstage. It casts a strange picture in the mind, doesn't it?

By the way, when you finish your PhD, I will very happily put Dr. on your letters! I do for my Aunt. I guess you received my e-mail recording the day that I mailed your first international letter. Please e-mail me the day you receive it and we will see what time it took. I decided to wait until I have something new to write about, before trying your second address afterwards.

I may have said before that I like to read Agatha Christie in publishing order instead of by a series. I am happily surprised by which characters, adventures, and tones come next. It is "The Big Four" in 1927. :-)

I have finished too, Shirin. The ring wasn't discussed again and we don't know why anyone threw it, do we? However it must have been from Ralph to Ursula.

That marriage and love is a nice surprise! I see the girl you were referring to was she. I had forgotten about her. That was smart of you to think of her as the lady having a conversation in the woods. Yes, Horace is major Blunt.

I hate seeing last names used as the way people are named in books, newspapers, and on TV and it is less often done with women. It is easier to use first names, especially when family members have the same last name. So in my head I use first names wherever I see the opposite, to cancel out the annoyance it causes me. Always "Hercule", Horace, Flora, John Parker, James Sheppard....

It is funny that I wondered about Caroline and you said something like "She belongs with the narrator. She is a character we don't think about". How silly that Agatha made the murderer and blackmailer the likeable narrator! That qualifies as Deus-ex-machina to me; someone the readers do not believe counts as a potential suspect.

One thing I can appreciate, however, is the wise advice from Hercule not to accept people's word without testing for confirmation or corraboration. Okay, some things we only know from James. But if we can't trust the narrator, we have no story and it was already dry. Three stars from me like I thought.

Yes, it is a surprise but not in a fair way. I was unimpressed. It only angered me that Agatha obviously chose twists and the investigating technique of what time Roger died, over building a story with subtstance. Most of the characters were unlikeable. Until I got to know Elizabeth and Ursula, I liked Roger who was hidden in the whole novel and Roger who died in it. Here is useful expression for you: "Slim pickings"!

Even if Hercule is meant to be magically smart, a reader wants to watch the protagonist (who is not the villain) work everything out. It is no fun for Hercule to announce he knows everything, then sit through a speech later. The first rule of writing that you may have heard is "Show, don't tell". Show what you want us to know through the story happening. Don't make a lecture of it, also called "an information dump".

Deus-ex-machina (spelling uncertain) originates I think, from old Greek plays. In some stupid endings that made it impossible for audiences to guess about, wars were ended or problems were solved by a God being wheeled out onto the stage, like a magic machine.

Thus, I accuse "The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd" of this because it was not a smart plot that readers failed to work out. We trust that the narrator is taking us on a journey that he is observing with us, which he did not bring about.

I look forward to your opinions, my friend! I believe you know many Agatha Christie stories are much better. This time, at least the character Hercule is much improved.

Hi Shirin. I am surprised I didn't finish the Agatha mystery last night but I retired to bed late and fell asleep in 12 pages. I read the same one many times before having to put the novel away. I ended on Miss Russell's news about having a son, who visited her privately. I think we agreed her interest in poisons was too obvious for her to be behind the crimes of blackmail or killing.

Flora is off the hook even though we find her shallow and dishonest. Her Mom is worse: how about her? Admitting that he loves the younger Flora is Horace's secret. I don't remember his money status. Did he inherit or earn his own previously, or do you mean that he will inherit lots of money from Roger?

I don't believe anyone would burn a letter like Mrs. Ferrars' and there are two reasons. It is protection against accusation, if the wrong person were blamed for her blackmail. Roger could supply police with the criminal's identity. Most importantly, every keepsake from a loved-one who passed away is poignantly valuable. This letter is especially sensitive because it is Roger's last from Mrs. Ferrars and explains why her life ended.

Geoffrey would not look very suspicious around Roger's papers and office. Unless Agatha doubted readers used their grey cells, his habit to instantly chatter might be her idea of a red herring; thinking people of 1925 do not expect anyone cheerful to commit evil like blackmail or killing. In order: I suspect Flora's Mom, Geoffrey, and maybe Horace.

I hate Agatha describing women so stupidly as "giving a scream" or even more irritating, "giving a little scream". Who the fuck acts like that!? No one reacts like that! What a cardboard idea of how women act if they are angry; even if Agatha wanted to imply a shallow woman.

We can't ignore that Mr. Parker was willing to "get some blackmail money" if he had the chance, because he committed the crime on his last employer. We can't discount that he might be pushed into murder, unless his whereabouts don't match Roger's fatal moments in his office.

Would you please try again to translate your fourth sentence: "I think she was the girl who faired by Roger"? Do you mean Roger had an "affair" with another lady, or had "affection" for a lady? Yes, he talked to someone in the woods that Caroline did not think was Fara. This is someone we have not met.

I hope the authoress did not use the lame "Deus-ex-machina" ploy. Do you know the Greek expression, Shirin? It is when an author brings a solution out of nowhere, or introduces someone we did not know. Misleading the reader is different from dumping someone into the plot and thus failing to provide information we can use.

Since you might finish the novel before me, I hope you have time to see and reply to this. We need to know why Hercule found a ring in the pond. With an "R" on it, it must have been Roger's engagement ring to Mrs. Ferrars, mustn't it? Did the blackmailer steal it? Had she returned it to Roger in the good-bye letter and envelope and his killer stole it? Did Flora's Mom drop it, as a jewel she stole?

Did Mrs. Ferrars get killed and not commit suicide? That would be a good twist! However, the letter would have required forging. Do you think the blackmailer and killer are the same person? I think so, if protecting himself from the blackmail crime was the motive for killing. But that defies logic, doesn't it? You don't protect yourself from a crime by causing another.

This novel felt like a list of guesses and characters to me, not a colourful, rich story. What say you, Shirin? Spending time with you is what made it fun. Depending on the ending being good and well explained and because Hercule is much less arrogant, I imagine I will give it 3 stars.

In my experience as a language student since I was a child, you are right that it is not about direct translations. It is "interpreting": writing the flavour of the message with the best words to convey it.

I am less annoyed with Hercule (I prefer first names). I am glad he is less an asshole, although he called his new friend "stupid". We are not all trained police investigators! Thankfully he talks less often about being excellent. Green eyes like a cat are nice. But I don't want to read about cleaning dust off his sleeve or straightening ornaments on a shelf. Cats are clean and adorable. Hercule sounds picky.

The best part for me, is having this wonderful conversation with you and guessing the identities and answers to the questions. I do not feel there is any more excitement than that. No well-written, exciting story. Only the protagonists walking around to interview people: very dry, to me. Thank goodness I have you to make it special.

I am at page 200, in chapter 19. I would like to finish reading it today and start something else, because my annual challenge is not as far ahead as yours. :) I wonder if your translation refers to the housekeeper, Miss Russell. I agree with you that she and that awful hunter, Horace Blunt are the most suspicious. However, faking knee discomfort to ask Dr. James Sheppard about poison seems like a false, planted clue.

As Hercule observed, there is what people say and there is what is verified as the truth. Horace was supposed to have enough money but the reader has been told little about him and the characters must also know little, if he is usually out-of-country.

Flora & her Mom are poor examples of Canadians! We do not beg to buy numerous little things. If Roger was too stern about reasonable supplies, they needed to talk with him; not steal. I don't remember what her Mom inherits but Flora was satisfied that she was going to receive 20,000 PS. We have learned Flora did not see or hear Roger alive but only put her hand on the door, so the butler would think she was exiting it. I will finish Flora's chapter and see if this means the time of death changes and the suspects.

We don't know if she loves Ralph or why he hid. Let me know if you have ideas about that. Maybe he was afraid after doing something like the others that looks suspicious but they did not hide. One chief point about the novel seems to be to reveal why Ralph hid and what his genuine relationship with Flora is, more than who the murderer is.

The other question is who had blackmailed Roger's girlfriend. James is right that he or she might not be the killer but I think they are. Why kill a man from whom you will be employed or cared for, unless you wanted to avoid prosecution for blackmail? With the blackmail over, there is no benefit but there is jail to avoid.