Kelli’s Comments (group member since Jun 29, 2011)

Kelli’s comments from the Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library group.

I just started Tim Dorsey's new book The Rip Tide, Ultra Glide. His writing style is very similar to Carl Hiaasen... takes place in Florida, crazy antics and humor.

Your Final Four:


Sherlock Holmes vs. Stephanie Plum


Alex Cross vs. Nancy Drew

Vote your favorite literary detective through to the Championship Round by clicking on the Polls link.

Welcome! This ongoing discussion is your place to share what you are reading and what you think about it!

I'm reading The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. I would classify it as some sort of mix between Fantasy and Espionage. The main character wakes up surrounded by dead bodies with amnesia reading a letter that she wrote to herself. So through a series of letters and notebooks, the main character quickly learns everything about her job and personal life and then tries to solve the mystery of which secret operative is trying to destroy her.

March Madness! It’s the most wonderful time of year where you spend a week agonizing over each pick on your basketball bracket in an attempt to achieve glory amongst your office pool. You listen to the experts and have high hopes for the perfect bracket. But we all know the tune, the expert-picked upsets don’t happen and some 14 or 13 seed will destroy what’s left of your bracket and you finish a little demoralized.

Well, we here at the Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library want to celebrate this crazy time with a new bracket… a battle royale, so to speak, that pits detective against detective and your votes determine who moves forward to the next round. So how does it work, you say? Our bracket has 32 literary detectives split up and seeded into 4 regions. There will be 8 active polls each week over the next 2 weeks to vote your favorite detectives into the Sweet Sixteen. The Elite Eight will be determined the following week with new polls based on the previous round’s voting results. Final Four voting will begin March 29th and the polls that determine the Championship matchup will open April 3rd. The winner will be decided on April 8th. Don’t worry, we’ll send out reminders when new voting opens so you can make sure your favorite detective can move on to the next round.

To access the Polls, click on the Polls link from our group’s homepage.

Region 1 - Round 1

1 Sherlock Holmes
8 VI Warshawski

4 Kinsey Millhone
5 Harry Bosch

3 Nick & Nora Charles
6 Brother Cadfael

2 Mike Hammer
7 Agatha Raisin

Region 2 - Round 1

1 Hercule Poirot
8 Dave Robicheaux

4 Nero Wolfe
5 Jesse Stone

3 Stephanie Plum
6 Harry Dresden

2 Hardy Boys
7 Ellery Queen

Region 3 - Round 1

1 Miss Marple
8 Jack Reacher

4 Easy Rawlins
5 Alex Cross

3 Encyclopedia Brown
6 Father Dowling

2 Sam Spade
7 Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee

Region 4 - Round 1

1 Phillip Marlowe
8 Robert Langdon

4 Spenser
5 Inspector John Rebus

3 Perry Mason
6 Kay Scarpetta

2 Nancy Drew
7 Inspector Morse

I just started a new Roman Centurian series by Simon Scarrow called Under the Eagle. So far I'm enjoying it. The legion is camped in Germany and is preparing for an invasion of Britain. Lots of action and long battle sequencs in this one. I will definitely continue reading this series.

Ha! Just got to the part of the podcast where Brian agrees with me about Crash. :)

I think the Color Purple was robbed in losing to Out of Africa. It's such a great film!

I can't stand The English Patient. The only reason why I watched it was because it won the Best Picture award. So disappointed!

As for Crash, I think Brokeback Mountain, Munich, or Good Night & Good Luck were much better films. But what do I know? :)

Welcome! This ongoing discussion is your place to share what you are reading and what you think about it!

I need to read this book. I saw a recent movie version and I can't imagine it would be as entertaining as the book would be... but it did have Colin Firth in it. :)

Option 1: 20th Century Traveler

1900s
1910s
1920s
1930s
1940s-And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
1950s-And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini; American Vampire Vol. 4 by Scott Snyder
1960s-Bond on Bond by Roger Moore
1970s-And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini; Bond on Bond by Roger Moore
1980s-Bond on Bond by Roger Moore
1990s-Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K Hamilton, Bond on Bond by Roger Moore

Option 2: 1st Millennium Challenge

1-99-Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow
100s
200s
300s
400s
500s
600s
700s
800s
900s

Option 3: 2nd Millennium Challenge

1000s-American Gods by Neil Gaiman
1100s
1200s
1300s
1400s
1500s
1600s
1700s-American Gods by Neil Gaiman; American Vampire Vol. 4 by Scott Snyder
1800s-Heartless by Gail Carriger, Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore, & The Husband List by Janet Evanovich
1900s-And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Option 4: Back to the Future

Read 10 books that take place in the future

Option 5: Pre-History Lesson

Read 10 books that take place during the Bronze Age (3600-300 BC)

I just finished reading The Husband List by Janet Evanovich. It was not what I was expecting at all by her since it was a historical romance but she had a second author for this book so she might of had a bigger sway to the story.

I'm now reading Heartless by Gail Carriger. It's book 4 of the Alexia Tarabotti series that takes place in Victorian England. If you enjoy paranormal reads or steampunk I highly recommend the series.

Welcome! This ongoing discussion is your place to share what you are reading and what you think about it!

Of course, we suggest reading F. scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby so you can take part in the numerous library events happening throughout the month of February. See our events listing on the group's home page for more information.

I have picked up Christopher Moore's Sacre Bleu for the umpteenth time. I hope I finish it this time. I love his books but for some reason I cannot get through the first 50 pages of this one.

When you read it, you definitely can hear Roger Moore speaking. He jokes around a lot too!

I read it once a couple of years ago and to be honest I can't remember much about it so I will probably read it again for The Big Read. I know the library is showing the Robert Redford version of the movie. I hope to watch that but I must say I'm super excited to watch the new Baz Luhrmann version of it that opens in May. I really enjoy his films and Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jay Gatsby.

I am a big James Bond fan and have picked up the new book by Roger Moore called Bond on Bond. Roger Moore discusses the villians, Bond girls, guns, and gadgets that make their appearance in the films up to Quantum of Solace. If you are a fan of the film series, you may want to take a peek at this book.

I am reading William Deitrich's 5th Ethan Gage adventure called The Emerald Storm. In this historical fiction book, Ethan Gage is forced to go to Haiti while the sugar plantation slaves are revolting against the plantation owners and the French government. His child is being held hostage by rogue Frenchmen who have ordered him to hunt down Montezuma's famed treasure. To accomplish this task, he will have to ally himself with the British, French, and slave soldiers. Overall, I find it pretty entertaining.

Did anyone see the film yet? What did you think? How does it compare to some of the theater performances you've seen live or on TV?

I was 11 states short but don't feel too bad about it since I picked up a few books I never would have read thanks to the challenge.