Laurie R. King Virtual Book Club discussion
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Erin
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Jul 16, 2018 03:34PM
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Is anyone familiar with the mystery/music novels of Gerald Elias? I have started the first one, Devil's Trill, and it's a slow beginning. I used to almost never give up on a book, no matter how inauspicious the start, but I find that as I get older I am more reluctant to waste time. Since I seem to like a lot of the same books as others on this list, I thought I'd ask if anyone knows if I should continue. (I would guess I am about 1/6 of the way through.)
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I haven't read him, Lenore, but I totally understand your philosophy. Life is too short to keep plodding away at a book that isn't holding your interest. I just gave up on one recently ("Tangerine"), having decided about 1/3 in that I didn't like either one of the unreliable narrators and didn't care what happened to them!
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We just finished the November book. For awhile, The Nine Tailors was listed as the next book, but now the next book is listed as Lyndsay Faye's book in February. Are we not having December and January books?
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Working on 2019 selections now.
Hello everyone,I have an unusual problem. My close friend sent me a code coupled with a Beekeeper's Apprentice quote. Two hours later and I have nothing. I don't want to tell him I can't solve it so I wondered if any of you had some ideas or suggestions on how to solve it.
Here's the message:
Madam, there is no treachery in the truth. There may be pain, but to face honestly all possible conclusions formed by a set of facts is the noblest route possible for a human being. 123 37 2 / 187 22 2 291 37 6 / 288 24 7
Please help!
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My understanding is that it links directly to the beekeepers book. My idea was 123 page etc....
So far I’m wondering if the quote was to tell me the book, the 3 digit number is the book page, but the other two numbers I just can’t figure out at all
Mod
Well thank you for trying! I’m stumped as well It's supposed to look like this I think
123 37 2
187 22 2
291 37 6
288 24 7
Generally with book-based ciphers, you have to know both the book being used and the exact edition. That's what can make them so difficult to decipher. The numbers are usually page number, line number, word number. An ebook will not work (unless you have the exact same ereader and exact same settings) because a change in something like font size will affect on which line a specific word will appear. If you know you have the same copy of the book as your friend, try looking on those pages and counting the lines to see what word it might be referencing. Of course, all of this is simply based on what I've read on code-breaking in books, so it's possible it's completely wrong. :)
Ellen's approach sounds promising. I remember codes featured in Holmes stories and in others based on them. Enola Holmes in Nancy Springers' books, has to solve one that involves wrapping the strip of paper around her bicycle frame. Another, echoed in a story by (I think) Hank Phillipi Ryan, featured drawings of dancing men as the code.
I hope this gets solved . . . do share please.
Hello everyone!! Thank you all for your help. Last night I was able to solve it. It was what I originally thought, and what you guys thought too Page number
Line
Word
But my friend and I have different formats of Beekeepers Apprentice hence the discrepancy of the format caused me to not be able to solve it. So after looking at another copy I was able to read the message.
Thanks again!! You guys are awesome ☺️
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Darn, I should have thought of asking what edition you were using, of course that's the key! But at least we had the right general idea, especially Ellen who nailed it!
Dan Brown is famous for including cyphers in his books. I’ve never been able to solve any of them. I like cyphers and codes, so it was frustrating. When I was in junior high, my best friend and I passed encoded note to each other using simple letter substitution codes.
Grrr! I can never find the list of books to be read when I am at the library. Is that in a topic list or somewhere else? I’m ready for the February book and wanted to get a head start. Thanks,
Dayna
Mod
Hi Dayna,
The upcoming books are on our group's "to read" bookshelf, here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
You can also get to it from the group homepage. About halfway down the page, there's a section for "upcoming" reads. And there is a link to the group book shelf at the top of the homepage as well. Hope that helps!
Thanks, Erin. I saved the link this time.
Posting this because we just read a Dorothy Sayers novel and a number of us are Holmesians.https://crimereads.com/the-public-dom...
Dayna wrote: "Posting this because we just read a Dorothy Sayers novel and a number of us are Holmesians.https://crimereads.com/the-public-dom..."
Thanks, Dayna, that was good fun. I especially liked the photos! I think the picture of Dorothy L. Sayers was in her role as President (or whatever the title was) of the Detection Club. I am just doing this from memory, but I think they had an elaborate (and hilarious) ritual for initiation of new members which involved that skull, among other things. Go check a search engine for Detection Club Oath, it's really a treat. Gotta memorize that. //Meredith
I wondered why the skull! I’ll have to check that out.
April selection, "Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter" is included in Audible's "High Five Sale" ($5 for members) thru March 31.
VeeInNY wrote: "April selection, "Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter" is included in Audible's "High Five Sale" ($5 for members) thru March 31."I was just coming on here to say this! In case anyone wanted to pick up the audiobook.
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Oh, excellent! And I'm actually listening to the audiobook right now and it's wonderful. Kate Reading is one of my favorite readers.
This moved "Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter" to the top of Mt. TBR. I started it last night, and I'm hooked!
For those who have, thanks to Holmes, developed an interest in bees, here's an article about beekeeping that I found interesting: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/lo...
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I think that goes under the heading of first world problems, Erin! :D
Sync the Kindle app on your phone to start the new books there while you finish the library ones on your Kindle before you resync there?
Erin wrote: "I found a work-around on my Kindle that lets me keep books longer than the three-week check out time (if you're in "airplane mode," the reader can't ping back to Amazon to find out the book is expi..."If you are only meh about the books you have, let them go and re-borrow after you finish the ones you want. ;-)
This whole social distancing/work from home reaction to the virus (which IMO is very good advice) should let us all get a bit further on our TBR piles. I'm doing some looking on the bright side thinking.
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(Yes, I get that social distancing dictates that I should maybe not be going to gym class at all, but I think that would be just a little too much to bear after being by myself all day every day. And at least gym class is only 25 people, not the 1000 I was interacting with at work and the who knows how many on transit.)
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One of my stops today was the library. I’m set for a couple of weeks, at least. One of the finds was another of the “Jimmy Perez” series by Anne Cleve, which is the basis of the TV show Shetland. Anyone else a fan?
Our libraries are all closed until the second week of April here - thank goodness for Libby, Hoopla, etc.! So it will definitely be a good time to work through that TBR!
KarenB wrote: "This whole social distancing/work from home reaction to the virus (which IMO is very good advice) should let us all get a bit further on our TBR piles. I'm doing some looking on the bright side thi..."I do seem to be getting more reading done. I'm also cooking more, not going out to eat as often. I'm rather enjoying getting the reading done, but I wish it wasn't due to all the cancellations from the Coronavirus.
Dayna wrote: "One of my stops today was the library. I’m set for a couple of weeks, at least. One of the finds was another of the “Jimmy Perez” series by Anne Cleve, which is the basis of the TV show Shetland. A..."Hi Dayna, I'm listening to Cold Earth (book 7) now. I liked the TV series also. Book 8 is waiting on my MP3 Player. Then- no more Perez. . .
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This was described as "dueling Holmeses" in one of my feeds:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI88g...
(Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller)
Dayna, I am a big fan of both the Shetland series and Vera. Although I do love the TV adaptation of Shetland, I just can't get my head around a blonde Jimmy Perez. Same problem with both the sheriff and The Cheyenne Nation in Longmire.
By happenstance, I just glanced at the photo of Laurie with a parrot sitting on her white hair. A lot more attractive than the fly on Pence's white hair! :-)
How do you all feel about ordering books from Amazon? I tend to use it as a last resort—more for availability than price. Reason for asking: I’d like to suggest reading one of Maureen Jennings’ mysteries, but there are very few print copies available of any of her series from independent book sellers or the price is $15 or more depending on the series and format plus shipping. While I’m not opposed to paying that for a book I really want to read, I also hesitate to suggest a book that is hard to come by or more than $10 from a seller other than Amazon, which sells print copies of the Murdoch Mysteries series for as little as $5 plus $4 for shipping. There are Kindle versions for less than $10, but I generally prefer to read print—avoiding digital because I read just before bed.
I’ve never read any of the Murdoch series but have been watching the series on Hulu. Some of the comments I’ve read suggest the books are darker than the series. Jennings and her daughter were heavily involved in writing scripts, consulting and producing the series.
There is only one Jennings book in the system from my local library, which I am reading now (Season of Darkness) about the murder of a Land Army woman in rural 1940-England.
Jennings’ Charlotte Frayne, P.I. series also looks intriguing. If you want to know more about Jennings and her books, check out her website at https://maureenjennings.com/ Maureen Jennings.
So back to my original question: Buying from Amazon—thumbs up or down? Comments welcome!
I don't have much of a problem with it given that much of what I read is on kindle. If I buy a physical book, I try to get it from an independent bookstore. But if there are moral or ethical objections to Amazon from others in the group, I can certainly respect that position.
Laurie R. King Virtual Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
A Murderous Relation (other topics)Island of the Mad (other topics)
Devil's Trill (other topics)
Devil's Trill (other topics)
