What Are We Reading? 23 Nov 2020

[Lljones]

Georg wrote: "They changed the end in the film, I think (if memory of the book serves me right) to mitigate that effect. Didn't work for me though..."

I had the same feeling about the ending, that it had been changed, but I didn't go back to to book to confirm. Didn't work for me, either, but I otherwise enjoyed the film.

Back in 2017 when word first got out that they were making a movie of The Bookshop, there were a number of conversations on the real TL&S about it. MsCarey was adamant that the film was not filmable and she was absolutely delighted when the movie reviews panned it. (I just went back and looked at some of those conversations; the made me chuckle quite a bit.) She razzed me terribly when I told her I liked the movie!

[giveusaclue]

FrancesBurgundy wrote: "scarletnoir wrote "you will find a link to one of their best-loved works: "FrancesBurgundy wrote: "Weren’t Flanders and Swann wonderful!"

Digression re spiders and linking to comments in GR

I'm a..."

Strange thing these phobias, show me a daddy-long-legs and I'm fine, but a big hairy spider - no way. Same with butterflies, love those but moths send me into a panic.

[giveusaclue]

As we were talking of Flanders and Swan, I went on a rather muddy riverside walk today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt6xG...

[Lljones]

giveusaclue wrote: "Same with butterflies, love those but moths send me into a panic. ..."

Some of you may remember from 'the old days' that I'm the sixth of seven children. My dad had 2-3 favorite stories that he told and retold about each of his children, well into our adulthood and all of his life. For example, he loved to tell this story about brother C (his favorite son), who can only be described by those who know and love him as someone who marches to his own drummer:

C (age 5): ABDZFGC...
Dad: That's not quite right, honey. It goes like this: ABCDEFG....
C: That's not how I say it.

Here's one of the stories he always told about me:

Me (age 7, running around the room and flapping my arms): A moth! A moth! A moth!
Dad: It's just a moth, honey. It won't hurt you.
Me: It will eat my clothes off!

[MK]

Francis wrote: "In the past week I read The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan, an interesting novel where every chapter is narrated by a different character (none narrating two c..."

Regarding Shardlake - Please tell me you have read 1, 2, and 3 before picking up Revelation.

[MK]

giveusaclue wrote: "FrancesBurgundy wrote: "scarletnoir wrote "you will find a link to one of their best-loved works: "FrancesBurgundy wrote: "Weren’t Flanders and Swann wonderful!"

Digression re spiders and linking ..."

Make a note to stay away from Seattle in the early fall. Spiders here are amazingly industrious. If you go out in the morning without thinking, the probability that you will run into a newly strung strand is high. For several weeks it is important to find a stick to hold out in front of you so you don't end up with a spider in your hair. Also important is to tuck pants into socks while working in the yard or buy a spider bite calmer because those bites really itch!

[Bill]

Some book-related links:
Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book

“He is an icon of hate speech and transphobia and the fact that he’s an icon of white supremacy, regardless of the content of his book, I’m not proud to work for a company that publishes him,” a junior employee who is a member of the LGBTQ community and who attended the town hall told VICE World News.

Another employee said “people were crying in the meeting about how Jordan Peterson has affected their lives.” They said one co-worker discussed how Peterson had radicalized their father and another, who is talked about how publishing the book will negatively affect their non-binary friend.

The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson offers A Reading List to understand Biden voters

After Donald Trump won in 2016, the media and academia embarked on a numbingly comprehensive sociological and anthropological examination of “the Trump voter.” Reporters and researchers swarmed what seemed like every bereft factory town in the industrial Midwest, every hill and hollow of Appalachia, every windswept farming community throughout the Great Plains. I’m pretty sure television crews did, in fact, bring us reports from every single diner in the contiguous United States — at least, those where at least one regular patron wears overalls.

Never mind that nearly 3 million more of us voted against Trump four years ago; no one seemed terribly interested in our inner lives, our hopes and dreams. This time, however, the gap is too big to ignore — Biden, the president-elect, beat Trump by more than 6 million votes and counting. He won back the heartland of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He won Georgia, for heaven’s sake.

Logically, then, we should put aside those dog-eared copies of J.D. Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy” and subject “the Biden voter” to the same kind of microscopic scrutiny. Venture out of your bubble, Trump supporters, and try to understand how most of America thinks.

And, speak of the devil, as Robinson does in the above excerpt, the New Yorker’s on-line movie critic Richard Brody reviews the adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy

The movie intersperses J.D.’s hurried effort to get Bev into rehab with flashbacks to his troubles during his teen years: the violent conflicts with Bev that he endured, and the instability of his home life with her as a result of her unstable relationships with men. In a matched set of flashbacks, Bev’s boyfriend Matt (Jesse C. Boyd), a cop, gets J.D. and Lindsay a dog—but Bev dumps that boyfriend for her boss, Ken (Keong Sim), whom she marries impulsively. Ken has allergies and forces the children to get rid of the dog. A lax parent, he lets his skater son, Travis (Morgan Gao)—with whom J.D. now bunks—slack off. Ken has a “Casino” poster in his living room, which positions him as more culturally sophisticated; he grows his own marijuana at home, and Travis smokes it. Bev’s relationship with Ken is, in effect, the intrusion of élite liberal culture into the Vances’ displaced-hillbilly way of life, and a marker of its alienation from American society at large.

This view of Appalachian alienation in action is made clearer by the movie’s depiction of J.D. and his family as having no cultural attachment whatsoever. The TV is often on in the house—young J.D. likes to watch the political news but never has a word to say about it—and Bev is briefly seen sharing an enthusiasm for football with J.D. Otherwise, J.D.’s family members are blank repositories of trouble, frustration, and striving. Even Mamaw, though gloriously profane and cantankerous, is devoid of any ideas that don’t cut to the practicalities that she tackles with blunt force and ferocious familial devotion. Miserable and confused by the new life with Ken and Travis that Bev has forced him into, J.D. neglects his studies, acts out, risks serious trouble, and is wrenched from that household by Mamaw, who takes him in and administers tough love. The crucial scene in the film is one that takes place in a car, when J.D. and Mamaw have a fierce argument. In the course of it, she sharply lectures young J.D. about the mighty exertions of study and discipline that it will take for him to “be somebody,” and about her reason for putting the hard work into raising him: “Who’s gonna take care of this family when I’m gone?” It’s exemplary of the film that this is Mamaw’s great aria; she has nothing to say about anything else.

[Magrat]

Lljones wrote: "Georg wrote: "They changed the end in the film, I think (if memory of the book serves me right) to mitigate that effect. Didn't work for me though..."

I had the same feeling about the ending, that..."

As is so often the case, the book is better than the film, and helps to explain some things that are rather obscure in the film. Nevertheless I enjoyed the film, which I thought true to the spirit of the book, even if the emphasis of some of it was changed. And of course I'm a great fan of Bill Nighey...

[Lljones]

Magrat wrote: "And of course I'm a great fan of Bill Nighy ..."

Indeed. Not sure we'll if ever convince MsC, though!

[CCCubbon]

< >
The Summer without Men
I have been struggling with this book for the narrator is so darned miserable and full of self pity that I cannot help thinking that it’s no surprise Boris left.

[AB76]

While its great to have the book-based interaction, i am deeply suspicious of the social media aspect of goodreads. I am not on any social media and avoid the temptation
There are elements here with profiles, links, updates and likes that smack of the dead hand of Zuckerberg
As its book related i am more chilled than irritated but i dislike social media intensely.

[Georg]

Magrat wrote: I enjoyed the film, which I thought true to the spirit of the book

I think that is the best one can expect; at least I wouldn't expect a film to be better than the book.

I wonder how many people read a book after they have seen its film adaptation. Had I not read "The Bookshop" I would want to read it now. As it is I want to re-read it...

Re Bill Nighy:
For me the two encounters between Mr Brundish and Florence were the most emotional scenes in the film. Bill Nighy was outstanding.

[Storm]

I agree with you AB. Facebook wants to link my book reading and buying, and games and friends and all to “help” me. Scream.
Glad to get that off my chest. Been struggling with my blood pressure all of a sudden, after years of everything being fine, so I get cranky and jumpy. So, when unsettled, I really find It harder to concentrate on general, or non fiction, and I look for some escapist reading to totally take me out of the present moment. Kindle is a good source of crime fiction obviously with lots of new voices so I happened on Trevor Wood and The Man on the Street and loved it. Jimmy is ex Navy, suffering from PTSD which has made him go into violent rages on occasions, and has been in prison.Now living on the streets in Newcastle, Jimmy is woken one night by an argument, and thinks someone might have been killed. He gets drawn into investigating what has happened and we follow his life on the street through the story. It is definitely “gritty” but an excellent debut and cracking, believable dialogue. The writer volunteers to work with the homeless and his experience I think shows in the novel. There is a follow up, so I am keen to see whether Jimmy can get himself off the streets and how PTSD might, or might not, be overcome.

[Magrat]

AB76 wrote: "There are elements here with profiles, links, updates and likes that smack of the dead hand of Zuckerberg..."

Actually, since GR is owned by Amazon, it's the dead hand of Bezos, or would be if they weren't both still very much alive.

[Magrat]

Georg wrote: "Magrat wrote: I enjoyed the film, which I thought true to the spirit of the book

I think that is the best one can expect; at least I wouldn't expect a film to be better than the book.

I wonder ho..."

With you all the way, including the urge to re-read it. You know, while literature has been ransacked to make film and TV versions, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a half-decent book based on a film.

[Justine]

Bill wrote: "Some book-related links:
Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book
“He is an icon of hate speech and transphobia and the fact that he’s an icon of white suprema..."

Interesting excerpts, Re the Jordan Peterson, under what obligation are publishers to publish, or refuse to publish, a book whose opinions are repulsive to many? Given that publishers reject far more books than they accept, it would be hard to accuse them of 'censorship' if they'd turned Peterson down - or would it? True, there was no requirement to publish this book. On the other hand, the excuse for refusing to take on a book is normally that the editors believe it won't find a profitable market. It's evident that Peterson has that market, so rejection would be based more on political, ideological or even moral grounds. Can publishers be held accountable on such grounds - and, if so, by whom?

[AB76]

Justine wrote: "Bill wrote: "Some book-related links:
Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book
“He is an icon of hate speech and transphobia and the fact that he’s an icon of ..."

I guess, in my opinion, the publishing of Peterson should take into account educated readers spotting what he is about and his ideas being taken with strong rigourous analysis, sadly, his influence extends to people who read his books in tweet and meme form, where Peterson "owns" a liberal critic

Having read Marx, Machiavelli and Nietzche as an adult and then looked at what their intellligent prose spawned, i despair. Peterson is not in the same league but seems to be even more influential without any filtering

[AB76]

Justine wrote: "Bill wrote: "Some book-related links:
Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book
“He is an icon of hate speech and transphobia and the fact that he’s an icon of ..."

on that last point, i think maybe publishers should accompany some books with a "content warning", that is not limiting free-speech but is highlighting what may be contained inside

i have been disturbed to find on amazon, some 1930s and 1940s fascist literature accompanied by almost fascist modern day reviews. Small independent publishers on both political fringes seem to be cheaply re-printing offensive literature and non-fiction

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: re. (...the murders of three young women)

Fascinating topic , gonna have a look for it now, i found lots of testimony from the Dirty War commission that the author Ernesto Sabato was part of, very grim reading about the torture and killing of young women by the argentine military

If that interests you, you may like to try Distant Star by Roberto Bolano, which gives a fictional and much more elliptical take on similar atrocities in Chile, following Pinochet's coup. Of course, you may already have read it! I found it excellent.

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "Three coming up from me from the weekend..
Firstly, Beyond Sleep by Willem Frederik Hermans, translated by Ina Rilke.

This sounds interesting - I may make it a double bill next summer, along with Insomnia by Albert Bels, which has been on my TBR list for a while.

In a similar vein, I wonder if anyone has read Dostoyevsky's short story White Nights? I liked it a lot, many moons ago.

[scarletnoir]

Attention! This is a digression on the subject of Flanders and Swann!

Greenfairy wrote: A few years ago my mum bought a new carpet, the floor in her granny flat had a concrete floor and the carpet fitter hit a gas pipe,then the gas man knocked his exhaust pipe off on the road humps on the street outside...It all makes work for the working man to do.

Here is that wonderful song, enacted by some Legomen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOA_S...

[[deleted user]]

Lljones wrote: "Justine wrote: "Alan wrote: "Cephalopods came up in Justin's Weekly TLS. I must have seen the topic ..."

I can recommend another Cephalopodic title:

[book:Proust and the Squid: The Story and Scie..."

There is also an In Our Time episode about cephalopods.

[Georg]

Magrat wrote: ... while literature has been ransacked to make film and TV versions, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a half-decent book based on a film.


For the first part of your sentence: Dickens' novels have been ransacked for decades. But I imagine Dickens himself would be tickled pink, knowing that millions of people, who could not or would not read his books would come to love his characters, feel for them, laugh and cry with them, even in their simplified versions on screen.

For the second part: I think it is impossible to come up with a half-decent book based on a film.

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: re. (...the murders of three young women)

Fascinating topic , gonna have a look for it now, i found lots of testimony from the Dirty War commission that the author Ernesto Sabato was p..."

yes, i have read it....a long time ago

[AB76]

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "Three coming up from me from the weekend..
Firstly, Beyond Sleep by Willem Frederik Hermans, translated by Ina Rilke.

This..."

Insomnia is on my list too for next year, not sure if its about midnight sun but Beyond Sleep has that as one of its themes, that need for darkness that northern europeans from Holland,Belgium, the UK and northern france long for in those white nights

i havent read that short story but the white nights of Petersburg feature in Crime and Punishment

[Justine]

scarletnoir wrote: "Attention! This is a digression on the subject of Flanders and Swann!"

Very cheering!

[AB76]

Laura Spinney in the Times Literary Supplement on Ramuz and his use of the french language:


"One way in which Ramuz liberated himself from the formality of the French language was by exploiting the versatility of the pronoun "on", which translates into English as one, you, we or they.
He played endlessly with the possibilities it provided for blurring or shifting viewpoints, for dissolving or restoring boundaries between himself, his characters and the reader"

for the french readers here this will be more interesting as they can read the novels in the french original. i have noted from the beginning of "What if the Sun", he uses "we" as if he is an invisible observer.

[CCCubbon]

The Summer without men
< >
Confess I couldn’t bear it any more and skip read to the end. I’m sure it’s quite erudite, many literary references, but came across to me as pretentious waffle. I could not believe in any of the characters and found myself disliking the narrator for her self-centredness.
I read it, well parts of it, as an ebook. I don’t know if the longish paragraphs and typeface were influencing my boredom but I did find them very easy to skim over. I remember some comments on TLS praising this book, probably why I bought it, just not for me.

[Tam]

CCCubbon wrote: "The Summer without men

Confess I couldn’t bear it any more and skip read to the end. I’m sure it’s quite erudite, many literary references, but came across to me as pretentious waffle. I could not..."

I have it on order through the library, (5 monthes and counting now so maybe they have given up! ) as, like you I read of a few recommendations on TLS, many months ago. I read another of her books a few years back and didn't get on with it, about the art world in new York, so it was ordered more in hope than expectation. It made me think that there were similarities with Rachel Cusk, another writer that I have tried to get on with but failed. Both seem to very taken up with self-absorption, and showing off somehow...

[Tam]

Alwynne wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Justine wrote: "Bill wrote: "Some book-related links:
Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book
“He is an icon of hate speech and transphobia and t..."

It's a tricky subject... censorship. I lived in Islington in the early 80's when a somewhat radical Labour council took over the borough. One of the first policies they implemented was banning a selection of library books, such as Enid Blyton for 'racist stereo types' but once it is accepted as an idea, then where does it stop? The one that got me was the banning of a book by Erin Pizzey who was instrumental in setting up battered wives hostels. She, somewhere in the book, said that there were a small proportion of women, in her experience, who were attracted to violent men. Well its an opinion but surely not enough to be banned? And indeed if academically looked into, if true, could be useful in furthering psychology and sociology studies?

[AB76]

Tam wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Justine wrote: "Bill wrote: "Some book-related links:
Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book
“He is an icon of hate speech and t..."

while i'm no libertarian or free speech fanatic,i think banning things is wrong and advisory notes should be used more(with books). The dangers are always the more gullible, vulnerable and impressionable people these books influence as they cherry pick things that resonate with them
Social media greatly simplifies the complexity of reading books, into short snippets of mis-information.
I feel glad here to be free of the guardian moderators who seemed to pick up on so many tiny details as we discussed things in the old TLS.
I have Mein Kampf in my bookshelves, not as a lazy guide to insanity, rather as a historical record of a diseased mind and where that mind can lead people, should it be banned? Well thats a good question....should anything written by Stalin be banned too?

[Tam]

AB76 wrote: "Tam wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Justine wrote: "Bill wrote: "Some book-related links:
Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book
“He is an icon of hate ..."

Yes... I agree with you... I have no problem with the idea of attaching notes in the front piece of a book mentioning possibly contentious subjects/views and why. Poor Suzanne Moore (and I am not much of a fan of hers!) though, erst while of the Guardian!.. I thought editors were supposed to back their columnists when they give an 'opinion' in there 'Opinion' pieces?

If you try and close speech down mostly it will just go elsewhere and pop up in a more virulent form, but with resentment attached as well in the process. Its not the same as banning incitement to 'hate speech' and 'violence' which is, quite rightly, against the law. Though Mein Kampf does qualify as hate speech to me (I had a go at reading it many years ago, but abandoned it very quickly on the base that evil seemed both very banal and very poorly written!)

Its an interesting question as it is an historical book from long before there were laws against incitement to hatred, so to me it lies in the hinterland of questions such as "what to do with all those statues to slave owners, colonial exploiters etc.?"... All the more reason to talk about it I think?... so I think that whatever they are, they should still have some visibility, even if now it should be carefully orchestrated and explained, otherwise we will lose the knowledge of what it is we have been talking about... and why..

[Tam]

Machenbach wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "has anyone read Harrison's novel? It's one I'm tempted to read but I've never tried anything else of his."
I second this request."

which 'Harrison's novel'? I have got a bit lost it seems...

[Tam]

Machenbach wrote: "Tam wrote: "which 'Harrison's novel'? I ha..."

The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison
But any would do for me...."

Oh that sounds right up my street. 'The Water Babies' was one of my favourite children's books. Thanks will look it out, when I manage to get back out of lock down, here is hoping for something better from 2nd December for everyone. Sounds like a great way to 'bubble along' through Christmas...

[Storm]

I think contrary views are vital for clarifying what we think, both personally and as a society. I have ranted more than once on TLS about cancel culture and wonder where it ends. JK Rowling is being cancelled because she says women are people who menstruate. I don’t even know why this is contentious. And yes, I have read the arguments. I respect the right to hold beliefs different to mine and would expect the same courtesy. There is only tyranny and authoritarianism in demanding that people be cancelled if they don’t agree with your point of view.

[Tam]

Alwynne wrote: "REVIEW Letters from Tove

I’m fascinated by the access suggested by letters or diaries, both to individuals and the times they lived through...."

When my dog had an unexpected litter of puppies they were called Little My, Sniff, Snufkin, Snork and Mymble

[AB76]

Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Tam wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Justine wrote: "Bill wrote: "Some book-related links:
Penguin Random House Staff Confront Publisher About New Jordan Peterson Book
“He is an ..."

Mein Kampf begins as a kind of story of Hitlers youth , the second half is almost unreadable in its relentless hate

[AB76]

Tam wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "REVIEW Letters from Tove

I’m fascinated by the access suggested by letters or diaries, both to individuals and the times the..."

i love Tove Jannsson and i hope you read the link i posted about how Astrid Lindgren and Tove Jansson created their brilliant worlds of Pippi and the Moomins out of the troubles of WW2

I'm reading Lindgrens diaries of Sweden during WW2 they are really interestng so far, a female view of war

[AB76]

Alwynne wrote: "REVIEW Letters from Tove

I’m fascinated by the access suggested by letters or diaries, both to individuals and the times they lived through...."

her wartime work on satirical cartoons is fascinating and i grew up with the Moomins, just as my mother did in the 1950s. A very interesting personality

[Bill]

CCCubbon wrote: "I cannot help thinking that it’s no surprise Boris left."



For a minute, based on that comment, I thought this might be a book about Brexit.

[Bill]

Machenbach wrote: "The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison
But any would do for me...."

People are talking about M. John Harrison? Wow - I missed whatever started this. I've had Viriconium unread on my shelves for ages, along with a number of other Gollancz "Fantasy Masterworks". It's been there so long that I've forgotten what initially inspired me to pick it up, probably some kind of comparison to Peake.

[giveusaclue]

Storm wrote: "I think contrary views are vital for clarifying what we think, both personally and as a society. I have ranted more than once on TLS about cancel culture and wonder where it ends. JK Rowling is bei..."

Didn't she take issue with "people who menstruate" saying something to the effect that "isn't there a name for that .......women?"

[Tim]

I’m really enjoying Ghostland by Edward Parnell: it’s a kind of geo-personal-literary geographical guidebook and memoir and draws on all kinds of connections between places, writers, stories and the supernatural, with odd coincidences and birdwatching notes thrown in. I’m about a third in now and I sense a terrible personal tragedy is about to be revealed. It’s a powerful, fine book- it reminds me a lot of The Rings of Saturn in the way it spirals outwards from a series of places and points in time - the personal tragedy lurks there, though, all the time.

[Max (Outrage)]

Re: Message 14
Alwynne wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "After a stressful and tiring week, I am in no mood to post my book review (yet)... this is pure digression, in response to Justine's introductory summary:

The review of Parikia..."

Children of Time
I actually started this last night. The style in the first few pages anyway of Children of Time, is indeed clunky, and I was going to 'put it down' but if you reckon it's ok I'll stay with it for another chapter!

[Andy]

AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "Three coming up from me from the weekend..
Firstly, Beyond Sleep by Willem Frederik Hermans, translated by Ina Rilke. [bookcover:Beyond Sleep|1..."

I’ve been on the Hurtigruten also AB.. just one stop, 20 minutes, somewhere up in the north on a day of torrential rain...
It looked fantastic.

[Andy]

Alwynne wrote: "Read an interesting review of M. John Harrison's The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again
Particularly intrigued by the referen..."
I was a bit underwhelmed by it.. it started well, but didn’t really go anywhere.
I recall others on TLS encouraging me to stick with Harrison, and I will get back to him at some stage.

[Andy]

Tim wrote: "I’m really enjoying Ghostland by Edward Parnell: it’s a kind of geo-personal-literary geographical guidebook and memoir and draws on all kinds of connections between places, writers, stories and th..."

I enjoyed this also.
I got it from a recommendation at TLS by Dylan.. who I don’t think has made the jump across unfortunately.
He did recommend some good non-fiction stuff.

[Francis]

MK wrote: "Regarding Shardlake - Please tell me you have read 1, 2, and 3 before picking up Revelation."

I was hoping someone might interject if this was necessary. Duly noted, with thanks! :)

[Tam]

Machenbach wrote: "AB76 wrote: " it vividly reminded me of my visits in midsummer to the far North, i didnt go into Finnmark, i remained on the coast , the intensity of the light was remarkable until Tromso "

I have..."

if you do, at midsummer... prepare for some giant mosquitos.... at least where I visited, many years ago, near Sundsvall...

[MK]

My library trove from yesterday's pick up included - Mrs. Malory and the Festival Murder by Hazel Holt. Of course I opened it up while having lunch today. I have probably read it before, but so long ago that it doesn't matter. This mystery series is Miss Marple -ish and will be comforting as I snuggle under the covers later on this week.

We are surging corona - wise, and it is all getting so-o-o old. So it is especially nice to be able to look forward to the designated bad guy getting his comeuppance without much blood and gore.