I'm reading it right now, and enjoying it.
Terry
I'm really into British mystery fiction, and there are some great authors. In the last year or so I've gotten into Ann Cleeves, who wrote the books the Vera TV series is based on. I haven't started any of the Vera books yet, as I watched the whole series on PBS, but she has two other series that are excellent, the Shetland series, and the more recent Matthew Venn series.
Terry
Awww Alex, you don't know what you're missing out on mate! 😉😅
"The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better" - Stephen King 😊
I will, but I confess I'm a Harry fan, so my mind is unlikely to change. I'm not a monarchist, but I do think Harry and his wife have been given an undeserved bad name, and I don't blame him for wanting to finally set the record straight after a lifetime of being a victim of the vicious British press, and having to 'never complain, never explain.' I would too. I also don't think he's a Fig Jam, although I think that's hilarious and can think of lots of other people that would apply to!
Terry
Omg Terry!!! You like a lot of the British shows I do! I try to get subscriptions to Britbox, Acorn, PBS masterpiece etc when they have those Prime channel deals. My husband doesn’t understand lol.
Ann Cleeves is an excellent writer, I love Vera and Shetland too (books and TV series), sometimes the screenwriters combine stories or change the "whodunnit" but it still is well worth watching. My favourite Vera book is The Darkest Evening, highly recommend it.
Ann has also released some of her earlier classic crime novels, not long finished reading The Sleeping and The Dead, which was a good read too.
Thanks Jo. I'll definitely check out The Darkest Evening. I know there is a TV series of Shetland too, but unfortunately at this point it's not available on any of the streaming services we get. I keep hoping it comes to Netflix! One thing I can't figure out is why they would cast some blond guy as Jimmy Perez! I will probably start reading the Vera series at some point and maybe by then I'll have forgotten enough about the plot lines in the TV series!
Terry
Are you a Ruth Rendell fan? Or Minette Walters? Both faves of mine.
I guess I'm lucky as my husband likes those shows too! We do get PBS Masterpiece, but a lot of the Brit shows that used to be on there, just aren't anymore. We are probably going to sign up for Britbox. I've been looking into it and it's a pretty good deal.
Terry
I think I found a deal for 3 months or something. I know some people have a Britbox or Acorn preference but I think it’s more to do with what shows they want to watch. I really wanted Britbox to watch “Why didn’t they ask Evans?”
I'm like you, haven't joined a book club for the same reasons. I often have to renew my library books, and I wouldn't want the pressure of reading a book within a certain time frame. It would feel too much like a school assignment! Good on you for supporting your library! I agree and worry that they will become a thing of the past if we don't support them.
Terry
I can't even imagine not reading! I start getting anxious if I'm coming to the end of a book and don't have something to immediately follow it up with.
Terry
This wasn't recent, but a while ago I read some of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Stephanie is a bounty hunter in Newark NJ, if I remember correctly, who finds herself in some odd predicaments. Lots of fun, pretty funny and good enough that I read about a dozen of the books. Now that I think about it, I need to finish that series up.
Stephanie Plum is da bomb! (and Lula, Morelli, Ranger *sigh* and especially Grandma Mazur - even Rex the hamster is still going strong after nearly 30 years, LOL!) - Going Rogue (No. 29) is the latest (I know it's somewhere in my TBR pile!)
Janet Evanovich is my go to author when I feel like having a laugh, guaranteed a good time read!
Yes and yes to Ruth and Minette, if you like them you may also like Elizabeth George (took me awhile to warm to her, and her books are massive tomes, but I now like the Inspector Lynley mysteries - the old TV series ain't half bad either).
I know what you mean about Jimmy Perez but as I watched the show before I read the books, Jimmy will always look like actor Douglas Henshall in my head now!
I love all the British TV shows too, we are fortunate enough here to get most of them free-to-air (and even better commercial free) on our version of PBS, the ABC - which has a streaming service Iview, and overseas viewers may be able to access that if you have a VPN (virtual private network) installed.
I'm Australian for the last 48 years, came out from England in 1975. Loved the Queen and tolerate the monarchy but Ginger & The Winger should be blacklisted by every one. And he should not go to the Coronation for King Charles.
I'm Australian for the last 48 years, came out from England in 1975. Loved the Queen and tolerate the monarchy but Ginger & The Winger should be blacklisted by every one. And he should not go to the Coronation for King Charles.
A couple that are more for the Guys:
1) Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch Series
2) Lee Child - Jack Reacher - this is NOT the character played by Tom Cruise in film
3) David Baldacci - 'Memory Man' will get you hooked
4) John Grisham - Particularly liked 'The Brethren'
Light reading I know but there comes a time when you have to say goodbye to Proust and Tolstoy
Good picks (and not just for the guys)😉
As I read purely for pleasure light reading is about the only kind I know (occasionally re-read the classics but Bronte and Dickens are fairly light reading too, in my opinion).
Never said hello to Proust but gladly said goodbye to Tolstoy, reading Anna Karenina gave me a migraine, all those bloody characters, at least I finished it, unlike War and Peace (has anyone ever finished that?)
The only thing that stayed with me from Anna Karenina was this quote (so I can't dismiss Leo completely!):
“I think... if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.” 🥰
Now I’m reading The Giver because my son is for school, I don’t know how I never read it in school. He was talking about some of the heavy content so I just borrowed it from another mom who has a kid in the same class. She and I were in the snow venting about it tonight ha.
JO!!! You're the only other person I know of who's read those! Finally I have a compatriot! What a great cast of characters, huh? Hadn't thought about them in years but will be starting on Lean Mean 13 shortly. It sounds like you liked them about as much as I did.
By Lois Lowry? I read that quite awhile ago...loved it. Just looked for it online and it says "Giver Quartet, Book 1"... goodness I had no idea there were more... I have some reading to do. 🤓
Pretty much any Tom Clancy book or web Griffin book they are very good and they come in series I like reading a series because the the all involved the same characters so I enjoy the progression from one book to the other. Any one of these books you can read and it's a complete story but you get much more starting with one and working through the rest I quit buying books years ago and now I download them digitally.
Yes, that’s the one! I heard people aren’t big fans of the sequel and it could be read As a stand-alone. I was out in the snow the other night when I was picking up the book from another mom’s house because I didn’t feel like going to the library, so I asked on Facebook if anyone local had it lol. She had just read it for the same reason. I haven’t cracked it open yet but I might start reading it tonight after my kids go to bed.
I feel like I need to look up what Winger means when used like that. I’m assuming not good? Not wanting to start any arguments, but I’m truly curious as to your thoughts behind the strong feelings on the matter?
~Jodie
I was pretty annoyed with Harry by parts 2/3 of the book. I have an hour left to finish listening and usually I always finish a book if I don’t like it but I’m not sure about this one 😬
Terry, been hoping to catch you in a chat to talk about this book lol. So I don’t know if it’s because I was listening vs reading but I was starting to get annoyed by part 2 and the annoyance grew into part 3. Some of it seems like stuff families should know how to deal with, but they don’t? But I guess if your life is being blown up in tabloids etc… I fell asleep during the last hour on audible and I haven’t decided if it’s worth my time.. but I also don’t like leaving things unfinished.
