Happy New Y...

I will be awakened at midnight when Ryker hears the fireworks going off. Sigh.

I tell this story every year. When I was in junior high/high school I babysat. A lot. I always babysat on New Years Eve. Back then (the 80s), they played the same three movies every year:

Top Hat (1935),

Show Boat (1951) -- probably because there's a New Year's Eve scene, and

Casablanca (1942).

So I was thinking what I would pick for myself if I were watching movies tonight because things are pretty much available online immediately via Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon. I'm going for quirky movies I love:

Gosford Park (2001). My all time favorite movie.  The lives of upstairs guests and downstairs servants at a party in 1932 in a country house in England as they investigate a murder involving one of them.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (1990). Two minor characters from the play, "Hamlet" stumble around unaware of their scripted lives and unable to deviate from them. Love Tim Roth and Gary Oldman in this.

and Local Hero (1983). An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected. Just a lovely quirky film.

And maybe throw in Casablanca for a bit of good nostalgia. :) But what may happen, I may watch some Netflix series instead. It was around this time last year that I got hooked on Broadchurch via Netflix and started the slope of binge watching. I could continue in NCIS or Supernatural; I'm in season six of both those. Or  ....

Torchwood. I keep meaning to view this series. Captain Jack! The members of the Torchwood Institute, a secret organization founded by the British Crown, fight to protect the Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural threats. A spin off of Dr. Who.

Daredevil. A Netflix original. Marvel. As a child Matt Murdock was blinded by a chemical spill in a freak accident. Instead of limiting him it gave him superhuman senses that enabled him to see the world in a unique and powerful way. Now he uses these powers to deliver justice, not only as a lawyer in his own law firm, but also as vigilante at night, stalking the streets of Hell's Kitchen as Daredevil.

Jessica Jones. Netflix original. Marvel. Ever since her short-lived stint as a superhero ended in tragedy, Jessica Jones has been rebuilding her personal life and career as a hot-tempered, sardonic private detective in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. Plagued by self-loathing and a wicked case of PTSD, Jessica battles demons from within and without, using her extraordinary abilities as an unlikely champion for those in need... especially if they're willing to cut her a check. David Tennant as a bad guy. :)

 The Fall. A psychological thriller that examines the lives of two hunters. One is a serial killer who stalks his victims in and around Belfast and the other is a talented Detective Superintendent from the MET who is brought in to catch him. Has Jamie Dornan. Mmmmm.


Tomorrow night -- at long last -- is a new episode of Sherlock on PBS, a holiday special set during Victorian period

"The Abominable Bride"

Sherlock and John investigate a ghostly bride who appears to have committed murder. Why is Thomas Ricoletti a little surprised to see his wife dressed in her old wedding gown? Because, just a few hours before, she took her own life... Mrs Ricoletti's ghost now appears to be prowling the streets with an unslakable thirst for revenge. From fog-shrouded Limehouse to the bowels of a ruined church, Holmes, Watson and their friends must use all their cunning to combat an enemy seemingly from beyond the grave, and the final, shocking truth about... the Abominable Bride!

So I will probably maybe do a post tomorrow on the books of the year tomorrow. And so forth. 

 Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Hiding from bad moods ....

I just want peace and happiness today. Is that too much to ask?

By the way, today is Bacon Day.

This clip is hilarious. A baby tastes bacon for the first time and his parents filmed it:


He will never be the same.

I love this:

And this is totally Coda:

Have a lovely Wednesday.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Covering the phones today ....

Our receptionist is out today so I'm on phone and greeting duty today so this will be quick.

Keeping with my "clean out the TBR" reading, this one has been languishing on my Kindle for quite some time. In fact, I have it as an ARC from Netgalley. Now the book is a series and has a show on TV, the CW channel to give you an idea of the production values and focus -- think pretty young adults angsting. Yeah, I'm a little behind. THE 100 by Cass Morgan. The first of a young adult dystopian series.

Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth's radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents -- considered expendable by society -- are being sent on a dangerous mission: to recolonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life...or it could be a suicide mission. Clarke was arrested for treason, though she's haunted by the memory of what she really did. Wells, the chancellor's son, came to Earth for the girl he loves -- but will she ever forgive him? Reckless Bellamy fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only pair of siblings in the universe. And Glass managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find that life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth. Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind's last hope.

Published in 2013, it has 336 pages. It's rather fluffy for a dystopian, not really fleshed out which is probably why it was picked up for TV. :)  Each chapter is a different POV of the main four characters. It's going very quickly.

Snowing. Cold. Winter.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

I'm SO with you, dude.

I finished THE WINNER'S CRIME last night. And of course it ended on a cliff hanger and OF COURSE the last book of the trilogy doesn't come out until March! Bah.

I don't know what is next and I have to keep in mind the beginning of the year is coming up. The first book completed in the new year is very important -- it can set the tone for the whole next twelve months. But I don't know yet what it is to be and there are still three days left in this year. It's a conundrum.

Nothing on TV tonight for me. NCIS: Los Angeles is a repeat that I don't have to re-watch.

Aaaand off you go. Have a lovely Monday.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Post Christmas ...

Sorry for the lapse again in posting. There was a Christmas weekend in there you might have noticed and I've been laid up with cellulitis blah blah blah so I haven't been on my computer and it is really difficult to update from the Kindle Fire, trust me.

What I got for Christmas: I requested from Steve and received this:

A massage chair. No, I'm not going into a side biz, I just think they're comfortable, especially if one has a cold and if one is tired of things draining backward, if you catch my drift. Steve seems to not hate his gifts from me this year. One of them, a mypillow, which is supposed to be the best pillow ever invented, I swear he's not snoring hardly at all. THAT is worth the price in gold.

I'm currently reading THE WINNER'S CRIME by Marie Rutkoski. This is 2nd of The Winner's trilogy, I guess you could categorize it as fantasy, maybe.  Here's a description:

A royal wedding is what most girls dream about. It means one celebration after another: balls, fireworks, and revelry until dawn. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement: that she agreed to marry the crown prince in exchange for Arin's freedom. But can Kestrel trust Arin? Can she even trust herself? For Kestrel is becoming very good at deception. She's working as a spy in the court. If caught, she'll be exposed as a traitor to her country. Yet she can't help searching for a way to change her ruthless world . . . and she is close to uncovering a shocking secret.

Published in 2015, it has 417 pages.

Also reading THE BURRY MAN'S DAY by Catriona McPherson. 2nd of 10 in series featuring Dandy Gilver, a well-to-do woman in 1920s Scotland.

Summer 1923, and as the village of Queensferry prepares for the annual Ferry Fair and the walk of the Burry Man, feelings are running high. With his pagan greenery, his lucky pennies and the nips of whisky he is treated to wherever he goes, the Burry Man has much to offend stricter souls like the minister or temperance pamphleteer. And then at the Fair, in full view of everyone including Dandy Gilver, invited to hand out the prizes he falls down dead. If he has been poisoned then the list of suspects includes anyone with a bottle of whisky in the house, and, here at Queensferry, that means just about everyone.

Published in 2006, it has 170 pages. This book I've had for a long time; I'm trying to read books from my TBR stack. Which leads me to...

I read THE REDEMPTION OF ALEXANDER SEATON by Shona MacLean. This is 1st of 4 in series featuring Alexander Seaton, a schoolmaster, in 1620s Banff and Aberdeen, Scotland.

Is the young man merely drunk or does his tottering walk suggest something more sinister? When he collapses, vomiting, over the two whores who find him on that dark wet night, they guess rightly that he's been murdered by poisoning. So begins this gripping tale set in the town of Banff, Scotland in the 1620s. The body of the victim, the apothecary's nephew, is found in Alexander Seaton's school house. Seaton is a school master by default, and a persona non-grata in the town - a disgraced would-be minister whose love affair with a local aristocrat's daughter left him disgraced and deprived of his vocation. He has few friends, so when one of them is accused of the murder, he sets out to solve the crime, embarking on a journey that will uncover witchcraft, cruelty, prejudice and the darkness in men's souls. It is also a personal quest that leads Alexander to the rediscovery of his faith in God as well as his belief in himself.

Published in 2008, it has 464 pages. Why oh why do I sometimes not read books right away? I LOVED this book.

I've read a lot this past week due to being laid up. I'm not complaining by any means. I won't make the goal of 100 books read in the year but it will be closer.

Right. Reading while naked. We all do it.


Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Side eye I will give you

Currently reading HOME BY NIGHTFALL by Charles Finch. This is 9th of 9 in series featuring Charles Lenox, a gentleman sleuth, in 1860s London. Here's a description:

It's London in 1876, and the whole city is abuzz with the enigmatic disappearance of a famous foreign pianist. Lenox has an eye on the matter – as a partner in a now-thriving detective agency, he's a natural choice to investigate. Just when he's tempted to turn his focus to it entirely, however, his grieving brother asks him to come down to Sussex, and Lenox leaves the metropolis behind for the quieter country life of his boyhood. Or so he thinks. In fact, something strange is afoot in Markethouse: small thefts, books, blankets, animals, and more alarmingly a break-in at the house of a local insurance agent. As he and his brother to investigate this small accumulation of mysteries, Lenox realizes that something very strange and serious indeed may be happening, more than just local mischief. Soon, he's racing to solve two cases at once, one in London and one in the country, before either turns deadly. 

Published in 2015, it has 304 pages. 

I intend to work a full day today so I'll be elevating the rest of the night after I get home. So I will either be reading or watching Netflix.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Do you hear what I hear?

Sorry for the gap there. I got cellulitis ... again. Missed Friday and Monday at work. Right leg. High temp, headache, tired, chills, swollen glands, pain, thirst, not hungry, etc. etc. Doctor visit, antibiotic, sleep, elevated leg. I'm on the mend now and working a half day today.

Good thing I do all my Christmas shopping online and things come to me. And that I'm done.

So I read a lot over the weekend. I got that feeling of snuggle-down comfort reading like the urge one gets to color. So I re-read some beloved books by Rosamund Du Jardin. These were written in the 50s about being a teen and young college girl and I don't know why but I love them.

 
They're not door-stoppers so I read then one after the other and it helped me keep my mind off the pain. I wish the Laura Ingalls Wilder books were on Kindle. Ah well.

I don't know what's next to read. Yesterday, to change things up a bit, I watched some Netflix. A little NCIS and a documentary series called Myth Hunters. The first ep was about Noah's Ark. Fluffy but interesting.

Got a bit of catching up to do. Have a great day, y'all.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

I make this look good

Nothing on TV for me tonight and I'm enjoying the Barron book so I'll probably read and go to bed.

Yay, tomorrow is Friday!

Hey! There hasn't been a sneak of a Deeks in a while....

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Why? Why do you do this to me?

Currently reading JANE AND THE MAN OF THE CLOTH by Stephanie Barron. This is 2nd of 13 in series featuring Jane Austen, a famous author in regency England. Here's a description:

Jane and her family are looking forward to a peaceful holiday in the seaside village of Lyme Regis. Yet on the outskirts of town an overturned carriage forces the shaken travelers to take refuge at a nearby manor house. And it is there that Jane meets the darkly forbidding yet strangely attractive Mr. Geoffrey Sidmouth. What murky secrets does the brooding Mr. Sidmouth seek to hide? Jane suspects the worst—but her attention is swiftly diverted when a man is discovered hanged from a makeshift gibbet by the sea. The worthies of Lyme are certain his death is the work of "the Reverend," the ringleader of the midnight smuggling trade whose identity is the town's paramount mystery. Now, it falls to Jane to entrap and expose the notorious Reverend...even if the evidence points to the last person on earth she wants to suspect...a man who already may have won her heart.

Published in 1997, it has 368 pages. This is a digital loan from the library I have started and abandoned I don't know how many times. Finally!

Speaking of ... today is Jane Austen's 240th birthday.

She has become a beloved author world-wide. If only she knew. Personally, I've mentioned previously, although I love and adore PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, my favorite by hers is PERSUASION.

“I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men."

"Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes, if you please, no reference to examples in books. Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything.”
― Jane Austen, Persuasion

.....

“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W. I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never.”
― Jane Austen, Persuasion

I was super-tired yesterday and woke up tired this morning. I laid back down for a half hour while getting ready for work this morning and that shook off most of it but I may just read and go to bed early tonight. Steve has shooting. New episodes of my shows are over until January now.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Snow. It had to be snow.

Well, we got about 6 inches of the white stuff last night. The road were incredibly nasty but this morning enough had fallen on top of the slippery to be not as bad. Schools have been closed however. (private thought: really? what wimps).

NCIS: Los Angeles was fan-tast-ic. Deeks told Kensi his secret:




I don't think I have anything on TV tonight so I will probably read.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

…and if I don’t get what I WANT, there will be….displeasure

Currently reading THE MORE DECEIVED by David Roberts. This is 5th of 10 in series featuring Lord Edward Corinth, a jaded English aristocrat, and Verity Browne, a leftist journalist, between the wars in 1930s London.

It is 1937; Winston Churchill is receiving unauthorized information on Britain’s rearmament program, and Lord Edward Corinth is brought in by the Foreign Office to investigate the leaks. Edward rapidly falls under Churchill’s spell and quickly abandons his investigation to concentrate instead on finding the murderer of a Foreign Office official who may have been one of Churchill’s sources. He soon finds himself trying to untangle a web of deception that threatens the security of the state. There is a second murder within the Foreign Office, and Edward sets out for Spain to find the murdered man’s son, though his real objective is to satisfy the gnawing fear that his friend Verity Browne, also in Spain, is in extreme peril. Verity is reporting on the Civil War for the New Gazette, and she senses a scoop when she is given secret information that the enemy is planning an attack on the undefended town of Guernica. With Edward in tow she arrives just in time to witness a barbarous aerial bombardment on a civilian population with no means of defending itself. However, a near-certain death awaits Edward in England, where nothing—including the woman he loves—is what it appears to be.

Published in 2004, it has 304 pages. 

Tonight I have the Christmas episode of NCIS: Los Angeles to watch. "Cancel Christmas"

A suspected North Korean spy is poisoned and hit by a truck carrying Christmas trees. The team investigates and tries to learn who is smuggling spies into the country. Meanwhile, Deeks and Kensi try to include their mothers in their Christmas plans; and Hetty notices that Granger isn't in a holiday mood.

I love the reversal of roles here. Usually it's Deeks spinning off into verbal fantasy and Kensi doing the "WTF are you talking about?" look.

I read WINTER by Marissa Meyer this weekend because I had three days left on the digital loan. 826 pages in two days! I've still got it.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Dude! Seriously. It's just me.

TGIF!

Steve is going to a gun show tomorrow so I'll be hanging out with the boys. Surfing the Internet, reading, napping, cleaning. The usual.

Christmas plans are firming up. Two weeks away. I was listening to some music the other day. One of my favorite Christmas carols is Riu Riu Chiu, a 16th century Spanish carol. One of the best versions, actually, is by the Monkees in the 60s:



O Holy Night performed by Home Free (coming back in April!) is just fabulous:



Carol of the Bells is an irritating song unless performed by Trans-Siberian Orchestra:




Have a great weekend!

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

No, I haven't seen any Christmas cookies....

Arrow last night was so awesome!! It's been a great week of TV for me. Here's how the show ended.



And now we have to wait until January 20th!! AAAARRrrrgh!

No TV tonight for me. Probably a good thing.

Yesterday was warm and windy. Today it's cooler and dark. No snow but possible rain.

I've been in a good mood all day. Started the day watching this great performance from The Voice last night. I don't watch anymore but this guy is very talented with a great song.


Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Another night of TV

Tonight I have mid-season finale of Arrow and it will be a tough one. "Dark Waters"

Oliver makes a bold move against HIVE when the city is attacked. Meanwhile, Malcolm checks in on Thea and leaves her with a warning; and things take a horrible turn when Damien Darhk retaliates in a brutal manner at Oliver's mayoral holiday party.

Yes, Felicity is in danger. Consensus is that it will appear that she has been killed -- like Oliver in last season's winter finale. But of course she won't be because she's the second most popular character on the show but Oliver and Felicity are finally together and happy so of course the writers can't have that happen for too long.

60 degrees today. And Monday it supposed to snow 1-3 inches. Montana.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Consulted the cat legal hotline

Last night's NCIS: LA was wonderful. Here's a peek into the very last scene:




And this was an amazing scene with his mom:



The mid-season finale of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is on tonight. "Maveth":

S.H.I.E.L.D. battles Hydra head-to-head, which sees Coulson and Fitz take the ultimate risk while Daisy and the Inhumans try to keep Hydra at bay.

In an earlier episode, they translated "maveth" to mean "death."

I think I'll be sticking with MURDER ON ST. MARK'S PLACE by Victoria Thompson. This is 2nd of 18 in series featuring Sarah Brandt, a midwife in turn-of-the-20th-century New York City. Here's a description:

As a midwife in the turn-of-the-century tenements of New York City, Sarah Brandt has seen suffering and joy, birth and death-and even murder. And the crime ridden streets of the teeming city offer little relief from either. Thinking she has been summoned by German immigrant Agnes Otto to usher a new life into the world, Sarah Brandt is greeted by the news of an untimely death instead. It seems that Agnes's beautiful younger sister, Gerda, had fallen into the life of a "Charity Girl." Caught up in the false glamour of the city's nightlife, she would trade her company - and her favors - not for money, but for lavish gifts and an evenings' entertainment. And now she was dead; victim, no doubt, of one of her "gentlemen friends." No one cares much about the fate of girls like Gerda, but Sarah does. And she vows to find her killer. To do so, she turns to Sergeant Frank Malloy. As the two pursue an investigation that leads from the bright lights of Coney Island to the stately homes of Fifth Avenue, they find that their shared passion for justice may cost them dearly...

Published in 2000, it has 288 pages.  

It hit 60 degrees today. In December. In Montana. Crazy. I love global warming if this keeps happening.  

OH! And the Cowboys won a game last night! By a kick. With 9 seconds left in the game! I'll take it! 

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

I'm so hhhhhaaaaaaapppyyyyyyy

Tonight is the night!!

Two weeks ago we were left with this:

Finally. Tonight.
NCIS: Los Angeles "Internal Affairs":

Deeks is arrested and interrogated in connection with the murder of his former partner, while the team tries to prove his innocence.

This will be the best episode of the season.

Yeah, I'm a little excited.

We watched Man from U.N.C.L.E. on Saturday via On Demand. It was very good and I do recommend it. Here's a favorite scene:



We also went to see the new James Bond move, SPECTRE. The movie was good - better than Skyfall; the opening song/title sequence was horrendous.Truly. The pre-title opening sequence was mostly done as a one-take shot which is amazing to do. Here's a long trailer:


See y'all on the flip side.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster