When "no" isn't the right answer

On Kindle, I'm currently reading AFTER THE WAR IS OVER by Jennifer Robson. Essentially a stand alone, the characters are connected to her previous book, SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE. Here's a description:

After four years as a military nurse, Charlotte Brown is ready to leave behind the devastation of the Great War. The daughter of a vicar, she has always been determined to dedicate her life to helping others. Moving to busy Liverpool, she throws herself into her work with those most in need, only tearing herself away for the lively dinners she enjoys with the women at her boarding house. Just as Charlotte begins to settle into her new circumstances, two messages arrive that will change her life. One, from a radical young newspaper editor, offers her a chance to speak out for those who cannot. The other pulls her back to her past, and to a man she has tried, and failed, to forget. Edward Neville-Ashford, her former employer and the brother of Charlotte’s dearest friend, is now the new Earl of Cumberland—and a shadow of the man he once was. Yet under his battle wounds and haunted eyes Charlotte sees glimpses of the charming boy who long ago claimed her foolish heart. She wants to help him, but dare she risk her future for a man who can never be hers? As Britain seethes with unrest and post-war euphoria flattens into bitter disappointment, Charlotte must confront long-held insecurities to find her true voice . . . and the courage to decide if the life she has created is the one she truly wants.

Published in 2015, it has 384 pages. 

Other than the Friends of the NRA banquet hell-athon on Thursday, next week will actually be awesome. New book by C.S. Harris arrives on Tuesday (squee!!), along with DVDs of Outlander and Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1. Also on Tuesday, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns to TV. On Wednesday, the second season of Broadchurch begins on BBCAmerica at last (woot!)!

No plans for the weekend to go anywhere. I would love to read, nap, listen to beautiful music. I'd like to do some throwing out of unneeded stuff in the house. I will for sure do laundry and vacuum and stuff. Sunday evening will be spent watching The Walking Dead.

Have a great weekend!

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Underdog is REAL!

Gosh, I loved Underdog."Have no fear - Underdog is here!"

I had a great discussion with with a personal coach yesterday. Helped me focus on stuff in general. Just lovely to talk to someone like that.

Tonight, nothing on TV. I don't know, I MAY have a meeting for that frickin' Friends of the NRA fundraiser but I haven't been given any info on it yet. I hate last minute things.

It's okay, go to your happy place ....

Or, like me, you can try to recreate a library in your own home. Yeah.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Go awaaaaaaayyyyy!

Steve has shooting, I will read. I got suckered into helping at the Friends of the NRA banquet again after trying to say no. Bah. Chocolate was needed after that. Serious chocolate.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about classic movies and discovered he had seen very few. How shocking and sad. So then I was trying to think of what would be the three to five movies that I would recommend watching if someone was new to classic movies? It's a tough one. Perhaps:

Casablanca - it has Nazis, pickpockets, spies, Jewish refugees, a Russian bartender, a Bulgarian beauty and gambling, exit visas to kill for. Most of all, Casablanca has a great love story. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are lovers torn apart by duty in Paris, and reunited by desperation in Casablanca as World War II begins -- and she's married to a resistance hero. The question is, what is he willing to do to get her back? "Round up the usual suspects" and other fantastic quotes.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice. Scout, Jem, Boo Radley.  "Miss Jean Louise. Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing."

From there, I toss around His Girl Friday, Gone with the Wind, Singin' in the Rain,  ... and then one starts to think of how far back does "classic" really mean? 60s? Sure. I think of Lawrence of Arabia. 70s? Maybe.  80s? That's 30 years ago already and in film that's olllllld. Raiders of the Lost Ark .....Should it only be black and white? Dramas?  It's really an impossible task.

Then I started thinking about classic BOOKS.... Argh!!

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

I think Coda and Ryker think the same

Looks like I'm re-reading CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK by Elizabeth Peters instead of yesterday's post. This is 1st of 19 in series featuring Amelia Peabody, a Victorian feminist Egyptologist. Here's a description:

Thirty-one-year-old Victorian gentlewoman Amelia Peabody has not only inherited her father's fortune, but she is also blessed with his strong will as well. Now she's headed for Cairo, accompanied by a girl with a tarnished past, to indulge her passion for Egyptology. Little did she know that murder and a homicidal mummy lay in wait for her.

 Published in 1975, it has 272 pages. I read this decades ago, maybe in the early 90s. Great characters and of course archeology. Somehow I stopped reading it somewhere in the middle, maybe when Ramses grew up. I saw it available on the digital library site and decided it would be fun to read it again.

I have the season finale of Agent Carter tonight to watch on TV.


Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Ahhhhh, hot tubbing

I'm about to start A CRIMSON WARNING by Tasha Alexander. This is 6th of 9 in series featuring Lady Emily Ashton, a young widow in Victorian London. Description follows:

 Newly returned to her home in Mayfair, Lady Emily Hargreaves is looking forward to enjoying the delights of the season. The delights, that is, as defined by her own eccentricities—reading The Aeneid, waltzing with her dashing husband, and joining the Women’s Liberal Federation in the early stages of its campaign to win the vote for women. But an audacious vandal disturbs the peace in the capital city, splashing red paint on the neat edifices of the homes of London’s elite. This mark, impossible to hide, presages the revelation of scandalous secrets, driving the hapless victims into disgrace, despair and even death. Soon, all of London high society is living in fear of learning who will be the next target, and Lady Emily and her husband, Colin, favorite agent of the crown, must uncover the identity and reveal the motives of the twisted mind behind it all before another innocent life is lost.

Published in 2011, it has 336 pages.  I've tried to read this a couple times since it came out but just couldn't make it past the first few pages. I will try again. This is a digital loan from the library.

I didn't watch much of the Academy Awards last night, just bits and pieces of the last hour. I did catch the last part of Lady Gaga's performance of Sound of Music. I'm not a GaGa fan, but she was superb:


Just completely impressive.

Nothing on TV for me tonight so I hope to read.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Oh heckyeah

We made it!  Woot!

Supposed to be cold this weekend so I don't have any plans beyond the usual cleaning, with occasional reading, napping and watching Dr. Who. And we've got The Walking Dead and The Talking Dead on Sunday.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Whatever it is. I'm watching you.

I read a quick digital, NEVER FORGOTTEN by Terri Reid. This was 3rd of 14 in series featuring Mary O'Reilly, former Chicago cop and now PI who's able to see dead people. Here's a description:

Mary O'Reilly is a private investigator who can see and speak with ghosts. She and her boyfriend, Police Chief Bradley Alden, are celebrating Christmas when a ghost shows up, clearly a victim of a brutal beating and murder. All the signs point to domestic abuse and Mary signs on to investigate to get the truth. The only problem is, although Mary knows she's dead, there's no proof and there's no body to be found. Meanwhile, the town has been under a curse for the last four years. It turns out that 12 men of public service, cops, firefighters, etc... have died of unknown causes with similar symptoms before their deaths, and Bradley has just come down with the symptoms. With Bradley sick, it's up to Mary alone to solve two murder cases, but along the way she comes up with some surprising help from the otherworld, including Bradley's dead wife

Published 2011, it has 245 pages. 

About to start BLOOD ON THE WATER by Anne Perry. This is 20th of 21 in series featuring William Monk in Victorian London. Here's a description:

Monk witnesses the horrifying explosion of the pleasure boat Princess Mary, which sends to their deaths nearly two hundred merrymakers. The tragedy is no accident. As commander of the River Police, Monk should handle the case, but the investigation is turned over to the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. An Egyptian man is swiftly caught, tried, and sentenced to die. But almost as quickly, Monk presents evidence that Habib Beshara, though a nasty piece of work, was elsewhere at the time of the blast. The investigation, now in complete disarray, is hastily turned over to Monk. Is the crime connected with the soon-to-be-opened Suez Canal, which will enormously benefit wealthy British shipping companies? Or did all of those innocent people drown to ensure the death of just one? How did the bomber board the ship, and how did he manage to escape? Is he an anarchist or a madman? Backed up by his astute wife, Hester, and his old reliable friend Oliver Rathbone, Monk vows to find answers—but instead finds himself treading the dangerous waters of international intrigue, his questions politely turned aside by a formidable array of the powerful and privileged. Events twist and turn like the Thames itself, leading to the shattering moment when Monk realizes, perhaps too late, that he is the next target.

Published in 2014, it has 321 pages. This is a digital loan from the library.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

I know art when I see it

Currently reading DEATH OF A SCHOLAR by Susanna Gregory. 20th of 21 in series featuring Matthew Bartholomew, physician, and his colleague Brother Michael, in 14th century Cambridge. Here's a description:

The University should have been delighted when an influential courtier decides to found a new College in Cambridge, but the older Colleges are jealous of the newcomer's ostentatious wealth, and the townsfolk bitterly resent yet another academic foundation thrust into their midst. Tensions between town and gown rise further still when physician Matthew Bartholomew snatches an unpopular felon from the jaws of death—an incident that coincides with a sudden increase in violent crime across the whole region. As the new College is about to receive the charter that will make it an official part of the University, an arrow flies through the air and kills the Junior Proctor. With the townsfolk and the scholars blaming each other for the murder, Bartholomew and his friend Brother Michael must find the culprit before the whole region erupts in a frenzy of recrimination and revenge.

Published in 2014, it has 464 pages.

Nothing on TV tonight so I will read/study. Been reading up on Human Design, which is a sort of astrology but more complicated. Interesting stuff.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Are you SURE you'd rather read?

Tonight I have Agent Carter to watch on TV. Here's a clip:


Otherwise, it's just another day. I wish I had more to talk about. Not much happenin'.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Resistance is futile. Seriously. Don't even try.

I finished the JD Robb yesterday. Very very good. And it's kind of burned me out for reading something else so I'll be doing a little nonfiction reading until inspiration strikes again.

Nothing on TV tonight. I watched The Escape Artist via Amazon Instant, starring David Tennant. A three-part Masterpiece Mystery production.  Brilliant. Man, I love David Tennant. Last night's Walking Dead was all right; no one died. Daryl cried and women viewers across the country went bonkers. :)  If I feel like it, I may watch another Dr. Who episode but we'll see.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

You can't choose who (or what) you love.

No particular plans for the weekend. Valentine's Day is tomorrow. I think we'll do our "special" dinner tonight because we always have bad luck trying to do take out on that day. So, cleaning, vacuuming, reading, etc. etc.

Coming out this weekend in movies is 50 Shades of Grey. Very controversial for explicit BDSM. I read the books so that I would be knowledgeable to talk about them. I was concerned about the first book that young readers without life experience would confuse the obsession and graphic sexual encounters as what love is. The later two books deal more with the relationship so it did get better in the end. As a reader, I don't mind reading erotica if there is not abuse. What I hate and what I'm seeing a lot on line is people having opinions about it without reading the books or seeing the movie and in general bashing genre reading. I don't like stupid bullies.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

This is going to take forever to read

Steve comes home tonight from his meetings. Back to having to think of making dinners again. :)

Last night I almost got sucked into watching Terminator on TV, the first one from 1984, which is a great movie. "Come with me if you want to live." (love that line, sigh)  But I resisted! And I was able to read for a bit before the eyelids closed though it was a struggle. Success!

There is a one minute long clip of an upcoming (in April) Outlander scene from the Starz series, to tease us.  Wow, it is hot hot hot.

You are my home now.  I want you, Claire.  I want you so much I can scarce breathe. Will you have me?

You'll have to imagine the visuals because I can't seem to embed the clip right now. Just in time for Valentine's Day. It got me to thinking of romantic lines from books. Here's some good ones:

From PERSUASION by Jane Austen (my favorite book of hers):

“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."

(swoon)

From OUR MUTUAL FRIEND by Charles Dickens:

"You know what I am going to say. I love you. What other men may mean when they use that expression, I cannot tell; what I mean is, that I am under the influence of some tremendous attraction which I have resisted in vain, and which overmasters me. You could draw me to fire, you could draw me to water, you could draw me to the gallows, you could draw me to any death, you could draw me to anything I have most avoided, you could draw me to any exposure and disgrace. This and the confusion of my thoughts, so that I am fit for nothing, is what I mean by your being the ruin of me. But if you would return a favourable answer to my offer of myself in marriage, you could draw me to any good - every good - with equal force."

from CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN by Louis de Bernieres

"When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots are to become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day. It is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every part of your body. No ... don't blush. I am telling you some truths. For that is just being in love; which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away. Doesn't sound very exciting, does it? But it is!"

I've not read the last two books there but maybe I need to do a perusal. Just lovely.

Warmer today, supposed to get in the 50s. A couple days ago I started to rewatch some of the early episodes of Broadchurch on Netflix in anticipation of the second season on BBC America in three weeks. I must also get back to watching Dr. Who season 2 - the first with David Tennant as the Doctor.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Rock a bye puppy

I didn't actually get much reading done last night. Just got too tired after watching Agent Carter. So I will try to make up for lost opportunity tonight.

Very foggy this morning. Perfect sleeping in weather but it was not to be. Bah.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Duuude. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Arriving today is OBSESSION IN DEATH by JD Robb. This is 40th of 40 in series featuring Eve Dallas, a homicide lieutenant in futuristic New York City. Here's a description:

Eve Dallas has solved a lot of high-profile murders for the NYPSD and gotten a lot of media. She—and her billionaire husband—are getting accustomed to being objects of attention, of gossip, of speculation. But now Eve has become the object of one person’s obsession. Someone who finds her extraordinary, and thinks about her every hour of every day. Who believes the two of them have a special relationship. Who would kill for her—again and again… With a murderer reading meanings into her every move, handling this case will be a delicate—and dangerous—psychological dance. And Eve knows that underneath the worship and admiration, a terrible threat lies in wait. Because the beautiful lieutenant is not at all grateful for these bloody offerings from her “true and loyal friend.” And in time, idols always fall…

Published in 2015, it has 416 pages. Very excited to start it.

I have Agent Carter to watch tonight but otherwise, I'll be reading.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Books are so booooring!

Currently reading THE DAY OF ATONEMENT by David Liss. This is a stand alone but in the same world as his previous books. Here's a description:

Sebastião Raposa is only thirteen when his parents are unjustly imprisoned, never to be seen again, and he is forced to flee Portugal lest he too fall victim to the Inquisition. But ten years in exile only serve to whet his appetite for vengeance. Returning at last to Lisbon, in the guise of English businessman Sebastian Foxx, he is no longer a frightened boy but a dangerous man tormented by violent impulses. Haunted by the specter of all he has lost—including his exquisite first love—Foxx is determined to right old wrongs by punishing an unforgivable enemy with unrelenting fury. Well schooled by his benefactor, the notorious bounty hunter Benjamin Weaver, in the use of wits, fists, and a variety of weapons, Foxx stalks the ruthless Inquisitor priest Pedro Azinheiro. But in a city ruled by terror and treachery, where money and information can buy power and trump any law, no enemy should be underestimated and no ally can be trusted. Having risked everything, and once again under the watchful eye of the Inquisition, Foxx finds his plans unraveling as he becomes drawn into the struggles of old friends—and new enemies—none of whom, like Lisbon itself, are what they seem. Compelled to play a game of deception and greed, Sebastian Foxx will find himself befriended, betrayed, tempted by desire, and tormented by personal turmoil. And when a twist of fate turns his carefully laid plans to chaos, he will be forced to choose between surrendering to bloodlust or serving the cause of mercy.

Published 2014, it has 384 pages. This is a loan from the library. 

Last night's The Walking Dead was frustrating. Last we saw our band, they lost a beloved character. Then the weeks' long mid-season break. Back last night .... another beloved character is killed off. Bah. Not sad this time, just feel manipulated and angry. Bah, I say. One more chance, people..... And :

Seriously. 

Nothing on TV tonight as far as I remember so I'll be reading and early to bed. It's been a Monday from you know where. Will have a glass of wine and reading and bed.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Friday..... there you are. I'm so happy.

TGIF. Woot!

Luckily, no plans for the weekend other than the usual. Cleaning, laundry, reading, maybe watch a movie via On Demand. Dare I find another series to binge watch? I don't think I can take it right now. Still reeling from The Borgias with the sad scenes of Juan's death and his father's grieving. 

I was the same with Broadchurch a month ago. The reactions of a town to the death of Danny was amazing viewing and then the surprise/shock of who did it was terrific storytelling.

See why I don't watch much TV? I have an extremely high bar for shows to reach but when they do, just wow. The Walking Dead returns on Sunday. The last episode we saw of this was Beth being killed and I was devastated. And pissed. They have a lot to make up for.

Supposed to be in the 50s for the next few days with possibilities of showers.

Question: why does "healthy" "organic" food usually taste so bad? Ugh. It's like they do it on purpose to push us back to fast food.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Whadya mean it's not Friday?

Slept very well last so I felt incredibly alert and better today. Go figure! Must repeat that more often. It helps that I buzzed through the rest of season two of The Borgias and I'm free now. I'm not that interested in season three because it won't have the tension of Juan in them -- though, hey, incest can be interesting too. (Cesare and Lucretzia are siblings and well, historically supposedly really really liked each other). The last episode of season two was really touching. The Pope finally buried his son Juan, lifting up the head and shoulders of the adult actor and when he turned around he was carrying a boy -- as if THIS was how he saw his dead son. Very moving.

Tonight, I hope to read and sleep. In that order.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Bad hair day.

Wednesday. Cold this morning but supposed to get in the 30s and in the 50s by the weekend. I didn't sleep well last night so kind of slogging through the day.

Nothing on TV tonight so I'll be binge watching The Borgias some more. How's this for medieval rockstar Juan Borgia?

Oh yeah, and books and reading. Right. 

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Couch potato

I'm having another obsession. The Borgias, the Showtime series than ran from 2011 to 2013. The episodes are on Netflix and I'm binge watching.

I'm mainly interested in the character Juan Borgia played by David Oakes. I am intrigued how a character who looked like this in season one:

Looks like this in season two:

 

That's good storytelling and a fantastic character arc (and great acting).

Otherwise tonight, I have Agent Carter to watch - a bit tamer than the sex and violence of The Borgias. Steve has a board meeting.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Ohhh that Monday alarm ...

So I had an "interesting" weekend. Saturday morning I woke up not feeling well and I didn't want to walk the dogs feeling that sick so I decided to take them for a ride instead. Sometime during the night, our across-the-street neighbor parked a flat bed trailer directly behind our driveway. And so when I backed out at 6:30 in the morning and still dark I didn't know it was there and I hit it. No damage to them, thank goodness, but I completely busted my right rear taillight. Try to find a body shop open on a Saturday, seriously. I found one and got there at 8:30; they said they were overbooked being the end of the month but they would try to work me in. They did. But they didn't have the right taillight in stock. Bah.

Because I wasn't feeling at well, when I got home at 11:3 0and hadn't eaten breakfast, I had lunch then I went to bed and slept until 4. No cleaning or laundry done. Then we had a sponsors' banquet for the Friends of the NRA at 6. Sorta a lost day for me.

Otherwise, I read a little, watched an episode of Dr. Who and a couple episodes of The Borgias.  I watched a little of Grantchester on Masterpiece Mystery but got sidetracked by the Star Trek movie (2009) on which I think they did an excellent job.  And then the weekend was over. (I didn't watch a whole lot of the Superbowl or even the commercials).

Tonight Steve has a pre-board meeting before the real board meeting tomorrow night. (shrug). Nothing on TV for me tonight so I'll either do some more Netflix viewing or reading.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster