Margery Allingham: Death of a Ghost
Unlike my reading experience with Allingham’s fellow Golden Age Queens of Crime Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh, that with Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion series is a rather checkered one, where instances of true mystery reader’s delight repeatedly follow hot on the heels of groan-inducing forays into clichéd, implausible plots populated by cardboard […]
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Louise Penny: Still Life
24 Festive Tasks: Door 13 – Advent: Book Turns out I already read my book for this square! On a related note, color me somewhat less impressed than I expected to be — this is yet another insanely popular series that, as it turns out, I won’t be rushing to continue. There’s some really good […]
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Halloween Bingo 2019: Tracking Post — Blackout! (And bingos Nos. 12 and 13.)
Many thanks to Moonlight Reader and Obsidian Blue for hosting this game for the fourth year in a row, bigger and better than ever before! Witih today’s call, I’ve blacked out my card, in addition to collecting my final bingos (nos. 12 and 13). Somewhat to my surprise, after completing my books for my […]
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Halloween Bingo 2019: Tracking Post — Bingo No. 3 and Reading Blackout
* Triple Bingo Happy Dance * Well, that went by much faster than I had anticipated … Many thanks to Moonlight Reader and Obsidian Blue for hosting this game for the fourth year in a row, bigger and better than ever before! I’ll continue tracking my bingos of course — and since we now have […]
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Halloween Bingo 2019: The Second Week
A day late (though hopefully not a dollar short), here’s my “second bingo week” summary; and it’s a summary of a much better week than the first one turned out to be. (So, yey!) For one thing this is due to the books, all of which were either outright winners or at least enjoyable on […]
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Peter Ackroyd: Hawksmoor
The first book I read in the second week’s of September, and for the longest time it was on a solid track for a 4 1/2 or even 5-star rating. Tremendously atmospheric, with London (both 17th century and present day) not so much merely setting but additional character and two timelines tantalizingly mirroring and winding […]
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Ngaio Marsh: Tied Up in Tinsel
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Square 15 – Boxing Day Book themes for Boxing Day/St. Stephen’s Day: Read anything where the main character has servants (paid servants count, NOT unpaid) or is working as a servant him-/ herself. Well, I guess one could count Roderick Alleyn as a public servant, seeing as he’s a […]
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Robin Whiteman & Rob Talbot: Brother Cadfael’s Herb Garden / Robin Whiteman: The Cadfael Companion
Shared five-star honors for two simply gorgeously illustrated coffee table books full of facts and knowledge about medieval monastery life (Benedictine and otherwise), the healing arts of the medieval monks, and the plants they used. Must-reads not only for fans of Ellis Peters’s Brother Cadfael series but for anyone interested in the Middle Ages, monastic […]
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Jackie Bennett & Andrew Lawson: Shakespeare’s Gardens
A lavishly illustrated coffee table book-sized guide to the gardens Shakespeare knew (or might have known) both in Stratford / Warwickshire and in London, as well as an introduction to the gardens of the five Shakespeare-related houses in and around Stratford, with an introductory chapter on Tudor gardening in general. The find of several great […]
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Ngaio Marsh: Five Assorted Roderick Alleyn Mysteries
A five-volume foray into Ngaio Marsh’s Roderick Alleyn series: next to Agatha Christie’s, Dorothy Sayers’s, Margery Allingham’s and Patricia Wentworth’s one of the major Great Detective series of the Golden Age; taken together, these five writers are unquestionably the era’s “Queens of Crime.” (I own print versions of all of Marsh’s novels, too, and pulled […]
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Stratford-upon-Avon — Oxford — London: Shakespeare, Hogwarts and Shopping
Stratford A Scene at the RSC Book and Gift Shop The date: June 17, 2017. The time: Approximately 10:00AM. TA and friend enter; TA asks for a shopping basket and makes straight for the shelves and display cases. An indeterminate amount of time is then spent browsing. Whenever her friend points out something and asks […]
Read MoreThe Telegraph | 31 reasons why we love Scotland – Travel
The most irresistible things about Scotland, whether you’re looking for remoteness, wildlife, culture or whisky Source: The Telegraph | 31 reasons why we love Scotland – Travel
Read MoreBritain’s best islands – Telegraph
Scenic, quirky and often remote, Britain’s islands are a world apart from daily life. Nick Crane, who presents the television series ‘Coast’, introduces our guide to 10 of the best. The Isle of Skye “feels very Lord of the Rings” Source: Britain’s best islands – Telegraph
Read MoreThe Telegraph: The most beautiful places in Ireland – Travel
Dark Hedges Road, Co Antrim An 18th-century beech tree-lined road known as the Dark Heges near Stranocum, Country Antrim, made famous by Game of Thrones. Source: The most beautiful places in Ireland – Travel
Read MoreSalvador Dali’s Surreal Illustrations of Alice in Wonderland
Reblogged from: learn by going flavorwire.com/589586/salvador-dalis-surreal-illustrations-of-alice-in-wonderland Amazing. Original post: ThemisAthena.booklikes.com/post/1469419/salvador-dali-s-surreal-illustrations-of-alice-in-wonderland
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TA’s Halloween Book Bingo Reading List
Read by Candlelight or Flashlight – E.T.A. Hoffmann: Das Fräulein von Scuderi (Mademoiselle de Scuderi) (novella) Magical Realism – Isabel Allende: La casa de los espíritus (The House of the Spirits) (novel) Witches – Terry Pratchett: Wyrd Sisters (or possibly Terry Pratchett / Neil Gaiman: Good Omens) (novel) Genre: Horror – Edgar Allan […]
Read MoreREBLOG: Ficticious Meals
Reblogged from: Reviews in Chalk www.charlesroux.com/albums/fictitious-feasts-1 “Weaving the link between literature, food and photography, Fictitious Feasts is based upon food scenes in fiction texts”. (from Charles Roux’s website) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Original post: ThemisAthena.booklikes.com/post/1456299/ficticious-meals
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MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL
Southern Belle Savannah Adapting a book to the screen is always a risk, and adapting a successful book particularly so, especially if it is a nonfiction book and the story has already made news (or been the subject of gossip, which in this instance doesn’t seem to make much difference) long before the book was […]
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Tom Bahti / Mark Bahti / Bruce Hucko: Southwestern Indian Arts and Crafts
The wealth of Indian arts and crafts, marvelously presented Did you know that the squash blossom necklace, probably the most recognizable of all Navajo jewelry designs, was an innovation only introduced during the 1870s? That most of the pottery produced in Isleta Pueblo is made by only two families? That the famous Zuñi cluster jewelry […]
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Iain Pears: The Dream of Scipio
A Fascinating blend of philosophy, morality and historical fiction. Like probably nothing else, the breakdown of social order forces us to reach into ourselves, to draw for guidance on our innermost beliefs and moral values; for absent direction by the established rules of society, we only have ourselves to turn to for advice. – Such […]
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