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I i'm starting wilike that about Eugene Debs and the Occupy movement! love
I like that about Eugene Debs and the Occupy movement!
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A new comment from “Lauren” was received on the post “david rosoenfelt and jim harrison and other whodunit notes” of the blog “Whodunit?”.
Comment:
What is wrong with Janet Evanovich? I struggled through Explosive Eighteen. It was hard to stay interested in the diluted plot that started blah and ended without the promised bang. The loyalty stock Evanovich had created has kept us all reading her last half dozen duds but that party is over. Many reviewers suggest that she publish less and write better. In her earlier books Stephanie Plum was quirky and fun and bewildered about how to handle career and her love life. Stephanie hasn't changed, developed or evolved over the years. In 18- SPOILER ALERT, she destroys her 4th car and has sex with both guys. So I guess in 19 she will be pregnant and have her car insurance cancelled.
- Commenter name: Lauren
- i am starting today's blog with a comment from lauren of m.n.j. and along the side (i have no idea why) another comment from m.l. of chicago.
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in rhys bowen's holiday greetings letter she says that I'm still writing two books a year
grr! that's a grr of jealousy. it takes me forever to complete one!! rhys also says that she plans to be in cleveland. let us know the date ahead, rhys, and i'll try to bring a canton contingent to swell the crowds.
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with all of the panicky, holiday atmosphere surrounding us, i hope that someone is taking this afternoon off, happily surfing the internet, and enjoying this blog. greetings. and a joyous celebratory season to you.
one way to celebrate would be to sit down with nora ephron's i remember nothing and other reflections. this was given to me by b.v. of n.y. who admires an author's ability to bring laughter as much as i do. it's a slight book of 135 pages (and that's with wide margins!) that will give you a lovely break during a busy day. i can't guarantee you a laugh of recognition on every page, but you'll come pretty darn close. her observations ring true. we've thought the same thoughts, but never given voice. this is much better than i feel bad about my neck, which was nothing to feel bad about.
the publisher is alfred a. knopf.
another very enjoyable short novel is elizabeth gaskell's cranford. it is an 19th century writer's affectionately satirical look at a small community of women who live in an english village. the story is told by an outside narrator, a younger woman from a nearby town who becomes attached to what gaskell calls 'the amazons' and visits often. written for dickens' magazine, the novel is almost a series of short stories, somehow related to the picaresque novels we enjoy so much. some of you might have seen the t.v. series based on it. it is published by broadview editions, and is about 180 enjoyable pages.
i want now to speak about a third novel because 1. my opinion is related to lauren's comment above and 2. i just finished it and that is what i do!
the novel is i am half-sick of shadows. it is a christmas story written by alan bradley. i adored his heroine, flavia de luce, in a red herring without mustard and the sweetness at the bottom of the pie. he does have delicious titles. i have raved about both novels in this blog. but something has happened to the third one. we still have the precocious flavia, her distant father, the two mean sisters, all inhabiting the decrepit family mansion of buckshaw, plus the dead mother, the role of chemistry. maybe that's the problem: the same old. the same old. i hope bradley gets his groove back.
i am half-sick of shadows is published by delacorte press and is 293 pages.
happy holidays to all. i understand we're not supposed to say that now. c'mon.
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