What I Read and Watched in November

I am reading nine books, which is too many, even for me. Four are buddy reads. Two are for ministry-related projects. One is my morning exercise audiobook. The other is on my nightstand since I don't read on my devices before bed.The last book is my Bible, which might technically not be eligible for this list, but I read it every day. 

Because I'm reading and never finishing anything, I had several quick, escapist reads this month: The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart, The Lieutenant's Lady by Bess Streeter Aldrich, Mail-Order Bride: Tess by Rose Jenster, and The Flowering Thorn by Margery Sharp. (None were good enough for a complete review, but they are linked to my thoughts on Goodreads.) But I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook, N or M? by Agatha Christie (review forthcoming).

In the movie department, I watched the delightful Murder, She Baked series. I also watched The Virginian with Bill Pullman. I was enamored with it a few years ago, but this time the acting and script seemed stilted. I'm wondering if the new True Grit movie has ruined me for all other westerns. My husband and I also watched Henry V with Kenneth Branagh for the umpteenth time.

I'm hoping to finish up most of the books mentioned above by the end of the year as well as complete two trilogies. We'll see how that goes! Are there any books you are hoping to read before the end of the year?

Blessings,

Murder She Baked Mystery Series

I gave myself a treat this month by finally watching all the Murder, She Baked movies in order. They were available in Portuguese on YouTube so I kidded myself that I was improving my language skills. I'll give a brief synopsis of each film and explain why they are some of my favorite cozy mysteries. (The titles are linked to each movie's preview.) 

1. Murder, She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery - In this first installment, we are introduced to baker Hannah Swenson, her meddling mother, her best friend/sister, Andrea, and two handsome rivals for her affections, Norman the dentist, and Mike the detective. Just to keep things interesting, Hannah finds two dead bodies and feels Mike's ire over her interference in both cases. 

2. Murder, She Baked: A Plum Pudding Mystery - The second movie takes place at Christmas time. Hannah finds another body and Mike tries to keep her out of danger. There are lots of suspects and it doesn't always make sense who is who. But who cares? Half the fun is watching Hannah relate to all the people in her life. Her mom strongly urges her to choose Norman while Andrea favors Mike. 

3. Murder, She Baked: A Peach Cobbler Mystery - Someone opens a bakery across the street from Hannah's and, yep, she finds another body.

4. Murder She Baked: A Deadly Recipe - Hannah is putting together a community cookbook to raise funds for charity. Someone submits a recipe calling for one teaspoon of a mystery ingredient. It's fun to see the gals trying to discover the ingredient. Oh, and Hannah finds another body. The romantic triangle continues.

5. Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts - The background story is a televised bake-off. This time someone else finds the body. But Hannah's sleuthing leads her to the killer. She finally makes her choice between the two eligible bachelors.

This is the second time I've watched these movies and I vaguely remembered the identity of the killer in each one, but solving the mystery is not the only reason I enjoy these movies. I like Hannah as a heroine. She's smart, pretty and capable, but just insecure enough to gain your sympathy. There is something endearing about how she talks to her cat about her troubles. I loved the family dynamics between mother/daughter/sister. What's not to like about the gorgeous food shots? And I appreciated a sweet romance without the syrup (or the drama) of the regular Hallmark movies. They always make the third person in the love triangle look like a complete jerk, but that was not the case in these films. The other guy was nerdy, but handsome and likable.

These movies are based on the cozy mysteries written by Joanne Fluke. There are 27 of them, but I tried to read the first one and found the characters much less likable than in the movies. 

Has anyone else enjoyed these? Any other cozy mysteries to recommend? (book or film)

Blessings,

Reading as an Addiction - quote by W. Somerset Maugham

Some people read for instruction, which is praiseworthy, and some for pleasure, which is innocent, but not a few read from habit, and I suppose that is neither innocent nor praiseworthy. Of that lamentable company am I. Conversation after a time bores me, games tire me, and my own thoughts, which we are told are the unfailing source of a sensible man, have a tendency to run dry. Then I fly to my book as an opium-seeker to his pipe. I would sooner read the catalogue of the Army and Navy stores or Bradshaw's Guide than nothing at all, and indeed I have spend many delightful hours over both these works.... Of course to read in this way is reprehensible as doping, and I never cease to wonder at the impertinence of great readers who, because they are such, look down on the illiterate. From the standpoint of eternity, is it better to have read a thousand books than to have ploughed a million furrows? Let us admit that reading with us is just a drug that we cannot live without. Who of this band does not know the restlessness that attacks him when he has been severed from reading too long, the apprehension and irritability, and the sigh of relief which the sight of a printed page extracts from him? And the sigh of relief which the sight of a printed page extracts from him? And so let us be no more vainglorious than the poor slaves of the hypodermic needle or the pint-pot. 

(W. Somerset Maugham, from his Collected Short Stories, Volume 4; quoted on the Literary Life facebook page by Wendi Lord Capehart)

[photo courtesy of Annie Spratt at Unsplash]

Blessings,

Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie

I continue to plow through my favorite series of 2020. Unlike the other two Tommy and Tuppence novels, which were based on a single crime, this one is a series of short stories involving the detective agency that the Beresfords set up in the first novel, The Secret Adversary. I think that makes it perfect for reading aloud since each crime is solved in two or three chapters. 

I am a fan of vintage literature so I loved Agatha Christie's nod to dozens of other mystery writers from the "golden age of detective fiction". In almost every chapter of Partners in Crime, Tommy decides which of these detectives he will try to imitate. Will it be Sherlock Holmes (by Arthur Conan Doyle), Father Brown (by G.K. Chesterton), Inspector Howard (by A.E.W. Mason) or Inspector French (by Freeman Wills Crofts)? She even pokes fun at her own creation, Hercule Poirot and his "little gray cells." I enjoyed the humor in that and it also made me want to investigate the dozen or so authors she mentioned who I haven't yet read - especially the story "The Old Man in the Corner" by Baroness Orczy (of Scarlet Pimpernel fame.)

Solving the mysteries is fun, but the real reason I enjoy these books is because of  the playful, affectionate banter between the protagonists. I highly recommend listening to this series. This book, Partners in Crime, is narrated by Hugh Fraser on YouTube.

If you prefer reading, I found all five novels for $1.99.

Blessings,