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Janet's Log - Stardate 2017


Janet

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I watched the last series and I did enjoy it, just not as much as the first two.  I think we watched The Abominable Bride from our hotel room and went to dinner late - I'm pretty sure it was on the New Year we went away to Plymouth!  I thought  it was okay - not great, but okay - but my husband wasn't at all keen!

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026-2017-Apr-08-The%20Sitterford%20Myste

 

The Sitterford Mystery by Agatha Christie

 

The ‘blurb’

A séance in a snowbound Dartmoor house predicts a grisly murder…

 

In a remote house in the middle of Dartmoor, six shadowy figures huddle around a small table for a séance. Tension rises as the spirits spell out a chilling message: ‘Captain Trevelyan… dead… murder.’

 

Is this black magic or simply a macabre joke? The only way to be certain is to locate Captain Trevelyan. Unfortunately, his home is six miles away and, with snow drifts blocking the roads, someone will have to make the journey on foot…

 

When Mrs and Miss Willett hold a séance (referred to throughout the book "table-turning", a phrase I have never heard before!) it is only meant to be a bit of fun.  They have invited a select few from the village they are staying in for the winter: Major Burnaby, Mr Rycroft Mr Garfield and Mr Duke.  The evening starts out well, but when they are informed by the spirit that Captain Trevelyan, the Willetts' Landlord who lives in the next village, is dead, Burnaby insists on walking through the deep snow to see if his friend is okay.   Despite the terrible conditions outside, it being winter and there having been a snowstorm recently, Burnaby sets out to Exhampton on foot – is it possible that the table-turning prediction is true…?

 

We listened to this whilst on a long weekend in Devon as it seemed an appropriate choice!  I see from YouTube that ITV shoehorned this into a Marple episode, despite the actual crime being investigated by a character called Inspector Narracott and actually solved by Emily, the finance of one of several suspects! 

 

There are plenty of red herrings along the way – we guessed who had committed the crime, but not the why and definitely not the how, which was a clever twist, I thought!  We also liked the nod to the Hound of the Baskervilles which I was reading alongside listening to this.  So, not one of my absolute favourite Christies, but definitely worth a read (or listen!).  I would be interested to watch the Marple version now, even if she shouldn't be in it, to see how it compares!

 

The paperback edition is 288 pages long and is published by HarperCollins. It was first published in 1931. The ISBN is 9780008196233. 

 

3/5 (I liked it)

 

(Finished 8 April 2017)

 

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 027-2017-Apr-18-Beyond%20Black_zpsiocvln

 

Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel

 

The ‘blurb’

A comically sinister tale of wicked spirits and suburban mediums from the Man Booker Prize-winning author of ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Bring Up the Bodies’.

 

Alison Hart, a medium by trade, tours the dormitory towns of London’s orbital ring road with her flint-hearted sidekick, Colette, passing on messages from beloved dead ancestors. But behind her plump, smiling persona hides a desperate woman: she knows the terrors the next life holds but must conceal them from her wide-eyed clients. At the same time she is plagued by spirits from her own past, who infiltrate her body and home, becoming stronger and nastier the more she resists…

 

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize, Hilary Mantel’s supremely suspenseful novel is a masterpiece of dark humour and even darker secrets.

 

Alison is a woman with an awful past, having been abused by her mother and her mother's clients as a young girl.  Now she is a successful medium with a cold and waspish assistant called Collette, who found Alison whilst searching through many alternative therapies after the breakdown of her marriage to her boring and largely incompatible husband, Gavin. 

 

Alison, with Collette in tow, takes to the road travelling to various psychic events across southern England.  The pair are also accompanied by Alison's nasty spirit guide - an odious man called Morris – and various other sprits from her past and threaten to destroy the life that Alison has made for herself.

 

I really don't know how to go about reviewing this book!  It was chosen for Book Club by a member who simply adores Mantel, especially Wolf Hall and its sequel.  All I can say is that I really didn't warm to the characters in the book.  I suspect that is the point – they are all flawed, and none of them loveable, but I would definitely have put this down if it wasn't for book club as I just couldn't care less what happened to Alison et al!

 

It was my first book by this author and if I didn't know how many people love her Tudor books it would definitely be my last – as it is, I might be persuaded to try another, but with so many other books out there, I think it's pretty unlikely!

 

The paperback edition is 480 pages long and is published by Fourth Estate. It was first published in 2005. The ISBN is 9780007157761. 

 

2/5 (It was okay)

 

(Finished 18 April 2017)

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I know I must have mentioned it before but I disliked Beyond Black immensely, and no matter how much praise people lavish on the Wolf Hall novels, I just can't bring myself to pick up another Mantel.  2/5 seems a very generous score to me ;)

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On 10/06/2017 at 0:04 PM, Madeleine said:

There was a very good radio version of this a few years ago with Alison Steadman as Alison and yes, Morris was vile!

I love Alison Steadman, but I don't think even her narrating it would induce me to listen again!  :giggle:

 

On 10/06/2017 at 1:41 PM, chesilbeach said:

I know I must have mentioned it before but I disliked Beyond Black immensely, and no matter how much praise people lavish on the Wolf Hall novels, I just can't bring myself to pick up another Mantel.  2/5 seems a very generous score to me ;)

The score is higher due to the book club meeting we had, which was a good one, because a couple of people really enjoyed it so we had opposing views which led to lots of discussion.  If it wasn't for book club I definitely would have abandoned it!  :D

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I'm so behind with my reviews.   AGAIN!  :rolleyes:

 

In the past few weeks I have bought two new editions of A Christmas Carol.  Just how many editions would be too many?  Asking for a friend...  :giggle2:

 

A Christmas Carol 14.pngA Christmas Carol 01.png

 

I am also so chuffed, because I've been collecting the John Wyndham Penguins with the colour illustrations by Peter Lord.  There are 10 in total, and I've had six of them but hadn't found any for a few years.  So I was very chuffed to find one in a second-hand shop in Lyme Regis on Saturday.  Imagine my surprise then to find another one in the Oxfam shop in Salisbury yesterday.  :exc:

 

Wyndham The Seeds of Time.jpgWyndham Consider Her Ways and Others.jpg

 

Just two left to find!  :yes:

 

 

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Nice new books :). Can I ask how many editions of A Christmas Carol you own now? I'm curious to know  :). Whatever the number, I'm sure it's very impressive :) (I would call it impressive rather than too many.).

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1 hour ago, Athena said:

Nice new books :). Can I ask how many editions of A Christmas Carol you own now? I'm curious to know  :). Whatever the number, I'm sure it's very impressive :) (I would call it impressive rather than too many.).

I agree! I think it's lovely :) 

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23 hours ago, Janet said:

Hehe, thanks,  @Athena. I have 16 so far.  A drop in the ocean of the hundreds of editions out there. :)  I'm not sure how it started really.  It is one of my absolute favourite books and I re-read it every year.  

 

Amazing :D!! I saw the picture on Instagram :).

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  • 4 weeks later...

We went to the Bronte Parsonage on Monday in Haworth - it was really very interesting.

 

They are undergoing a project at the moment to recreate Wuthering Heights in people's handwriting, so I got to write out a line, and when the book is finished it is going to be bound and exhibited during 2018 at the museum! I got to keep the pencil too! :D

 

IMG_20170710_112856_751.jpg.4355379014c8f73099c5b79bbe0ef06b.jpg

 

We then went to Oakworth station which features in the Lionel Jeffries film version of The Railway Children which is one of my favourite books and films. :wub: We bought a couple of platform tickets so I could take some photos, and the stationmaster  (he's not called that but I can't remember his proper title!) came out and spent an hour with us showing us behind the scenes stuff that's not normally open to the public! We watched two steam trains and one electric train come in, and the electric one was being shunted so we chatted to the drivers. Fascinating stuff.

 

IMG_20170710_133445_582.jpg.c3a5d83a40c6503c0d3ef5117ad0c7ea.jpg

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On 12-7-2017 at 9:22 AM, Janet said:

They are undergoing a project at the moment to recreate Wuthering Heights in people's handwriting, so I got to write out a line, and when the book is finished it is going to be bound and exhibited during 2018 at the museum! I got to keep the pencil too! :D

 

Wow, that's a great idea :)! How awesome you got to be in it.

 

It seems you had a great day out :). I'm glad you had a good time.

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028-2017-Apr-30-Death%20in%20the%20Cloud

 

Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie

 

The ‘blurb’

A woman is killed by a poisoned dart in the enclosed confines of a commercial passeneger plane…

 

From seat No.9, Hercule Poirot was ideally placed to observe his fellow air passengers. Over to his right sat a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite; ahead, in seat No.13, sat a Countess with a poorly-concealed cocaine habit; across the gangway in seat No.8, a detective writer was being troubled by an aggressive wasp.

 

What Poirot did not yet realize was that behind him, in seat No.2, sat the slumped, lifeless body of a woman.

 

On a plane returning from France to Croydon airport, Poirot gives up his seat in order that two women can sit together and settles down to try to sleep.  However, before the plane lands a woman is discovered to be dead.  At first it seems like it might have been an allergic reaction to a wasp sting, but Poirot knows differently when he discovers a dart.   It soon turns out that there is a suspect, and it's Poirot himself!  It seems that in the act of kindness in giving up his seat, he has put himself under suspicion.  Luckily for Poirot, Inspector Japp has been assigned to the case, and he and Poirot, with some unlikely help in the shape of a crime writer who was also on the fated journey, investigate the murder – which can only have been carried out by one of those travelling on the plane…

 

As usual, there are plenty of twists and turns in the story, and the usual red herrings.  We didn't solve this one before Poirot (that's only happened a couple of times!) and the reveal, when it came, was very clever.   We're taking a break from listening to Poirot books – but I'm sure we'll find our way back to them before too long!

 

The paperback edition is 272 pages long and is published by HarperCollins. It was first published in 1935. The ISBN is 9780008129538. 

 

4/5 (I enjoyed it)

 

(Finished 30 April 2017)

 

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  • 2 months later...
On 10/12/2017 at 6:04 PM, Janet said:

I'm in such a pickle - I haven't written a review since April, or completed any of my spreadsheets.  :(  I really want to catch up, but it feels like I need to dig to Australia with a teaspoon.  :(

 

I know how you feel....I'm in a real slump too! My reading is going well, thank goodness (:exc:) but the updating of lists and reviews has been so poor. Not sure why, but I just seem to be so short of time lately. If you find a solution, let me know. :lol:

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