Posted on August 27, 2026 in Books
Lord Edgware Dies (Hercule Poirot #9) by Agatha Christie, Hugh Fraser (Narrator)
This was another fun one and a return to the actor theme which is prevalent in many of the Christie stories. This one was fun enough and consistent. I liked the ending which included a chilling letter from the villain.
July 9-18, 2026.
Snow Road Station by Elizabeth Hay
I have struggled to like a lot of Canadian fiction. I read a lot of books and I have tried to read more Canadian literature. I have read a fair amount of Margaret Atwood and she is talented, but even with her work, I would not say I love it exactly. I struggle to name more than a couple of Canadian contemporary or classic authors that I really like. I am not sure why but I do not feel drawn to the prose or the characters. I read this one for my book club’s local challenge so I know the setting. I did find most of the book a bit dull since the protagonist and I are different people. I struggled to relate to her for most of the book. I think the ending of the book was strong since there character development. Generally, it was not badly written, but I encountered the same languid prose of a lot of Canadian writing.
July 20-22, 2026.
Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
Lovely picture book about a lighthouse and consequently the history of lighthouse and their keepers. It’s a fascinating subject in history. Blackall lovingly renders the history here.
July 23, 2026.
Posted on August 20, 2026 in Books
Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays by David Sedaris with Amy Sedaris (Narrators)
This was one of Sedaris’s earliest books which includes both essays and short stories. I am not a fan of Sedaris’s fiction. I find more humour in his observations about life and people. While that is reflected somewhat in the short stories, the tone was very different as well. I found most of the stories quite boring and not to my taste. The only thing that saved this was the narration and performances of the siblings.
July 9-12, 2026.
Beard on Bread by James Beard
This was a cookbook that’s been on my radar for the last year and I actually found a used copy at a book sale recently. I read the many amusing introductions to the recipes. James Beard loves food so it was nice to read about all the breads he liked. He does not like sourdough though and the book uses only volumetric ingredients so that limited some of the recipes I would do. I made the cream biscuits recipe and converted it to metric since it was only a handful of ingredients. Normally, I used King Arthur’s cream scones recipe but this was better. I’ll only need to take out some of the salt and could add some mixins like raisins or currants.
July 7-12, 2026.
Ascendance of a Bookworm (Manga): Part 4 Volume 1 by Hikaru Katsuki, Miya Kazuki, Quof (Translator)
So good to return to this series and start part 3. New mangaka too who I like better than Part 3’s style. Ferdinand was more empathetic and sympathetic as a character in this manga volume. As usual, I became verklempt with all the lower city family member scenes. Myne’s mother always seems to get me.
July 13, 2026.
A Murder Is Announced: A Miss Marple Mystery by Agatha Christie
Another good Marple. I called one out of the many twists in this book. I particularly liked how Marple entrapped the killer at the end. The explanation took a whole chapter which felt a tad excessive. Other than that, I think the Marples are trending upwards again.
July 12-15, 2026.
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky with Ronald Meyer (Translator), Luke Thompson (Narrator), Leo Edwards (Narrator)
Read in tandem with audiobook. I want to read The Brothers Karamazov at some point in the near future and had heard good things about this short story. Luke Thompson became one of my favourite actors and narrators recently. As I liked Crime and Punishment, it was nice to dip back into Dostoevsky. White Nights was a very well written story about a dreamer in unrequited love. If I had read this 20 years ago, I would have been knocked over by a feather since I could see a younger version of myself in the nameless protagonist. Beautiful prose and some good one liners including a great last line. The second half of this little novel has another short story called “Bobok” which is a dark humour story about a man who hears the dead in a cemetery. It was read by another narrator and was less interesting than “White Nights” but had a couple funny moments.
July 14-17, 2026.
Posted on August 13, 2026 in Books
The Elements of Style: The Original Edition by William Strunk Jr.
Original 1918 version. I found this on my Kobo before bed and it was nice bedtime reading because it was just boring enough. I found it easy to read. It was short and I agreed with a lot of Strunk’s points about clear writing. Some things have changed in over a century, but there were many good tips about writing.
July 3-6, 2026 on Kobo Libra 2 and Kobo Clara BW.
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie with Hugh Fraser (Narrator)
This was a good one. I actually gasped at the twist because I enjoyed the writing. Poirot was challenged more than once in this one and the reader is shown more of his methodology. The criminal was quite clever and evaded Poirot and the reader well.
June 27-June 8, 2026.
The Land and Its People: Essays by David Sedaris (Narrator)
This collection of essays were all performed live. While I prefer the intimacy of being read them by the author, Sedaris seems to view himself more as an entertainer. The laughing was not too obtrusive at least. Over the years, I’ve read most of the author’s essay collections and the recent ones show how very privileged and rich he has become. He does acknowledge this indirectly and still pokes fun at other wealthy people. I still find most of the essays amusing and listening to them was great for chores. It made me want to go back to listen to any of his other books I had not read or heard.
July 4-9, 2026.
Posted on August 6, 2026 in Books
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
What an odd book. The beginning and some of the writing of this debut had promise. I went in open minded that it would be a satire and that I would not like any of the characters. I’ve read enough litfic. Even though the book was propulsive and a relatively quick read, the execution of the story and characters were lacking. It dragged at times. Natalie’s unlikeability and unreliability as a narrator were excessive. The reader does not like the character but the author disliked the character even more. While it started as a satire, the novel’s twist and second half devolved into a bizarre portrayal of a woman with psychological problems. I had a lot of questions about the plausibility of the twist. Caleb was a stereotype / archetype at first but became a plot tool for the author to push the narrative along. I was underwhelmed.
June 2-4, 2026. Partially on Kobo Clara BW.
L’amour fleurit ici by Amy Adele
French picture book which was really basic and very much meant for toddlers. Still cute artwork.
July 5, 2026.
Posted on August 2, 2026 in TV
Bon Appetit, Your Majesty – I started this kdrama for three reasons: Yoona, Time travel, and Food. Each of these things alone is not enough but all three meant I had to try it. I have not watched a kdrama of my own volition in years. My husband has watched more kdramas in the last few years than I have so we watched this one together. Most of this 12 episode series were narrative cooking competitions. A couple of the episodes were Apothecary Diaries style mysteries. All throughout the series were Asian Historical Drama scheming plots. I liked the ensemble even though some of the Chinese acting in the Ming / China subplot was not great to listen to (and my Mandarin is bad). There were just too many subplots and I could tell they had to cut some of them down for time. I think the two leads had chemistry but I did not feel like we got to know why Yoona’s character would fall for the King. They did not bake the romance enough. The ending was typical kdrama and explained nothing.
All Creatures Great and Small (2020) S5 – We needed to catch up and watched from late March with the 2024 Christmas special and S5. I am really glad this show has been renewed for two more seasons since it’s the perfect evening show for us. It was cozy, gentle, and humane.
The Residence – Funny and enjoyable Christie-esque murder miniseries. Very good production values and great casting as expected from the new Shondaland. I did think it went on a wee bit long especially the finale which did not need to be almost 1.5 hours. I’d watch another Detective Cupp show.
The Darling Buds of May – I really liked this in particular the three leads David Jason, Pam Farris, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The whole casting was great including the kids. I wish the series had been longer even though the writing was not as good once they stopped adapting from the books. I wish there more cozy shows like this. It was well shot and so wholesome.
Agatha Christie’s Poirot – We watched the first couple of episodes from 1989. Great art nouveau set design. We will probably watch more through the year as we go through the novels.
Agathie Christie’s Marple – I watched a couple of these Marples when they first aired and remembered at the ending of the first episode “The Body in the Library” that they changed a lot of things from the books. Amongst other things, they made some of characters queer and the endings were more salacious. I do like Geraldine McEwan. We watched a few based on the stories we had listened to or that I had read including “Murder at the Vicarage,” “At Bertram’s Hotel”, “Pocket Full of Rye,” “The Moving Finger,” “Ordeal by Innocence,” and “The Blue Geranium”.
Rick and Morty S9 – One of my favourite shows in recent years. I actually watch this show for the character development and writing. The voice acting is great as well. The animation budget went up this season as well.
FIFA World Cup 2026 – Self-explanatory. I did spend a lot of matches reading books while my husband and father watched more intently.