Wear your mask.

I hope everyone is doing the best they can these days to stay positive and to do everything they can to curb the current pandemic. Probably the biggest thing one can do on that last point is to wear a mask, at least when one is indoors in places containing a sizable amount of people. 

As I read somewhere recently, if there was a drug out there that could vastly reduce your chances of getting this virus, we’d all be taking it. But that’s exactly what mask wearing does: greatly reduces to chance of catching the virus, or passing it on if we already have it. But it only works if we all do our part by wearing masks when we’re around other people, especially in close quarters.

This virus is going to be around for a while, so try to see past the inconvenience and minor discomfort of masks and do your part when you’re out on the front lines! End of the lecture for now, and normal posts will shortly follow. But thanks for listening.

Can't resist: Ravin' about Ravin'

Though I usually read more straight-up thriller fare, it's always fun to dive into another entry in the Trash 'n Treasures cozy mystery series, and Antiques Ravin' was no exception.  Written by "Barbara Allan", who is really the husband and wife writing team of Max Allan Collins and Barbara Collins, each book features a clever murder mystery set in the world of antiques buying and selling, with said mysteries being tackled and solved by mother and daughter antiques dealers Vivian and Brandy Borne.  Over the dozen or so books in the series so far, the mysteries are always good and the overall stories satisfyingly light and funny, though never so cozy as to totally avoid an occasional wince-inducing murder.  I like that fact, as these give the books some weight.

In fact, I particularly enjoyed Antiques Ravin' because this time the plot was dialed up a little bit more than usual into the "rich and dark" arena and the humor was alternately turned down the tiniest bit to let the meatier story nicely simmer.  Because the murders are modeled after creepy, classic death scenarios in various Edgar Allan Poe stories (and occur during a Poe festival being held in a small, quaint town heavy with antiques dealers, with maybe a David Lynch-like dark underbelly), maybe the authors decided to give the naturally-developing darker mood a long leash.  Whatever the case, I enjoyed the somewhat darker and scarier flavor this time.

But I don't want to overstate: this is, after all, a Trash n' Treasures cozy mystery, so there's a lot of the usual reliably funny banter between the eccentric Vivian and her stylish, put-upon narrator daughter, and a goofy scene here and there as the creatively-staged crimes are investigated.  But I appreciated that the authors resisted the many obvious opportunities for humor that were positioned like low-hanging fruit throughout the story. What do I mean? Well, you see, in this book the happily theatrical, often clumsy, half blind, usually reckless Vivian Borne is now the new county sheriff, thanks to developments in the previous entry in the series.  And that means there must have been many, many comic opportunities arising from the new situation of a woman many think of as crazy now wielding power and able to arrest people as she sees fit.  As make no mistake, there are some funny moments and scenarios mined out of this situation (for example, I loved how Brandy has to drive her drivers license-less mother around to crime scenes, and is introduced by Vivian as her "deputy daughter"), but I liked that overall the authors give Vivian some dignity and credit for some smarts, and some genuine talent for the job.  There are no Inspector Clouseau-like slapstick laughs at Vivian's expense.

If you've never read a book in this series, this one is fine to just pick up and enjoy.  While all the Trash 'n Treasures novels are stand-alone mysteries, some feature soap opera-like developments (always interesting) about Brandy and Vivian's extended family that build from book to book, as well as developments surrounding the other residents of Vivian and Brandy's town of Serenity, Iowa.  This one has none of that, and the story doesn't even take place in Serenity.  It's 100% focused on the mystery at hand, which further makes the already richer and darker story more so.

This review is probably a little long for what is still ultimately a fast-paced, banter-filled, very entertaining cozy, but I haven't talked about this series at length in a while and it's a good series to spread the word about.  Available on Kindle and now in paperback, Antiques Ravin' is well worth your valuable mystery-reading time.
   

Pandemic Theater

Well, the title of this post isn't strictly accurate, because I'm not going to just recommend movies to watch during the current pandemic and lockdown (which is still going strong on April 28, 2020, in case my future self looks back on these posts to reflect on these weird times), but a couple of other things, too.


You probably don't need my recommendation, but if you haven't watched Ozark yet on Netflix, now is a good time to dive into its 30 episodes (ten per season).  The third season was especially good, telling both a great crime story and (as usual) examining with great sensitivity and skill the normal family dynamics we all go through, the only difference being that those dynamics are often being activated by the stressful crime situation the family is immersed in rather than the more mundane stresses the rest of us face.  But, boy, are those emotions still recognizable.  Give the show a shot if you haven't already.

I sailed through Woody Allen's memoir, Apropos of Nothing, earlier this month, and it was a great, immersive time killer.  If you are at all interested in Mr. Allen's movies, and are willing to at least listen to his side of the story regarding the allegation of abuse from years past (which has regained new traction during the Me Too era), give this interesting and very entertaining autobiography a try.  I just went ahead and bought the book on Kindle, as that seemed easiest during these current strange times.

And the movie I saw recently was Yesterday, about a young musician who wakes up in the hospital after being hit by a car, only to shortly discover that no one but him seems to know about The Beatles and their music anymore.  So, of course, he starts singing Beatles songs in coffee houses and such, claiming the band's works as his own.  The interesting thing is that he doesn't quite become an overnight success, because at least part of the success of The Beatles was the charm of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, but, yeah, eventually the strength of the material does propel our protagonist into the stratosphere.  And then what happens?  Well, see the movie, which is now streaming on HBO.  It's a lot of fun, and a great and fun tribute to the Fab Four.

Save safe, be well, and talk to you all again soon!

Listen in...

During the current Covid crisis, Audible.com is making social distancing a little more tolerable by generously offering scores of audiobooks to stream for free.  The emphasis is on titles with an educational bent, for younger readers, as well as storybooks for kids.  But there are plenty of literary classics aimed at readers of all ages.

I think I just might start Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, read by Dan Stevens, later today.  I always meant to tackle that one.  Then maybe I'll hit Brave New World (strangely appropriate for our current period, I would say) and Call of the Wild.

Thanks, Audible, for a great gesture during these uncertain times!

February smiles

Courtesy of grammarly.com, here are a few amusing (I thought) jokes and observations about books:

Why did the Romanian stop reading for the night?

To give his Bucharest.

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Never judge a book by its movie. -- J.W. Eagan

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What's the difference between a boring person and a boring book?

You can shut the book up.

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Woman to a man hiding in a clothes dresser: What are you doing in that wardrobe?

Man: Narnia business!

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Enjoy the rest of your day!

Movies, movies

It's Oscar season again, and I'm having fun catching up on those films that got nominated for big awards but I haven't yet seen.  Most recently I finally saw both Marriage Story and The Two Popes on Netflix, and actually ventured out to a theater (call me old fashioned) to see Parasite. Of those three, I enjoyed Marriage Story and Parasite best, as they were bracing, involving dramas with some big and/or surprising moments.  The Two Popes was very good, too, if a little bit predictable and polite.  All are very much worth seeing, though.

Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood was also a favorite from the past year, but you can read what I said about that one by scrolling down a few posts.  And I should get around to writing something about Joker and The Irishman, both of which I enjoyed, too.

I still need to focus on seeing 1917 (the current frontrunner, based on all the other industry awards its already won); Ford v Ferrari; Little Women; and Jojo Rabbit.  Then I will have at least seen all the Best Picture nominees, which is something I like to do every year if at all possible.  Wish me luck!

Season's Greetings

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. Not much time to do a meaty post at the moment, but how about a few quick tips?  Stephen King's The Institute is a fine novel, with a dark and involving story.  Star Wars, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker is a little busy and maybe a little too eager to please fans, but it's undeniably a very entertaining time at the movies.  And Robert Petkoff's narration of all the classic Travis McGee novels by John D. MacDonald kept me going back to Audible.com for audiobook after audiobook this past year.

I posted a little more in 2019 than I did in 2018, but here's hoping I get back to much more regular posing in 2020.  I do enjoy telling you all about all the stuff I've enjoyed reading, seeing, or listening to; I just need to be less lazy about posting. We shall see, right?  In the meantime, Happy New Year!