What a weird start to the weekend. It was snowing furiously here in the morning and now in the afternoon it is sunny. But cold. Really cold. The weather has thrown me off all year. So close are we getting to the holidays yet it doesn't feel like it to me. Or maybe I am just trying to ignore them and the end of the year. Since it is Friday and it's too cold to think too hard, maybe just a few bit and bobs and interesting links today.
In just a few days (November 11) it will be the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. I don't think there are any soldiers still alive from that war, but it is still in the minds of people and certainly still the subject of many books. I was especially interested in this list of mystery novels set just at the end of the war. I am even reading Alex Beer's novel at the moment as a matter of fact (and have read a couple more and own a few others as well).
So, not books exactly, but I like this list of Film Noir for Noirvember (I had no idea there was such a thing). A list to bookmark and maybe I will see if I can watch my way through them.
And since we are on the subject of mysteries here are a few books to read when the weather is nasty (like this morning). Actually I think even a sunny day would work, so why wait for bad weather to read any of them. Kate Morton's The Clockmaker's Daughter is on the list and I am currently in the middle of it and thoroughly enjoying it!
I am not sure where I heard about Lynn Truss's new book A Shot in the Dark, but I had to have it and it just came in the mail a day or so ago. Now I need to read this as a little extra nudge to pick up her book.
A very timely list considering I was just talking about this a few days ago--20 Debut Works of Fiction by Women Over 40. Thank you. We are such a youth-oriented culture it is nice to recognize that there are creative people (especially women) who only start writing or creating in middle age or later. A list I will be printing out. I have read a number of the books already but not all of them.
I am totally addicted to the Great British Baking Show (and I even like the new version--I was afraid it would be disappointing without Mary Berry), and woohoo, a new season is now streaming on Netflix! Guess what I will be watching this weekend?!
As for reading, I have plenty to keep me busy and a relatively open schedule in which to try and find quiet reading time. It is always a matter of where to read where I won't be distracted. A bookstore cafe? A cafe? Home (but then I feel like I need to be industrious and do laundry or something--none of that nonsense, thank you).
I am starting Sue Grafton's F is for Fugitive. Moving right along in the series now. My November prompt book is Sweet Caress by William Boyd, which is a book I Had to Have Right When It Was Published. It is the story of one woman's life over the course of almost a century. She is a photographer and the story is interspersed with photographs and diary entries. It starts in the 1920s and Amory's voice feels very authentic and interesting. Along with Stefanie and Buried in Print I am reading Call of the Cats: What I Learned about Life and Love from a Feral Cat Colony. I have already dipped into it and if you are a catlover you might also like it. And I suspect I will carry on with the Kate Morton novel. I have been contemplating which novella to read, as it is novella month, too. Did I share my stack of potential reads here? Maybe not, so I will do so soon. And then whatever other random book (preferably one of those longstanding in progress books . . .) catches my eye. I have several magazines that are calling my name and some short stories . . . I better stop there. I tend to overwhelm myself and then can't decide what to read and end up making no progress at all. Better to choose one book and concentrate on it.
I have books to pick up at the library and if I am in the area and at a loose end I might stop by my favorite used bookstore to see what is new on their new books table.
What is on your reading agenda this weekend (or watching agenda, too)?