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Friday Fun Facts!

AngelaLeave a comment

Washington Irving

America's 1st International bestselling author
America’s 1st International bestselling author

Born: April 3, 1783

Died: November 28, 1859

Wrote: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, assorted biographies

Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle Cover

Quote: There is a legend that on the night of his death, Wahington Irving said “Well, I must arrange my pillows for another night. When will this end?”

Some Facts: Died in Tarrytown, NY, which is right next to Sleepy Hollow. As America’s first genuine internationally best-selling author.

Irving and his grave were commemorated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1876 poem, “In The Churchyard at Tarrytown”, which concludes with:

How sweet a life was his; how sweet a death!

Living, to wing with mirth the weary hours, Or with romantic tales the heart to cheer; Dying, to leave a memory like the breath Of summers full of sunshine and of showers,

A grief and gladness in the atmosphere

The Ever-Increasing Body Count

AngelaLeave a comment

As I continue into Real Murders, by Charlaine Harris, Aurora Teagarden seems to be the unluckiest person in the world. The dead bodies are piling up, and the members of the Real Murders Club are getting more and more worried about their own safety; but more-so for the safety of their friends and relatives.

Body #2 – Morrison Pettigrue; running for Mayor, his campaign manager is in the club. The death imitates the Murat case from long ago.

Bodies # 3 & 4 – Mr. and Mrs. Buckley, Parents of Lizzane Buckley, friend of Roe’s and member of the club. Actually, it was her step-mother and her father, and her real name is Elizabeth. Any guesses what famous murder of old this is staged after? Oh. Yeah. They were hacked to death. That should help you figure it out.

I am getting close to the end of this book, and to likely stumbling upon body #5.  It isn’t going to end this quietly, and I know something much, much worse is in store for Aurora, and the town of Lawrenceton, Georgia.

Do you have an answer about the staged murder?

Real Murders (Don’t Panic! It’s A Book)

Angela3 Comments

My latest read I started, I have read it before, but am definitely happy to be reading this one again, and will be getting all of the books in this series. Not too many things make me happier than going to Barnes and Noble!

Title: Real Murders – An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

Author: Charlaine Harris

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime: New York

The 1st book in the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series
The 1st book in the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series

Main Character: Aurora Teagarden; 4’11” tall, big, round tortoise rimmed glasses, and was lucky enough to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a librarian (Oh, I wish!!)

Aurora, affectionately called Roe by those near and dear to her, is one of 12 members of a club known as “The Real Murders Club”. They meet once a month to discuss murder cases. Each person gets one month a year, and they bring in guest speakers, such as a detective that worked on the case, news reporter,  or a family member.

By the time I reached chapter 3, we already had our 1st dead body. Mamie Wright, a fellow member of the Real Murders Club, is dead in the kitchen of the VFW hall where they have their monthly meetings. Found by none other than Aurora.

I will introduce you to the rest of the residents as they become more important to the story.

It has been so long since I have read this story that I really do not remember what happens, or what the body count might be by the time I make it to the end. I think I will have plenty of time to read today since the second round of Michigan blizzard is set to hit around noon.

Are you going to get some reading done this weekend?

You Did WHAT To That Book?

Angela3 Comments

Oh, nothing much…just turned it into a movie.

So, when I can’t read the books I would like to be reading, I tend to think about those books. (If you are starting to think I have a problem; you are too late).

I have been thinking about the number of books that have been made into movies. And that is a huge number. It seems to be the theme lately for movies. Take the list of best-selling books, and turn them all into movies so we can keep making money. Do I think it is a bad thing? No, I don’t. To a point. Now I have seen some really bad movies that were excellent books. They should have just left it alone. I have never seen a movie that was better than the book. Ever.

HP Cast

Now I absolutely love Harry Potter, and was beyond thrilled when they started making those movies. Yes, I own them all. And Yes, I still re-read the books. I also have all of the Lord of the Ring movies.  As well as the 2 Hunger Games movies that are out. And the two Percy Jackson movies that are out. Yes, I will admit I have all 4 of the Twilight movies (I love those too). I have the 3 Narnia movies, anxiously awaiting if they are actually going to make “The Silver Chair” or not. Inkheart? I watch that movie all the time. I wish they would have made Inkspell and Inkdeath into movies as well. I could go on all day like this (I have a slight DVD problem as well).

Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath
Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath

As for the classics…. To Kill A Mockingbird was an outstanding movie, and one of my favorite books. I read it about once a year. Of Mice and Men actually has 2 movies out; one from 1939, and one from 1992. Disney has turned more books into movies and amusement park rides than anyone else could possibly even get away with.

Should these books be made into movies though? I think that the current books that have the author writing or editing the screenplay, and being on the movie set is perfectly fine. But what about those books where the author is no longer alive? Maybe their family sold the rights to have a movie made, but do they really, truly know how the author would want the book to be interpreted? Are these relatives instead taking liberties with the author’s words and thoughts, and possibly using them in a way they never intended? Would C.S. Lewis care that his series of Narnia books were made into movies? Maybe only as much as he might care that more often than not they are sold and read out of the order that he intended for them to be read.

cs-lewis-read pdf

Yes, this works in the reverse as well. As soon as a major motion picture is a box office hit, there are books all over the place about it.

As much as I love my movies based on books, sometimes I just really wish Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked like I thought they were supposed to. In “my” version of the stories. I can never again read these stories and see them as anything other than the actors who portrayed them. I honestly can no longer remember what I imagined them to look like. It’s like one of the joys I get from reading has been taken away from me.

Can you tell what book I am reading in my photo?

What Should I Crack Open Next?

Angela5 Comments

I am looking at a couple books on my shelf that I haven’t read in so long, I do not remember what they were about. I have to say though that they couldn’t have been all that horrible or they would be in a box in my basement that I have no intention of ever opening again.

Have you ever moved and kept moving unopened boxes from house to house? I boxed up stuff and moved it into my house, in the basement. Lived there 11 years. Hauled those same boxes, never opened, back upstairs and into my new basement. Guess what? 4 years later, and they still aren’t opened. It’s almost like having my own personal time capsules that I never intended to make. Honestly, at this point, there can be any number of things in these boxes that I would rather not be reminded of!

Moving Boxes

So, I am thinking of getting back into Charlaine Harris’s Murder Mysteries series with Aurora Teagarden as the heroine/detective/always in the wrong place at the right time. I have read a few of these, but not all of them. I wish she would stop writing the True Blood series and focus on this one instead!

The 1st book in the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series
The 1st book in the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series

Have you read these wonderful little books? They are a quick read, fun and full of mystery. Or do you have a book in mind that I must absolutely read? If you do I would love to find it and read it!

Finally Finished!

Angela9 Comments

What-the-Dickens continued on being his troublesome, question asking self. By sheer luck, he manages to encounter another Skibberee, Pepper by name; fireball tooth-fairy on a mission with no time to deal with What-the-Dickens. But deal she does. She has to retrieve a tooth, leave the money, and get back to command center before sun-up. If she fails, she will not become an Agent of Change (AKA a Tooth Fairy).

She gets back at sun-up, with What-the-Dickens in tow. No one is happy to see this rogue Skibberee, so Pepper has one more chance to complete her mission, on time, with instructions to leave What-the-Dickens somewhere out there. He has been instructed to never come back.

With task at hand, Pepper and What-the-Dickens go to their location, the home of none other than Gage, then a 12 year old boy, lonely and bored with parents who had no time for him. Oh. Yeah. Gage is also the owner of McCavity. McCavity gets ahold of Pepper’s wing, and damages her enough that she is captured by Gage. She tells What-the-Dickens to finish her task, so at least her name will be remembered after her death.

Yep. You’re thinking what I was thinking, huh? “How does “What-the-Dickens” mess this up? But that’s just it. He doesn’t. Not this time. It seems he really is useful, and has his own talent; he can communicate with animals, and no other Skibberee can do that.

He completes the mission for Pepper, and returns to the command stump where all the skibberee in that district live. He turns over the teeth, and tells them about Pepper’s fate.

No one seems to care. It is what it is. But What-the-Dickens cares. And when Gage returns her to the stump, What-the-Dickens does everything he can to revive her. He succeeds, and announces that he and Pepper are leaving forever; they can live out in the world on their own.

The adult Gage will not tell his cousins if the story is true or if it isn’t, but he gives the challenge to Dinah to determine how she thinks their story would continue. And ideas abound in her mind of how What-the-Dickens and Pepper would have adventures out in the world.

What do you think they are up to?

this was a great story, not exceptionally long to read, and definitely holds your interest. I certainly wish Mr. Maguire would twist up some other fables and fairy tales, to see what he comes up with next!