In the High Peaks
















Wednesday, November 20, 2019

What Will Be Your Final Reads of the Year?

I find myself wondering about the books all of you are planning for your final reads of the year. Please do report! I've been stumbling around with my books lately, largely because I've been so engrossed in my online novel writing class, which won't end until December 11th. Then I intend to read like mad. Or at least I hope I'll be able to.

Our weather has been very wintry since November 6th, much like 2018. As much as I like winter, I've been very concerned that during the last few years it has been setting in earlier, due to the displaced arctic air, forced southward, as the Arctic experiences much warmer than normal temps. Our weather is not normal, not at all. Ultra-frigid cold normally doesn't begin here until December. We're in the 20s now, but we had below zero Fahrenheit lows off and on for the past two weeks, and we're still seeing snow on a daily basis.

Do you have any books in mind for the week between Christmas and New Year's?
I must name one I'd like to read. I've been searching for the #5 Maisie Dobbs novel in the upstairs of the house. Have not found it yet, but I still have a few places to search. "The Too-Many-Books Syndrome" is at fault.

Have any of you started to watch The Crown, Season 3? It's extraordinarily interesting--but, in my opinion casting Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret is a disservice to the princess. Carter's  portrayal is over the top, I think, based on my research, but I suppose it makes for "good tv"--yuck! Carter is an actress with a limited range.  

19 comments:

  1. Stupidly, I didn't realise about the 'displaced air' thing and that it might cause areas like yours to be more wintery rather than less. Climate change is such a complicated issue. We've actually had snow here as well, it came down quite heavily last week but did not stick. Seemed very odd to look out at autumn coloured leaves on the trees with snow coming down on them.

    We haven't started on season 3 of The Crown yet. The first two seasons were some of the best TV we watched last year. Casting HBC as Princess Margaret makes me sigh a bit. She seems to play all her roles in the style of Bellatrix Lestrange so heaven only knows what we shall see. I thought the first two seasons were wonderfully cast... John Lithgow being the biggest and best surprise.

    As to December reading, well I always think I'll have more time to read than I actually do in that month. I've had several books on the go for the last couple of weeks. The plan is to finish those before the end of the month (including Moby-Dick) and then perhaps read a couple of Christmas mysteries in December and a non-fiction. The non-fiction I really want to read is The Quest for Queen Mary by James Pope-Hennessy. This is inspired by The Crown as she seemed like such an interesting person and I wanted to know more. My grandmother always referred to her as 'our Queen Mary' and I'm curious as why she was clearly held in such great affection by the people.

    Off to Swansea tomorrow to spend some time with our grand-daughter, back on Tuesday. Which books to take......

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    1. Hi Cath,
      I do think that snow falling in November is not all that common for you in southern England. I bet that seemed really weird.
      I simply loved Season One of the Crown and I was blown away by Season Two. Season 3, with a new actress for Queen, seems very different, but we've been fascinated nonetheless.
      That's so interesting about Queen Mary--very much so. I'll be intrigued to find out what you think.
      I do hope you have a good visit in Swansea. Will there be some bookstores you might visit???

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  2. I always tend to read at least some fluff in December - maybe a cozy mystery of feel good Christmas fiction. I hope my last book of the year might be something, I've put off for a while perhaps.

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    1. Hi Diane,
      I'll be very interested indeed to see if you end up reading some really good fluff! I will follow you!

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  3. I’ve committed to the 1000 page Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann which will certainly keep my busy to the end of the year (if not longer). On the shorter side I am reading The Under Dog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie and Exit Strategies by Martha Wells which is a sci-fi novella and the fourth and final part of a series.

    The Tournament of Books 2020 Shortlist will be published mid-December, so I will probably be reading those titles available to me from the library between Christmas and New Year's.

    Here in Southern California we have had a hot fall with lots of days getting in to the 90s up until this week when it has finally turned to cooler temperatures. :D

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    1. Hi Ruthiella,
      Wow--I had no idea that Ducks Newburyport was 1,000 pages. Best wishes to you with that this month.
      And Agatha Christie and sci-fi. That's enticing to me because it is so well-rounded, and when you tire of one, you can leap to the next. I must look up Ducks, Newburyport. I read about it weeks ago, but not in detail.
      And your weather! How difficult enduring 90s into November must be, I would think. And I've felt so helpless seeing the out of control wildfires. I truly can't imagine worse weather and I do hope and pray it improves soon.

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  4. Well, I am hoping to read more mysteries set around Christmas in December, but no definite plans. At the end of the year I like to read whatever strikes me at the time so it feels more like a gift. If I think of some specific books I will come back and comment.

    I have been wanting to start watching The Crown with Season 3, but I am not sure I would like Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret. We will probably give it a try anyway.

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    1. Hi Tracy,
      Oh, you surely must see Season 3 of The Crown if you liked Seasons 1 and 2. It's fascinating, and even Ken, who dragged his heals at times with Seasons 1 and 2 has felt very moved by Season 3, which intrigues me in and of itself. The HBC issue is minor, I suppose, really. It's just that I'm tired of her disaffected portrayals of people. But do see it for sure!

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    2. I have not seen Seasons 1 and 2 of The Crown, but thought it would be fine to start with Season 3 with a change in cast. We would possibly go back and watch Seasons 1 and 2 later.

      I am surprised to hear you having such cold weather now, and snow, and hope you are surviving it well.

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    3. Hi Tracy,
      Oh, of course, that would be a fine way to start--with Season 3.
      But I must tell you that Seasons One and Two are extraordinary. I have watched Season One twice, but I need to see Season Two again. So deep, so nuanced, so AMAZING! Do enjoy.
      Oh, yes, when I hear what you have had to put up with in California, with super-high temps this fall (am I right?), I can say we're surviving, though not without problems galore. But we're used to that.
      I'm just NOT used to NOVEMBER being deep winter. I'm not. I love winter, I don't mind it, but whatever happened to our beautiful fall. We were plunged immediately into harsh winter.

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  5. I’ll be the dissenter and say I was excited to hear Helena Bonham Carter would be Princess Margaret. I loved her as the Queen in The King’s Speech, and in Margaret’s Museum. I am quite excited to watch The Crown!
    I was thinking also of our early winter weather

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    1. Yes! Indeed, Carter was very good in the King's Speech! Excellent point! I haven't seen Margaret's Museum, but will look that one up.
      And yes, she gives a nuanced portrayal of Princess Margaret. And I'm sorry to say I've watched decades, decades of her portrayal of disaffected characters and hence my feelings. Carter is a stellar actress, so maybe I should say...I've just grown weary.
      And, you too, having an early winter? What has it been like in the Maritimes? I know for sure that some really powerful storms have come your way this fall.

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  6. (Ach, comment issues)
    I remember Halloween’s wearing a snowsuit under my costume, and starting school wearing cords and sweaters. Fall used to be cooler and more fall-ish. Still not a fan of the early winters though!
    raidrrgirl3

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    1. You're absolutely right about comment issues--I just posted a reply to your comment here and it vanished. So, yes, Septembers and Octobers used to be much cooler, but this November 6-7 deep plunge into total winter with daily snow, sub-zero windchills, etc. is a newer norm. Yikes!

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  7. I'm planning lighter reads for December. The library group will be reading Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank and I want to get to Winter Solstice (your suggestion) too. Life is quite hectic at the moment, so these books should be just perfect. Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving, Judith.

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    1. JoAnn,
      Lighter reads are likely to be perfect for you now, I would think. That's what I would read if I were in your shoes. It's a wonder if you find time to read at all, of course.
      I DO think you will Thrill to Winter Solstice, and if not this year, then another year for sure. It is a favorite for lots of people, and I award it a 10 out of 5 stars.

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  8. I haven't watched one episode of The Crown, but it feels like I've spent years of my life looking for particular books that have somehow managed to disappear. In the old house I threw my copy of Gaudy Night up to the attic doorway before climbing out - and I've never seen it since. I think the ghost got it!

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    1. Katrina, It seems as though my searches for "lost" books could be labelled "legendary." It often happens that I search for days and days for a book (M.M. Kaye's Kashmir adventure is a stellar example), I do not find it, and then a year later, there it is on a bookshelf EXACTLY where I remembered it and had searched for it. So frustrating! And!! I can see so clearly in my mind's eye my copy of A Winter's Tale. The question of the month is: Will I find it on the shelves where I think it's lurking?? Aarrrgh!
      Do I ever believe in ghosts in houses who disappear things. By the way, did you happen to have a ghost at your old house? Would love to know, because I've lived in two houses that definitely had a ghost, according to lots of people. Gaudy Night--is that Ruth Rendell? Seems to me that has high ratings.

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  9. LOVE your Moody autumn mountain view! It makes me want to jump in my car to come see it.

    I wanted to recommend a two book (and I hope more) mystery series I just finished by Paula Munier. The first book is called A Borrowing of Bones. It is set in Vermont about a woman with a retired bomb sniffing dog. I lent both books to my sister on Saturday and she read them both yesterday!

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