Long weekend with books

[vilakins]

Yay for a long weekend! I feel ridiculously pleased at having an extra day off.

I'm also delighted that when I went to the library on the way home to drop some overdue books off, they already had two of the books I ordered on-line this morning. One is the third in Donna Andrews' Meg Lanslow murder mysteries which I started reading because I know she has one set at a con, and which I'm enjoying because of the funny, eccentric, and articulate characters. This one is set at a craft fair and US war of independence re-enactment - cool! I have been dorky enough to wander around those in full armour and take part in Roman battle technique demos. I'm going to give her other mystery series a try on the strength of these. The main character is Turing Hopper, an AI; that's got to be geek fun.

Sigh. A previous reader got upset about the American form of the past tense of 'fit' and added 'ted' to it. Luckily it was in pencil so I could erase it. It reminds me of the novel I read a few years ago where someone objected to the use of 'whilst' on the grounds that "no one talks like that". Um, yes, they do in the UK. And then there was one where the reader thought the characters quoted too much poetry and said so in a large writing in pen on the front page. [rolls eyes] Critics.

Comments

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. I am a little surprised that the first penciller didn't go around adding 'o's to all the words where they're left out in American English! The other scribbler is a twit.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They so are. Luckily most readers don't deface books.

[kerravonsen]

I think one of the most devastating comments I had on one of my stories was one where I had a little rhyme at the start of each part, and the person said he hadn't read any of the rhymes "because I don't read poetry". Arrrgh.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

How very prosaic of him!

[kerravonsen]

Heh, not sure whether to grin or groan at that.
I'm really looking forward to visiting you. 8-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I was expecting a groan. :-P

I'll have to work out a good week to take off work. In October maybe?

[kerravonsen]

That seems okay. I need to give at least a month's notice for leave, but I don't think it's likely to be difficult for me to get it.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

Whilst? As you say, that is used all the time here! I bet I hear it daily

Love the idea of a book being set at a craft fair and a re-enactment :0)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

You're one person I know who uses it all the time. Is it regional? Because not all English people do.

It's very entertaining so far. I'm looking forward to the one set at a con. I suspect it will be a gamers' con because the main character's brother has designed a computer game called "Lawyers from Hell". :-)

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

The author is Donna Andrews, you say ? I shall keep an eye out for her books, they sound ineresting.

Have you read any of the 'The Cat Who...' detective books by Lilian Jackson Braun ? I like them, though they can be hard to find, as shops and libraries are inconsistant about filing them. They might be under Jackson, or Braun.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I have the same trouble finding Alexander McCall Smith's books. Yes, I have read the cat books with Qwill and his two Siamese; the first one was a gift from my mother when I was about 14. :-) The Sneaky Pie Brown books (name of a cat) by Rita Mae Brown are also fun; the animals talk to each other but the humans don't realise who much they know.

Donna Andrews has two series: this one and the one with the AI which I must try.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

My mother uses the -st endings, but I don't like them myself. They're still in common use, though.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I worked with a man from England who always used them. Is it regional or a class/education thing? I suppose 'against' which I use, will eventually become 'again'. After all, Jarriere already says 'agin'. :-)

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Silly Brits, always wanting to put more letters and syllables into things than they really need. ;)

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Or stilly New Zealanders, I should say. Sorry about that. All you furriners sound the same to us. ;)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Except for got[ten]. ;-)

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

Oh ? What about that ghastly word-mangling 'burglarized' that's been creeping in from across the Atlantic ? The conjugation is 'burgled', dammit.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Vila agrees. He takes pride in what he does and the verbs used to describe it.

[glittermouse.livejournal.com]

Writing in books?! Heretics! Set Avon on them.

The Murder mystery series sounds good - I need a new mystery series to collect now I've finished all my Falco and Matthew Bartholomew ones! :) I was tempted by M. Beaton's 'Agatha Raisin' series...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've read all the Falcos too; just finished Saturnalia. I don't know the other two.

I can rec this series so far. The main character is a female blacksmith with a family of assorted nutters who make her look normal. I loved the scene where her mother's best friend, playing croquet at a lawn party, leapt onto a table to "play the ball where it lay" - in the mousse. My only reservation is the very handsome boyfriend, but their dialogue is witty enough to make up for that.

[glittermouse.livejournal.com]

The Bartholomew books are by Susanna Gregory, set in 10th C Cambridge/Fenlands. Like Cadfael, but Matthew is younger, and gets up to more dangerous stuff. He's also in love with the leader of the town's prostitutes, which is a problem! He isnt a monk, though, just the niversity surgeon. My favourite character is his sidekick, Brother Michael. I just love him.

I like the croquet/mousse joke :) I may go and have a look for them!

I also recently saw some books apparently written by a writing team of one woman and her cat! I think they were called Rita Mae Brown and Sneezy Pie Brown or something. Most odd.

And the Aberystwyth books by Malcolm Price are first rate :)

[san-valentine.livejournal.com]

I've got the first two of those, and will no doubt get the third one at some point.

Have you read any of Jasper fforde's books ? They can be difficult to find in bookshops, as they get filed under general, humour, crime and sci-fi. The Thursday Next books are set in an alternative England, where literature is the big craze, with Milton conventions and audience-participation Shakespeare (Audience: "When is the winter of our discontent ?" King Richard: "Now is the winter of our discontent."). The heroine, Thursday, is a literary detective, with the unusual ability to read herself into books. So in 'The Eyre Affair', she ends up rescuing Jane Eyre, who has been kidnapped and removed from her own book.
Jasper's books are just brilliant.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They sound interesting! [adds to growing list of series to find and read]

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The Bartholomew books are by Susanna Gregory, set in 10th C Cambridge/Fenlands.

Those look like a good series; thank you! I have an anthology of period murder mysteries collected in Ellis Peters' memory which looks to have a good mix; I started that this week.

I also recently saw some books apparently written by a writing team of one woman and her cat! I think they were called Rita Mae Brown and Sneezy Pie Brown or something.

Rita Mae Brown writes murder mysteries starring a human woman called Harry, the people of her small Virginian (I think) town, and her pets, two or three cats and a dog. One cat is called Sneaky Pie Brown after a RL cat the author has/had, and the animals talk to each other although the humans are quite unaware of this. The books aren't as twee as that sounds; I like them better than "the cat who" books. Brown has also written some excellent historical novels, devoid (the ones I read at least) of sentient animals. :-)