Tag: Murder

Books

Book 58: What Would Jane Austen Do? – Laurie Brown

Geoff W

What Would Jane Austen Do? - Laurie BrownWhat a fun novel! I was not expecting much as I purchased this in the Kindle sale a few weeks ago. I purchased it for its tenuous connection to Jane Austen and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

It is the story of Eleanor Pottinger and starts out as a sad depressed tale of her life and her struggle to turn things around when she meets two ghosts in an English haunted hotel. They send convince her to help them move on by sending her back in time. The next thing you know Eleanor is in Regency England and is neighbors to Jane Austen. Part mystery, thriller, regency novel, costume applique and paranormal romance (thank you www.lauriebrown.net) the novel is an enjoyable and quick read.

Click here for the recommendation and to continue reading…

Books

Book 54: The Professor and the Madman – Simon Winchester

Geoff W

The Professor and the Madman - Simon WinchesterThe complete title of this work is The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary and it fully lives up to this title. It is the history of Professor James Murray (the Professor) and Dr. W.C. Minor (the Madman) and their serendipitously linked lives through one of the greatest feats of the English-speaking world.

It’s a fascinating combination of historical novel about the Oxford English Dictionary and Biography of its longest editors (Murray) and greatest contributors (Minor). If there’s one major critique I have is that it often felt like the author purposefully used a ridiculous synonyms when a simple word would suffice. However, with his obsession for lexicography and the OED in particular, it’s not too surprising.

Click here for the recommendation, quotes and the rest of the review.

Books

Book 8: Bootlegger’s Daughter – Margaret Maron

Geoff W

You have to love a book with its first chapter titled “Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down.” I’m not positive but I think most of the chapters were song lyrics and most of them made me smile. Bootlegger’s Daughter takes place in a fictional rural county of North Carolina which vaguely resembles the surrounding counties where I grew up (thank you I-95).

As a part of my Junior AP Literature class we went to my local library (a link over on the right) and heard Ms. Maron speak. Afterward I remember having a brief conversation with her when I got my book signed, but remember very little of the talk or the conversation. I remember I loved Mysteries at the time, having started Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone Alphabet series (A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, etc.). If I read the book when I got it, I didn’t remember any of the plot. I don’t think I did for two reasons, I remember most plots after a few chapters if I’ve read the book before, and I kept my books looking brand new and probably held this even higher because of Ms. Maron’s autograph.

I won’t go into the plot too much as it is a mystery, but there were two major things that struck me about this book, aside from her witty and brilliant use of colloquialisms and ability to write the dialects.

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