Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

I saw the movie many years ago and had no idea it was based on a book until fairly recently. Since then it has been on my to-read list and formed part of my birthday gift from Confluence and Hodgestar. Now that I've read it, I'd really like to see the movie again. This is my second book of the year and is my first in the New Author challenge.

I was concerned about how the story would be told because I remember from the movie an awful lot of moving back and forth in time. The novel does this wonderfully. I will suggest that you pay attention to the dates because there is a fair amount of switching around even between the 80s and the past. The characters were very much alive and jumping off the page. The relationships were real particularly the most important two - the one between Ruth and Idgie and the one between Mrs Threadgoode and Evelyn. Some of the more important plot points I didn't remember, but I enjoyed rediscovering them.

It appears that Fannie Flagg (who apparently changed her name from Patricia Neal ... I grant you Fannie Flagg is more memorable, but it's not the name I would have chosen) has written a number of other novels, which I look forward to reading.

Saint Peter's Fair

My first book of the new year! The only challenge that this one counts towards is my 2012 GoodReads challenge, to read 245 books in 2012. I aimed for 156 (3 per week) in 2011 and made it to 242, so I think aiming to up my total by 3 in 2012 is perfectly possible.

Saint Peter's Fair is the fourth book of the Cadfael Chronicles, set in Shrewsbury during the Nineteen Year Winter in the 12th century (Not to be confused with darkoutthere's LARP by the same name, inspired by the Cadfael books and excessively fun if you haven't played in it already (and, really, even if you have!)). The book is split into five sections, which is rare in these books, the eve of the fair, the first, second and third days of the fair and after the fair. Events focus on young Emma, a wealthy merchant's niece, come to the fair from Bristol. Another focus of the novel is the unrest from the town, as it had recently been attacked by King Stephen, after declaring for Empress Maud (see One corpse too many, book two in the series). The town is aggrieved that for three days of high business, all income goes to the Abbey and they feel that the Abbey should part with some of that income in order to restore the town's defences etc.

This is a fascinating and enjoyable murder mystery, with a hint of espionage thrown in from all quarters, and well up to Pargeter's usual high standard.

The First Deadly Sin

I first read this many years ago, but since I absconded from the cottage with The third deadly sin, I thought I would collect the lot of them. In this one, Edward X Delaney is still married to Barbara, though she spends almost the entire novel in the hospital suffering her last illness. He's also the Captain of the 251st precinct, which is right next door to him. He decides to retire to spend time with his wife while she recovers (which she doesn't, sadly) but is convinced to turn this into an extended leave of absence and further to spend this time running an unofficial investigation at the behest of the Commissioner and a few others. Politics abound behind the scenes. Thankfully Delaney is utterly uninterested in politics, so we manage to avoid most of it.

Again, the narrative is beautifully interwoven between Delaney and the killer, which allows a reader to experience both view points and to appreciate the effect that each is having on the other. There's a fair amount of philosophising, mostly done by Celia Montfort - a woman that is ostensibly the killer's girlfriend, but about whom there is almost no information available at all. Though, to be fair, we know as much about her, her brother and her manservant as the killer does. Delaney also spends a fair bit of time philosophising, but given that his wife's condition is rapidly deteriorating, I'm willing to forgive his dwelling on the meaning of life, etc.

The ending is rather depressing and I'm not sure that it's entirely realistic. I suspect that a serious break with reality is required for it to occur and I thought it well-written and believable, though I do wonder about it's likelihood now that I'm finished reading.

The Awakening

This is the first audiobook I listened to from books should be free. It's the story of Edna, a woman who finds herself constricted in the acceptable roles of wife and mother that were open to women in the late 19th century. The book was highly controversial when it was published in 1899 and ruined the rest of Chopin's writing career.

It's beautifully written with a lyrical style that makes listening to it a pleasure. I have to say, though, that the main character is not particularly likeable. There were many moments where I just wanted to slap her and tell her to stop being so self-centred and think of someone other than herself for a change. Of course, being a woman her choices were limited at the time. And yet, that did not manage to stop her from doing whatever she felt like, whenever she felt like it.

In a review I read, someone described the ending as a surprise. I can't say the same - it was quite obvious to me from quite early on. Unlike that person, I was not left feeling very pleased with the book. I would have preferred for there to be consequences. I would have liked to see Edna decide how she wished to live (which was apparently in a whimsical way where everyone attended to her fancies while she did as she pleased) and then to try and live like that in Louisiana at the turn of the 20th century. I would have liked to see what would happen if her husband decided he'd been patient and permissive enough. I would have liked to know what the results of her spending so much time - and plenty of it alone - with a known womaniser/adulterer would have been.

This is definitely worth reading and it certainly gives a sense of the limitations of life for ladies of leisure at that time. It doesn't deal with what I think are the more interesting questions relating to that topic, but we can't have everything.

The Third Deadly Sin

I read this many years ago. Seeing it at the cottage when I had nothing to read (prior to the trip to the Simon's Town Library sale, obviously) I decided to reread it and, since I enjoyed the series, to abscond with it. Since I recognised it as being one of Dad's unwanted books that were variously placed at the cottage or used book stores (or my shelves), I felt that would be perfectly acceptable. Besides I don't think anyone else reads the books down there.

Anyway, this book features Edward X Delaney, who used to be a police chief and has a thing about sandwiches. The book made me hungry, with all its talk of food. Delaney is approached by an old friend who needs his help solving a series of apparently unrelated murders committed by one person. That would be Zoe Kohler, having adventures, which as far as I can tell involves dressing up like a hooker and murdering the men that pick her up. The police's attempts to find her are fascinating and really do show the value of painstaking, methodical work as opposed to the intuitive behaviour of Poirot (for example) - but that's at least partly the difference between having suspects and not having suspects.

Sanders writes well, though I don't enjoy all his work. This is one that I can recommend without reserve. It is both a police procedural, following the investigation through Delaney, who has the advantage of being able to step outside the strict lines of protocol, being retired. At the same time the book traces the journey of the killer and how the investigation impacts on her life and her kills.

Sanditon

I've never bothered with Sanditon because Austen didn't finish it and, really, no one could manage to complete it properly. I found this at the Simon's Town Library sale and couldn't resist, since it was cheap and right in front of me. Apparently this version is the one that was completed by a woman who sometimes calls herself Marie Dobbs and sometimes Ann Telscombe and quite possibly other things as well. Austen wrote the first eleven chapters before her illness caused her to be too weak to continue.

In the first eleven chapters we are introduced to Charlotte Heywood, likely to be the heroine, who is taken out of her home environment to Sanditon, a seaside resort, through a chance encounter with Mr and Mrs Parker. Mr Parker's relatives - an excessively meddlesome (Miss Diana Parker) and hypochondriac (Miss Parker and Mr Arthur Parker) family - come to visit and we meet his friends - the wealthy and autocratic Lady Denham, her repulsive relations Sir Edward and Miss Denham and her companion-niece Miss Brereton - in the neighbourhood.

The first eleven chapters are short, but there are all of Austen's hallmarks in the characters presented. The existence and likely arrival of other characters (the wealthy Miss Lambe from the West Indies, Mr Sidney Parker, the girls school) is mentioned and there things ended for many years.

This continuation is attempted to be in Austen's style and to have a plot similar to all her others (marriage after misunderstandings/difficulties for worthy couple). Unfortunately the other lady is not Austen and it shows. The plot is a simple romance with plenty of misdirection and meddling. There is none of Austen's brilliance and there is a shocking lack of character development. The heroine comes across as rather unintelligent and very priggish. Few of the characters are terribly likeable and most of the plotting is blazingly obvious.

It was a fun read, but unless you wish to read everything ever written that's remotely related to Austen, I wouldn't recommend it.

Original Sin

The 9th Adam Dalgliesh, this one is actually set mostly in London, which is fairly rare for the series. The setting is a firm of publishers, who have suffered from natural deaths, a suicide, a number of malicious pranks and, finally, a murder. And things don't stop there, a number of other murders follow on, generally involving attempts at being disguised as either suicides or accidents.

This is an excellent novel, with one major setback. I did not find the motive convincing. The motive is essentially an extremely long-term attempt at vengeance and, while I'm sure such things do occur, I thought it lacking. I did think the manner of attaining vengeance well-thought out and very well-planned, however. The final twist was rather depressing, particularly given the fact that I think the intention is for the reader to sympathise with the murderer (which may be why I found the motive troubling). I thought some of the characters behaved in ways that were very out-of-character (third-police-officer-whose-name-I-forget in particular), which rather spoils my enjoyment of the book, as I find it very jarring to be thinking "but that makes no sense - they wouldn't do that", though it may well illustrate my inability to understand human behaviour rather than anything else.

Cargo of Eagles

I've read one other Margery Allingham, Police at the Funeral, which I enjoyed very much. This one was also enjoyable, but not quite as good. Perhaps I've just had enough of those secret agent style books with spies and international intrigue and the Cold War and so on. In which case I should take a break from those books. This has some fantastic parts and is well worth reading, however. Particularly if you enjoy mystery stories. There were certain aspects that, while important for the story, are terribly dated and rather unnecessary, in my opinion, such as the idea that young people on motorcycles are automatically violent or criminal or less-than-respectable.

The ABC Murders

The 13th Hercule Poirot book, I quite enjoy this one. It really is quite ingenious in many ways. I like the idea of the murders - A name A surname in A town, followed by B name B surname in B town and so on. It would be quite interesting to have a serial killer working in that way (though X and Z may prove difficult, it'll have to be an international killer). Despite all appearances, however, this is not your ordinary serial killer. This is someone smart enough to hide a very personal, ordinary murder under the guise of a serial killer. I quite enjoyed the psychological assessment - exactly what one would expect from the time, and yet so amusing and quaint from a contemporary perspective. It does make one wonder what our 'cutting-edge' theories will appear to be in fifty or seventy-five years time. I particularly liked the murderer's attempt to frame an appropriately initialed man, though I found the characterisation of that man unbelievable.

Definitely an enjoyable holiday read.

The Body in the Library

Miss Marple number three. Miss Marple's dear friends, Colonel and Mrs Bantry, wake up one morning to find the (dead) body of a young blonde in their library. Naturally the village begins to talk and of course they all think that it must be a woman that Colonel Bantry was carrying on with. Cue Miss Marple, on a quiet crusade to clear his name. Out of a fair number of missing girls, the woman is identified as a young dancer from a nearby hotel/resort by a relative she was staying and working with. A couple of days later a burnt car with the body of another girl is discovered, confusing everything.

Naturally Miss Marple saves the day, explaining all those odd little twists and turns that are really very simple, once you know what happened.

At Bertram's Hotel

This is the 11th Miss Marple, and I have to say that I don't think very highly of it. The story has fantastic potential, with plenty of sub-plots and sub-sub-plots to keep you confused and unsure what's significant and what's not. Like much of Agatha Christie, it relies heavily on a fair amount of coincidence, which tends to annoy me. Unfortunately, this book simply does not live up to what one expects. The execution is poor and the pacing is problematic.

Miss Marple: the Complete Short Stories

I love this collection. I could read it every week! I'm particularly fond of the first set, generally known as the Tuesday Club Murders or Thirteen Problems. These short stories are a great introduction to Miss Marple and the way in which she goes about solving crimes (the well-known village parallel). The writing is particularly evocative and you can clearly picture a white-haired woman carefully counting stitches in the corner, listening to everything being said and quietly solving the mystery without anyone noticing.

They Do It With Mirrors

Due to lack of internet, I am horribly behind in my blogging, so expect a massive spate in the next week or so. Also, we'll be at the cottage this weekend, which will involve piles of reading and knitting and so on, so I'll have even more to catch up on when I get back... Lately I've been rereading a bunch of books, notably Agatha Christie's, because all the books I want to read are waiting in the wings for 2012 and the mass of challenges. You'd think that would give me less to review, but apparently I haven't reviewed most of these.

This is the 6th Miss Marple and one of my favourites. There's a slight hint of what she may have been like as a young girl and we get to see her outside of St Mary Mead, which is always good. She meets up with an old friend, who is worried about her sister, Carrie-Louise. She has been manipulated into inviting Miss Marple to visit her and, unsurprisingly, a murder occurs. This really is one of Christie's more ingenious plots and, knowing what happens, it's really interesting to reread it and see all the little clues and details that point in the right direction.

This is highly recommended to anyone who enjoys that sort of mystery.

The Lighthouse

Another fantastic PD James, in other setting that, sadly, doesn't really exist. I'd really like to go to some of the places in these books, they're so remote and evocative. Of course, that may just be the writing.

I was rather concerned by the cavalier mention of SARS in this book, without much explanation. I know what it is and contemporary readers will have known what it is, but will readers in ten years time know what it is? I was particularly concerned by Emma's premonition that 'something bad' would happen to Dalgliesh. I'm sure things like that really do happen sometimes, but it really doesn't make me think that a particular piece of fiction is realistic. Unsurprisingly, it makes me think just the opposite. And that the author in question isn't very good at foreshadowing, which is not the case with James.

The mystery itself is very good and there are no shortage of suspects, despite the restrictions imposed by the location. The beginning was very good, and though you don't learn who the victim is until the murder happens (unless the back-of-book synopsis is very different on your copy than mine), it was rather obvious who it would be and I was very pleased as the person was shown to be a most unlikable character. The solution is not immediately obvious, though there are hints (and, obviously, clues) to the solution throughout.

Emma

This beautiful item was a birthday gift from a couple of friends of mine. It is absolutely wonderful! SJW had found the first four issues online, but I refused to read it until I could read it in full, which is what is collected in this beautiful volume. It tells the story of Emma without deviating from the novel too obviously. There are a few points that weren't mentioned, that I would have liked to see in, such as the fact that Mrs Bates was the widow of the previous vicar of Highbury. The lack of John Knightley and the children's second visit was a bit annoying, but worked very well. Like most movie adaptations, one has to accept that an adaptation does things differently. Particularly in the way that backstory is dealt with, which I think this did very well. The way they kept referring to Mr Elton as the rector annoyed me, but I suspect it's due to the language differences between the UK and the US. I must admit that the US spelling did not bother me in the slightest.

The art was not brilliant, but managed to capture the style of the characters and the feeling of the book. I would've preferred it to be a little less cartoony and a little more realistic, but that's simply a matter of individual taste. I occasionally had a little difficulty distinguishing the men from each other, particularly in the case of the Knightley brothers, but I imagine they would look quite similar.

If you enjoy Austen and graphic novels, then this is a must! I shall have to locate the others in the series, so far Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.

The Clocks

I've read this before, but I was in the mood for something light and entertaining and couldn't remember exactly what happened. I have to say that there are some monumental, and extremely unlikely coincidences in this book. I found the obligatory mention of Cold War spying and defection unnecessary, except in a way to get the protagonist into the story, which could have been managed far more skilfully by someone as capable as Christie. I have to say that I found the solution, which only Poirot managed to figure out, elegant and well thought out. This isn't one of her best, but it's still a quick read that's fun and entertaining, without requiring too much thought.

Devices and Desires

I really enjoy PD James. She writes very well. She recently (at the age of 92) wrote a sequel to Pride and Prejudice that involves Wickham's murder, which I'd like to read. This, however, is an older book that I found in a used bookshop the other day. It's one of the Adam Dalgliesh series, which is always good.

I have to say, however, I found this book disappointing. Dalgliesh, admittedly never the entire focus of the book, usually has a greater part in it. I didn't feel that that detracted from the book, as it was interesting to see him on the outside of the murder inquiry, looking in - a detached perspective that was able to cut both ways, as police officer and as witness or even suspect. What disappointed me, I think, is that it wasn't as good as I expected it to be. That's the problem with being brilliant -a good book by other standards is only mediocre. I found the aspect of terrorism relating to the nuclear power stations unnecessary and irrelevant, though amusing. Perhaps it was less so when the book was written, around the time that the Cold War ended. I have to say that I found the solution interesting, but I didn't find the motive particularly believable. I certainly didn't find some of the attitudes present particularly believable given the time it was set, but I was only a child at the time. It's perfectly possible that there really were women whose lives were as banal and empty as some of the attitudes and assumptions indicate. I can't imagine any woman in the late 80s or early 90s really being "a dried up spinster" whose life is entirely wrapped up in "keeping house" for her brother. I certainly can't imagine that anyone would actually believe that. But James clearly thought that would be believable, so it must have been at least partially accurate.

All in all, this was a well-written book, well worth reading. It's not quite up to James's usual standard, but given how high that is, this still manages to be a good read.

Towards Zero

I really enjoyed this. Sometimes Agatha Christie's can get a bit repetitive and are less enjoyable, but this was one of her best - right up there with The murder of Roger Ackroyd. I enjoy the character of Superintendent Battle, and the rest of the characterisation in this was just as good. I particularly liked the fact that any of the characters could have been the murderer. It makes it that much more satisfying a mystery. There were also a fair number of unrelated matters, snippets out of the characters' ordinary lives that helped make the story believable and more satisfying. Particularly as they were given without comment or anything relating them to the later bit they were to do with. At the same time, it still managed to be a quick, light read.

All in all, I'd certainly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

Call After Midnight

This is not part of the Rizzoli and Isles series, but is one of Gerritsen's stand-alone books. I have to say I was not particularly impressed. This is a fairly standard spy thriller with obligatory romantic sub-plot and, really, not up to Gerritsen's usual standard. It's a fun, quick read that is fairly well written and doesn't require much brain power and that's about the best that can be said about it.

The Heretic's Apprentice

This is the only Cadfael mystery I've ever had to restart because I just couldn't get into it the first time. I suspect the reasoning for that was that it was around the time I was reading about the Inquisition and there's really only so much religious intolerance I can handle. I didn't even make it to the murder the first time!

This time, I finished it and enjoyed every moment of it. Given the amount of so-called heresies abounding at the time (and, really, ever since such a thing was invented), I really don't think there was any way to avoid covering the topic in at least one of the Cadfael novels. I think she did it very well, personally.

On top of that, there's a murder, which may or may not be related. There's a love story, which is not uncommon, Cadfael has a weak spot for young love. There's also dissension amongst both monks and lay folk regarding what constitutes heresy as well as what constitutes an acceptable use of one's own wit, which may or may not be dependent on one's sex and station in life. And, there's plenty of information about the crafts of the time, in this case the creation of vellum, which was skin that was used as paper (for lack of a simpler way of explaining it). I'm really glad I went back and finished this one, it was definitely worth it!