The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

What Am I Reading???

A few weeks ago, after finishing E. V. Cunningham‘s Masao Masuto Series, I went to my bookshelves and debated (with myself!) over which book to read next…. I have (+/-) two hundred books just waiting for me… which is a great feeling for someone who seems to have a compulsive/obsessive disorder with order.

At first I thought that  I would go for a true crime book… Every once in a while I like to “mix-it-up” and add in a book that will offer some change from my very cozy mystery books, be it with a police procedural, gritty mystery, general fiction, etc.

I had an Ann Rule in one hand and a Joseph Wambaugh book in the other… Hmmmmm>>>>> which book did I “feel like”!?! I enjoy both of these authors’ true crime so much… but was I in the mood for just that?

You know how you sometimes have a period of not quite knowing what you want to read next? Sometimes I can have that feeling for a few days at a time… when I deliberate over what I feel I want to read next… It’s at those times when I catch up on reading my magazines and doing Sudoku puzzles. 

I am always happy when I finally get out of one of those “not-reading” slumps, when I am so intent on finding the correct book for my mood that I actually spend no time reading!

Adding Authors to the Cozy Mystery Site…

It’s that time again! I have just added some new authors to the site. I know that I am repeating myself again… When I first started the Cozy Mystery site, I only posted authors who I was familiar with… mostly those authors who I follow and with whom I enjoy spending time>>> reading their written words. Almost all of the authors were cozy by nature, but some of them were true crime (three or four, who I described as true crime), some of the authors wrote police procedurals (a very select few), some of the authors were actually “gritty” (a handful)… The vast majority of the authors I included on the site were COZY… thus the name of the site! But, there were some authors such as Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse), Reginald Hill (Dalziel and Pascoe), Elizabeth George (Lynley and Havers), and Ann Rule (true crime) who I just HAD to include, even though they aren’t “cozy.”

At first, I was a little hesitant about adding new authors to the site who I had not been able to try reading. But, as the site’s readership grew, I was “approached” by more and more people with authors who they thought belonged on the Cozy Mystery site.

I have been offered books to read by both authors, their agents, and/or their publishers.. but I have refused all of the very generous offers because I was never sure of when I would actually have the time to read the books, and also, because by nature I am not a very “strong-willed” person… I was afraid that if I read a free book that had been given to me, I would feel like I had to say nice things about it, even though I might not truly like it that much. (I don’t want to give the impression that I can be “bought” with a $6.49 paperback… but I think that most of you can get my point…)

Anyway… on to what I was initially trying to say when I started this blog: Now that I do add recommended authors to the site who I haven’t tried reading, it’s up to you to decide whether or not you want to try the authors. I cannot (obviously) vouch for authors who I haven’t tried reading…

John Adams Miniseries : Happy Fourth of July!

John Adams (DVD) I feel particularly patriotic this Fourth of July! We just finished the last episode of the HBO miniseries entitled John Adams…. and ¡¡¡WOW!!!

Let me first mention that we don’t subscribe to HBO… And, that we have tried some other HBO miniseries/episodic shows, and that some of them are just a tad out of my particular comfort zone. Yes… It’s true… I get a little uncomfortable with gratuitous sex and violence. Call me a “square” or “old-fashioned” but those are just the facts, ma’am.

A very good friend of mine told me about the miniseries… and since Cora is a cozy-mystery reader… I knew that she would not be recommending something that was going to be … let’s just say… adult-situation-graphic! (Don’t I sound like a prude!?!)

My husband had already read “John Adams,” David McCullough’s bestselling novel, and had really enjoyed it. And, since this miniseries is based on McCullough’s novel… which is presumably accurate, we knew that the miniseries would not take some of the “liberties” that a lot of other miniseries take… tweaking more “juicy tidbits” into the plots so that they are more readily appreciated by the masses. Of course, my husband did notice some changes that were made in the miniseries for dramatic purposes, although they didn’t detract from the overall spirit of accuracy.

The cast does a wonderful job portraying the characters who we all (in the USA) grew up learning and hearing about… Cast: Paul Giamatti (as John Adams) and Laura Linney (as his wife, Abigail) are superb in their parts. Tom Wilkinson (as Benjamin Franklin), Stephen Dillane (as Thomas Jefferson), David Morse (as George Wahington), Sarah Polley (as the Adams’ daughter), well… the list goes on! We found the acting, the sets, the director’s view ALL exceptionally good. (Of course, if you are looking for a sanitized version… where you don’t see and almost feel what it must have been like… where you don’t see how excruciating it was to be sick back in those times… when blood-letting seemed to be a very common practice… where there is a lack of buzzing flies, then this very realistic (and, again, to use an adjective I use to show the superlative), phenomenal miniseries is not for you…

HBO’s John Adams miniseries did not disappoint! It truly is worth watching… And, it gives a true meaning of why we, in the USA celebrate the Fourth of July… We have these very heroic men, such as John Adams, to thank for the liberty we now know and enjoy!

♦If you would like to see more TV & Movie  suggestions, click here.♦

I'm Just Venting…..AGAIN!

Good grief! I know that I am going to sound VERY OLD here… but am I the only one who is getting tired of “improvements”?!?!?

I finally had to chuck my AOL… I remember way back… when I first started using the computer, about 15 years ago>>> I was the last hold-out in my household to join the modern world! Back then, my relationship with my computer seemed a whole lot easier. I could save pictures to put on my emails, I could make folders that kept all of my correspondence, I could get off of the computer without “it” keeping files hidden in my computer which would then mess up my computer… Computer life was sweet! (As my daughter would say… “Sweet” is the new “delicious”— which a lot of us used to use to describe something that was totally super!)

But, some good things actually do come to pass. AOL kept putting out new versions… which they touted as “improved” (or some such adjective.) I would usually try to put off “upgrading” to the new improved system. And, when I finally acquiesced and let my husband upgrade my AOL (since I was the only one in the family who used AOL) I would immediately find fault with the “improvements.” (That’s right… “let my husband” do the work>>> Wasn’t I a good sport!?!)

Well, this last “upgrade” has finally persuaded me that after fifteen years of using AOL, I am ready to “go solo.” Yes, I have finally gotten fed up with all of the improvements… It seemed like this last upgrade meant that my husband had to keep fixing my computer when it “crashed.” And, I have enough computer questions for my husband… questions about how to save pictures of cozy mystery books, covers, how to make a new category on the site, how to “go behind the scenes” of my pages and make changes, how to…. well you get my drift.

So, adieu to AOL… You were “delicious” when I was learning my ins and outs of the computer… but your improvements just aren’t that “sweet” for me!

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