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Jennifer's Books

 

 

 

Art Appreciation - Post #30

 

A Tender Moment in the Garden (Date unknown) by Federico Andreotti (1847-1930) [x]

Reading progress update: I've read 83 out of 371 pages.

Innocent In Death (In Death, #24) - J.D. Robb

Art Appreciation - Post #29

 

The Art Lesson (Date unknown) by Francesco Beda (1840-1900) [x]

Art Appreciation - Post #28

 

The Front Parlor (1913) by William McGregor Paxton [x]

Art Appreciation - Post #27

 

The New Bracelet (c. 1850-1894) by Frans Verhas [x]

Art Appreciation - Post #26

 

Flirting in the Park of the Villa Borghese, Rome (Date unknown) by Frédéric Soulacroix (1858-1933) [x]

Art Appreciation - Post #25

 

Boreas (1903) by John William Waterhouse [x]

Art Appreciation - Post #24

 

An Afternoon of Fishing (c. 1870) by Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer [x]

Art Appreciation - Post #23

 

Reflections on the Thames, Westminster (1880) by John Atkinson Grimshaw [x]

Fire Opal (Grace Mutell) (1899) by Laura Coombs Hills [x*]

The audiobook of The Jane Austen Society is available for pre-order.

 

Its narrator: Richard Armitage

 

Art Appreciation - Post #22

 

Leisure Moments (Date unknown) by Daniel Hernández Morillo (1856-1931) [x*]

Snakes and Ladders - Post #5

 

Spaces with numbers on them = a space I've already visited and read a book for.

Space with the stack of books on them = the space I'm currently on as of my most recent move.

 

I was on space 52 (Has a tree or flower on the cover), and the book I read for this space, Desperate and Deceptive, does meet the requirement, even if it is hard to see:

 

 

^^Trees!

 

So, I was able to roll two dice:

 

 

Moving forward 10 spaces puts me on space 62, "Cover is more than 50% green".

 

Spaces:

 

1. Author is a woman [Game start] - Hidden on the Fens by Joy Ellis

3. Set in the twentieth century [Roll 1 - 4/4/20] - Death in Disguise by Caroline Graham

51. Has a wild animal on the cover [Ladder sp3 - 4/10/20] - Final Girls by Riley Sager

57. Was published more than 50 years ago [Roll 2 - 4/14/20] - The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie

65. Snake [Roll 3 - 4/15/20] - go back to 52 

52. Has a tree or flower on the cover [Snake sp65 - 4/15/20] - Desperate and Deceptive by Jayne Castle

62. Cover is more than 50% green [Roll 4 - 4/17/20] -

 

 

1. Author is a woman

2. Genre: mystery

3. Set in the twentieth century

4. Published in 2019

5. Published in 2018

6. Title has a color word in it

7. Author's last name begins with the letters A, B, C, or D.

8. Author's last name begins with the letters E, F, G, or H.

9. Author's last name begins with the letters H, I, J, or K

10. Author's last name begins with the letters L, M, N or O

11. Author's last name begins with the letters P, Q, R, or S

12. Author's last name begins with the letters T, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z

13. Author is a man

14. Author is dead

15. Genre: romance

16. Genre: fantasy

17. Genre: horror

18. Set in a school

19. Set in the UK

20. Set in a country that is not your country of residence

21. Set in Europe

22. Set in Asia

23. Set in Australia/Oceania

24. Set in Africa

25. Snake - go back to 5

26. Part of a series that is more than 5 books long

27. Set during WWI or WWII

28. Written between 1900 and 1999

29. Someone travels by plane

30. Someone travels by train

31. Road trip

32. Genre: thriller

33. Set in North America

34. Snake - go back to 1

35. Has been adapted as a movie

36. Set in Central or South America

37. Has won an award

38. Newest release by a favorite author

39. A reread

40. Characters involved in the entertainment industry

41. Characters involved in politics

42. Characters involved in sports/sports industry

43. Characters involved in the law

44. Characters involved in cooking/baking

43. Characters involved in medicine

44. Characters involved in science/technology

45. A book that has been on your tbr for more than one year

46. A book that has been on your tbr for more than two years

47. Snake - go back to 19

48. A book you acquired in February, 2019.

49. Recommended by a friend

50. Has a domestic animal on the cover

51. Has a wild animal on the cover

52. Has a tree or flower on the cover

53. Has something that can be used as a weapon on the cover

54. Is more than 400 pages long

55. Is more than 500 pages long

56. Was published more than 100 years ago

57. Was published more than 50 years ago

58. Was published more than 25 years ago

59. Was published more than 10 years ago

60. Was published last year

61. Cover is more than 50% red

62. Cover is more than 50% green

63. Cover is more than 50% blue

64. Cover is more than 50% yellow

65. Snake - go back to 52

66. Part of a series that is more than 10 books long

67. Set in a city with a population of greater than 5 million people (link)

68. Something related to weddings on the cover

69. Something related to travel on the cover

70. Something related to fall/autumn on the cover

71. Involves the beach/ocean/lake 

72. Involves the mountains/forests 

73. Categorized as YA

74. Categorized as Middle Grade

75. Set in a fantasy world

76. Set in a world with magic

77. Has a "food" word in the title

78. Set in a small town (fictional or real)

79. Main character is a woman

80. Main character is a man

81. Ghost story

82. Genre: urban fantasy

83. Genre: cozy mystery

84. Genre: police procedural

85. Written by an author who has published more than 10 books

86. Author's debut book

87. Snake - go back to 57

88. Comic/graphic novel

89. Published between 2000 and 2017

90. A new-to-you author

91. Snake - go back to 61

92. Reread of a childhood favorite

93. Author's first/last initial same as yours (real or BL handle)

94. Non-fiction

95. Memoir

96. From your favorite genre

97. Title starts with any of the letters in SNAKE

98. Title starts with any of the letters in LADDERS

99. Snake - go back to 69

100. Let BL pick it for you: post 4 choices and read the one that gets the most votes!

Desperate and Deceptive

Desperate and Deceptive: The Guinevere Jones Collection Volume 1 - Jayne Castle

Hoo boy...okay.

 

This book contains the first two books of the Guinevere Jones mysteries: The Desperate Game and The Chilling Deception. Both were originally published in 1986, and good grief, does it ever show.

 

The "hero" quite frankly (and excuse my language) was a dick. The heroine was pretty much a dishrag at times, despite that fact that I think she was intended to be a feminist character.

 

In the first book, the hero was pretty intolerable, and I was unsure I'd be able to get through it. But, thanks to a book light and sheer boredom, I prevailed. The second book was easier to get through, and I could see glimmers of Krentz/Quick/Castle heroes to come, but then this dude would say or do something that would enrage me all over again. I did find the heroine slightly more likeable in the second book, but there were times I wanted to grab her by the shoulder and shout that she could do better than this jerk.

 

From the perspective of a fan of this author, it was interesting to read a couple of her earlier books if only to see how much she improved during the ensuing years.

 

I have the second volume that contains the final two books, and I will read it. Just not right away, I don't think.

Snakes and Ladders - Post #4

 

Spaces with numbers on them = a space I've already visited and read a book for.

Space with the stack of books on them = the space I'm currently on as of my most recent move.

 

I was on space 57 (Was published more than 50 years ago). The book I read for this space, The Pale Horse, met the requirement as it was published 59 years ago. So, I rolled 2 dice:

 

 

Moving 8 spaces forward put me on space 65, which is a snake, so I slid back down to space 52, "Has a tree or flower on the cover".

 

Spaces:

 

1. Author is a woman [Game start] - Hidden on the Fens by Joy Ellis

3. Set in the twentieth century [Roll 1 - 4/4/20] - Death in Disguise by Caroline Graham

51. Has a wild animal on the cover [Ladder sp3 - 4/10/20] - Final Girls by Riley Sager

57. Was published more than 50 years ago [Roll 2 - 4/14/20] - The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie

65. Snake [Roll 3 - 4/15/20] - go back to 52 

52. Has a tree or flower on the cover [Snake sp65 - 4/15/20] -

 

1. Author is a woman

2. Genre: mystery

3. Set in the twentieth century

4. Published in 2019

5. Published in 2018

6. Title has a color word in it

7. Author's last name begins with the letters A, B, C, or D.

8. Author's last name begins with the letters E, F, G, or H.

9. Author's last name begins with the letters H, I, J, or K

10. Author's last name begins with the letters L, M, N or O

11. Author's last name begins with the letters P, Q, R, or S

12. Author's last name begins with the letters T, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z

13. Author is a man

14. Author is dead

15. Genre: romance

16. Genre: fantasy

17. Genre: horror

18. Set in a school

19. Set in the UK

20. Set in a country that is not your country of residence

21. Set in Europe

22. Set in Asia

23. Set in Australia/Oceania

24. Set in Africa

25. Snake - go back to 5

26. Part of a series that is more than 5 books long

27. Set during WWI or WWII

28. Written between 1900 and 1999

29. Someone travels by plane

30. Someone travels by train

31. Road trip

32. Genre: thriller

33. Set in North America

34. Snake - go back to 1

35. Has been adapted as a movie

36. Set in Central or South America

37. Has won an award

38. Newest release by a favorite author

39. A reread

40. Characters involved in the entertainment industry

41. Characters involved in politics

42. Characters involved in sports/sports industry

43. Characters involved in the law

44. Characters involved in cooking/baking

43. Characters involved in medicine

44. Characters involved in science/technology

45. A book that has been on your tbr for more than one year

46. A book that has been on your tbr for more than two years

47. Snake - go back to 19

48. A book you acquired in February, 2019.

49. Recommended by a friend

50. Has a domestic animal on the cover

51. Has a wild animal on the cover

52. Has a tree or flower on the cover

53. Has something that can be used as a weapon on the cover

54. Is more than 400 pages long

55. Is more than 500 pages long

56. Was published more than 100 years ago

57. Was published more than 50 years ago

58. Was published more than 25 years ago

59. Was published more than 10 years ago

60. Was published last year

61. Cover is more than 50% red

62. Cover is more than 50% green

63. Cover is more than 50% blue

64. Cover is more than 50% yellow

65. Snake - go back to 52

66. Part of a series that is more than 10 books long

67. Set in a city with a population of greater than 5 million people (link)

68. Something related to weddings on the cover

69. Something related to travel on the cover

70. Something related to fall/autumn on the cover

71. Involves the beach/ocean/lake 

72. Involves the mountains/forests 

73. Categorized as YA

74. Categorized as Middle Grade

75. Set in a fantasy world

76. Set in a world with magic

77. Has a "food" word in the title

78. Set in a small town (fictional or real)

79. Main character is a woman

80. Main character is a man

81. Ghost story

82. Genre: urban fantasy

83. Genre: cozy mystery

84. Genre: police procedural

85. Written by an author who has published more than 10 books

86. Author's debut book

87. Snake - go back to 57

88. Comic/graphic novel

89. Published between 2000 and 2017

90. A new-to-you author

91. Snake - go back to 61

92. Reread of a childhood favorite

93. Author's first/last initial same as yours (real or BL handle)

94. Non-fiction

95. Memoir

96. From your favorite genre

97. Title starts with any of the letters in SNAKE

98. Title starts with any of the letters in LADDERS

99. Snake - go back to 69

100. Let BL pick it for you: post 4 choices and read the one that gets the most votes!

The Pale Horse

The Pale Horse - Agatha Christie

I randomly chose this one from the Christie books on my kindle during the weather related blackout. I didn't know what to expect as I didn't easily have access to the synopsis (and I believe my phone was in my car charging when I first started this one), so I went into it rather blind.

 

I enjoyed this quite a bit, though at times I was wondering just where Christie was going story-wise. The plot and the resolution were rather implausible, but at the same time it was also great fun and a cracking good mystery.

 

I only wish there had been more Ariadne Oliver in it.