Book Review: The Thirteen Problems
This month’s Read Christie 2025 theme was “authors.” The book selection was The Thirteen Problems, a collection of Miss Marple short stories. I enjoyed the book, but I typically don’t like to read short story collections from beginning to end over a short period. One of the great things about short stories is their ability […]
Book Review: A Shadow in Moscow
I was flipping through a book distributor’s catalog a while back and ran across a book with the tantalizing subtitle “a cold war novel.” As I said in my review of the original Mission Impossible series, I’ve been fascinated with that time period lately. I’ve read a few nonfiction books on Soviet espionage and infiltration […]
Book Review: Third Girl
This is my first Read Christie 2025 review! Read Christie 2025 is a challenge from Agatha Christie Ltd. That assigns a Christie book to each month of the year based on a theme. This is my first year doing the challenge, and I plan to post a review of each of the selections near the […]
Book Review: The Valley of Fear
When it comes to my favorite fiction, I’m something of a purist. Most newer adaptations are met with skepticism and rarely approval from me. I am the pickiest by far about Sherlock Holmes. I love the character and Doyle’s original stories and have strong opinions about many of the interpretations people have put on them […]
Christmas Reading etc.
Hello everyone. It’s been a while since I’ve posted and I wanted to get one more post in before Christmas. It won’t be a long one, but I hope you enjoy it. First, I’m going to share my thoughts on my most recent read: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie. Simeon Lee is an elderly […]
TV Review: Mission Impossible
Possibly the most instantly recognizable theme song is from Mission Impossible. This could be because spy theme songs are required by law to be awesome (I passed this law by executive order) and because Mission Impossible is the most awesome spy show. (It’s been a busy legislative session.) The 1960s are my favorite decade for TV, […]
Nancy Drew and Co.
Last week’s post pointed you to my latest Brought to Mind column, “Memories on My Shelves.” This week, I want to go into a little more detail about some of my favorite vintage “girls series” as I call them. Since I have never been a huge fan of fantasy, I didn’t have many modern reading […]
Book Review: The Man in the Brown Suit
Between school, writing, and the time I waste sitting around feeling overwhelmed and avoiding laundry, I don’t read as much in a day as I used to. So, it’s been a while since I finished a book in two days. However, once I got into The Man in the Brown Suit, I knew I was […]
Book Review: The Benson Murder Case
I had never wondered what would happen if you put Dr. John Watson and Lord Peter Wimsey together in a book, and you probably haven’t either. But, now I know. I recently added another name to my library of 20s and 30s mystery: S. S. Van Dine, the creator of Philo Vance. Well, technically Willard […]
The Funny Ones
One of the things that sparked my love for the past was 1960s sitcoms. For years, I unwound before bedtime by watching an episode with my family. We saw quite a few series, and The Dick Van Dyke Show was one of my favorites. Like a lot of kids, I was familiar with Dick Van Dyke […]