Reading anything?

[BoyScoutKevin]

There are only so many ideas in literature.

Fossum's The Drowned Boy
vs.
Chiball's Broad church

Both feature a hero who is single.
Both heroes have a medical condition that affects their work.
Both feature a body of water that plays a prominent part in the story.
Both feature a young boy, who has been murdered, as the victim.
Both feature murderers who make excuses for the murder.
Both feature a character who commits suicide.
Both murders are solved by happenstance.

The difference . . .
Fossum is a much better writer than Chiball.

Next time: 6 of 1

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!
6 0f 1
or 6 mysteries and 1 non-mystery

Mysteries
Carlene O'Conner
Irish ex-pat
Murder at an Irish Wedding
2nd in the Irish village series
Heroine: Irish
Place: County Cork (Ireland)
Time: Present


Sophie Hannah
Brit
Agatha Christie's Closed Casket
2nd in the New Hercule Poirot series
11 more fiction
Hero: Belgian
Place: Ireland
Time: 1920's


Plum Sykes
Brit
Party Girls Die in Pearls
in the Oxford Girl series
2 more fiction
Heroine: Brit
Place: U.K.
Time: 1980s


G. M. Malliet
American
award winner
Devil's Breath
6th in the Max Tudor series
Hero: Brit
Place: U.K.
Time: Present


Miraculous Mysteries :
Locked Room Murders and Impossible Crimes
Martin Edwards, editor
in the British Library Crime Classics
the subtitle says it all
16 short stories published between 1898 and 1960 of which 10 were new to me and the other 6 I had already read


and just when you think you read everyplace a mystery can occur and every time it can occur, there is . . .
Benjamin Black
(i.e. John Banville)
Irish
award winner
Wolf on a String
Hero: German
Place: Prague (the Holy Roman Empire and now the Czech Republic)
Time: 1590s


non-mystery
Lucy Wassley
Brit
1st novelist
Maid of the King's Court
Heroine: Brit
Place: U.K.
Time: 1st half of the 16th century


Next time: another compare and contrast

[lester1/2jr]

so far its okay but nowhere near the insanity of his classics like The pyramid or Palace of Dreams

[The Burgomaster]

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!
A compare and contrast
Andrew Shvarts' Royal Bastards
and
Lucy Worsley's Maid of the King's Court

Storyteller's similarities
Both are 1st time novelists.

Story similarities
Both have . . .
some nudity -- father-daughter conversations -- teen characters -- bastardy -- a no-choice marriage partner -- an inappropriate boyfriend.

Story differences
Worsley
Characters more consistent -- fewer errors in story -- more realistic -- more sex, less violence, but the violence is more sexual -- non-heterosexual adults having sex with children.

Shvarts
better constructed story -- more emotional -- difference between characters greater --more originality -- more follow-ups of surviving characters -- more racial minorities -- more and better action -- more images generated in minds eye, so a better film and/or TV show -- less sex, more violence, and the violence is more physical -- non-heterosexual adults having sex with adults -- and the ending is better.

Next time: a special report in 5 easy lessons.

[Couchtr26]

Caiphas Cain omnibus.

[FatFreddysCat]

Heavy Duty: Days and Nights In Judas Priest by K.K. Downing

[ER]

The companion guide to the 1980s series The Story of English. Found it for a dime at a thrift store.

[Couchtr26]

I have that exact copy, as well as their Decameron.  Lost some others in a move.

[BoyScoutKevin]

A special report in 5 easy lessons, but, 1st, let me say . . .

a. Whether you like it or not.
b. Whether it is good or not.
c. At this point in time, which is always changing.
d. These are not my opinions, unless otherwise noted.
e. These are the opinions of a reporter who seemingly understands how Hollywood works and is down with that.
f. My opinions are noted with an (IMHO.)
Thus, here is . . .

Ben Fritz'
The Big Picture :
the Fight for the Future of Movies

or, why the House of Mouse will dominate the movie box office for the foreseeable future.

Next time: Reason #1 or the Branded Franchise

[FatFreddysCat]

What Does This Button Do? by Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden vocalist)

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!
Continuing . . .
Ben Fritz'
The Big Picture

Reason #1 The Branded Franchise
a. It is the era of the branded franchise.
b. Only Warner has more branded franchises than the House of Mouse.

Today
--animation
--animation into live action
--Marvel
--nostalgia
--Pixar
--Star Wars

Tomorrow?
--Artemis Fowl
--Avatar
--Indiana Jones

c. This gives them the freedom to develop the next hit.
d. They adjusted to the age of the branded franchise quicker than most of the other Hollywood Studios.
e. Their branded franchised, along with 20th Century Fox, are sucking up most of the air and cash at the box office.
f. With the merger of the House of Mouse and 20th Century Fox, they ought to do even better next year. (And I have a list of their films for 2019, which I'll post later.)
g. Their job is to identify, cultivate, and grow branded franchises, and they do this almost better than anyone.

Next time: Lesson #2 The CEO

[Couchtr26]

Getting ready to start on the Solomon Kane stories.

[Alex]

Getting ready to start on the Solomon Kane stories.

You are in for some good reading there. :)

[Couchtr26]

Getting ready to start on the Solomon Kane stories.

You are in for some good reading there. :)

I keep avoiding them but have been on a reading binge.  If they are anything like everyone says I feel I will have denied myself some great stories for far too long.