Archive Entries for December 2023
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Sunday December 31, 2023
Books in December
- The Janus Stone, The House at Sea's End, and A Room Full of Bones
by Elly Griffiths [Read by Jane McDowell]
Another three installments following the life and times of Dr Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist at North Norfolk University. Times have changed for our heroine - she is now the Mother of a little girl, which occupies most of her thoughts and hours either at work or home. Her friendship with Harry continues, engendering not a little gossip and rumour from their colleagues.
Rather like the Kathy Reichs books (although not actually very similar to them in style), all the plots inevitably involve old bones, and murder (ancient and modern):
In The Janus Stone, the bones of a child are found under a modern doorway during a dig prior to refurbishment; in The House at Sea's End, bones are revealed through coastal erosion of what was once a domestic garden; and, in A Room Full of Bones, there is a protest movement to repatriate indigenous ancestor bones removed from their original burial grounds in less enlightened times.
Of these particular stories, I liked The House at Sea's End the best - basically, I'm a sucker for anything involving the word "sea". The mystery dated from WW2 and gave a new perspective on the "Home Guard" - not quite as it was presented in Dad's Army! These days I think it's hard to really remember that these were men trained to protect England as a last stand - the threat of the invasion on that coastline was very real, which is pretty evident even in the TV comedy.
Posted on December 31, 2023 at 3:31 PM. Category: Books of the Month. | Comments (0)
Friday December 29, 2023
Christmas Jigsaw - it begins
Posted on December 29, 2023 at 6:40 PM. Category: Staying at Home. | Comments (0)
Monday December 4, 2023
ISIHAC in Dorking
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue came to Dorking - the 80th series (!) Episodes 5 and 6 - broadcasting next Monday on BBC Radio 4 [...and we were there].
On the panel were Fred Macaulay, Milton Jones, Lucy Porter, and Omid Djalili, plus of course Jack Dee in the chair, and Colin Sell on the piano. Jon Naismith was his usual delightful self, managing the audience and the laser display board. Two episodes were recorded so we got to see both Samantha and Sven....
Another unexpected pleasure was meeting an old colleague whom I haven't seen since I retired - and he himself is now retired. It was good to have a short catch-up with him, and also to see someone (more local) from my dance class, where I was able to explain my mysterious disappearance from classes since last September when I injured my back. Since I have every appearance of having recovered now, I fear there are no more excuses not to return to the fray [... just in time for Christmas and the dreaded Frosty the Snowman routine].
Posted on December 4, 2023 at 11:35 PM. Category: Art and Culture. | Comments (0)
