Ooh, it was a nail biter. Our May Book of the Month Club pick came down to the very last vote. The results:
The winner: The Rich and the Dead by Liv Sepctor.
Welcome to Star Island, where Miami’s wealthiest residents lead private lives behind the tall gates of their sprawling mansions. It’s a blissful escape from the hot and dirty city—or it was, until New Year’s Day 2015, when twelve of the most powerful people in the world were found murdered in the basement of a Star Island mansion.
The massacre shocked the nation and destroyed the life of investigator Lila Day. Her hunt for the Star Island killer consumed her. But the case went unsolved, resulting in her dismissal from the Miami PD.
Now, three years later, life hands Lila an unexpected second chance: reclusive billionaire Teddy Hawkins approaches Lila and asks her to solve the case. But how do you investigate a crime when all the leads have long ago gone cold? The answer, Teddy tells her, is to solve the case before it happens. He’s going to send Lila back in time.
With nothing left to lose, an incredulous Lila travels back to 2014, determined to find the Star Island killer once and for all. But as she goes undercover among the members of Miami’s high society, she finds herself caring for—and falling for—people who are destined to die that fateful night. Now she must either say good-bye or risk altering the future forever.
Intriguing, no? But they all sounded intriguing and I’m sure you’ll all be joining me in reading all the nominees.
Discussion on The Rich and the Dead kicks off Monday, May 5th!
Meanwhile, in other interesting-only-to-me news, the results of the ultimate Personality Quiz are in and they yielded the following results…
I usually don’t put much stock in these things, but this one was eerily accurate, identifying me – as of all things – Mario Batali’s Apron. NOT turnip or Christmas ornament or Maureen’s Office Chair, but Mario Batali’s Apron. Uncanny!
And the search for a new dog-sitter resumes! Our Vegas trip is still two months away, but it would be nice to have someone on board sooner than later. My dogs are low-maintenance, my liquor cabinet is fully stocked, and it pays well. So why is finding someone so tough?
Started reading Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle last night. 50 pages in and so far, so great. And, given how annoyingly picky I am when it comes to books, that saying A LOT.
A special shout-out today to The Walking Dead which, with last night’s episode, demonstrated why it’s kicking ass in the ratings – offering up the type of provocative storytelling that you’ll never find on network television.
I somehow ended up spending an hour on youtube last night, watching videos of bullies getting pwned. There are, admittedly, more productive ways to spend my time – but, I have to say, it was pretty damn satisfying.
Sunny day. Lulu soaks it up!
Today’s blog entry is dedicated to birthday gal and blog regular PBMom!
Happy Birthday, PBMom!!
I didn’t vote for that book, but the premise does sounds interesting. I’ll be lucky to get that one read, let alone all of them!
I wonder why “Green” and “Canterbury Tales – unabridged” didn’t get any love in that poll? Weird. Still, only 10% were “Mince Pie”, so I guess I’m somewhat special. At least, that’s what people keep telling me.
Haven’t watched the last couple of eps of TWD yet, so no spoilers! I’ve been watching “Cosmos” with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and it’s pretty awesome.
Lulu is looking like she’s having a very relaxing day. I on the other hand have some kind of virus or flu that making me feel terrible. Blech! Spent most of the day sleeping, and I’m still tired!
How’s Bubba? Did you crack the code of what’s up with his diet?
Happy Birthday PBMom! (may as well say it here, too. Lol)
And yaaaaaay! Thanks Rich and the Dead! I’ll buy it as soon as the Lightning kick some Canucks behind. I’m at the game right now.
Bullies deserve to get pwned. I’m sure that was satisfying to watch.
YES!!! The Walking Dead was amazing!! Let’s just say I’ve hugged my girls extra today after watching it.
May 5th is Allie’s birthday. She’ll be 20! This is mind boggling because I’m only 29 myself. 😉 So I should not forget the discussion date for The Rich and the Dead.
~~Trish
Just a quickie…
Hubby – who tends to like ‘provocative storytelling’ – gave up Walking Dead this year. He said it was too depressing.
So, if ‘provocative storytelling’ = ‘depressing’, I’ll pass on modern tv. I’ve started watching a channel called MeTV – it’s for old farts like me – and today I watched the original Hawaii 5-O, M*A*S*H*, The Rifleman, and Emergency. You know what? I really miss classic network tv. 😉
das
Many happy birthday wishes PBMom!!
A double blessing being born on St. Patrick’s Day.
Lulu seems to enjoy her sun bathing, but I hope she won’t sunburn. Do Frenchies always breathe like that? She has a kissable face.
2cats
Happy Birthday PBMom! 😀
Hey Joe
It was my youngest daughters birthday today. She turned 19.
Happy Birthday to PBMom!
Elminster
Happy Birthday, PB Mom!
I;m a little behind on the blog – I just drove my daughter back to college and work has been… challenging.
Reading: the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks, then Nos4a2. and now I’m starting Annihilation. Interspersed with Terry Pratchett’s Hat Full of Sky for a bit of relief from the weirdness.
I enjoyed the Night Angel books. Good fantasy with engaging characters. Nos4a2 was creepy. It reminded me why I seldom read horror novels.
I just bought my daughter a copy of Villains by Necessity, which is unfortunately out of print, It was the book that taught her that bad guys aren’t necessarily bad guys. If you know what I mean.
das, I sort of agree with you about much of contemporary TV. Why must it be so bleak? I watch several BBC series. Agents of SHIELD and Blacklist are about the only shows I watch on network TV.
Now I will put my migraine to bed.
I wish I could do the pet sitting for you. Let me see if I can check on my network. I do know someone now in Toronto, but that isn’t going to help you. Lulu would love the sun down here. It’s closer to the equator. Too bad you couldn’t put them on a plane and send them off for a vacation with me. Of course they would have to be able to get along with Boomer. Boomer, Boomer. He’s SUCH a puppy still.
Thank you, Joe, for the blog dedication and to gforce, whoviantrish, 2cats, Alexis for the BD wishes. It is the big one–the big 5-0. It was a good day, but about 40 minutes ago I found out one of my beloved doggie clients died last week, a 14-year-old golden retriever, and my heart is breaking right now. I got Farscape the 15th anniversary BluRay edition and a few other little things.
2cats: My dad used to say I was “the luck of the Irish”. I do have Irish in my heritage somewhere in my mutt pedigree. But the Irish haven’t been all that lucky, so I’m not sure why he thought that. I married myself a 100% Irishman on both sides of the family. When we were coming up for boy names and girl names for our baby-to-be (and I didn’t want to know the sex of the baby because I wanted to be surprised), the other siblings had taken all the good boy names, and I looked at Jeff and said, “Patrick! THAT one hasn’t been taken yet!” That works real well since I was born on St. Patrick’s Day. And that is how we came up with Patrick’s name.
@PBMom:
Happy Birthday! And many more! I hope it was a fun day for you…any stories to tell?
@Joe:
I’m just curious what spectrum you applied for your personality test…the results appear random, but for personality spectrums I’d expect more of a Gaussian distribution. Or am I reading too much into this? 😉
I didn’t get a chance to chime in yesterday, but for my reading list lately its been Terms of Enlistment, Lines of Departure, The Gift by Dave Donovan, and I’m currently re-reading Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl. Next up is the BOTM Annihilation, and then The Rich and the Dead. I’m also reading a couple of tech books on BlueTooth Low Energy and GAP Profiles, but I don’t think those are ever going to be a BOTM club entry.
On your list posted yesterday; the book on Scientology seems disturbing. I seem to remember hearing that a number of celebrities have come out recently, giving inside accounts of how the cult works. The accounts of vindictiveness, pyramidal money schemes, and having to negotiate for years just to leave the group are the most troubling to me. I don’t really know much about it beyond that though.
And your Lulu and my Lucy both love the sun. We have a front window that the sun shines through in the morning. Most mornings I can find Lucy sunning herself on the floor in front of that window and there was many a morning that I wanted to join her!
Good luck on the dog sitter; hopefully you can find a reliable one.
@ Sparrowhawk – I’m dealing with a crapload of depression this winter – I *think* it’s seasonal. Might be some ‘situational’ stuff, too, such as the prospect of changing jobs, dealing with medical issues, and maybe even moving (all future possibilities, nothing sure in any case). I still struggle so hard with my ability (or, should I say, inability) to focus, and I feel pulled in so many directions right now that I end up just zoning out and living in this sort of detached, ‘white noise’ state of mind. Not all the time, but this is the worst it’s been in about 4 years (since that winter when I was so sick). Needless to say, depressing tv is very bad for me right now.
I think that’s why I’ve been loving The Artful Detective (a.k.a. Murdoch Mysteries) so much! They’re light, innovative, and funny, with just enough serious moments to make them fitting to the genre. The formula reminded me a bit of M*A*S*H* when I watched that today – perfectly placed humor to offset the more serious moments. In fact, I found myself laughing out loud as I watched that old show – I had almost forgot how funny tv could be without the crude and offensive jokes that are considered superior entertainment today. For me, innuendo works so much better than in your face dick jokes. Sorry to be so crude. 😉
And don’t get me started on my love for Emergency. That, and Adam-12. I don’t know what was worse – my crush on Kent McCord or his evil twin, Randy Mantooth. 😀 Those are the two shows that made me want to be either a cop or a fireman/paramedic…except for the fact that I’m afraid of guns, fire, and sick people. 😛 Mainly, I wanted to be the person setting up roadblocks and directing traffic. I think I just like telling people what to do. 😀
😛
das
Happy Birthday! PBmcMom! Are you Irish?
(sorry about your golden retriever friend)
Joe, stock your refrigerator full of chocolate milk and I’ll be right there to babysit.
You do know that the book isn’t released yet? Amazon says tomorrow.
Happy BIRTHDAY PBMom.
I realized months ago that Lizzie was a cray cray little girl, but I sure didn’t see coming what happened last night. Wow. The adults did what they had to do, though.
Happy late Birthday, P.B.Mom.
Joe, Maximus’ namesake, my big black cat, Max, loves the sunshine. He will endure a hard tile floor instead of his usual comfy place if the sun is shining on it. He has put on a bit of weight over the winter. He just loves his food. I may end up taking him for walks this summer. This should be interesting.
The Rich And The Dead does sound intriguing. I was really hoping for The Weirdness, though. I guess I’ll have to read both!
Re: The Walking Dead – Holy crap! I did not see that coming! They’ve turned it up a notch this season. I’m enjoying the single story episode format rather than cutting between half a dozen different threads until everyone comes together at Terminus.
Happy birthday PBMom!
It looks like the village pub caught fire last night. Fire engines racing past the house at 4:20am and now the pub has a big hole in its roof with smoke coming out nearly 3 hours later. Doesn’t look good for the village watering hole!
Happy Birthday PBMom!
@Das I want send many strongs hugs for you. But im not sure if this is the correct way of saying or can be taken as sexual harassment. 😉 Anyway
You need more sun light like Lulu i recomend you a Caribbean Cruise or a Sun lamp. 😈
Happy Birthday P.B. Mom!
The Walking Dead was absolutely brilliant. “The Grove” was the ultimate episode of the series so far. If Melissa McBride doesn’t win an Emmy, I’m going to riot. She is amazing. And to think up until Frank Darabont hired her for TWD, she had been a casting director only sparsely acting in small parts.
Part of me agrees and disagrees with what Carol did, I mean the girl clearly had problems mentally but does that mean she deserved to die? No. But they couldn’t keep her around the group as she was a danger to herself and the rest of them. The only other option would be to lock her up for the rest of her life and allow her out supervised, again that’s not much of an existence. And if they left her behind, chances are she would have died anyway.
It’s one of those horrible end of the world situations. They had no way realistically to take her with them and with no guarantee of a safe haven when they leave the house anyway, they would have to sleep out in the open on route to any place anyway and would you sleep with both eyes closed with someone like that around? Probably not.
Also Happy Birthday PBMom.
Are you still looking for a dog-sitter? My friend (who also went to the Quinto Quarto dinner) says she might be interested. She has a very sweet and well behaved Japanese Chin herself. Let me know if you want me to pass on her contact info.
Happy happy Birthday PBmom,, hope it was a great one and that you are still celebrating, at least a weeks worth, I think.
~~Joe, joe, I found it, well I think I did, and alien was not in it, if its the right one, duh, back on Feb 17,2007 you mentioned Revelation Space, and said care to weigh in if anyone read it, and then again I saw it on your top 10 reads of 2010, posted Jan 5,2011, so whew, it has really been fun and great and enlightening rereading/well ok skimming thru the old posts. I got a crapload of book titles to look for now, so thanks, and it was swell reading the old posts, lots of anonymous, glad we dont have that now. so thanks for the memories. and books,,still tons more!
So glad to hear you’re enjoying Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle! Her story stayed with me long after the last page and is one of the books I most frequently suggest when friends ask for recommendations. I’ve given so many copies away, I should qualify for a quantity discount. Walls’ book about her grandmother, Half Broke Horses, is somewhere in the in-danger-of-toppling stack on my bedside table. Must remember to pull it out soon.
@Das Sending you hugs. That’s a lot of stuff you are having to deal with.
@Sparrow_hawk: Thanks for BD wishes and I hope your headache has disappeared when you woke up today.
@Ponytail: TY for the BD wishes, and yes, I do have Irish in my heritage. Jeff, my husband, is 100% Irish.
Thank you DebraFromTheSouth, JeffW, Randomness, Airelle, JimFromJersey, Skua, and LineNoise for the birthday wishes, too.
@Das: Yes, feel better soon! You know we’re always here to rant at, and with!
TWD spoilers below:
@Randomness: That’s why it was such a good episode – there was no correct answer to the situation, only a million shades of gray. I totally agree that Melissa McBride as well as both the girls just acted their hearts out in this one. Great stuff. I do wonder why the HECK did the adults both leave the kids there alone when it was pretty clear that Lizzie was very mentally unbalanced? That seemed like something that would be on their minds front and centre.
Happy Birthday PBMom
Oops, forgot to wish PBMom a very happy birthday. Hope it’s the start of a wonderful year for you.
@Line Noise I am with you. So I’ll be reading it with you.
@PBMom – a very happy B-Day to you!
@Joe – On TWD after I finished the ep I just sat there and thought, this show is brilliant!!! I did not see that coming when they came back to find that scene. I knew something was going to happen, but that!?! It left me thinking “did that really just happen”
I actually do not look at TWD as a depressing show any more. Yes horrible and depressing things happen, but there is always hope. The characters just keep finding a way to keep going, to keep living life, to find some little slice of humanity and hope. If it was solely a depressing show I wouldn’t watch it and I don’t think it would have such a huge following.
The writers really are amazing on this show. I was talking with a friend about how if you were to describe the layout for this season, how everyone was scattered to the 4 winds, it would sound rather boring It is the characters interactions that really drive the show. The way the groups are broken up work so well; everyone is with the people they need the most to survive. With other shows that break up the main cast into smaller groups and each episode focusses on a different storyline, I normally get a bit bored and want to get back to a particular storyline. However, every jump from one group to the next pulls me in. At the beginning I may be wondering about one person but 15 minutes in I have completely forgotten about them as I am engrossed with what is going on in front of me.
One of the best points about TWD is that it gives people the opportunity to discuss what they think they would do if they were stuck in this situation. My friend and I spend at least a half-hour to an hour of work talking about the moral ramifications of certain situations once she watches the latest ep. How if someone were to do what a character did in TWD in our day (normal life) it would hands down be totally wrong. But looking at it from their perspective was the right thing to do. However we don’t always agree, which is what makes it so interesting to discuss. You really don’t know what you would do till you are faced with a zombie apocalypse.
While the writing is not as good, Once Upon a Time keeps pulling me back in. There is at least once per season where I think, I may be out do to a variety of reasons. And then bam! I get sucked in all over again. The mid-season premiere was a prime example. That first episode back and all I could think was, really this is where you are going with the storyline? Didn’t we just do this? Ugh. Then by the end of episode 2 I was totally on board and wanting to watch ep 3 to see how they were going to make it all work.
Shana