OtterMommy

I could see Brad Pitt, but I picture someone physically larger than Don Cheadle. Perhaps someone like Mike Colter (although he may be a tad too young).

Filming is underway!

While eye candy is always appreciated, we have a thread dedicated to just that sort of thing over here! Let's move the pictures and drooling to that thread and keep talking about celeb news here. Thanks!

Hello all! Just a friendly reminder of our Politics Policy. Some of the posts about Chris Pratt and Kathrerine Schwarzenegger have come close to crossing the line. Feel free to discuss them, just be aware of the of the policy.

I recently finished When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill and it was just what I needed--and a great rage-read. I think it is characterized as fantasy (women spontaneously turning into dragons), but it seem more like magical realism to me. It was my 5th 5-star book of the year.

I finished two unexpectedly related books today. The second book I finished was Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which I loved. I probably would have loved it more if I hadn't been spoiled (Damn you, David Suchet!). The second book was The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan. My friend has been pushing me to read this for quite some time--it's a Canadian detective novel where one half of the detective pairing is a Muslim (the other is a non-Muslim woman). This one dealt a lot with the Bosnian genocide, which I know disgracefully little about. I really enjoyed the mystery but, man, the author did NOT do well with the female characters. Other than the main character (who is described as stocky, unfeminine, and unattractive) the women are all sexpots that no man can resist. I think if there had been one character like that, it wouldn't be an issue, but three???? And how are these related? TUD is very deeply influenced by Agatha Christie. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that

I finished Vermilion Drift, the 10th book in the Cork O'Connor series, by William Kent Krueger yesterday and loved it. I did feel after the last book that the series would shift and I saw that in this book. I've only read one of his standalones (Ordinary Grace), but I'll be starting This Tender Land soon and I do think that his style has been quite different between his standalones (based on OG and what I've heard of TTL) and his Cork O'Connor series, but this one felt more like a step in the direction of his standalones, while still keeping up the propulsiveness of his series. I'm almost done with Yerba Buena by Nina Lacour. Honestly, I almost DNF'd this one early on. There is some rough subject matter in the early part of the book and I knew it would be too much for me if I continued with it. However, I did check the Goodreads reviews of people I trust and they all loved it, so I decided to continue. The rough stuff is pretty much over in the early part and the rest of the book is a character driven sapphic love story. I think the characters are great and while the writing is quite good, I'm still having trouble clicking with it. I'll probably end up finishing it today and will have more thoughts on it once that happens. I did start The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan today. This series has come highly recommended from various sources, but I've just started and don't yet have an opinion.

Let's discuss the WNBA!

Yes...from Wikipedia: Agreed. However, there is a key difference between statutory rape and the passing the women around. With the over-18 women, nothing can really happen unless a woman is willing to testify and that is very rare in this case. With statutory rape, the state can come in as long as they have enough evidence to reasonably suspect something is going on. So, seeing pregnant 12 year olds would be a huge red flag...or someone who leaves the cult testifying that underaged wedding are happening.

Agreed, although it is much harder to prove guilt for an accessory. That being said, every adult man who has an underage wife (or wives) is guilty of statutory rape. I know a comment was made early in the series that polygamy was something that law enforcement sort of turns a blind eye to BUT there is a difference between adults entering into a polygamous relationship and a grown-ass adult forcing a child into marriage.

She talks about it in the 3rd episode. To be clear, she moves back to the town of Short Creek, but not the FLDS Community. I can understand her reasoning--there is so much she needs to emotionally work through and she feels she has to be there to do it. I also think she might want to be available in case her younger sisters want to leave? I don't think that was explicitly said, but I got that feeling that was part of it. She's still close to Ruby, who also lives in the area.

I remember being mystified by this when I read Elyssa's memoir (which is excellent, by the way). It didn't seem like the prospect of having multiple wives was the draw for him because he was basically forced to take a second wife and, now, is still with his first wife--who I'm assuming couldn't be "reassigned" as they were legally married? Also, was he one of the men kicked out in the purge that Warren did? (ETA: Am I remembering correctly that his first wife was raised in the FLDS? Maybe that is why he converted?) I was surprised to learn that Elyssa moved back to Short Creek, although I can kind of understand why. I think that is something that happened after her memoir was published? It's been years since I read it, so I don't quite remember.

I just heard a podcast on Ngaio Marsh and I'll definitely look into her! What are the American authors you would recommend?

I just finished The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner and...oh my! That is the soapiest book I've ever read! I think if you can just accept it for what it is and not take it seriously at all, it's entertaining. However, once you start to take it seriously, you will want to throw it across the room. Next up for me on digital is Vermillion Drift by William Kent Krueger. It's the next (can't remember what number) in the Cork O'Connor series, which is always fun to read.

As I said in the Currently Reading thread, I'm working my way through Agatha Christie's works, but I'd like to add in some more Golden Age authors. I do have an audiobook of the Father Brown stories (my daughter and I are bingeing the TV show now) and I'm trying to decide where I should land next? I'm thinking maybe Dorothy L. Sayers?

I'm so enjoying this Christie discussion, that I thought I'd start a thread for the Golden Age Detective Fiction...

The Golden Age of Detective Fiction is roughly the period of of 1918-1939 in Great Britain, although the style was used as early as 1911 and can be used to describe modern novels written in the same style. Notable Golden Age authors include: Agatha Christie Dorothy L. Sayers G.K. Chesterton Josephine Tey (Wikipedia)

I've only watched one episode so far, but I recognize some of the women from reading their memoirs in the past and I'm appreciating hearing even more from their point of view.

Yes, they can get a bit wordy! I do like their interviews with other writers, which I listen to as they are released. Otherwise, I hold the episode until I read the book (of course, the last one they released was almost *3 hours long.* Thankfully, it will be a while before I get to that book!) One of the hosts died a few months ago and now the remaining host frequently has a guest co-host, which sort of doubles as an interview...which may be why the episodes are even longer now.

I actually sort of knew about And Then There Were None because my high school (way back when) did a production of Twelve Little Indians, which is the same story with a slightly different ending. Still, that book is fantastic. Honestly, Roger Akroyd is the only that has been spoiled for me so far, which is kind of amazing. I mean, is there such a thing as spoiling a nearly 100 year old book? Probably, when they are mysteries...but, still the fact that I've been spoiled once so far is pretty remarkable.

I have read And Then There Were None, which is my favorite so far. For some reason, I thought Endless Night was a Poirot, so I might pop that one up further in the queue since it is a Standalone. I am slowly working through the complete Poirot short stories and quite enjoying that, especially since I can see how Christie improves in her career. I've gotten into the habit of reading a story (or a novel), listening the All About Agatha podcast episode about it, and then watching the Suchet adaptation of it which has been a fun experience. I'm reading the Agatha Christies, but I have been considering getting the audiobooks for car listening with the family. I'll definitely look into the Richard E. Grant one! I have the Parker Pyne book (is there more than one? I have one...), but I haven't gotten to it yet. I usually do a Christie for every 3rd or 4th print book I read, so I do about 2-3 a month.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I haven't read Murder ont he Orient Express yet (although I have seen the movie). I am trying to read Christie's work in roughly publication order, but I did jump ahead and read Death on the Nile before the new movie came out. My next one is The Murder of Roger Akroyd which (sigh!) I accidentally allowed myself to be spoiled for. I was watching a Christie documentary--the one David Suchet did--and they just blurted out the device in that one.

Death on the Nile is probably my favorite of the Poirot's I've read so far (I haven't read THAT many yet, so take that as you may).

I do think that many times it is a marketing decision. I think there are also some content considerations (you know, sex) that play into the decision as well. As for the one Sepetys book I have read, I can say it didn't feel YA at all to me--until it was dealing with adult characters.

Reminder: This thread is to discuss predatorial behavior tied to specific cases involving celebrities. If you would like to discuss why choose not to watch certain actors based on past and/or general behavior, you can do so over here. Thanks!