BlackberryJam

Marina Thompson on Bridgerton. She’s a total schemer, doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings, will do screw over anyone, is unrealistic and impractical and is beloved by fandom because she’s played by a beautiful actress. Hate her. Discourse about this minor character has derailed discussion of the show.

During last week's street market challenge, one of Jackson's voiceovers, I think was him mentioning he had taste back, but that smell was still difficult and so much of cooking was scent. I believe when the VO was happening, the showed him at his tent holding a dish of something so close it looked like he was snorting it. I'm certain the producers keep asking him about it in the talking heads because it is remarkable that he's doing so well. The producers like a storyline. COVID and the side effects are very topical, so I'm sure that's why the want to highlight it.

This was such an interesting challenge. I’ve become more appreciative of food presentation in the past decade or so. I love it when my food looks interesting. Sure, I don’t want to sacrifice taste, but I don’t think anyone did. I enjoyed this challenge so much more than forcing a chef to cook totally out of their wheelhouse. Each chef could make whatever they want, they just had to match visually. It stretched their skills in a totally different way. I could see differences in every single dish pairing. I could see a consistency difference in Wiley’s sample dishes as well. I’m okay with it. I’m also fine with Jackson. He’s mentioned he has most taste back but only a little smell, so he’s probably improving as time goes on. He’s doing so well based on his flavor memory that he would be kicking ass if he were at full chef strength. I barely remember Robert and Evelyn. I was happy for Damarr and Monique. I like Damarr a lot. I like how he cooks, how he holds himself, how he deals with pressure. Of note, I HATE strawberries, so wouldn’t have even touch the winning or losing desserts. Strawberry is such an insipid flavor it makes me want to scrape my tongue. However, I loved how well they were used for the visual in the winning dish. That panna cotta look weak.

Announcers suspended. It's really nice to see something happen to those people so quickly.

She's the star of a film nominated for best picture, so I'm going with YES, she should have been invited. 80% of the attention for the film is going to Ana Debose, 18% to Rita Moreno, 1.75% to Spielberg, leaving very little in the way of press coverage for anyone else in the film. This may have been a deliberate play for publicity, but it also might have been a young actress feeling excluded and discounted.

All The Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer. There is a movie coming out with Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton so I picked it up. *sigh* Maybe it’ll be better as a movie.

I found the agoraphobia a bit too convenient. I liked the fact that she was having a booty call with a neighbor and told her mom about it. I can't recall the exact line but it was something like, "I'm not sure I approve of you displaying yourself in a window like it's Amsterdam." It was an enjoyable film, but nothing groundbreaking.

The Zelger non-invite is all on Disney. Wow, are they making some bad decisions.

Regarding the ending credits, I feel like they thought, "hey, she's the best part of this mess of a movie, let's end with her!" I was disturbed by how This film needed to be much weirder or more straight forward. It splatted somewhere in the middle and was just dull.

Yeah…that was classic!

I think the pandemic was rough for the rough straw industry industry and they all need the show to boost their profile and get people in the door. I am getting very intrigued by Jackson and how hes managed to make very good food apparently while unable to smell it although he said he does have some taste back. I would totally go to his restaurant.

Read The Final Case by David Guterson and what a meandering piece of crap. This was my first experience with the author and why why would anyone publish that? It’s sort of the story of a man whose father is an elderly defense attorney defending a woman accused of murdering her adopted Ethiopian daughter. Yet the writing is so, I don’t even know, that I was completely unable to invest it the horrifically sad tale of this little girl. Then it’s sort of a story about this man and his father and then the last section of the book is just terrible. Ugh. I hated this book so much I had to share.

I’m going to date myself here, but I remember the despair over Moon Zappa’s “Valley Girl speak.” I still use phrases from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Heathers, Clueless, and The Breakfast Club. Language is always evolving. Slang is fluid.

I had to engage with some early teens the other day. I mentioned the Kardashians thinking, okay, they’ll know that, I’ll seem hip, and wow did I get the “that’s so old and creaky, you ancient lady” from them. People are already moving on from them. However, that doesn’t mean some adult men will see Kanye’s behavior and justify their own assholery towards women by citing Kanye. These early teen girls were able to discuss body-shaming, gender fluidity and sexual identity in terms well beyond their years. So no despair for me…just yet. As to Hiddleston, he hasn’t been hot since he was Magnus in Wallender. Hope they are happy. Another ridiculously looking happy red carpet couple: Jodie and Joshua, even though her dress was an ugly satin bedspread.

I haven't read the Franklin, but the Lady Darby ones were good until Not strictly a cozy even by my very broad definition, but not too procedural and doesn't make my stomach turn is the Gemma Monroe series by Emily Littlejohn. Gemma is a detective in a small Colorado town. I bring them up in comparison to the Lady Darby books because the Monroe series Another historical series I enjoy are the Deanna Raybourn Lady Julia Grey books. The first book, her husband drops dead at dinner. There is a mild supernatural element in these. I also enjoy the Rosalind Thorne historicals by Darcie Wilde. Rosalind is a gently bred woman whose father went off the rails gambling, leaving her broke. She makes her way by being a "useful woman," discreetly handling problems for women of the ton. Somehow it always leads to murder. There is a bit of a love triangle, but it doesn't overpower the story. I recommend the Amory Ames books by Ashley Weaver. Amory is a wealthy, married young woman in 1930s England. Her marriage is on the rocks, but there's no real love triangle. The first 4 or 5 are great and then...like many series, the characters get stupid and the quality falls off. ETA: It's so lovely to be able to read this thread and find new recs.

I enjoyed the Julian Kestrel Mysteries by Kate Ross. Only four were written before her passing. They are set in Regency England. Julian is a Beau Brummel type who solves mysteries. Another historical series are the Sarah Tolerance Mysteries by Madeleine Robins. Again Regency England. Sarah is a "fallen woman" who makes her living now as a sort of a detective. The Edwardian Mysteries by Marion Chesney aka MC Beaton are fun, but heavier on the romance.

If the cover of a book has a cat on it, I will not read it. I dislike cats (and I’m not fond of dogs), and cat lovers tend to over cook the pet love in novels. I get it that some people really love cats, but I’m allergic and they make my skin crawl. I appreciate the use of Lulu the dog in the Stewart Hoag novels. It feels organic and not super cutesy. There are a few I’ve read that involve like, park rangers with dogs, and that works for me too. I have no interest in purse puppies or animals that are receptacles of the all the protagonist’s gooey affection. It’s been a while, but I remember enjoying the Charly Poisson novels, French male chef in upstate New York. I also still have a chicken hash recipe I will make from those books.

I agree that the term "cozy" has become a way to denigrate the quality of the mysteries. Sure, there are plenty that are the same theme over and over, but if Poirot isn't a cozy, what is it? Certainly not thrillers or procedural. It's just a mystery? I'm fine with that label, but a search for just "mystery" is always packed with thrillers. And the term, "whodunit" has fallen out of fashion. Anyway. I've reserved one of the Corgi Case Files. Thanks for the rec!

The format addressed the complaints in previous seasons about “winner take all” dish-off competitions. I mean, sure, the mascots and that stuff was over the top, but I liked the format. Also…I feel like Jackson has the ticking time bomb of inability to taste or smell. I have no idea how he’s getting managing it.

My definition of cozy is "mystery that is not chock full of thriller elements," and "not a police procedural" but can have a detective/police officer as the protagonist. I use "cozy" as defining my comfort level in reading them. If there is constant, anxiety-inducing danger, not cozy. If all of the characters are unpleasant, not cozy. If it's written from the POV of the killer, not cozy. If the protagonist is tortured, beaten, left bloody, not cozy. Louise Penny doesn't quite make it because of the corruption based books, but the ones focused on Three Pines do. If I feel all warm, cozy and comfortable reading, it's a cozy for me. At the same time, I don't care if the book I'm reading falls strictly within one definition or not.

Is that the Joanne Fluke method? Where her protagonist is a grown adult owner of a successful business she never, ever even makes out with either of the love interests? Ugh.

I second Alexia Gordon and Louise Penny. Louise Penny writes the Armand Gamache series, and when they aren't all about corruption in the Sûreté du Québec, they are very good. I'm on my third Margaret Maron.

@blackwing I will have so much to say in this thread! Thank you. My first recommendations for male protagonist cozy are books by David Handler. His Stewart Hoag mysteries have Hoagy, a flash in the pan writer who now ghost writes celebrity memoirs, solve mysteries with his dog, Lulu. They take place in the 80s/90s. His other great series are the Berger and Mitry mysteries. Mitch Berger is a short, widowed, Jewish film critic who moves to a small new England town. Des Mitry is a tall, artistic, Black state trooper stationed in the area. You get both of their POVs.

Finding good recent ones can be..tough. I am so sick of the plucky protagonist just out of a relationship with a city slicker who moves to charming hometown to waitress in the family dessert shop, no matter that she has a degree in astrophysics, only to come a cross the body of the big city guy who wants to buy her family’s store. SO BARFY. I recommend the Raquel V. Reyes I mentioned before, which is modern and skips those tropes. My work is requiring a ton of driving right now, so I’m big on books on tape. I want more of the Knott books. I’m all right with some romance, but not…a ton. My big pet peeve is people acting stupid to further the plot.

While I might not always like the stories she's telling, I can't deny that they are fully fleshed out plots with writing at is a comfortable read. That does take talent. Writing is difficult.