My Current Interest

          It’s funny how something you watch or read can affect you.  In the seventh season of Endeavour , whistling down a dark towpath plays a big part of the season’s three episodes.  Not long after I watched these episodes, someone whistled down my street.  This is not a usual occurrence, and it made me jump.  I have to wonder, had I not just watched this particular storyline, would I have been so startled or jumped so high?  Or would I have not thought about it at all?                              At the end of season five, the police station where DS Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans) worked was closed, and the team broken up.   In season six, Morse is back in uniform, PCS Reginald Bright (Anton Lesser) is the head of Traffic, and DI Fred Thursday (Roger Allam) is working for a DCI named Ronnie Box (Simon Harrison).   As for DS Jim Strange (Sean Rigby), I’m not fully sure where he was placed, but he is still around on the police force.   Actually, it is Strange who brings everyone b

          What is with books lately and feeling authors are writing about me?  Not literally, of course.  But writing about characters and putting them in situations I find so familiar .  I have to wonder if other readers sometimes feel this way with books they come across.  It is kind of eerie in some ways, but it is also nice to know you are not alone.               It’s the 75 th anniversary of the Women’s Society Club.   To celebrate, president Paxton Osgood has arranged for the celebration to be held at the newly refurbished Blue Ridge Madam, a house (more like a mansion) built by the ancestors of a woman named Willa Jackson.           The house hasn’t been owned by the Jackson’s for generations.   Not since Willa’s grandmother was a young woman.   Now Paxton has renovated it into a bed and breakfast, ready to open around the time of the anniversary celebration.             One of the people Paxton invites to the celebration is Willa, despite her not being part of the club.

The List /Artwork by Kate Dorsey               If you have ever seen the documentary Meet the Patels , I suggest you read this book.  Even if you have never seen the film, read this book.  It is a funny story about families who care, even in ways you don’t want them to.                  Raina Anand has hit the dreaded age of twenty-nine.   For some this is not a dreaded age.   In the Indian community Raina grew up in, it is.   At least it is for Raina.   Because at the age of twenty-nine, she is not married.              Years ago, Raina made a deal with her grandmother, Nani.   If she was not married by the time she turned thirty, she would let Nani help her find a husband.   Only Nani decides to start on this deal a year early.   She gives Raina a list of eligible men to go on dates with.   Raina reluctantly goes on them, which is why it should come as no surprise the dates do not got well.   Yet, still, Nani keeps trying. With the dates always going badly, and Raina being un

Cleric /Artwork by Kate Dorsey                I’m doing something a little different this time.  Usually when I write a review, I start at the beginning of the series.  In fact, I usually have to start at the beginning of what I watch or read whether I’m going to review it or not.  Not this time.                 The reason I’m doing things differently with Grantchester is because I don’t actually like this show until season four.  Now, having watched seasons four and five, I am eager to see what is going to happen next.  But I will not be going back to any of the earlier seasons.                 To be fair, I did try and watch the first seasons of Grantchester .  Immediately, with the first episode I didn’t care for it.  Yet, I tried again to see if maybe it improved.  Nope.  Of all the bits and pieces I have seen of the first three seasons, there was only one character I liked: Leonard.  Also, one of the main storylines I hated.  It reminded me too much of the storyline in The