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shadowkatEh, with new tv series popping up, I may have to ditch Smallville - which had potential this season but is really not clicking for me. I am bored during it and my attention wanders. (Yes, you are probably asking yourselves why this didn't happen sooner, but hey I have widely eclectic taste and moody in regards to my cultural habits.)
After watching the first 14 minutes of Game of Thrones and various scenes from the coming season's True Blood - I have just about caved, once again, to subscribing to HBO. Yes, they are that good. And yes, I am dreadfully bored with the offerings on network tv - outside of The Good Wife and Justified, everything is starting to feel a tad repetitive. House - I think may have jumped the shark along with Grey's. And Glee...I watch for the musical numbers. (What? You gotta to know by now that I'm an insane musical theater junkie. People? I own Mama Mia, Hairspray, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Singing in the Rain, Gigi, and Chicago on DVD. Come on. I also recently watched the 25th Anniversary of Les Mis, which featured actors that I'd seen in the original production on London's West End in 1987. And I loved Xenia's Bitter Suite, Scrubs musical, and of course Whedon's Once More with Feeling. And...I make a point of seeing at least two musicals on stage a year. Saw three last year.)
Bored at lunch, even after taking brief walk, and killing myself with a chai latte that had something in it that did not agree with my tummy - I decided to check out Elizabeth Peters online. Couldn't check out lj - because it was unavailable again. Annoying. I don't care what people say - I still blame the video games. Either that or server upgrades. This wasn't happening to me before the video games popped up. Anyhow regarding Elizabeth Peters, aka Barbara Michaels, and in reality Barbara Mertz, who has been writing since 1964 and has more books than I can count published - I realized something. Or rather I figured out why I have 0 interest in the Amelia Peabody books - it is more or less the same reason I had little interest in the Star-Gate series, I'm not into Egyptology.
I blame the schools I went to (grammar school through college) which spent an undue amount of time attempting to ram Ancient Egyptian history (it was only important up to the point the Hebrews left Egypt for the Promised Land), Ancient Greek history (up to Rome taking over), The Middle Ages (according to Chaucer and only as it applied to Great Britain, Spain and France - apparently no other countries existed back then or their history wasn't important to the US - we spent far too much time on this period and hardly any on the Renassiance, which was actually more interesting), and the American Revolution/Civil War (also way too much time). We did get a bit of the Renaissance and Elizabethan period, but that was mostly in English class and took less than two weeks, sort of a quick recap. Later, in high school, a huge emphasis on WWII. So much emphasis on WWII in fact, that it was difficult to understand how it came about, because we sort of skipped everything that lead up to it - such as WWI. We also skipped the Korean War (excuse me - the Korean Occupation/Conflict, wasn't a War), and went right to Vietnam for two days (due to all that time spent on WWII and American Civil War, and American Revolutionary War - there just wasn't any time left.) Lucky for me - I had a father who had a Masters and PH.D in History, so he filled in the gaps. Most people weren't so lucky. But even that was limiting. The only reason I know anything about the French Revolution or the Napoleanic Wars - is I read about them on my own.
Anyhow, this new book (okay old book - was published in 2008, but new to me) - is hilarious. Perfect blend of romance, mystery, adventure and witty banter. No sex though - Peters doesn't do sex. She sidesteps it or lets it happen off-stage. Sort of like reading The Thin Man. Fine by me - reading graphic/explicit sex gets sort of boring after a bit, I prefer the witty banter.
Here's a sample from the Vicky bliss mystery Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters (where she apparently decides to tempt me into reading her Amelia Peabody series by connecting it to her Vicky Bliss series...):
The sound of voices woke me from a dream that featured the head of Tutankhamon gibbering at me and demanding to know what I had done with his penis.
Or
"That eliminates one motive for stealing the mummy. There was nothing of value left on it."
"No. His penis was missing too."
"Enough about bloody Tutankhamon !" John sprang to his feet.
Men are so touchy about that particular part of their anatomy.
Hee! I've been giggling throughout this book. And yes, I am still reading Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which lacks humor. Witty - it's not. Although the journalist style reminds me a great deal of Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain - which I rather like.
Eh, it's late and I obviously can't figure out where to do the lj-cut on this one. Oh well. Here's to a tolerant flist? ;-)
After watching the first 14 minutes of Game of Thrones and various scenes from the coming season's True Blood - I have just about caved, once again, to subscribing to HBO. Yes, they are that good. And yes, I am dreadfully bored with the offerings on network tv - outside of The Good Wife and Justified, everything is starting to feel a tad repetitive. House - I think may have jumped the shark along with Grey's. And Glee...I watch for the musical numbers. (What? You gotta to know by now that I'm an insane musical theater junkie. People? I own Mama Mia, Hairspray, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Singing in the Rain, Gigi, and Chicago on DVD. Come on. I also recently watched the 25th Anniversary of Les Mis, which featured actors that I'd seen in the original production on London's West End in 1987. And I loved Xenia's Bitter Suite, Scrubs musical, and of course Whedon's Once More with Feeling. And...I make a point of seeing at least two musicals on stage a year. Saw three last year.)
Bored at lunch, even after taking brief walk, and killing myself with a chai latte that had something in it that did not agree with my tummy - I decided to check out Elizabeth Peters online. Couldn't check out lj - because it was unavailable again. Annoying. I don't care what people say - I still blame the video games. Either that or server upgrades. This wasn't happening to me before the video games popped up. Anyhow regarding Elizabeth Peters, aka Barbara Michaels, and in reality Barbara Mertz, who has been writing since 1964 and has more books than I can count published - I realized something. Or rather I figured out why I have 0 interest in the Amelia Peabody books - it is more or less the same reason I had little interest in the Star-Gate series, I'm not into Egyptology.
I blame the schools I went to (grammar school through college) which spent an undue amount of time attempting to ram Ancient Egyptian history (it was only important up to the point the Hebrews left Egypt for the Promised Land), Ancient Greek history (up to Rome taking over), The Middle Ages (according to Chaucer and only as it applied to Great Britain, Spain and France - apparently no other countries existed back then or their history wasn't important to the US - we spent far too much time on this period and hardly any on the Renassiance, which was actually more interesting), and the American Revolution/Civil War (also way too much time). We did get a bit of the Renaissance and Elizabethan period, but that was mostly in English class and took less than two weeks, sort of a quick recap. Later, in high school, a huge emphasis on WWII. So much emphasis on WWII in fact, that it was difficult to understand how it came about, because we sort of skipped everything that lead up to it - such as WWI. We also skipped the Korean War (excuse me - the Korean Occupation/Conflict, wasn't a War), and went right to Vietnam for two days (due to all that time spent on WWII and American Civil War, and American Revolutionary War - there just wasn't any time left.) Lucky for me - I had a father who had a Masters and PH.D in History, so he filled in the gaps. Most people weren't so lucky. But even that was limiting. The only reason I know anything about the French Revolution or the Napoleanic Wars - is I read about them on my own.
Anyhow, this new book (okay old book - was published in 2008, but new to me) - is hilarious. Perfect blend of romance, mystery, adventure and witty banter. No sex though - Peters doesn't do sex. She sidesteps it or lets it happen off-stage. Sort of like reading The Thin Man. Fine by me - reading graphic/explicit sex gets sort of boring after a bit, I prefer the witty banter.
Here's a sample from the Vicky bliss mystery Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters (where she apparently decides to tempt me into reading her Amelia Peabody series by connecting it to her Vicky Bliss series...):
The sound of voices woke me from a dream that featured the head of Tutankhamon gibbering at me and demanding to know what I had done with his penis.
Or
"That eliminates one motive for stealing the mummy. There was nothing of value left on it."
"No. His penis was missing too."
"Enough about bloody Tutankhamon !" John sprang to his feet.
Men are so touchy about that particular part of their anatomy.
Hee! I've been giggling throughout this book. And yes, I am still reading Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which lacks humor. Witty - it's not. Although the journalist style reminds me a great deal of Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain - which I rather like.
Eh, it's late and I obviously can't figure out where to do the lj-cut on this one. Oh well. Here's to a tolerant flist? ;-)
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no subject
Date: 2011-04-05 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-06 02:54 am (UTC)Haven't really tried Peabody for the aforementioned reasons - overdosed on Egyptology when I was young. (Not helped by taking anthropology and archeology courses, or ancient religions and cultural anthropology courses.)
no subject
Date: 2011-04-05 04:19 am (UTC)Poor Tut is missing his penis.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-05 05:20 pm (UTC)reliable, under her real name Barbara Mertz.
I haven't read the Amelia Peabody series - because, ahem, they take place in the 1800s and focus on Egyptology - both things put me to sleep. (see above post for why). The Vicky Bliss series barely focuses on the Egypt bit. The book I'm reading now isn't that big into it - since the narrator is an expert on Renaissance and Medival art, not Egypt. Her thief/lover is,
but we aren't in his pov. So not a major focus. Well except that the missing item is King Tut. Hee.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-06 02:52 am (UTC)The Killing isn't on here until Sunday (there must be different air times for it?? Since other's have seen it too.)
Am debating heavily about getting HBO for Game of Thrones, True Blood and Game Change, and Boardwalk Empire. (it has a least four shows I'm interested in...so maybe).
In a reading mode at the moment, albeit it's re-reading past books and this new one, which while not great, is amusing in places and entertaining and wraps up the hanging plot-threads. In short, it satisfied my desire for more story after I'd finished a prior novel ten years earlier in the series. It's rare to have an author actually do that.