Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Wednesday Reads and Movies

Christmas time is movie time for us. In the theater and on DVDs. On Christmas Eve our daughter came over and we watched “Love, Actually,” “While You Were Sleeping,” and “Lethal Weapon.” I hadn’t seen “Lethal Weapon” in years! Still love it. Then on Christmas the whole family went to the theatre and saw “Mary Poppins Returns” (which was a very good movie). Came home after dinner and then Hubby and I watched “Donovan’s Reef” (one of Hubby’s favorites—John Wayne—which is also set during Christmas).

Here’s what I finished reading this week:

Book #55

Dates read: December 18-20
Title: The Crooked Staircase
Year of publication: 2018
Author: Dean Koontz
Genre: Suspense Thriller
Series:  Jane Hawk #3
# of Pages: 462
Paper or plastic: Hardback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from book: “I could be dead tomorrow. Or something worse than dead.” Jane Hawk knows she may be living on borrowed time. But as long as she’s breathing, she’ll never cease her one-woman war against the terrifying conspiracy that threatens the freedom—and free will—of millions. Battling the strange epidemic of murder-suicides that claimed Jane’s husband, and is escalating across the country, has made the rogue FBI agent a wanted fugitive, relentlessly hunted not only by the government but by the secret cabal behind the plot. Deploying every resource their malign nexus of power and technology commands, Jane’s enemies are determined to see her dead…or make her wish she was.
    Jane’s ruthless pursuers can’t stop her from drawing a bead on her prey: a cunning man with connections in high places, a twisted soul of unspeakable depths with an army of professional killers on call. Propelled by her righteous fury and implacable insistence on justice, Jane will make her way from Southern California to the snow-swept slopes of Lake Tahoe to confront head-on the lethal forces arrayed against her. But nothing can prepare her for the chilling truth that awaits when she descends the crooked staircase to the dark and dreadful place where her long nightmare was born.
My thoughts: Have you ever watched “The Stepford Wives”? That’s what this series kind of reminds me of. Only worse. Much worse. I ripped through this book, and was a little disappointed that it left me hanging a bit. I have the next one to read, and I want to read it, but now I wonder if I should wait. The fifth (and supposedly final) book in the series isn’t due out until May. One way or another I’m waiting. But what if the next book has an even WORSE cliffhanger? Yeah, I think I’ll just wait until the last book comes out.

Book #56

Dates read: December 21-23
Title: Waking the Dead
Year of publication: 2014
Author: Heather Graham
Genre: Paranormal mystery romance
Series:  Cafferty & Quinn #2
# of Pages: 360
Paper or plastic: Mass market paperback
How obtained: Purchased
Blurb from book: They say a painting can have a life of its own… In the case of Ghosts in the Mind painted by Henry Sebastian Hubert, that’s more than just an expression. The characters are reputed to come to life—and to kill. The artist was a friend of Lord Byron and Mary Shelley, joining them in Switzerland in 1816, and now, almost two hundreds years later, the painting appears in New Orleans. Wherever it goes, death seems to follow.
     Danielle Cafferty and Michael Quinn, occasional partners in solving crime, are drawn into the case. They begin to make connections between that summer in Switzerland and this spring in Louisiana. Danni, the owner of an eccentric antique shop, and Quinn, a private detective, have discovered that they have separate but complementary talents when it comes to investigating
unusual situations.
    Blending their personal relationship with the professional lives they’ve stumbled into, they confront this work of art…and evil. They have to discover what brings it to life. And they have to destroy it—before it destroys them.
My thoughts: Very good mystery with lots of creepy stuff. It had been awhile since I read book 1, but I managed to get back into this world easy enough. No cliffhangers, either!

So… Do you find yourself watching a lot of movies during the holidays? Which ones?

Happy Reading! And I hope your Christmas was splendid!

Stacy

4 comments:

JeffO said...

I have mixed feelings about the Mary Poppins movie, but I've heard good things. Hopefully, the accents are better than Dick Van Dyke's! We did watch Bird Box on Netflix last week, but haven't hit up any movies otherwise. Hope you had a nice Christmas!

Stacy McKitrick said...

Jeff - I've heard a lot of things about Bird Box (mainly how scary it is, not whether it's good or not). I looked at the book, but it's written in first person, present tense (which I noticed right away). Don't know if I can stomach that.

Gina Gao said...

I've been looking forward to watching Mary Poppins, glad to hear that you enjoyed the movie.

www.ficklemillennial.blogspot.com

Stacy McKitrick said...

Gina - It was a fun movie.