TV Show Review: The Big Bang Theory - Season Six

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Laughs, laughs, and more laughs

Cons: None for this fan

The Bottom Line:

Show still going strong

So be prepared to laugh lots

At these characters

"Where Exactly Did Your Mother Have You Tested?"

The geeks are taking over.  At least they are taking over prime time comedy as The Big Bang Theory continues to be the highest rated comedy even in its sixth season.  And there is a big reason for that.  Each episode continues to be filled with big laughs.

The show centers around the lives of four socially awkward scientists.  Sheldon (Jim Parsons) must have everything done his way.  Leonard (Johnny Galecki) is Sheldon’s long suffering roommate.  There’s Howard (Simon Helberg), the non-PhD of the guys in the group, whose work in physics gets him involved with NASA.  Rounding out the guys is Raj (Kunal Nayyar), a brilliant scientist who can’t talk to women while sober.

The females in the cast are almost as bad.  That’s especially true of Amy Ferrah-Fowler (Mayim Bialik), Sheldon’s neurologist girlfriend.  At the end of the last season Howard married Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), another scientist.  The only non-scientist in the cast is Penny (Kaley Cuoco), an aspiring actress (ie waitress at the Cheesecake Factory) who is dating Leonard.

As the season opens, Howard is still in space on his mission with NASA.  They actually have him up there for several episodes involved in a sub-plot via Skype.  During this time, Stuart (Kevin Sussman) from the comic book store starts to hang out with the gang a bit more.

Once Howard returns to Earth, his ego needs to come back down to size, and he and Sheldon get in a fight over a parking space at Cal Tech, where the guys all work, even though Sheldon doesn’t drive.  Penny continues to doubt her relationship with Leonard.  And Amy continues to push Sheldon for more from their relationship.  Speaking of relationships, even Raj finds a girlfriend near the end of the season.

Over the course of the season, Amy tries to help Sheldon overcome his need for closure.  Bernadette and Howard face a milestone in their marriage – Howard moving out of his mother’s house.  Sheldon and Leonard track down their childhood hero – TV host Mr. Science as played by Bob Newhart.  Penny signs up for a history class at the local community college.  And it's roommate roulette when a fight finds Leonard moving out of his apartment and moving in with Penny.

Any show that can still make me laugh as hard as this one can six seasons in must be doing something well.  While they will still reuse some running jokes, they always find ways to do it that are fresh and funny.  And despite five seasons behind them, they are continuing to find fresh new situations to put the characters in that are brilliant for their comedic potential.

One reason that works is because the characters are constantly growing.  These are not the exact same characters we encountered in the pilot.  And I will say again that the addition of Bernadette and Amy to the cast has really straightened things.  Yes, even Sheldon who hates change is changing; it’s just slower than everyone else.  The fact that the characters (and obviously the writers) remember the past makes it fun to revisit these friends every week.

I will say that I miss the moments of Penny interacting with the guys since she is often either with the other women or Leonard.  They do manage to give her a few good moments with Sheldon in this season.  Their relationship, while strictly friends, has always been sweet, and I hope they play it up a bit more.

The acting here is wonderful as always.  Praise always goes to Jim Parsons, and it is well deserved, but the rest of the cast is amazing at bring their characters to life each week.  There are several episodes this season where Simon Helberg gets to do impressions, and he is phenomenal.  Melissa Rauch is no slouch in that department either.  And the rest of the cast makes us believe their characters and the comedy no matter what wackiness is happening on screen.

Once again, the season consisted of 24 half hour episodes, and they are all in this set.  You can either buy it as a DVD set or a Blu-Ray combo pack that includes DVD, Blu-Ray, and Ultraviolet.  Extras include a featurette with the real life astronauts who guest stars during Howard's trip to the space station, clips from the panel at Paley Fest, interviews with the actors on their character's best moments of the season, and the usual deleted scenes and gag reel.

If you aren’t watching this show, you are missing out on the best comedy currently on TV, hands down.  Correct that oversight today.  You’ll enjoy season six of The Big Bang Theory and find yourself search out the older episodes so you can laugh through them as well.

Season 6 Episodes:

1. The Date Night Variable

2. The Decoupling Fluctuation

3. The Higgs Boson Observation

4. The Re-Entry Minimization

5. The Holographic Excitation

6. The Extract Obliteration

7. The Habitation Configuration

8. The 43 Peculiarity

9. The Parking Spot Escalation

10. The Fish Guts Displacement

11. The Santa Simulation

12. The Egg Salad Equivalency

13. The Bakersfield Expedition

14. The Cooper/Kripke Inversion

15. The Spoiler Alert Segmentation

16. The Tangible Affection Proof

17. The Monster Isolation

18. The Contractual Obligation Implementation

19. The Closet Reconfiguration

20. The Tenure Turbulence

21. The Closure Alternative

22. The Proton Resurgence

23. The Love Spell Potential

24. The Bon Voyage Reaction

September 6th's Book Beginnings and Friday 56

We've made it to Friday!  How is it a short week can feel so long?  Anyway, here's my Book Beginnings and Friday 56 for the week.

This week's book is Deadweather and Sunrise, the first in a Middle Grade adventure series.  I actually just finished the book a few hours ago and will have my review up in time for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday.  Spoiler Alert - I enjoyed the book.

Here's how it starts:

Nobody lived on Deadweather but us and the pirates.  It wasn't hard to understand why.  For one thing, the weather was atrocious.  Eleven months out of twelve, it was brutally hot and humid, with no wind at all, so on a bad day the air felt like a hot, soggy blanket smothering you from all sides.

The other month was September, which meant hurricanes.

Yes, the reference to September is purely coincidental for me and my reading of the book.

Meanwhile, here's from page 56.

According to Millicent and Pembroke, what was going to happen was that we were all going to get into the basket, and the balloon was going to rise up and take us into the air like birds.  But none of us really believed it, and although Millicent and Pembroke were selling us pretty hard on the idea, I couldn't help suspect they were playing some kind of elaborate practical joke on us.

I should mention I won this book in a contest.  I'm glad I did because I probably wouldn't have read it other wise, and I will definitely be continuing the series.

What's in the Bible? Review - Letters from Paul! - Volume 12

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Explains deep theology easily with entertainment

Cons: Not quite as entertaining as most

The Bottom Line:

Takes theology

Makes it understandable

And fun to learn, too

Paul’s Letters Lead Us to Some Deep Theology

Phil Vischer’s series What’s in the Bible? is quickly winding down.  In fact, with volume 12, we’ve reached the penultimate release.  With the Gospels and Acts behind us, it’s time to dive into some deep theology with Letters From Paul!

Wait, deep theology with giant puppets for a target audience of early elementary kids?  Yep.  That’s exactly what is in store for us, but don’t worry that it will become dry.  There’s still plenty of entertainment value here.

As usual, this hour long video is divided into two half hour segments.  And they are very logically broken down.  We start with the usual recap, reminding us of what we’ve covered in the previous books of the Bible.  Yep, it’s getting longer every time.

But then we are introduced to letters in general. (You know, e-mail on paper.  Paper?  Um…)  From there, we spend the rest of the first half hour learning about the letters that the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches.  We get general themes and a little about the churches, including Paul’s connections to them.  And since this does cover all of Paul’s letters we do hear about the ones he wrote to individuals.  We learn about the order their order in the New Testament as well as the order they are written in.  All kinds of factual stuff like that.

From there, we hit the second half hour episode, and we start getting into the meat of what Paul wrote about.  This isn’t an in depth study, but then again, none of the videos in the series have been.  Instead, we get the general ideas that Paul talked about over and over again – grace, justification, sanctification – all those big words.  But don’t let this scare you or your kids away.  Each idea is broken down in ways that kids will understand.  And if you have never gotten the hang of some of these big words, you just might finally get them, too.

As I said, all this is presented with the usual high entertainment value from the usual cast of puppet characters.  The quick breaks between all of them certainly keeps your attention.  Because of the deep concepts covered, this isn’t the most entertaining video of the series, but it still kept my attention and will keep the attention of the kids.  Plus they’ll be learning Biblical truths.

I’ve often thought the pre-show segments with the Michael, the puppet kids who is watching these with his brother as they travel to grandma’s house, were pointless.  However, one of those just about killed me laughing in this video.  It made all of them completely worth it.

And there are still songs.  They’re the weak link in the video yet again, although not as bad as in some of the videos.  What really threw me was when, at one point, they repeat the same song as if it were brand new.  If it was a test, yes I was paying attention.

I am constantly amazed at how Phil is able to take so much scripture and make it easy to understand and relevant while still entertaining.  And he’s done it again with Letters From Paul!  I’m torn to looking forward to seeing him finishing this journey through the Bible and being disappointed that no more videos will be coming out.

Book Review: A Spoonful of Murder by Connie Archer (Soup Lover's Mystery #1)

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Most of the characters

Cons: Very slow story

The Bottom Line:

Very slow story

Does not serve characters well

A cozy to skip

Half Warmed Soup

I seem to be in a new series frenzy right now, with multiple new series on my plate to try as soon as possible.  One of those was A Spoonful of Murder, the first in a cozy series that centers around a soup and sandwich restaurant.  If only it were as good as it sounded.

Lucky Jamieson has returned to her childhood home of Snowflake, Vermont to run By the Spoonful Soup Shop, the restaurant her parents spent their entire life operating.  Honestly, now that she has inherited it, she can’t quite decide if she wants to leave it open or not.  But until she does, business seems brisk.

All that changes when a dead body is found behind the restaurant after a bad snow storm.  When the police arrest Sage, the restaurant’s chef, the crowds completely disappear.  Lucky knows that Sage couldn’t have done it, but no one really knows anything about the woman murdered.  With the police done investigating, can Lucky poke around and find the real killer?

I did like the characters, especially Sage and his younger brother Remy.  In fact, I would have liked them to have more of a presence in the book.  The other supporting characters were enjoyable as well.  Lucky would be a bit inconsiderate and grating at times, but I always bought her motives for trying to uncover the truth.

That is when the story was moving forward.  The book started slowly, and I was wondering if I had stumbled into a chick lit book instead, one about a woman trying to piece her life back together after her parents died.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it wasn’t what I was planning to read.

There were a few odd things that happened before the body dropped, but once it did I thought the book would pick up.  Sadly, it really didn’t.  Lucky does begin investigating, but the plot moves forward very slowly.  It just felt like the plot was stretching to fill a word count with several recaps and rehashes between new clues and red herrings.  The book really needed to be tightened up.

There are three delicious sounding soup recipes and two sandwich recipes at the back of the book.  This is a culinary cozy, after all.

In the end, I was glad to finish A Spoonful of Murder, and I won’t be back for the sequel.

September 4th Waiting on Wednesday

Welcome to this week's Waiting on Wednesday.  And please tell me I'm not the only one who is out of whack thanks to this being a short week after a long weekend.  Those always throw me off.  But believe me, I'll take it.

Anyway, the book I'm talking about this week is Deadly Heat.  And it's a very different TV Tie-In.  If you aren't familiar with the TV show Castle, it revolves around a fictional writer, Richard Castle, who is following a police detective, Kate Beckett, around to get inspiration for the new mystery series he is writing.  He has based his new character, Nikki Heat, on Beckett.

Somewhere along the way, someone decided the books should really come out.  Deadly Heat is the fifth book in the series, which is no surprise since we just finished season 5 of the show.  These books are always a blast since they use bits and pieces from the various episodes of the season as little inside jokes for the fans.  I'm sure there are jokes I miss, but I love the ones I get.  The characters are also obviously based on the main characters on the show.  For example, Castle has written himself in the books as a writer named Rook.

I'll also be curious to read this one since the last book actually foreshadowed something that happened in season five.  I will be looking for any hints like that about season six.

Deadly Heat goes on sale on September 17th, and I've got my copy pre-ordered.  Watch for the review soon after that.

And, really, if you enjoy lighthearted mysteries, be sure to check out Castle.  Here's my review of Season 1.

Ornament Review: Waiting for the Great Pumpkin - Happiness is Peanuts All Year Long #3 - 2013 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Perfect choice for October, cute

Cons: Doesn't hang right with the stand

The Bottom Line:

Another year spent

In a sincere pumpkin patch

This year for sure.  Right?

This Will be the Year the Great Pumpkin Shows Up.  I Can Just Feel It.

When I heard that Hallmark was doing a year long series of ornaments based on the Peanuts characters, I knew what October was going to be.  I mean, is there a more iconic October Peanuts image than Linus Waiting for the Great Pumpkin?  And sure enough, that's exactly what we got.

The ornaments features Linus leaning on a pumpkin.  He's wearing a blue and white striped shirt.  He's propped up on his right arm, and he's smiling at us while he waits for the Great Pumpkin to rise from the pumpkin patch and bring toys to all the good girls and boys.

This is one of those ornaments where the angle is truly deceiving.  What do I mean?  Well, between the pumpkin and Linus's shoes, the ornament has a nice flat base, so you can set it out on any flat surface.  The pumpkin is tilted at a bit on a angle, but it really isn't that noticeable when the ornament is standing.  You're drawn more to Linus leaning on the pumpkin, so it looks natural.

There is a hook for hanging the ornament, and it's sticking out the side of Linus's head.  And when I looked at the angle, I was sure that it would hang crooked.  And it does hang a bit off center side to side.  But you know what?  It looks right.  That's because the pumpkin is actually sitting up straight at this new angle.  Linus is still leaning, but he's standing up straighter, too.  Honestly, it looks good no matter which way you display it.

Which is a good thing since I will probably be displaying him on the stand.  Once again, the hook isn't turned so that Linus displays out when you hang him on the Happiness Is… stand that you can buy separately as a companion for this series.  While he doesn't turn as much as Schroeder does in the first in the series, it's still a shame he doesn't face the room.

However, the background is great.  You've got a full moon peaking into a pumpkin patch with several pumpkins behind Linus.  No, the Great Pumpkin isn't lurking in the background, but I know he's there.  He's just going to pop up in another second or two.  Really.

Being a series ornament, you'll find the 3 in a Christmas tree on the bottom of the pumpkin.  Yep, even though a year long series, they are still using the Christmas tree for this series.

As I stated earlier, I knew this would be the subject for this month in the series, but that doesn't mean I don't love it.  It's a cute ornament, and the background is just perfect.  Because of the pumpkin and Linus, it does appear to be one of the bigger ornaments in the series, but that's okay.  I wouldn't change a thing about it.

It's fun ornaments like this that made starting the series an easy decision for me.  And now I can spend every year with Linus Waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Happiness is Peanuts All Year Long series.

Original Price: $12.95

What I Read in August

Here's what I read in August.  Links take you to my full review.

All ratings are on a scale of 1 (bad) to 5 (great).

FATHER KNOWS DEATH by Jeffrey Allen (Stay at Home Dad #3) - 4

It's county fair time in Rose Pedal, Texas, and stay at home dad Deuce Winters is helping with the 4H booth fundraiser.  That's how he stumbles upon the body of George Spellman in the freezer.  George was the grounds keeper of the fair and a nice guy.  Who wanted him dead?

I love these characters and the humor in the series, so it is always nice to visit them.  I didn't think the plot was quite as twisty as previous entries and I didn't care for the environmental lecture, but both of these were minor complaints.  Overall, I enjoyed the book.

THE SURVIVOR by Gregg Hurwitz - 5

Nate Overbay is all ready to commit suicide when he stumbles on a bank robbery.  But this wasn't an ordinary bank robbery, and suddenly he has some nasty men after his estranged family.  Can he figure out a way to save them?

While it wasn't quite the heart pounding suspense I was expecting, I enjoyed the book more as a result.  The characters were richer and the writing so good it brought every scene to life.  This is a thriller with characters you truly care about, and it is better as a result.

SPRINKLE WITH MURDER by Jenn McKinlay (Cupcake Bakery #1) - 4

When Mel is accused of murdering her best friend's fiancee, she has to set down her cupcake tins and start sleuthing to find the killer.

I've heard such praise for this series, and I didn't feel the debut quite lived up to the promise.  However, I did find the plot good and the characters real.  I enjoyed the book enough that I will continue on with the second in the series.

RILEY MAKES STIRS UP MORE TROUBLE by Chris Grabenstein (Riley Mack #2) - 5

What do a city wide talent show and a closed off swimmer hole have in common?  More than you might think in this delightful middle grade caper.  The plot was always moving forward, and I loved how everything came together in the end.  The characters could have used a bit more development, but that's the adult in me talking.  Kids will love it.

THE MYSTERY OF THE QUEEN'S NECKLACE by Kathryn Kenny (Trixie Belden #23) - 2

Trixie and part of the gang travel to England to trace Honey's family tree and learn about her recent inheritance.  So why is Trixie seeing the same pickpocket everywhere they go?  And is their guide trust worthy?

I was never a big fan of this one, but rereading it as an adult has made me realize just how bad it is.  The characters aren't themselves, especially Trixie.  And the plot is weak with a very rushed climax.  Still, some of the new supporting characters are fun and a few scenes make this one worth at least a skim for die hard fans.

FINAL SENTENCE by Daryl Wood Gerber (Cookbook Nook #1) - 4

Jenna Hart has returned home to Crystal Cove, California to help her aunt open a new cookbook bookstore.  But their big guest for the grand opening - Food Network Star and Jenna's college roommate Desiree - is murdered before the store even opens.  With local gossip making Jenna a suspect, can she prove her innocence?

This has many of the traits of a first in a series, but it is filled with warm characters and a sense of fun I enjoyed.  I'm looking forward to many return trips.  I did have a few niggles with the book - one weak character and a couple of timing issues - but they were minor overall.

MRS. POLLIFAX AND THE WHIRLING DERVISH by Dorothy Gilman (Mrs. Pollifax #9) - 5

Carstairs has doubts about the agent they are sending to Morocco to verify a network of spies, so he sends Mrs. Pollifax along to help smooth things over.  But when the first spy is killed an hour after they identify him, Mrs. Pollifax realizes she's in deep trouble.

While the last couple of books in the series aren't quite up to bar, this is a return to form in most ways.  Mrs. Pollifax is a resourceful and charming as ever, and the plot is as fun and fast paced as it is improbable.  A perfect escape.

TV Show Review: Hey Dude - The Fifth and Final Season

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Many good laughs and enjoyable moments

Cons: A few clunkers, but especially “Baby”

The Bottom Line:

Final Bar None laughs

Standard series weaknesses

Fans will still enjoy

"Are You Going to Help Me, or Are You Going to Drive Me Crazy?"  "I Hate Multiple Choice."

We’ve reached the final season of Hey Dude, the Nickelodeon comedy from 1989-1991 that centered on the teenage staff of a dude ranch over the course of a summer.  This is also the only season to include all the characters in the opening credits.  And while there are still plenty of laughs, the poor episodes are weaker this time around.

I must admit that not many of these shows were familiar to me, which was a bit of a surprise.  True, I was never a faithful watcher of the show, but I did catch quite a few reruns when it was airing on Nickelodeon.  All that meant was I got to enjoy some laughs for the first time.

And the characters are still fun.  There’s senior staff Ted (David Lascher), lifeguard Melody (Christine Taylor), riding instructor Brad (Kelly Brown), and ranch hands Danny (Joe Torres), Jake (Jonathan Galkin), and Kyle (Geoffrey Coy).  Rounding out the cast are ranch owner Benjamin Ernst (David Brisbin), his son Buddy (Josh Tygiel), and Lucy (Debrah Kalman), the adult in charge of the horses.

So what actually happens in these thirteen episodes?  The highlights include the teens inventing a new staff member named Jed and then having to keep the illusion going.  After one practical joke too many, the rest of the group decides to convince Ted that he’s shrinking.  A double date goes very wrong for four of the members of the gang.  When Brad’s father loses his job, she suddenly has to live on what she makes at the Bar None.  And in the series finale, the old staff and the new staff square off in a game of capture the flag to determine who gets to be senior staff next summer.

On the other hand, there are some episodes where the show just doesn’t work so well.  Mr. E. getting amnesia was one of those.  It was almost funny, but it was more painful than funny.  But the worst episode involved a mother leaving one of her twins behind at the ranch because she is so forgetful.  Yes, the characters interacting with the baby was fun, but I never could get past the premise.

The show is definitely a product of the late 80’s and early 90’s.  A couple of the guys sport mullets.  Their clothes scream the time period.  And one episode finds Ted trying to earn extra money so he can buy a tricked out tape and CD player.  I just had to laugh at that one, although the episode was good.

Now if I’m being honest, I’ll freely admit that none of these episodes break any new ground.  Even though I hadn’t seen them before, I could predict what was going to happen early on.  It’s a sitcom, unexpected plot twists just aren’t the genre’s specialty.

Likewise, the acting is still bad.  The main cast’s acting works, although it is a bit over the top.  But the guest stars can really be bad.  This is especially true in an episode that finds Jake having to fight a bully.  Wow was there some overacting there.

But if you grew up with the show, none of that will matter.  These characters are old friends, and I enjoyed getting to visit with them again.  This is a single camera comedy, which means no laugh track, but I still found myself laughing at their antics.  It’s still entertaining, and that’s all that matters.

Those who have bought the previous sets will know what to expect here.  We’ve got 13 episodes on two discs, just like always.  And just like always, the shows are in full frame, stereo, with no extras.  But if you want to watch this show again, you’ll snap it up.

And if you have fond memories of the show, you’ll enjoy catching the final adventures of the Bar None gang.  While there are a few clunkers, there is still fun to be had in Hey Dude Season Five.

Season 5 Episodes:

1. Miss Tucson

2. The Legend of Jed

3. Incredible Shrinking Ted

4. Rest in Pieces

5. Baby

6. Jealous Guy

7. Amnesia

8. Presumed Stupid

9. Crush

10. Low Budget Brad

11. Jake's Fight

12. Double Date

13. War

Book Review: Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gilman (Mrs. Pollifax #9)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Mrs. Pollifax is back in top form

Cons: Some descriptive passages might slow things down, but never for very long

The Bottom Line:

Morocco danger

Mrs. P. back in top form

Fun on ev’ry page

Mrs. Pollifax Races Across Morocco

While I try my best to read a series in order, I go for the sampling approach when it comes to book on tape (now CD).  I’ll take whatever my library has available when I’m ready to take a trip.  So it was that, back in 1996, I made Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish my introduction to the series.  Did I like it?  Well, I read the first five books in the series that summer.

If you haven’t met Mrs. Pollifax, she’s a grandmother, widow, garden club member, and part time CIA agent.  As crazy as it sounds, she is very good at it, using her determination and resourcefulness to get herself and her companions out of some wild situations.

The series was written over the course of roughly 35 years.  While Mrs. Pollifax ages a year or two, every book is set in the world stage when it is set.  This book originally came out in 1990, and it finds the focus shifting to northern Africa and a post Cold War world.

It’s a gloomy January day, and Mrs. Pollifax is feeling depressed.  More than anything, she’s wishing for an assignment from Carstairs.  And just then, Bishop calls asking if she is available.  They have an agent all set to journey through Morocco visiting seven members of a spy chain they have making sure that none of them have been replaced by an imposter.  But something about the agent’s picture doesn’t sit right with Carstairs, so he wants Mrs. Pollifax to go along and help smooth any rough edges.

When Mrs. Pollifax arrives, she is not met at the airport and finds her co-agent most disagreeable.  They identify the first agent in the network, but he is dead within the hour.  Can Mrs. Pollifax trust her co-agent?  Will she get out alive?

The previous couple of books in the series are some of the weakest.  They grow a little dark and Mrs. Pollifax seems to lose some of her spunk.  But she’s back in top form here.  While there is plenty of danger and suspense, I found myself laughing at a few of her lines and observations as the book progressed.  And her resourcefulness is back, too.  Yes, she loses it occasionally, but who wouldn’t given all that takes place in the book.

Don’t let the 200 plus page size fool you – there is a lot packed into this book.  That means the story is always moving forward.  Plus we get a few twists along the way.  And we get some classic scenes back at CIA headquarters as Carstairs and Bishop have to react to half the story and try to help blindly from half way around the world.  I always enjoy those.

Along the way, we also get a look at the culture and the political situation at the time.  At least I assume it is accurate – I’ve never researched to see how much was fact and how much was fiction to help the story along.  Anyway, there are some descriptions of the countryside that Mrs. Pollifax is passing through and the towns and villages she visits.  It’s never enough to really slow things down and it gives us a real sense of place, something I have always loved about these books.

The downside of this series is that there are few recurring characters.  But author Dorothy Gilman always makes up for it with a new batch of charming friends and dastardly foes in every book.  This is no exception.  By the time you reach the end, you’ll love many of them.

So, do I recommend you jump in here like I did?  Actually, no.  While you certainly could (I did after all) there are more than the occasional vague reference to past adventures.  A character from the last book actually plays a part in this story, so it’s best read in order.  So travel back to the late 1960’s and The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax to find out how her adventures began.

If you do, you’ll fall under the spell of Mrs. Pollifax and be reading Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish before you know it.  I will always be thankful for this book since it introduced me to the delightful series.

Looking for even more adventures?  You'll find them in the Mrs. Pollifax Series in order.

This review is part of Friday's Forgotten Books.  Follow the link to see what else people are reading.

August 30th Book Beginnings and Friday 56

We've made it through the week.  Time to celebrate with Book Beginnings and Friday 56!

This week, I'm reading A Spoonful of Murder by Connie Archer.  And here's the first sentence:

"I know you worry about me, Mom, but you don't have to."

Yes, that is the main character, not the murder victim saying that.

And, from page 56 we get:

Janie reached out and put her hand protectively over Meg's.  Meg was trying hard to regain control.

The book itself?  It's a bit slow overall, but I'm trying to keep an open mind about it.  I'm about 100 pages in, so we'll see what happens.