March Picks

Since St. Patrick’s Day is in March, I wanted to get an album of Irish music. I remembered the all ladies group, Cherish the Ladies, and decided to get another of their albums, Woman of the House. I was not disappointed! Though several years had passed between the last album I bought and this one, their sound is still the same, and I found this a comforting companion during the terrible night of report writing in my classroom. A great blend of instrumental and vocal pieces, and altogether good, solid Celtic music. Now I want to get the rest of their albums…

Apologies in advance for the weird cover... For a book for March, I decided to go with a mystery, so I got the first of Josephine Tey’s works, The Man in the Queue. My ‘bluestockings’ group is currently reading another of her books, Brat Farrar, which I’m really enjoying, so I thought I’d read another of her books. I was not disappointed. Tey has a wonderful style of writing and a real sly wit that has you laughing at the audacious statement that was just made so blandly. I fully plan to read the rest of the Inspector Grant novels. If you like Christie or Sayers, you should totally read some Tey as well. I’m not sure why she isn’t as well known as them, as she is just as good of a writer.

Also, I decided to bit the bullet and make another investment in my “beloved physical copies in Texas, bad books on my Kindle” plan, and bought the whole Inheritance series. I’m re-reading Eldest, and haven’t read the last two yet. Still not the world’s best writing ever, but a nice holiday treat! I guess I’m in a more desperate mood than I was when I first read this several years ago; while there are still some aspects of this book that make me either shriek with laughter or cringe, it’s a nice break from ‘school approved.’ I’m curious to see what the last two books hold…

What I’ve been watching, is Downton Abbey season 6, and the new Poledark season 1. I would have enjoyed both these things much more if the company had been better, but despite knitting furiously to avoid gnawing through my own leg, I did enjoy both these things. I now really want to read the Poledark novels that the series was based on… Also, fair warning, the last episode is not only a tear jerker, but also ends on quite a cliff hanger!