Reading in the Garden

Murder Returns on the Big Screen Get ready, it's almost here!   The movie remake of Agatha Christie's  Murder on the Orient Express  is due to be released in theaters on November 10, and I, for one, can't wait to see it!! I loved the book and am reviving my review below from a few years ago.  As for the movie, it's packed with a star-studded cast including:   Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot the master detective; Johnny Depp as American Samuel Ratchett; Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff, Michelle Pfeiffer as Mrs. Hubbard; Penelope Cruz; Willem Dafoe and more.  From the trailers, it promises to be a visual treat that is probably best seen on the big screen. Although books usually tend to be better than the movies, this one just may rise up to equal it.  You still have time to read the book.   Murder on the Orient Express  by Agatha Christie,  is a quick but captivating ride packed with one mysteriously dead Amer...

A Glimpse of Great Britain, Bryson-Style Notes from a Small Island is Bill Bryson’s travelogue from the mid 1990s when he made a farewell tour of the U.K. after having lived in England for twenty years. In his humorous trademark style, Bryson informs readers of his likes and dislikes of the British people, the places he visits, the culture, the food, and the architecture.   It’s his keen observation and a sharp wit, that kept me turning page after page. I had to laugh as he pointed out how British life is touched with a kind of genius for names of prisons (Wormwood Scrubs), to pubs (Lambs & Flag) to flowers (Lady’s bedstraw), to the bizarre names of towns:   Whiterashes, Wigtwizzle, Blubberhouses, Titsey, Lickey End, and more.   Bryson praises the Britons’ cheerfulness and uncomplaining manner as they smile and laugh easily, yet they can also been unyielding in their ways and you could be a target of t...