Pam's 'magical' question was: "Do you multi-task when you read?"
The answers were varied. Some liked quiet and maybe a glass of wine or coffee. Several actually like noise in the background when they are reading and liked to read when listening to music and/or watching television. One member cooks while reading and one reads while walking her dog. One who shall remain nameless actually admitted to driving while reading but she qualified it as to highway only (how comforting!).
I prefer quiet when reading, but admit to liking a beverage to accompany my book.
The book discussed this month was "Real Murders" by Charlaine Harris. We learned from Pam that the author has been writing since childhood and that she published two stand-alone mysteries before our book club selection which is the first in a series. The sixth book of this series entitled "A fool and his honey" garnered hate mail by the author which sounds intriguing... Charlaine Harris is a prolific author who also wrote the Lily Bard series set in Shakespeare, Arkansas (about a rape survivor) and the popular Sookie Stackhouse vampire novels. (Sookie is a telepath). The Sookie Stackhouse series has been adapted for television in the show "Trublood". The author's most recent series are mysteries with a dash of the supernatural and feature Harper Connelly.
Most Whodunit members agreed that the book "Real Murders" did not live up to its beguiling premise. There was only a superficial connection to the old murders. The book lacked suspense as most cozy mysteries do. The members of the fictionalized book club were an odd assortment who didn't seem to have any real reason for being there. The librarian was unrealistic and 'prissy'. We commented though that this is one of the author's earlier works and probably not as good as her later novels. Most members said they wouldn't read further novels in this series, but that they wouldn't discount Charlaine Harris and that they were willing to try one of the author's other series.
One of our digressions this evening was a short discussion on vampire fiction. We discussed its immense popularity and decided that the 'seduction of evil' and the immortality aspects of this genre were what fascinated readers. To read another blog article about vampire fiction click here.
The book winners this month were: Cathy, Judy, Carmella and Jane/Gayle.
