Finished reading on 3/30/09:

THE KILLER'S WIFE by Bill Floyd, 2008.

I stayed up past midnight to finish this page-turner about a woman who is married to a serial killer for some years without knowing it. When she discovers the truth, she turns him in, sees him tried & sent to Death Row, then takes their young son and moves to the other side of the country, changes their names and starts over. Flash forward: a victim's father tracks them down, the nightmare starts again, including a copycat killer. Fast moving, quick read set in Research Triangle area of North Carolina. Poses the question "how well do you really know the person sleeping beside you?" A good change of pace book for me to read in between things I enjoy more.

I don't know exactly why I enjoy watching "Remains of the Day" so much that I have watched it multiple times. Is it that it strikes a chord in me, or makes me nostalgic for something that I never knew, or maybe it's just the beauty of the film... I watched it the other night for the first time in several years, and it made me realize once again what a touching movie it is. I have read the novel, as well, but I think this is a case in which the movie is almost better than the book. The pairing of Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, as Mr. Stevens and Miss Kenton, is exceptional, their characters are beautifully portrayed. Even with no dialogue between them, so much is conveyed by their looks and actions. Hopkins is the epitome of what a perfect English butler should be, in thought, word, and deed, even though the world is changing around him, and Thompson's professional and spirited housekeeper is struggling to control her longings for an emotional relationship with Mr. Stevens. That last scene between their characters when they meet 20 years later after so much has happened in between times, is just totally heart-wrenching to me every time I watch. Guess I'm just a sucker for lost romance! The whole feel of the film is so right--the scenes of the Oxfordshire countryside between the wars, the nobility of Darlington Hall, the beauty of the mounted foxhunters riding across the grounds, the automobiles of the 1930's, the huge dinner parties, all those period details make it such a wonderful experience. I enjoyed Hopkins & Thompson together in this one much more than in "Howard's End"--seemed a better fit for them somehow. It's also interesting to see Hugh Grant and Christopher Reeve in rather interesting supporting roles. All in all, it's a film I have enjoyed revisiting over the years.

Finished reading on 3/25/09:

THE SISTER by Paola Kaufmann, 2007.

I must not have been in the right mood for this novel. It was written by an Argentinian, and is the story of poet Emily Dickinson and her family as told by her only sister, Lavinia. It just did not read well for me. It was rather slow and plodding, although there were interesting tidbits about their lives in Amherst, their brother Austin, the broken love affairs, scandal over Mabel Loomis Todd, Lavinia's struggle to publish Emily's poems after Emily's death, etc. It had its moments, but overall it was not very compelling. Perhaps it was just too literary, or maybe it was the translation, but it was not as enjoyable as I felt it should be.

I watched "Dead of Winter" recently, a 1980's thriller that stars Mary Steenburgen and Roddy McDowall. Had seen it way back, and remembered it as an enjoyable flick, but couldn't remember a lot of the details. Well, I enjoyed it all over. Steenburgen actually plays 3 roles in this, and McDowall is one of the villains. Good suspense, woman in peril, woman as villain, eerie house in the country replete with secret passages and dead bodies, and snow storm kind of movie. It was worth another look. Some good scares and jumps in this one, and the gore factor was almost zero--violence, yes, but no gore. Yes, there are some holes in the plot, but I didn't care. Very watchable, edge of your seat thriller.

Finished on 3/16/09:

ROANOKE: SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST COLONY by Lee Miller, 2000. Had wanted to read this for some time, and after recently reading the novel Roanoke by Margaret Lawrence, I decided it was time. It was worthwhile, although parts of it were rather dry, and I don't believe it really solved the mystery. Miller provides clues and facts to support what is a plausible theory as to what happened to the colonists, but it certainly is not conclusive. Margaret Lawrence used this book as a resource to write her novel, and it shows. An interesting and provocative look at a mystery that continues to fascinate.

Watched "Madame X" last night. It's one of those 1960's glossy melodramas with Lana Turner playing a woman married to an up and coming politician from a prominent family who is forced to give up her husband and son over a scandal, fakes her death, and leaves town. Twenty years later, in a twist, she goes on trial for murder and is defended by her own son. Melodramatic and full of plot holes, it's definitely Turner's movie, and she's great in it. John Forsythe is fine as the husband (he has the best voice ever) and Constance Bennett (in her last movie) is appropriately malevolent as the nasty mother-in-law who forces Turner out. Ricardo Montalban plays the unfortunate playboy, and Burgess Meredith is extremely villainous as the man Turner shoots and kills in order to stop his blackmail. An interesting picture to watch, lovely to look at, and actually not a bad story.

Finished reading on 3/12/09:

MISTRESS OF THE MONARCHY: THE LIFE OF KATHERINE SWYNFORD, DUCHESS OF LANCASTER, by Alison Weir, 2009.

A good readable biography about Katherine Swynford, the woman who became the mistress of John of Gaunt (son of Edward III), bore him 4 children, married him as his third wife, and became an ancestress of all British monarchs beginning with the Tudors. Most of what I'd known about her before was from the novel Katherine, by Anya Seton. Good details of life in 14th century England; but facts about her seem so skimpy that there's lots of perhaps and probably and maybe used, which bugged me after a while. Good illustrations, family charts have some typos, notes, etc.

Finished reading on 3/2/09:

ROANOKE: A NOVEL OF ELIZABETHAN INTRIGUE by Margaret Lawrence, 2009.

Lawrence has created a very plausible and interesting story around Sir Walter Ralegh's Roanoke Island expeditions and the "Lost Colony". Involving two spies (or spiders), Gabriel North and Robert Mowbray, she weaves a tale of intrigue, assassination plots against the Queen, treacherous characters, romance, savagery, and great spirit. Well drawn characters, including Queen Elizabeth herself, Robert Cecil, Walter Ralegh, Lord Burleigh, the fictional Indian queen Naia, and others, both real and imagined, who went out to Roanoke and disappeared. A good read, historically accurate in details, and thought provoking concerning the fate of the lost colonists.