The Tale of Holly How

I've been reading ahead of the book group.  Our November selection is a mystery from a series call The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter.  I love Beatrix Potter and English cottages.  I've decided to spend a good deal of my summer reading this series, out on a patio swing, with lemonade, and maybe even cucumber sandwiches.  It's like a cross between the books of James Herriot and The First Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana.  The animals talk and help solve the mysteries and it works.  I've been delighted.

We were watching the basketball tournament this week and one of the teams were the badgers - maybe Wisconsin.  I've always thought of badgers as being mean and stinky, but now that I've read about Bosworth Badger, I really like them.  Bosworth keeps the history and genealogy of the badgers.  He has a beautiful library in The Brockery.  I like him better than Professor Galileo Newton Owl, and I've always loved owls.

This morning I was reading a chapter that started at breakfast in The Brockery.  There are a variety of animals at the table since the badgers take in permanent and temporary lodgers.  They were all rested and full of exuberant energy and interesting plans for the day--always a wonderful day, because animals rarely worry or imagine the worst of what is to come, as people do.  They are generally planning a picnic, or a foraging expedition, or just loafing on a quiet river bank.  I thought wouldn't it be great to have toast and marmalade with them.  What a way to start the day.

Dick Francis Dies

In case you didn't see it in the Statesman this morning, I thought I'd post the news article here since we read Dick Francis mysteries last year.

Dick Francis, the best-selling British thriller writer and former champion jockey, died on Sunday in his home in the Cayman Islands. He was 89. A successful steeple-chase jockey, Francis turned to writing after he retired from racing in 1957. He penned 42 novels, many of which featured racing as a theme. His books were translated into more than 20 languages, and in 2000 Queen Elizabeth II honored Francis by making him a Commander of the British Empire. Francis won three Edgar Allan Poe awards given by the Mystery Writers of America for his novels "Forfeit" (1968), "Whip Hand" (1979) and "Come to Grief" (1995).

There was a good article about him in the New York Times today. You can go here to read it. I think we decided at our discussion that his earlier books were better, so if you feel like reading a horse-racing, mystery, maybe "Forfeit" would be a good bet.