Some things I've been reading and watching

Tonight, a rare evening off from rehearsals for OHP, we watched Episode 2 of Season 1 of Foyle's War, the British detective series (police procedural) set during WWII. For one reason or another we had missed this on television and I'm almost glad as we now have several seasons to catch up on. I'm enjoying it very much. The acting is excellent as usual in British television, and we see the odd familiar face. Tonight it was Charles Dance, whom I first saw just about exactly 23 years ago on The Jewel in the Crown. How I know the date? I was watching the Masterpiece Theatre, and then reading the book, while staying up late with Sisterknits who was but an infant, and one who didn't want to go to sleep at night! She was perfectly happy as long as we were up, so I got to see a lot of late-night PBS for a couple of months.

While Sisterknits was visiting at Christmas, we went to a movie together -- National Treasure: The Book of Secrets. I may have mentioned this before. Although there were some howlers, it was a ripping yarn of the type I enjoy. An article in our local paper a few days later mentioned an unbelievable number of cars that were destroyed in the chase scene.

I set myself a project a few months back to read all the Edgar Winners for Best Novel (I had noticed that for the past few years they always seemed to pick something I hadn't read.) The Edgars, for those of you not so into mysteries, are awarded each year in several categories by the Mystery Writers of America. The Best Novel award has been given since 1954, and I'm now up to 1963 with Ellis Peters' Death and the Joyful Woman. The previous one was J. J. Marric's Gideon's Fire, and it was the first that I clearly remembered having read before (in the 1970s). I enjoyed it just as much the second time. I'm pretty sure I've read the Peters book too, and not as long ago, but I'm not remembering who done it, so that's OK.

Other mysteries lately were Rough Cider by Peter Lovesey, a Christmas present; Watery Grave by Bruce Alexander, from my "ToBeRead" shelf, a historical mystery; and An Ice-Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris, her latest book about Harper Connelly, who was struck by lightning and can find dead people. And they were all good, in fact excellent! (I generally don't finish books I don't like any more, unless they're part of that Edgar project -- I didn't care much for several of the early ones which were self-consciously "literary" in my opinion.)

And, I finally got around to reading My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prudhomme; it was wonderful. What a great woman she was, and what insight she had into herself and others. Most of the time I am not a big biography/autobiography reader, not sure quite why, but this one was worth making an exception for.

I am also reading Renita Weems' Listening for God for the RevGalBlogPals Book Club, but haven't got very far yet.

So what are you watching and reading?