Sunday Bookends: Miss Marple, Little Women (yes, still!), Lark Rise To Candleford and the cold weather returns




It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What’s Been Occurring

I rambled about last week in yesterday’s Saturday Afternoon Chat post if you would like to catch up there. I will mention that today our weather doesn’t know what it wants to do as it is snowing and raining and switching back and forth. The weather has been warm this week so the ground isn’t as cold as it could be. It remains to see how much of the stuff will actually stick

What I/we’ve been Reading

Currently Reading:

Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott and Sisterchicks Do The Hula by Robin Jones Gunn

Little Women is relaxing and enjoyable and I will have it done this week. I’ve been reading it very, very slow and only a chapter or two a day, in case you’re wondering why I keep saying I’m STILL reading it. (Since the end of November! Ha!). This week I’m just going to read it through and finish it up so I can move to another classic – which one I don’t know yet.

The Sisterchicks book is just a light, fun read that is a very nice distraction from life. I’m reading through it quickly so I will probably have it done this week as well.

Recently Finished:

Dysfunction Junction by Robin W. Pearson

Up Next or Soon:

The Cat Who Went Into The Closet by Lilian Jackson Braun

Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson

The Bungalow Mystery (A Nancy Drew Mystery) by Carolyn Keene

Little Miss and I are reading: The Borrowers by Mary Norton and The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz

The Boy is reading: Lost Names: Stories from a Korean Boyhood by Richard Kim

The Husband is reading: Fury by Salaman Rushdie

What We watched/are Watching

Yesterday I started Agatha Christie’s Marple, the BBC show that ran from 2004 to 2013 and was based on the Miss Marple books by Agatha Christie. I have never wanted to watch anyone as Miss Marple other than Joan Hickson but after someone mentioned the show to me on Instagram, I decided to give it a try since The Husband  had to work and the kids were doing other things.

There were so many actors in Season 1 Episode 3 who I recognized from other shows. The episodes, like the episodes from the Miss Marple series, were like mini-movies at 90 minutes each. Episode 3 was called What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw but was based on the novel 4.50 from Paddington.

The one actress I was most surprised to see in his episode was Amanda Holden who I’ve only seen as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent. I always wondered what the woman actually did to land her on that show as a judge. I had no idea she was an actual actress. I thought she was a talking head on a news show in addition to being a judge.

She wasn’t too bad of an actress but I kept waiting for her to say, “That was lovely. Good job.” And push the golden buzzer.

I also recognized Michale Landes who  played an American in the British sitcom Miranda. When I saw him in that show, I thought he was British doing a horrible American accent. I looked him up while watching this because he was playing an American again and it turns out he has a horrible American accent despite being an American.

He has been acting since the late 1980s and has been on several shows, often as secondary or one-off characters.

He was really the weak link in this episode.

After I watched Marple, I watched a couple episodes of Lark Rise To Candleford. I had started to watch this show years ago but only made it to season three, I’m not sure why. I think there was some cast change I didn’t like. I don’t remember a lot of it so I am rewatching it and plan to go through all four seasons.

It’s a very nice distraction from life.

This upcoming week I will be watching Miss Austen Regrets for our last movie for Jane Austen January. The link up for Jane Austen January will still be up until Saturday if you want to add a post.


What I’m Writing

This week I worked on Cassie, which comes out in August of 2024. On the blog I shared:

What I’m Listening to

A Tale of Two Cities on Audible

New audible books I hope to listen to soon:

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz, The Jane Austen Collection by Jane Austen and In This Mountain by Jan Karon.

Blog Posts I Enjoyed This Past Week

Emma Film by Joy’s Book Blog

I love it when Joy writes about the real-life places you can visit in the Jane Austen movies.

Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.


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10 thoughts on “Sunday Bookends: Miss Marple, Little Women (yes, still!), Lark Rise To Candleford and the cold weather returns

  1. Pingback: This week’s small pleasures #372 – Thistles and Kiwis

  2. When I was in third grade i read Little Women over and over again. I still feel as if I know it by heart. I liked all the Miss Marple TV series. So I’m with you on that.
    best,mae at maefood.blogspot.com

    Liked by 1 person

    • You read the actual Little Women in third grade or a shortened version? Because this is one of the most wordy books I have ever read and it is 500 pages long. lol. But I am still enjoying it. And I have liked all the Marple shows I’ve seen too. I’m going to keep watching this particular series.

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      • Yes, I read and rearead the entire book, which was meant for kids originally. A lot has changed. My family didn’t have TV back then, and reading was what we did.

        Liked by 1 person

        • I know what you mean! We had three channels that came through a small antenna so there was a lot of time for reading. I did the same but with smaller books like Little House and The Chronicles of Narnia and then I read To Kill A Mockingbird in sixth grade but my teacher in high school didn’t believe it. I didn’t understand most of it until I read it two years ago again with my son but I did read it. 😂

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  3. I haven’t read any Miss Marple books in ages. I do remember how twisty and turny they were. I’ve tried to watch the Lucy Worsley show on PBS about the time Agatha Christie herself went missing. I just haven’t gotten into it, but I think I should give it another try. This week, we did watch Mysteries of British Castles (I think that’s what it’s called). We’ve seen it before, but it’s always fun to see the castles we’ve actually visited and hear the stories behind them. We are also watching The Brothers Sun. It’s a little too much martial arts for me, but Mike really likes it because of the martial arts.

    I’m reading another Louise Penny book. I had two on hold on Libby, and both came in at the same time. So, I’m rushing to finish both! That’s not always the best way to read, but I already know all the characters and the setting.

    Today has been cold and rainy again. I’m beginning to long for spring which is very unusual for me.

    Have a fabulous week, Lisa!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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