HarperCollins

I started reading this book because I was in the middle of a career change when the current shitshow hit, and felt the need to brush up and organise my English grammar. Most of the times, I was thinking 'Yeah, I know that'. Some other times I felt 'All right, I was using that the correct way unconsciously and now here comes a rule explaining it and I am starting to feel utterly confused'. I'm not so sure right now that it was a good idea. Anyway.

It is very clearly structured, with (tapable) cross-references, a comprehensive and easy to follow guide to English grammar. However, I found 10 mistakes (missing words, typos, wrong examples - I mean examples for the next rule, not the one discussed, etc). In a reference book like this, it is quite a problem. I reported most of them (didn't remember to do so for the first couple of instances, sorry) through the app (it's a kindle edition). Hopefully, these will be corrected when an update is released.

As it ended with a chapter on punctuation, it helped me to decide which of the two books I was keeping at my bedside to read next. Eats, Shoots & Leaves it is, then.… (mere)

A set of 12 authors each provided a short Miss Marple story in this anthology. As with any anthology, it is a mixed bag. Some tried a bit to hard to be different, moving Miss Marple to New York, Italy or a boat to Hing King, each of which felt a bit too far fetched to work. Other stuck more closely to home and they fared better. In one instance the voice of the teller was the first person, in this case the vicar finding yet another body in his house. There were a few quite successful ones with MIss Marple in a village location with an old friend each time. The most successful was by Natalie Haynes, and was the one that I was sure I'd read before, it had Miss Marple at Gossington Hall with Dolly & Arthur Bantry, Henry Clithering, Raymond & Joan. The missing jewels were carefully hidden, and I was sure I'd read that hiding place before - and I was right, as it was inspired by a book that the jewel thieves' nephew was reading and I have also read. It was very cleverly done, used a known setting and known characters and a borrowed plot. Simple but effective.
It was interesting that while some of the stories made reference to Miss Marple's youth, none tried to set a story in her younger days, she remains a little old lady in each of these stories. Maybe we can't imagine her any other way.… (mere)