You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Kristie, Laura, and myself will be reading book 2 in the Chet and Bernie series, Thereby Hangs a Tail. We will start reading once all have received their books. Everyone is welcome to join in.

I’ve got print and audio for this but I can flex on timing, depending on what you all have planned.

I haven't read the first one in that series yet. Was it someone else reading with you?

Yes, me. I'm ready whenever everyone else is.

Janice do you have any time constraints? I need to finish two holdlist books…

ETA: Kristie did you still want to join in?

I have a reasonable time constraint. I plan to be finished badge one the beginning of April. If necessary, I can punt this book out of my March plan and read in the beginning of April.

Kristie, are you still considering the buddy read if you're able to finish book 1?

I could do March or April, whatever you all decide.

Laura - back to you. LOL!

I’m probably the most flexible, I just need to finish Astral Library and then the next one up which is a fairly short middle grade and then I could start.

Not sure if Kristie is trying to read book one first though but if not then maybe early March could work?

I'm just about finished my current audiobook and then I'll be tackling The Witch Elm. It looks like it's going to be one of the group themed reads, and I'm group leader so I need to do it first thing in March. Why don't we say March 13th if that doesn't conflict with the toppler?

Oh, sorry. I wasn't planning to read them now. I'm actually reading a different book from a dog's perspective at the moment. You two go ahead.

@Janice, Mar 13 should be a really good time for a humorous read, sounds perfect.

@Kristie when you get to this series I have a feeling you’ll really enjoy it.

I'm sad you won't be joining us Kristie, but I understand.

Laura, I've noted the date.

Looking forward to it Janice, based on the first book I’m hopeful we’ll both enjoy it.

I had to shuffle my books bc the short MG tail book didn’t work out and its replacement is a holdlist book due mid March also. So now I have three mid-March due dates I’m working on that are all holdlist and can’t be renewed.

They won’t kidnap me if they’re not returned on time but just saying. I don’t want to mess up your planning either Janice, but if you could delay a week, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings either. No worries if not, just checking.

One of the three, I’ve not got a proper start on, but The Widow and Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter are both good and neither are short. The third one is a shorter NF and I could read that alongside Thereby Hangs a Tail if need be, I hardly ever read only one book at a time.

Really looking forward to this read, and continuing with this series too 😀🙏🏻

I had planned to read it after The Witch Elm, but I can sneak something else in between the two.

Ok well let me know if that’s easy. If not, I may abandon the third book bc I thought it would be comforting but I’m not so sure after trying it as insomnia book for a couple of nights. Definitely didn’t help that lol.

I think you might like Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter. Comforting, a little funny, with magic. At least so far. I know it gets a bit wilder. I’m only like 15-20% in.

I have Bullets and Beads (another Miss Fortune book) and The Astral Library slated for March, so it will likely be one of them.

I haven't purchased Agnes Aubert yet. I have earmarked it as a March selection. I'll likely read it in April.

Janice, with the toppler scheduled for 3/20-3/22, what are you thinking? I guess it’s possible this book could fit? But then it would be hard to rush thru a buddy read.

I could push this into April, or even go after 3/22? I’m into too many books with holdlist deadlines at this point. The library unfortunately can run my reading “schedule”, not to mention work. I feel like cotton balls have been shoved into my brain this morning.

But at least the sun is out and it’s getting warmer. So I’m headed out to experience a little outdoor life for a bit, then probably a nap for this afternoon. 😕 It is what it is, right? Spring and fewer work hours are both coming, I’m hanging on to that! 🌞

Oh and BTW Agnes Aubert is a good one. I have a feeling you’ll like it. It’s not LOL but there is a lot of humor and the magic is mostly whimsical and fun.

ETA I strongly recommend against the audiobook though. It’s as though the narrator is reading the book for the first time and it seems to me her accent is all wrong too. The narration almost never enhances the print book. Maybe it was her first time but if so, she was unprepared.

Laura wrote: "Janice, with the toppler scheduled for 3/20-3/22, what are you thinking? I guess it’s possible this book could fit? But then it would be hard to rush thru a buddy read.

I could push this into Apr..."

We could start it right after the toppler if that works for you. I'd rather not go into April to read this book since I'm trying to wrap up Badge 1.

If it fits the toppler, we could maybe read it for the toppler.

Thanks for the heads up on Agnes Aubert narration.

ETA - the kindle edition is about $17.00, and the paperback is higher than the hardcover. I think I'll go with the audiobook. I listen at 1.7x and that usually "fixes" narration issues.

What speed did you listen at?

I try to listen at 1.5 but then I miss some words bc I think her native language is Spanish. My inability to speed the narration and clearly understand is slowing down my reading of the book. I hope you do better with the narration than I am.

Yeah sounds good re timing, I’ll let you know if I can do it sooner. It should be a fast read so maybe it’ll work for the toppler.

Thanks Laura.

I’m thinking “Adopt a Dog” day and read a book with a dog on the cover. What do you think?!

Btw I finished Agnes. I gave it four stars. I think you’d enjoy it but it might be a little lighter than your typical fantasy fare.

I still need to finish The Widow which will be overdue but hopefully not by too much. I don’t have the Libby eaudiobook for that one, the line is v long.

How are you doing scheduling-wise?

I've already created a holiday and am going to read The Astral Library. If you want to create a holiday and read this book for the toppler, we can do another buddy read another time for a different book. I need to read it after the toppler, and then I have one book left for badge 1. It's a Kindle book, and I may be able to sneak it in before the end of the month.

I can go whenever you want to, Janice - but if I started now I need to book The Widow in with it. No worries tho, I think they give 30 days before they send the police and/or a bill out haha!

I could try for this weekend if it works for you, or let me know when you'd rather start instead. I could come up with another holiday for the Toppler, no worries. Not sure if I can finish a book in a weekend when I work a fairly long Saturday this time of yr.

ooh I just thought of a holiday and a book I could do for the Toppler. Tulip Day and my Denmark book for the challenge for The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well - s/b a fairly quick read, I may be able to actually finish it.

Would you be able to start on Monday? I should be finished my current audiobook by then?

Sure, sounds good, and keep me posted!

Will do. :)

My son and I have read almost the entire series--he gave me Paw and Order one year for Christmas when he was a teen. He loves them and gives them all 5 stars. I give them 3 or 4 and might have given one 5. It's always fun to find new fans of Chet and Bernie :)

What a great title hehe. It’s wonderful when an author can keep the quality high all the way through. 😀

I'll be starting tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

I started in the night for insomnia listening. Sometimes this series is pretty good for that bc it has a lot of light moments.

I always enjoy Chet and it’s so much fun being inside his head.

So far this is feeling to me almost like picking up the first book, with added pages.

I hope we’ll both enjoy it, Janice. Idk what the storms are going to bring today, preparing for power outages and that, so we’ll see. The work week will slow me down but I do have an audio for this, which will help. 🙏🏻📚💚

ETA The audio narrator is same as book one. I really think he has a gift for conveying Chet’s personality. I prefer the narration to the print! Will you be listening, reading, or both? I’m switching.

Daylight savings time is doing a number of my sleep pattern. I keep waking and then not being able to go back to sleep. I should have taken a page out of your book (Ha!) and read some.

I'll be listening, Laura. I like Jim Frangione, and I think he does all the books in the series. I'll start this afternoon when I get home from my appointment.

Be safe!

Thank you. So far so good. V is back from his PT job too which is a relief, as they should have closed down today but didn’t.

I’ve never heard Frangione before but maybe I should look him up in Audible bc he’s really someone I’d like to hear more from.

And I agree re DST, I feel like it’s made it worse. I’m sleeping a lot less deeply since the changeover.

Frangione did all the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. The books are vampire exotica, so be warned.

Thx for the warning lol 😂

I’m reading what I listened to last night to see if I missed anything and sure enough, I did.

Ch 1:

(view spoiler)[

Did you pick up the Lt’s. “metallic laugh”? He repeated it but I didn’t catch it either time when I listened.

I love how Chet communicates his feelings about Bernie with the kind of cues ppl would pay less attn to (like, if the checkbook comes out we’re in trouble type thing and how he isn’t really good at counting past two when B was drinking etc. (hide spoiler)]

Ch 2

(view spoiler)[ I love how the phrase ‘me and Bernie’ comes up all the time and i love the way the narrator says it. There’s a lot of pride in the delivery.

Not sure what we’re supposed to think, but I’m not wild about the woman or the dog, right off the go. The fluffball. lol. (hide spoiler)]

The audiobook chapters don't seem to match up. The narrator said "ten" but the audiobook chapters say 5. The percentage says 30%, so I guess we go with that.

I like how Chet always tries to make sense of words and phrases - for example, "pro bono" was mentioned and Chet equates it to Bernie loving Bono singing U2's song, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." At time, Chet's interpretations can be almost more astute than what was originally intended.

The world of dog shows... give me strength. It's almost cartoonish, and puts to mind the cartoons of dog show with the standard poodle with attitude. (view spoiler)[Precious falls right in line with the caricature.

I was really disappointed that Bernie feel for the investment scheme of the guy wearing the Hawaiian shirt. I thought at first his judgement was clouded with the booze, but when he called asking for more money, Bernie was sober, and took his grandfather's watch to the pawn shop. *sigh* (hide spoiler)]

Laura wrote: "I’m reading what I listened to last night to see if I missed anything and sure enough, I did.

Ch 1:
."

Like I mentioned above, Chet's observations are often more astute. I did pick up (view spoiler)[the metallic laugh. Does it imply that the Lt is "fake" as in not genuine? (hide spoiler)]

Ch 3

(view spoiler)[ I love how Chet describes a stretch 😀

and how humans don’t have a clue about smells lol. Even Chet is upset he didn’t get a retainer 😁

“ Human running: not a thing of beauty, and all that effort to produce so little speed, kind of puzzling. “ (hide spoiler)]

LOL! I agree about the stretches. I can almost feel it. (view spoiler)[ I don't know if you've gotten that far when they meet Precious. But, Chet did a stretch and Precious followed suit with her own dainty stretch and the owner thought something was wrong with her. LOL! (hide spoiler)]

Janice wrote: "The audiobook chapters don't seem to match up. The narrator said "ten" but the audiobook chapters say 5. The percentage says 30%, so I guess we go with that.

I like how Chet always tries to make s..."

It is hard to watch him do stuff like that, I agree. It’s hard for Chet too.

My print book has 31 chapters if that helps. They all seem fairly short.

Janice wrote: "Laura wrote: "I’m reading what I listened to last night to see if I missed anything and sure enough, I did.

Ch 1:
."

Like I mentioned above, Chet's observations are often more astute. I did pic..."

I’m guessing so, especially since the laugh seemed to creep Chet out. I trust Chet’s instincts.

The audiobook says 16 chapters, so I'll go with what the narrator announces.

Janice wrote: "LOL! I agree about the stretches. I can almost feel it. [spoilers removed]"

Lol I do think I got there, but when I’m in and out of sleep I don’t pickup all the details so I’m trying to retrace my steps a bit.

(view spoiler)[

I do wish I liked his client better and I do hope he gets his money! (hide spoiler)]

Janice wrote: "The audiobook says 16 chapters, so I'll go with what the narrator announces."

Yeah.

My Libby says I’m 35% in, but there’s no way I remember all that so I’m gonna try and retrace before bed. Not sure if I’ll get that far tho but this is a pretty fast read.

I didn’t even try to read before bed. It was an exhausting day and so is the workweek so we’ll see how it goes. Without reading further, I did come to a place where (view spoiler)[ everyone is in danger and when I’m tired, I’m not really drawn to that kind of book so I will try Alvin speed and hope it ends soon. (hide spoiler)]