Miss Marple, Bookish Sayings, and A Rare Sighting

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

" Books are good company, in sad times and happy times,

for books are people—people who have managed to stay alive

by hiding between the covers of a book. "

    E.B. WHITE

I have disappeared down Agatha Christie's Miss Marple rabbit hole. You may recall I mentioned Nemesis in a recent post chatting about books where gardens weave in and out of the story. I have watched the movie Nemesis with actress Joan Hickson as Miss Marple so many times over the years that I can probably recite lines from it.

As with many books turned into movies, a book holds lovely and/or entertaining passages that don't often transfer well into motion picture. In some cases, scenes are shortened or left out; even characters are adapted, all to make the narrative transfer better to the screen. Which is why it has been lovely to read the book the way Ms Christie wrote and intended it.

Having finished Nemesis, I have now started 'The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side'. I'm at the place in the story where village do-gooder Heather Badcock has fallen victim to murder. And, Miss Marple's doctor, upon seeing her pink cheeks and bright eyes, recognizes that his quiet, elderly patient has begun to unravel the puzzle of St. Mary Mead's latest homicide. Miss Marple's nephew, Chief-Inspector Dermot Craddock from Scotland Yard has just been to visit and promises to stay to tea the next time he stops in. 

* * *

It was cool and overcast early this morning -- a perfect day to read a mystery novel indoors. But now I see the sun's peeped out while my attention has been keyboard-focused. And it's turned quite lovely. Happy thought indeed. For there is nothing quite like being out on a summer day reading one's book, all the while listening to the birds chatter or inhaling the scent of roses and mock orange and lavender that wafts on the breeze. 

Before I sign off, let me share a handful of my latest garden pics, paired with a few bookish sayings, as well as the rare sighting of yours truly.

" No man can be called friendless who

has God and the companionship of good books. "

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

" Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that

dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten. "

NEIL GAIMAN

" Detective stories keep alive a view of the world which ought to be true.

Of course people read them for fun ... But underneath they feed a hunger

for justice ... you offer to divert them, and you show them by stealth the

orderly world in which we should all try to be living. "

DOROTHY L. SAYERS

" Ah, there's nothing like tea in the afternoon. When the

British Empire collapses, historians will find that it had

made but two invaluable contributions to civilization—

this tea ritual and the detective novel. "

AYN RAND

" Cosies are comfortable especially on those days when we want

to curl up with a good book. We won't be scared or horrified

by the gory details, but we will be challenged by a first-rate puzzle

to solve. And at the end of the book we will feel good because

the crime has been solved and justice prevails. "

FROM MILLIE MACK'S BLOG 

" Read the best books first, or you may not

have a chance to read them at all "

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

" Reading never wears me out. "

Olivia, IAN FALCONER

* * *

Wishing you a beautiful day.

Heart Hugs,

Brenda

xox