In addition to stopping by the greenhouse to poke my paper mache Mimbulus mimbletonia, you can watch professors and students disembark on the train, catch a production of Puffs, hear wizarding music by the Waynesboro symphony, and attend Bill and Fleur's wedding reception. Local restaurants will be serving Potter-inspired dishes and the Butterbrew will be flowing!
I hope some one my online friend will stop by and say hi!
Note: Super-Strikers BadlyWiredLamp (@badly_wired) and SukiLewis (@suekmoorhen) took the ultimate Strike Fan pilgrimage for the release of The Hallmarked Man, spending two nights on Denmark Street in Strike's flat, now converted into butler-staffed lodgings that can be rented for a book-reading getaway (even if that isn't the typical use!) I am delighted that they were willing to share their account of the adventure (and pictures!) here. -Louise
The thought of staying at No. 26 stayed with me, and as the date of the release of The Hallmarked Man approached, Badly_Wired and I pondered the possibilities of where we should read the book. We had already agreed that we would read it together this time both to provide emotional support and counsel and, of course, to have someone to share the experience with. We had already dismissed Sark, noting that we would all want to do that once we had read the book and knew the locations that we would need to visit. Going on an expensive trip to Sark beforehand and missing some key locations would have been a travesty!
I think we both wanted to do Strike’s flat if at all possible, sod the expense--well kind of, after all we haven’t got Jonny Rokeby’s money! I am lucky to be able to visit London quite frequently; work often dictates that I am there, plus, I have a good friend who lives not too far from Central London who puts up with me crashing at her place! On one such visit in June I called into to Chateau Denmark and told them about my interest about the specific apartment and why I wanted to book. Luckily ‘Strikes Apartment’ was empty at the time, so I managed to bag a tour and then, of course, I was sold and had to book! A quick check with Badly_Wired to make she was on board with my plans and a flick of the credit card--I closed my eyes--and it was all done and dusted. We were going to spend two nights in STRIKE’S ATTIC FLAT!
The thematic similarities between the first seven Strike books and the Harry Potter series makes me think it is highly likely that, as reported by UK Sunday Times Arts editor Richard Brooks in February 2014, Rowling initially planned the Strike series as seven books. The Times was, after all, the paper that used forensic literary analysis to document similarities between Cuckoo's Calling and other Rowling works, and it seems unlikely they would publish that claim unless they had reason to believe it was true, although their source of information may have been out of date Galbraith immediately denied that seven books were planned and by July 2014, announced there would be more than seven books, perhaps even an open-ended series. By April 2023, the author had decided the series would be complete at ten. The simplest explanation is, after being outed much sooner than planned, "Galbraith" rethought the series plan. And, as we well know, whether writing as Rowling or Galbraith, this author is selective about how much of the planning process is shared.
So, is there any point in considering the Parallel Series Hypothesis, now that we've hit #8 in the Strike Series? Find out after the jump.
I haven't seen the new movie yet, as my husband and I are re-watching the previous ones first, but I''m looking forward to to seeing it soon, and perhaps reviewing it here.
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While it was certainly kind of Strike to go to Niall Semple's funeral, it was rather foolish of him to give up the trip to Sardinia with Robin. I think it is likely they could have had a more reasonable conversation there than in the stairwell. Looking back, given that Strike remembers investigating suicides in the military and expresses worry for Wardle in his depression, we should have expected that suicide was a possibility for Semple.
I thought it was incredibly funny to see Mr. Ramsey with his butt sticking out of the cupboard, sobbing over the discovery of his precious silver. In addition to poking fun at the upper class, this book takes good aim at people with excessive attachment to things.
Yet another good, compassionate and understanding conversation between Strike and Robin where they sound like their old selves. Between Strike appropriately insisting Robin take extra security precautions, echoing her own words from TIBH, and the takedowns of Branford, Kim and Tara, we are seeing more of what we've traditionally loved as Strike mysteries pick up the pace as they wind to a close. This book has definitely been moving in a better direction since Part 7.
I remember Galbraith saying once that Charlotte's death was originally planned for Book 8. That may explain why there is so much focus on her family and her history--- I really wish we could move on from her. This additional backstory about Charlotte would have been more interesting when she was alive.
A lot of people predicted a major row with Linda and Robin, and it certainly happened. I'm not sure anything was resolved, though. Nor did we see if they reconciled. Finally, I think Linda is re-writing history a bit. In CoE she seemed to, if anything, be encouraging Robin to stay with the Flobberworm.
Well, my prediction of a Christmas from hell certainly came through in spades. We can see another indication of Strike and Robin's compatibility and she recalls the whiskeys with Strike. Drinking with Strike when she's stressed out helps; drinking without him does not.
More from the Books-a-Million preview. (For my initial impressions, see here.)
If you are like me, all the relationships the new client was trying to explain got a bit confusing, so I put together a family tree that I think is correct. I also want to talk about the new epigraph sources we have.
I finally got access to a longer English preview yesterday via the Books-a-Million site (click on "Look Inside:" if you want to see). I spent yesterday poring over the first 13 chapters, or most of part 1. Wow! Do not proceed if you don't want spoilers. I am staying off social media now, as there are later-book spoilers floating around-- apparently some bookstores are a bit careless about putting them out before the official date. I ask all readers to observe the warning in the post header and not post comments with spoilers beyond Chapter 13.
I actually enjoyed being able to read the section through twice. Maybe I will try to discipline myself into doing that for the rest of the book, to savor the experience. Of course, that's what I said with TRG and that resolve evaporated after Charlotte died.
