I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

rosemary-b

Blue

I love Anne Perry.

jancie

I agree with Enjoyful  - I am totally 100% convinced she is guilty.  She is also a sociopath - no doubt in my mind.

Alpal

Janice - I agree. She is definitely a sociopath, IMHO.

1Athena1

As I said, I don't know how I would have taken the information had I, personally, been in the jury. 

And what's this about censoring pictures? Coming on to make a demand? That's harassment.  

Enjoyful

AnneW -

The jury did have the chance to choose a lesser charge.  Aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter were also offered.

None in mine either, Jancie. 

bluedahlia

A sociopath with narcissistic qualities.

1Athena1

From the little I know, the mother does sound like a nasty bit of goods, yes.

1Athena1

Speaking of mystery novels - my favorite is Agatha Christie. No one else comes remotely second. 

Enjoyful

I'm reading a fantastic book called "Summerland."  It's baseball-based alternate reality sci-fi fantasy!

covertanjou

I LOVE Agatha Christie.  I have all of her novels, and I love to re-read them every few years.

I didn't watch the trial, so I really can't comment.  BUT, the family seems to be really dysfunctional!

bluedahlia

I third that.  Has anyone watched "Marple".  It is also an older English series based on Agatha Christie.

bluedahlia

My favourite authors are also Barbara Erskine and Marilyn Harris.  Not crime novels though.

Enjoyful

I love Margaret Atwood.  Crake and Oryx was a little odd, but The Handmaid's Tale was amazing - one of the most frightening and realistic science fiction books I've ever read.

covertanjou

I don't know those authors, blue.  I will have to look them up.

Alpal

Cute pic, Patzee. Could you make it a little smaller? It sort of screws up the page. Thanks

covertanjou

I LOVE The Handmaid's Tale.  I agree that it is a very disturbing novel.

Edited to add smiley face (for Jancie) 

Enjoyful

*sigh*

Phasers on ignore.

Lady Oracle was good as well, Mary.

Anonymous

Bluedahlia,  I don't post on this thread, but often stop by to read since my friends Barb and Alpal post on here and when I was going through the threads list tonight and saw your name a big smile came on my face. So I just want to say that I am very happy you are back. 

bluedahlia

I didn't read the book but I saw the movie.  Very disturbing..yes, but what do you expect from a Canadian author.

riley702

I just finished reading C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake series, set in Tudor England. The main character has to figure things out with just observation and logic. He has no CSI-type bells and whistles to help him solve the mysteries (if they weren't murders to start with, they quickly turn into them as soon as he starts poking into things). And the author has a nice, vivid style of writing that makes you think you're back in time with sights and even smells described. And the legal system didn't work AT ALL the way it does now, so he has to navigate around those obstacles, too. The books are:

1. Dissolution
2. Dark Fire
3. Sovereign
4. Revelation
5. Heartstone

Enjoyful

Hi, Marybe!  We're all happy that Blue's back!   (((Blue)))

bluedahlia

Thank you so much Marybe!  Welcome.

covertanjou

We are all thrilled that blue is back!  

I have read most of Atwood's works (especially her short stories).  I don't like everything, but she is an amazing writer.  Her Alias Grace is a very long novel, but it is worth reading.

bluedahlia

Riley will look into those.  My kind of books. 

E, oddly enough I can watch sci-fi but not too interested in reading it.  I know....I'm odd!

Enjoyful

"Summerland" is....odd.  You might like it!  :-)

pip57

This article was posted on June 8, 2011.  An interesting take on the Anthony trial.

COMMENTARY BY WENDY MURPHY —There has never been a more reviled criminal defendant than Casey Anthony, the Florida mom on trial for murdering her nearly 3-year-old daughter, Caylee, in 2008. Casey behaved like a raving psychopath after her child went missing. She went out partying, didn’t shed a tear, and got a tattoo that read “beautiful life.”Her lawyer claims she acted weird because she was sexually abused as a child.Maybe she was, which would help explain evidence uncovered during the murder investigation that showed Casey may have been working as a prostitute at the time Caylee was killed. Studies show that well over 90 percent of prostituted women were sexually abused as children.But the idea that abuse made her get a tattoo rather than emote sadness about her child is absurd. So much so that when Casey’s attorney made the claim to jurors during his opening statement, prosecutors snickered.As easy as it is to hate Casey, there’s no real evidence she killed her child and our emphasis on her being a bad mother is distracting us from paying attention to the facts that matter.For example, last week’s testimony included statements from several witnesses that the car Casey was driving at the time Caylee went missing, a car that belonged to Casey’s mother, smelled strongly of a dead/decomposing body.The news coverage that followed had “experts” debating whether rotting food, can produce a similar odor. But the real question is – who had custody of the car at the time Caylee went missing? Casey was last seen in the car with Caylee on June 16, 2008.Around June 17-19, Casey was driving a borrowed Jeep and telling people that Caylee was with a nanny and her car was in the shop.Casey got her mother’s car back a few days later, but Caylee was nowhere in sight. On June 25 she told one of her friends that it “smelled like something died in my car.”On June 27 the car was abandoned, and on the 30th it was brought to a tow yard.The critical question raised by these facts is – who had the car and who was with Caylee when her dead body landed in the trunk sometime between June 17 and June 22.It’s possible Casey killed her child, but if she put her own child’s dead body in the trunk, why would she tell her friends that she smelled rotting flesh in her car? Casey knows more than she is saying – and she clearly helped cover up the truth – but the absence of evidence will never prove murder.If she had the guts to take the stand, we’d learn more – but that day will never come because she’d have to answer questions like this one: On May 30, you were sleeping with your boyfriend Ricardo Morales, at Ricardo’s apartment. Caylee was in the bed, too. In the middle of the night, you woke Caylee up and took her somewhere. Then you returned to Ricardo’s bed alone and went back to sleep. In the morning, Ricardo asked you where Caylee was, and you said you brought her home to your mother, an hour away. Your mother told cops that was a lie and that you never brought Caylee to her in the middle of the night.So do tell, Casey. Where did you take Caylee that night? So long as this part of the story remains a mystery, Casey Anthony will walk free.The prosecution’s opening statement suggested their best evidence against Casey is an expert who will testify that duct tape was placed on the child’s mouth before she died. They have no proof of who put it there or when.If that’s all there is, Casey will be acquitted because while it’s horrifying to bury your child, lie about it, and then go out partying, it isn’t proof of murder.Wendy Murphy is a leading victims rights advocate and nationally recognized television legal analyst. She is an adjunct professor at New England Law in Boston. She can be reached at wmurphy@nesl.edu. Read more of her columns at The Daily Beast .READ MORE about this issue.

Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/archive/x1459481866/WENDY-MURPHY-Why-Casey-Anthony-will-be-acquitted#ixzz1RNwYyuUI 

bluedahlia

I used to read too much.  At least 2 or 3 books a week.  I think I short circuited my brain because I haven't been reading much lately.

crazy4carrots

I got hooked on Atwood with her first novel "The Edible Woman".  The title intrigued me!  I just finished a lovely little novel by Elizabeth Bass (lives in Montreal but set her novel in the fictional town of Sweetgum, Texas).  Now I'm looking for other books by her.  Any recommendations (for those of you who have read her)?

rosemary-b

The Handmaid's Tale was disturbing.

1Athena1

Welcome, Marybe - I enjoy reading you posts and your wisdom.

Not a sci fi person here -disappointingly in favor of worldliness.

Hercule Poirot does not have an equal. As for TV, I liked Columbo.