Litsy

Impeachment: An American History | Jon Meacham, Timothy Naftali, Peter Baker, Jeffrey A Engel

It‘s more of an end of the chapter question, but I‘m going to ask it now. I think we can all see this will not end well. However, how would things have been different if Nixon had just cooperated and handed over what he was asked to hand over from the beginning? #discussion #richardnixon #impeachment #politicalscience #uspolitics #history #ushistory

4 likes

dabbe

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Speckled Band | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes
@Cuilin
#TheAdventureOfTheSpeckledBand
#Discussion

What did y'all think? 🤩

erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02

Librarybelle I think this one was well constructed, had a sinister feel, and was a good overall mystery. 4d

IndoorDame I loved it!!!!! But can you train snakes? And assuming you can, aren‘t there easier, less dangerous, ways to kill pesky family members or their unwanted fiancée‘s? 4d

CrystalE02 I loved it!!!! I found it very interesting. 4d

See All 12 Comments

Daisey This is one of my favorites of the short stories. 4d

dabbe @IndoorDame Good question! I know people do the cobra-dancing thing, but I don't know that the cobras are truly trained (since quite a few get bitten and even die in the process)--plus, snakes aren't mammals, and milk is like poison to them. 4d

dabbe I'm willing to suspend my disbelief for an excellent detective story, however, if you have time for dying words, Julia, maybe you should avoid metaphors: “Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!“ is nice and all, but in that same amount of time you could have said, “I was bitten by a damn snake! Here's the wound!“ Roylott would then have been in jail long ago. Just sayin'. 😀 I know--it might have been too quick to totally see. 😂 4d

IndoorDame @dabbe you‘re so right! That was especially cryptic for last words 😂😂😂 4d

kelli7990 I enjoyed this story. 4d

CogsOfEncouragement A snake behaving this way is pretty crazy, but I suppose if an author invents a snake, an author can decide how it behaves and what it needs to survive. lol
I enjoyed this entertaining short story. 4d

dabbe @CogsOfEncouragement That sounds like a great game, too: Invent-a-Snake! 🤩 4d

Aimeesue Look, ACD, I‘ve HAD a pet snake and Jeffery did NOT drink milk. He was cute when he drank out of his water bowl though. He was not about to obey commands either. Maybe I could‘ve left him a trail of crickets leading up to my intended victim, I guess. Even then, it‘d be iffy. And he wouldn‘t have come back, that‘s for sure. 🐍 4d

dabbe @Aimeesue 🤩🐍🤩 #jeffery #perfectsnakename 4d

40 likes12 comments

dabbe

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Speckled Band | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes
@Cuilin
#TheAdventureOfTheSpeckledBand
#Discussion

What did y'all think? 🤩

erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02

IndoorDame Sherlock was WRONG! I mean only for a second, and mostly to teach us a lesson about jumping to conclusions, but still, for a second there he was WRONG! This guy is good! 4d

Librarybelle I was going to say the same thing, @IndoorDame ! 4d

CrystalE02 I agree with @IndoorDame 4d

dabbe And not only is Roylott a match intellectually, but physically as well. I think Holmes is a bit intimidated by Roylott (even though his words are witty, and he hides it well)--proven by the fact that he has to bend the poker back to show he's equal to Roylott in physicality as well as mental abilities. 4d

CogsOfEncouragement Roylott gets away with the first murder for years. Roylott isn't so secure in his genius when Holmes is brought in to the mix though. He tries to physically intimidate him, but that just makes him more of a suspect. I was impressed by the poker being bent, but then Holmes straightened it and I realized it wasn't the brag Roylott thought it was. 4d

35 likes5 comments

dabbe

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Speckled Band | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes
@Cuilin
#TheAdventureOfTheSpeckledBand
#Discussion

What did y'all think? 🤩

erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02

IndoorDame The country house mystery is definitely my favorite, and this one had an especially sinister vibe… sketchy family history, renovations, mostly empty, evil stepdad type, townsfolk who keep far away, useless stuff, cheetah roaming around… 4d

Librarybelle I‘m a big fan of the country mystery setting - it seems more isolated, and it‘s really easy to build up the isolation aspect and the suspenseful feel behind that. Also…the wild animals on the ground! Just wow…the country setting is perfect for the cheetah and the baboon to hide. 4d

Cuilin Country house? Yes. Quasi locked room? Also yes. The setting was perfect. 4d

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CrystalE02 The setting was perfect!!! I loved the country setting. 4d

dabbe @Cuilin Am I right in thinking this is the first SH locked-room mystery? Or would “The Red-Headed League“ fit that bill a little, too? 🤔 4d

Cuilin @dabbe oh good question though neither are probably true locked room mysteries. 4d

kelli7990 The setting was perfect for this story. 4d

CogsOfEncouragement The sisters should have been able to enjoy walks together on the grounds, instead they were on guard for wild animals their stepfather imported. What an unnecessary danger to the whole community. Having so much of the house unused was creepy to me too. I would have been begging my aunt to take me in long ago! lol 4d

32 likes8 comments

dabbe

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Speckled Band | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes
@Cuilin
#TheAdventureOfTheSpeckledBand
#Discussion

What did y'all think? 🤩

erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02

IndoorDame That‘s so funny, it is so far! But I seriously thought it was just because I enjoy going back and thinking more about the ones I know the best and this one is super familiar. If it‘s everyone‘s fave I‘m gonna have to do some serious thinking about why! 4d

Librarybelle I‘m not sure I can really say it‘s my favorite - I don‘t think I have a favorite at the moment - but this one felt more sinister and suspenseful to me than the others so far. I really like that about this story. 4d

CatLass007 I don‘t know if it‘s my favorite but it certainly is the most straightforward mystery. All of the clues were presented to the reader at the same time as Holmes learned about them. I was able to reach the conclusion that a poisonous snake was involved, even though I didn‘t know the exact breed of snake. So maybe it is my favorite SH story so far, because nothing was hidden from the reader. 4d

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Cuilin I loved it!! It reminded me of a Jonathan Creek episode. 4d

CrystalE02 I enjoyed it. I don't think it is my favorite Sherlock Holmes story. 4d

dabbe I agree with all of you. I'm going to have to read the whole canon again before I decide which short story truly is my favorite. Up until now, it's been in my top five, but not my #1. We'll see if that changes! 🤩 4d

Bookwomble @CatLass007 The exact species of snake mentioned in the story doesn't exist in nature, so it's forgiveable that you didn't know it 🐍😊 4d

dabbe @Bookwomble So true. And many critics have tried to figure out exactly what snake Conan Doyle was talking about. Just like playing the Sherlockian game, I guess. 🤩 4d

CatLass007 @Bookwomble Ha! 4d

kelli7990 I enjoyed this story but I don‘t really have a favorite story so far. 4d

CogsOfEncouragement I don't know if I have a favorite. So hard to choose. I can see how the swift justice is appealing though. 4d

Aimeesue @Cuilin Jonathan Creek! Yes! 😂 4d

Cuilin @Aimeesue So glad somebody got that reference. While a lot of mysteries focus on the who (done it)? or why? Sherlock and Creek seem to focus on the how, which I like. 3d

dabbe @Cuilin Another series I have on the TBW! 🤩 3d

37 likes14 comments

dabbe

The Man with the Twisted Lip | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes
@Cuilin
#TheManWithTheTwistedLip
#Discussion

What did y'all think? 🤩

erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02, SpellboundReader

IndoorDame I‘m of 2 minds about this one. At first I was delighted by the surprise reveal! But in the end I genuinely wasn‘t convinced that someone could support a wife and kids in an upper/middle class-ish lifestyle by begging 3w

Librarybelle I found this one to be weak - in the prior cases, there has been murder and revenge and other elements akin to a mystery. This one just seemed so lackluster. As I read, I kept thinking something big had to happen, and well, it didn‘t for me. Though, I‘ve been reading thrillers and other mysteries lately that have my pulse on edge, so this could be a fairly poor assessment. 3w

Cuilin Started off slow, the mystery was interesting. And as @IndoorDame said I also wasn‘t convinced that begging could support an upper middle-class life style. 3w

See All 8 Comments

dabbe Other than perhaps Doyle giving us his “just say no“ to drugs policy, I didn't see why we had to be inside the opium den--unless it was again to see how excellent Holmes is at disguising himself. Agree with all of you above re: just how much one could make on begging. 3w

CogsOfEncouragement I figured this one out, I think mostly because Holmes himself is always using disguises. The hidden clothes clued me in. 3w

CrystalE02 I did like the story, not my favorites from the others. I get a kick out of Holmes and his disguises. 3w

kelli7990 I liked this one. 3w

Aimeesue I like this one. Stephen King also used the businessman to beggar idea in a section Hearts in Atlantis, which I reread tonight. Depending on where you‘re asking for handouts, and your skill, you can make quite a bit, according to those who‘ve done it. My area has a lot of panhandlers who work the main streets - some of them have been doing it for years in the same locations. 3w

38 likes8 comments

dabbe

The Man with the Twisted Lip | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes
@Cuilin
#TheManWithTheTwistedLip
#Discussion

What did y'all think? 🤩

erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02, SpellboundReader

IndoorDame I thought it revealed surprisingly similar attitudes to things you hear today about charity, welfare, and panhandling 3w

Librarybelle Agreed, @IndoorDame . It made me think of stories you hear regarding welfare and panhandling in today‘s news. I could see this happening today, and it may actually happen. 3w

IndoorDame @Librarybelle I can see the part where someone tries to hide it from their children happening. I cannot see the part where somebody does this as a ruse happening 3w

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dabbe This society deeply disapproved of begging; otherwise, why would St. Clair feel complete and utter SHAME for his actions, so much so, that he tries everything to conceal and fake his own disappearance? 3w

CogsOfEncouragement Red hair comes up again. This time, part of what makes him as pitiable as possible. I have always loved red hair, adored the lovely strands of some women I know, and had a crush on two different boys with red hair in high school. So I never understand when redheads get made fun of. But I know in movies and real life they get told (fill in mean statement) because they are “a ginger“. 3w

CogsOfEncouragement Making money at something that does not require an education or “worthy“ skill has me thinking about some other jobs that people do only because the money is so good, not because it is what they really want to do. Bartending for one, I've known at least one person with a degree do that because they can more easily pay off their school debt with the money they make doing that than the entry level job in their field. 3w

CrystalE02 It sort of reminds me of what is going on today with what is heard on the news and everything else. What is the deal with the red hair theme? I am guessing that people with red hair back then were bad. Lol!!! I have family members with red hair and they are good. 3w

dabbe @CrystalE02 Maybe Doyle sees them as fiery and spirited! 🤩 3w

Librarybelle @IndoorDame I could see both. I‘m also thinking of modern day GoFundMe scams, which is different and kind of stretches what happens in the story, but if this can happen… I think my reading books featuring horrible people also makes me extremely suspicious. 😂 3w

Aimeesue @dabbe Red hair makes him very identifiable as the beggar and draws attention while he‘s begging. It‘s also light years away from his natural appearance. People remember the remarkable characteristics and don‘t look any deeper. (edited) 3w

dabbe @Aimeesue Excellent point. 3w

30 likes11 comments

dabbe

The Man with the Twisted Lip | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes
@Cuilin
#TheManWithTheTwistedLip
#Discussion

What did y'all think? 🤩

erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02, SpellboundReader

Librarybelle Perhaps the twist itself, identifying the man…we knew a few things going into the conclusion - the disappearance, the individual picked up - but it‘s almost coincidental that the two are the same person. I did read this late last night, and as I mentioned before did not find it very strong, so I may have missed a key section! 3w

IndoorDame I thought not! I think his cryptic line about the key being in the bathroom is supposed to be the “fair play” element, but I can‘t imagine anyone figuring it out from that 🧐🤷🏻‍♀️ 3w

CatLass007 There was no “fair play” element in this story. Everything relies on coincidence. 3w

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dabbe I think compared to the others we've read that this is the one that gives us the most clues, and we don't see Holmes showing off some pie-in-the-sky talent (à la Nancy Drew, too) where his extreme knowledge of tobaccos, for example, is what leads him to solve the case. I agree with you, @IndoorDame, that the key line was a bit obscure and might be why we are like Watson in that we never can solve the case like Holmes can. 3w

CogsOfEncouragement Well, I figured it out by there being one man but two sets of clothes, one set being hidden. But maybe knowing of how Holmes uses disguises is “extra“ knowledge? Maybe not though, assuming you read these stories in order, we all have that info. 3w

CrystalE02 I don't think so. I think it was twist. Just the simple fact that Holmes always has something up his sleeve. 3w

Aimeesue The clues were there. Hidden set of clothes was telling. Why would he have taken his clothing off or been stripped if they‘d killed him? There wasn‘t time anyway. 3w

33 likes7 comments

dabbe

The Man with the Twisted Lip | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes
@Cuilin
#TheManWithTheTwistedLip
#Discussion

What did y'all think? 🤩

erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02, SpellboundReader

IndoorDame In typical Sherlock fashion that quote is sneaky and uber specific, focusing on women‘s observations and analytical reasoner‘s (read men or Sherlock) conclusions 3w

Librarybelle I don‘t think we can necessarily look at this as positive. It‘s Holmes, and he feels he is superior. 3w

dabbe One can read this quote in a couple of ways. On the one hand Sherlock could be seen as saying that women are not analytical reasoners--quite the negative view. On the other hand, when he says this, Holmes also complements Mrs. St. Clair on her evidence that her husband really wrote that letter, so he could be positively acknowledging that a women's impression may be more valuable than reasoning. As always, Holmes's character is hard-to-read. 3w

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dabbe Also, for the second time, we have a woman who has no clear idea what her husband does for a living, or even where he works (A Case of Identity). This fact to me doesn't bode well for a positive view of women in Victorian society, especially as, in both cases, the lack of information was because the husband was hiding something. At least Mary knows where John/James (she calls him James in this one--???) is--even in the middle of the night! 😂 3w

CogsOfEncouragement I see this statement as giving higher value to “women's intuition“ than his own deductions in certain circumstances. Big moment of some kind of humility for Holmes in my opinion. I don't see Holmes as a misogynist. He equally considers himself superior to men and women alike. He does not hate women, or ill use them. Everyone is simply lacking when compared to himself. 3w

CrystalE02 It is Holmes!!! He can be a pain. Why did Watson's wife call him James though? 3w

Read4life I agree @CogsOfEncouragement 3w

Aimeesue @CogsOfEncouragement Yes, that. Well put. 3w

mom2bugnbee I wondered about Mary calling Watson James as well. John isn't a nickname for James, is it? Or was it then? I don't think so... 2w

26 likes9 comments

dabbe

The Man with the Twisted Lip | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes
@Cuilin
#TheManWithTheTwistedLip
#Discussion

What did y'all think? 🤩

erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Blackink_WhitePaper, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AllDebooks, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02, SpellboundReader

Librarybelle I‘ll just say again I found it weaker than others that we read. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 3w

IndoorDame St. Clair claims he wasn‘t hiding from his wife just his kids (I‘m skeptical) I wonder if she ever finds out 3w

CatLass007 It was an odd story, one that I didn‘t particularly enjoy. 3w

See All 13 Comments

dabbe I still want to know:
-what was in the special package Mrs. St. Clair had to get?
-did St. Clair confess the secrets of his lifestyle to his wife?
-Does he keep his solemn oaths, and never take up begging again?
-If so, then how did he maintain his £700+ per year lifestyle?
-He could have gone back to being a reporter, but certainly he couldn't have maintained the estate and a family on £2 per week.
-Maybe he takes a career on the stage. 🤩 3w

CogsOfEncouragement I just finished a rom-com five book series. The last book gave not only one, but TWO satisfying epilogues. I LOVE a good epilogue, especially for a character driven series. But this short story is not that. This a short mystery/puzzle. The point is to figure out the answer, or to be amused/entertained when the answer is revealed. Knowing what everyone is doing a year from now is not the point. I'm fine with the format of these adventures. 3w

CrystalE02 I found this story to be less enjoyable than the others. I am just wondering if St. Clair wife ever found out about him. 3w

kelli7990 I was okay with how this story ended. 3w

Read4life I‘m ok with how it ended given the style of Doyle‘s writing in these stories. As @CogsOfEncouragement said, be amazed by Holmes and on to the next. 🤓 3w

dabbe @Read4life @CogsOfEncouragment ... are you sure you want to just bow to Holmes and move on? We could be like the exclusive club The Baker Street Irregulars where they play the “Sherlockian Game“--where they see Holmes and Watson as REAL people and they analyze the heck out of every single item in every story. For example, essays abound regarding just the one time that Mary calls John “James“ in this story. 🤔 Agree 💯; let's move on! 🤩😂🤗 3w

Read4life @dabbe 🤓 3w

Aimeesue Wait, don‘t you all just spin those ending out yourselves? Just me? St. Clair obviously goes back to his lucrative begging career in a different disguise with the full support of his wife, who does not want to sell their home and descend into virtual poverty on Qa a week! ? 3w

dabbe @Aimeesue Okay, you now need to publish your dioramas for #thebros and then write some SH pastiches. 🤩😂🤗 3w

mom2bugnbee Am I the only one who thinks that all of the short stories end rather abruptly? Maybe they had to, because of something having to do with publication? Were these short stories serials like some of his longer tales? 2w

25 likes13 comments

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