Audio Books Step In

 Another Monday morning and there is a steady rain outside my window. My dogs decided they wanted their breakfast at 5:15 a.m. and there was no talking them out of it.

I was a little under the weather over the weekend and couldn't concentrate on the book I am currently reading. I had a couple of audio books from the library and decided I would listen to those and let somebody else do the reading.

The first one was an Agatha Christie novella called Murder Was Easy (1939). It is the story of Luke Fitzwiliam, a retired policeman who meets Lavinia Pinkerton on an London bound train. They begin a conversation and he learns she is on her way to Scotland Yard to report some murders that have been happening in her village.  As she disembarks from the train and begins her journey she is killed by a hit and run driver.  After witnessing the accident Luke then wonders more about their conversation and decides to visit her village posing as her aunt.  More murders ensue and of course it all comes nicely together.  I felt like I was in Midsommer what with all the murders that were happening.
I didn't think this was her best work but it was entertaining for my energy status and kept me intrigued until the end of the story.  Of course I did not figure out who did it as I seldom do with Agatha Christie. It was a very relaxing listen.

The second audio book was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (1938).  I imagine there aren't many people who have not read this book. I remember seeing the film years ago as well as reading the book back in the 1970s.  The audio book was read by Jenny Augutter with Simon Williams. It was an excellent reading. The story came back to me as I listened and Mrs. Danvers was as creepy as ever.  I loved this book and settled into listening to it nicely.

The weekend also saw the national garage day sale for charity being held.  I think this is the second year it has been held and it was fun. A friend of mine and I started out at 8:00 am and had written down the sales that were occurring.  Evidently it is a charity event where you hold a garage sale, register it on the website promising to donate so much to charity and then your sale goes onto a map.  People can download the map and off they go.  I decided I would only buy Penguin books I don't have in my collection. I was not going to bring home any junk!

Well off we went, arriving at the one in Battery Point (oldest section of Hobart) to a 70 year old estate sale. Wouldn't you think this would be full of stuff?  It was a bust. There was hardly anything in the yard and the woman obviously didn't want to part with anything as prices were high. We left in disappointment. Off to North Hobart to a multi-family sale. It didn't start until 9:00 am so already we were thinking this was not going to be our day. We decided to get a coffee instead.

After a couple of cappucinos at a local cafe we went back to the multi-household sale. The sale was held by students and there was only a box of fantasy novels and a few clothes and a table full of beanie bears. So much for this one.  Then we decided to drive to Kingston, a small town 20 minutes south of Hobart where there was a community hall full of people selling things. I found an interesting Penguin book which I am going to do a separate post on.  On the way back to Hobart we took the scenic route along the river and came across a couple of more sales. They had a lot more books and I found another Penguin.  They had a large box full of travel writing that was quite current. I would have loved the box but I resisted. I have quite a few travel books on my TBR shelves. I didn't  need anymore. However I was tempted.

Mine kind of looks like this without the base.

The last 2 sales of the day saw me getting a black t shirt with an illustration of dogs dressed up in various outfits in a vintage style for $3.00 and a terracotta echidna to put in my garden next to my terracotta birdbath that the cockatoos flock to.   I laughed when I got home showing off my terracotta echidna as that isn't something you get up for and say, "Today I will go to a garage sale to look for a  terracotta echidna."  But I liked it and it was cheap.  It looks nice in my yard. He is kind of cool.

Today I think I will organise the Penguin books I found at the large book sale I picked up a week ago and then the few I found this weekend.  Penguins seem to abound lately. It is either feast or famine with these books.   A quiet weekend with simple pleasures. What did you do this weekend?