The 87th Precinct for #Noirvember

As we are getting near the end of November, I thought I would make another reading suggestion for #Noirvember. It is one of the novels from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. It is a personal favourite of mine, Lady, Lady I Did It!. I read it more than twenty years ago, when I stumbled upon a second-hand copy of it,on a cold November day, when I was in a forced convalescence. So it had a Noirvember feel to me before the term and the hashtag even existed. It starts on an Indian summer day, when a massacre is committed in a local bookshop. There are multiple (random?) victims, among them Detective Bert Kling's fiancée. So yeah, it's Noir all right.

Fil enneigé

 Photo envoyée par mon père... Un fil tout enneigé (glacé sans doute un peu aussi). Je la partage parce que.

From Russia With Love

As I am reading spy fiction for this year's #Noirvember, it just struck me that some James Bond novels would be really suitable for it. And more enjoyable than what I'm reading, as Ian Fleming is a genuinely good writer. He writes more colourful and itneresting characters, in any case. Anyway, one of the Bond novels I would suggest for Noirvember would be From Russia With Love, which may be one of Fleming's darkest. Not to spoil anything, but its ending is dramatic and very different than one you would expect if you have only seen the movies. It's borderline Noir. Oh and, on a side note, for train afficionados like myself, a fairly lenghty portion of the action is set on the Orient Express. That last point is not Noirvember relevant, but it just makes the novel even cooler.

Il neige. Mettons.

Il a neigé hier. Enfin, un peu. Hier matin, on prévoyait du verglas, on nous avait avertis, puis finalement, ça été trop doux pour la glace. Mais juste assez froid pour qu'il tombe une neige fondante. Ici, dans le sud de l'Angleterre, on est chanceux si jamais on a de la neige à quelque moment que ce soit en hiver. Que ça tombe en plein novembre, même de la neige tombante comme celle-là, c'est presque de la science-fiction. Je ne me plains pas, en fait ça a fait ma journée. Je m'ennuie de la neige à chaque année.

Bourne: The Montreal Connection

As you may remember, I started reading  The Bourne Identity for #Noirvember. As a spy thriller, it's very solid and it keeps me entertained, if nothing else, even though I pretty much know what will happen. As a literary experience, it's a mix bag: Robert Ludlum writes too many words and his dialogues are often stilted and not very natural. He's better at writing plots (albeit with a high number of contrivences) and develop interesting concepts (a man who lost his memory is pursued assassins) than creating believable characters. But anyway, there is one thing that caught my attention, one element that was absent from the the movie adaptation: Marie St-Jacques, the romantic interest of Jason Bourne, is actually French Canadian and studied in Montreal, at McGill. She's a bit bland (then again, so is Bourne, and many others), but I thought this was funny. It's nice to have Montreal being mentioned in a famous spy thriller.

La neige au Saguenay

 Autre photo prise par mon père de la neige au Saguenay.

Aquila on gemstones

I know I said it before, but I am saying it again: Wolfie receives the best mail. So, yes, he received this month's of Aquila Magazine (tagline: "Big ideas for inquisitive kids") issue and I have been wanting to blog about it for a while now. And this November's Aquila is all about geology. There is a whole section about gemstones, which is pretty cool. He's already been through it more than once, so I can now pick it up and read it myself. Wolfie might not become a geologist, but he loves learning about diamonds, rubies and emeralds, not to mention gold and other metals. So this issue was a winner. Again.

La remise sous la neige

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos de la neige qui est tombée, dont celle, obligatoire, de la remise. Une banale remise prend tout un cachet sous la neige.

The Helicopter Heist (#Noirvember read)

I blogged on the 8th about Netflix tv series The Helicopter Heist for #Noirvember. It's a Swedish caper thriller based on a novel by Jonas Bonnier. The novel it itself itself by true events. Since I blogged about it, I found out that The Helicopter Heist has been translated in English. Obviously, the adaptation is giving it a fair deal of exposure. So if I enjoy the series enough (so far I am), I might get my hands on the book. Not for this Noirvember, but maybe next year one. Scandinavian crime fiction is maybe one of the genre trend I have most neglected, so I intend to correct this. But if you have other suggestions, please let me know.

Première tempête de neige à Montréal

Photo prise par mon frère PJ de la neige après la première vraie tempête de neige. Comparez avec sa photo prise la veille. L'hiver prend vraiment le pas sur l'automne. Et ce n'est pas moi qui dit que c'est une vraie tempête de neige, c'est la météo. Et le 11 novembre, il paraît que c'est tôt, en tout cas pour Montréal. Il fût un temps, quand j'étais jeune, où une bordée de neige pareille ce n'était pas inhabituel au début de novembre, en tout cas pas au Saguenay. Dans tous les cas, je commence à me permettre d'espérer qu'elle durera et que ça ne tombera pas en sloshe. Qui sait, on aura peut-être un hiver d'antan cette année.

Narco-Sub

I do like to read a bit of crime news from time to time, and one caught my attention a week ago and I wanted to blog about it: there is a narco-sub that has been intercepted by Portuguese authorities in the middle of the Atlantic. By narco-sub, you must understand it as a submarine carrying 1.7 tonnes fo cocaine. A submarine. Carrying drugs. It's not the first time a submarine carries drugs, but it's rare enough to catch my attention. I am not saying it is cool, but busting certainly is impressive. And this could be the basis for some really neat crime thriller. A bit like an helicopter heist. I would read a novel about it for  is #Noirvember, if there was one.

La neige à Chicoutimi

 Mon père m'a envoyé des photos de la neige qui est tombée sur Chicoutimi. J'en suis vraiment heureux: nous ne sommes même pas encore au milieu de novembre et il neige. C'est pratiquement hivernal au Saguenay.

Poppies in Wallingford

Today is Remembrance Day. I commemorate with a picture I took recently in Wallingford. They had figures like this of soldiers with a poppy at the breast. Simple, beautiful and touching.

Première neige à Montréal

Mon frère a pris cette photo dimanche dernier (je crois). Une première neige est tombée sur Montréal. Nous sommes encore le début de novembre, même au Québec, ou en tout cas à Montréal, avoir de la neige en novembre, c'est un peu tôt. Je ne m'en plaindrai pas cependant, parce que ça pourrait annoncer un hiver blanc. Et puis j'aime ces moments en novembre, de plus en plus rare de nos jours, où l'hiver commence à se montrer et l'automne est toujours là. Ce moment de transition qu'amène la première neige.

Bourne for #Noirvember

Maybe I'm taking the easy route, but for #Noirvember this year, I have decided to read The Bourne Identity. Yes, I know, I know, Robert Ludlum is an airport novelist and this is not exactly great prose, not even within the genre of spy thriller, but all the same, I have been curious about the original novel since I watched the old TV miniseries back in the late 80s, then the movie adaptation which gave the character of Jason Bourne a second life. Anyway, since I now have plenty of free time, I thought I might as well read something big, but not too demanding. And for all its limitations, it's a pleasant read, with lots of action and suspense. It's not exactly Noir, but it's dark enough.

The Helicopter Heist (#Noirvember watch)

As it is #Noirvember, I try to read and watch a lot of crime fiction this month. I recently discovered on Netflix a miniseries called The Helicopter Heist. I am ealy in it, but so far I'm really enjoying it. Not only because it's a heist story with the use of an helicopter, which is in itself super cool(seriously, what a selling point). But because unlike many heist stories, this one is quite dark, with plenty of tension and violence. It is also set in Sweden, so it belongs to the Scandinavian Noir subgenre that I have seldom explored yet. Sweden is a great setting for a Noirvember story as well, come to think of it. The series is based on a novel by Jonas Bonnier, itself based on a true crime, which gives the story a veneer of authenticity. I might buy the novel one day, once I finish watching the series.

It's clementime!

One thing I love when November comes, it's that clementines are at their best. Or start being at their best, I eat them ravenously between November and December. So I associate clementines strongly with these two month, enough so I call it clementime (atrocious pun, I know, but cute). I bought these at Lidl, where I was happily surprised to see they sold them in boxes, like we have in Montreal. They should go in no time and I will buy some more. They make for an easy, healthy snack and they smell good too.

Petit loup et les feuilles d'automne

Hier, lors de notre marche en revenant de l'école, petit loup a pris plaisir à marcher dans les feuilles mortes. C'était un moment Kodak que j'ai réussi à prendre en photo. Pas une photo géniale, mais bon. Elle donne un peu une idée de l'ambiance. C'est l'un des nombreux plaisirs de l'automne que j'aime et je suis heureux que mon fils soit adepte. Et un petit rappel, pour ceux qui n'aiment pas novembre: c'est encore l'automne et ça peut vraiment être un beau mois. Dans tous les cas, c'est l'une des raisons pour lesquelles je me suis réconcilié avec le mois: on peut toujours marcher dans les feuilles mortes en novembre.

Bonfire Toffee Tea

 Silly me: it was Bonfire Night yesterday and I forgot to mention that I found out a tea brew perfect for the occasion: Bird & Blend's Bonfire Toffee Tea. I got it as a freebie last year, with my pumpkin tea order. I don't like smoky tea generally, but this one has just a subtle smoky flavour, so it was not invasive. And it mixed nicely with the toffee flavour. I had it the morning of the 5th of November, sadly I forgot to order more for this year. I got a freebie, but not this one. But hey, if you find a Bird and Blend shop, or wishes to order some, it's the perfect tea for November. 

Bonfire Night

 "Remember, remember the fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."

Tonight is Bonfire Night. Which means there will be fireworks tonight. After twenty-five years in England, I am just starting to get used to it. My wife gets excited about fireworks, but then again, she's English, I guess fireworks in November is part of her culture. I on the other hand am not a fan of fireworks, however I love the smell of bonfire smoke in the night (or any time really). It's just nice, especially in autumn. So I came to appreciate this early November tradition as part of my (fairly new) appreciation of the month. Because yes, November is still autumn.