Comments on: The Vine: December 4, 2009

By: Kristi

Kristi — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:12:43 +0000

I like Wire in the Blood (British detective tv series) but I like Prime Suspect even better. It's also a British detective series, it stars Helen Mirren, and it's fantastic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Suspect

By: Emmers

Emmers — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:55:34 +0000

Haven't read all the comments, but I second the "Outlander" suggestion.

I also suggest Sunshine, by Robin McKinley. It's everything Twilight wanted to be and more.

By: Jojomojo

Jojomojo — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:57:25 +0000

Count me in as another vote for Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series. Super-natural, hot Scots in kilts, gore, and great writing. With several books in the series having a page count around 1000 (give or take), your MIL has the potential to stay absorbed for quite a while.

By: La BellaDonna

La BellaDonna — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:06:55 +0000

Actually, if you're feeling ambitious, hunt up John Creasy -as- JJ Maric's Inspector Gideon books:
The Gideon series by J. J. Marric (1955-1976)

There was even a brief series, Gideon's Way, made in the 60s and released on Region 2 DVD by Network Video. I found the books to be fast-paced and entertaining, as much for the Inspector's home life and relationships as anything else.

By: Liz in Minneapolis

Liz in Minneapolis — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:32:02 +0000

Not supernatural at all, but really excellent suspense and mystery writing – anything by Laurie R. King. (http://www.laurierking.com/)

The Mary Russell series is fantastic (1920's, with Sherlock Holmes) the Kate Martinelli series is awesome (modern-day San Franciscan detective,) and the stand-alones are also just incredible. I read a lot of mysteries, good and bad, and I consider these real literature.

The Richard Jury novels by Martha Grimes are also very good, and there are over 20 of them, although there is some unevenness over the series, and a few instances where characters are killed off that really hurt, but not in a satisfying way. Still, they're definitely worth a read, and I even re-read them every few years.

Finally, though these are probably off the path for the in-laws, Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody novels (iconoclastic turn-of-the-century Egyptologists) are a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Aww, Forever Knight! One episode's end tag led to a continuing trope with my college roommate: "If my boyfriend made his little vampire teeth face at me, I'd throw popcorn at him, too."

By: Aunty Pol

Aunty Pol — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:01:10 +0000

For Reality:

As far as books go…try CHelsea Quinn Yarbro's " St Germain " series..my favorite vampire series hands down and I am a collector.

Have you considered the DVD set of " Witchblade ". It stared Yancy Butler and while only lasting 2 seasons , fans waiated 5 years for it to be released on DVD.

Good luck with the in-laws..my problem is quite the opposite..his family is devout Southern Baptist….sigh.

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:48:38 +0000

Might I also suggest the "Wire in the Blood" series for her? (I'm also a huge CSI and true crime buff, and I loved it!)

http://www.bbcamericashop.com/search-results.html?kword=wire in the blood&cat_id=

Not to mention that Robson Green is *very* nice to look at. (The books by Val McDermid that the series is based on are quite good as well.)

By: evaberry

evaberry — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:51:16 +0000

@Reality,
I'm not sure how it works in the U.S. or whether your MIL lives anywhere near the locations, but could you get her a tour of the set where they film one of her fave shows? Or tickets to see an appearance by the stars of one of them, etc… Just trying to think down the "things to do" route rather than "more stuff"…

By: stanley

stanley — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:54:38 +0000

Man, I would love to find a copy of my old advent calendar. It showed Santa's workshop, was a pop-out, and had moveable parts (you know, you pull the strip of paper and the elves raise their hammers). There was nothing behind the doors; just little pictures. It wasn't made to be reusable, but we were a frugal family and after every Christmas tiny pieces of masking tape would be used to shut the little doors till next year. I would play with that thing FOR HOURS. And somehow it lasted decades. It would have been purchased in the late 70s. I actually had the original till last year, when it was ruined during some construction. I lost a lot of crap during that renovation, but the advent calendar I considered tragic. Have had no luck replacing it, but will follow up on the hints here!

By: DT

DT — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:01:21 +0000

Nice call on Six Feet Under to those who mentioned it! I didn't think of that one at all and now I'm wishing I had requested those for myself. I am getting Torchwood Season 1 though so I'm super psyched about that :)

The Wire is fantastic and I can't recommend anything more highly. I will say that it can be tough to keep up with because it's complicated, they don't dumb it down, and you have to remember what happened in earlier episodes to understand the later ones fully. It's absolutely brilliant though, with season 4 being probably the best thing I've seen on TV, period.