Madness of Crowds

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The Gamache series is one of my favorites. Love the characters, love the charming village, love the mysteries, love the audiobook narrator. Reading these books always makes me smile and takes me to my happy place…which is kind of odd for a mystery read. Lol. This book is not quite up to the standards of all the earlier ones, but still a pick for me.
First book read for #SeriesLove23 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
#52BookClub23 #sendsyoudownarabbithole

LaraReads, KarenUK, Cinfhen, britt_brooke, CarolynM, Smarkies, LeeRHarry, BookBelle84, jenniferw88, Deblovestoread, Librarybelle, AshleyHoss820, Read4life, rmaclean4, squirrelbrain, BarbaraBB, ravenlee

Bluebird The rabbit hole I went down was for the mention of serial killer Harold Shipman. I was surprised I‘d never heard of this doctor who killed 250 people between 1975-1998! 2y

Cinfhen Ohhhhh! That would have sent me down the r🐰 🕳 too!!! 2y

BarbaraBB A real rabbit hole book indeed 2y

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TheSpineView Great job! 2y

Librarybelle Good choice! 2y

Andrew65 Well done, a great series of books. 👏👏👏 2y

Andrew65 That is indeed a rabbit hole, a terrible, terrible man! How he got away with it for so long says so much about the lack of checks and balances in the system. (edited) 2y

Bluebird @Andrew65 yes! It was quite shocking to learn of this. 2y

jenniferw88 @Bluebird @Cinfhen @BarbaraBB This is why this prompt is so interesting to me. Shipman is well known in the UK! Everyone's choice is going to be so different - I THINK I've just started mine!

Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker

Cinfhen Excellent subject matter @jenniferw88 2y

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canbku

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

Gorgeous cover! And it's the last one that's currently out! I'll be waiting for the next installment... Soon!!

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Tamra

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

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I loved being back in Three Pines! 🌲🌲🌲

I had a laugh when the narrator acknowledges the omnipresence of murder in the tiny village.

The themes were fully engaging, BUT, is it just me or has Penny recently been making the solutions more convoluted and revelations more protracted? With the last two novels they‘ve felt belabored and I was getting frustrated with the stalling. Just seems more than necessary for a cathartic climax.

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Tamra

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

Enjoying this one a great deal as I‘m eager to find out how the pieces fit together. Hits a little close to home though re: the collective pandemic anxiety, which isn‘t over by any means.

54 likes

Penny_LiteraryHoarders

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

pick

Although too long and drawn out, and kind of got bored in places, no one writes like Louise Penny and the title of this book is probably one of her very best titles! How it‘s weaved into the story is fantastic. I will always run to grab the next in the series!

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ImperfectCJ

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

pick

An overall pick for the moral/ethical questions raised and despite Penny making the mistake many of us have in thinking that the arrival of the vaccine(s) would lead swiftly to the end of the pandemic. I also think she puts too much emphasis on the lasting effects of pandemic isolation, or maybe it was just worse in Quebec. Or maybe it hit people harder who were used to interacting a lot more with a lot of people, and I'm missing that perspective.

ImperfectCJ Basically, she seems to assume a collective experience that I didn't really feel, which made it challenging to connect with the novel at some points. Not usually a problem for me with stories about less current events. 3y

ImperfectCJ And...what's with all the hints about Gamache and Beauvoir not being able to smell things? I thought for sure this meant they'd caught breakthrough cases, but I guess not in Penny's perfect post-pandemic world. Can't figure out why she even mentions it, though. 3y

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Readswithcoffee

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

Just started this audiobook. Great premise! Sure hope it pans out! 🤞🏻

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Lindy

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

pick

You know what to expect in a mystery series, especially by the 17th one about Inspector Gamache. I wasn‘t disappointed: the cast of characters are cozily familiar and yet we always learn new things about them—just as we do with people in real life. Louise Penny does this by throwing in moral questions brought to the foreground by the COVID pandemic.

BkClubCare Is this another colorful cover?! Yes 3y

Lindy @BkClubCare I guess it‘s a trend. And I like it! 3y

BkClubCare @Lindy me, too! I can recognize your posts before my brain does. (Actually, one of my fave coworkers is named Lindy… so you are memorable no matter what) 3y

Lindy @BkClubCare ☺️🥰 3y

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Lindy

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

“It‘s about what happens when greed and fear meet gullibility and power.”
“Nothing good?” said Armand with a small smile.
“You‘re smarter than you look, garçon.”Stephen tapped the cover. “People will believe anything. Doesn‘t make them stupid, just desperate.”

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Lindy

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

Scene of urban wildlife… while #audiowalking!

Leftcoastzen 😄🙌 3y

Lindy @Leftcoastzen The dinosaurs had the voices of teenage girls and they were yakking away nonstop to each other, as if they wore these suits every day. 3y

Leftcoastzen Even better! 🤣 3y

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Reggie Lololol awesome! 3y

CarolynM 🤣 3y

Cathythoughts Brilliant 3y

Lindy @Cathythoughts 😊🦖🦕 3y

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Lindy

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

Question for Canadian Littens: I‘ve always heard Abitibi pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable. The place name comes up often in this audiobook, but the narrator Robert Bathurst places the accent on the third syllable. Is this a typical anglophone Canadian pronunciation, or just a mistake made by a nonCanadian audiobook narrator?

Penny_LiteraryHoarders, LeahBergen, tournevis

rabbitprincess I‘ve only seen it written and not had an occasion to say it out loud, but I would likely it pronounce like in this video: https://youtu.be/3vja-Q0FQWg (edited) 3y

Lindy @rabbitprincess Wow! If only Robert Bathurst had listened to Abitibi repeated so many times! Thanks for that link. 3y

Penny_LiteraryHoarders Oh how I miss the wonderful Ralph Cosham narrating! I‘ve only listened to Bathurst a couple of times, he‘s fine, but I‘ve purchased most of Penny‘s books since Cosham died. 3y

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tournevis It's abitiBi TehMISgaMINge (hard g) just like in the video. 3y

tournevis Sadly, it's yet another common mispronounciation by Anglo. Like Pooooteeeeen. 3y

Lindy @tournevis Abitibi is fun to say! Robert Bathurst is doing okay with most of the French in this audiobook, but I winced at the diphthong in his “biscuit” (biskweee) and it‘s annoying that he says madame the English way. 3y

tournevis @Lindy The u and i in biscuit are supposed to be super short and smooshed tight together. Anglophones tend to separate them in two syllables. And that is so anoying. It's like painters saying goo-awsh instead of goua-che. An entirely different set of two syllables. 3y

Lindy @tournevis I knew I could count on you for a commiserating rant. 🤗 3y

tournevis @Lindy This said, it's all a bit ironic because neither the Fr nor the En prononciations are correct considering these are Anishinaabeg words, but I digress. 🤓 3y

Lindy @tournevis Your digression makes an excellent point. 🏆 3y

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EadieB

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

pick

#MadnessofCrowds #LouisePenny #BookSpinBingo

Professor Abigail Robinson will be giving a lecture at the nearby university. Armand Gamache has been asked to provide security. Gamache starts looking into Professor Abigail Robinson and discovers an agenda so repulsive he begs the university to cancel the lecture. They refuse, citing academic freedom, and accuse Gamache of censorship and intellectual cowardice.

TheAromaofBooks

EadieB Abigail Robinson promises that, if they follow her, "All will be well." A murder is committed and Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and their team will investigate the crime. The post-pandemic plot meandered a bit and felt a little off somehow. I'm not sure it is time for a post-pandemic book as the virus is still lingering on. At least there was a visit to Three Pines to visit the whole gang. 3y

EadieB That seems to be where Penny should focus her books as Three Pines is what her readers look forward to. The ending of the book seemed to drag on too long. I'm still looking forward to the next book but hope to spend more time in Three Pines. 3y

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y

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Eggs

Madness of Crowds | Louise Penny

#waitingtoberead #falltreasures @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

The 17th book in the Armand Gamache series❣️ the library hold is 16 weeks—can I wait that long....

Librariana Our library has a 4:1 holds ratio - 1 book for every 4 people on the waiting list. One of my co-workers (who assists our Selectors/Librarians) runs a holds ratio report every other week (Adults one week; juvenile the following) and depending on those numbers, we purchase more copies 😊 I hope your library is able to do something similar! 3y

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Did you know she wrote a book with Hilary Clinton? 🥴 3y

Eggs @librariana yes there are 5 copies in use 3y

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Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks yes I knew that. Everyone is allowed an occasional lapse in good sense 🤢🤮 3y

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs I guess!! 🥴 3y

MayJasper #coversublime 3y

Eggs @MayJasper yes!!! 3y

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