The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity by James M Cain

I mentioned this author, James M Cain, a couple weeks ago. 

I listened to Mildred Pierce by James M Cain (1941) in 2012 as part of my classic book group. At that time I probably never saw the book cover and also did not look up this author’s other works. 

Seeing this cover recently I immediately noticed mention of  The Postman Always Rings Twice, which I recognized as a famous movie, and looked up the rest of his books (bottom of this post).

I was interested in reading more of Cain’s works, but not the whole list. 

This was easily solved for me, because only a few pieces were available in audio format:

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)

Double Indemnity (1936)

Mildred Pierce (1941)

The Cocktail Waitress (2012)

A Bad Woman (2015)

This was further solved for me because I had already read Mildred Pierce, and the last two books, The Cocktail Waitress (2012) and A Bad Woman (2015), were published posthumously. I avoid posthumous books.

That left me with two very short books, The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity by James M Cain, about three hours each, in audio format. I used my standard pace of 1.20 which made them even shorter.

I listened to the Postman Always Rings Twice first. This is definitely a classic book where you have to ignore modern conventions and just go with it. Taking it as it was written, I did like it. 

I thought there was an actual postman, there is not. See below.

Then I listened to Double Indemnity (1936). 

This one was excellent, in my opinion, again having to just “go” with the premise. I can see this would have made an excellent movie back in its day.

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.

Once a month, I have a bit of a panic

 My studio, with its little closet under the stairs, works very well for me. 

I am used to sewing at home. 

Once a month I load up my stuff and join a group at the downtown library to quilt for the day. I like this group.

Part of this is easy, I have a good rolling cart. I have a portable sewing machine. I have a small bag of supplies. 

Here is where the panic comes in - I never know what project to take to sew. This is fresh in my mind, because my group met this past Saturday. I was in a panicked scramble Friday evening and early Saturday morning, trying to figure out what to take. It was unpleasant.

I work on one project at a time. My project is usually organized on a table and doesn’t feel easily move-able. 

I waste an enormous amount of time scrambling to find something to take. 

I am over this panic. 

I am organizing myself, so that I always have something packed in advance, for these Saturday events. 

My first project is actually four projects. Hopefully this takes me through the end of 2025 and well into 2026. 

I just ordered four alphabet panels (Windham Fabrics), identical to this one, on Etsy -

If this quilt (above) looks familiar, I made it, June 2024, for granddaughter. 

I am repeating this quilt, four more times, for upcoming extended family babies. My husband’s cousin’s kids are now having babies. 

Notice how many colors are in this quilt panel? I plan to use up fabric from my stash in making these baby quilts (borders and backing and binding).

I have double nap flannel on a bolt at my house. This needs used up also. It takes up a lot of room on my shelves. I plan to use the flannel, instead of batting, in a quilt-as-you-go style. This will avoid long-arm quilter fees. 

I did buy the alphabet panels. Since I bought four, the shipping was free. I hope to not buy anything else/extra for any of these baby quilts. 

I am also making coordinating swaddling blankets to send with each package. I may have to buy flannel for the swaddling blankets, I like to send three for each baby.

Apostle’s Cove by William Kent Krueger

Note - my standard setting/pace seems to be 1.20 on audio books now. 

I was on the waiting list for this audio book, Apostle’s Cove by William Kent Krueger, on Libby, months prior to its release. 

Apostle’s Cove by William Kent Krueger arrived on its release date. I must have been first in line. 29 people were behind me, waiting.

Apostle’s Cove by William Kent Krueger is the 21st book in the Cork O’Connor series. Yes, some are better than others, but I like all of them. 

The plot of Apostle’s Cove is split. The first half takes place 25 years ago with the original O’Connor family when the kids were young. The second half takes place in the current day of the series. The two time lines and the plot are well done. 

I was originally introduced to William Kent Krueger, because Youngest’s group read one of his stand alone books in August 2023, I think Ordinary Grace, and youngest said - I think you will love this author. That is part of how I got started reading her group’s books too. 

Fall 2023, I read the stand alone William Kent Krueger books first and then the Cork O’Connor series, one right after the other, a delightful way to read a series. 

I keep up with Krueger’s new releases. 

I have read all of William Kent Krueger’s works, except the companion book (below) which is a synopsis of all the Cork O’Connor books.  It is not available in audio format. Plus, I am not motivated to read a synopsis of a series I read. 

   

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.

The Dry, Force of Nature, and Exiles by Jane Harper

Note - I might have mentioned, my fourth book group, that was off for summer, is not resuming this fall. It is run by a library branch manager who is short on time. She thinks she will restart it after the first of the year/2026. I missed this group over the summer, but I am now sort of over it. I do not like unreliable things. People from this group are now turning up at some of my other groups, which is a good thing. The way my remaining three book groups fall on the calendar, somehow means I now have much more time to read. So far books are presenting themselves.  I did my summer of Steinbeck. I am working on Jane Harper and James M Cain. I have Hemingway and the Bronte sisters waiting in the wings. 

Today’s post.

The Dry, Force of Nature, and Exiles by Jane Harper are a series. 

The first one, The Dry, was assigned by one of my book groups. This is the group middle attends with me. 

I checked to see if this book is listed on my SuperSummary app. Yes, it is listed. This means I can read this book well in advance of my meeting, listen to SuperSummary in audio mode, and then discuss it at the meeting.  

With this game plan in place, I listened to all three books on Libby at 1.2 speed, one right after the other, my preferred method for reading a series.

I liked these books. Good characters, good plots, well written. 

If you are looking for a quick series, this is a good mystery set.

I am not reading Jane Harper’s standalone novels at this time, I have a lot of books waiting for me on my Libby shelf. But I plan to circle back to them very soon (list at bottom of this post).

I had 4 very minor issues with this 3 book series:

One - I had to get used to the Australian accent of Stephen Shanahan, who narrated/read all three the audio books. I don’t even notice English accents, but I had to pay attention to the Australian one in the beginning. I got used to it very quickly. 

Two - book one and book three, I started them in audio format, got twenty minutes in, realized I was confused, restarted the book from the beginning, and then was fine. This happens to me sometimes.

Three - There are time shifts, which are not overly indicated in audio format, in the first book, The Dry. Maybe in the print form the time shifts are in italics or inset. In the audio form, there is no marker/warning. The second and third books have time shifts also, but were all obvious.

 Four - These books have one main character, but are written in the third person. This bugged me in the beginning of the first book. I got used to it quickly.

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.

Domino effect

The only way to have a clean/empty kitchen table at my house is to be a bit militant. 

We have a large kitchen table that is a clutter magnet. 

It has two looks, with no in between. It is either chock full of clutter or it is empty. Those seem to be the only options. In order to have it empty, I have to be very vigilant.

For the last many months, the kitchen table clutter was all mine. I started using it to lay out quilt blocks and it became a fabric magnet. It has been piled for many months. 

In order to have the kitchen table empty, I needed another work surface to lay out fabric and quilt blocks. Luckily the old kitchen table is in my sewing room. Unluckily it was full of fabric too.

This is where dominoes come in to play. 

In order to have the old kitchen table available to spread out my current quilting projects, I needed storage spots for all the fabric. 

The first step was to find a home for all the bolts of fabric I bought at Joann’s during their closeout. They were piled on the old kitchen table. 

I wrote about it here - 

https://baby-steps-v.blogspot.com/2025/07/better-use-for-shelf.html?m=1

That shelving unit will empty itself as I use that fabric. I will not be buying more bolts. Joann’s is quite gone/fini.

There is still more fabric. It is the folded fabric, not on bolts. There is a lot of it. 

I have a second shelving unit in that same little sewing closet under the stairs. 

It was very tidy. But I realized it was an under used space. Many of the tidy items on those shelves are obsolete, I no longer need or use them. 

That is where I am working now - I am sorting everything on those white shelves.

August StoryGraph Stats

James M. Cain

The two Dorothy Whipple books, yesterday’s post, made me think of another classic, I couldn’t remember the title, here is how I searched -

“classic book where heroine starts a restaurant with fried chicken and waffles, title is a woman's name”

 

One title on the cover (above) caught my eye immediately - The Postman Always Rings Twice. It was a movie. 

I listened to Mildred Pierce in approximately 2012 via my classic book group. In 2012, I probably never saw a cover. I did not realize the connection. 

In those days, 2012, I did not look up each author’s published works in order. Now, I always do.

James M Cain has a nice long list (bottom of this post). I recognized more book titles that were made into movies.

So at least a few of these books are going on my “to read” list. 

They Were Sisters (1943) and Someone at a Distance (1953) by Dorothy Whipple

Nicole Reed mentioned English author Dorothy Whipple (1893-1966) in a recent podcast. I was intrigued. 

The Whipple discussion is near the end of the podcast (below). 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reeding-between-the-lines/id1744436935?i=1000722229392

Here is short biography on Ms Whipple -

https://persephonebooks.co.uk/pages/dorothy-whipple

Dorothy Whipple originally published between 1927 and 1967. Six of her books were republished recently -

Two of Ms Whipple’s books, They Were Sisters (1943) and Someone at a Distance (1953),  are available in audio format. I listened to both of them on Libby, 1.25 speed. 

These books were well written and very good reads. I enjoyed them, full/rich characters. 

Note - Like many classic books, one just has to “go with it”. Modern standards cannot be applied. 

Note the beautiful covers. The artwork is modern, the original covers were plain, I think. 

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

A new laptop

 The same week (last week) that I was very busy with my mom’s plumbing replacements, I was also laptop shopping for her. 

Oh my goodness. 

I am not a laptop person. 

So this process was a bit like buying a car for someone else when you do not drive yourself.

I used a laptop approximately 25-30 years ago to construct quilt patterns. So I have used them, but so long ago it does not count. 

My mom’s previous laptop was a very low quality one that she purchased on 2020 or so. A friend who clearly knows nothing about laptops helped her buy it, long distance. I think the purchase was based 100% on price. 

That old lap top cannot handle Windows 11, it has Windows 10. Windows 10 will not be supported after October 2025. (A detailed explanation is at the end of this post.) 

*** Mom (age 84) needed a new laptop. Her laptop is very important. She uses her laptop to pay bills online. She does her banking online. She reads Facebook. She talks to extended family and a friend on Messenger. She uses email. She orders groceries for curbside. She orders from Amazon. She stores her digital pictures. She orders her meds from an online mail order pharmacy. ***

My first step was to determine what her old laptop included. I went to a local computer store and Best Buy. 

Best Buy guy was helpful. He opened it up and had me take screen shots to send to youngest. 

The local computer store guy just kept telling me how terrible it was, but was not a lot of help. 

Youngest looked at all the screenshots and verified what both places had told me. “ You cannot make a mistake, no matter what you buy, it will be better than what she has currently.”

Mom wanted an HP because that was what she already had. (I also had to buy plumbing fixtures that were just like what she already had, so I did not argue.)

Two trips to the computer store, three trips to Best Buy, and lots of conversations with youngest later, I purchased a $649 HP laptop that was on sale for $399 at Best Buy. I also bought her a new mouse. I did not buy the extended warranty. 

I also looked at a lower priced HP, but the response time was too slow. I know this because the computer guy at Best Buy activated both display models, to look for something for me, and the lesser one was incredibly slow.

The original plan was to have the computer store transfer key data from the old laptop to the new laptop with a house call. They did not want to do this. They make house calls. But what they prefer is to make  transfers at their store. They would have moved everything. 

There were obsolete programs on the old laptop that had been on a previous laptop. We absolutely did not want “everything” moved. 

Youngest highly recommends this method - only move what you need - for new PC’s, new phones, new laptops. Do not transfer everything. Save the old device for a bit, to be sure you have what you need. I agree. 

I had my mom make a list of everything she uses on her laptop. 

Friday night middle went with me to her house. Middle activated windows, linked the new laptop to my mom’s WiFi, and then tackled the list. 

Middle updated passwords and set up backups as she went. There was a lot of general cleanup that needed done. She was quick. She saved login/passwords to the new computer for basic things (but not banking). She also updated my mom’s password book (hardcopy).

It was only a little bit complicated. There were three documents on Microsoft Works, which has been obsolete since 2009, that my mom wanted on the new laptop. Middle copied them, pasted into email, opened the email on the new laptop, and then pasted them into a One Note account on the new laptop. Bonus, these documents are also now on email as a back up. 

The old lap top is still functional with everything still intact. If my mom thinks of something thing else she needs, middle can move it. The three documents are also still on the old laptop. We are saving the old laptop.

Middle understands what is on the new laptop and can help with any problems.