Finished: Katherine Wentworth by DE Stevenson - It probably says something about my personality that I love books where there's almost no conflict. By the end of chapter two you know who our heroine is going to end up with and you know it's not going to be "messy" with love triangles or conflict.Things happen and they're stressful but you just know it's all going to turn out alright. This definitely fits into that category. On the Stevenson scale of "0 - nothing happens and this book is boring" to "5 - oh this is just so charming and lovely and I want to live in post-war Scotland" I'd rate this about a four. (Scotland)

I've been thinking about this all day and have a few recommendation! For your mother ... if I remember from past posts she and my grandmother had similar reading tastes. So here are books that I've read recently that I though my grandmother would have enjoyed: Everything Mumto just recommended The Inspector Gamache series - Incredible setting in Quebec. Wonderful characters. Won oodles and oodles of mystery awards. The Red House Mystery by AA Milne - he wrote this as a spoof of the who dun its of the day so it doesn't take itself seriously but it's delightful. I hesitate to recommend this because she's probably read them but just in case ... James Herriot A lessor known PG Wodehouse series ... Uncle Fred in the Springtime Henrietta's War - A charming "homefront" look at life in Devon during WWII And now for the young gents in your life. I'm borrowing books from my DH's read shelf. He's no longer young (43!) but he is a gent that likes a good book. Uncle Fred in the Springtime by PG Wodehouse - I hope it's not cheating to list this on both lists! David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - Does your young gent like classics or no? If he does then I'll have a ton to recommend from DH. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson Everything Ted Chiang has ever written or will write Silo by Hugh Howey The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins I wish I was there. I LOVE thunderstorms. It's so cool when the sky just goes completely dark in the middle of the day and then the temperature drops. I love to wake up to them early in the morning and listen to the thunder outside. As an added bonus I generally get a kid that wants to cuddle with me when that happens too.

Oh wow. These are really cool. I'm going to order this for DD for a back to school present. She likes doing fancy planners so I think she'd like the stencils. Thanks Kareni for the link!

What ages would you recommend this to?

Finished: The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie - This is one of her classic twist ending books and it's pretty fantastic. Poirot and Hastings are all over the place too if you're need a few locations for Brit Tripping. Unfortunately all the places they went I've already been! (London, Hampshire, Sussex, Devon)

I'm so glad to see you post! I hope the brain fog is lifting and you'll be able to enjoy books again. I just downloaded the Food Great Course based on your recommendation. It sounds like something I'd love. Food and history ... yes, please. I'll have second helpings of both!

I'm still working on I Capture the Castle and ABC Murders. I should get lots of audiobook time in this week! I know we were just discussing non-fiction so this is timely. Audible is having a big sale for it's members of non-fiction and Great Courses. Two books for one credit. @ErinE - I know you're a big Great Course listener. Are there any courses on the sale list you loved?

I can't wait to look back on my 2018 and see how many Miss Silver books I've read. It's probably going to be about one per month. I'm also loving the audiobooks. Very cozy like Agatha but I feel like her characters are more believable. So next Monday I submit my BIG work project that I've been tied up with the last month. One week! I'm, of course, a little behind where I should be but that's okay because if I work diligently I'll be done by Monday. With that in mind this morning I've focused on the highly important tasks of: I got up early and cleaned DD's room by taking everything out of the closet and completely redoing it - that certainly couldn't have waited for a week! Planned a party for the 4th of July Watched a few youtube videos on roses Went to the library to pick up a few cookbooks on baking bread @Quill - I blame that on you! Went through a stack of fabric to pick out a few pieces for a quilt I'm slowly slowly working on. We all know where the blame for my interest in quilting comes from. @mumto2 Went to the high school to register our foreign exchange student for classes - I could have done that by email and saved time but I still wasted time by going in person. OH MY GOSH. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME! I HAVEN'T EVEN OPENED AUTOCAD THIS MORNING. I'm going to be freaking out if I don't make substantial progress on this project today. I'm signing off now ... to go clean my fridge! No! I'm going to work.

That's a wise soul that will be missed.

I'm on the Mystery Bus but in the wrong location. Actually I'm in two locations ... I'm reading I Capture the Castle (Suffolk) and I just finished Killer Instinct by Zoe Sharp (Lancashire). I'm just going to past my GR review here because it covered all my rants about the book. I'm going to count this book even though I read only the first 100 pages and then the last 100 pages. Good premise but there was too much going on with this book. (1) The FMC had so much backstory and trauma. It was too much for the first hundred pages. (2) Shut up about the stupid motorcycles. We get it. Charlie rides a motorcycle and so do all her friends. I don't really care what type they rode, or how it handled, if it needed to be warmed up, or anything else. It's just transportation to the next interesting plot point. (3) Super strange typos through out the book. Just as an example, one of the characters drove a BMW and then for the next twenty pages whenever it was mentioned it became ... "Charlie climbed into Marc's BM." Then magically at the end of the book it was referred to as a BMW again. *shrug* It wasn't a bad book. If this is your thing though I've seen it done much better in the Lacey Flint series by Sharon J. Bolton.Now You See Me I've also put about fifty Trollope novels in my library cart because of this thread. Oops. Project deadline is July 1st so I can get more reading in then!

We looked at it together but he figured out the gnome way before I did. Both of us missed the dog in the frame!

I see a ... goldfish, dog, bunny, hamster, and gnome?

52 right at the halfway mark! So ... I guess you're done with your reading for the year and can now pick up some other hobbies. Do you have a number you're trying for? I can't remember who here just reads what they read and who has a goal in mind for the year. So much to respond to here. Re: Woman in White. I'm glad you liked it! Yay. It's always been a favorite of mind. The ending is so tense and exciting and you just have to know what happens that I think it would be difficult to listen to because at least with page reading you can try to read faster. With an audiobook you can jump the speed up but then it sounds like Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are reading the book. Re: I Capture the Castle. That's what I'm reading too. You'll be way faster than me though this week. Re: DE Stevenson. I love both DE Stevenson and Mary Stewart but they write such different books. MS is known for her suspense and twists and Stevenson is more ... I don't know exactly how to describe it ... cozy and gentle. Usually what you think is going to happen in the book is exactly what happens. I read her books looking more for the characters and slice of life and gentleness rather than plot. I think you've already read a few of my favorite DE Stevenson's books (Miss Buncle's Book and Celia's House) but you might try Amberwell next. It's got more plot than some of her books and it's a great audiobook. Re: Magpie Murders I clicked on you link to Goodreads and noticed that not only you but Erin, Sandy, and Angela loved this book. Okay. That seems good enough for me! I've got it on reserve from the library now. @Negin - I just love your pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Eaglei - I've thought of you and your son so much over these last few years (!). I'm so glad you came back to give us an update on your family. I know you've been in many people's hearts, thoughts, and prayers. ((HUGS))

Finished: The Case of William Smith (Miss Silver #13) by Patricia Wentworth - These are hard to rate for me because none of them are really five star mysteries but some are better than others if you're looking for something English and cozy set during the 40's. I'm going to start rating them as recommended and not recommended. So if you are the type that enjoys a stay in Flufferton Abbey then I recommend this one. (London)

I meant to be keeping track of your Wooster challenge ... How many times have you been engaged this year? Have you been falsely arrested while drunk or arrested after having nicked anything of a policeman's as a joke? Have your aunts been overly critical of you this year? Check out the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. It's not (obviously!) true but it's a fun series for a history/war loving young man. It's Napoleonic wars plus dragons. Very well written. This has been on my to-read list forever. Please hurry up and read the next two or three so I know if I want to get started with the series or not. ?

Sandy - The hedgehog turned out so so lovely!

I went to Catholic school so we had these awful/great button up peter pan collared shirts with our plaid skirts. Underneath them we'd wear red polyester shorts and then for gym we'd take off our uniform skirts so we'd be out there in our peter pan collar shirts and 80's polyester red shorts. Yes. It is set just a few years after WWI. Problem solved. Downloading The Foundling now! Thank you!

Scotland is the most beautiful place in the world. If you took all the amazing shorelines and islands of the world and squished them close to the amazing mountains of Colorado and all the northern lakes of Minnesota then you'd come close to imagining the beauty of Scotland. Highly recommend renting a car and driving the west coast and stopping at the island. Its ... words fail me ... PM if you are insterested in such a trip because I can give some tips of places my family loved and some that were just meh.

Is anyone besides @Mothersweetsand I coloring as you go? It's a bit of a challenge because no two British maps are a like and the one we're using differs somewhat from our Brit Trip locations. For instance my map has Yorkshire divided into North and South. No matter. I just colored them both. I've tried three time to get it to turn to correct way and it won't cooperate. Sorry about that.

I'm just popping in to say "hello". Still on deadline with my busy project so I'm getting lots of audiobooks read but not much else. At night I flip through a few cookbooks and then fall asleep. My Brit Tripping update is pretty pathetic this week. I had forced myself to finish that "lost work discovered after she died" book of DE Stevenson's just because it was set in Herefordshire but it turned out I couldn't read a map and was supposed to be in Hertfordshire so I haven't found a book to read yet this week. And apparently I'm a bit whiny about it. Finished: All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson - A graphic novel about a homeschool girl who starts public school in seventh grade. Her family is involved at the Renaissance festival and that was pretty cool. Middle school Amy would have loved this but old lady Amy who has little tolerance for YA angst wanted to shake our heroine. The Wrong Mr. Right by Berta Ruck - The original chick lit author. Her books were written in the 1910's and feel very modern for that time period. This book just didn't do anything for me. So so silly. Try her His Official Fiance instead. (London) Undeath and Taxes (Fred, the Vampire Accountant #2) by Drew Hayes - Lighthearted, silly, and fun. These are great short stories with a cast of wereponies, vampires, dragons, zombies, and accountants. There's a loose overarching plot to the whole book but it's easy to sit down and read a story and put the book away for the night. The only thing that holds me back from recommending these stories to everyone is that the characters use the F-word frequently. It doesn't usually bother me but it adds nothing to the story and I know that will turn away a number of people from wanting to read them. Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer - Listened to this as an audiobook for the second time. So much fun. More of a farce and adventure than a romance though. They did a lot of traveling in the book though so that's a Brit Trip plus. (Lincolnshire)

I'm glad to "see" you back here. I hope life calms down so you can get some reading in and stick around here for a bit. ((HUGS))

That is lovely! How's your daughter doing? Wasn't she sick last week ... or possibly it was the week before and time has gotten away from me?

We really are a thread of good new and bad news this week, aren't we? Don't forget that in case of Brit Trip emergency you can always pick a book with a fictional English location (*ahem* St. Mary Mead ... I'm looking right at you) and use it as a WILD CARD. And it turns out I have no idea how to properly punctuate that sentence.

@Robin M Congrats to James. You look so proud. I like his scarf ... is it a Doctor Who scarf?