Stacia :grouphug: I'm sorry.

Tana French is great! Probably the most similar to Galbraith imo. Personally I would go with French but in order to provide choice a couple of other similar authors that I have enjoyed are Val McDermidhttps://www.goodreads.com/series/138123-inspector-karen-pirieand Ann Cleeves https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/644655.Raven_Black?ac=1&from_search=1. This is a McDermid/Galbraith interview that I watched ages ago if anyone is interested. https://m.youtube.com/watch? v=TbvJbbgFhrQ unfortunately the audience wanted Harry Potter. A friend attended and said people were so disappointed. For a slightly lighter series I like Judith Cutler's Fran Harmonhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/130399.Life_Sentence?ac=1&from_search=1. Not sure that you would but you might like some of her other books. Eta.....Forgot to say :grouphug: to both you and your friend. I will he praying that all goes smoothly for her in the coming weeks. You and your whole family are stars for taking 4 littles into your home.

I think Jenn read it but I never did. I have checked it out of the library twice but never managed to start A Test of Wills...... I finished a historical romance today that was only semi fluffy. ;) A Sinful Deception by Isabella Bradford https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19288184-a-sinful-deception is the story of a titled? young lady who was born in India but raised in England after a fever kills her entire family including her half sister who was the father's legitimate daughter. The lady was mistaken as her sister when rescued and has protected her true identity every since due to her fear of being rejected, thereby made destitute. I couldn't resist starting the first Tessa Dare in the series Kareni recommended a couple of days ago https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18052985-romancing-the-duke. A fun fluffy book that ibam finding hard to resist.

MomNinja and Stacia, :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

I started one of my expiring overdrive books this afternoon half expecting to read a few pages and let it go back. I was pleasantly surprised In a Dark, Dark Wood was a great page turning suspense novel. I read it in as close to one sitting as I could! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23346377-in-a-dark-dark-wood The description I originally read compared it to Gone Girl which I disliked but sounded intriguing enough to try. The story imitated great whodunit mysteries with a houseparty. In this book a Hen (bachelorette) party in a remote holiday house is the scene for the weekend. The main character cannot figure out why she was even invited and wishes she had simply said no. She hasn't seen the bride in ten years by choice. The story moves quickly and the layers build.

Have you read any of Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove series? I have been going through them rather slowly but enjoying them. All have been slightly unconventional which makes them fun. I just checked out the first in your "Lobster" series ;) . The actial series title is Castles Ever After. I doubt if any of her books really need to be read in order but since the first one was available I will start there.

:grouphug:

Recording studio.....fun!!! Was it classical, Christmas, or fiddle? They have closed every year. Originally cost saving I would imagine but the employees like it. It works out to 12 days this year but depending on how the holiday falls it can be longer. The big problem is no book drop for emergencies. We had to leave for an extended period one year and couldn't get my stack of books back. A friend came and got my packed piles off the kitchen table for me. Every year I order a huge load of books in. The librarian waves the limit and we have stacks to chose from on dd's bedroom floor. This year I have shown great restraint....the first book in approximately a dozen cozy series. Prior years I have done several complete series just in case we like them. Totally compulsive, but dd and I do actually seem on settle on an author and read it all over Christmas. But thanks to overdrive I feel less compulsive this year. Jenn, I haven't preread my list of potentials but am happy to share for your January hiatus. If you want links that I like I am happy to provide or I can give you my preread list... I have tried to stick with British author's so the books will be somewhat accurate and have tried to choose a good representation of time periods. Post WWI is incredibly popular for cozy books but was such a sad time actually.....maybe that's why all young women became amateur sleuths, no men to distract them. Eta...By accurate I am talking picky little things that probably don't matter a bit but tend to bug me. It all stems back to a woman in my mother's town writing a newspaper article about English Gardens where she rather offhandly stated that we (meaning British people) have poor hygiene because our clothing is essentially dirty. Dirty because our laundry detergent doesn't work well at all. She apparently lived here for 6 months and was putting her laundry tablets faithfully into the drawer where liquid soap goes on her combi washing machine, they didn't desolve because they need to go in with the clothing directly (I put them in a special mesh bag first but no real need). Go figure her tabs never disolved....my question was why didn't she ask someone how to use her tabs? The fact they never worked well was a huge clue! Considering that my first day here I stood in the aisle of a grocery store and asked someone what detergent for children with sensitive skin and ended up with several nice ladies helping me choose all my cleaning supplies with detailed "how to" instructions. People like to help in general. Anyway her comment lead to my mom panicking because obviously we were much living someplace filthy. Garden lady was right in her opinion. Mom knew her. Details matter.....My mom even mailed me her article to prove she was right.

Butter, I am so glad to hear you are doing so well! :) Jane, At first I felt a bit of guilt for providing the start of the idea that made you decide to roll out 4 feet of pastry dough (I think I remember that episode.....sort of a no way are we trying that reaction :lol: ). Then I remembered British Village mysteries was technically your idea and realized we managed to fill each other's day. Since my library will close for 2 weeks over the holidays I spent today getting my last minute requests in to move books from other branches. I have spent every spare minute chatting with librarians and playing with " if you like this author than you will like this " author lists. I have several interesting selections coming.....before you start feeling bad thinking I spent the entire day on cozy mysteries I will fess up and say we went on a long walk at a nature preserve with two Springer Spaniels (their people came also) and home to some great Chinese carryout with the same friends. I had a really fun day, books and friends. :)

Now that I know that the OP is in London indefinitely I would be less inclined to encourage the school option. There are some really active home ed groups in the London area that plan some fabulous outings where they book in as schools and do the education options. Low cost with first rate presentation. I have been invited to a couple but never able to participate. This is a group of Christian Home Educatorshttp://www.thehomeservice.org/that my family belongs to. I am not sure how active they are in London groupwise. I have belonged to many groups here since my move. Many have had a wide range of participants but all have been amazingly accepting of different beliefs.

My goodreads newsletter just arrived. I just wanted to share a link to the Pioneer Woman's favourite cookbooks. https://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/1090.Ree_Drummond?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=2015-12&utm_content=drummondrecs. We have mentioned some of them this week!

When I was just starting out I ordered some teaching materials in old German script per dh. I think they came from either Clay Bookstore or Rod and Staff. I can't remember anything beyond the fact that dh told me to that whatever I had was useless...he is the German teacher.

Nan, My dd really enjoyed this series also. Yes, Stacia recommended for her at some point.

Mid year on should be great. Our travel plans have no dates yet. I think anytime from mid April on should be fine. I just want to be home and a bit organized! I see from your schedule you plan for our reading to be in England (at least partially) in April....maybe.....if you want me to I can try and be ready. I hope to do a bit of reading first and try a couple of recommendations that I have never gotten around to. :lol:

We moved to England permanently when my dc's were 7 and 9. We never considered sending them to school which is something I occasionally regret, for social reasons not academic. We live in a small village so we all(entire family) missed out on some shared group experiences when they were little that might have been nice. I don't know the moms unless I know them from church. That being said beyond our primary in the village, my secondary choice at that time is not the one I would choose now, although still generally very popular. So it's very likely I would regret my decision to send them to school decision now. If your dc's are able to go to a school you like this late in the year that is a plus. In my area you fill out paperwork for school choice and changes in October for the upcoming year. Without having done that it is hard to find a place in popular local schools. What we did.....lots of passes. We went on some sort of a field trip almost every single afternoon for the first couple of years. We are not near London with the wonderful museums and still did so much. Many things are free but many of the paid admissions offer 1 year free after you pay for a day. The parks are wonderful here for older kids, different play equipment than the US designed for bigger kids. Part of this probably depends on how much you will be able to be out of the house with a new baby. If they are in school they will most likely go on a huge number of field trips by American standards. Making sure the children have real life exposure is a priority from what I have observed, nationwide. How long are you planning to be in London? A friend just left that was in a similar situation and sent her little girls to a primary C of E school in London. They arrived in August. They were very happy with the school but not home schoolers before. I hope this helps....

My dd loves duolingo and has completed her trees in several languages. She has done well on her language exams in a large part thanks to Duo. Spainish is not one of her languages so no personal experience. She participates in the immersion groups if they exist. She has different extra things for different languages because of her unique opportunities .....friend's mother is Dutch for instance, trips to France..... Maintaining a gold tree is work and can be time consuming. If your child can complete and maintain a tree for a short period they are in good shape. Imo My dd doesn't bother to always keep her trees gold because of time.

Either sand or rice for the bottom section. Personally I would do rice because of leakage potential. For the cone part I would do heavy duty fusible interfacing then stuff with polyfil. Another thought for stuffing would be old nylons/tights. That's what my grandmother used and her stuffed toys were firm. Her horses could be played with for years and still stand upright.

I can put together something "British cozies set in villages". My only request is we wait until later in the year for the topic. Last night I read the latest Stephanie Plum book, Tricky Twenty-two. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24980765-tricky-twenty-two. Great escapism, lots of good chuckles, with my favourite bounty hunter. These books are pure formula and absolutely nothing really new ever happens but they always manage to be fun. Stephanie always ruins cars (normally blows them up) and is still trying to decide between the same two men. I still enjoyed it.....

Rosie, once again :grouphug:

Before I forget I did finish a book that others here might enjoy, The Christie Curse by Victoria Abbotthttps://www.goodreads.com/series/104973-a-book-collector-mystery. It is the first in a cozy mystery series called Book Collector Mysteries. The other books in the can probably stand independently. This was fun and pretty accurate in terms of Christie trivia...a couple things like the original short story for the Mousetrap not being published while the play is on the London stage I couldn't quickly verify and had never heard before. Next up is one based on Dorothy Sayers..... I will be honest and say other than baked goods I rarely make a recipe as published but I love the ideas. For instance the Cuban Stuffed Potatoes in the Estefan Cooks book we make without the breadcrumbs and bake in the oven in muffin pans, extra butter in the mash. Easier than deep frying (I don't deep fry ever) and still really good. Dd loves them and does know what authentic ones taste like. I finished the Moosewood cookbook browse and the soups and casseroles look particularly yummy. I am planning to make sure I have it checked out of the library on my kindle when I visit my mom this year as I plan to fill her freezer with homemade soups. I always get overwhelmed when I am there, this might provide the needed direction...

Happy Birthday Amy!!!!! I have been so busy looking at cookbooks online that I almost forgot to feed my family dinner. That pretty much describes my cooking style....occasionally I go all out from a special recipe but frequently we eat a simple stir fry with rice and frozen veg (tonight's menu). :lol: Hard to believe I spent the other part of the afternoon grocery shopping with that for dinner. I have several cookbooks on hold. I was really successful in terms of your recommendations. I couldn't find Zuni anywhere so loved the link. I have had many of the classic ones in the past (so didn't hunt for) and had to give them up when we had our big move. My favourite pages were copied and packed. I have stacks of copies which desperately need organization. The positive thing about my copies is when I am cooking I can put all the recipes on the fridge with magnets. Generally I don't spill on them!!! I used to love Taste of Home cooking magazine and have brought some of their year end books over with me. Mom presents.

I miss Ladydusk also. Howatch is an author I really want to go back to......keep reminding me, please! I managed to find Moosewood's 40th anniversary edition in my overdrive library. I am looking forward to it. Christmas books.....dh just ordered a copy of Little Rock Cooks for me. I can't wait to have one that I can touch without damaging it more! I haven't done the dc's book shopping yet. I tend to buy reference books or something not at the library for them.

I think it might be fun if we all share our favourite cookbook(s). Mine is one that my aunt, who is almost 100, gave to everyone except me as a wedding present( a vase ;( ????? ). I was soooooo disappointed, my sil scrambled to get me my own copy! It is called Little Rock Cooks by the Junior League of Little Rock. It isn't a cookbook book to read but lots of great recipes that always seem to work....published in 1972 so definitely not low fat! They stopped publishing it for years and my book is held together with rubberbands. It is back apparentlyhttp://www.amazon.com/Little-Rock-Cooks-Junior-League/dp/0960672400. Since Little Rock cooks isn't going to provide much in the way of browsing another favourite is Estefan Cooks. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3026713-estefan-kitchenIt is one I enjoy paging through. Dd and I have made a few of the recipes. Yum! British Bakeoff also publishes enjoyable cookbooks. Here is an article with great pictures and I think it linkshttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/11768515/The-Great-British-Bake-Off-our-favourite-recipes.html. Mary Berry has lots of great recipes that can be googled.

Congratulations Jane! I never even managed to start the middle ages or my chosen religious history books. Hopefully next year..... All this talk about the Pioneer Woman made me go searching my overdrive library for one of her cookbooks. Before last week when another thread linked one of her recipes I really hadn't been exposed (thought she was similar to the tightwad gazette lady ;) :lol: ). Remember I live in England.....anyway I was able to check out the first cookbook. Just finished skimming through it. I am not vegetarian by any means but that was tons of meat and potatoes and calories. I now know why my potato skin attempts have always failed :lol: She is fun to read.....

Rosie :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: