MMV. Congratulations to your wonderful girls! Noseinabook - :grouphug: So sorry for all the stress. You do such a wonderful job with the little ones. Nan - I grew up in serious snow country so :grouphug: It will make spring feel much more glorious. But I know the challenges are huge. Kathy - I am pretty sure WH is out there for free. You just can't buy it until the other one is returned. Only saying this because when I can't turn my kindle reader on I always really want to! Sherri - Welcome! The trick to multiple books is very different books. Settings need to be totally different. If I discover that my books are overlapping in my brain I quickly finish one of the problem ones. Sure there is more but that is all I can remember. Just an odd comment....Yesterday I never read a single page of a book. That doesn't happen often. I did watch 8 hours of telly.....

Eliana, Congratulations! What happy news. Jenn, I know. Black Dog was a bit odd for me too. You had already bought it at the point I started having issues. Many things were good about it but the ending really bothered me and the goat. Just yuk. I plan to try the next one simply because our library keeps lists for patrons on how far they are in different series behind the desk. There are several rather mild older than us ;) woman progressing nicely through these. Never expected ......suspect the rest are toned down.

When you go on a vacation with another home ed family and are complimented on how wonderful your grandkids are......yep, all the kids do look alike enough to be siblings.

I honestly don't think it is chicken pox but both of my dc's started the chicken pox with maybe 5 small heat rash looking spots in one area and broke out with chicken pox blisters the next day on brand new spots so I wouldn't completely discount it until tomorrow. Chicken pox was obvious the second day.

My dd loved Written in Red and the sequel also. We generally like the same books but I have to say these really were good. Eta For amazon prime members.......the other books in the MC Beaton/ Marion Chesney regency romance series appear to currently be free with prime. So if someone read one of the freebies and wishes to continue the series they might be able to for free with prime.

Teacherzee, thanks for explaining your Duckling, I was puzzled but didn't want to ask. I have been working my way through Julia Quinn' Bridgerton series. Still really enjoying it. I also read the second in Jim Hine's Libromancer series, Codex Bornhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15824178-codex-born?from_search=true. Enjoyable series, a bit different. About a third of the way through Persuasion. I need a chunk of time to finish it. I don't like it as a few pages at a time. Seversl others in progress.

The video is lovely. They did a great job!

I am posting mainly to give you a bump! I am far from an expert but have been looking at what is being used in various AP Literature classes (google) as a way to determine what I should use. I have looked at many websites and some of the reoccurring books are How to Read a Book by Adler, How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Foster, and Perrine's Literature. One or two of these are combined with reading roughly six full length books in many AP Lit classrooms. I have an inexpensive copy of Perrine's which is wonderful. The only negative is no answers and I don't think they exist to be purchased. This turns it into a group discussion class for all three of us because ds might as well join in. Still trying to decide if this is our path or not. FWIW I have used the Excellence in Literature units with dd and she has loved them but she loves literature.

I finished Black Dog by Stephen Booth this afternoon. I enjoyed it and I still think Jenn will like it at some point, but it was neither fluffy or cozy. Definitely a police procedural with some pretty dark stuff going on. To be honest a couple scenes were a bit icky. The setting is a made up place put down in an area that my family has walks in frequently so odd for me. I spent quite a bit of time googling due to confusion until I stumbled onto the author's website explanation of what was fictional location wise. Overall I enjoyed it and will read more of the series. This is the type of book I liked for years but since I have been residing in Flufferton Abbey lately the realities of the current day Peak District were a bit harsh.

Jenn, I know you have already started a pile of books but one more idea since you love DCI Banks is Stephen Booth. I just started the first book in his series this morninghttp://www.stephen-booth.com/new%20blackdog.htmand it is good, although I think I must have read it before because very familiar. He is one of our sort of local authors that people (not me) actually know. Very nice man from all reports who is extremely supportive of libraries. As some of you have probably guessed I have a pretty eclectic stack going on right now. Library due dates are pesky things, I keep starting things that are due soon to see if I like them.....I seem to be liking more than normal. :lol:

How frustrating! Are you one of the BaWer's who recommended Susan Howatch's Church of England series to me? Pretty sure Jane and Ladydusk were part of those discussions but someone else was also. I haven't finished the series because I was distracted but they are on this years master list. lol If you haven't read them now might be a great time....

Those pesky different book covers and different release dates drove me nuts when we first moved here. I now know I am a highly visual person. I can look at some silly romances cover and know I read it but show me the description, no clue. Our family was only able to check out roughly 40 books when we first moved and I was doing home education Sonlight style out of the library. I could check out maybe 5 books for me each visit. I can't tell you how many times I came home with a stack of books that I had already read that I really thought were new to me. I turned to Agatha Christie because of this, easy to get and I had never read them. The kindle was my best Christmas gift ever. Stacia, It is Downton. People pronounce it incorrectly so everyone spells it wrong.

Yesterday's mention of Nelson DeMille has sent me off on a very unexpected rabbit trail. I thought I had my books all planned for the next couple of weeks. I have spent my day reading The Gold Coast. I remember very little of the people part of the story but seem to be remembering the descriptions of the locations. I plan to read the sequel as soon as I am done. I also finished Artistic License by Elle Pierson which Kareni read a couple of weeks ago. It was a good romance with a slightly different twist, the hero was not handsome at all except in the eyes of the heroine. it was nicely done.

Christmas episodes are always a bit stand alone and probably the best of those seasons. Make sure to watch the start of Matt Smith so you know the characters. Torchwood isn't essential. I would just work on season 2, we weren't fans beyond that.

I suspect that you won't be surprised to hear that I have been reading those authors for the same amount of time! Pretty much any author that started out writing series romances I probably read from day one. So Janet Evanovich, BJ Daniels, and others have been out there for a while. I loved Stephanie James and Jayne Castle. I remember how shocked I was to learn they were the same person! Carole Mortimer now seems to write historicals..... Do you remember Charlotte Lamb and Penny Jordan? Favorites.......

I am definitely not the resident Goodreads expert but make sure your date completed is right if it is the 2015 challenge on the home page. It counts everything completed in 2015.

Shawne, :grouphug:

I read Refining Felicity a couple of months ago. Very light and fluffy. A bit silly and the series on a whole is repetitive but I read and enjoyed them all. Perfect light reading. Amy, you definately want to put this on kindle for emergencies! Thanks, Kareni!

I had no idea there was a sequel to The Gold Coast so naturally I am off to see what I can find on on overdrive. I can't remember Gold Coast very well so will need to read that one again also! Kareni...Thanks for the free book recommendation. It is now on my kindle!

Nelson DeMille is an author I used to love. His book The Charm School is a cold war favourite of mine.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/353814.The_Charm_SchoolI actually reread it last year and still enjoyed it after many years. Somehow I stopped reading his books. I suspect it was because I missed the first couple in the John Corey series due to dds birth. ;) I just checked Plum Island out on overdrive and will give it a try soon! Thanks for reminding me to try his newer books......Gold Coast was another great one of his.

I think I am the first to post the completion of a Flufferton Abbey book, although it was Victorian and not by Austen or a Bronte. The Bridegroom Wore Plaidhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13515289-the-bridegroom-wore-plaidwas simply a fun romp around a Scottish estate where everyone falls in love with the "wrong" person. Nothing complicated but with adult scenes. Not fabulous but I definitely plan to read more by the author because it was a very good fluff read.

Sorry!

Sorry!

sorry!

Wow, I thought this was a lost post. I even got an error message!