Rosie, I am so sorry. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

I read a mystery called Stalin's Gold by Mark Ellis. It is set mainly in London during WWII, but jumps around to Russia and Spain. It was not at all fluffy but very atmospheric. The mystery involved Polish pilots who had escaped the occupation and continued to fight from a base in England. The descriptions of the air battles were very real. The story starts with an accounting error during the Spanish Cival War. Stalin sold arms and was shipped Gold as collateral, due to an error on the shipping documents several crates were diverted to Poland by a quick thinking Polish officer. The story fast forwards to London where a Scotland Yard detective becomes increasingly involved in the intrigue between the Polish and Russians. It is the second in a series but I had no problems starting with the second. Plan to read the first at some point. This one potentially gets bundled into my WWII fiction 5/5/5.

I still don't actually do much on my new kindle other than post here -- that is why I frequently like posts and comment hours later. I like on the old kindle and have to post on new, all other activities still work on the old one just fine. Since I just posted I clicked on my next library book planning to read a chapter or two before getting a cup of tea and looked down at the bottom of the first page -- the kindle is telling me it will take me 1 hour and 21 minutes to complete my book. Can't believe that a machine is now estimating how long for ME to read an entire book. This is one of those things that makes me feel like my 92 year old mother who frequently comments on the miracles she has seen in her life time, not up there with cures for disease but think of the compulsive planning this knowledge can lead too ! :) Please note it is a short cozy mystery not something overly serious so this estimate is close. I figured it was under 2 hours. I read fast but not that fast. ;)

Amy -- Your pictures are adorable! Beautiful children!!! I thought of another board book that Ds loved, Hug http://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/hug-jez-alborough/1100832752?ean=9780763615765

Sandra Boynton was our favourite. We had ( and still have) a huge stack of hers. Dogs, was Dd favourite and Ds was Barnyard Dance but there are lots of great ones. Used to do Panama Time nightly..... There were music cds that she had produced also. Lots of fun! I think I saw Chicka Chicka Boom Boom as a board book somewhere. Loved that but not by Boynton. Hope you enjoy Winged Watchman. I remember liking that one.

Loved these......I have"read" number 5 before. Number 2 and 10 sound list worthy. Can't wait to hear your review of Gadsby, my stack calls along with Monuments of Men.......but if you really love it ....... I just tried to reserve Silkworm, can't find it in my system. I will look more later. The assistant was my favourite.

Thank you for the travel details Kareni and the link to the free copy of Hanover Square! Your trip sounds delightful. What a wonderful time to visit Amsterdam, plus you got to see the tulips! :) I finished Jonathon Kellerman's latest Alex Delaware book called Killer and liked it overall. The wrap up was a bit quick and came a bit out of the blue but the build to it was very well done. So many of the long running series that I tend to follow are very dependant on the reader knowing the history of the characters and this particular book pretty much got rid of that. Relatively few references to past events and the supporting characters were there and very comfortable for returning readers but I suspect accessible for first time reading his books also. Found it very interesting from that angle. I gave it a 4* just because of that aspect so this isn't my favourite psychological thriller ever just a well done addition to a very long running series. Currently reading Classified as Murder by Miranda James on my kindle. It is the next in the Cat in the Stacks series. I am enjoying it as much as I did the first one. Adorable kitty, really starting to want a manx coon cat again -- almost adopted one many years ago, we would have but we were on vacation in Alaska when I fell in love with him, travel home was complicated and someone local wanted him too. I am going to read a bit and hopefully fall back asleep......

I fixed my Charlaine/Charlemagne spell check. I didn't care for the last book either. I have read parts of her other series and enjoyed them. Planning to reread soon because they just became available from my library on kindle, they were epub only before. I remember them as charming overall. Not much paranormal , I think someone was haunted, it's been awhile. Welcome Back!!!! Glad you had a great time and a lovely trip. Would love details....Did you head north in England or was London the main destination? Thank you for the great lists. Apparently I clicked on the wrong post Kareni, since I have already lost my post once I am going to pretend that it is the right one :lol: You asked if anyone had read First .......from the Grave. I just went on a wait list for it yesterday, so glad to read the good review! :) It is great to have you back! Glad both of your parents are doing well. Happy Birthday!!!!! My Dd turned 16 today so you have great company!

I think I have found several of my recent paranormal series thanks to you but here is a quick list of recent authors from my records: Kevin Hearne Mary Janice Davidson Carrie Vaughn Lara Adrian Brooklyn Ann Patricia Briggs Gail Carriger -- Steampunk Jeanine Frost Molly Harper Charlemagne Harris(Charlaine, spell check got me!) Kelly Armstrong Lindsay Sands Maggie Shayne CE Murphy Chloe Neill Faith Hunter Jacqueline Carey Hopefully I have listed someone new to you!

I picked up Monuments of Men last week and have been waiting to start it. :) I am also a few chapters behind in HotAW and will hopefully be able to catch up soon. I have read two Iain Pears so far and have really enjoyed them. I have a third in the pile. I have been forced to read what I know will be a quick read the last few days because I am having both a kindle and a real life full library card problems with holds needing to be picked up that I really want. Finally have the kindle somewhat free although I am first on the list for three holds and beneath the number of copies owned for the rest. After waiting months for most the all hit at once. Finished: Loving Lord Ash and Surprising Lord Jack by Sally MacKenzie -- I have really enjoyed the Duchess of Love series and am sad to see it end. Good fluff.... Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn -- It is a Lady Julia mystery which Goodreads has recommended to me repeatedly. Suspect Aggieamy is getting this recommendation also because it always pairs with two other series we have read some of. It started off with a rather different scene that was a bit farcical but pulled me in. I don't want to ruin it for others but I have never had this cause of death in any other mystery I have ever encountered. Not necessarily a good thing, not a book for Dd. Murder is Binding, a booktown mystery by Lorna Barrett -- Decent book lovers copy. I think the rest will be better. Many introductions. Death of a Policeman, Hamish Macbeth by MC Beaton --typical for this series but not outstanding. Many of this series are far better. Currently Reading but not far: Killer, Alex Deleware -- Jonathon Kellerman Classified as Murder, Cat in the Stacks by Miranda James

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I loved this book. Beautiful artwork on the covers and sounds fascinating. I couldn't find it at my libraries unfortunately.

I tend to keep my fire by my side when reading, partly for convenience when I feel the need to Google ;) and I normally check in here while doing that. I now tend to go online when I have a few minutes to entertain myself in as opposed to reading 5 pages--generally check in here, maybe email. The amount of time I spend really has to do with how fascinating you folks are because I don't tend to get very caught up on the main board anymore -- I read the first page a couple times a day and occasionally click. But this thread can rabbit trail me all over the place. :lol: Probably an hour a day, guesstimate. Gardens, In my 20's and 30's I was an avid gardener spending my summer's in the garden working. Due to back problems and fate pretty much gave it up when we moved to England. The new house has a smallish garden that was empty (they actually took much of their landscaping with them, big surprise). I am slowly experimenting and getting things sorted for the first year. Planting colourful bulbs, selecting some perennials.......removing what they did leave. Intentionally taking things slow. The historic stone wall in front of the house does not agree with all plants, high lime concentration etc. My close friend here who died of cancer had/has a magnificent garden that is used for cancer charity events. I have been looking at her ideas and I have some of her plants. Her "forget me nots" are literally rather eerily taking over the back of my house........In answer to your question I am probably in the garden or shopping for said garden six hours a week. I would imagine that will taper off soon. Just want to add that much of my reading time is while my dc's are doing their school work. They are pretty independent at this stage. Ds works best when I am nearby but not hovering. Thus reading is perfect and not distracting to him. I also need to read, emotionally, for roughly a half hour in the morning and before bed. When I don't read in the morning my day seems to be a bit off kilter -- I have built time into my schedule for this since childhood. Me at the breakfast table leisurely eating and reading fiction is a pretty common sight.

We are home educating in England and plan to continue through high school. We have been here seven years and home education has become much more main stream during that time. Curriculum far easier to purchase, exam access easier, access to secondary programs possible. We have always educated with the American exams as our goal, SAT, ACT, and three or more AP's . The plan should work for both university systems but willing to take the Cambridge A levels if needed. We have been keeping an eye on the syllabus and should be fine. Children of friends have done A levels at home with similar preparation with great results. We are lucky that there has been a fairly large group of home ed students in our area so extracurricular activities are possible. No co ops. Many go to college(in US terms grade 11 and 12) so Dd doesn't have her friends at field trip type events anymore. Generally chooses to stay home and work independently. No desire to join them at college. Not sure where University will be. Starting to think here but our plans had always been for the dc's to do their first degree in US.....

I am glad I am not the only one! On reflection I can sort of understand it but I thought my problems were a result of being unable to keep the characters straight in a fluent manner. I still think there are just too many and did not honestly get exactly what the game really was -- I get the basic concept but suspect I should be making a huge literary jump and can't.

I love the Two Fat Ladies. Ironically I have only seen their show once since we moved over here, it was a PBS Saturday staple where we lived in the States. I think you would probably enjoy the Hairy Bikers another slightly offbeat British cooking show if it is ever offered. I just want to share a tiny morsel of wisdom that was shared with me from another expat during our moving process. The most important thing is accepting the place you are living in and not trying to make it like where you are from. Our family has been well accepted because we try really hard not to attempt to change things to suit our more American vision.

Thank you so much for the update. We will continue to pray for him and your family.

I just completed my reading records for the year to date. Geography Challenge.....27 countries visited so far. Predominately European. But I have finished each continent except for Antarctica, not necessarily well but I have read something..... 5/5/5 British History 4 out of 5 Chunky 2 out of 5 Bronte Sisters 0 CS Lewis 0- I abandoned Discarded Images because it wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. Church History -- 0 I may very well swap some of my categories out because my interests have gone elsewhere. As Dd said yesterday, what's with all the Russian books? I have a stack within my pile, if I read them certainly a category. My pile has possibilities........ Of the weekly/monthly challenges I have completed 10.

Too be honest I have no idea because my reading time is a bit mixed up with online time. I would guess I read from 2 to 3 hours a day on average. But remember I am the insomniac who sometimes reads a book while the rest of the world sleeps. Currently I watch very little TV but am actually trying to watch more and craft more. I am not knitting as much as I used to but that is because I haven't really felt inspired lately. I do belong to a quilting society and have mainly coached Dd through her projects of late. I took a Japanese Quilting class two weeks ago and bought some fabulous fabric to experiment with, finally made it to the store to get the necessary wadding so plan to start that asap. The only question is do I finish the gift I am knitting first?

Stacia -- Glad you are feeling a bit better. Jane -- Sorry no quotes. Too tired. About Tommy and Tuppence, my favourites were N or M and the Pricking in my Thumbs one. I enjoyed those two greatly but will admit that I read Christie voraciously trying to stay ahead of a twelve year old Dd who can read faster than I can, especially when some are being set aside due to violence of crime etc. Part of the reason I probably loved T and T was they were great fits for Dd. We have had thunder and lightning here tonight which is very rare. We were up in the bell tower so found it scary. I finished Night Circus and enjoyed it while on my days adventures. Glad to be home but suspect I will be sleeping not reading in my bed tonight! ;)

Shukriyya-- You might enjoy Paul Maier http://historical-fiction-review.blogspot.co.uk/2005/06/pontius-pilate-roman-perspective-of.html as part of your 5/5/5 idea. I had a Roman reading spree a couple of years ago and his are what I remember best. Before I kept a list so the rest are history unless I spot one on the shelf someplace. Rather sad.

One person once told me not to worry about the revolution, England didn't like George either! Pretty much somes it up, a blip.

You are thinking about improving your local library's circulation numbers.;) At least that is what I feel myself!

Currently 41% through Night Circus and am having a few problems keeping track of the characters myself. I am enjoying it but not loving it right now but I think major events may be about to happen so that could change. Trying to read paper while at home because out all day with the dc's tomorrow and think I will be able to read while they attend their math event at the University tomorrow. To far to come home. So planning to finish it there.

Just finished Three Silent Things: A village mystery by Margaret Mayhew. It was pretty much as advertised in the title a very competent British cozy done in a slightly more current setting than Miss Marple. The Colonel was a good main character and the mystery so so, but I looked forward to turning the pages quite a bit so gave it 4* for that reason alone. :lol: I definitely be reading more. The author also has some novels set in exotic places -- I looked at a WWII one in Singapore that will eventually need to be tried. This was the random book from the library challenge so a good find!