I always have a hard time finding a book but feel like I must each month. :lol: I read Havana Lost a couple of months ago and rather enjoyed it. Just checked and it still is prime. I also have read all four of the Hangman's Daughter books which I enjoyed overall. Right now I have a fluffy historical that I can't seem to start. Would love to hear what others have enjoyed.

Rosie -- For the most part my postcards will be arriving in the US with US postage -- a whole variety of circumstances and timing. So don't feel bad, I knew when I made the offer that I would be able to contain my costs to a reasonable level.

I haven't had a chance to look for I'll never be French but really want to read it. Very curious about his struggles..... This one sounds like something both Dd and I would enjoy. Not a fan of Twilight either, not just for Dd because I read before they were appropriate for her in any way -- honestly did not particularly like and you know I generally like paranormal s mixed with romance! ;) Still working on The Winter Garden. Should manage to return it tomorrow. That and Black Rose are very good together but doubt I would like this book by itself. So glad I tracked Black Rose down to go with it when I realized the author had written a previous book with the same main character.

We had them practice on a piece of scrap paper in a right size box a few times first but they signed as soon as they were of school age.

Welcome back Jane!!!!! Glad your adventures were good ones. Can't wait to hear about them, or should I say read. Candy Corn is an odd thing for me. I am rather ambivalent about eating it but have a deep need to have a bowl of it sitting around the house from Halloween through December. Childhood memory and the lack of being able to do that my first year in England one one of my huge triggers to significant homesickness. My mom keeps a crystal candy dish filled with it each fall. To be honest the only person who ever seriously ate more than a piece or two was my fil (yes married to my childhood neighbour) who loved anything with sugar. As soon as I had kids started making my version of these http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://www.food.com/recipe/oreo-cookie-turkeys-142998&sa=U&ei=GrdcU4HwJcrAPMWWgWA&ved=0CEoQFjAG&usg=AFQjCNHSr3wTzYidv0MmMjjy5SPC1QG_Kw and still do with groups of home ed littles every fall. Fun easy project. I order candy corn trick or treat packs from Amazon, fill a bowl at home and have plenty to take to my American Thanksgiving craft session, a friend and I do our best to explain it every year to some group. We start with the religious part and somehow always end up derailed by football(US version) and parades. Please note: I replace the peanut butter cup with a rice crispy treat ball and use chocolate digestive. Another odd Candy Corn comment is apparently candy corn is one of the things most commonly sent to missionaries by their denominations in the fall. Must be a trigger for many....... I finished Black Roses and enjoyed it. Fascinating and much of it is accurate historically. A quarter of the way through Winter Garden so should manage to return it tomorrow. During the night I read Night Circus up to the 10% point and went back to sleep. Enjoying it.

:lol: Sorry, I completely misread, thought you were referring to the caramel popcorn. People seem to be happier when I call it toffee, felt obligated to explain.

I clicked on this link and actually started dreaming of my own tiny free library for about 15 minutes during my early morning insomniac hours. ;) Probably would solve many of my planning disagreements with a much less time consuming role. :lol: Shukriyya, Three wild mallard ducks begging at the neighbour's door kept me up from 5:30 on. They are hilarious but pests and incredibly loud when sleep is an issue. Supposedly they only live in our yards for six weeks or so every spring. Not expecting ducklings this year because their eggs are all over the place including on people's roofs. The three stooges of the duck world. :lol: Loved the link Stacia. Can't wait to see the film. One of my weekend plans is to find my copy of No Way Out. I think Dh put it in the garage with the other DVD's he didn't plan to watch soon. :lol: Not as big an insult as it sounds, The garage is our version of the basements we grew up with, rows of storage shelves. Clear plastic bins.....love it. Finished Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill during this morning. Totally upset at the ending of that one, in a sad way. Didn't see it coming. I loved the character that was killed off and anticipated much in the future. I will get the next one when the pile allows so not quitting, just no room on my ebook holds list! I also read the first few pages in Night Circus. Beautifully written. Rather lyrical. Looking forward to it but need to get through my paper books today if time allows.

Dumb question but Google took me to a company, HFCS is high fructose corn syrup ie Karo Syrup right? When we moved here having no access to Karo Syrup was a pain. Things didn't taste right with my substitutes (usually golden syrup) now that I actually own a bottle of it everyone comments unfavourably if I use it. Can't win.

Does calling it toffee popcorn make it more appealing? That's what I call it here. Brown sugar, golden syrup, and butter boiled then baked on popcorn at a low temperature to make it crispy, yummy. The inside of of reece's are actually peanut butter and sugar combined with a couple other ingredients -- yes, I have made peanut butter balls and they were close. So nothing like plain American Peanut Butter. The American creamy kind is very smooth, the two British brands I tried buying were both somewhat gritty, also separated oddly when cooking with it. Essentially useless imo. I do feel obligated to say a friend who I supply with Jif recently said she found a new brand that works for cooking at least, cookies were good. Never tried Australian kind, friend's son might know since he just returned from his student work permit in your country. I will ask. The cream they seem to prefer is double which is super rich whipping cream unwhipped. I like milk on pies too. But when I watch half a container of cream go on the rich cake all I can think of is complete caloric intake for a day or two. Those thoughts rarely occur to me normally. :lol: HotAW -- pretty sure this week is this week is through chapter 8. I need to catch up.

Sort of a broad spectrum......We usually give the marmite pretzel friend Captain Crunch for his birthday--loves it. :lol: But for the most part the goodies are for kids, adults would never ask specifically. I generally give adults peppermint bark Gherridelli. Different and proves some Americans can sort of do chocolate--after what happened to Cadbury opinions are low here. If you listen to the Twinkies complaints they dislike it because the filling is fake. Whip some double cream and the cake part would be acceptable.......most people pour cream on most desserts here. Took me a couple of years to quit cringing. A piece of incredibly rich fudge cake with sumptuous frosting gets half a cup of cream dumped on it. My family likes to bake and we had to quit making Carmel popcorn for people who dump cream on it -- watching people with dripping popcorn that took two hours to create was more then we could handle. ;( Actually making requested peanut butter cookies for the bell tower this morning--dc's have a wedding to ring for. On the reading side of things still making my way through Black Roses. I have the sequel Winter Garden but need to return by Monday due to a hold. They are interesting, not sure if I have read fiction set in Germany during Hitler's rise to power before. Unbelievable what people will accept. Also have a Chicagoland vampire on the kindle.

Reece's are actually high on the list of requested American items that we get from people. Other popular items are Captain Crunch and Candy Corn. Lucky Charms(which rates with Twinkies as yucky imo) also frequently asked for by friends. Real peanut butter (I just buy it at Costco, Jif I think) seems to be a positive eye opening for many. If you really want to see a disgusted face on a Brit feed them root beer , it apparently tastes like a common really disgusting medicine here. I had no clue and had a 4th of July BBQ complete with root beer floats...I managed to separate the expats out really effectively. :lol: Dutch, Nigerians, S. Afrians all happily drank root beer! Others shuddered. :lol: As far as vegimite and marmite go not a huge fan but can eat it to be polite. A friend loves them and is enthusiastic, small doses are acceptable. Snack foods in those flavours are common at their house -- marmite pretzel like things anyone? I will never buy it unless for someone else's pleasure.

I happened to watch about 10 minutes of a tv show on call renters yesterday while folding laundry. Learned a few interesting to me tidbits that might be helpful. A man who has managed call centers for 20+ years was being interviewed, I only got the "take complaints" type of center but the main idea is that for efficiency the large somewhat soulless call centers with endless rows of phones are being replaced with groupings of 30 or so. The 30 are a bit of a lateral tree where because they can actually see each other and are able to pass calls to the person knowledgeable with that type of problem. He spoke of higher job satisfaction because can actually be part of solving customers problems. No idea if this will be the slightest bit helpful but thought I would mention it.

I will get them for Ds. He might like them a lot although listening to the fact that Dh and I are on a downhill slide sounds like it could be irritating. My Ds reads voraciously when I manage to find the right book, but finding that book is hard work! Douglas Adams is his all time favourite. Some of the quotes I had to live with.......But he read, finally decided I might have to give a bit content wise.

My library has it but I had to return it because someone requested it. I did read the first couple of chapters and decided that it was probably a book that would for me need to go slowly. Chapter or two a day so I could absorb what I had read. I will request it again when it is back in circulation.

I agree. After 7 years I am finally starting to honestly find some of the really popular chat type shows funny here...... On the topic of Orson Scott Card--Would that series be acceptable for ds14? Not asking for them to be completely clean just not really shocking. Somewhere in the middle is fine if that makes sense.

Love your links! The hive mind made me chuckle and the other was fascinating. A couple more requests have gone in....... ETA It is fascinating what the search for one book will uncover. When I clicked on Pam's community reads link there was a link to a book called Empty Mansions. I knew I already had it on a wait list and after posting went to check it's progress. Wasn't sure which library so just typed empty mansion into the search engine of one. I got back three incredible looking books, not what I was looking for but fun stuff......Love rabbit trails. Yes, I requested them. The original will take awhile. ;) Two are for Dd but I may end up reading them.

Just wanted to add my :grouphug:. It takes a really special person to foster with love. Good friend and home ed buddy here fosters. My family has a hard time when they are returned or adopted, can't even imagine it from the actual foster parents side. Also welcome back to everyone who has returned to the thread recently. It is so nice to have everybody back. You were missed!

Your post made me think of another book I loved reading to the dc's almost as much as HP. Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer. Just found this http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/nancy-farmer/. I had no clue that she had written so many really diverse books. I just love her Norse mythology, probably why I like Kevin Herne. I need to look for the new one.

I checked Night Circus out on my kindle this morning. I will try to get to it, all this temptation and enthusiasm is really hard to resist. :) I remember liking the Cherry Orchard in high school. Looking forward to it with the dc's.

We spent today out running errands and enjoying the weather and some beautiful spring flowers. Naturally we ended up in a discount book shop. Much to my surprise they had a book I have wanted for years but never actually bought. Bess of Hardwick by Mary Lovell http://www.lovellbiographies.com/bessofhardwick.html. This will be one of my 16th century reads and looking forward to it. Fascinating woman who married well many times, was Queen Elizabeth's close friend, and Mary Queen of Scotland's jailer. Quite a resume.

Cary Grant....most of them :lol: Rebecca Raiders...I like the first and third best Gotcha....Dh and I love that one No Way Out......can't find my copy Goldfinger......like most James Bond movies but Sean Connery is the best of the Bonds imo although I love the Timothy Dalton one

I will have to add it to my pile! Notice I have quit calling it a stack........ Darwin's puzzle cards.....what fun! Only problem would be people would want to collect them all. Can you imagine all the requested he would get because his acquaintance s lost their card? :)

Can't resist providing a link to what I suspect is the setting for your poem http://www.visithullandeastyorkshire.com/thedms.aspx?dms=3&venue=2173292 . It is an incredible nature reserve to visit near Hull.

Just returned from my random pick experience with Margaret Mayhew's Three Silent Things. http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Three_Silent_Things.html?id=cgf1QgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y I had to have a second go also because first go led me to a shelf with James Patterson exclusively. Not only have I read most but am trying to quit reading his books! I ended up with one that looks enjoyable and I have never read anything by her, perhaps not as out of my comfort range as Robin was hoping for but better then Patterson. ;) I had dc's pick 3 numbers -- 1 to 26 for letter of the alphabet, they picked O (one shelf ended with n and the next started with P, no O's) then 1 to 5 for which shelf in the group that houses my letter, then 1 to 10 for which book on shelf, started counting randomly was the plan but not many on shelf so number 9 won.

Well I finished Shadow Spell by Nora Roberts before overdrive took it away. Not quite sure what to say because if it had been that genre of book by someone other than Nora Roberts I would be giving it a satisfied thumbs up I suspect, but it is by Nora Roberts and doesn't feel like it at all. These characters aren't particularly fun, sort of just get the job done types. I haven't fallen in love with any of them which I normally do with her's. Has she gone the way of James Patterson with others doing the writing for some storylines? The last JD Robb was great, which is why I am wondering if she has handed off some of her work to others. I also finished The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Loved it. So thank you to whoever recommended it. Because of all my googling I have learned much about Richard III and the Neville Family who interest me in general. Maybe my 5/5/5 should be adjusted to reflect this. ;) I have read 2 so far and have requested a stack of resource materials. Anyway great book.