A couple of weeks ago I reread the a book in one of my favorite series Ben Aaronovitch’s The Hanging Tree. I forgot to mark the spot but Peter Grant is examine a crime scene to see if the crime could have magical links and studies the bookshelf. He notes that the bookshelf has several titles that they watch for including The Dark is Rising series and The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. So......A year ago a read The Dark is Rising for the first time at the urging of a group here but had never heard of this Weirdstone series so naturally I needed to read it! It is pretty good. It has a quest and dwarfs, goblins, and a wizard. A mix of Welsh and Nordic folklore. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/694997.The_Weirdstone_of_Brisingamen @Kareni I am sure you already know this but the next book in The Written in Red series will be released in March. . I am second on the list. I need to get cracking if I am going to reread that series first, I promised myself I would!

That was fun, thank you! No idea how I missed Mrs. Pollifax. Maybe my library at the time did not have them? 😉 Doubtful, I am wondering if the covers simply did not say pick me up and read me....yes, I am sort of serious. For impulse reads I am all about the cover! Also thanks everyone for the kind quilt comments. I finished this month’s Whodunit Challenge. My plan for this challenge is to spell first and last names of each detective but Robin has lots of ways to complete the challenge over on 52 books. I love these challenges because I can use pretty much any book to spell with and it gives me an excuse to read fluffy books each month for a letter. 😉 If you look at my books you will see I really have a bit of lots of genres represented......Chic Lit, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Cozy.....Some were used for other challenges. Next week I will sit down with my stack and see which letters I already have in my to read pile for the next detective, after that I fill in off of wish lists etc. H...... Mr. Hotshot CEO by Jackie Lau E......The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton R.....Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhouse C.....The Law of Angels by Cassandra Clark U......The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman L.......Still Life by Louise Penny E........A Different Kind of Evil by Andrew Wilson P......The Ice Princess by Camilla Luckbuerg O.....The Other Miss Bridgestone by Julia Quinn I.......Broken Ice by Matt Goldman R......The Dead Ringer by MC Beaton O......Death Overdue by Mary Lou Kirwin T.......The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

Yesterday I read a Finnish (translated) book calledThe Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen that I could not put down. It should have been depressing because at the book starts in a doctors office with the main character being told that he has been poisoned slowly and is dying, no cure, could be hours, days, or weeks.......he sets out to figure out who did this to him. Along the way he discovers his nice as the owner of a mushroom company is not what he thought......it really was a page turner although I don’t think my description sounds very page turning. 😂. It was on a recent list......... As a bonus I get to use it as a 10X10 personal category of Brexit Express( books from 10 EU countries w/out UK). Good enough that it received 5* on Goodreads from me. I also finished the first Mrs. Pollifax book. I have heard about these cozies for years but never picked one up. The first one was written in 1983 and full of Cold War references which were great fun for me. I was a bit offended that she is considered old at 65ish but as the CIA sent her on her dream spy mission.........not that old. Anyway I used it as my something old for bingo ( as in old book series) and it also gives Hercule a U. I need an R and I am done spelling for January! Btw, I gave Mrs. Pollifax a 5* and already have the second in the stack.

I read Posie too! I follow several quilting related blogs, most via Bloglovin. I tend to skim the topics and the main photo. I only really read the few that catch my eye. Along the way I have started following a couple of travel, book, and cooking blogs.......once again it’s the photo and main header that pull me in. I like clear descriptions and useful information in general, because I am using most blogs to become better at quilting photographs are very helpful. My favorites are Bonnie Hunter’s Quiltville and talltalesfromchiconia. Those I have delivered to my email and read all of them.

Thanks for the link!

A sip read is something you plan to read over a long period of time in small bits. There are definitely better explanations but since I was posting I thought I would give you mine.😉 I finished listening to the second Gamache A Fatal Grace and while it’s foundational to the series I understand why I stopped with this book years ago and took a multi year time out with the series. This book sort of lacked the magic ..... dark foreshadowing for the future. References that are somewhat unexplained. Anyway I am going to take a break for a few days at least and listen to something different. I am getting close to finishing spelling Hecule Poirot as I knew I needed to get it done while I still had all those vowels in my stack. Book titles with words starting with vowels can be a challenge to find for those who haven’t tried one of Robin’s spelling challenges. I finished The Law of Angels late last night so Hercule now has an L. I have been enjoying this series set in Yorkshire during the reign of Richard the Second. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9092374-the-law-of-angels.

Thank you so much for the update. I have been sending prayers all morning.

I hadn’t heard of Fortunately, the Milk so looked it up on Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17349203-fortunately-the-milk. It sounds like a great book and have to say I am probably going to check it out myself.......the first review is cute on GR btw. Rather you count it or not I would start a shelf on your Goodreads and keep track of the things you read with your son. I have an old fashioned journal of book lists that I used from the time Dd was three that I love looking at. Having it on GR would be really convenient for recommendations. I enjoyed the links, thank you! The bookish parenting article got me thinking........ Did anyone read to their children in utero intentionally? My ds was read to a whole lot because of his big sister needed her books. I didn’t really see much of a result from ALL of those books if I am being honest in DS, Dd loved them. With Dd in utero I just behaved normally for a person on modified bed rest and watched a whole lot of figure skating because of the Olympic s. I did notice Dd seemed to react to the music the different figure skaters were using for their Olympic performances. She would get super excited whenever Todd Eldridge skated or his music played, she still got really excited by his music after she was born. I did read to her after she was born from practically day one. We did Winnie the Pooh multiple times because I keep it on the stand beside my breast feeding chair and I forgot my book frequently..........

I have to admit Game of Thrones made me pause....as in I am not ready for that book. 😉. If the parents had no idea of content then it wouldn’t be stopped. It sounds like work to stay one step ahead of that boy who has lots of outside influences. I do think the parents are doing their best with an extremely bright kid.

Well said. Since I have no idea who the other half of the wedding party will be I could get a surprise. It’s sure to be hectic because our it will involve quests from two countries. But I am looking forward to whatever the future holds. btw, my wedding was a zoo. I didn’t enjoy it but I am an optimist and the two country thing should keep it small. 😉

Ok, I looked at the website for a really long time then went to find the copy of the first book which I thought I had on my kindle. I had something with a similar cover🤣. I just bought On Basilisk Station for free. I need to learn about these books...... i finished listening to Still Life, the first Gamache book. I loved it this time around even though I forgot it all....I did know who did it because that character no longer lives in Three Pines. I started the second book and have forgotten it all but am pretty sure I know who did it as they no longer live in Three Pines!

@Lady Florida. I will be thinking of your family tomorrow. Do the grandparents have their duty schedules worked out for the boys again? Several years ago I did a reading challenge where I tracked the countries I visited in my reading. I think I managed 38....my version allowed me to count multiple countries per book. Anyway I just spent a really long time finding the website I used and thought I would share a link https://bighugelabs.com/map.php. I enjoyed looking at my map! If there is something better now please let me know! 😉

One of the kids friend’s went through this process recently for one of the headcount sports listed in the articles. She was on an elite team in the UK but didn’t end up with a place through the agency she used. Not sure on the details or what went wrong as it wasn’t really our business to ask. But I do know her friend who graduated the year before used the same agency and has a full ride through them. So it does happen and it does apparently need to be through an agency, fwiw I thought the agency she used simply was a format for her to display her interest and stats to many recruiters. Fwiw I think Lewelma’s student can do this. I am not sure how well the practice exam will go because the format is going to be so different for her but think she can adapt. From a UK perspective anyone doing the Statistic’s A level is a good math student and probably hasn’t been exposed to that much algebra. Pretty much what I expected when I read the original post. Not sure about NZ but not that many continue math in any format after GCSE level in the UK. I think the harder algebra topics are rolled into the first year of the A level work for those on the Calculus track as they need to happen for those students someplace. I remember looking at a different friend’s review work right before her GCSE and remember thinking it was lighter on algebra than I anticipated. Friend got an A Star so obviously she was well prepared. At the same time my kids were doing their Sat Subjects etc and she was fascinated with those exams as the format was so much different. I actually think the format might be hard for this student to adapt to so glad she has a tutor (Lewelma) to guide her. This is a math able girl with a plan being made for her and I am assuming a pretty strong motivation to succeed in this exam.

I hate it when that happens! Not sure if you noticed but for a couple of days Overdrive was predicting how long the holds list would take but forgot to take into account the number of copies. I had laugh because I am #4 on 4 copies for Melmoth by Sarah Perry which I am looking forward to but don’t have room for until I get through one of my current books. To me that says could appear any day better finish something......their formula said 12 weeks! Uhm, three weeks at the most. 😉

I finished The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (called 7 1/2 in US, I grabbed the wrong cover on Goodreads) and it was great! I actually gave up on this book after a few pages when it first came out which is an example of why trying again can be worthwhile because this could end up as one of my top books of the year. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36337550-the-7-deaths-of-evelyn-hardcastle This book is different and it doesn’t get boring like I expected.......Evelyn Hardcastle dies at 11pm at a rather flufferton house party in the middle of a forest somewhere in England. The party is to celebrate her return to the country after 19 years in Paris where she was sent after the murder exactly 19 years ago of her little brother. The main character has 8 lives to solve the murder, all in a different guests body. The day alters each time.......the book was so fun in that I loved seeing it through his eyes in the different body’s. Some were elderly, some grossly overweight, some young....... I started my reread/listen to Still Life by Louise Penny. It has been so long since I read this one that I remember none of it. Three Pines seems empty without Gamache there. It is so strange to have these beloved characters and have them seem rather incomplete. Still reading The Hanging Tree in my Rivers of London read and I started a chic lit titled Mr. Hotshot CEO by Jackie Lau. It’s a nice light read for riding in cars or reading while others are watching TV. 😉

My first thought was a set amount of time on Alcumus at the AOPS website each day with an account you can monitor. That way you could maybe find all the weak points quickly before you move on. Obviously you have a lot of ground to cover but I think that might help the foundation a bit.

I married a huge Dr. Who fan. In the ‘80’s PBS showed it on Saturday nights in the US. I was introduced slowly to the episodes he liked best and my kids were raised on his VHS tapes. DS learned to read because he was convinced we were keeping the truly good episodes from him......we were! Thank you for the update, your mum has been in my prayers. Give her a hug and tell her we miss her here!

Praying

Yes, the Tardis. The dog robot is a character called K9 who appears primarily during the Tom Baker Years, roughly ‘70’s. I think Robin and family should be just about to start watching these episodes. The other robot is a Dalek and is the perennial Dr. Who baddy from practically the first episode back in 1963. Daleks are terrifying except for the age old reality, stairs defeat the early ones! 🤣 I suspect the Star Trek fan in you would like Dr. Who.....there are books with the characters too. 😉 I have pre-read a few for DS and they were pretty good.

Trail of Lightning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36373298-trail-of-lightning is a book that was mentioned on a few best of 2018 lists that I finally got around to reading. Urban Fantasy that was special because all the fantasy (pretty sure 😉) came from Native American legends.......other favorite authors use bits and pieces like Patricia Briggs and Faith Hunter but blend in vampires, werewolves, etc. this book was sort of the urban fantasy Hillerman might write. Climate change has broken society apart and a wall has been built around a large part of New Mexico by NA. The main character is a monster hunter from the monster hunting clan. Loved this book so much and can’t wait for the next one. I was thinking about who among the BaW friends would like this and think @melmichigan, @Robin M, and @JennW in SoCal all probably would. I was thrilled to see @ErinE post and want to recommend it to her too. Erin. Recently I have been reading some modern romances so have a couple of authors/ series to recommend. I loved Sarina Bowen’s series starting with Man Hands. It was reviewed as laugh out loud funny and it was! It was also fill with adult language... as in from the first sentence and adult scenes but it was hilarious. I have also discovered Jackie Lau recently. Her books aren’t quite as good but I keep reading them.😉 @aggieamy my audiobook is not a classic Flufferton but it is good. It is a mash up of Groudhog Day and a classic Flufferton complete with a house party. There is going to be a murder at the end of the day and the main character is reliving the day in different bodies until he solves it is a very uncomplicated description. I have passed the half way point and can’t wait to start quilting tomorrow so I can listen to more. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is one of the best of’s at my Overdrive on audio which appears to mean unlimited copies are available. I suspect you would like it and so would your Dh.

I agree, a table full of BaWers would be much more fun. I kept thinking about how my famous guests dislike each other. Miss Marple and Nightengale would love each other. St. Cyr.......... I agree, Kate and her family would be fun!

I drink a whole lot of tea all day long but consider coffee to be a treat. I love ice cream, not quite as much as my daughter who will eat ice cream anytime, anywhere, even outside in the snow! Famous people are hard.......

Ok guys, I resisted temptation for all of maybe two minutes and now have the Still Life audiobook ready to start. I have never listened to this one and did not love it when I read it several years ago......liked it but the big puffy ❤️Ganache Love did not come from that book! So my threatened reread will start after I give The 71/2 Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle a try....I need an E. I guess a reread of the Louise Penny series makes sense before I read the latest and before March when Gamache is our dectective of the month!

Last year I happily clicked on the Reacher movie on Prime and discovered short little Tom Cruise as Reacher and turned it off. Just could not have that vision in my mind the next time I pick up one of the books! I really loved the new Murder on the Orient Express. I will admit watching Poirot without the real Poirot 😉 was odd but the scenery was incredible. I finished listening to The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg for one of my I’s in the spelling game. It’s also my second Ice book in a book chain......and my first in my Nordic Noir category. 😂😉It was a really convenient book and it was good. I will be reading the rest of this series which is set in a rural area in Sweden. Highly readable......I have the second book on hold.

I was definitely me! Glad you are enjoying it. We actually have a good friend who teaches Latin and Greek at a private boys school and to my knowledge has never looked at the teacher’s guide for Cambridge. Although he teaches from the Cambridge texts with good results. He advised me not to bother to spend the money on the teacher’s guide, just use the online portions for answers if I needed which he believed to be very good.....he hadn’t looked at it but knew his students did. Wheelocks is much better and the old editions are cheap. I used to love mythology but not sure how much I would remember for a test. i finished my Christie this morning. The Sittingford Mystery was clever overall.....The Who was in my sight I just couldn’t remember the How! Not a bad reread but not a favorite.