I felt the same way about Mansfield Park, until I listened to a dramatized version starring Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant. I finally enjoyed the story! I read In Farleigh Field last summer at the beach - I probably grabbed the same free Kindle version. I enjoyed it, but then I don't usually read in the mystery/thriller genre, so my tastes may be a bit unformed.. ;) BAW is definitely getting me to read different books. Thanks for all of the fabulous recommendations here! I've added in The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey, and I am really enjoying her use of language. (My first multi-quote!)

I've gotten more reading time than usual this weekend, so I've already got three counties for Brit Tripping. I'll just enjoy it while it lasts, because I don't expect to be able to sustain this level of reading most of the time. 10. The Children of Green Knowe (Huntingdonshire) 11. Death on the Nile (a blink-and-you-miss it reference to Northampton as the setting at the beginning before the action moves to Egypt) 12. Lady Susan (Bedfordshire) Plus I am still making steady progress in Kristin Lavransdatter, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, and Blackout.

Loesje, I just sent you a friend request in Goodreads, but it wouldn't let me attach a message. My first name is Heather.

Can a book count for more than one county? I'm up to three so far in Blackout.

For BritTripping, is it necessary to read in the order that you have mapped out? May a Rebel read in whichever order she likes? ;) I started listening to Blackout by Connie Willis last night, and right off the bat got Oxford and Warwickshire. Warning to y'all: I just started poking around in my Goodreads account, and am figuring out how to use it. I'll probably try to friend most of you, and I'll mention my screen name when I do so. If I can figure it out. I got an account ages ago, and then never used it. Thanks for books suggestions earlier in the thread. I downloaded the Kindle version of Death on the Nile, and also have ordered a copy of The Rage and the Pride. Still plodding along with: Kristin Lavransdatter How to Read Literature Like a Professor The Noonday Devil and have added: The Princess and the Goblin (read-aloud for DD) Blackout (audiobook)

Both books can stand alone. However, the style of TSNotD is modeled after Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (available on Kindle for $0.99). I don't think you would have to read all of Three Men in order to understand the style, but some scenes from it are mentioned in TSNotD. Also, TSNotD is more light-hearted and humorous, while Doomsday is more serious/dramatic. I strongly recommend the audio book for TSNotD, narrated by Steven Crossley. He also narrated Three Men in a Boat.

I love Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog! DD9 listened to the audiobook for TSNotD with me last year, and loved it as well. We like to jokingly do the baby talk that Tossie uses for her cat. "Dearums, dearums JuJu!" :lol: I read Doomsday Book when it was first released, but didn't realize that there were other books in that world until recently. I have the audiobooks for Blackout and All Clear, but I may never get to them because I can't seem to finish up listening to the audio that I have in progress. This thread will help me remember to bump them up to the top of the list! Yesterday I finished The Dreadful Debutante (The Royal Ambition Series Book 1) by M. C. Beaton. I think that I picked this one up for free from a BAW thread a few years ago, and it had been languishing on my Kindle. Entertaining, but not worth paying for any more in the series. 2018 so far: 1-4 The Wrinkle in Time series 5 The Last Archer 6 A House Like a Lotus 7 Why Gender Matters (1st and 2nd editions) 8 The Dreadful Debutante I picked up The Floating Admiral based on a post here a week or two ago. I will either start that, or commit to Kristin Lavransdatter. I'm leaning towards the datter, er, I mean latter. :leaving:

I have heard it said that "good wine is wine that you like to drink." I would say the same thing about tea. Enjoy your Celestial Seasonings!

I wanted to ponder before I responded to this, as I felt "meh" about Many Waters but hadn't really identified what made it so for me. I think that for me, Sandy and Dennys have always been supporting characters in the Murray books that I had read so far. Their role had seemed to be restoring normalcy for Meg and Charles Wallace when they returned from their adventures, as well as being the pragmatic, "normal" kids in the family. I didn't think that their characters were developed enough to carry this book, and especially that they weren't developed as individuals. Reading so many L'Engle books in a row made me realize that I don't care for her pacing at the end of the books. They all seem to fly through the resolution, and I also find myself wanting to know just a bit more about what happened to some characters and why they made certain decisions. That's just my personal preference. I finished Why Gender Matters yesterday. I had purchased it this summer after hearing Andrew Pudewa mention it in a conference presentation, and I just realized that a second edition with additional and updated information came out right after I bought it! I thought that there was good information in the first edition that will be helpful for me with my son, and the second edition is now on it's way... :001_rolleyes:

I tried to participate in BAW two or three years ago, but wasn't getting any reading done because of kids and moving. But I really miss reading, and I'm going to participate as much as I can this year. I started off 2018 being sick, so I had time to read while I was huddled up on the couch. Completed so far in 2018: 1. A Wind in the Door 2. A Swiftly Tilting Planet 3. Many Waters 4. An Acceptable Time 5. A House Like a Lotus 6. The Last Archer, by S.D. Smith (1-5 by Madeleine L'Engle) I tend to have several hard reads going on at the same time, and am slow to finish them. I am going to work on reminding myself that even though I have a stack of self-education books that I want to read, I need to take time to enjoy some easier reads more often. In Progress: Why Gender Matters, by Leonard Sax (almost done) The Noonday Devil: Acedia, the Unnamed Evil of Our Times, by Jean-Charles Nault (in slow bites) How to Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas Foster (just starting) Climbing Parnassus, by Tracy Lee Simmons (just starting) Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset (slow due to lack of focus, hope to pick up the pace) I also have a course on Ancient Rome from the Great Courses going, if I can ever stop coughing and get back on the treadmill.

Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle shampoo and conditioner are sulfate/silicone free.

Yep, I just copied that straight into Evernote! We don't need it right now, but the possibility is looming ever closer. Thank you, supertechmom!

Monstermama beat me to the reply about local stores. Home Depot and Best Buy were all that I came up with as well. I had been thinking about this thread and had the Ring idea while out running errands, and I was so excited to come home so that I could get online to tell you! We're all rooting for you and FIL out here in forum-land :)

Aimee, I had a thought about how to help monitor the situation with FIL once you are back home. We have a doorbell called Ring that has a camera and records when the doorbell is pressed or when there is motion on our porch. We are alerted on our smartphones when the doorbell rings, and we can also view the video. This could be a tool to help you monitor how often the professionals are visiting your FIL, and perhaps a way to call the bluff of all of those "concerned" relatives who descended on you the other day. (What? You say that you've been visiting Dad? You're not on the security camera.) My DH installed ours very quickly and easily. Good luck!

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, and sequels On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, also has sequels. My almost-8-year-old DD has loved these!

I like to borrow a line from DH's cousin, "3 pedals on the floor, as God intended!" I originally honed my skills on the topography of Seattle and the surrounding areas, and then on the icy hills of the Palouse, so I consider myself to be at least one step above "competent." ;)

If there are any pages or ideas that you think that you might want to keep, you could snap a picture of the page(s) and keep them digitally, then throw away the physical notebooks.

1. Add your rebate VISA card to your credit cards in your Amazon account. 2. Use the card to purchase a gift card in the amount that is on your rebate card. Put your email address that is linked to your Amazon account as the recipient of the gift card. 3. You'll receive an email with a link to redeem the gift card. Once you do that, the balance is available for your Amazon purchases. 4. Remove the now empty rebate VISA card from your Amazon account. (I'm waiting a few days to make sure that everything processed correctly, but that's just me being paranoid!)

I received my rebate debit card today. I submitted my rebate on July 14, and received an email stating that my rebate "Is being processed" on July 16. There weren't any problems with the claim, and I'm very sorry to hear that so many of you are having problems and concerns. This was the first time that I have participated in a rebate purchase like this, and your reports on this thread will make me very hesitant to do so again in the future! Also, on the advice of someone in either this thread or the original rebate thread, I immediately purchased an Amazon gift card with my rebate, so as to avoid fees or difficulties spending down the balance. Thank you for that tip :thumbup: Good luck, everyone!

I just forwarded the MSN article to DH because he didn't believe me when I told him that Google is listening. I had been talking to DD about how the British say "leftenant," then picked up my phone, typed "why do the" into Google, and the FIRST auto complete choice was "why do the British say leftenant." That was too creepy to be a coincidence!

Praying

Adorable!

Praying

Praying

:grouphug: Binip For dealing with college costs for your children, have you considered looking for a job at a local college or university? My DH works for a private university that waives tuition for his dependents. This university also belongs to a network of private universities around the country that offer reduced tuition to dependents of employees of member schools. Good luck!