Madeleine

Hmm if it's about the first Mrs Rochester her name was Bertha in the book.

Just had quite a heavy shower, although it's dry for the moment, but quite cloudy.

A lovely sunny day (so far) but a definite chill in the air.

Yes there were some fab cakes weren't they, Selasi's looked so professional although I thought Candice's was a bit of a mess. Poor Andrew looked shaky for the first time. I've never watched X Factor either but Rylan seems to be fairly ubiquitous, I don't think he won but I think that runners-up seem to have more chance of a career than the winners (except for Will Young).

Me neither.... each to their own though.

Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton

Rosemary Schrager is a professional chef but she hosts quite a lot of other shows so might not be available. Rylan is some X Factor runner-up, he's on Good Morning Britain (not that I watch it much, one of the good things about being at work! is not having to sit through inane daytime TV...) No idea who Cherish is though.

If you like books in the spooky, wintery vein, how about Dark Matter by Michelle Paver? Or The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse (although it's a bit gory, with it's descriptions of taxidermy!).

I've ordered another Linda Gillard book from Amazon, "Emotional Geology" and also Rachel Hore's "The House on Bellevue Gardens" which came yesterday. I've got another instalment in the Lymond Chronicles "Checkmate" on it's way, and I've also won a book to review from Library Thing, "End of the Roadie", can't remember the author but it's a light-hearted crime novel. So my poor postman/woman will be quite busy!

I've only seen the Angel of the North from a train but it looks pretty impressive. Glad you had a good time, it's a fascinating area.

Hope you feel better soon Athena, I read on the other thread how you can't taste anything - that's horrible isn't it! Hope that clears up soon.

No time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

I've watched a few episodes of Beck and it's OK but it hasn't grabbed me so I can take it or leave it. My favourite foreign dramas are The Bridge, Montalbano (especially the younger one ) and The Legacy, which is a Danish series shown on Sky Arts.

I've never heard that one before, it does sound a bit bizarre. Maybe different local authorities have different rules, I have visions of traffic jams building up as people lay first claim to some poor creature's remains!

Could have done without a tour of the East End, especially on a Monday night! Think travelling is the worst thing about working in London, although I suspect most commutes can be hellish in any city. Some of my walking group take home road kill if it looks reasonably intact, pigeons etc and I know a few who've brought home a pheasant; most of them around my way are wild, so I think it's allowed, although if the bird has a ring on it's leg then presumably it does belong to someone but I don't think they're a protected species here, they certainly seem common enough in certain areas. I think with deer I read somewhere that you have to check with the landowner first if it came from a farm - again, I assume it would have some sort of tag or registration on it somewhere, but I do know people who've taken one home (although I hasten to add they didn't hit it, they just found it). I think most of the deer in my part of Essex probably belong to either Epping Forest of the City of London Corporation, but I'm not sure what the regulations are, except they're always saying there are too many of them and they cause a lot of damage to the forest.

Still windy and quite humid, but bearable.

The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve

Meant to be quite nice here tomorrow, and then it will get cooler. Definitely cooler at night.

A scratchy throat is usually my first indicator too, although sometimes it doesn't develop into anything. Hope the first Defence works, I've had other people recommend it too. Had a nightmare journey home last night, no trains (apparently something hit a bridge further down the line, so my friend who doesn't even use the trains told me - no info at the station at all apart from "major disruption" signs) so got a bus and had a nice tour of the East End of London and got home just before 8.00, thankfully I had today off, as I don't think I could have faced another journey!

It's been fairly warm today, and very windy!

That must have been awful hitting a cat. Hope everyone's feeling better, it's a bit early for the bug season!

Poldark Victoria Ripper Street Great British Bake Off Shades of blue and The Fall starts this week so will record that as I'm out most Thursdays

Got caught in an unexpected downpour at lunchtime and was drenched, that wasn't forecast for this area! Now it's quite bright and you wouldn't think it had rained.

I skim read most of the lists in LOTR and GofT, one thing both authors have in common. The 3rd LotR book could have done with some editing, imho.

What a great topic! The book which got me seriously into historical fiction was Philippa Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl". Will try to think of some other genres now. Catherine Cookson's "Mallen" series probably got me into family sagas, although I suppose you could call it historical fiction as well.