Madeleine

I don't think this year was an outstanding year for reading for me, and there wasn't one book which made me go wow, best book of the year. However I have discovered a new author, largely thanks to this forum, and a new series in the shape of Oscar de Muriel's Frey and McGrey series, and I look forward to reading more of this series, for pure escapism if nothing else.

So sorry to hear about your dog.

It's actually stopped for a while, meant to get much milder.

I think this is one of the wettest, greyest Christmases I can remember in a long time, it's rained pretty much constantly since Christmas Eve, a few brief respites yesterday and on Christmas Day, and has been so dull. It was also foggy for a while last night, but did clear up after a while. Very dreich, as they say in Scotland!

Read a lot less this year, mainly due to hardly commuting. My normal end of year tally would be late 40s, maybe 50, which is the figure I usually aim for. This year I aimed for 30, and have just finished number 30, and may scrape through with 31. Edited to say that book 31 bit the dust last night, I got to just over halfway through and couldn't manage anymore, sorry!

Very impressed by Kate's piano playing at the Royal Christmas concert.

Merry Christmas everyone

That's lovely, maybe a few tassles to add the finishing touch?!

Song for Guy - Elton John

I Believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake

A Noel Killing by M L Longworth - this is a Christmas set adventure in the beautiful town of Aix-en-Provence, featuring local examining magistrate Antoine Verlaque and his wife Marine, as the town prepares for Christmas. When a local expat American businessman collapses and dies at a carol concert, it's initially thought to be a heart attack, but once it's revealed that he was poisoned, a murder hunt is launched, with the whole town, as well as visiting traders at the Christmas market, is under suspicion. Then Verlaque realises that maybe the American, who wasn't very popular, wasn't the intended target. It soon becomes apparent that the reason lies within someone's past, and Verlaque, with the help of the police commissioner and Marine, sets out to find out the truth. This was an enjoyable mystery, it's part of a series, and fits perfectly into the cosy crime genre. There's also a lot of food, and Verlaque and Marine are likeable characters. 7/10

Yes they are sort of similar, but I think DM has much more of a sense of isolation, in Thin Air, even when the guy is on his own he can still the others moving around over at the base camp, and could signal to them if he wanted to, whereas in DM, once Jack is left alone, he really is alone! Apart from the dog of course. i agree that DM is the better book, although I know some people didn't like the ending.

I used to love that TV series too!

Almost organised, have posted all cards that needed posting (I think) and took 2 parcels to the Post Office today and miracle of miracles, no queue! Have one more to send as I had to get a bigger envelope, I try to re-use those padded envelopes but didn't have any large enough, as most of mine are paperback sized! Tree went up end of Nov/beginning of Dec, have a few more decs to come from mail order but otherwise all decorated.

The Warrior's Princess by Barbara Erskine - teacher Jess wakes up disorientated following an incident after a college disco, she suspects her attacker maybe a colleague and resigns, and goes to her sister's isolated house in Wales to recuperate. She soon starts to sense a presence and strange things start happening - noises, objects being moved etc, and she keeps hearing a young girl's voice crying in the nearby woods. After a bit of research she realises that her "visitor" is a young Welsh girl, Eigon, who along with her mother was kidnapped by invading Roman soldiers, and taken to Rome, where she's reunited with her father, the warrior king Caratacus, and although the family are installed in a luxurious villa, essentially they're under house arrest. But while out one day Eigon recognises one of the soldiers who attacked her during the raid in Wales, and he also sees her, and is set on silencing her for good. Meanwhile back in the present day Jess goes to Rome to stay with her sister, who's gone there for the summer, and her friend Kim, and to continue her research into Eigon's story, and the girl continues to visit her. However she also has another visitor, her suspected attacker from that night in London. She believes that her own assault is what links her to Eigon, and the reason why the girl is asking her for help across the centuries. Jess also tries to escape her attacker, but instead of doing the sensible thing and going into hiding, she does exactly the opposite. And that was as far as I got, it was actually halfway through but I'd been wondering how the author was going to keep the story going for another 200 pages, and I lost interest in the story, and Jess was annoying me too much! So I gave up. This is the only Erskine book which I haven't finished. DNF 2/5

Crazy - Seal

I couldn't get in either.

there's a whole debate going on as to whether Die Hard is actually a Christmas movie - discuss!

Summer the first time - Bobby Goldsboro

The Muppet Christmas Carol is also good fun.

I think the Book Show is still on occasionally, you need to search for it though!

I enjoyed Thin Air, I've never been able to look at a rucksack without thinking about that one since I read it! Very creepy and atmospheric as you say. Have you read Dark Matter? That's even better.

I'm putting aside the Barbara Erskine for a while, to be honest it's dragging a bit and the "heroine" is getting on my nerves! Starting Christmas reads now, "A Noel Killing" by M L Longworth, cosy crime set in lovely Aix-en-Provence.

Boys of Summer - Don Henley

The Cook of the Halcyon - Andrea Camilleri this is the penultimate book in the long running series about Inspector Montalbano, set in Sicily. As usual a series of relatively minor crimes which seem to be unconnected, and the suicide of a boatyard worker, all reveal a bigger picture, when Montalbano finds himself investigating the brief appearance of a beautiful sailing ship, The Halcyon, which docks briefly, takes on a large amount of suppliers, and then sails off again, with no passengers, except occasionally a couple of beautiful young women..... Salvo's curiosity gets the better of him and soon he finds himself on the edge of something much bigger than he realised, plus it seems that his days may be numbered in the police force. this looks like it could be his last stand, as he puts himself in real danger to solve the mystery of the Halcyon. This was another entertaining read, although it does meander at first once the plot gets going it tightens it's grip, and in amongst the humour (there are some very funny scenes which I can't mention as it'd be a huge spoiler) there is real tension too. 8/10