Madeleine

Rained most of yesterday from about 3.00 until late, snowing now but it's too damp for it to settle and it's those small swirly flakes which don't really go anywhere! We also had thick fog on Thursday morning so we've had pretty much everything weatherwise this week!

Roll with It - Oasis

We've had very mixed weather lately, had torrential rain on Thursday night, then yesterday was lovely, one of those gorgeous February days where you can actually believe that spring really is on the way - I've got five crocuses in the garden, and a dwarf iris has just opened out - now it's raining again but not that cold, and tomorrow it's meant to snow!

The Chalet by Catherine Cooper - this book is set in 2 time periods, it begins with a ski-ing accident in 1998, then comes forward to January 2020, where 2 couples, Ria and Hugo, and Simon and Cass, are spending a week at a luxury chalet in the resort where the accident happened. Hugo is wooing Simon to be an investor in his leisure company, he desperately needs him on board, but Simon is a boorish man who bosses around his young wife Cass, who has recently had their first baby and is clearly suffering from depression. Ria can't stand him and is reluctant to play the perfect hostess, although luckily there are staff to provide food and hospitality. In 1998 we get the story of Louisa, who's on holiday with her boyfriend Will and his showoff brother Adam, who's brought his trophy girlfriend Nell along. Louisa is terrified of ski-ing but starts to learn, then there is an accident and only one brother survives. Back in 2020, a fierce storm causes an avalanche which reveals a long hidden body. The surviving brother comes over, reluctantly, to identify his sibling, and ends up staying at the chalet as well, but there are people in the village who remember him, and one of them in particular has a score to settle. I enjoyed this, it's a fast-paced thriller and it was fun trying to guess who is out for revenge, although it's easy to narrow it down to a few suspects. And judging by the ending, it looks like they're not finished yet! 7/10

she's one of my new favourite authors, I think she gets better with every book - haven't read this one yet.

Snow's forecast for the weekend!

We will rock you - Queen

I came across the Frey and McGray books on GoodReads, where another book friend recommended them - I've ordered the whole series! Glad they're popular on this forum too.

I loved "The Dry", especially the final showdown. I've enjoyed her other books too, glad to see she has a new one out. I have Scrublands on my tbr pile.

note

Singer

Rock the Casbah - the Clash

I've started listening to the R4 version, it's enjoyable (2 eps so far) but does feel very abridged.

Park

Hello Meg, nice to see you here (from another BGO member). Hope we'll see some of the others in due course.

Only You - Yazoo

Excellent, thanks

With Eyes Wide Open - In Flames

Carrie Fisher was a real shock, especially the day after George Michael - both huge parts of my childhood and popular culture of the time. Author Sharon Kay Penman has also died, not sure when but I just saw it on a historical fiction forum on Facebook.

Had quite heavy snow late morning, but it's stopped - settled a little bit, couple of cms maybe - but is already disappearing. yesterday was nice, cold but sunny.

Without You - Harry Nilsson/Mariah Carey

Mad World - Tears for Fears

It is a bit chick lit - it comes under that genre - and as I said in the review it's fairly obvious how it will turn out - but I found it a lovely feelgood read, and the descriptions of the landscape and animals are very good.

A Winter Beneath the Stars by Jo Thomas - Halley is a courier, who delivers important packages around Europe and we first meet her kicking her heels at a Swedish airport, waiting for a connecting flight which has been delayed. Her job this time is to deliver 2 wedding rings to the happy couple, but when she finally arrives at her hotel she finds that she has picked up someone else's case instead of hers, containing the precious rings. So as the wedding party arrive at the hotel, she has to get her case back, as her job will be on the line too, but the only help is in the form of a surly man called Bjorn, who knows where the owner of the case lives and reluctantly agrees to take her there - except first of all they have to herd 300 reindeer down from the mountain to their winter pasture, along with a team of over excited huskies - and Halley is terrified of dogs. So it's with a fair amount of trepidation that she agrees to join Bjorn on the journey - no surprises what happens next, as Halley gradually learns to overcome some fears and let go of others. There are a couple of reveals in the book but I guessed both of them, however I thoroughly enjoyed it and several times wished I was on that sled with Halley - a sled pulled by a reindeer through virgin snow just sounds gorgeous! I've read a couple of Jo's other books but this is by far the best so far, it's a lovely book and a definite keeper. I want to be a reindeer herder! ]8/10

The Man Who sold the World - David Bowie/various others