SueK

I see we lost out on the 2018 World Cup bid then. Eliminated after the first round by all accounts. It's gone to Russia. I won't mention oligarchs, billionare footie club owners or anything.

Can the book be in an historical context. The ones that come to mind are the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael. These are essentially whodunnits but usually in the background is an innocent love story of young people roughly the same age and some have been friends since childhood. Just a thought .....

and of course there is nothing like picking up some short ghost stories, especially around Christmas.

There are times when short stories are great to delve into - if you are between novels. I often pick up some. My favourites are those by Guy de Maupassant and I have a good collection of Daphne du Maurier's short stories too. The Birds being one of my favourites

Watching paint dry last night was infinitely better to watching the dire England football team. What a dreadful performance. Sack Capello I say.

I haven't felt like reading since our break-in last Monday. However, I managed to finish A Vengeful Longing by R N Norris and have now started the next in the series, A Razor Wrapped in Silk and I must say it is taking my mind off burglars. Great writing - this is the series that features Porfiry Petrovich who was the investigating magistrate in Doestoevsky's books (Columbo was based on him) and Mr Norris has taken him on in his series - with applomb, in my opinion.

I thought it was a great ending too. I'm not sorry Mary didn't say yes, she is such a cow!!! After what she did to poor Edith too. Reckon there will be a great second series, they will probably all go to war and die in the trenches!!

No don't sulk Booknutt I have to admit I fell out of love a bit with Barbara Erskine as they were getting a bit samey. But I do like the sound of this book and may give it a go (once Mount TBR has been conquered ). I'm pleased she has changed her format as I think she is a good writer but was getting a tad predictable. Thanks for the heads up though.

Such a difficult call! It would probably be a Sherlock Holmes book and if I have to chose, then I would go for Study in Scarlet - such a well rounded novel.

It was such an awfully long time ago, I really can't remember. It was probably an Agatha Christie book and more than likely a Poirot as I didn't read Miss Marple until I was in my teens. I haven't read an Agatha Christie for years now but I picked up one in a charity shop recently (can't remember which) and I might read it around Christmas.

Has anyone been following this series? I missed parts II and III so don't think I could re-join it now. Is it worth getting the DVD?

Absolutely love this series and boo-hoo the last episode is this Sunday . I think that it is geared up very nicely for another series as presumably the last one will end as WWI starts so there must be plenty of material for a sequel. Hope so. Without sounding patronising, I think ITV have done themselves proud with this production. But then the Sherlock Holmes series was ITV's and that was excellent too (I mean the Jeremy Brett ones). I never thought they would match Pride and Prejudice for production values but I've been proved wrong.

Annoyed as I ordered The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald from Amazon last week. It was despatched on 27 October and delivery estimate was Monday. So far, no book. I have to wait until 15th November for it to arrive and then I can claim refund or replacement by then. I want my book .....

I've discovered a new author named R N Norris who writes detective crime fiction centred around St Petersburg in the late 1800s. Nothing new about that you may say, but he has taken Dostoevsky's investigator, Porfiry Petrovich, and extended his character to this new series of books. So far I have found it works really well. I'm reading the second in the series, A Vengeful Longing, at the moment.

I'm not sure if these ticks the boxes but when you mentioned classics, then I immediately thought of King Solomon's Mines and She - both by Rider Haggard. They are great adventures (and I'm sure Indiana Jones was based on Allan Quartermain) and they are quite witty in places. You may get slightly annoyed though at the Victorian writing style but get past that and you have two great adventure stories.

Interesting thought. I think in the case of Vlad, we have a mawkish fascination with this character's life. I knew he had the title of Impaler but had given little thought as to how he achieved that title. I wasn't expecting a fairy tale and found also, the scenes referred to quite graphic but it did give us a clear view as to why he adopted that kind of torture. Having read it and thoroughly enjoying the book - I think I prefer Bram Stoker's man!

I'm trying very hard to finish "She" by Rider Haggard (had it for over a week now) as I took 3 new books out of the library on Saturday that I want to start getting my teeth into: Stettin Station - David Downing A Razor Wrapped in Silk - R N Norris A Vengeful Longing - R N Norris I like "She" but it isn't as good as King Solomon's Mines.

I watched this too and found it a bit soul-less really. It's got a jolly good cast but they all seemed to be "acting by numbers". When I saw Donald Sutherland still look quite pristine while lounging in a jail/dungeon - I felt a bit cheated. I might tune in to see the next episode - haven't decided yet. There are also some glaring inaccuracies, date-wise which I felt was a bit off. I much preferred the Cadfael series which takes place in the same period of history.

Enjoy Kylie. It is an excellent story! I've noticed Susan Hill has a new ghost story out called the Small Hand and reading the synopsis it sounds quite creepy. Hmmmmm another one for the TBR pile methinks

Right now I'm watching the rescue of the trapped Chilean miners (streamed on BBC website) and it really brings tears to your eyes. The rescue seems to be going with exact precision, and seamlessly - praise to the Chilean Government for their work. My daughter was watching on the big screen inside Waterloo Station and the whole place applauded as the men were being rescued! Doesn't it make you feel good to see some positive news! Now my questions is, how does the last man get out? Doesn't the capsule have to be locked from the outside to get the men uup - 'twill be interesting to see that later on.

I've just started reading She (who must be obeyed) by Rider Haggard after finishing King Solomon's Mines (again). I love his books - he writes such ripping yarns with a sense of humour thrown in too. He is really worth rediscovering.

I know how you feel - I think studying medieval manuscripts is just wonderful. Having travelled around to see the Lindisfarne Gospels; The Book of Kells, Magna Carta etc, I was in the privileged position of being able to handle (extremely carefully)an extract of the Domesday book at the British Library some years' back. I had to wear white cotton gloves but the feeling was just marvellous - touching something that had been born so many hundreds of years back. I'll never forget it. I do have a lot of medieval books in my collection and some are beautifully printed (like the Lindisfarne and Book of Kells) but nothing actually beats feeling the original. Glad you enjoyed and thanks for sharing.

Couldn't agree more - as my avatar will suggest