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Athena Wow, you have a nice sized pile of books there ! You are a speedy reader so it will give you plenty of books to choose from . Thanks for the Picoult review. I have yet to read a book by her . Not sure why because I think I'd like her books. I guess I'll give one a try sometime !

Kate You do that too !

Not to butt in on the conversation here, but Will, the book you read wasn't NEARLY as good as the one Kate just read ,( in my opinion . Pretty dull in fact .

Books I'm not what you'd call a churchy type person myself ,so when I read the Albom book it wasn't that I took it to heart so much about the heaven thing . I think it meant a little something different for me . I have always felt that everything in life happens for a reason ,and things are interconnected with each other in ways that we sometimes don't even notice or pay attention to. I liked how this book sort-of hooked all the pieces together to show that theory ,so to speak . I think I like the Albom books ,not for the religious significance, but for the life lessons that they give me . *And no apologies needed if you didn't enjoy it that much . We don't all like the same exact things, thank goodness ! It'd be a boring place if we did .

Ian I used to read a lot of Goddard's but haven't read any of the recent ones . The old ones were great, but the last one I tried was probably in the category that you are describing : little bit ho-hum ,not bad, but not great . My 2 favorites were probably Past Caring and In Pale Battalions .

Tunn You're doing great so far this year . Good job ! I'm glad you gave the review of Leonard Peacock . It sounds like a really good book, but maybe not one to read if you are in a down mood, huh ? Keep up the good work

Beautiful presents ,Kay ,and great shopping, Claire !

Three 5 -star books in a row ! Great job ! They all sound very good .

Kate Sorry the book was such a disappointment . I really liked it myself, but it's not as fresh in my mind as it once was. I read it back when it first came out . I remember wishing it would have told a bit more about the murder and trial, etc because I like true crime books ,but I enjoyed reading about some of the colorful characters that lived there . It also sounds like a beautiful place . Hope you find a better book for the next one !

Kate I envy you having such a fantastic teacher . Sadly, I can't say I had any super-inspiring teachers in school . Mine were all ALIVE during Ancient history !!! They all had grey hair, glasses, hearing aids, canes ,etc ... All old and grumpy . I guess my best teacher was my 8th grade English teacher . She was meaner than a rattlesnake, but a good English teacher .

Karen I finally figured out how to see your review (DUH to me !! ) ... Anyhow, I didn't think you made it sound bad at all. You gave the good and the bad points of the book as you saw them . They guy who commented below sounds like one of those know-it-alls that wants to shove his opinion down everyone else's throats . Although I DID like the book a lot , I wouldn't call it a Masterpiece . I'd call it a good book that I enjoyed . I was probably also swayed because it was told from the viewpoint of an old person. Lots of my favorite books are told by a crotchety old person ,telling the story of their life .. Anyhow, I think you responded politely to the old grump . Better than I would have, I think .

Hi Karen I tried going to the page you mentioned, but can't figure out how to see the review or roll the page up to see it. I clicked on the book and the date, but if I click on the side, the other tabs come out so I can't roll the page . Is it the book Ebenezer Le Page ? I read that earlier this year and loved it ,but that isn't saying that you are wrong if you didn't like it, or that I am right if I did . We all like different types of writing and books and we are all searching for a book that will speak to us or teach us something we may not have known before . I see nothing wrong with posting an honest review about a book. You shouldn't feel like you need to like a book just because it wins awards or is a bestseller . I have tried reading bestsellers that I thought were a waste of time ,so it's all in the PERSON . It doesn't make you bad if you don't like a book. It makes you HONEST

Thanks Athena and Devi ~~ Kay Yea, I've got 2 of her others here ,so will be giving them a try at some point !

Thanks, Kay Have you read it already ?

Will be interested in hearing what you thought of Leonard ... I have been eyeing that one myself !

Books Wow, you have been doing some major reading lately ! Good for you ! I read shadow of the Wind way back when it first came out, but want to reread it since I have the other ones in the set now . Maybe your review will give them a boost up the pile a bit !

Thanks Kate Yes, I've had it on my tbr for a long time and finally finished it . It was really good ! Tunn Yes, I also have Fingersmith and have started it a couple times but never gotten very far. Maybe I'll be more inclined to try it again now. Thanks for stopping by, you guys !

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters 4/5 The "Hundreds Hall " , a manor house , was first introduced into the book when the town doctor was a boy of 10 . His mother was a maid ,and he got a small glimpse inside the house at a garden party ,when his mother took him inside to visit with her friends who worked there . He became fascinated with the house after that . He went on to school to become a physician ,and came back to the village he grew up in to practice . Soon, he becomes acquainted with the Ayres family, the residents of Hundreds Hall . At first, he comes to treat their maid, but soon becomes friends of the family and visits them quite often . As time goes on ,he becomes fond of them and has quite an interest in the house . By this time, it has become in very bad shape ,the family being unable to keep up with the repairs on it . As time goes on, he also becomes their physician ,and strange occurrences begin happening in the house .Slowly small things begin to take on more alarming proportions . Odd events happen , which make things spiral out of control in the house . The author does a good job of telling the story . If you like a good old fashioned gothic story about a spooky old house with a lot of unexplained events happening , then this is for you . I'd give this one a 4 /5 . Will definitely be reading more by Sarah Waters .

Alexi Yea, I know what you mean. My list is at a pretty overwhelming number too . I think I have 400-some on my Kindle ,which is too much of an overwhelming number for me ,so I'll probably take a look through and see if I can trim them down a bit more . There are probably some I'll never read ,so no reason to keep them .

Nothing wrong with that, Chrissy ! Read whatever you enjoy .

Wow, I just looked it up and it's about 729 miles from here . We'd both almost have the same distance to drive. I was thinking it'd be a lot close for you guys, but I guess not ! Quite a drive for either one . Yea, those long drives usually end up with headaches, etc... that's why we usually take our time when we go on a trip. Of course, it's been several years since we have gone anyplace on a vacation . Maybe someday again !

Very pretty ,Janet !

Hi Janet Jimmy Durante was a comedian back in the 50's and 60's I thin. Not sure how long ago. I just remembered seeing him when I was a kid on the old variety type shows. I picked him because he had such a wrinkled up face. Trying to figure out someone who had a really old-looking wrinkly face . What picture did you get on your tattoo , if you don't mind me asking ? The Bingo Book challenge seemed an easy one to find books for ,not being very restrictive as far as a specific list ,so it should be do-able as long as I keep on reading. I can probably find books to fit into all the slots . Thanks for the well wishes .

Thanks, Kay Yes, out of all the things going haywire, the JOB is definitely the biggest worry . He's applied at lots of places ,but no luck so far . I think maybe his age is what the main problem is . 56 -- kinda hard to start over at that age I think ... He worked the same job since 18, so it's strange for him to be back in the job-seeking world . Hoping someone will give him a chance. If I knew we would still have an income and insurance, I think I could deal with the rest . Keeping my fingers (and everything else ) crossed .

Janet It sounds as though you have hit the Book Jackpot lately ,and run onto some really good books. I also read My Cousin Rachel a l-o-n-g time ago and don't remember a lot about it other than I really liked it , almost as much as Rebecca . Glad you are having a good start to your reading year .