Little Pixie

Rats - they`re £5.99 over here. I`ve got the next two in the series lined up in my basket for £1.55 and £1.97 ( used books ), which isn`t bad.

Thanks ! I forgot to say yesterday, hope you like Cross Stitch when you get to it ; I really liked how the heroine is all alone in a separate time, but you never feel like she`s a victim.

Congrats !

Sounds interesting ; I dimly recall some American authors doing something similar. BTW, the Welsh for microwave is `popty ping`. Hee.

Thanks - I read the first page of Roman Blood and was sold on them. It seemed very good. It`s not my usual era, but I`m looking forward to learning about it. It`ll be just like Rome, the TV show, right ?

Those Krister Henriksson Wallander`s are brilliant ; we get six eps of S3, starting tonight - I`m soooo looking forward to them !

Excselentt !

Well, looks like I ordered 4 books this today - how did that happen ? I was looking at Steven Saylor`s Gordianus the Finder series yesterday and thinking about ordering the first book ; just as well I didn`t, `cos the Kindle Daily Deal has the first four of those books for a total of £1.09. Whee !

Aw, you`re most welcome. I must look into her Merlin books once I`m done with her thrillers. Thanks for the Helen MacInnes clicky ; I`ve got a couple of her books in my TBR ( Assignment in Brittany, Above Suspicion ), I might bump them up `cos I`d managed to forget about them ( ) and I was looking for a spy thriller to read recently.

Thanks Steve. Kindle Daily Deal has the first four books of the series for £1.09 - that was lucky, eh ?

I`ve seen the first 3 eps of S2 now - good stuff. Alos watching S2 of Orphan Black.

I quite enjoyed that trilogy, though not as much as her `works for grown-ups`.

Well, that stinks. Sorry to hear that, Devi. Feel-better-soon-balloons ..

Just noticed I couldn`t spell properly that day. Tee-hee.

Hmm, I`ve kept meaning to try `Roman Blood`. Is it set around the same time as Robert Harris` Imperium and Lustrum ?

Books read : 82 TBR 762 New Books Bought : 100 Total Cost : £206.45

Books read : 72 TBR 772 New Books Bought : 100 Total Cost : £206.45 Book # 73 Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon Also called Outlander 1. Excellent historical adventure. Army Nurse Claire and husband Frank go on holiday in the Scottish Highlands just after WW2 to research his family history. Claire is drawn to a stone circle near their boarding house, goes between the stones and finds herself having gone back 200 years in time. She`s swept up in fighting and finds herself taking care of the injured James Fraser ( hubba hubba ) whilst his family investigate her as a possible English Spy. It`s all great fun and a real page turner. The characters are skilfully drawn, it feels historically accurate and - one thing I particularly liked - the nastier bits are related by one of the characters after the event, so you don`t get any real-time graphic stomach-turning stuff. Book # 74 Poison in Jest by John Dickson Carr Set in Pennsylvania in the 30`s, this is a murder mystery set in a creepy, gothic home. Hugely atmospheric. Book # 75 Death at the President`s Lodging by Michael Innes 1930`s detective Inspector Appleby investigates when the President of an Oxbridge-style college is bumped off in his home in the College ; clever and convoluted whodunnit. Book # 76 Twice in a Blue Moon by Patricia Moyes The last of the Henry Tibbett mysteries, it had so-so reviews, so I decided to get it out of the way early on, before going back to reading the rest of the series. It`s pretty readable, but not a patch on the other books. You can easily work out whodunnit. Book # 77 Wilful Behaviour by Donna Leon Great stuff. Inspector Brunnetti`s wife Paola is approached by a student seeking help with an old family problem ; it`s not long till she gets bumped off and Brunetti investigates. We find out some things about Count Falier in this one... Book # 78 Storm Front by Jim Butcher The first in the Harry Dresden - Chicago Wizard books aka, The Dresden Files. It`s such an accomplished book that you feel the character must`ve been in a few books already ; he`s a hard-boiled detective who works with magic. It`s dark, it`s very funny and it has some cracking scenes when Harry does heroic things in a believable way, ie, he`s scared daft by what`s happening and chooses to be the hero rather than hide behind the sofa. Book # 79 Fanged and Fabulous by Michelle Rowan Meh. Couldn`t get into this one at all - new vampire is torn between two male vampires, swoon. And yawn. It talks too much about previous events and looks forward too much in setting up the next book, when it really should be focussing on the present events in this book. I did wonder if I was just too old for this sort of thing, and maybe someone tweenage would like it though. Book # 80 Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor Fantastic ! But I can say very little about it without spoiling all the wonderful surprises from the first book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It`s about Karou, a teenage Czech girl who is drawn into a fantastical yet believable world, and how she stands up and does the right thing, rather than the easy thing. Beautifully written and so uplifting ( you feel better for having read it ). Book # 81 Death and the Dutch Uncle by Patricia Moyes Inspector Henry Tibbett and wife Emmy investigate a murder, which takes them to Amsterdam and Sneek. There are lovely descriptions of the waterways and small towns. Book # 82 Hamlet, Revenge ! by Michael Innes A very cleverly done whodunnit from the 1930`s, which was really spoilt by the use of the ` N` word. Perhaps later editions are edited for racism, but this was obviously off-putting and nasty.

Mary Stewart Dies I`ve cut-and-pasted the Obituary since The Times has a paywall. What a shame ; I`ve so enjoyed her books. Still, to get to 97 is good going.

I haven`t bought a book for a couple of weeks now - go me !

I think the last time I gave up on a book was over a decade ago, but I`ve given up on this one. Earlier books in the series have really good reviews, so I assumed this might be good - it really wasn`t. I got it in The Save the Kitties Shop for £1, and I feel annoyed at the waste of money. It`s set in the 14thC, but drifts into modern vernacular ; for instance, a Nun wants to visit a shrine, but is afraid that the number of pilgrims around will turn the event into ` a bunfight`. If there was twerking going on at Ye Olde Tavern, it wouldn`t have surprised me in the least. I didn`t care for the characters - when I could tell them apart - and it felt research-heavy ( lists of what people would`ve eaten at the time, their armour, and long discussions of the politics of the day ).

Thanks. Ii`m feeling less brain-bunged-up today.

Fantastic new books !

I thought keeping a big list of books bought and the cost would have a restraining effect on me. However....

Getting to 100 was a little scary, though exciting to realise that I`ve come across some lovely new series.

Hee, I`m tempted but no - shan`t. I`m waiting till I feel that I must read another 800 page whopper before ordering, rather than order and have another book for the TBR or papery dust mountain. I`ve treated myself to some newbies recently that I`m waiting for Amazon to send out in the next few weeks ( some Louise Penny and Lisa Lutz books ) and I keep telling myself that the TBR will only get bigger...