Little Pixie

Well, I like all animals, but especially cats, so I wouldn`t mind a bit of doggie fiction. I worked out last night that 61/134 books of my books read this year have had cats in them.

It`s that bad ?? Or does a sign come up saying ` You are here`. BTW, the bottom RHS of my screen says ENG - UK keyboard, but my time and date are now in the US parlance ( month/day/year ). Is it affecting anyone else ?

Some of those cave paintings look really good, ie, you can tell what they look like. Perhaps they had an abstract section for the less artistic. Like with splodges.

Thanks - that saved me needing to look it up too. Oops, cat alert ! Someone needs lunch.

I wonder if I`d`ve been one of those people sticking to papyrus rolls when everyone else had upgraded to books.

Sounds terrific !

Well, I didn`t want to even try 8, `cos it looked and felt `wrong` to me, so I feel like we`re equal Luddites.

MY PC seems faster running 10 instead of 7 professional, so I`ll stick with it.

Congrats on all your reading !

Oh ! I looked into scanning the first page of Black headed Pins, but have no idea how to do it with the new Windows software ; the printers working okay, but I`ve no idea how to access the scanner anymore.

Thanks ! Hmm, it looks like regular solitaire but says spider. In the grand scheme of things, it`s not an issue, but you do get used to things and like them. I read something about a better version of Windows 10 being available in 6 months ( I`m assuming that the bugs, etc, will be worked out by then ).

Cats rule, dogs drool !

It`s a shame I can`t see excerpts for any of their books. Some of the Little Sisters` books have been republished by Rue Morgue Press ; I have 12-15 books from them.

Hmm, have got Windows 10 now - have to get used to another version of Spider Solitaire again. *sigh*

And today`s Aww, look at de kitty !

I don`t think Madame needs to be any more adorable. Some of those cats look like they`re enjoying their new bonnets.

Books read : 133 TBR 794 New Books Bought : 154 Total Cost : £ 457.12 Despite a book buying mini-spree, I`ve read enough that my TBR has actually gone down by 2 - huzzah !

#133 Black Headed Pins - Constance and Gwyneth Little Paid companion Leigh Smith - though she`s not paid nearly enough to put up with the miser Mrs Ballinger - lives in a creepy isolated New Jersey house and has to stretch out the housekeeping to accommodate a group of Mrs Ballinger`s nieces and nephews for Christmas. Before long, one of the group is dead, only for the corpse to disappear, and reappear sitting up in a chair. Then other haunted house things happen. It`s screwball comedy rather than creepiness, with heroine Leigh making lots of sarcastic, amusing comments along the way. A clever, fun read. Black Headed Pins was written by the Little Sisters ; I`ve ordered another one of their books, Great Black Kanba ( £4.61 ).

Ooh, I`m a Faerie Fan, so it really appealed to me.

I tend to think ` Ah,I`ll just read one more book, then I`ll do some reviews ` and end up 15 book reviews behind.

#117 G`Day to Die - Maddy Hunter The Seniors from Iowa are off on another adventure, this time visiting Australia with Emily as the tour guide. After the brilliance of the first two Passport to Peril books, and the mehness of the third one, this fifth one is one of those ` diverting enough, and it`s nice to spend time with all the amusing Seniors, but doesn`t quite hit the spot ` books. #118 The Players Come Again - Amanda Cross Professor Kate Fansler is approached to write the biography of the wife of a famous author. It starts slowly, meanders about and doesn`t seem to be going anywhere - then all the plot points suddenly come together and you realise you`ve read an elegantly constructed novel which works on many levels and you just think WOW. Difficult to explain - but worthwhile sticking with it - the book is a meditation on secrecy. #119 Untidy Murder - Frances and Richard Lockridge Published in 1947. Illustrator Dorian is visiting the offices of a magazine about a job, when the advertising exec she had an appointment to see turns out to have just jumped out of his office window .... or was he pushed ? It looks like suicide, but when Dorian is followed home and then kidnapped, her husband Lt. Bill Weigand of the NYPD has to reinvestigate the crime scene, and work out what Dorian could`ve seen which pointed to murder. Along with friends Pam and Jerry North ( and Martini North, the cat ) , Bill has to find the murderer in order to work out who kidnapped his wife. It`s a cracking adventure, with Dorian as a capable, resourceful kidnappee, who`s far from a whiny victim. #120 Miss Zukas and the Raven`s Dance - Jo Dereske Librarian Helma Zukas takes over a cataloguing job in a cultural centre library, after the previous incumbent was found murdered. A charming series set in Washington State, the books start off as so-so, and then suck me right into the story. #121 Norway to Hide - Maddy Hunter Emily, Nana and the other Iowan Seniors take a tour of Scandinavia. Some amusing bits. #122 The Wonder Spot - Melisssa Bank The follow-up to The Girls` Guide to Hunting and Fishing and it`s fantastic. Similar in structure to the previous book ( a collection of short stories in chronological order ), the book follows the life of Sophie Applebaum from friend`s batmitzah to college and into a so-so publishing job. The language is beautiful and it`s so funny - quotes - but above all, it`s the sort of read where you feel that someone`s being brutally honest and telling you how they really feel. Author Interview from 2012 - I`m happy that she`s working on something new. I`d read anything of hers. #123 Out of Circulation - Jo Dereske Librarian Helma and artist friend Ruth go on a hiking trip into the mountains and come across a hiker, covered in blood and babbling about a dead friend. They go further up into the mountains to try to find the body and end up getting caught in a snowstorm. Hiding out in an emergency cabin with other hikers, unable to contact the outside World, it becomes apparent that one of them is a murderer.... #124 Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac - Gabrielle Zevin High-schooler Naomi wakes up in an ambulance and finds she`s lost the past four years of her life to amnesia. Trying to work out who her real friends are - and who her boyfriend is, after the boy who accompanies her to hospital turns out not to be her boyfriend after all - Naomi is forced to analyse her life and her past decisions in order to discover who she really is, or who she wants to be now. A lovely read - thanks to Gaia for the recommendation. I love this quote : #125 Never Nosh a Matzo Ball - Sharon Kahn Rabbi`s widow Ruby gets embroiled in another murder. While I liked the first in the series, this one could do with a bit more character development and din`t seem to have the same drive. #126 Mystery in White - J. Jefferson Farjeon A group of strangers are stuck on a train during a snowstorm and end up in a nearby house, where it seems as if someone has only just stepped out... but they don`t return. The blizzard worsens and the group decide to stay in the abandoned house for the night. They gradually solve the mystery of the missing people and an old murder. There are ghosts, a locked room and a mysterious painting, but no tension. #127 Dutch Me Deadly - Maddy Hunter A series I stuck with `cos I loved the first two books. The series got cancelled and then picked up again with this book, set in the Netherlands. Hurray ! It`s great fun ! Emily and her group of Iowan seniors are on a Dutch holiday with a group from Maine, one of whom ends up in a canal. Dead. There`s a secret from the past which the Iowans unravel, when they`re not busy getting lost in Amsterdam`s Red Light District and mistakenly taking drugs. Excerpt #128 The Venetian Affair - Helen MacInnes American journlist Fenner is sent on assignment to Paris. At the Airport, a man collapses and Fenner`s raincoat is mistakenly switched, but he doesn`t realise until he`s checked into his hotel room. Searching the raincoat to try to find a clue to the owner, Fenner finds an envelope secreted in the lining, and is drawn into a Cold War espionage adventure. A meaty, intelligent thriller. excerpt #129 Bonnie of Evidence - Maddy Hunter Great fun. Emily organizes a trip to Scotland fro her Seniors and there`s a murder. By this point, the group from Iowa are more interested in going on the trips because they get to watch Emily try to solve a murder, and they get to participate ( some of the Seniors have brought disguises along, so they can follow suspects ). Oh, and Nana has followed up her computer and martial arts courses at the Senior Centre with a course in speed-reading... As she explains : #130 Grave Peril - Jim Butcher Chicago Wizard Harry Dresden investigates an outbreak of really scary ghosts. A bit of a downer, but there`re some nice, funny scenes of Harry/Bob-The-Skull bromance, which lift the mood. #131 Summer Knight - Jim Butcher Excellent ! This one was so good, it made me buy the next 5 in the series. It`s raining toads and someone`s out to kill Harry. Then a Faerie Queen turns up. A cracking adventure, fantastically funny - " Bite me, Faerie Fruitcake" may be the best line I`ve read all year - this book really takes the series up a notch. Excerpt #132 Final Notice - Jo Dereske Helma and Ruth pick up Helma`s Aunt Em at the Airport ; someone tries to steal her suitcase, then Aunt Em says that she stabbed someone who tried to steal her handbag - only Aunt Em is recovering from a brain condition and isn`t believed. When the same man is killed outside Helma`s apartment, Helma and Ruth have to investigate why Aunt Em is a target. #133 Black Headed Pins - Constance and Gwyneth Little

Cats in Hats

Thanks - I`ve put the strawberry one in my ` purchase when I have enough books to get free p&p` list ( I like this cover even more, and the excerpt looks fun ). I`ve read a couple of books which you`ve recommended and enjoyed them. Your ratings make sense to me, and I think even if you give a book 10/10, not everyone`s going to be interested in that particular genre, even if it`s brilliant ( for instance, I like cozy mysteries which happen to have cats in them - I appreciate that not everyone will be excited about those books..) ( )

Thanks ! I also got Black Headed Pins - Constance & Gwyneth Little £5.80 - It`s a series I`ve wanted to try for a while, but kept putting off, `cos I couldn`t find any excerpts.

I ordered some books - One Lady, Two Cats - Richard Lockridge £6.43 Kafka on the Shore, Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilggrimage - Haruki Murakami £2.81, £3.85 Picture Miss Seeton - Heron Carvic £4.06 Blackout - Connie Willis £2.81 Murder at Mount Fuji - Shizuko Natsuki £3.35 A Dying Fall - Hildegarde Dobson £3.41 Journal of a Solitude - May Saarton £2.81 A Novena for Murder - Carol Anne O`Marie £2.81 The Basket Case ( A Father Dowling Mystery ) - Ralph McInerny £2.80 Proven Guilty, Dead Beat, White Night , Blood Rites, Death Masks - Jim Butcher £2.72, £2.31, £2.78, £2.66, £2.79 The Nightmare Before Christmas - Donna Andrews £2.66 ( I cancelled a pre-ordered paperback, after I found a new hardback much cheaper ) I also got the Mr and Mrs Murder DVD.