Little Pixie

Yikes, Louisiana`s leading the news here - how awful.

Great book haul ! I`ve got that John Twelve Hawks book too, and I`ve read Tess Gerritsen`s The Mephisto Club - I thought it was an edge-of-the-seat page turner. Enjoy your books !

Thanks - she`s hiding upstairs atm, in fear of another vet visit. She doesn`t believe me when I tell her she doesn`t have to go again for another year.

Were you using your selfie stick ironically ?

Thanks - it can take up to a month for books to arrive from the US, so it`s like getting a present when they pop through the door, `cos I`ve almost forgotten I`ve ordered them. My poor cat Xiao-Xiao had to see the vet yesterday for her annual check-up and jabs - she was so scared of going in her basket, she peed on the dining-room carpet ( it`s usual for her to pee or poo on the vet, or in her basket on the car-ride to the vet ). She did that scary open-mouth panting in the car, but settled down in the vets` waiting room ( her basket was sprayed with feliway, which is supposed to calm her down ). Her vet said she`s looking good and commented on how nice her fur looks, plus the scar on her eye from last year has completely healed up, so no trouble with her eyesight at all. She`s pretty skittish today, and is off her food though. She has hayfever and is pretty itchy round her face - Stronghold for fleas and mites hasn`t helped with that - the vet suggested wiping her face with a wet flannel when she comes inside, saying that cats go nose first through the grass and that could irritate her skin. She also suggested trying a different dry food, saying that Go Cat has additives and to try a more expensive one to see if that helps, so Xiao-Xiao now has some Iams to slowly introduce to her diet - hopefully, that`ll help with itchiness. Oh, and I got her some dried catnip from the Supermarket ; it comes in little baggies, I fell like I`m on a feline version of The Wire.

I`m going to Kimple your last two books ; I especially like the sound of Where there`s smoke. EDIT - Turns out I already downloaded that Jodi book when it was a freebie in June 2014 - hurray !

Wow ! Just WOW ! Those are some pretty magnificent pics !

I ordered 4 books : Jo Dereske ( Miss Zukas in Death`s Shadow, Final Notice, Miss Zukas shelves the evidence ) and Elisabeth Bumiller - The secrets of Mariko ( a year in the life of a Japanese woman and her family ). £13.05 altogether.

Poor thing. Stay strong. That`s a brilliant book deal.

I think it`s nice that the cat does charity work to help disadvantaged cats. .

Aw. * sniffles in sympathy* Sounds like you`ve had a great time.

Brother Cream - Cat in HK Aww.

Welcome Alice ! Happy Reading.

I`ve skipped through it - wow - that`s a whole lot of books !

Hello Alice ! Ditto on the love of Mary Stewart.

Or you`re on a kitty version of You`ve been framed.

Have a great time, Steve ! Do they do poutine in that part of Canada ?

It must be part of some human training regime.

#113 Hula Done It ? - Maddy Hunter Excerpt Book 4 in the Passport to Peril series, and a return to form after book 3, which was all a bit meh. This time, Emily is escorting her tour group of Seniors from Iowa on a Hawaiian cruise, taking in some of the places which Captain Cook visited. Along for the holiday are the delightful Nana, grumpy Berenice, clever Tilly and other loveable characters from previous books. Emily and Nana attend a lecture from a Captain Cook aficianado, who promptly gets killed. Emily and the Seniors investigate and we`re off on another romp. There`s a treasure hunt , a Halloween costume party and Emily has boyfriend trouble. Again. Pure entertainment.

#112 A Meditiation on Murder - Robert Thorogood Excerpt Based on the Death in Paradise TV show, this has Detective Inspector Richard Poole, Detective Sergeant Camille and the rest of the team solving a variation on a locked room mystery, on the fictional island of Saint Marie in the Caribbean. The downside : It reads like a novelisation of a TV episode. The upside : It reads like a novelisation of a TV episode. Hurray ! If you like the show, it`s like getting another episode with the Richard Poole character, set about one year after he arrived on Saint Marie. A guru at a Spa is murdered inside a locked Japanese meditation lodge, which can only be opened from the inside. One of the spa guests inside the lodge must`ve done it, but which one ? It`s a twisty-turny complicated whodunnit/howdunnit with uptight Richard and eye-rolling Camille. All the usual characters appear too, including Camille`s Mum and Harry the Lizard. Unfortunately, I`m not sure how accessible the novel is to people who haven`t already seen the TV show ; I could hear the characters voices in my head whilst I was reading and picture them, so I didn`t need to read indepth characterisation, plus I was familiar with the use of the White Board of Clues ( which pops up a few times in the book as a way of recapping the plot, and maybe seems a bit odd to newbies ). I`ll happily read the next one in the series when it comes out, but I`m not sure that this book will appeal to anyone who isn`t already a fan.

Torties are downloaded with Personality+, or Tortitude. They run around with their little tails in the air shouting `whee!`, they love cuddles and are super-friendly. Though maybe that`s just mine, and the rest are cheeky so-and-sos. The cat said ` Mum` not ` bum` - that would`ve been odd.

#111 Strange Weather in Tokyo - Hiromi Kawakami Also called The Briefcase in the US. Excerpt. Tsukiko - a self-contained office worker in her late 30`s - meets one of her old school teachers in a bar, who she refers to as Sensei. They occasionally run into one another and slowly a friendship develops. Tsukiko , who usually prefers to be alone rather than with someone who doesn`t completely `get` her, gradually thinks she`s developed deeper feelings for this man thirty years her senior. The pair spend time together - going on a trip to a remote island, a mushroom hunting trip and a cherry blossom viewing party - and slowly you realise that there`s a deep connection between two distinctive people. It`s a slightly whimsical tale - there`s a bit of magical realism thrown in - and there are descriptions of local food and nature woven into the story which engender a sense of peace, despite the novel being set in a hugely busy city. It`s a gentle read which takes you along with it, and left me wanting to read more from this author.

#110 Fer-De-Lance - Rex Stout I`ve read a few Nero Wolfe books and liked them, but this is the first in the series ( written in 1935 ) and the first I`ve been ` meh` about. There`s a whiff of racism which colours the whole read for me. Looking past that, Nero Wolfe ( rotund, orchid lover and New York`s finest private detective, living in a brownstone with his own chef and own orchid gardener ) and Archie Goodwin ( Nero`s aide and side-kick ) are on the case. An Italian woman comes to see them, asking them to find her missing brother. Nero links her case to the sudden death of a college professor, and we`re off on a witty caper.

Thank you. She`s also very clever. *Proud Mum* Thanks. I hope you`ll enjoy the Botswanan books too ; did you see the TV show of the books ? The episodes are a delight.

Hee, you`re welcome. BTW, no-one sends the boys round if you don`t read a recommendation.