Little Pixie

^^ Thanks Gaia and Kate. I do wonder if, the more I read, the shorter the reviews get - and I`ll end up finishing the year with ` I liked this book. It wuz good`. #93 Bones of the Lost - Katy Reichs Hmm, not my favourite of the Temperance Brennan forensic anthropologist books. There are a lot of storylines going on - mummified dogs, underage prostitutes, a trip to Afghanistan to exhume two graves in a small village - and it`s not till the end that it all links up and makes sense. While it`s nice to see what`s happening in Tempe`s private life, and that of the on/off boyfriend Ryan, the ex-husband and the daughter ( not forgetting Birdy, the cat ) , this one just didn`t grab me. #94 A Trap for Fools - Amanda Cross Professor Adams - Middle Eastern Studies lecturer - is found dead outside his office window on campus. Did he jump, fall or was he pushed ? There are far too many people who wanted him dead, and Professor Kate Fansler is asked to investigate by the University. The ending comes a bit suddenly, and while whodunnit and why makes sense, it feels like a bit more investigating was in order.

Sooooo behind with reviews ; I`m posting a list of books which I`ve read, and I`ll go back and slowly fill in the reviews. #63 A Perfect Spy - John le Carre #64 Murder is Served - Frances and Richard Lockridge #65 The Russia House - John Le Carre #66 The Light-hearted Quest - Ann Bridges #67 The secret Pilgrim - John Le Carre #68 Dead as a Dinsoaur - Frances and Richard Lockridge #69 My Korean Deli - Ben Ryder Howe May #70 Thunder on the Right - Mary Stewart #71 The Hippopotamus Pool - Elizabeth Peters #72 The Night manager - John Le Carre #73 Hanged for a Sheep - Frances and Richard Lockridge #74 Death in the Stocks - Georgette Heyer #75 The Patience of the Spider - Andrea camilleri #76 Writers` Block - Judith Flanders #77 Murder out of Turn - Frances and Richard Lockridge #78 mangle Street Murders - MRC Kasasian #79 Wayward Pines - Blake Crouch #80 The Good, the Bad and the Emus - Donna Andrews #81 Death on the Aisle - Frances and Richard Lockridge #82 Seeing a large Cat - Elizabeth Peters #83 The Sonnet Lover - carol Goodman #84 The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter #85 Blood Price - Tanya Huff #86 Double Booked for Death - Ali Brandon #87 Payoff for the Banker - Frances and Richard Lockridge June #88 Nine Lives to Die - Rita Mae Brown Harry, her two cats Mrs Murphy and Pewter, and her corgi Tucker investigate murders in Crozet, Virginia. Whodunnit was pretty easy to work out, but the lovely descriptions of a small farming community held my attention, as well as the little stories involving the animals. #89 I Feel Bad about my Neck - Nora Ephron A short collection of 15 or so essays in a smallish book, but the quality of writing makes up for the brevity. Very, very funny and thoughtful. A selection of quotes from the book : * Never marry a man you wouldn't want to be divorced from *If the shoe doesn't fit in the shoe store, it's never going to fit *When your children are teenagers, it's important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you *Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of thirty-five you will be nostalgic for by the age of forty-five *The empty nest is underrated *If only one third of your clothes are mistakes, you're ahead of the game #90 The River of No Return - Bee Ridgway This got off to such a fascinating start - Nicholas Falcott is about to be killed on a Spanish battlefield in 1812, but instead jumps forward in time and finds himself in the early 21st Century as a `guest` of The Guild, who look after other time travellers and help them to fit into the current timeline. Alongside his story, is that of Julia Percy from 1815, who Nicholas had known. Their stories end up intersecting when Nicholas is sent back by the Guild to his previous timeline. The problem is, the book ends up as a lot of unresolved plot lines and exposition, and the writing goes downhill - #91 Alpine for You - Maddy Hunter Excerpt Really, really funny. This reminded me a bit of the Stephanie Plum books. Emily ( 29, divorced, unemployed ) accompanies her Grandmother - and other Seniors from their small home town in Iowa - on a trip to Switzerland. Anything that can go wrong, does - plus, one of the tour members dies and it`s turns out to be murder. Emily ends up trying to investigate the murder, but lots of farcical events get in the way. I`ve ordered the next couple of books in this series : `Passport to Peril`. #92 A Novel way to Die - Ali Brandon Darla inherits her Great-Aunt`s Brooklyn bookshop and investigates a murder. Whodunnit is easy to work out, but the real fun is reading about the characters in the bookshop and the machinations of Hamlet, the bookshop cat.

I ordered the next two books in the Maddy Hunter series - Top O` the Mourning, Pasta Imperfect ( Both £2.81 each ) . Books read : 62 TBR 820 New Books Bought : 113 Total Cost : £ 305.25

They reminded me a bit of some of the Patricia Moyes covers ; you can see a skull hiding in the artwork there too.

Congrats on all your reading, Gaia ! I finished Nora Ephron`s I Feel about my neck ( 90 pages ) and finished most of Bee Ridgway`s The River of No Return ( 190 pages ) on Friday. Saturday, I read the last 43 pages of The River of No Return and all of Maddy Hunter`s Alpine for you ( 272 pages ) . Sunday, I read Ali Brandon`s A Novel Way to Die ( 292 pages ). 887 pages in total, very pleased with that.

Pah, mere details. The important thing is giving yourself a cool business title. Erm , hurray ? Go Pixie Poo !

Not read any of those, but I recognise quite a few authors - hope you enjoy them.

Aww, thank you. I shall endeavour to start on some catch-up reviews. At some point.

Hurray for the new fridge ! A neighbour had work done on their house a few years ago and used these people to hire porta-loos.

It`s delightful, isn`t it - I`ve admired some of the other covers too.

I want to try Alpine for You next ( that just arrived this lunchtime from the US ).

Ooh, lovely books ! That was nice of your sister.

I`m in ! I want to finish The River of no Return which I`m halfway through ( and stuck on, hmm ) and to finish a Nora Ephron essay collection, I feel bad about my neck which I`m really enjoying.

Keeping fingers crossed for safe fridge arrival. Grr at the vet and JL in general. I didn`t know that Waitrose/Ocado had a pets` section -` our` Waitrose is finally being built now, after being talked about for aaaages. Had a good laugh at your clicky when I looked at the cats section and saw the ad for kitty litter.

Thanks Gaia and Kylie - some of the new books arrived today, I`m all excited.

I don`t know why I was laughing - my little darling has systematically shredded the back of my bedroom curtains.

Yikes ! Poor kitty. Washing machine pipes ??!

Excellent news ; fingers crossed for tomorrow. Grr at John Lewis breaking your furniture. Did you get money off them for it ?

The Furry Princess has insurance ( only `cos one of the neighbour`s cats got diabetes and the insurance paid out £1.5K for just the first 6 weeks , and it seemed an idea to get insurance too, so that if she got ill in the future, she`d still be protected ) - then a few weeks after getting insurance, she had 6 or 7 vet visits - abscess and conjunctivitis - so it was really worth it. Grr, can`t post below your quote...

Ooh, I have the Edward Petherbridge/Harriet Walter DVDs - I looooved those when they first aired. I also have the five Ian Carmichael TV adaptations ( a bit 1970`s dated, but still watchable ) and have heard a lot of the radio plays through Radio4extra. I do hope that Jill Paton Walsh does some more of the books. Enjoy your re-reads .

That`s abysmal. I`ve ordered 3 things from John Lewis - a washing machine, a very expensive mattress and a bed - all were delivered damaged. Fine, they gave me money off, but it`s a pretty rubbishy service. Hope the local shop comes through for you.

Thanks Steve - still feeling pretty rough, but finally on the mend. Poor Pixie ! Does she have insurance ? How does she fell about all the vet visits, poor girl. I hope the special food has made a difference to her health ?

I`ve ordered quite a few more books. Death of a Tall man - Frances and Richard Lockridge ( £9.95 ) Alpine for You - Maddy Hunter ( £2.81 ) Mystery in White - J. Jefferson Farjeon (£1.97 ) The Track of Sand - Andre Camilleri (£2.31 ) Double Booked for Death - Ali Brandon (£2.50 ) Big City Eyes - Delia Ephron ( £1.49 ) I feel bad about my Neck - Nora Ephron ( £1.94 ) Let Sleeping Dogs Lie - Rita Mae Brown ( £4.60 ) The Book of Life - Deborah Harkness ( £2.65 ) Popular - Maya Van Wagenen (£2.80 ) Bones Never Lie - Kathy Reichs ( £1.75 ) A Novel Way to Die - Ali Brandon ( £3.13 ) Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well - Nancy Atherton (£5.11 ) Fax me a Bagel - Sharon Kahn ( £2.81 ) Miss Zukas and the Library Murder - Jo Dereske (£2.81 ) More Amelia Peabody books - The Serpent on the Crown ( £2.40 ), Children of the Storm ( £1.89 ), A River in the Sky ( £1.99 ), Tomb of the Golden Bird ( £1.99 ) Carol Goodman Books - The Drowning Tree ( £1.79 ), The Seduction of Water (£2.00 ), Arcadia Falls ( £2.80 ) , The Ghost Orchid ( £2.46 ) Books read : 62 TBR 818 New Books Bought : 111 Total Cost : £ 300.63

I`m guessing those are the brilliant Ian Carmichael ones ? Chrissy, sounds like you`re enjoying the books ; I love them too, and recently got a Dorothy L Sayers biography and the first volume of her letters ( to get to, at some point.. )

Thanks Gaia.