Little Pixie

I saw Margaret Atwood interviewed on Charlie Rose the other night, and she was talking about something called the Future Library Project. I`m not sure how I feel about not getting to read someone`s work, but knowing it exists. On the other hand, I suppose in the future, it might bring long forgotten authors to the World`s attention again.

Ooh, thank you. I`ve had it for years now; I still like it.

Wow, fantastic book haul in September. Are those later Phryne Fisher books as good as the first 3 ones ( which I`ve read ) ? I was excited to see that they`re going to make a 3rd season of the show.

I love the sound of your book trip ! Ooh, and a big yes to photos of bookshelves. Yep. Also, eating food hovering over the sink rather than sitting down means you save calories.

Thirded ! I found that having a big TBR has meant a choice of lots of genres, so I`ve always had something to read if I`ve suddenly got a whim for South American authors, for instance. Oh, and having a stockpile of series/books by favourite authors, which I can turn to if I get the reading blahs, so I don`t stop reading.

Wow, many congrats ! Once you know, you can crack 100, I found you read more in the following years.

Whoah ! It`s supposed to be 7-13C here tomorrow ( near the Welsh border ) - thank you, Jet Stream.

Hmm, I must do another TBR count, `cos I think I`ve gone wrong somewhere ( not that it matters, it`s just for fun ! ) I think I might`ve taken off too many books ( and got confused with re-reads.. ) I might be 40 books out, oslt.

Aw, what a sweetie !

Ditto. I read Howard`s End is on the Landing , which sounds similar ( and was okay ), but I`m always up for reading books about books.

Ooh, I just looked, and my TBR at the start of the year was 737, so it`s actually gone down ( it`s 731 now ) ! Though there`s an Abbey Fair on Saturday, and they have books, so.... Well, it does help to not feel alone in the swampy midst of a big TBR. I think I`ve felt like reading more, too. Though I think I`ve felt like buying much more...

Oh, that`s so sad. Poor Tuffy. How are the other cats coping ? It`s awful when you lose a furry family member. Plus, it makes so much extra work/money for builders doing repairs...Grr. Hee hee. Hope you like it. I`ll get more from the same author when cheapie books turn up ( that one was £1.19 in paperback, then it suddenly went up to £9+ after I`d bought it... )

The sneezing is very cute ; sometimes she looks at you with a surprsied expression on her face just before giving this little wet sneeze. It`s pronounced shao-shao ( shhhh + ow, as in ow, I stubbed my toe ) It means ` little sunshine`. Poor Jasper. One of my neighbour`s took in a feral cat who had to have his teeth out ; he was so much happier afterwards. Is Jasper having Go-Cat crunchies ? I shall give the Furry Princess a cuddle from you ; she loves cuddles.

I just can`t keep up with a lot of things on here, which is a shame - but I figure we can either read about books or read books... .. And I eventually get round to things in a mass-read, too. A lot of my books have been mysteries of around 300 pages, so the reading hasn`t been too onerous ( plus I do recommend going to bed early to read). Hmm, I was also hopeful that I`d make a dent in my TBR this year. Well, that hasn`t happened.

Hope you`re okay, all the weather in the US looks scary on the news !

Book 189 The Indigo Necklace - Frances Crane Published in the 1940`s, this is from a mystery series with Pat and Jean Abbott, set mainly in the US. This one takes place in New Orleans ( though one character works at a military hospital in Lake Pontchartrain, Kate ) in an old, decaying house populated with a large, extended family. Jean hears a murder being committed and the case involves working out how on earth it was done, and where a body was hidden. It`s a fast, fun read, and you can really picture the bars, restaurants, fashions and weather in the book. Frances Crane bio

Thank you. Xiao-Xiao`s eating well and has been out for walks today, plus had lots of cuddles, so I think she`s on the mend. I think you have to be in the right mood to read the Botswanan books; they`re quite a slow, gentle read ( but it`s like eating crisps, once you read one book, it`s easy to keep reading one after the other ).

Ooh, enjoy your books. I have one of those Sjowall/wahloo books.

More books bought ... The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon - Alexander McCall Smith £2.81 Belshazzar`s daughter - Barbara Nadel £1.78 Described as Istanbul`s Donna Leon. Strange Weather in Tokyo - Hiromi Kamakami £1.78 A tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki £2.81 The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party - Alexander McCall Smith £2.09 How the Light gets in - Louise Penny £2.81 Sweet Death Kind Death, Players Come Again, Trap for Fools, No Word from Winifred - Amanda Cross £2.77, £1.97, £1,97, £2.80 Thus was Adonis Murdered - Sarah Caudwell £1.98 Blood Trail, Blood Price - Tanya Huff £2.80 The Indigo Necklace - Frances Crane £1.19 Books read : 188 TBR 731 New Books Bought : 210 Total Cost : £378.69

Latest books read : 173 Donna Leon - Through a Glass darkly The 15th Inspector Brunetti book. Brunetti investigates a murder on the isle of Murano, famous for its glass factories. A fun, quick read, plus you get to spend time with Brunetti and his family. 174 Andrea Cammilleri - The Snack Thief 175 Andrea Cammilleri - Excursion to Tindari 176 Andrea Cammilleri - The Scent of the Night 177 Andrea Cammilleri - The Voice of the Violin I hadn`t read any of the Inspector Montalbano books for a while, so had a bit of a binge read. Set on Sicily, there`s plenty of lovely scenery and good food, plus farcical situations. Montalbano manipulates his investigations to get justice, in a `lone wolf with a pack of eager police subordinates` way. 178 Melissa Bank - The Girls` Guide to Hunting and Fishing I had this in my TBR pile for ages, having got it free with a magazine ( in the olden days when you got a free book with a magazine, instead of sparkly nail varnish...) It`s a girlie cover, so I was expecting something a bit like Bridget Jones, but this is Bridget Jones and then some. It starts with Jane at the age of 14 and follows her till her mid-30`s ; laugh-out-loud funny, endearing, touching. There`s a depth to it that I hadn`t expected, with some great lines : “Finally, I asked how you got a boy to like you back. She said, 'Just be yourself,' as though I had any idea who that might be.” It`s not perfect ( it`s a series of short stories, instead of one long narrative ) but it makes me want to read Melissa Bank`s other book. Soon. 179 Alexander McCall Smith - The Good Husband of Zebra Drive 180 Alexander McCall Smith - The Miracle at Speedy Motors 181 Alexander McCall Smith - Tea-time for the Traditionally Built 182 Alexander mcCall Smith - The Double Comfort Safari Club No1 Ladies` Detective Agency binge-read. I had a bit of an over-dose on these ; they`re frothy at times, farcical at times, and feel so real to me, that if something bad happens to one of the characters, I have to keep reading to make sure they`re okay. The mysteries which Mma Makutsi and Mma Ramotswe solve aren`t particularly taxing, but they`re sweet stories of life in Botswana. 183 Stuart Palmer - Four Lost Ladies One of the later books in the Hildegarde Withers series. Retired NY schoolmarm Hildegarde investigates missing women by going undercover as a rich single lady in an upmarket hotel. 184 Patricia Moyes - The Curious Affair of the Third Dog Inspector Henry Tibbett and wife Emmy go to stay with her sister in the country and come across a mystery involving greyhounds. A bit unbelievable at times ( I couldn`t really see the Henry I`ve been reading about in so many books, cross-dress to evade some villains ) but still a nice diversion. 185 John Le Carre - The Little Drummer Girl One of those books which take ages to get through, but stay with you afterwards. Charlie - jobbing actress - gets recruited by Mossad to go undercover and foil a bombing. 186 JL Carrell - The Shakespeare Secret Fast, thrilling read, though a bit too complex at times, making it difficult to follow. Kate Stanley - director at the Globe Theatre and previous academic at Harvard - gets drawn into a Dan Brown-ish mystery involving Cardenio, a missing play. 187 Amanda Cross - Death in a Tenured Position Professor Kate Fansler goes to Harvard in the 1970`s to help out a fellow female academic, who`s being bullied by the rest of her ( all male ) English Department. People talk in long paragraphs and quote English Lit, but it all feels quite real. 188 Daniel Silva - The Confessor Gabriel Allon - art restorer, former Mossad agent - investigates the death of an old friend in Germany and gets drawn into a conspiracy involving the Vatican. There`s a jaw-dropping twist and plenty of action.

Books read : 172 TBR 733 New Books Bought : 196 Total Cost : £354.78 Well, the poor cat had to go back to the vet yesterday ; she was scratching around her ear ( same side as where she had the abscess and conjunctivitis ) and pulled out a chunk of fur. It was all weepy and bleeding. The vet thinks it was a residual infection from the last time, and Xiao-Xiao`s had more antibiotics and steroids, plus the vet cleaned up the site and clipped her claws ( just to blunt them a bit, `cos of all the screatching at the wound . ) The furry princess wet herself in her carrier, then poohed at the vets` - she`s so scared, I feel so sorry for her. She has a new carrier now ( she had a wicker one, then a picnic hamper ; now she has a plastic one with a grille at the front). The vet checked her ears and teeth too, and put a stain in her eye ( there`s damage from whatever caused the conjunctivitis - the vet thinks probably a fight now - and she has a small scar on her pupil). Hopefully hopefully hopefully, this is the last visit ; it was her 7th visit in the past 3-4 months, including her yearly check-up for jabs - the insurance has covered everything past the initial £75, so that`s been around £350-400.

The Mangle Street Murders sounds excellent- have wish-listed it. Thanks for the heads-up.

Congrats on 200 books !

Wow ! 200 books by tomorrow ??

I`ve been putting off reading Citadel by Kate Mosse for a similar reason ; it starts off in Nazi-occupied France and I`m just not in the mood to deal with family memories popping up.