Little Pixie`s Bookshelf 2013

[Athena]

That's pretty nice !! (@ Sandi Toksvig extract)

Edited October 3, 2013 by Athena

[Little Pixie]

TBR - 723....   


I ordered some new ( used ) books ; I got the next four of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries, and an Imogen Quy mystery by Jill Paton Walsh, who also writes the continuing adventures of Lord Peter Wimsey, which I like. There`s a new one -  coming out - hurray !

 

Silent in the Sanctuary - Deanna Raybourn
Silent in the Moor - Deanna Raybourn
The Wyndham Case - Jill Paton Walsh
The dark Enquiry - Deanna Raybourn
Dark Road to Darjeeling - Deanna Raybourn

[Chrissy]

I'm a huge Lord Peter fan and truly thought that the last book by JPW,  'The Attenbury Emeralds' was to be the last, so I am delighted to read this. She did a great job with the last book, so this is most definitely going to the top of my wish list. Thanks for the heads up.

[Little Pixie]

I'm a huge Lord Peter fan and truly thought that the last book by JPW,  'The Attenbury Emeralds' was to be the last, so I am delighted to read this. She did a great job with the last book, so this is most definitely going to the top of my wish list. Thanks for the heads up.

 

 

There`s been quite a gap since the last one, hasn`t there. I`m liking the sound of the latest one ; the synopsis reminds me a bit of Gaudy Night, which I loved.

[Little Pixie]

Book # 87   Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn  TBR 722 

Amazon Synopsis :

Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.” London, 1886 For Lady Julia Grey, her husband’s sudden death at a dinner party is extremely inconvenient, not to mention an unpardonable social gaffe. Once the shock has passed, however, things take rather a turn for the worse. Her eccentric relations descend en masse (and her odious Aunt Ursula clearly intends to stay until another relative expires elsewhere), and Julia is forced to drape the mirrors in crepe and herself in endless widow’s black. But when swarthy, inscrutable private investigator Nicholas Brisbane tells her that her husband’s death may not have been due to natural causes, Lady Julia finds herself thrust into surroundings she could never have imagined, from the elegant home of a renowned courtesan, to a volatile boxing match in a gypsy camp. As the truth begins to emerge, Julia discovers that she has much to learn; about her husband, herself and the infuriating, mysterious and very attractive, Mr Brisbane… Set in the extravagant surroundings of upper-class Victorian England, and introducing the compelling, charismatic Lady Julia Grey this is a must read.

 

Great fun. The whodunnit aspect is the least of it ; it`s really a book about a Victorian Era woman of a certain status who finds that she doesn`t like being purely decorative and fitting into her assumed place in Society, and ends up kicking over the traces in a major fashion. There are some great lines, and this book has one of my alltime favourite openers...

 

“To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.”  

 

Looking at reviews, it does seem to be one of those Marmite books ; I enjoyed the whole ` woman finds herself` aspect, but if you`re expecting nothing but a murder mystery, this ain`t it.

 

I liked it enough to order the next four books in the series.

Edited October 8, 2013 by Little Pixie

[Little Pixie]

Book # 88    Silhouette in Scarlet by Elizabeth Peters  TBR 721

 

Amazon Synopsis :

One red rose, a one-way ticket to Stockholm, and a cryptic message in Latin intrigue Vicky Bliss - as they were precisely intended to do. Vicky recognises the handiwork of her former lover, jewel thief John Smythe, and she takes the bait, eagerly following Smythe's lead in the hope offinding a lost treasure. But the trail begins at a priceless fifth century chalice which will place Vicky at the mercy of a gang of ruthless criminals who have their eyes on an even more valuable prize. And the hunt threatens to turn deadly on a remote island, where a captive Vicky must dig deep at an excavation into the distant past.

 

I really liked the start and end of this very funny thriller, but it`s the middle I had trouble with.  A whole bunch of new characters suddenly turn up and I had great problems trying to work out who was who, and what was going on. A shame, `cos the rest of the book was a hoot.

Edited October 8, 2013 by Little Pixie

[Little Pixie]

Book # 89    The English Assassin by Daniel Silva    TBR 720

GoodReads Synopsis :

An Israeli spy by trade and art restorer by preference, Gabriel Allon arrives in Zurich to restore the work of an Old Master for a millionaire banker—and finds himself standing in blood and framed for the man’s murder.

 

Fast moving thriller in which the behaviour of the Swiss Authorities during WW2 keeps affecting the present. It`s a real page turner and well researched without feeling like a history lesson.

[vodkafan]

I never used to be big into bags till i started to need to carry pain killers and other meds around. I worry about being an easy target for bag thieves because of my sticks and all, so i still carry my wallet in my pocket.

 

Devi you need one of those concealed sword sticks. There is a specialist shop in London which still supplies them I believe!

[Devi]

I`m guessing that a rucksack would be easier for you, too ?

  

 

Well i have been thinking about getting one to try. I currently use a sling bag.

 

Devi you need one of those concealed sword sticks. There is a specialist shop in London which still supplies them I believe!

I have always wanted one! A friend of mine has been trying to get me one but we aren't allowed to have concealed weapons here, so it will have to stay home .

[Roland Butter]

Devi you need one of those concealed sword sticks. There is a specialist shop in London which still supplies them I believe!

You're probably thinking of the wonderful Jas. Smith and Sons in Holborn.  Don't do swordsticks any more, I'm afraid - they're illegal, I'd think - but it's still worth a visit if you're in the area, as some of the photos here suggest:

 

http://www.james-smith.co.uk/

[Little Pixie]

Is it safe to come out yet ?  

 

Boo, my Kindle Fire`s going back to Amazon - but they`ve created me a replacement order, so yay. The battery`s never been right - it`ll lose 10-12 % overnight and I probably get around 1 hour of use out of it for a full battery charge. I didn`t really notice at first `cos I was doing so much playing around with it and looking at things, but then I recharged it to 100%, picked it up the next day, and it was down to 89%. I did all the trouble shooting stuff that Amazon chat told me too, and turned off/down things which could drain the battery faster ( like setting it to only check for email once an hour ) but nothing helped. Hope the replacement`s better ; I tried asking them to swap to the Kindle Fire HD, in the hope that the different configuration would have a a better battery, but nothing doing, they can only replace like with like. 

 

Oh - and in other Amazon news - I managed to accidentally order two copies of the same new paperback. I went to return it and the Amazon computer said ` Full refund and please keep the book, no need to return it`.   Lovely Amazon.

[Athena]

I hope your replacement Kindle Fire will work better! That's great that you got to keep the book .

[Little Pixie]

I hope your replacement Kindle Fire will work better!

 

Fingers crossed.   And I can return it to an off-licence near here, which has a Collection + point, so I get a receipt straight away.

 

That's great that you got to keep the book .

 

It was really nice of Amazon.

[julie]

Pixie

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the Fire .Amazon is usually great at customer service ,so they should get it all sorted out for you . 

 

They do have a buy-back program if you have Kindles you no longer use, they will buy them back and you can use the money to trade up to a newer model. I've not tried it myself, but have read about it on their website .

 

I wouldn't think it'd be a good idea for a pretty new model ,but if you have an old one that's kind of outdated, maybe it'd be worth it to trade up at some point,

[Little Pixie]

Pixie

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the Fire .Amazon is usually great at customer service ,so they should get it all sorted out for you . 

 

They do have a buy-back program if you have Kindles you no longer use, they will buy them back and you can use the money to trade up to a newer model. I've not tried it myself, but have read about it on their website .

 

I wouldn't think it'd be a good idea for a pretty new model ,but if you have an old one that's kind of outdated, maybe it'd be worth it to trade up at some point,

 

Ooh, thanks for the info.

 

The new /2nd Kindle arrived today, so I`m busy recharging it before I use it, just in case that makes a difference. Amazon emailed me a receipt for  the old one within an hour of handing it over at the shop, which I thought was good.

[Little Pixie]

Book # 90  The Wyndham case by Jill Paton Walsh   TBR 719

 

Amazon Synopsis :

The locked library of St Agatha's College, Cambridge houses an unrivalled, and according to certain scholars, deeply uninteresting collection of seventeenth century volumes.

It also contains one dead student.

Tragic and accidental, of course, even if malicious gossip hints that Philip Skellow had been engaged in stealing books rather than acquiring knowledge when he'd slipped, banged his head, and bled to death overnight.

Only Imogen Quy, the college nurse, has her doubts - until another student is found, drowned in an ornamental fountain...

 

I really liked the author`s Lord Peter Wimsey continuations , but this just didn`t have the same deft touch. The who/how/whydunnit was superb, but the characters didn`t come to life for me, and the author seemed to wander into the book to present her own views ( on valium addiction and funerals, for instance ) rather than those views emanating from the characters. I snigggered a couple of times at the dialogue ; there`s a fantastic description of a moonlit river, then there`s a rather jarring " Wow ! " said Imogen, looking at the scene, oslt.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2013 by Little Pixie

[Little Pixie]

Book # 91  Water Witch by Carol Goodman    TBR 718

 

Amazon Synopsis :
 

"You have only to call my name to bring me back," he whispered, his breath hot in my ear. "You have only to love me to make me human."

Seduced by a powerful incubus demon, Callie has succeeded in banishing him to the Borderlands but Liam still haunts her dreams, tempting her with the knowledge of how to bring him back.

But loving an incubus usually ends in death for a human. For her own sake, Callie must learn to control her desires and ensure Liam remains trapped for all eternity in his watery prison.

Only there is a more dangerous creature than Liam in the Borderlands. The Water Witch is looking for a way back.

 

The second book of the Fairwick Chronicles, following on from Incubus. A real page turner, and lovely to get more of the story. If there`s a criticism, it`s really that it is all one big story split into three books, so it would be better to read them one after the other.

 

In this volume, Callie finds out more about her parents who died when she was little, and what they were involved in, as well as finding out more about her new home. 

[Karsa Orlong]

Sorry to hear about your Kindle Fire problems, Sarah.  I've been reading some complaints about the new Paperwhite, as well (people returning them because of dead pixels on the screen and such).

 

And you probably won't want to hear this, but they've just announced a new Kindle Fire, the HDX.

[Little Pixie]

Sorry to hear about your Kindle Fire problems, Sarah.  I've been reading some complaints about the new Paperwhite, as well (people returning them because of dead pixels on the screen and such).

 

And you probably won't want to hear this, but they've just announced a new Kindle Fire, the HDX.

 

Grr, I heard about the new Fire - that`s why I wondered if they`d switch me to the latest one, hoping that had less problems. 

 

I really love what it can do, but it eats up the battery at a rate of knots ; I think the best thing for me to do is do a recharge, then just use it to read an actual book, and monitor how long the battery lasts for ( in aeroplane mode too, so I know there`s no extraneous usage ). If it still doesn`t get anything approaching 9 hours, then I know it`s a general fault, or I`ve just been unlucky.

[Little Pixie]

Inundated with ladybirds today - as fast as I can get them out of the sitting-room, they`re flying back in.

[julie]

Pixie

 I have never timed it ,but it seems to me as if the battery on the Fire doesn't last as long as they claim . I need to run an experiment sometime .Charge it completely ,,turn off the internet connection, turn the light down to a lower level and see how long I can read on it before it needs charged . I tend to keep mine plugged in a lot and just use it that way ,so I wouldn't have an accurate guess .

[Little Pixie]

Pixie

 I have never timed it ,but it seems to me as if the battery on the Fire doesn't last as long as they claim . I need to run an experiment sometime .Charge it completely ,,turn off the internet connection, turn the light down to a lower level and see how long I can read on it before it needs charged . I tend to keep mine plugged in a lot and just use it that way ,so I wouldn't have an accurate guess .

 

Thanks, not just me then.

 

I did see something about web browsing taking more from the battery ; I think it was in the Kindle Fire `welcome page` thingy, or in their troubleshooting bit. And their latest Kindle fire says something like ` 17 hours if you just read a book, 11 hours otherwise `. As it stands, I have to recharge it for longer than I can use it, which just seems wrong. I`ve downloaded some books to it now - like Henry James` The Golden Bowl - so I can do a proper test of it.

[Athena]

That does sound wrong! I don't have a Kindle Fire but my Kindle Paperwhite can last for a while, if the wireless is turned off and least and the light is on a low or off setting. I'm not sure how long it lasts if you have the light on a high setting and with the wifi on all the time, I always turn it all off if I can because it saves battery. Hourswise it'll last shorter for me since I read faster so it has to turn the pages faster. I've no idea what it's like on the Kindle Fire, I do hope for you it won't be too bad. It doesn't seem right that you have to charge it up for longer than that you can use it.

[Little Pixie]

That does sound wrong! I don't have a Kindle Fire but my Kindle Paperwhite can last for a while, if the wireless is turned off and least and the light is on a low or off setting. I'm not sure how long it lasts if you have the light on a high setting and with the wifi on all the time, I always turn it all off if I can because it saves battery. Hourswise it'll last shorter for me since I read faster so it has to turn the pages faster. I've no idea what it's like on the Kindle Fire, I do hope for you it won't be too bad. It doesn't seem right that you have to charge it up for longer than that you can use it.

 

Thanks for commiserating.  I`ll have a better idea once I`ve run the latest charge down to 15%, then done a full recharge and just used it for reading.    

[Little Pixie]

Book # 92 Dark Possession by Carol Goodman  TBR 717

 

Amazon Synopsis :

How far would you go for love?

Callie McFay is about to cross worlds and time...

Fairwick used to be populated by all manner of magical creatures but when a cabal of witches forced the closure of the last door to Fairie, the townsfolk had to choose sides. Now it is up to Callie to find a way back.

Her quest will take her far from home - to a 17th Century Scotland where the demon she once fell in love with is still very much a man...

 

Lovely end to the trilogy ; it`s difficult to say why without giving too much away, but there`s a very satisfying tieing up of the story lines.