I just started Wild by Cheryl Strayed for my book group. I was expecting another privileged-white-female-on-a-Journey-gazing-at-her-navel book (I freely admit that I loathed Eat, Pray, Love), but this is kind of riveting. I'm only a quarter of the way in, and I certainly don't understand her mindset (she's made a LOT of bad choices thus far), but I'm hooked and she's a very good, and almost painfully blunt, writer. We'll see how it goes.

Frieda, I'm very interested in archaeology but haven't done a lot of reading beyond Archaeology Magazine and a handful of books on bog bodies (I don't know why I find them fascinating, but I do).

As far as Biblical archaeology goes, I have three Bruce Feiler books in the TBR pile that I've been meaning to get to for years -- more Biblical travelogues than archaeology I'm guessing. Have you read any of these? Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses, Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, and Where God Was Born: A Journey by Land to the Roots of Religion. I do have Azimov's Guide but haven't done more than dip into it occasionally. For a while I was on a reading tear on the subject of women in the Bible and all those "misquoting Jesus" type of books.

Your point about unplugging for a while is a good one, I would get a lot more reading done! (Siren call, indeed ...)

I am re-reading "The Emmigrants" by W.G. Sebald, in preparation for a re-read of his "Austerlitz", to immerse myself in his inimitable style.

I'm reading Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd. It's almost too silly to tell you, but I've had the book for some time. When it arrived, I had a bunch of library books to read and then some more came in, etc., etc., so I loaned the book to my daughter who likes them also. When she returned it, I put it in the bookshelves forgetting that I hadn't read it. Then, a few weeks ago I saw it reviewed somewhere and had to go looking to see that I had it. I felt like Susan Hill--Howard's End is on the Landing.

Thank you, Sheri, for mentioning Bruce Feiler's books. I read the available excerpts of Walking the Bible and they whet my appetite for more. I like the travelogue angle even better when there's a specific purpose, such as archaeology in this case, and not just a touristy check-off-the-list, I've-been-there, done-that itinerary type of travel. It's unfortunate that so many of the most interesting (in my opinion) archaeological sites are in places mostly inaccessible because of political circumstances. If I were younger and more intrepid, I would love to do a 'walking tour' like Feiler's.

I don't figure I'll ever manage it, but I really would like to see the Tarim Basin where all those absolutely fascinating mummies still clothed in their enchanting textiles (including tartans!) have been found. I have two books about them that I can get lost in for hours just peering at the photos: The Mummies of Urumchi by Elizabeth Wayland Barber and The Tarim Mummies by J. P. Mallory.

I mentioned the mummies because, like you, Sheri, I'm fascinated with the bog bodies and have read several books about them. However, I find the bog corpses -- or actually the chemically-tanned hides, empty sacks that they are because the bones and innards have dissolved -- rather more gruesome and harder to look at than the mummies. Plus, if I recall correctly most of the bog people were executed or sacrificed or murdered, while the Tarim Basin people died naturally and were carefully and lovingly interred. Still, both sets of deceased are intriguing because...well, because of the unanswered questions: Who were they? Why were they there? What was going on? That's enough; isn't it, Sheri, don't you think? :-)

I'm curious. What are "misquoting Jesus" type of books?

Frieda, I have the Mummies of Urumchi, probably mentioned by you in a long-ago post, and I will be looking for the Tarim Mummies book. I read another book about a bog body called The Life and Death of a Druid Prince by Anne Ross and Don Robins that imagined the origins of Lindow Man as a high-ranking sacrifice made in the hope of ridding Britain of the Romans -- highly speculative, but very interesting.

I went though a period of reading bible-related books, most of them trying to put it in a scientific or historical perspective. Some of these focused on bible translations that may or may not have been accurate, stuff the Council of Nicea chose to include or not include, etc. Some of the titles were: The Historical Figure of Jesus by E.P. Sanders, Understanding the Bible by John Buehrens, Whose Bible Is It? by Jaroslav Pelikan, and Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman. I read these perhaps a decade ago, so I can't recall which were worthy and which were not. I was also on a women in the bible tear at the time, and they've all combined somewhat in my memory.

I'm still working my way through Wild and I'm very surprised to find I like it so far.

Catching up here as we have been away for a week and came back to find the wifi had 'gone down' . . . it always happens on a holiday w/end doesn't it? All put right now.
I have never read anything connected with the Bible and archaeology (perhaps wondering how those dusty stones could be dated with so few artifacts around) but . .. have read The Sisters of Sinai by Janet Soskice about female twins, Agnes and Margaret Smith, born in 1840's Scotland. Both clever and of inquiring dispositions with sufficient funds, they made numerous journeys to Egypt and the Sinai in search of biblical manuscripts which they found and purchased from desert-dwelling monks. Often these were no-more than scraps of parchment written and 'over-written' with ancient texts. (shades of the Dead Sea Scrolls?)
One has to admire these early female travellers, self-taught in the languages of the region, able to engage the services of male servants/guides, ride camels in heavy Victorian costumes, deal with unscrupulous characters and women-fearing monks.
The book is a tad heavy going but for anyone interested in Biblical scholarship it is worth the effort.

I'm reading The Golden Land by Barbara Wood. Set in 1840s, the heroine is a newly trained midwife, daughter of a doctor but not allowed, of course, to practice medicine. She goes to Australia, and the main story begins. I like Ms. Wood; she writes medically oriented stories set in various stages of the past, and they are always interesting.

This is another book I loaned to my daughter, the nurse, before having read it. She said she read straight through it in one day, which is unusual for her, so I made sure I didn't put it away and forget about it.

I've been re-reading Georgette Heyer novels I've already read several times. Comfort food for the mind.

Lots of work to do in the garden and a deadline to meet, so relaxing reading suits me just now.

Rosefolly

Thanks, Sheri, for the titles of "misquoting Jesus" type of books that you read. I hadn't heard them referred to as such before, but I think I know now what sort of books they are and a glimmer of what they might contain. When I'm feeling 'deep' and want a challenge I will tackle a couple of them.

Vee, I've wanted to read Sisters of Sinai since your previous mention of it. You seem to have read a lot of 'sister books', e.g. Sisters of the Wilderness. Do you specifically seek or just happen onto them? I find the sister relationship very interesting, probably because I only have brothers. My mother has three sisters (the last over twenty years younger than her), and after observing them I got the idea that sisterhood is quite a different dynamic from sister-brotherhood. Perhaps not, but it has always seemed that way to me. Did you ever wish you had a sister? I did. I would gladly have traded my second brother for a sister. I'm joking now, of course, but I was probably serious when we were kids and he and I were fussing. We didn't fuss with our older brother -- the "perfect" child who was above such behavior. ;-)

I'm currently reading, gasp, a novel: John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor. I first read it in college in the 1960s. I can't recall if I knew it back then, but Ebenezer Cooke, Barth's main character, was based on a real person who really did write an 'epic' (in verse) called The Sotweed Factor, or a Voyage to Maryland, a Satyr, published in 1708. I have not read the real thing, but it's supposed to be 'funny as hell', thus the inspiration for Barth's own comical romp making fun of historical novels. I'm probably liking Sot-Weed now more than I did in my teens, 'cause I've got so many more historical novels under my belt!

Rosefolly, I used to have a large collection of Heyer for comfort reading but have "lost" most of them in my many moves. I do still have old Margery Sharp ones which I hung on to as they are mostly OOP and Heyers are nearly all still in print. I dip into them when I don't want to make an effort to start a new book at bedtime!
I have been re-reading "Vanity Fair" and watching the film versions I could get hold of, from the 1935 "Becky Sharp" (woeful!) to the latest with Reece Witherspoon and some TV series as well. Interesting to compare the treatments and the alternative endings.

Frieda, just coincidence about the 'sisters' books and I don't think I was ever bothered about the lack of a sister when I was a child, except that she might have been made to contribute with the help you Mother chores that always fell to female family members when I was growing up. I might have preferred an older brother as this would have added a certain social caché among my peers at school!
'Fussing' is that American for arguing/quarreling/rubbing each other up the wrong way?

Annpan, I am afraid I haven't been able to get along with Heyer since I was about fourteen and have always felt she was a 'grown-up' version of Enid Blyton, but I know what Rosefolly means about comfort food for the mind. I rarely re-read anything as I usually have more than enough to keep me going.

Finished up The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin which I almost dropped halfway through due to ongoing and deep confusion about the characters...

I finished it in the end and it was actually pretty good. (It was shortlisted for the Booker in 1999.) This is another Irish author with the story set in Ireland in the early 1990's. A ruptured and dysfunctional family are thrown together when one of them is found to be dying of AIDS and they all reconvene at Grandma's house for his final days.

It's not an easy read - it's actually quite an uncomfortable read really - but it is very good. Toibin liked to add unpredictable twists in how he explains the characters and as the story changes, so do the names of one or two main characters. Tricky at first but once I understood what was going on, I could pick up on it and enjoyed the sly word play.

For example, the grandmother of the family is called "Granny" for all the first third of the novel. When one of the brother's friends shows up to help with his health care at home, suddenly the grandma is called "Mrs. So and So" whenever the scene links the friends and her. So when she has a conversation or interacts with these non-family people, she is referred to (by Coibin and his characters) as Mrs. So-and-So. When she's interacting with her family, she is referred to by everyone as Granny.

So, it's confusing but worth it when you work it out -- like being a member of a secret club idea.

It's a novel where "nothing much happens", but with this one, it's all under the surface. Beautiful writing, tough stuff, good read. I recommend it and I also recommend that you stick with it until at least after halfway. It's worth the effort.

Additionally, I've been reading the 1963 edition of Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy. Ogilvy founded the worldwide ad agency, Ogilvy and Mather, and was considered the "Godfather of Advertising" back in the day. (Bit later than Mad Men if you know that show.)

Written 50 years ago, the advice is still golden and good to know if you're in a communications field (which we all are as we communicate with other people all day every day in general). It's written in bullet style, for the most part, and I'm enjoying being reminded of advertising "best practices" ideas and also learning new things.

Speaking of which, I'm learning Twitter (and how to) at work. I already FB, but needed something more immediate to reach our audience. I've finally jumped into the world of Immediate Social Media. Does anyone else twitter or Instagram or use any other tool? I'm always up for tips of the trade.

I'm reading An Anthology of Women's Travel Writing, edited by Shirley Foster and Sara Mills. This is an academic anthology and as such it's not a collection of entertaining passages like some of the travel writing anthologies I have read, but rather a look at specific themes in women's travel writing that aims to challenge perceptions of the genre. I'm on the first section, which covers women travellers writing about women they encountered on their travels, and I am fascinated by the different insights and opinions of British women who visited harems in Turkey and Egypt in the 18th century (edit: make that the 18th and 19th centuries). Lady Mary Wortley Montagu found it all wonderfully sexy and exotic, but a century later another woman traveller (can't remember her name) wrote a piece about a harem visit in Egypt that expresses very modern feminist ideas and opinions about the subject.

I've also just started reading A History of God by Karen Armstrong. I thought that since I had already read the history of the Devil (which was engrossing and fascinating), I should read about his counterpart as well. So far, I'm still reading the preface and it looks promising.

This post was edited by netla on Sun, May 11, 14 at 5:49

I happen to be immersed in the world of Barchester and Angela Thirkell, and am enjoying this charming world of characters. The edition that I am reading is by Moyer Bell, and there is a typo on almost every page. It hurts my soul.

However, I do love the story and am looking forward to reading more tonight.

I was in Dallas all day yesterday with loads of free time, so indulged in my reading habit. (You may be impressed - I didn't buy a book or magazine at the airport despite hanging out there for hours.) I read a whole book which I really enjoyed as it's been a while since I've plonked down and had great swathes of reading-only time. It was an interesting book: "101 Things I Learned in Engineering School" by Kuprenas and Frederick. One in an ongoing series called "101 Things I Learned..", this one focused on engineering principles and, truth be told, was *fascinating*.

After working with engineers (as a technical writer etc.), it seems that I've picked up more than I had realized and so this non-fiction was just the right thing to fill in my endless gaping gaps in knowledge. It was one of those perfect reads at the perfect time -- excellent experience.

A super-good way to spend time in a hospital cafeteria when you need to spend the next four hours waiting for a plane. I had a comfy little corner, out of the way and fairly quiet, and *loved* it. Read the book cover to cover, and for anyone searching for (very) basic understanding of engineering principles, this was great. (I don't claim to be an engineer of any sort, but at least now, I'll have a better understanding of some of the articles I edit!)

Well, not educational like Netla and Lemonhead, but I've just finished Silence for the Dead, the latest by Simone St. James. I'm not usually interested in reading about ghostly happenings, but she writes smashing stories and this is one of them. I flew through the last few chapters while dinner cooked on and on in the oven.

Netla, Lady Mary Wortley Montague was mentioned on a TV prog last night as the person who introduced, from Turkey, the idea of inoculation against smallpox. As a friend of Queen Caroline wife of George II she 'spread the word' and the idea became 'fashionable'; saving many lives.
While away for a few days I read the very light Voices in Summer by Rosamund Pilcher.
A gentle story with her usual cast of slightly upper-class characters who's lives drift between London, Scotland and Cornwall. Rather droopy girls, pretty in floaty frocks, who manage to hold down well paid jobs in publishing. The older men are all square-jawed, ex army/navy officers, frightfully polite or young good-looking, fast-car-driving eager to carry picnic basket types. All houses are filled with antique furniture and masses of fresh flowers. Gallons of gin and tonic/Scotch is drunk and the smell of grilling lamb chops means dinner is just about to be served probably on a sun-kissed lawn.
These books are a wonderful contrast to the dreary Minnie from Merseyside Sally up our Alley or Carrie from Cleethorpes that were/are popular stories about poor but honest grummit finishers/fish gutters/lathe polishers . . . they also finally get their man despite the endless rain and fog.

A couple of weeks ago, I read Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin, and enjoyed it. It is engaging, charming and funny in a 1970's way that books are not anymore. The characters are a little quirky, and nothing bad happens. The author wrote 4 novels and 3 collections of short stories, before she died of a heart attack 1992 at age 48. I will look for her other books in secondhand bookshops.

I'm studying for a test, but as soon as it is over, I'll reward myself by reading some books that are tempting me from the TBR pile.

Veer,
Laughing out loud at your description of the Rosamund Pilcher characters, especially "eager to carry picnic basket types", and contrasting dreary books with "endless rain and fog".

Lemonhead,
I know what you mean about the timing and place to make a book more enjoyable. The same book at another time and circumstances may not be as good an experience. Reading your post, I felt like I was reading over your shoulder. Back when I was traveling all over the country for work, I had many moments like that. I love to read in the car, particularly if it is raining... which it is most of the time, this being the Pacific NW.

May has been a slow reading month, but last night I finished another Gladys Mitchell mystery novel, Speedy Death. It was her first book, published way back in 1929. I have become addicted to Mitchell, though I found this book to be a bit convoluted and implausible. But a shocking plot twist caught me completely by surprise and added a whole new dimension to the book. Well done Gladys! You got me again.

I'm reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book which had been languishing in the TBR pile for ages. I don't know why I put off reading it, it's wonderful.

"Comfort food for the mind" --- I like that! I used to think of the Miss Read books and Rosamund Pilcher's works in that dimension. Finally, I found I could no longer read Pilcher's novels, as the characters were too saccharine for my taste and the endings too wonderful to be true. Everyone was so kind and generous and well-heeled. All those huge houses and prince charmings....

Vee, yes, "fussing" means scolding or arguing, in Americanese.

Sheri, I listened to Gaiman read the The Graveyard Book shortly after it came out. He was on book tour and read one chapter a day and posted the videos on his website. It was great and I thought it enhanced the experience to have the author read it to me. I'm posting the link so you can check it out:

Here is a link that might be useful: Mouse Circus

Netla, thank you! I listened to the first chapter this morning. It's a totally different experience to hear him read it - very neat!

BE TRUE TO YOUR SCHOOL by Bob Greene

A diary from 1964 .

For those of us who grew up in the innocence of 1964 on the cusp of the roaring late 60's of the rock and drug culture, this is a wonderful "remember when" read !

I came across a 1915 novel called "Patricia Brent, Spinster" by Herbert Johnson and I *love* it. I've only just started it (just at Chapter 3), but I have a feeling it's going to be great. (It's on Project Gutenberg.)

It's similar in tone to other books that rotate around unmarried women in turn of the century: she is staying in genteel poverty at a guest house, lots of nosy other "guests" at the house... The protagonist gets sick of everyone knowing her business and after they get at her for not being married or having any male friends, she impulsively makes up a fiancé out of her imagination.

This news flings the guests into a tizzy, and now she is stuck wondering how to make this whole imaginative scheme work out in real life.

I am really enjoying this read and looking forward to picking it up again.

At the same time, I'm trying to catch up with my The Atlantic subscription magazines... And then work on the House of Cards series on TV.

Addictions all around me, it seems, but at least I don't have to buy them in a dark alley.

:-)

Having finished "Austerlitz" by Sebald, I am immersed in "Prague Winter" by Madeleine Albright. This is a semi-autobiographical novel going back to her childhood in the years leading up to Hitler's invasion of Czechslovakia. The author did not know her own Jewish family history until adulthood. In this work, she returns to her former homeland to trace her roots, revisiting a painful history.

Lemonhead,

It is amazing, isn't it, that some of these really old novels are such good little reads !

I found a copy of WHEN SHE CAME HOME FROM COLLEGE ( 1909) at a book sale and bought it because I liked the cover. It is a story about a young girl who comes back from college and attempts to retrain her family at home according to her new knowledge. It was delightful reading.

I picked up For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund based on a recommendation from another site I visit. It's a Sci/Fi homage to Jane Austen's Persuasion. It can be read without being familiar with JA's book but JA fans will pick up the similarities. It wasn't bad so I have placed a hold on the sequel to it which looks like it's an homage to The Scarlet Pimpernal.

I'm reading The Edge of the Water by Elizabeth George. It is the second young adult book of a series dealing with a high school girl who can hear people's thoughts and is running away from her wicked stepfather. The first one is The Edge of Nowhere. I quite like them both.

I have become hooked on Kate Sedley's "Roger the Chapman" series but am having a problem reading them in order. The library system had the first one but not the second. It was published in the 1990s so was probably "retired" and sold long ago. I shall have to buy a second hand copy.
I don't usually read historical mysteries but was drawn to a reference in the blurb to Richard the Third.
I have been following the excavation of his tomb with great interest.

I'm reading The Iron Duke, a steampunk romance/adventure by Meljean Brook and liking it very much. It's the start of a series and so far her world-building and characters are shaping up nicely. I have two other steampunk favorites, Bec McMasters and Gail Carriger, and I'm eagerly awaiting new books from both of them later in the year.

Lemonhead, I downloaded Patricia Brent, Spinster (I do love free books) and I'm looking forward to it. Your description reminded me of another series I probably saw mentioned here (can't remember how I found it), Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson, which was absolutely wonderful. The two sequels, Miss Buncle Married and The Two Mrs. Abbotts were delightful stories, too.

Annpan, I've also been following the Richard III tomb excavation. I'm still completely amazed they found him at all! The DNA testing done on his last remaining relatives also intrigued me. So interesting!

Here is a link that might be useful: Richard III DNA

Sheri, although I knew about the discovery of Richard III's skeleton I didn't know about all the DNA work that had been carried out to 'prove' it. Amazing (from the video) that the female DNA providers are the last in the line, esp. when you think how long the 'line' has lasted up 'til now.

Vee, I've done some DNA testing via Ancestry.com and 23&me as part of my own genealogy research, so this was especially interesting. I read somewhere that if Richard III had been discovered years earlier the DNA testing would not have existed to prove it, and if he was discovered much later in the future, the two men providing the DNA would not have been alive to do so. Truly an amazing line up of events.

A couple of book I recently finished
Devices and Desires by P D James. A psychological who-dunnit, but once finished I have had great difficulty remembering anything about the plot! Set on the distant E Anglian coast where a nuclear power plant looms over the countryside and where bodies pile up. Luckily there are endless suspects and it would have been more interesting if the story didn't have one of those annoying twists at the end which are impossible to see coming.
Next up, and more enjoyable The Magic of a Line the autobiography of the English artist Dame Laura Knight.
I have always admired her work since visiting a major exhibition of hers at the Royal Academy in the mid '60's. From the earliest times when she could first hold a pencil her life was dedicated to drawing and painting and was holding art classes when only 13 years old. I would have liked to see eg's of her work in the book, but most of her famous stuff . . .she specialised in painting the ballet, theatre, circus and gypsies is in National and private galleries, while her early work was used as underlay for carpets when dogged by poverty.
She is not a natural writer but, in the chapter on the Nuremberg Trials where she was the official war artist for the British Govt she paints a vivid picture of the bitter winter of 1946, the total destruction of the city, the horrors that she had to hear from the prisoners in the dock and how, afterwards, she feels she has "crept from under the cloak of death."

Here is a link that might be useful: Laura Knight Paintings

Vee, thanks for the link. I had never heard of Knight. Her style appeals to me and many of these paintings are so lovely and expressive.

I am reading The Two Hotel Francforts by David Leavitt. It is far from my usual fare, dealing with two ex-pat couples who meet in neutral Lisbon while waiting for transportation to the U.S. to escape WWII. The husbands get involved in an affair with each other. It's told in first person, and we know from early on that one of the wives dies. It came very highly recommended on another site, but I think I need to stick with my plan not to read new fiction until it's been around long enough for the dust to settle.

Carolyn, couldn't agree with you more about not rushing to read the latest hot off the press fiction. Far too often these works don't live up to the hype and within six months copies can be found piled high on those 'remainder' shelves in the windows of book shops. The compilers of book-club lists often seem to be the culprits with 'too little thought' recommendations. A friend tells me she was expected to read the Fifty Shades . . . trilogy (?) one after the other; a sadistic torture too far.

I'm so with you on the hype machine. Independent reviewers are an endangered species on the internet. Most book bloggers as well as a lot of members on book forums are connected to the publishing industry in some way, OR they have their own agenda going on (political or setting themselves up as an arbiter of taste or person of influence for a particular genre). I'm sick of it and have sworn off buying new fiction for a while. (sorry for the soapbox rant)

As for what I've read lately... Finished Gabaldon's An Echo in the Bone to catch up on the series. The series is still an immersive read if you enjoy historical adventure, but I'm tired of the time travel aspect in the story and what a sprawling mess of a novel. I'm not hopeful she'll get back on track for the next one. Hmm... I sound grumpy today. Up next: Heaven's Queen by Rachel Bach (3rd in a space opera trilogy that I've enjoyed so far).

Georgia Peach, did you know that Outlander is going to be shown on STARZ beginning August 9? We don't have the movie channels, so I'll have to go visit my daughter to see it . . . or I may get it because there will be 16 episodes.

Sheriz, how did you like "Wild" book? I couldn't put it down. A good quick read.

I'm reading "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" Book by James McBride. I am luvin this because so much of the era I grew up in.

Ladyrose, I was very surprised that I liked Wild so much. I was expecting another Eat, Pray, Love and instead got something gritty, well-written, and -- since I do not camp or hike to a point that requires backpacks -- fascinating in its details. Given her history as well as the story of the hike itself,it was also a real page-turner. I was very pleasantly surprised.

I've flown through two books by Meljean Brook, The Iron Duke and Heart of Steel, both steampunk romance/adventures and very enjoyable. She's a new-to-me-author so I'm hunting down everything in her "Iron Seas" series, and so far I've really liked everything I've read.

Lemonhead, I'm almost half-way through Patricia Brent, Spinster and while I'm liking it well enough, I am having a hard time figuring out why the main character is being so difficult, but I suppose it would be an overly-simple a plot otherwise. Thank you for recommending it.

Sheri -

Yes, that characteristic was unexplainable for me as well. Why does she endeavor to make her life so hard and complicated? Since it was written in 1918 by a man, do you think that reflects the influence of culture at the time?

And Herbert did happen to own his own printing press who, needless to say, published this title. I wonder what other presses would have done with it if it had had be marketed based on more traditional marketing forces?

Just thinking out loud.

I haven't read the Patricia Brent book but I like the "Bindle" books by the same author, Herbert Jenkins.
I should have liked seeing them in a TV series and Bindle acted by David Jason.
The stories are about a furniture removal man in 1914 London who loves to have his little jokes. There are some splendid characters in the books, his disappointed church-attending wife, his in-laws, work mates and the "toffs" he makes friends with, who fund some of the more outrageous pranks.

Carolyn, I did know Outlander was being adapted for STARZ. I wonder how far they'll go with it (first book or more if successful)? I don't subscribe to movie channels, either. If I'm interested, I usually watch series like this a year or two later once they're available through the rental/streaming market.

Vee, thanks for posting the painting site on Laura Knight. I had never heard of her and find her work amazing. Is she well known in the UK? The ones of gypsies are especially interesting.

Mary, it was my late Mother who had been interested in the work of Laura Knight which led me, then young and fancy-free to attend a 'retrospective' at the Royal Academy . . . she had been the first woman admitted to that august band since the days of Sir Joshua Reynolds.
As with all things 'arty' fashions come and go, so I don't know if she is in or out at the moment.
Luckily I am never led by what the critics say and can happily enjoy her work.
Check out some of the many sites about her life and work. Some of her drawings and etchings are very interesting.

I read Pied Piper by Nevil Shute over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Vee, I particularly find the war paintings interesting, the land girls in uniform, etc.

I am reading Paul Glaser's "Dancing with the Enemy: My Family's Holocaust Secret". The author was raised as a Catholic in Holland and learnt in adulthood that his ancestors were Jewish and that many perished in the Holocaust. The story of how and what he finds out about his family history is compelling.