Lucy's right. Apples and crabapples need stratification in order to germinate, and this can take as much as 3-4 months of cold to happen. You will also need to scar the seed coat some before planting (scarification). From Iowa State University: "Most apples and crabapples will not reproduce true from seed. They are usually propagated by grafting and budding. However, seed of most apples and crabapples are viable, and can be germinated. Collect fruit from trees as they ripen. Remove the seed. Sow the seed in the fall or stratify the seed for 60 to 120 days at 37 to 41°F and plant in the spring. Sow the seed 1/2 to 1 inch deep." Matt

I just finished " Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures". Another Canadian book. Great stuff. I don't often enjoy medical type stories, but this is fantastic! I highly recommend it. I also just finally finished a one of the "Sandman" graphic novels by Neil Gaiman. I loved all of his other works that I'd read, but I'm not, nor have I ever been a "comic" person. I finally got into it, read it, and it's not so bad. I suspect they'll grow on me. Anyone have a Library Thing account?

Life of Pi ... one of my all time favorite books about a boy who, after a shipwreck at sea of a ship carrying zoo animals ends up stranded on a raft with some wild animals. The ending will have you scratching your head. The movie is coming out in November of this year. Sarah's Key ... a heartbreaking story of a little girl who's family is sent to concentration camps during the WWII Nazi occupation in Paris, France. The film is excellent too. The Poisonwood Bible ... follows the life of a Southern family that moves to the Congo to be missionaries. Each chapter is written in the voice of the three kids in the family. Jodi-

Thank you so much for all the recommendations. I'll be traveling a lot soon and I'm sure I'll read a lot of these. I have Aunt Dimity queued up to read, along with the first Ngaio Marsh book. I'll probably try Miss Read next and/or Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. Many of those mentioned I have read. Rhys Bown mysteries, Amelia Peabody mysteries, Georgette Heyer, Mitford books, etc. But it was helpful to have those recommendations because it was lovely to see there are others who enjoyed those books as well. And I will try the audiobook of the Amelia Peabody mysteries because I often fall asleep to an audiobook, so it's helpful to have a good recommendation. I tried A Man Called Ove and I'm sure I'll finish it, but it is unbearably sad to read it right now so I laid it down. I have a friend who has cancer and also a suspicious spot on her liver and she is the light of her husband's life. I want to escape from pain and loss right now. A murder mystery like Agatha Christie writes should be sad, I guess. It's murder, but somehow that doesn't reach out and snatch my heart out like the pain of Ove losing his wife. Another time in my life I would probably have liked A Gentleman in Moscow and A Man Called Ove. So thank you so much to all of you for taking the time to respond. It will be nice to have this thread to check when I finish the stack of books I have now.