yoyo, what a lovely piece of folk-carving. I just checked out some of their other work on line; such a wide selection!

The Other Child by Lucy Atkins was not badly written but a story that got more convoluted as it went on. The basic story is of an English woman who joins her second husband in Boston where he has a top job as a surgeon . They live in a community where everyone is scarily intelligent and connected with Harvard. We are given way to much information about her feelings and her on-going pregnancy, her wimpy son from the first marriage and the wonderfully clever hansom husband with his strong chin and clenched jaw, but is he all that he seems?

Once Upon A Wardrobe by Patti Callahan. It had me hooked after the first chapter !

I think I am going to really like this tale.

I'm halfway through "The Final Curtsey: A Royal Memoir by the Queen's Cousin, Margaret Rhodes" . The first part reads like a Scots "Downtown Abbey". The second part deals with the author's extraordinary adventures, with her travels in Sikkim, parts of India, etc. Rhodes was clearly an adventuresome spirit and lived a long and lively life. She describes hunting stags in her youth in Scotland, even skinning animals and enjoying the shoots. It's a lively and interesting autobiography.

Finally, after over a year's wait, my local library has reserved for me Susan Hill's " A Change in Circumstances." As well, I am awaiting the arrival of Tina Brown's "The Palace Papers."

I just finished the newest Gaslight Mystery by Victoria Thompson, Murder on Madison Square. It's a solid entry to the series, and it's always nice to revisit characters I like.

I just picked up Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather from the library, a sci-fi novel featuring space-faring nuns (how could I not read this?) and I'm eager to start.

I have been listening to the Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett, which although interesting, is not as good as the Lymond Chronicles in my opinion.

DH and I listened to The Story of Human Language by John McWhorter, which was very interesting, and are now on to Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd.

I read What Eden Did Next by Sheila O'Flanagan as a review for the magazine, but I am hard-pressed to write a 300 word review as it is a pleasant but simple romance novel.

I am on the last pages of Terms and Conditions by Robert Glancy, which is quite amusing.

Also reading The Making of Home by Judith Flanders. I have read previous books of hers and enjoyed them but this seems a bit superficial and repetitive.

Kath, just do some comparisons to other books. That should help with filling the word count!

A sparse but powerful read with no unnecessary flowery language, From the Heart by Susan Hill is the story of Olive, a bright girl with an unsophisticated narrow outlook on life as was so often the case back in the 1950's.

University, and a misjudged relationship with a young man, a teaching job in a good school where her talent for literature is appreciated. All is put into jeopardy by a damaging 'friendship' with a female member of staff.

By the end one knows that Olive will pull through and her setbacks and mistakes will make her stronger.

Vee, is this Susan Hill book part of the Serailleur mystery series? Or just set apart on its own?

woodnymph, this is a stand-alone book. I think you might enjoy it.

I just finished The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. So different from either of his other two books, each of which were very different from the other. I think it is my favorite so far. Briefly, three 18-year-olds and the 8 year old brother of one of them, each with a somewhat difficult background, go on a road trip together in 1954. All the characters, central and peripheral alike, are vividly drawn. I just loved it.

My book group read The Lincoln Highway and loved it. We had read A Gentleman in Moscow and loved that, too. It's amazing how different the two books are, he is such a gifted writer. He spoke here about two weeks ago, but unfortunately I was unable to attend. I am waiting for another book group member to fill me in on his talk.

I'm half way through a non-fiction book entitled Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old by Steven Petrow. It's basically an expanded list of all the things his aging parents did (or didn't do) that made him crazy as he tried to help them navigate illness and old age. The subtitle reads "A highly judgemental, unapologetically honest accounting of all the things our elders are doing wrong" -- which pretty much says it all. Some of it is borderline snarky, but there's love and introspection in his writing, as well. As I am currently in the same boat, I find myself nodding along and taking notes.

I'm reading "Portrait of Myself" by Margaret Bourke-White. She was an amazing photo-journalist, ahead of her time, who broke barriers for women in so many ways. Sadly, she developed a neurological disorder at the peak of her creativity. I had forgotten that it was she who pioneered the book "You Have Seen Their Faces" along with Erskine Caldwell ("Tobacco Road" author). I regret giving away my copy of this remarkable tome, filled with moving photos.

I like to read books that are the opposite of the current weather conditions.

Ice Station Zebra etc. in Summer and anything I have on my shelves this nasty wet and windy season which is about people being uncomfortably hot! If they are sipping on iced drinks, even better.

I am still having reading problems so I am pleased that TV programs have some favourite characters from books, like Phryne Fisher and Lady Frances Derwent in new productions.

Also a new series of The Good Karma Hospital to take me to India.

Just started The Front Kitchen by Jennifer Ryan.

I finished and really enjoyed Once Upon A Wardrobe by Patti Callahan and would suggest it especially if you are familiar with The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis. It is a bittersweet tale that is both thought-provoking and inspiring.

I'm reading The Smile of a Ghost by Phil Rickman from his Merrily Watkins series. Merrily is a vicar and a Diocesan Deliverance Officer in a small English town with an excessive amount of hauntings. She is a widowed mother of a teenage girl and disliked by various townspeople as a female vicar. I have been reading these books at well spaced intervals for a couple of years now. They are not books I want to read back to back, although I like the characters.

Ginny12's post earlier this month piqued my interest, so I am reading Into the Raging Sea by Rachel Slade. I am learning a lot about ocean shipping while the story unfolds. What a tragedy! It seems like it could have been avoided at so many points in time.

Donna

Would enjoy hearing what you think, Donna, when you have finished the book. I couldn't put it down. I found the book by watching a NOVA episode on PBS about the huge container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal last year, blocking all shipping. There was a lot of interesting info about these huge container ships which affect every one of us. The El Faro disaster was mentioned in the episode so I googled it and found Into the Raging Sea.

I just finished In an Instant by Suzanne Redfearn. It's about two close families, plus an extra neighborhood kid, who set out in one large van for a ski weekend. As they drive to dinner the first evening in a raging snow storm, their van slides off the road and ends up overturned way down the mountain where they cannot be seen. The behavior of the survivors is the focus of the book - who helps who, what decisions are made and why, and in the aftermath, how they each present and/or skew their stories. It makes for interesting reading.

I'm thoroughly enjoying "The Palace Papers" by Tina Brown. I love that it is easy to pick up, read a chapter, and put down again. Brown covers every member of the royal House of Windsor. Right now, I'm reading of the background of Camilla. Next, Prince Andrew, and on to Harry and Meghan. It's a delight to read clever, well-written prose.

I finished two short books by Lina Rather, Sisters of the Vast Black and Sisters of the Forsaken Stars. These are the nuns in space books I mentioned earlier, and I thought they were both solidly good. The world-building is reminiscent of both Farscape (theirs is a living ship and there are peace-keepers mentioned) and The Expanse (gates between star systems, disenfranchised outer planets, greedy, power-hungry old Earth), yet it still felt original and different. Nuns as main characters -- each with something to hide, of course -- make for very unusual heroines. Worth a read, IMO, for those who like sci-fi. The second book appears to set up for a third, so I'll be looking for that if/when it appears.

Next up is the newest Nora Roberts, Night Work. I'm eager to start it.

We had a storm yesterday afternoon that knocked out my electronic gadgets, so I started rereading Dawn's Early Light by Elswyth Thane, an old set of war novels the U.S. has fought in, beginning with the Revolution and following the same family down through the generations. I have all of them but haven't read them in many, many years. While I remember the basics, so far I haven't remembered a thing that has happened. Excellent books, though.

I just got The Palace Papers from the library and am racing thru it. It's very thorough and very detailed--maybe a bit more detailed than I care for on this subject. The trouble with all these royal books is that you just can't be sure how accurate they are. Despite that, I have to say my opinion of Diana has changed somewhat from both this book and her own tell-all, Diana, Her True Story. Tina Brown's account of the boys' watching her TV interview while at school, followed by the merciless teasing from schoolmates, was horribly sad to read. So much more to say but won't take up the space and your time.

ginny, as you say, however entertaining, it is difficult to judge how much is true and what is hearsay in these 'royal' tell-alls. Apparently Tina Brown falls down on names/titles of the top-people . . . not that most of us would notice if someone was wrongly called The Duke of So-and-So instead of The Earl of . . . except for the Earl/Duke or his family.

Vee, a bit OT but I have seen the portrait of the Cambridges and am curious about the pose. What are they looking at? I have checked for answers but can't find anything.

Have there been any critical comments about this?

Annpan...On this side of the pond...the comment has been that they're "looking to the future" . Additional comments have been about the Duchesses new designer look. As there have been so many wonderful photos of the two...I found this one a tad disappointing.

Obviously, they're keeping an eye on Louis! :) Sorry, couldn't resist.

Seriously, I am not crazy about this portrait. Kate is much prettier in any one of the many photos of her. This painting doesn't capture her attractiveness. Will looks pretty good tho. The royal family was lucky to get this straightforward, sensible, stable commoner. Here's to commoners!

I don't like it. The pose is artificial and it is too lifelike!

IMHO, A painting should be more that a likeness. It should reveal character in some way that a photograph can not. It should show the way that the artist sees the subject.

People have to be polite in general about their depiction excepting Winston Churchill.

He hated the Sutherland one and it got destroyed by Lady Churchill later.

I had never seen that Churchill portrait so googled it. You're right--it's awful. Worse still is the Lucian Freud painting of Queen Elizabeth. Why did she agree to sit for him, knowing what his portraits look like?

annpan, I noticed the portrait (which I first thought was a photo) in this morning's paper.

When I look at any pics of Kate I immediately think "How can anyone be so thin?"

I assume they are looking into the middle distance; they do appear rather wooden though.

And yes, some fresh blood never goes amiss!

Re Churchill. You may remember that on one occasion when he was photographed the 'pose' didn't seem to produce the look of the bull-dog spirit until Karsh in Ottawa 1941, suddenly removed the ever-present cigar and snapped the famous shot.

I rather like the new portrait, with the exception of the look on William's face. He looks crusty and aloof, in my view. Kate, as ever, is gorgeous, but I would rather have seen her wearing blue, which suits her, I think.

Lucian Freud makes all his subjects look hideous, in my view.

I finished Into the Raging Sea this morning. There were so many wrongs leading up to the voyage, and then the captain made a lot of unbelievable decisions. During the hearings the company leaderdhip was so horriible I wanted to strangle them all! I really think some of them should have gone to jail. And a couple of the investigators I wanted to be heroes caved to lawyers.

It’s hard to comprehend to a non-mariner that a huge ship can go under so fast. Rachel Slade mentions in the book that the Edmund Fitzgerald went down before the captain had time to send a distress signal.

Donna

Agree completely. I think it went under so fast as it was structurally unsound after all the changes they made to have this older ship hold more containers than were feasible. Also drilling holes too close to the water line, deferred maintenance etc etc. It was a disaster waiting to happen tho the captain bears heavy blame, it seems. A very avoidable tragedy.

Today I finished reading Breath by James Nestor, and boy was I ready to be done with it. It's not that it's such a long book, but it's very detailed and I hate to say it, but tedious. This currently popular book is about improving your health by breathing correctly. It's also about the ten years of study and travel and consulting with experts and subjecting himself to various studies and experiments that James Nestor went through to become a lay-person expert on the topic. Really, if you just want to know what he suggests might help you, go straight to the Appendix, which is titled "Breathing Methods." Or better yet, go to youtube and search for "James Nestor Breathing Exercises." If his suggestions intrigue you enough, you might then want to put in the time to read his book. Just my opinion, of course.

I had to stop The Kitchen Front and call it quits. I did not like her lack of writing skill and some of the characters were ridiculous. Rarely do I have to resort to a " slam it shut for good" with a book but this one fully deserved it !

On to Miss Dimple Disappears !

I finished The Palace Papers yesterday. I thought it was really well done. Yes, there are lots of things anyone who follows the royal family will know about but there is a lot of interesting background information. I like the way Tina Brown, the author, focused on one person, then another, while weaving all their stories together. This saga is like a novel about a large family over the generations, except that the characters are real, and so are the pains and joys.

The story covers the time from the death of Diana almost to the present day. All the drama surrounding the Platinum Jubilee is therefore not included. No doubt there will be a new edition at some point that includes that.

My main problem is that so much is unnecessarily unsourced so...who knows? Another quibble important to me is the occasionally foul language. Why has this been normalized...at least in some circles?

Ginny, you must be a faster reader than I. I'm still ploughing through "The Palace Papers." I agree with you about the occasional foul language. On the whole, however, I like the writing style of Tina Brown. Also, I think she is fair-minded in her assessment of the Royals, in all their foibles. And some of the history is still unfolding today in real time: e.g. Jeffrey Epstein's partner in crime, and other protagonists.

I doubt I'm faster, Woodnymph. I just ignored chores and sat and read. Those chores are still waiting for me tho.... Yes, I thought Tina Brown was fair-minded too. And as you say, the story is ongoing, literally 'ripped from the headlines' as the saying goes.

I'm reading Unleashed from the Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt. Andy is a smart-mouthed attorney with inherited wealth who doesn't take many cases. He has a rescue service for golden retrievers, and dogs play a big part in the books, along with the winning of cases by solving the crime of who really dunnit (never his client).

I haven't been able to read Murder Before Evensong by Rev Richard Coles yet as when I ordered a copy from the library they told me I was number 84 in the waiting list! The county has 12 copies so I fear I will have to hold on for several weeks/months and probably by then the next book in the series will have been published. As can be guessed it has excellent reviews and Coles, who used to be part of a pop group then trained as a C of E clergyman is a popular BBC radio presenter.

Vee, I have checked with my local library and it isn't in stock. They will look at ordering it as soon as possible after the EOFY budget is announced. You might get it sooner!

I looked too and it's not anywhere in my library or consortium of libraries but will try again. Thanks for the tip.

The stopyourkillingme web site is usually late with listing British publications but they are often obtainable in my library by then. A tip is appreciated to get in early!

The next untitled book is out in June 2023. I have been offered a discount already!

Having gotten my fill of Sara Blaedel's Louise Rick series...and while waiting for a couple of errant book deliveries that I'm convinced are traveling the globe to test my patience...I decided to resurrect my John Steinbeck collection. My nose is currently buried [again] in Travels With Charlie which is a delightful reprieve from the current woes of our world today. I'd forgotten how blissful his prose could be. Having traveled throughout most of North America myself...as well as doing so with one of my since departed poodles...I'm enjoying this tale and can be heard giggling out loud as I accompany John and Charlie on their trip. I thoroughly recommend this book. Not only is it entertaining...you may come away a little more relaxed and cheerful. It's kinda what the doctor ordered in my world these days.

I was just trying to check on a book reference above ^^^^ on this June thread and noticed after it was started by masgar . . . followed by a '28 days ago' gap to '17 days ago' plus we are told there are 107 comments then 'see 57 more comments' (this is as of Thurs 9.30am my time.) It seems several days-worth of comments have been removed. I wonder why this has happened or is it just me?

Vee, I see the same thing (except now there are 108 comments). My guess would be that once a thread hits a certain number of comments or megabytes older entries are removed to free up server space at Houzz.

I read The Last Good Day by Gail Bowen. I think I need a break from this series…Joanne is becoming a bit tiresome.

Donna

Vee...I don't know how you access RP but I'm on a computer [desk top] and am privy to almost everything available on the internet and this Houzz website. Your view may vary.

Under your first post at the top of this thread...and under "Comments (109)" a link in very light blue print states "See 59 more comments." Click on that link and all the original comments will become viewable.

I hope this works for you and you're able to find what you seek.

I had a link at the top of the comments 'See more comments' and all the missing comments from the 28-17 day gap showed up.

I picked up T. Kingfisher's Halcyon Fairy Book mentioned by (I think) Sheri above - Kingfisher's comments had me in stitches several times, and I really liked her own adaptations at the end, especially the Snow White and Bluebeard adaptations.

I then tried Margaret Atwood's Good Bones and Simple Murders, a collection of essays and other short fiction published in the 90's. If it were today, it would have been a blog - mostly experimental writing and mostly satire, and worth the effort if you like Atwood. Also several laugh-out-loud moments, and the sort of writing that rewards a re-read.

Finally, a bit of a dud - a nonfiction by a father-daughter team of historians titled The War Queens, about women who have been military leaders, or least led their nations during a war. Covered a number of interesting women (e.g. Boudicca, Cleopatra, Njinga of Angola, Artemisia of Caria, Elizabeth I...) and ending with 3 modern leaders such as Golda Meir, but the style was chatty and not very insightful.

I borrowed R.H. Blyth's monumental work Haiku, but discovered I have Vol III, so will be taking it back to the library and getting Vol I instead, for a better introduction. I'm getting rather lost in Vol III.

Thank you donnamira and Winter for directing me to the full list of comments plus the photos of swimwear and the Ukrainian carved walking sticks. It gave me a chance to re-read all the comments for the month. It is surprising how easy it is to miss a few.

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand. This story seems to be rife with disastrous relationships so far. Since this is the first book I've read by Hilderbrand I'm not sure what to expect and am hoping I'll end up enjoying it.

Here's a cover that intrigues .......