I am reading Hercule Poirot's Silent Night by Sophie Hannah. It is a story told by Inspector Catchpool and has an interesting plot but is written in a rather stilted way.

The print is quite large so I can read it well enough with glasses. I am still one-eyed at times and find watching TV and DVDs without glasses and using both eyes easier than reading.

I quite enjoyed Silent Night. I am not a fan of continuation of a popular character fiction but do read this kind of thing occasionally. Some stories I dump after the first chapter though, if I even get that far!

Vee, you made me interested in the origin of the "No animals were harmed" disclaimer and Google was very helpful but I found the reason upsetting.

Having read about how some child actors were treated, I think that "No children were harmed" would have been appropriate too!

Annpan, I certainly agree about the treatment and exploitation of children in the movie industry. Thinking of way back as to how Jackie Coogan was manipulated as a very small child to make him cry for the cameras in The Kid, or how Judy Garland was put on unnecessary diets to make her look younger and 'slimmer'; eventually ruining her life. I wonder if any of them came through the system unscathed?

Not unscathed but stronger perhaps? Like Shirley Temple Black.

We children longed to be "film stars" and be living a glamorous life. Huh!

I see that there is a new filmed version of Persuasion and checked the reviews. Ow!

I shall get the DVD when it is available though as the Bath setting, the decor and costumes will be worth a look.

I have read another Jane Harper book, Force of Nature, and liked it a lot. Also read a new standalone by James Lee Burke, Flags on the Bayou, set in south Louisiana during the Civil War. It's as full of violence and swear words as his books usually are, but it also is written in his beautiful lyrical style, making his works a joy to read.

I recently finished Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena. I enjoyed it. It's about how a family reacts when one of their children go missing. The child was not pleasant - a schemer. The child's father was having an affair. The father's lover's teenaged son is suspected of kidnapping the girl, and presumably disposing of her dead body. Many lies by many people keep the police busy following poor leads. Pretty interesting.

I finished reading Why we Love Middle Earth by Alan Sisto and Shawn Marchese (the hosts of The Prancing Pony Podcast). As they promised, it has the feel of how they do the podcast. I liked it, but probably won’t read it again. I also read Travis Baldree’s latest book, the precursor of Legends and Lattes, Bookshops and Bonedust. I didn’t love it, but will re-read it to see if my opinion changes upon a second reading (which does happen now and then!). Next on my list to read is the latest Elemental Blessings book, Whispering Wood, by Sharon Shinn.

I just finished Such a Strange Lady by Janet Hitchman. It's a biography of Dorothy L. Sayers, several of whose mysteries I have recently re-read. It was published in 1975 and I read it about then so this was a re-read. It's very good and not too long, under 200 pages. The title comes from the fact that everyone the author talked to who had known Sayers said the same thing, "Such a strange lady...." Sayers supposedly didn't want any biography til 50 years after her death but the public wanted one so here it is. Sayers' family would not speak to the author and many letters were unavailable to her but other longer biographies have since been published. This one, however, was just right for my purposes and I daresay many would feel the same. It is more Wimsey than Sayers' translation of Dante that most are interested in.

Amusingly, Gaudy Night, which we discussed earlier in this thread, was Sayers' worst book, according to this biographer. I laughed out loud. She had all the objections we did. I googled the biographer and her life was pretty interesting as well, and very hard.

I'm reading Overseas by Beatriz Williams , her first novel , and am thoroughly enjoying it. If you like time travel tales this is a good one !

Mortal Arts by Anna Lee Huber. I've just found this author and like her books a lot. This is the second of a series set in Scotland in the olden days.

The Fleur de Sel Murders by Jean-Luc Bannalec. I enjoy his books. We visited Ile de Re in May and I have some fleur de sel in my kitchen!

Donna

I have read all his books and that was a very good one. The reader always learns so much about Brittany, at least I do.

Ginny, I love his descriptions of Brittany. I often look up images on the internet of the places he describes.

Msmeow, I bet he's done a lot for tourism in Brittany! Even the restaurants he describes so mouth-wateringly are real. They must love him. :)

I'm ready to start Slough House by Mick Herron. I'm not sure why I like these books so much; it's sort of like watching a train wreck. Slough House is where MI5 sends the agents who foul up to while away what is left of their failed careers--but they manage to solve some of the cases MI5 is working on.

Just finished Richard Osman's The Man Who Died Twice the second book in his 'Thursday Murder Club' series. A fun read especially as I was familiar with the main characters and so was able to follow the 'story' (something I'm not good at)

I am struggling with The Wager by David Grann. It is for my book club and I would never have picked it up on my own. It is a nonfiction book about a mutiny in the 1700's, and it is a description of unremitting misery and cruelty. Ah well, once again my horizons are being expanded, though perhaps not in a direction I would prefer.

For comic relief I am reading a lighthearted series of cozy mysteries set in Busman's Harbor, Maine. Busman's Harbor is based on the author's home Boothbay Harbor, which I recognize from a trip with two of my sisters (Rouan and another) that included a visit to Siobhan. She lived there at the time. I wonder if Siobhan has come across these now that she lives in Australia?

In case anyone is intrigued and wants to try them, this is the Maine Clambake series by Barbara Ross.

Richard Osman is over here in Australia doing interviews etc on the talk shows and plugging the new book. He is very interesting.

I have just read an obituary of the writer A S Byatt who died the other day. She was the sister of the novelist Margaret Drabble with whom she was no longer on speaking terms after they had quarreled. As a girl she apparently had no friends at school, won a scholarship to Cambridge University, married but resented having to give up work for domestic duties, eventually got a university post in London but was not popular with staff there. Winning the Booker Prize for Possessions gave her the money to buy a property in France where her husband was forbidden to visit. The Obit. goes on to describe her as 'unsentimental, uncompromisingly intelligent and with limited capacity for making or enjoying jokes . . .' She was however showered with many literary awards. Perhaps her more human, everyday side was her enjoyment of Georgette Heyer novels!

Has anyone here read anything by her? I usually avoid any 'Booker' works but wonder if Possessions wouldn't be too overwhelming?

Vee - The information you found in the obit is certainly intriguing!

I have never heard of her but her obit sounds sad. She didn't seem to have successful relationships from childhood onwards. I don't think I'll rush to read any of her books, Vee. Thanks for the heads up.

Vee, Possession is one of the few books I ever gave up on. It was unreadable to me--pretty sure that doesn't speak highly of my brain power.

I picked up the new Michael Connelly book Resurrection Walk at the library this afternoon. They didn't get it in ebook format, which is strange because I read all the other Harry books on line. It was a pleasant afternoon to run errands, even though the Post Office evidently closes at 1:00 on Saturdays (who knew?), but I spent considerably less at the grocery than I had anticipated what with getting ingredients for my Thanksgiving offerings and I didn't have to wait in line to check out. Those were nice surprises.

Second thoughts on The Wager, as I get a little deeper into it. I'm probably not going to love this book, but it is full of quite interesting information about life on a man of war. For example, I have just learned how "knots" came to be the measure of speed on a ship. So I guess reading it will not actually be a waste of time.

And I got tired of the cozy mysteries set in Maine. It's probably unfair of me to binge a series of lightweight stores meant for amusement. I'll go back to them another time.

And I also gave up on reading Possession. However I seem to recall watching a movie based on the book and thinking it was not bad.

I just finished reading a book I first read many years ago Ordeal by Hunger by George R. Stewart. It's the non-fiction account of the tragic Donner Party episode in American history and was first published in 1936 but remains the best. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in American history, the West, pioneers but it's very intense and not for the faint of heart.

The Donner Party were a group of pioneers headed to California in 1846. It formed as a wagon train of almost 90 people, many of whom didn't know each other. They were reasonably prosperous and came prepared for the long and arduous journey, they thought, but all went horribly wrong. They took a recommended shortcut which proved catastrophic. I don't know how any of them survived but a little more than half did, by extreme measures.

This is a day by day account, across a desert twice as wide as they were told, with many other disasters. But the worst was to come when they couldn't make it over the Sierras before the snows came. The rest is too horrible to write here.

Nonetheless, this is a true and gripping story and well worth reading.

I just finished William Landay's new novel, All That is Mine I Carry With Me. I preferred his earlier novel, Defending Jacob, but this one was good also. It's about a family in which the mother disappears one day, leaving the father to raise the children. Most law officers and the mother's sister believed the husband, a defense lawyer, killed her, but they could not prove it, so years went by with the family and neighbors, etc. in turmoil about this unresolved situation. It's not exactly an original plot, but it's well-written if you're a "Dateline" type of fan. The author is a former district attorney, so has some insight into difficult legal situations.

Really enjoying Overseas by Beatriz Williams !

Donna, are you the one who loves to read time travel ? If so, you will like this one.

Bon, I’ve read all the Outlander books which have some time travel. I’ll give Overseas a try!

My Support Worker got the latest Richard Osman. There is a way of borrowing new books for one week only by using the Express Reads bookshelf and skipping the waiting list.

II’m almost done with the latest No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book, From A Far and Lovely Country. I love these books and this one is no exception. Violet is back and up to some new tricks.

I've been cooking for tomorrow this afternoon and haven't got back to my present book, A Traitor in Whitehall, by Julia Kelly. I left my heroine chasing down a murderer while working as a steno in the underground Churchill War Rooms while being bombed by the Nazis. Unfortunately, it isn't as exciting as it sounds, but maybe it will get there. My daughter and I toured those CWR once upon a time.

I'm just a few pages into Fellowship Point, a long novel by Alice Elliott Dark. I learned about it in the monthly "What are you reading?" thread over on the Kitchen Table forum of Houzz. Several people there liked it very much, so I thought I'd give it a try. So far, so good. I'll keep you posted.

I have read another Lady Darby book, A Grave Matter. This is book 3 of the series, and at last she has found true love. Several more to go, so we will see if it runs smoothly while they work together in solving mysteries. The author is Anna Lee Huber, and I have enjoyed both this and her Verity Kent series. This one is 1830s Scotland, and Verity is just post-WWI.

My DD lent me her copy of Michelle Obama's book Becoming. My goodness what a high achieving woman. Coming, as I do, from a family where getting up to go to work (or even sometimes, just getting up) could be considered an achievement, her whole life from early childhood seems to be made up of ambition to succeed. I usually find when reading an autobiography that the early life of the writer is the most interesting part of their 'story' but with the First Lady I get the impression she was on this journey from the go-get. Although I don't understand the finer points of US politics, which seem by our UK standards to be very drawn-out and rather too hate-fueled, I appreciate MO's reluctance, once in the White House to get involved in politics per se but to put her considerable energies into helping military families, trying to improve the health of the Nations children and keep her own girl's feet firmly on the ground.

I think a better title would have been Driven.

Halfway through Overseas by Beatriz Williams and I can hardly put it down. Yoyobon, thanks for the recommendation!

I knew you'd like it ! And you'll be on the edge of your seat until the last page.

I haven't read any new books lately, but last night I started reading The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix, which is a fun read. I can see parallels with the Rivers of London books by Ben Aaronovitch and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, with touches of Doctor Who thrown in.

I generally enjoy reading stories that take place in London, because I know the city well enough to be able to visualise scenes that take place in areas I am familiar with. I got through a good quarter of the book last night and expect I will finish it today or tomorrow.

Ginny, thanks for the tip. I was able to get that book today and was deep into it at once!

My Support Worker picked up a book with my name attached from the library Reserved shelf but didn't look at the cover. She then noted a book title on my shopping list and hunted all over the different sections with a librarian but they couldn't find it!

The helpful librarian said she would order a copy from another branch but then my S/W realised as she checked out the reserved book what she had been carrying around! Oops!!

She had to go to the Help desk and cancel the order but said the librarian was very nice about it...

Ann, Glad you got the book! I love those No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books but wish they were longer. I read this new one on the plane to my son's for Thanksgiving and finished it there. Then I started Spare , Prince Harry's 'as-told-to'. It's a slog and I have to keep putting it down to read or do something else. I don't actually know why I'm reading it.

Last night I finished Ruth Rendell's first Wexford mystery, From Doon with Death. I read a lot of those many years ago but long enough so they seem new to me. I guessed the culprit, not because I remembered it but because the motive, unthinkable when the book was published in the 1960s, is now obvious. My how times have changed.

A book I wont be reading, but might interest some RP readers is Omid Scobie's Endgame in which he slams most of the members of the Royal Family and where he is able to repeat 'conversations' held between them without personally knowing any of them or being present at the time. Probably the kindest remarks aimed against it have been bitchy and twaddle.

Ginny, I finished the book quickly too. I thought it was better than the last few where he seemed to be running thin on plots. I would love to find a dressmaker who can turn a torn tight dress into a blouse and skirt that fits! Oh, please!!

Ann, There are probably dressmakers out there who could do that--but for a small fortune! When I sewed--for myself--many years ago, I turned a floor-length bridesmaid dress into a short dress with bolero jacket. Wish I had a photo! It was light yellow linen, very pretty.

Mma Ramotswe, as she is 'traditionally built', probably had a dress with plenty of fabric to work with.

Ginny, that sounds like a lovely combination.

I have altered garments myself in the past but my mind boggled on how this was done as Precious tore the seam badly so I imagined the skirt was tight with little to work on, and more would be needed for lengthening to make a blouse from the top part of the dress!

However, if we can imagine talking shoes, I suppose we can imagine material from a tight dress that suddenly becomes plentiful!

Ann, I love the talking shoes! That's one of the reasons this series is so imaginative and charming. And the flashing glasses that portend trouble from Mma Makutsi.

I'm about halfway through Overseas by Beatriz Williams, and I can hardly tear myself away from it. It's time travel between WWI France and present-day U.S. Except for the Outlander books, I haven't been too interested in time travel themes, but this one has me hooked.

Carolyn, I finished that one last night. I loved it!

Carolyn and Donna,......that was Beatriz Williams' first novel .

She knocked it out of the park !

Ginny, have you seen the TV series? It was well done but there was only one made.

Ann, I did see the TV series but I'm afraid I didn't care for it. They added characters and changed others, I thought.

True, but I was interested in the setting although you can only truly experience a country when you get there and reading about it only goes so far. Seeing it pictured helps but it really needs to be smelled and felt!

There are so many places I would have loved to visit but I am thankful that I got to see some of them.