Kathy and Ginny, Michael Palin has made many series for the BBC, starting back in the 1980's. Some eg's are 'Around the World in 80 Days', 'Pole to Pole', 'Full Circle' ( I think this is around the 'edge' of the Pacific), 'The Sahara', 'The Himalayas' . . .

He has a very easy but knowledgeable style, treats everyone he meets with respect and retains a gentle sense of humour. Altogether he seems a nice chap!

I imagine you can get some of the programmes as DVD's or via various TV channels. I think he has written books about these adventures, although I personally think the TV shows would be better

And Ginny, I too very much enjoy the Scottish programmes with Paul Murton.

Ann, the missing Follett book was a paperback, and they are on the shelves in the den rather than the nicer shelves my husband built for me in the living room. Those are wall to wall and floor to ceiling, and he did a really good job on them. He made boxes, put trim strips over the joins, reinstalled the ceiling molding across the top, and painted it all in the cream color of the walls. The former owners had a wallpaper mural on the wall, so I figure in time to come someone will remove the shelves and wonder why that pretty wall was ever covered up. Or perhaps another book lover will just sigh with contentment and leave them be.

Almost finished with First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston and highly recommend it if you love a great cat-and-mouse suspense where you do not know who to trust.

It is the first book in a long time that is a real page-turner.

Carolyn, I have books and DVDs scattered all over my cluttered place and I am sometimes surprised to find things I had forgotten I had. In one case I was going to order a DVD then realised I already had it. Perhaps I should make a catalogue!

I am trying to like the second Canon Clement mystery by Richard Coles after not liking the first but giving him a second chance. It is not an easy read and I am wondering why I like Richard Osman's popular books but not these. I think it is the characters I can't warm to and too much description of everything!

I have just finished Wolf in the Shadows by Maria Vale and the fifth and last of a series. I can't remember where I saw it recommended, but the Kirkus Review said "Prepare to be rendered speechless" and I am. It is about wolves and werewolves in their own territory in northeast Canada and totally out of my normal range of reading or interest. It was really good, and beyond that I am rendered speechless.

Bon, I put a hold on First Lie Wins at my library, and they say it’s a 14 week wait! I’m also waiting for The Running Grave. That one is down to four weeks.

Just finished The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson. It’s set in rural northern Wyoming and the main character is Sheriff Walt Longmire. It’s not my usual genre, but apart from some editing issues (lay when it should be lie, set instead of sat, etc.) I enjoyed it a lot.

Before that I read Out of Nowhere by Sandra Brown. It started with a shooting at a county fair and followed several of the victims and the police investigation to find the shooter. It was an engaging story.

Donna

Donna, I lucked out and was the first person to borrow it. I'm going to get it back to the library quickly so it can get back in the system !

My next read is the sequel to The Maid, by Nita Prose......titled The Mystery Guest

Based on comments this group shared with me (and my librarian friend's insistence), I read and enjoyed The Man Who Died Twice. The plot was rather silly and convoluted, but I definitely like the characters and the humor. I will add the 3rd and 4th books of the series to my TBR list.

Next up for me is The Guest List by Lucy Foley - my book club's selection for February.

I was awake and reading most of the night. Possibly there is a bushfire somewhere in the area as I could smell burning. I am still struggling with the Richard Coles book. I read the one star reviews on Good reads and I am not the only one apparently.

I read a line in it quoting about the death of a child "I often think they have just stepped out" and that is exactly how I feel about my daughter who died recently. She often went away on trips. It is a comfort to think that others believe that fiction too.

My two closest neighbours have both died and their homes are being renovated with a good deal of noise, mostly when I am trying to get an afternoon nap! It sets off the nearest dogs too.

I could do with a bolthole and wish I still had a caravan to tow away!

Ann, I’m so sorry to hear about your daughter!

Donna

Donna, thank you.

Annpan - My condolences also. You're going through a hard time. Wish you had a better book to read.

Kathy, thank you. I have thankfully finished that book and won't bother with the next in the series. I don't know why I persevered excepting I have nothing else on hand until the Support Worker comes on Wednesday and can go to the local library for a good mystery this time!

Annpan.....((( big hug)))

I am so sorry to hear of your very sad loss, Annpan. I wish I could be there in person but sending heartfelt sympathy.

Ann, I'm very sorry about your daughter. What a difficult ordeal.

Ann, although our group here has become much smaller over the last few years I feel as though we are 'family' in a strange way. I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter and hope that your son and your grandchildren are near enough to offer you support and comfort.

Thank you all for the kind thoughts. My family are very supportive to me in their own grief.

I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter.

Kath, thank you.

This has been a difficult time for us all as her incurable cancer illness developed rather suddenly. It is taking time to get over the shock.

Regarding the refurb of the two places next to me, the noise has been horrific! Also the constant coming and going of the many and various workmen and a gardener who flattened the back garden bare have set off the nearby noisy dogs in the complex!

The good thing is that we have an interested buyer for the next door place who seems ideal! A non-smoking senior lady without a dog! Fingers crossed...

Oh no! Noise on top of what you are going through is so stressful. Why don’t they bring their barking dogs inside? Meanwhile I’ll raise a glass to non-smoking senior ladies with no dogs! But seriously, I bought some Bose noise-cancelling headphones for flying but now I also use them for vacuuming and when in the hospital, very noisy places.

Ginny, this is not a suitable place for dogs. Owners have to put them outside in an enclosure when they go out or risk clearing up after them! I brought my little CKC spaniel here and had to get a courtyard built and a dog door installed which helped but never got another animal after she died.

I found some earplugs in a travel bag which has helped a bit when I don't have the TV on. I haven't had trouble with loud noises for years so I have been spoiled! It will be quiet again once the places are completed. Then will come the smell of paint!

I'm reading Northern Spy by Flynn Berry, set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles or maybe just after. At any rate, you can't trust anyone, and our heroine just found out her dearly beloved sister is involved.

I've had a long dry spell of just re-reading old favorites (looking at you, Murderbot series!), but finally got to my library book so I could return it on its due date: No Two Persons, by Erica Bauermeister. I have no idea why I put it on hold (did someone here mention it???), but I did like it. The title is based on the quote about no two persons ever reading the same book (implying individual interpretations), and the book is a set of connected short stories of persons who read a book and its effect on them. It is worth spending some time over, making all the connections and getting a sense of the book itself, which is not summarized or re-told except for a couple scenes.

Now I'm on to one of the books I received for Christmas: Beryl Markham's West With the Night. I've only read the first chapter, but already so impressed with the quality of the writing - it immediately immerses you in her memories.

I too have been re-reading old favourites. I do that to take the "taste" of a poor book away.

I have the Thursday Murder Club series in our village library so am starting again from the beginning.

I can also disappear into Regency England via Heyer! That has been my go-to place for the last seventy years or more! Being from Brighton, it is my comfort zone wherever I am in the world.

I've just finished another Lady Darby book by Anna Lee Huber, A Brush with Shadows. These are Olde England, too, Ann, and I am loving them.

Hi everyone. I used to sometimes contribute here,haven't in quite a while. Somehow this post came up on my feed so I browsed.

I saw @kathy_t's post and felt I have to asnwer.

I read The History of Love several years ago and remember thinking it was amazing but so so heavy and interesting. I wished I had read it for a book club or with people to discuss. I can't emember much more but that it was really beautiful. Also, I believe the author is or was married to Jonathan Safran who wrote- Everything is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and INcredibly Close, and others. ok I just checked and they were married for 10 years- 2004 -2014. Curious if you read it and what you thought.

Also, The Bird Hotel is my next bookclub book and the woman who suggested it said she loved it and couldn't put it down. It sure doesn't sound like your expereiences!

I just re-read Finding Dorothy which I highly recommend- historical fiction about Maud Baum, the wife of L Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz. So good.

I just started the Secret Book of Flora Lea. I'm really enjoying it.

Salonva, I don't belong to a book club other than dropping in here but I go to Goodreads if I want to read other people's opinions on a book. Especially if I didn't like it and then I look at the low starred reviews to see if others agree with me! Some of the remarks make me chuckle too.

A second attempt at posting here (I find I press 'Submit' and nothing happens).

I don't belong to a book group, in fact I don't think there is one in this area. As annpan says I tend to look at the lowest rated books but on Amazon and work my way up the stars. I find with Goodreads some of the comments are longer than the books being reviewed.

Salonva, good to see you here again.

Thank you-- I do use goodreads a LOT- but mostly to keep track of what I want to read and what I have read. Sometimes someone will suggest a book, and I will look it up there because I find if it has a 4 or above rating, I will likely love it. I also like to see the # of pages... Sometimes when I look up a book, I find that I read it in 2015 or whatever :)

I do rate the books, but I rarely write a review.

I have used the discussion and reviews to help clarify certain points.

Salonva - Thank you for stopping in at this forum. I keep an eye on the Houzz Kitchen Table forum, and particularly the "What are you reading?" thread each month. I have pegged you as a person who has similar reading taste to mine, so I always read your comments over there.

I'm interested in what you had to say above about The History of Love because I intend to start that book next, as soon as I finish The Guest List, which will probably be tomorrow.

I will also be interested to hear what you and your fellow book club members think about The Bird Hotel. I know that numerous people rated it highly which is why I selected it for "sampling" in the first place. I found it to be rather "hippy-ish" though I can't quite explain what I mean by that. Not that "hippy" is bad; I'm a child of the 60's myself, but it just did not appeal to me. Perhaps I didn't read enough of it to really find out. I abandon books rather quickly these days. So again, I'll watch for your comments about it.

While rereading The Thursday Murder Club, it struck me that Elizabeth who is supposed to be very smart doesn't know what LOL, WTF and Fitbit means. I am not that smart but like to keep up, checking with Google if necessary. I realise she isn't around young people but neither am I!

What do other RP'ers do to keep up?

I honestly don't think not knowing those acronyms could be used as a measure of intelligence. She's just not in touch with that element of the population--unless they become useful to her.. As for me, I don't really care about keeping up more than is useful to me. I keep up with technology that is useful to me, for instance, but not with pop stars who are not useful.

If I need to 'keep up' I have to do it via the third person and ask either my DH who, for an oldie, is quite clued up especially with desk top publishing etc or my son who has become a high-up in a big computer forensic firm working between Edinburgh and London (but mainly from home) who is surprising patient with this Aged P . . . . probably because he doesn't see us very often. My children tell me that emails are quite out-of-date but I still rely on them for much of my correspondence.

I know nothing about pop stars and am totally confused by all this LBGTQ etc etc jargon.

Ginny, I don't mean not knowing current things is from a lack of intelligence.

I hope not as I tend also to ignore modern trends that are of no use to me! I don't use a smartphone although I did accidentally buy one (don't ask me how!) but didn't feel comfortable with it and reverted to a dumb button operated one instead.

I was just surprised that the character didn't check Google! I am always there, so much to learn ...

Annpan, it might have just been that making Elizabeth uninformed in that area fit his plot line. If so, that was his error and you caught it. Elizabeth is so savvy with ’acquaintances’ in so many off-beat areas that I think you are right. She would know the acronyms or definitely know how to google!

Ginny, good to chat with you. Sometimes I wonder if I take fictional situations too seriously! However, I do like to see logic in stories but I would rather not have noticed sometimes if things get spoiled!

I wrote to an author once and asked the age of a character as it didn't seem right. The author confirmed she had got it wrong but I can't re-read the story I enjoyed so happily now!

I google stuff all the time and have only once asked a question it didn't know the answer to--and now I've forgotten what the question was.

I finished Cruel Acts this morning after awakening very early and not being able to go back to sleep. I really, really like Jane Casey. It's been a strange day. I went back to bed later and slept another couple of hours, and it's rained all day so I haven't done anything else except read.

Sounds like a pretty nice day, Carolyn.

We are currently holidaying in New Zealand, so there is not as much reading going on. However, we did finish listening to Unruly by the comedian David Mitchell. It's a history of English Kings and Queens from the Saxons up to Elizabeth I, and I have mixed feelings about it. He did make me laugh on a few occasions, but a lot of his commentary was definitely through a 21st century lens. In addition it was very sweary which for some reason rubbed me up the wrong way. I swear a lot myself, but I think it was because he wasn't using it for emphasis, but rather just to put those words in.

I often feel that people who are good at what they do should stick to that rather than 'branch out' into fields of which they have less knowledge. I think Mitchell is a funny comedian and was especially good in Upstart Crow (his take on Shakespeare) but how has he the breadth of knowledge to take us through several hundred years of history? For that I would suggest reading 1066 and All That. Very funny and clever.

I loved Upstart Crow and have a few episodes on hand to watch again and enjoy the clever writing. I wish there were more amusing TV shows on free to air channels here. We don't seem to get many.

Annpan, there are very few comedy shows with really clever writing. Everyone is so worried about offending anyone and the woke agenda.

We heard on this mornings news that both 'Rule Britannia' and the French National anthem 'La Marseillaise' upset 'quite a few' listeners and could/should be banned!

Do you get old repeats of 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister' both a very clever look at the wars between the Civil Service and the politicians?

Just finished Lucy Foley's The Guest List. I don't usually read or enjoy thrillers, so thriller fans might want to ignore my comments. I thought it seemed pretty unoriginal, and some of the scenes were a bit of a stretch. For example, when a male character is confronted by a female character outdoors on a dark, stormy night, he complains that she is shining her phone flashlight in his face so that she can see him, but he can't see her. Umm... we know from the previous paragraph that he also has his phone out with flashlight engaged, so what's the problem, really? Anyway, this is a book club selection and I don't know quite what we will discuss except details like these. I could be wrong....

Vee, no, I haven't seen those shows repeated here. Most of the British re-runs are mystery and get aired constantly. Frost is on so often that I know the scripts by heart as is Lewis!

Vee, I think Yes, Minister is probably the funniest show I have seen, and at the same time also had a lot of truth in it. When we lived in Wales in 1985, someone said the civil servants thought it made the MPs look silly, the MPs though it made the civil servants look silly, and the rest of us laughed at both lots.

Well put Kath. The script writers were very clever.

I am not familiar with this Yes Minister and glad that I watched the clip. That was wonderful! Thank you for sharing it.

I have seen that show offered in the US, not sure if PBS or BritBox, but have never actually watched the show. I played the clip and found it mildly amusing but think it would not likely be of interest to most Americans as not many are informed about or focused on British or European politics. I chuckled here and there until the inevitable British slur against the Irish. That's enough to put me off ever giving the show a try, I'm afraid.

I'm late to the party, but I'm about to start The Dry in a few minutes. To justify it a bit, I was on the library waiting list for a long time.