I just finished listening to Be Ready When The Luck Happens , a memoir by Ina Garten.

It was a very interesting accounting of her life and philosophy. I enjoyed it very much.

I recently picked up a three-in-one of Barbara Pym's works. I chose to read the middle book Excellent Women. Written in the early 1950's and very much of its time with many mentions of the War and rationing. Little actually happens to the main character Mildred, a daughter of the vicarage living in an unfashionable part of London who's life revolves around the local church (High Anglican) and working with distressed gentlefolk. One highlight is the jumble sale and the arrival of a mismatched couple in the flat below hers. Men, even well-meaning members of the clergy, expect much of her and the other so-called spinsters (even though only in their early 30's) and the women equally expect no more of life than to be useful to these superior beings. Little rays of sunshine come from Pym's humour; very English and understated.

Vee, I love her writing. I have a couple of her books and dip into them when I want a laugh.

Which are the other two stories? I have not read them all.

You may be interested to hear that Mildred gets married as it gets mentioned in another book.

I’ve been reading a lot of so-so books. I read a couple more Alex Cross and Michael Bennett stories by James Patterson. I read the first six books in the Bridgerton series, but I don’t think I care enough to continue. The Bridgertons are a family in early 1800s London. The father is a viscount, and the couple has eight children, named alphabetically. Each book focuses on a different adult child and their romantic lives. They are very similar stories and really sappy romances.

I was on the waiting list for The Jackal’s Mistress, the latest book by Chris Bohjalian. It became available last night so I will read it next. It’s been a while since I read one of his books.

Donna

Just finished a perfect spring book, Old Herbaceous by Reginald Arkell. An old man looks back on his life as a gardener at a British country manor. It's short and sweet with dry British humor and a good ending. I'm always looking for pleasant books to read at bedtime, not too suspenseful or with disturbing imagery, just something lovely to read that won't add stress or give nightmares. Another good one was A Month in the Country by JL Carr about a young WWI veteran sent to a little village to restore the church's medieval painting. The introduction by Michael Holroyd was wonderful in the edition I had from the library.

After being in the reading doldrums at the beginning of the year, I've caught a spring breeze and am currently in the middle of three books, I Robot by Isaac Asimov, The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, and The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch. No new bestsellers at the moment, which means no problems renewing them at the library if I don't finish them all on time.

Speaking of libraries, ours recently did away with overdue fines and will automatically renew a book you have checked out unless someone is waiting for it. It's very convenient, but I wonder if people promptly return books that have waiting lists without the fine hanging over their heads.

Merryworlddry world, my library did away with fines a couple of years ago as well. And, my boos automatically renew fir me, unless they’ve already been renewed before and unless there is an existing hold placed on it,

I have been rereading the murderbot novellas again, to syke myself up for the full length novel that follows the 4 novellas. I don’t know why I am having such a problem getting into it! I also gave Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayers latest book waiting for me. The Honey Pot Plot is the final book in the Rocky Start series.

My library hasn't had fines in decades. Books renew automatically three times and I get an email that they have been renewed. If someone else wants the book, it must be returned and can't be renewed. A librarian told me that have fewer lost books with the 'no fines' policy.

Merryworld, Old Herbaceous must have been a very popular book years ago. I collected garden books, 1890-1940, for many years. I used to see that title a lot tho I never bought it as my collection is mostly American. I did read The Forgotten Garden a few years ago and wasn't crazy about it. I'll be interested to hear what you think of it.

Yoyobon, your weaving is remarkable. It is just beautiful and thank you for sharing the photo with us.

An Episode of Sparrows is one of my favorite books. I re-read it a year or so ago and it was just as good as I remembered. My mother suggested it to me when I was 12 or 13 so I treasure it for that reason too.

Beautiful, Bon!

Lovely, Bon! I hope Sipsworth is keeping you entertained. It starts out a bit slow and dreary, but then suddenly gets better. You'll know when that happens.

Same here, Ginny. My Mother bought me a copy of Episode of Sparrows when I was about 11 - 12 years old. It was probably the first 'grown-up' book I read!

Yoyo, I love your weaving. I remember way back at College it was part of the Art course I took and the few wobbly inches I produced (which took me forever) makes me really admire your work.

I'm reading A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis, not for a special reason right now but just because I have never read it. He so deeply grieved his wife's passing.

Carolyn, I believe another of his books about his wife was Surprised By Joy.

I really enjoyed The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bohjalian! During the Civil War, a badly wounded Union captain is left behind when the army moves on. He’s found by a free black woman and his life is saved by a southern woman, the free black woman and her husband. It’s a very moving story.

Donna

Donna - That does sound like an interesting book but I'm wondering, how did it come by its title?

Kathy, the southerners start calling the Union captain ”the jackal”. Bohjalian doesn’t say why, as far as I recall.

Donna, I wonder if it has anything to do with the Union flag, called the Union Jack.

I finished Sipsworth and enjoyed it very much.

Yoyobon - Glad you liked it. I really did also. Once the surprising information was revealed, it caused in me a self-realization of a prejudice I did not know I possessed.

LOL.....made me want to consider becoming a vegan !

I'm reading The Garden Party by Peter Turnbull, the first I've read by him. It's a gruesome crime but not told in a gruesome manner and with good guy English police.

I’m almost caught up with the murderbot novellas; the full length novel Network Effect is next on the list. I also read The Honey Pot Plot by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. Now I am going to go back and reread the first two Rocky Start books to see what clues I missed the first time around

Kathy........what are you currently reading ? Have you ever read The Spellman Files?

Bon ........I'm currently doing a re-read of How to Read a Book by Monica Wood so I can lead a book club discussion on April 21. Next up after that is Death and Croissants by Ian Moore, a gift from a friend. I have not read The Spellman Files. Are you suggesting I should?

Kathy.... It was a clever, witty , sarcastic change from my usual book choices. In fact I'm currently reading the third book in the four book series of the Spellman family !

It might be worth a look.

From the award-winning author of The Accomplice and The Passenger comes the first novel in the hilarious Spellman Files mystery series featuring Isabel “Izzy” Spellman (part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry) and her highly functioning yet supremely dysfunctional family of private investigators.

I'm not big on sarcasm, but I will put it on my list to look into.

I also read something outside of my usual - The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune. “In the spring of 1995 Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he’s been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington, DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family’s summer cabin outside the small mointain town of Roseland, Oregon… Inside the cabin is a man named Alex and a little girl who isn’t exactly as she appears.”

At first I thought I wouldn’t like it, but I enjoyed it a lot!

Donna

Kathy.....reflecting back on Sipsworth.......did you ever read Mrs. Frisby And The Rats of NIMH ?

I'm reading The Spy and the Traitor by Ben MacIntyre and I can't put it down. It's the non-fiction account of one of the great spy stories of our time. I'm reading it as the main character, Oleg Gordievsky, recently died in Surrey, England, and I wanted to know more. He was a highly placed KGB agent who became disgusted with the Soviet system of repression and execution and began to spy for the British. He was so valuable that only a very few knew of his existence or who he was. MI-6 didn't even tell the prime minister or the CIA for a long time. Even then, only a few knew his identity. The British had been badly burned by spies within their own ranks, even up to the Queen's staff.

I'm coming to the part about his betrayal by Aldrich Ames, a mole in the CIA who cost many lives, and Gordievsky's thrilling escape to the West. Supposedly, John LeCarre said it was this is the best non-fiction spy story he ever read. The author is a noted journalist for The Times of London.

Yoyobon, no I have never read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

It's one that had the same effect on my rodent attitude as Sipsworth did !

Donna.........have you read The Book Of Doors ?

No, Bon, I haven’t. I’ll see if one of my libraries has it. I’m in line for a copy of The Spellman Files. 😁

Yoyobon - I don't think we saw Sipsworth the same way. For me, it wasn't about the mouse. It was about the old woman and how my attitude toward her changed once I knew more about her.

Interesting.......I had no shift in my view of her, she was simply endearing. However I did begin to see the mouse through her eyes and care and began to realize that the stinkin' thing actually had a relationship with her !! ( no more mouse traps for me!! )

^^^Donna ~ I'm skipping down to recommend any of TJ Klune's books! They are stand-alone, except for the House/Cerulean Sea, which has a sequel. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them!!

Thanks, Roxanna! I will read more of his. I really enjoyed Bones Beneath My Skin.

Over the past couple of weeks I have read two nonfiction books about books (as opposed to novels with a bookish background). Both were recommended by a friend.

The first was The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss. And a history it was. Beginning with Benjamin Franklin's printshop, it examines pretty much every kind of bookstore from street vendors to Amazon, and every iteration in between. I learned a lot, and enjoyed the process along the way.

The second one I just finished this evening. This one was Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend by Rebecca Romney. I had been vaguely aware that there were earlier women novelists that Jane Austen had read and enjoyed, but went along with the accepted opinion that these authors were not very good. Romney set herself a project to read these authors and see what she thought. She actually liked some of them, some as much as she did Austen, and set about discovering why Austen is admired today while they were pretty much forgotten. I was so inspired by her persuasive story that I found myself ordering a book each by Fanny Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Ann Radcliff, and Charlotte Lennox. I'll let you know once I've tried them what I think. Romney herself is a pleasure to read, but definitely more scholarly in her personal reading than I am.

I am starting with Mysteries of Udolpho which I picked up in college but was put off by the many, many long descriptions of landscapes. This time I am listening to it as a recorded book, and so far, so good. It's not Jane Austen, but it is holding my attention.

Ginny12, I think Old Herbaceous has been reprinted because it was popping up on current lists of spring books. I enjoyed it very much and it was nice and short, unlike The Forgotten Garden. I have to agree with you that it's not a favorite. I think it could have used a good editor, though there were parts I liked.

Rereading a Corinna Chapman story. Kerry Greenwood died recently and I am reminding myself how much I enjoyed her books.

I had not heard about Kerry Greenwood. Sorry to hear it. I enjoyed her Corinna Chapman books as well as the Phryne Fisher series.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about Kerry Greenwood. I really enjoyed the Corinna series.

I just finished a not-very-good book, In at the Death by Francis Duncan, only to find when I went to post it on Goodreads I had already read it in 2020. What a waste of time! I really wish I could remember to check before reading since it is obvious I can't remember what I've read,

Carolyn, not only do I forget books I have read but TV programs I have watched!

I am enjoying a rerun of Ludwig as I can't remember all the episodes. Have you seen it?

We are getting the last Vera episodes. I nearly bought the DVD as I was so impatient!

I forget books too but TV shows even more often. The up side is that I get to enjoy my favorites over and over every few years. :)

I was visiting family for Easter and could not post. I can't log in except on my desktop, very annoying. I read Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner who is in her 90s and was a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth at her 1953 coronation. Then she went on to be Princess Margaret's lady in waiting for decades. Her early life and the coronation account were very interesting but Princess Margaret didn't impress me at all tho the author liked her very much. Her marriage (the author's) was one of the worst I've ever heard about, starting with the honeymoon from hell. She wrote an even more explicit follow-up, Whatever Next?, but I don't think I'll be reading that.

Ginny, that reminded me of our marriage night, So many things went wrong that day and we spent our first night in an apartment that was so cold I wore my glamorous nightdress over thick PJs.

There was a blockage in the outside trash chute and my new husband, trying to be helpful, set it on fire! The residents who flocked around to put it out, whispered not to disturb the honeymooners, who were collapsed laughing behind the front door.

The rest of the honeymoon went well.

Oh dear, Annpan! That was quite an experience, I'm sure. So good you and your husband were able to laugh about it.

Of course, we did not realise that he had started a fire!

It had been quite a day of mishaps for me. The hairdresser at the salon forgot to get back to me after I had my hair washed. leaving me with dripping hair until my MiL came to see what was keeping me.

She had been to the florist for the bouquets and found they had booked the wrong date so the flowers weren't ready for collection! Also something had gone wrong with the baker and we had no wedding cake either.

The whole day went downhill as the taxi driver taking me to the church got his instructions wrong too and we waited and waited...

You had to laugh...eventually!