I finished The Woman in Suite 11. It had a few twists but I guessed the end about 2/3 through. It’s very heavy on the f-word, so if that bothers you I wouldn’t recommend it.

I finally finished Breadknives and Brigands. It wasn’t bad, I might reread it in a few months to see if I likt it any better. For now, I am rereadng the Murderbot books until I find something else new to read.

Are other people having difficulty posting on the RP site? I can read what others write but if I try to add something I get some strange message "we can't find any results" and the site is now littered with ads and 'featured answers' etc.

I am having to write this using the Houzz rather than Garden Web 'way in'.

This post still appears on the original RP site . . . all very confusing.

Vee, I am all right here with Garden web. So far!

Another group I post to has gone peculiar though, with an extra step to negotiate!

I dread reading that a site is being improved as that often means more complications!

I have only recently got my laptop touch screen back after it stopped working for a while!

I also got a big camera icon often pop up but that went just as suddenly as it appeared.

I have a lot of patience but these glitches can be annoying when you are simply trying to post!

I can post on an already started discussion, but haven’t figured out how to start a new one. When I try, it looks like I am starting a general one on Houzz, not on RP so I gave up on trying.

I finished The Secret Book Society and enjoyed it !

Now reading Duck The Halls! by Donna Andrews and listening to the audible book The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

Kathy, you are not the only one who did not like The House in the Cerulean Sea. If the main character wasn't an adult, I'd have thought it was a middle school book.

Currently reading The Way of Salt, a non-fiction book about Sumo wrestling and Terry Pratchett's Hogfather. My reading is becoming more and more eclectic!

Next book group meeting is in January and we are reading Ben Shattuck's The HIstory of Sound.

For what it's worth.......I IDF The House On The Cerulean Sea. It felt too "young".

I've been taking a series of adult ed classes on English literature. The current theme is monsters, all based on 19th century books. Earlier this fall in a previous post I mentioned we had read Frankenstein.

Next we read Clemence Houseman's Were-wolf which I had never heard of and did not love. Thre was not a character in the story with which I could make any investment.

The final book for this fall is Dracula, which I had never before read. Of the three books I liked this one the best. Most Victorian literature sees women though a lens that distorts them so much they hardly seem like real people, the angel of the household pedestal nonsense. However Mina, the main female character in Dracula, was quite competent. I think she could actually have survived in our modern world. I quite liked her.

MaryAnn and Yoyobon - Yes, agreed, House in the Cerulean Sea was more of a kid's book, but rather long and repetitive, IMO.

I finished The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman. For some reason, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous Thursday Murder Club books.

Now I’ve started An Inside Job by Daniel Silva. I’m on the waiting list for The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith so that will probably be my next read.

I read The Impossible Fortune a few weeks ago and can hardly remember what it was about!

I think that the newness of the four elderly characters and the others has worn off. I have never got my head around Bitcoin either!

I see there is a TV series about Mary Bennett which I hope comes to the Free to Air here as it looks interesting.

I have tried follow up books about the Bennetts and some were truly dreadful!

I dumped one after the first couple of sentences!

I've just finished The Queen Who Came in from the Cold by S. J. Bennett and gave it three stars on Goodreads. I don't think I will read others by this author. There are too many better books out there,

I have been reading Close to Home by Thor Hansen, about nature in one's back yard, but have put it aside now that my copy of Advent (mentioned by Netla (I think!) on the Christmas reads thread) has arrived.

I finished An Inside Job by Daniel Silva. It was good, but I had a bit of trouble keeping all the Italian characters straight.

Just started The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith.

A few years ago my daughter gave me the book Three Bags Full about sheep trying to solve the murder of their shepherd. Now there is a movie coming out with Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The trailer looks great, the film may be better than the book. Something to look forward to!

I remember enjoying that book! I do not go to cinemas but hope there will be a DVD later.

Thanks for the tip!

I didn't enjoy that book. I'll be interested in reports of the movie.

It is not being released until next May!

I am reading the last Phryne Fisher by Kerry Greenwood "Murder in the Cathedral".

My local library has been very good to me with recent publications. Where would I be without them? I do miss Book Depository though for books the library would not buy!

So cheap and ordering so easy.

Annpan - Just out of curiosity, have you read many of the Phryne Fisher mysteries? I haven't read any of them, but they sound interesting.

I wondered why I hadn't received any posts in over two weeks. Just thought everyone was busy. Then I searched and it seems I thought 'Holiday Reads' was the December thread. So I just found this one. I have missed you all. :) I'm reading my usual Christmas mysteries, mostly from the British Library. Merry Christmas!

Kathy, I think I have read them all. I am a bit prudish about her sexual promiscuity though!

The author explained that she thought that women should be as free as men in that regard!

I preferred the Corinna Chapman books by the same author. She limits herself to one gorgeous man!

The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce (she who wrote the Harold Fry book) was an interesting read. I enjoy an author who tries different subjects/story lines. This one is about four now adult children trying to come to terms with the unexpected death of their father. He had been a very popular though second rate artist who had dominated their lives. Much of the book is set on a lake in Northern Italy where the family had spent many of their holidays.

I got Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes in a yankee swap. Looking forward to reading it and very happy I didn't get the picture frame made of mussel shells.

I checked for the meaning of Yankee Swap and found it was similar to a game played on the last day of a guided coach tour. I picked last so got the best choice.

However some people were disappointed with their gift and it did not go down well at the end of what had been a pleasant friendly week! I would avoid playing it because of that.

Annpan 'Yankee Swap' and 'last day of a guided coach tour'? Sorry, I know what a guided coach tour is but have never been on one? Is it some sort of Secret Santa gift exchange?

I listened to Mary MacDonald's Big Trip by Alexander McCall Smith on BBC Radio 4. A gentle tale of a retired teacher from the Isle of Lewis (Hebrides W coast of Scotland) who saves up for a journey-of-a-lifetime to the Himalayas. So often the books chosen are full of murder and crime and not conducive to restful sleep. This one was so peaceful

I missed the last five minutes so don't know how it ended!

Vee, I went on a guided coach tour with about seven senior people to the north of Western Australia ten years ago. Rather than book everything myself, it was easier to have the travel and accommodation all arranged by an agency and a tour guide with us to fix things.

She collected small souvenir items during that week and on the last day as we waited for the coach to take us to the airport for the flight home, she produced them and explained the game. You get a pick but the next person can steal it!

As I said, it created some disappointment when people lost a favoured choice! I think she meant well but it finished the tour on rather a flat note. Actually I did rather well and still have my picks.

Annpan, we are group that do this every year and everyone knows what to expect. Our rules are: no one is to spend any money on the gift and when you open your gift, you can swap with anyone who has already opened a gift. We draw numbers for the order we go in and this year there were 24 of us. There are a couple of gag gifts that appear every year. I was number six, so not an auspicious start, but I was lucky I got something I wanted and no one else wanted to swap with me. Last year I ended up with reindeer antlers that you put on your car. My husband loved them! I always bring the box of brownies (not homemade) that a client sends us.

These gift swaps can be fun or not! One year at work I got a writing pad with no front cover and pencils! I had bought a tube of expensive hand cream for my gift partner!

In one large group party a Lucky Dip brown paper wrapped parcel contained a worn pair of shoes! We decided it was an error and gave the recipient another item!

I have never enjoyed Yankee swaps for reasons others have given. Last year I suggested that my book club instead make a donation to a local charity. We each contributed money to a common fund and that worked very well. We did the same this year.

Our swap works well because no one has spent any money and no one expects to get something they really want so expectations in the gift department are low. We are not a work group, so there is no pressure, all gifts are anonymous anyway. You also know it might be your year to end up with the gag gift, in which case you know what you are bringing the next year (also, some people include a nicer thing with the gag gift just to take the sting out, like chocolates). It's all for a laugh and there are a lot of laughs. So, if you get something you actually like it's a bonus, not an expectation, because it's never been about the gift but about having a good time together. Mine was particularly funny because the book was Murder Your Employer and everyone knows I work with my husband!

I've begun my fast and furious read of The Hallmarked Man, fast because it's a library loan which came in during Christmas week, of course.

Carolyn, I think I’m about halfway through The Hallmarked Man. It’s hard to tell, because my iPad can’t decide how many pages there are. 😀 Sometimes it says 669 and sometimes 1,452! I am enjoying it, though.

Donna

As my reading year winds down, I've involved myself in Queen Esther by John Irving. I've been such a fan of John Irving for so many years, I'd like to say I'm enjoying it. Not so, so far. But I believe I will continue with the book in this season of hope.

I finished The Hallmarked Man this morning. Carolyn, have you finished it? It was a very complicated story. Now I can’t wait for the next one!

Donna

Yes! I finished it and probably earlier than you did, 2:00 am for me, and I didn't get up until after noon. We finished Christmas up yesterday with a whole-family brunch at a niece's house where we stayed and visited all afternoon, much too late to start un-decorating so I just read and read and read. I, too, am anxious for the next one, but I'm afraid she thinks if she gives us the ending we want, she won't be able to continue the series!

I hope Santa brought all of you something nice. I got lots of chocolate and other less important stuff, of course.

Carolyn I got a load of chocolate too as well as litres of Baileys Irish Cream. These are on my wish list as I do not want any more toiletries! I have them stored all through my place and I even found a tube of a man's body wash I had stashed years ago, when I did a deep dive into a wardrobe! A belated gift for my son!

As I have a small place, it is best for me to have the family come in small groups over the Xmas period. The teenagers are so grown up suddenly and there are a couple of new babies to admire! My tribe are scattered all over the vast State so I don't get to see them a lot.

I have dreadful sleeping patterns and being awake most of the night then sleeping until 11am is becoming normal! Good thing that I am retired! My reading these days is usually online Guardian stories and comments. Some topics attract hundreds of them but say the same thing!

A happy new year to my friends here and may lots of good books come our way!

Carolyn, I was thinking that, too. But I do like the storylines about their investigations.

I’m now reading a Michael Bennett (James Patterson) that I have read before. It’s familiar, but I don’t remember the details.

Carolyn, do you take down your decorations already? I have not put any up this year but normally I wait until after Twelfth Night to remove them. I did not feel in the right mood this year to dig out even the door wreaths. Very "Bah! Humbug-gy!" I know.

I finished The Way of Salt by Ash Warren. It was more about Japanese culture than Sumo and so interesting! It's quite short so if you're interested in Japan, I highly recommend it as a great introduction to the differences in eastern and western mind sets and a little bit about Japanese history and religion. Sumo is a part of the Shinto religious tradition and a lot of the little ceremonial aspects of it are connected to that.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Ann, no, I don't un-Christmas my house until a few days after the Day. I don't really have a certain time; I just get up one morning and think it's time. I have a lot of stuff that is a lot more fun to get out than to put away, plus I need help in getting the storage tubs and boxes back out to the garage. I miss my husband all the time, but sometimes I really miss him!

I forgot to say that I have finished The Hallmarked Man and quite a hefty book it is, too. Galbraith still didn't wrap it up the way I wanted, which means more sales for the next one, I suppose.

Carolyn, I miss having a tall man around the house! I have to wait until my six-foot plus son calls in to get light fittings emptied of bugs! It was good to have my husband help with folding sheets too! I get in such a tangle as I have a big bed which I needed to accommodate the dog!

I did not buy many Xmas decorations when I returned to Australia, mainly a couple of door wreaths and ornaments. I bought a reduced price Xmas music box which had been overwound but it suddenly started up after it was put by the sunny window! I thought it was TV background music at first and very unsuited to the movie!

Donnamira, I'm looking forward to see what you think of Advent. It has become a tradition in Iceland to read this novella, both live at venues and in installations on national radio, during Advent, and for many people it has become a cherished part of the lead-up to Christmas. I read it for the first time last year around this time, and again on Christmas Day this year.

I also enjoyed The Vogue Factor by Kirstie Clements. The author was the chief editor for Vogue Australia until she was sacked from the magazine in 2013, and worked in fashion journalism for most of her life before that (and some after). The book blends together a peep under the skirts of fashion journalism as well as covering Clements' career and some of the famous people she met and worked with. It's a perfect, frothy palate cleanser after reading heavier stuff, and would make a good beach or airport read.

I embarked on a reread of Gerald Durrell's books at the beginning of December and finished The Whispering Land earlier in the month, the story of an animal-collecting and nature documentary-making expedition to Argentina. Yesterday I finished The Overloaded Ark, the story of his first (or one of his first) animal-collecting expedition to British Cameroon, and have started on The Bafut Beagles, about another of his expeditions to Africa. His books are always delightful to read and his descriptions of animals, people and nature are wonderful and often funny.

In true Christmas tradition, I found myself some ghost stories to listen to on Audible: Chilling Ghost Stories by M. R. James, E.M. Benson and Charles Dickens. Quite enjoyable and nice to listen to something that delivers just a frisson of chilling spookiness rather than buckets of blood and guts.

It's still Christmas at my house. Til at least the Epiphany on January 6 and probably well after. I spend so much time and effort putting up all these cherished decorations that now is the time to sit, relax and enjoy them. With snow on the ground outside, I'm in a living Christmas card. Granted, the living indoor decorations are a little...less alive...but that's what makes bad eyesight something of a blessing.

Ginny, far from enjoying my decorations longer, I am boxing them up in a mad rush (until my energy fails) because a high school boy in my neighborhood posted on Facebook that he is available to run errands or do chores during his holiday school break. I have hired him to come by tomorrow afternoon to carry all my boxes and tubs from the various rooms into the garage, thus the hurry to get finished. On rest breaks, I'm praying for strength to finish!

Just finished A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins. I kept picking it up, putting it down, forgetting both plot and characters several of whom claimed to be the one 'wot dunnit'. All rather underwhelming.

Carolyn good to make the most of 'help' when it is available. We usually wait until the 6th before we remove decorations although as DS is visiting I think I'll make use of both his strength and height!

Ginny never much snow in this part of England. If any of you watch 'Call the Midwife' their Christmas Special has snow, all white and fluffy, falling on the mean streets of Poplar, in London's East End, for most of December . . . and it never gets dirty.

You're right, Vee. It's always snowing at Christmas on all these shows, even where it almost never snows and it never gets dirty, as you say. I did enjoy Call the Midwife from the beginning but stopped watching this past year as it was getting so political. Wonderful actors tho.

Pristine snow? We often have to overlook oddities in TV shows, don't we?

There are the ones set in hot French speaking places where the locals speak English to the incomers and even each other! They rarely wear sunglasses in spite of the glare!