I’ve put aside Book of the Little Axe and started Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks, and I’m already enjoying it. Sparks says in the introduction he got the start of the novel by visiting a mailbox called Kindred Spirit on an island off the coast of North Carolina. In the box he found a story, sketches and photos telling of a couple’s unlikely meeting and falling in love. Sparks was able to track down the writer based on the photos and descriptions in the story, and wrote the novel with the approval of the story writer.

Donna

Yoyobon - I read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry almost 10 years ago. It's a memorable book and I enjoyed it, although it's not exactly full of joy. Just a couple days ago, a friend told me she'd seen the movie on Netflix and really liked it. I didn't know it had been made into a movie, so now I'm looking forward to seeing it.

I am ready to start The Killing Stone by Ann Cleeves. I really liked her earlier Perez books and am looking forward to this one.

Kathy......I am listening to Harold Fry as I do my daily walking. It's okay but not one I'd suggest to anyone.

I'm always hoping for that next "couldn't put it down" novel !

I get it, Bon. Those novels are hard to come by.

The last one I can remember that I could not put down was "The Godfather"!

We were given a publicity copy which I started as "just the first chapter at bedtime" then read it all night after scolding my husband for doing that!

I may have read gripping stories since but they did not register for long.

I am in the final stretch of The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear. I never heard of the book or the author--it was a Christmas present. I must say it is quite good and I wish I had time to just sit and read but I'm catching up with chores put on the back burner in December. Do they ever end?

Bon, try Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks. I am really enjoying it. It had me in tears last night (and I suspect more to come). I had to force myself to put it down and go to sleep after 11 last night.

Donna

Ginny, there are 18 Maisie Dobbs books. I have read them all and liked them, obviously. The last one was The Comfort of Ghosts published in 2022. Tnis is a series best read in order.

Ginny....Winspear wrote the Maisie Dobbs series which is one of my favorites.

I finished Every Breath and it was really good. I think Book of the Little Axe will go on the DNF list.

Donna

Thank you Carolyn and Yoyobon for the Maisie Dobbs recommendation. Maybe this year. The White Lady was gripping until the end which was too unbelievable for me.

I have now started and can't put down a book recommended by several of you last year--The Berry Pickers. I suggested it to my book club as our January read so I'll let you know what they think after we meet. I think it is terrific as of the half-way mark.

For what it's worth, a neighbor who is an avid reader polled her book club for their favorite book last year and here were some replies:

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

The Heart Of Winter by Evison

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Brower

West With Giraffes

Bon, we did a best-of in our book chat group as well:

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960's by Doris Kearns Goodwin

West With the Night by Beryl Markham

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Murder Your Employer -McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga

West With Giraffes was on our best-of list (from multiple readers) the last couple years.

I thought about starting a Best of 2025 thread, but when I did it last year, the thread disappeared for a couple weeks before it resurfaced, so was OBE. The joys of Houzz....

This morning I finished my second reading of The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. I liked it just as much as the first time. Or perhaps I liked it more. A good read.

I managed to finish Kerry Greenwood's "Murder in the Cathedral" and only read it all because it is the last Phryne Fisher book. It was hard going as the style was so stilted and clunky! I had to take the story in small doses! I must read some of the old Fisher books to see if this was always the case. I have a few of her books to compare.

I have read that there is another Corinna Chapman book but it might be some time before it gets edited and published.

This is just a heads-up for fans of the Brittany mystery series. The latest book is scheduled to come out in April. The title is The Secrets of the Abbey. I have reserved it at my local library as there is always a wait for these books. Odd that I didn't see it in upcoming titles on Stop You're Killing Me's January list.

Thanks, Ginny! I put it on my notification list.

Ann, I prefer the Corinna books and would appreciate Iit if you would let me know when it is released.

Ginny, I don't think SYKM is doing a very good job anymore. I'd like it if all of us would post here when a good book comes out.

I'm reading The Black Wolf by Louise Penny and had to wait for it for a long time from the library, long enough to see people write that they didn't think she was writing as well as she did earlier but I'm enjoying it so far,

Carolyn, will do!

I find I am better off to go to the website of authors I like as SYKM is not up to date with some of them.

I hope the new Corinna book is easier to read than the last Phryne Fisher. I mentioned here how difficult it was because of the awkward language.

Even a couple of "verily-es" got a look-in! I was grinding what teeth I have left! Whose books had she been reading to influence her?

Yoyo, it was a little weird.

I am also tired of the saintliness of Gamache (Louise Penny).

I am halfway through The Berry Pickers and I’m enjoying it a lot. Thank you to those who recommended it.

Donna

Carolyn, what did you think of The Killing Stone by Ann Cleeves? I was very disappointed with it. I hadn't read any other Perez books, but I have watched Shetland. I thought the killer was announced pretty much 'out of the blue' with very few clues given. I like to be able to pit myself against the detective, but you need suitable clues (even if some are red herrings) to do that.

I have started a reread of the Morland Dynasty by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, one of my favourite series.

Oh, Kath, I adore the Morlands.

No, I didn't think much of the Cleves book. I was excited to read about it because I really liked the earlier Perez series, but this one was a non-starter, almost like a different author. I won't bother with any more of them, I don't think

I have started an actual hand-held book using a standing magnifier that is pretty good but it slows me down. The book is a new Elizabeth George, A Slow Dying Cause, another blast from the past, and I hope better than Cleves.

I have just finished Gerald Durrell's A Zoo in My Luggage, about the first animal collecting expedition he went on for his own zoo. With typical optimism, he started by collecting a bunch of animals, brought them to Britain and then started trying to find a place for a zoo.

I hadn't read any of Durrell's books in quite some time and while the descriptions of nature and animals were delightful as ever, I was struck, when reading The Bafut Beagles, which describes a previous animal collecting expedition to the same area of Cameroon, by the racist language he used when describing his African staff and the way he portrayed his host, the tribal leader or Fon of Bafut as jolly, hard-drinking and rather simple.

In A Zoo in My Luggage, he has toned it down and the writing is more respectful, but still somewhat troubling, but this time the tone is imperialistic more than racist. I don't remember his writing about South-America being like this (The Whispering Land, with which I started this rereading series, was certainly not), but I will find out when I start reading his books about Guyana and Paraguay, which are up next.

The animal collecting itself is also troubling and would be quite impossible today, what with international treaties and regulations.

I enjoyed The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters very much. Now I’m reading Talking God by Tony Hillerman. I like his style and enjoy his Navajo lawmen Leaphorn and Chee.

Is anyone else having trouble with this site? I keep getting a "something went wrong" message. This is the first time in several days that I could access it.

I just finished the first Donna Leon, Death at La Fenice. People have urged me to read this mystery series for years so I finally read one--another Christmas present. It had its merits but I wasn't crazy about it. Too much talk, talk, talk and also some rough subject matter, including child abuse. I'll try one or two more but I don't know.

Ginny, I have not had problems. I do get an upgrade sometimes which makes me have to reset some sites though.

I dug out an old murder hardback, nice to hold thick paper pages but the story was so slow!

Lots about the food our tec ate, drank and what he wore and smoked!

Carolyn, I was sadly disappointed by the Elizabeth George book too. Creepy protagonist, Lynley and Barbara only in it by accident, and again, not enough clues for me.

Ginny, I frequently get the 'something went wrong' message, but I just hit reload and the page comes up. It's annoying, but so far hasn't kept me out altogether.

I just finished "Hiking the Appalachian Trail in the Virginias: A Septuagenarian's Journey" by Dave Pruett, and came to the conclusion that while Pruett was able to section-hike the AT until he'd walked all of the Virginia portion in his 70's, he has a lifetime's experience of hiking and camping that enabled his accomplishment. Sadly, not one I will be able to duplicate. :) But the book is a great how-to and guide for those who want to try.

Finally got in after a lot of random clicking--then they made me log in again--then my reply disappeared. Now I forgot what I was going to say. Last chance corral here. :)

I apologise if this is inappropriate here but I feel as though I know you all. I have managed very little reading for the last few weeks as DH who as a child had polio, was recently re-visited by this horrible condition, 70 years after the initial attack and very suddenly went 'down-hill' and died within a couple of weeks earlier this month. He just seemed to have given up.

But . . . for Christmas John had bought me Greengates by R C Sherriff (an 'old boy/ former pupil of his school in Kingston-on-Thames). A very simple story written in the mid-1930's of a City office clerk who cannot settle into his new life of retirement and buys a plot of land in suburbia on which to build a modern house. I am finding the often mundane day to day goings on of the couple very soothing.

If you have read Sherriff's The Fortnight in September I think you would enjoy this.

I keep waiting and wanting to enjoy The Dictionary Of Lost Words ......so far it is "meh".

Dear Vee, I am so shocked and sorry to read your post. What more can I say other than express my sincere condolences.

I too lost my husband very suddenly and it took me a while for the loss to sink in as I had so much to do.

Please do not hesitate to post about this here as we are your friends. I must have "known" you for more than twenty years as I started to post here after my husband died and I needed to have a chat about the book I was reading.

Moving into another world for a while is such a consolation!

Dear Vee,

I am so very sorry to hear of your sad loss, and so suddenly. I hope you know and may be comforted by the fact that your many friends here will be thinking of you with love and sympathy. I too have been through such a loss and may it comfort you to know that you are not alone.

Ginny

Vee, I am so sorry for your loss. You are in my thoughts. ❤️

Donna

Vee, I send you my condolences from across the pond. Losing a beloved spouse is one of the toughest things a person must go through. You sound as if you are handling it with grace - not an easy thing to do. I find it so sweet that your husband's last gift was a book that reflects what the two of you went through together not so long ago - moving to a more modern and convenient place to make your retirement years a bit easier. I am glad you find it comforting.

Vee, I am so sorry to hear that your husband has passed away so suddenly. I hope the warm thoughts of all your friends here will be of some comfort to you.

Kath

Vee, I am so sorry for your loss.

Yvonne

I've started reading The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. It's a historical fiction book about the friendship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, an African American social and political activist of Eleanor's era. I'm enjoying it.

Vee, I can;t tell you how shocked and sorry I am to hear about your husband. I've given

up sending Christmas cards but did think of you during the holidays. It's been nine years since my husband died, but I well remember the shock of the loss and the emptiness afterwards. I'll tell you what my sister told me; it takes a long time. Please keep coming here. We will all be here for you if there is any way we can help.

Vee, I am so sorry to hear about your husband.

I finished A Slowly Dying Cause today. It was a long book and a busy season, and Goodreads tells me I'm already behind in my 2026 goal. What a way to start off the New Year. The book itself was not up to her older ones, either.

I read The Secret Book Society and enjoyed it. Assuming it’s at least somewhat historically accurate, I learned a lot about the life of society women in Victorian England (and I’m glad I wasn’t there!).

I’m currently reading Play Nice by Rachel Harrison. It revolves around three adult sisters who, as children, lived in a house supposedly inhabited by a demon. After their mother dies, the youngest sister decides to fix up the house before selling it, and is starting to learn things about her childhood she either didn’t know or didn’t remember. It’s pretty good so far.

Donna

Vee, I'm so sorry to read that you lost your husband, and so suddenlytoo. My sympathy to you.

Cheryl

I'm reading a book my daughter gave me for Christmas called The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict. It is a story of five famous mystery writers who set out to solve a real murder in order to prove themselves to male writers who think they are just girls in spite of their success with the public. The writers' group consists of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy. DD knows how much I love mysteries, and this book is delightful both in the treatment of the well-known authors themselves and the way this author have them go about solving the murder.

I have just finished listening to Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, narrated by Jessie Buckley, who plays Agnes (Anne) in the movie. The story was slow paced, but it maintained my interest. When I first started listening, I was tempted to increase the speed of the narration, but it soon seemed to me that the slow pace really suited the personality of Agnes. I have a feeling it will be among my favourite books this year.

I also read Daniel Silva's latest, An Inside Job. Although it was a reasonable thriller, I do miss Gabriel's colleagues from the Mossad. Sarah and Christopher appear as cardboard cutouts near the end, but it's another book set in the Vatican, where Gabriel seems to have a lot of freedom.

I just finished listening to ( while walking) Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen and really enjoyed it. I plan to continue with the Molly Murphy series since the narrator is wonderful and the character is very enjoyable.

I've only read Bowen's Hamish books. Sounds like I need to branch out a bit.