Hobbies and Crafts

Good morning - did i hear my name mentioned - great minds and all that.

We are well thank you - been a bit busy with family history. and had a computer glitch, where i couldn't access GR for a few weeks, except the front page of the general notice board. I think i need to upgrade to a Windows 11 computer. Trouble is my old one is still working well, apart from a coupe of access issues.

Our little black cat is still keeping us amused and presented us with a dead Squirrel a few days ago. He loves chasing them but didn't realise he was fast enough to catch one.

My OH thought he saw one of the local foxes stalking our cat, so i went out to call him in and in he came with the squirrel, which i now think he had stolen from the fox, (who isn't very bright and gets easily distracted) , Managed to get it off the cat by bribing him with some chicken - and put it out in the garden, a few mnins later the fox appeared and picked up his squirrel and went off to next doors garden. Meanwhile our cat had forgotten all about his prize and decided playing with his feathers and furry worms was a lot better.

Just finished the last of the Mytlewood books and went straight on to

The Last Devil to Die - I had been putting it off, but my friend persuaded me to go for it. I knew it would upset me as one of the characters died. It was a very good read even if i was in floods of tears a couple of times.

Then I tried his other book - not the Thursday murder club We Solve Murders to see what it it was like. I wish i hadn't it was awful - so different to his other 4 books it lacked depth and i didn't like 2 of the characters from the start both very hard women - just didn't ring true. I only got as far as the 5th chapter.

Read a couple of others and went back to We solve murders and gave up again & deleted it from my kindle. Will wait for his 5th Thursday murder club book to get a little cheaper.

I went back to Alys Clare and started on the World's End Bureau Mysteries which has a Victorian Lady in charge of the Investigation bureau. .

The fist book is The Woman who Spoke to Spirits and its really good, will happily go on to read the others in the collection.

I loved Alys Clare's Hawkenlye collection they are exceptionally good, I really enjoy medieval mysteries and it keeps you guessing till the end. There are 17 of these i have read 10 of them and decided to take a break

I also love the Templar mysteries by Maureen Ash there are 12 of those and i loved every one. - you really feel you are there in medieval times and the stories keep you guessing.

I also like Ariana Franklin - The Mistress of the Art of Death - So beautifully written, you don't want them to end.

Decided to try Rob Rinders 1st book for a change and will start this after my Victorian mystery..

Glad to see every one is busy reading, and enjoying life,

Take care will pop in later

Hello Tabitha. Your cat sounds a character. A bit cheeky taking food from the fox. Then not eating it. Sounds like the fox was glad to get it back.

You have been reading a lot of authors I have not heard of. Except for Richard although I have not read The Thursday Murder club books. But I do now have one on my shelf waiting to be read. So I shall see what I think when I finish the current book.

Good to see your post Tabitha. Your cat is clearly a bit of a character.

A quick post from me today. I mentioned that I was struggling to get into The Medici Murders by David Hewson. Well, I persevered and did enjoy it in the end so I am now reading another one in the series, The Borgia Portrait. I am finding it easier going but I don't know if that's because 3 of the main characters follow on from the earlier book and I'm more "in tune" with them now. The book is another murder mystery and involves the hunt for an old missing naked portait of Lucretia Borgia. I was really surprised by the ending of The Medici Murders so I am sure there will be a twist at the end of The Borgia Portrait as well.

I had avoided reading the book I am halfway through now. I tend to be wary of books written by ‘personalities’ TV presenters actors rec. However this one was on the book stall and I decided to give it ago. It is The Thursday Murder club by Richard Osman. It is ok,,,ish, a slow read a similar story about village personalities solving murders or trying to. As several written by other authors. Not keen on his chatty style of writing. I I’ll finish it but I don’t think I will read any more of his.

I quite like the Thursday Murder Club books. They are a light read so handy if you've been reading a few weightier books and just want something to relax with. They are completely unbelievable of course but I don't mind that. In fact I've just got Richard Osman's latest book downloaded from the library. It's called We Solve Murders and isn't a Thursday Murder Club book but the few pages I've read so far suggest it might be similar and is written in the same style.

I have read quite a few Tess Gerritsen books in the past. They have been mainly the Jane Rizzoli books, crime with the emphasis on autopsies and the work of the medical examiner. I have always enjoyed them. However I have just read a stand alone novel she wrote in 2015 called PLAYING WITH FIRE I really could not put it down A Mother terrified by her 3 year old daughter’s aggressive behaviour who she is afraid to be alone with.

Then a flash back to Venice before the war, then during the war the turning against Jews. But all in the background is the finding of a piece of music and the link between then and now.

Difficult to say any more without giving away the plot but I couldn’t put the book down, I really enjoyed it, yet also found it very emotionally upsetting.

Hi All...lm not into reading much now, but did buy "Nobody's Girl" , By Vitgina Roberts Giuffre. I read the intrpduction, but need to re read it. Cant stand Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, but will do my best to finish the book..

Hi Jude, nice to see you. You'll have to let us know what you think about Nobody's Girl. I'm undecided whether I want to read it or not.

I did finish Richard Osman's We Solve Murders. I didn't particularly enjoy it and won't rush to read any more in that series. Silly though the stories were I quite warmed to the characters in The Thursday Murder Club books but I didn't feel the same about We Solve Murders.

I'm now reading another really lightweight book. It's the first of M C Beaton's Hamish MacBeth books and I've completely forgotten what it is called. Years ago I read a few of the later books and I saw some of the television series. It's very simply written so fine for the middle of the night when I can't sleep but my brain isn't fully awake to cope with anything too heavy.

Ann, I have read a couple of Tess Gerritsen books in the past but I will look out for the one you mentioned, Playing With Fire. It sounds as though it might be a bit different.

Ann I have a few Tess Gerritsen books on the shelf behind me that are waiting for me to read, Gravity, The Killing Place, Vanish and Body Double. They are in the company of a few Stephen King books I've yet to read.

I have neve read Stephen King. I have read Gravity and the killing place and as far as I remeber I enjoyed them.

I've never read any Stephen King either. Somehow they have never appealed to me. Maybe I should give one a try.

I have just finished The last Goodbye by Tim Weaver. I usually enjoy his books but I found this one tiring to read, quite ‘wordy’ several plots and sub plots and a lot of characters, some with difficult sounding names. It was not helped by being in very small print, 450 pages of it. Disappointing.

Good Morning all

How time flies, didn't realise i had been away so long.

Happy New year to everyone.

Been reading a lot lately, as having a few sleeping issues, weird dreams and pain issues, but better now- not sure if its the pain killers or full moon doing the dreams.
Oh said its normal for me as i have had really bad nightmares in the past that he cant wake me out of. Not had those since i stopped working. I thought i had cured myself of those, I know how to wake myself up now.

Anyway enough of me.

You have all been busy with books, i never realised Rizzoli & Isles were from a book - you learn something new everyday. I love the TV show, and will have o see if i enjoy the books as well. Yet another series to try.

I enjoy reading Stephen King - which is a thing of nightmares on occasions, I enjoyed Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Dead Zone and loved IT the book and the TV film.
I think my favorite is 11/22/63 very interesting and thought provoking and recommended if you like something to keep your mind occupied. I read it several years ago when the original Quantum Leap show was on TV.

Mainly since November i have been reading a few Alys Clare books, some more Hawkenlye and then i fished all the Worlds End collection, I am now on the 4th book in the Gabriel Taverner Mystery series.

Gabriel Taverner is a young former ship’s surgeon , who had to leave the life he loved and give up the sea due to an accident and has become a country physician, in the early 1600's. I must admit i really enjoy the books and feel like i am there with him in that time. He helps the local coroner solve a few murders and one very close to his family too. Well worth reading. The 4th book is based around a group of Players from London who seem to perform a great deal of Shakespeare's plays.

I will be sorry when they come to a stop, i have been with all her characters, i get really into their lives and times.

Thank you for all your interesting thought and recommends, it has given me a renewed interest in reading again, an a way to get to sleep quicker, as i take my kindle to bed and snuggle down with it. Must say the bed can get a bit crowded at times, me and the kindle, Oh and both cats when they decide to join us.

Take care everyone and keep up the good work <3 <3 <3 ;-)

Hello All Yes time does seem to go more quicky as we get older even though sometimes it feels as if it is dragging. I suppose it is the months and years that pass quickly really. But thank goodness for books on these horrible dark and wet days.

I have just read The Mpther buT M Logan. A thriller.
You wake up your husband is dead and you are the prime suspect. Your children have been taken away and you can barely remember anything about the night before, the night that you lost everything.

It is an excellent read that really keeps you guessing.

Happy belated New Year Tabitha. I have not heard of Alys Clare so will look out for her books. And I have never fancied Stephen King, not sure why, I suppose I should try one, might have a whole new series to read.
Anyway good to see you on here Tabitha and hope that the dreams are lessening. I must admit I dream a lot, I put it down to my statins and BP tablets, luckily they tend not to be nightmares.

I know what you mean about time flying Tabitha. I hadn't realised it was so long since I last posted. I don't think I've read any Alys Clare books but the Gabriel Taverner series you mentioned sounds my kind of thing so another author to add to my list of ones to look out for. I think you also mentioned Rizzoli and Isles. I've never heard of them either. Did you say it was a TV series?

Ann, I've also put The Mother on my list of books to read as I think that sounds interesting as well.

I haven't been reading as much as I usually do, partly through lack of time but mostly because of the eye problems I have had. I have read all Jodie Taylor's short stories (I think there were 11). All but 1 were part of The Chronicles of St Mary's series and I'd never bothered to read them before as I preferred to stick with the full-length books but I thoroughly enjoyed them as they expanded on some of the themes in the books. However I know this sort of fantasy isn't to everyone's taste.

I'm currently near the end of One of Us is Dead by Peter James. It's one of the Roy Grace series. It's difficult to say much about it without giving the plot away but it's up to the usual standard of the Roy Grace books and I'm enjoying it.

I do read the Roy Grace books but, like the Banks books by Peter Robinson, I find I don't enjoy them as much as I have previously seen them on TV.

I didn't see any of the Roy Grace programmes on TV though I did see some of the Inspector Banks series. I usually prefer the original books to later films and TV programmes. I finished the book One of Us is Dead and returned it to the online library and thought I'd have a look to see if they had available any of the Gabriel Taverner books by Alys Clare that Tabitha mentioned. There appear to be quite a few books in that series but they only had books 2 and 3 and both were already out on loan. I've placed a hold on book 2 (can't remember what it was called). I'll get an email when it's available and can then download it to my iPad.

I've got a couple of unread books on my kindle plus a couple of hardback books on the shelf that I haven't started yet but they are so thick and heavy that they make my wrists ache if I try to sit up in bed with them. I'll get around to them sooner or later.

It was the TV series of Grace and Bsnks that kept me going in the months after T died.

I've just started reading The Angel in the Glass, the second book in the Gabriel Taverner series by Alys Clare that Tabitha mentioned. They seem to be stand-alone stories so it doesn't matter that I haven't read the first book. So far, so good. It's easy reading without being too simple and, although I haven't got very far into it yet, I'm enjoying the story.

I finished Angel in the Glass and enjoyed it enough to download the next book in the series from the library. This one is called The Indigo Ghosts. I've only just started it but it's keeping me interested so far and seems to involve strange goings-on aboard the ship on which Gabriel Taverner (the main character in the series of books) once served.