January Library Book Photo

 Oh My Goodness - so many books! all these  lovely library books collected, all books I'd reserved on line and almost all crime of course.

From the left -the new book by Kate Ellis in her Wesley Peterson Devon series; Another new book in the series about Owen Archer in Medieval York by Candace Robb; The second by Sally Smith featuring Gabriel Ward KC in Edwardian London. Next is the first of three Val McDermid books in her Karen Pirie series. I was going to wait until they appear on TV but there are no plans for season 3. Next in the picture is 'Spring' a non fiction book by Michael Morpurgo which might just be a section of his previous book 'All Around the Year' . Then the latest in the series by Chris Nickson featuring thief taker Simon Westow and set in 1800's Leeds. Next in the photo is Winter by Val McDermid - no idea what this is or why I reserved it. And again no idea what 'Gunner' by Alan Parks is all about. I thought I'd read all the updated Campion books by Mike Ripley but this one isn't in my book-of-books-read. The Queen who came in from the Dark is another by S.J.Bennett in which our late queen gets involved in solving crimes. The small paperbacks are Still Waters by ECR Lorac a recent publication by British Library Crime Classics. The last two are Murder in York by J R Ellis which I think I've failed with previously and something I don't know at all The Bone Road by N E Solomon.

I've still got four here from the December van visit when there were 13 brought home. I've read seven, and abandoned two. The books I read are on the December 2025 page or January 2026 Books Read page.

I need to stop writing this blog post and start reading PDQ!!

Cinema Visit? Weird Aircraft and a Good Book

There is much promoting at the moment of a film called Hamnet due out tomorrow. One of my very few trips to cinema in the last 10 years was to see the film  about Shakespeare.........All is True. This was about Shakespeare's last years when he returned from London to live with his family and him finding out the 'truth' about Hamnet's death. All is True was full of famous actors but didn't have much publicity. I'm thinking about going to see Hamnet, if I can be bothered. Could have sworn that I'd read the book by Maggie O' Farrell on which the film is based but no mention of it in my Book of Books Read, so obviously not.

A loud noise and rumbling over the bungalow and I looked out to see one of these . On the Globe  Watch Airplanes Live website it told me what it was an MV-22 belonging to USA Military, a cross between helicopter and VTOL plane. The odd thing was it seemed to start from a big Country house in Gloucestershire and land by the river on the Suffolk coast. Who knows what's going on.

I'm not at all sure about doing the jigsaw I mentioned yesterday, started sorting the edges and it didn't go well. So went back to reading The Red Shore by William Shaw and finished it - a really good story by a new-to-me author. (Sure, Shaw and Shore - no wonder people struggle to learn English!!)

He's written several others previously so might try one of those. The Red Shore is the first of a new series set in Teignmouth area of Devon - a lovely part of the country and features Detective Sergeant  Eden Driscoll, a Met. detective who suddenly finds his estranged sister, Apple, is missing and he has a young nephew he knew nothing about. Upon arrival at his sisters home in Teignmouth he begins to suspect that his sister wasn't just washed overboard  from her yacht - she would never have gone to sea at night or locked the boy - Finn- in a cabin. When he starts to investigate it brings back memories of his and Apple's own strange childhood and puts him and Finn in real danger. I've made a note to look for the next book in June. 

 I did manage a letter to one penfriend and walked up to the post box - the half inch of snow has gone but it was still very cold.

January Jigsaw and A Cold Country on Radio 4

 The snow on Monday meant the Grandchildren weren't here after all so instead I got the January Jigsaw out of the cupboard. It's another nostalgia puzzle by House of Puzzles. It has a bit more sky than any I've done recently - if the colours are too much the same and  too muted I might give up before hardly starting - just like trying a not-so-good book, no point in persevering with something that doesn't give enjoyment.

 I've also sorted out threads to do a small X stitch book-mark/card. So two things are ready to start - but instead I began reading another book - so many left to read, I started on How to Solve Your Own Murder, but it seemed a bit strange so I soon gave up. Then began  on The Red Shore by William Shaw which seems very good so far.  I'd already abandoned Cacophony of Bones, for the second time - and many others have given up on it too I think as the pages were still very tight in the second half of the book - seems very few had got to the end. I'll be collecting  several more books from the mobile library soon......weather permitting of course. 

Not as much snow here on Monday as there is in  a place that I heard about on a programme on Radio 4. Longyearbyen is the world's most Northerly settlement, way up north on the group of islands - Svalbard - belonging to Norway. The settlement is there for the coal mining but that is coming to an end which will probably mean the town won't continue to exist, with so many weeks of complete darkness in winter not many live there by choice (The programme is in their Illuminated series titled 'The Frozen Light' - on BBC sounds.)

Love the houses with all their different colours. 

I suppose there is no oil or minerals here so not somewhere you-know-who wants to acquire!