Wednesday Hodgepodge - 5/3/25

Joyce hosts the Hodgepodge here.  Each week she gives us a set of questions to consider and then we can link up and see what other bloggers have said.

1. What do you love most about March? 

The arrival of Spring and the lengthening days.

2. Hey! Did you know March is National Celery Month? Do you like celery? What's something you make (or like to order out) that calls for celery? 

I don't dislike celery but I don't love it.  I'm more likely to eat it in a stew or pasta sauce for example than I am to eat it raw.

3. _______________ is the soundtrack to my life right now. 

Well that would be Hubby either playing some of his records now they are back in place or him playing his guitar.  I'm not one for making a lot of noise but he makes enough for the two of us.

4. Share a favourite motivational quote for overcoming challenges. 

I'm not great at remembering quotes but the philosophy I usually adopt when faced with a challenge is either "just do it" or "just make a start" because I often find the anticipation of something is worse than the actual thing itself.

5. The Hodgepodge lands on Ash Wednesday this year. Do you participate in Lent in some way? If so tell us more. 

Not as much as I used to when the children were younger and we were better at attending Church.  This year though I am determined to be more mindful so yesterday I deleted games from my phone that were really stealing a lot of my time.  I also made a list of things that we need to get done both in the short term and long term.  I do love a list.    

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Definitely feeling more Spring like here - the sun is shining and flowers are blooming.  Makes such a difference.  Even when I'm feeling old - got an invitation letter to apply for my state pension yesterday!

Friday's Fave Five - 28/2/25

Time to join up with Susanne and other grateful bloggers here as we remember the good things from the week.

1) Our units have been fitted in our living room!

 my photos don't really do them justice but we're really pleased with them and now we can start getting everything back in place.  

2)  The mammogram I had done a couple of weeks ago was all clear.  The next one will be in 3 years.

3)  Made it to keep fit this week and a catch up with friends afterwards.

4)  The postal service.  The books I had sent to my grandsons in the US arrived safely, despite all the snow they've had.

5)  A weekend with my son and his family.  They arrived this evening and will be here until Sunday.

Have a good weekend all.  Ours will be hectic as we'll have my daughter and her family here to visit - the cousins love getting together.

Book Review - Atticus - Juno Jakob (2025 #13)

Atticus by Juno Jakob
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Written during hospitalisation for schizophrenia and depression, Juno Jakob's debut adult novel is a look at the complex puzzle of mental illness, life on a psychiatric ward and the power of love and friendship. In October of 2008, twenty-seven-year-old Dylan Samuel is sectioned at St. John's Psychiatric Hospital following a mental breakdown and diagnosis of schizophrenia. During his involuntary stay and with the help of his psychiatrist, Dr. Francis Romero and a kind hallucination, a fox named Atticus, Dylan navigates the ward as well as the broken parts of his mind and begins a road to recovery.

This book details living with schizophrenia, in particular during hospitalization. It's a hard read in that it's graphic - bad language occurs frequently throughout the book and it's dark. But it feels truthful and although sad at times it is also hopeful.

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Wednesday Hodgepodge - 26/2/25

Wednesday means Hodgepodge.  Joyce provides the questions and we link up here.

1. February 26th is National Tell A Fairy Tale Day...have you read a fairy tale lately? What's your favourite fairy tale? Do you believe in 'happily ever after'? 

I haven't read a fairy tale recently.  Need to be more careful with some of them these days as they can actually be a bit scary.

I think we can have "happily ever after" but it will be a different thing to different people.  And even. for example, if you've found your ideal partner life often throws us a curveball.

2. Complete one of the following sentences with a thought relating to your life currently-

• Once upon a time there was order in my life.  Everything in my house had a home.  Currently it feels that lots of things are not where they are supposed to be and there are LOTS of things that shouldn't even be in my house!
• A long time ago________________
• In a place far far away__________

3. Which of the following 'fairy tale foods' is your favourite? Which have you made/eaten most recently? 

porridge/oatmeal (Goldilocks and The Three Bears), an apple (Snow White), a gingerbread cookie (The Gingerbread Man), pumpkin soup/pie/bread (Cinderella), peas (The Princess and the Pea), beans (Jack and The Beanstalk) or a cup of tea (Alice in Wonderland) 

Well I would have to go with cup of tea.  I can't start the day without one.  (Although I have had porridge, an apple, peas and beans recently.)

My daughter once took me for an afternoon tea that was Alice in Wonderland themed.  It was lovely. I thought I'd blogged about it but looking back it was in 2015.  I did take some pictures though.

It was all very yummy!

4. What's your idea of fun? 

Messing about with the Grandkids.

5. Next week's Hodgepodge lands in March. Is that right? I guess so.  Give us one noun, one verb, and one adjective that tell us something about your February. To make you think a little harder, you cannot use the words cold or snowy. 

Disruption

Lazing

Unproductive

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Today we are due to have our new units fitted into our living room.  Once that's done we can start moving things into them and restoring the rest of the house to order.  The time frame of chaos has actually been a lot shorter than we thought it would and to be fair it hasn't really had a big impact on us day to day.  I just hate seeing the house out of order.

Book Review - The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene (2025 #12)

Start hereThe Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In a poor, remote section of Southern Mexico, the paramilitary group, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest is on the run. Too human for heroism, too humble for martyrdom, the nameless little worldly “whiskey priest” is nevertheless impelled toward his squalid Calvary as much by his own compassion for humanity as by the efforts of his pursuers.

This book was recommended to me by my husband as it meets the "includes Latin American History" prompt for the challenge I'm doing.

It's well written and it's about the time when priests were being driven out from a southern state of Mexico. Sadly I didn't find it gripping. Thankfully it was fairly short.

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Monday's Musings - 24/2/25

Last week was a very unproductive week for me.  Not sure why but I really wasn't very motivated.  I did hardly any walking (it did rain a lot), missed my keep fit class and had several nights where I didn't sleep very well.

I am determined to do better this week.  I was up a bit earlier today and between us most of the floors have been hoovered and the tiled floors cleaned.  Our bed is in the process of being changed and I'm on my 3rd lot of laundry.

I finished reading a book (The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene) and have managed to slot Heartstone by C J Sansom into a challenge prompt. (Character with red hair - Henry VIII) so I can start reading that at some point.  (I picked it up recently from a local Little Library with the final two of the series too.)

  

I also managed a lap of the lake although I didn't time that well - I got rained on.  It is even more muddy by the lake - we had a lot of rain overnight recently and it's rained again today.

The river which is usually less than a foot deep and flows very slowly is the highest I've seen it and running quite fast.

It was worth the walk though to catch sight of these new offspring:

Not the best photos but there are 4 Egyptian Geese goslings who blend in with the muddy ground.  I couldn't get very close either as one of the parents was making it very clear that I was encroaching on their space!

Last night I finished stitching all the ends in on my blanket so just the edging to attach now.

This is the book I used for the patterns for the squares.  I originally just started doing various squares with odd wool I had and then began organising them into a suitable layout for a blanket.  Thankfully the end is in sight now - it's been a WIP for a long time!  And I really want to try my hand at making a pair of socks.

Anyway definitely a more motivated Monday.  

Book Review - Hidden Pictures - Jason Rekulak (2025 #11)

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A wildly inventive spin on the supernatural thriller, about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets. Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy. Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body. Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force. Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.

I'm not a big fan of books about the supernatural and this book hasn't improved that situation. The main problem I had was additional elements added to the book that I felt weren't needed. It has the feel of a YA book to me although it's not sold as that and it is spooky but I didn't find myself engaging with the characters. Not one I'd recommend although it does have some good reviews.

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#SoCS - 22/2/25 - In Person

Full details of how #SoCS works can be found here on host Linda's blog.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “in person.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Well I'm here, "in person" and it's not yet 9 am and I've almost finished my first cup of tea.  No AI impersonation going on here.  I did think about posting a selfie to prove I'm up and semi-awake but I didn't think anyone who's in the least sensitive could take the sight of me pre-tea and breakfast.

I've actually been awake since about 7 and Hubby was snoring on and off so I decided I'd get up and show up here before the day really starts.  

I'm sure that AI will make things a lot easier and more efficient in some instances but I still like to be able to talk to a person when I've got an issue with something or just need some assistance.  I hate working through all the call options before I can get to a person.  Plus I also like to feel that I'm talking to someone here in the UK, not someone half way around the world where the connection isn't great and it's not always easy to hear what the person is saying.  Sometimes it really does feel like they're thousands of miles away.

The systems where you have to speak your responses annoy me even more.  You think you're speaking quite clearly and then you get the annoying "I didn't quite catch that.  Could you repeat it please?" response and you feel like throwing the phone across the room or simply shouting your answer at the phone.  I wonder how long before you get a response of "There's no need to shout!"?

I think it's incredible how much technology has advanced, just in this century alone but sometimes I just think it would be good if people just showed up "in person" and really started getting to grips with the problems facing the world and worked together rather than concentrating on making machines to do things for us.

Although they would need to be better persons than this one who just does a lot of waffling!  (Or some of those currently in positions of power.)

Enjoy your day :)

Friday's Fave Fives - 21/2/25

It's Friday so time to join up with Susanne and other like minded bloggers here as we look back on the good things in the past week.

1)  A family party last Saturday - one of our nieces turned 40 in January and organised a party to celebrate.  It was lovely to see lots of family members.  4 of Hubby's siblings were there and lots of the next generation.

The cousins do love getting together.

This is 17 of the nieces & nephews and 1 great nephew.

and then we squeezed a few partners in.

Not the best pic of the birthday girl with her sister and parents
but she managed to blow out all those candles!

2)  Some quiet days this week - there was no Foodbank as the church floor is being replaced.

3)  The carpenter making the units for our living room contacted us to make arrangements to come next week to fit them.  This is a lot sooner than we expected so it means I'll be able to get the house back to normal before our visitors arrive next month.

4)  Quiet days meant I could work on my blanket.  It still needs the border to be attached (and about a million ends to be woven in) but it's finally assembled.

5)  Dinner at our daughter's today - plus time with the grandkids.

I managed to snap this lovely pic of Ella

Nathan didn't really want to have his picture taken.

Have a good weekend all - it's warmed up here in the last day or so but we've had rain.  My walking/steps stats are suffering lol.

Wednesday's Hodgepodge - 19/2/25

Wednesdays mean Hodgepodge - provided by our lovely host Joyce who you can find here.

1. Many of our earliest presidents created words or expressions widely used today. Teddy Roosevelt is credited with mollycoddle, pack rat, frazzle, and loose cannon...which of those words/phrases currently relates to your life in some way? 

Possibly frazzle.  My house is still upside down from our recent decorating, and will be until the new units are fitted which won't be for a few more weeks.  A lot of stuff is not where it should be, plus we have extra stuff from when the kids moved to the US which I still have to sort and deal with.  (And shhh there's also stuff of my daughter's that we need to deal with too.)  I'm putting it off for now - once the units are in and all our stuff is dealt with then I can focus on all the other things plus there is a yard sale planned for our local area in May.  But I do not like the chaos.

2. Have you visited many (or any) of the US Presidents homes, monuments, libraries or related sites? If so what's been your favorite? Are there any you particularly want to see? Here's a link to presidential sites listed by state which is kind of fun to read-Presidential Places by State. And since several bloggers who participate in the HP each week live outside the US, here's a link to Presidential Places Outside the US. Have you seen any of those? 

Well we've visited Washington and seen many of the monuments there and I've also seen the Presidential Statues that are in London's Trafalgar Square but looks like I should take a trip to Grosvenor Square to see more.

3. February 20th is National Cherry Pie Day...will you celebrate? Given your choice of cherry pie, cherry cobbler, cheesecake with a cherry topping, or black forest cake which would you choose? 

I will absolutely not be celebrating - still trying to lose the extra pounds that went on over Christmas lol.

If I had to choose it would be cheesecake with a cherry topping thank you.

4. Last time you worked a puzzle of some kind? Something that had you puzzled recently? 

I am always doing puzzles - I have a subscription to the NYT puzzle section so I Wordle, Crossword, spell etc most days.  I'm also a great fan of Japanese style puzzles - Sudoku, Kakuro etc.

I'm also doing this one each day:

I blogged about it here.

The Puzzle I find most annoying though is the missing .......(insert any item of clothing as appropriate.)  You know it has to be in the house somewhere.........

5. Of the early blooming flowers (January-early March depending on your zone) which one's your favourite? 

snowdrops, lenten roses, pansies, violets, snapdragons, reticulated iris, crocus, winter jasmine

I'd have to say snowdrops from that list and maybe crocus, too early for the others

Do you have any of these in your own yard/garden? 

No I don't but once daffodils and tulips are in the shops I will buy some to have in the house.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I should have put this for #4.  

I love the fact that I can buy postage online and then arrange for a package to be collected.  I found a couple of "Where's Wally?" style books that I wanted to send over to the Grandsons so I packaged them up, sorted out the postage and arranged for collection on Monday.

There were 3 of us in the house ALL Day!  Yet not one of us heard the postman call at 12.49 pm.  How? 

Hopefully he'll come today.  There's a note by the doorbell!

Book Review - The Judge's List - John Grisham (2025 #10)

The Judge's List by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In The Whistler, Lacy Stoltz investigated a corrupt judge who was taking millions in bribes from a crime syndicate. She put the criminals away, but only after being attacked and nearly killed. Three years later, and approaching forty, she is tired of her work for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct and ready for a change.

Then she meets a mysterious woman who is so frightened she uses a number of aliases. Jeri Crosby's father was murdered twenty years earlier in a case that remains unsolved and that has grown stone cold. But Jeri has a suspect whom she has become obsessed with and has stalked for two decades. Along the way, she has discovered other victims.

Suspicions are easy enough, but proof seems impossible. The man is brilliant, patient, and always one step ahead of law enforcement. He is the most cunning of all serial killers. He knows forensics, police procedure, and most important: he knows the law.

He is a judge, in Florida - under Lacy's jurisdiction.

He has a list, with the names of his victims and targets, all unsuspecting people unlucky enough to have crossed his path and wronged him in some way. How can Lacy pursue him, without becoming the next name on his list?

Another fast paced book from Grisham that follows Lacy Stoltz of the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct as she tries to build a case against a sitting Judge for murder. Evidence against him has been provided by the daughter of one of the victims but it's very circumstantial.

As they work together they become caught up in a game of cat and mouse. Who will win?

This is a typical Grisham novel, using legal procedures to provide a fast moving but detailed story. I really enjoyed it.

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Book Review - Everyone on this train is a Suspect - Benjamin Stevenson (2025 #9)

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.

The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty:

the debut writer (me!)
the forensic science writer
the blockbuster writer
the legal thriller writer
the literary writer
the psychological suspense writer

But when one of us is murdered, the remaining authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime.

Of course, we should also know how to commit one.

How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?

Sometimes sequels can be a disappointment but not this one. It's written in a similar way as "Everyone in my family has killed someone" but different characters and settings give it a fresh feel.

Don't think of it as a "Whodunnit?" though. Although the narrator continuously breaks the 4th wall and gives out snippets of information along the way, lots of the details given in the denouement are not in the book.

Still an enjoyable read though.

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Friday's Fave Five - 14/2/25

Time to look back on the week and show our gratitude for the good things.  We link up here at Susanne's site to share them.

1)  Well we're not big on Valentine's day in our house.  Both Hubby and I find it all very commercialised but we had an impromptu invitation to join our local grandkids for dinner tonight.  Our DIL had made a nice stew - just what you need when the temperature is only just above freezing.  Nathan and Ella were on good form - they'd both been given notebooks for Valentine's day and we had a lot of fun drawing pictures and guessing what they were.  It was nice to spend time with them, especially as we hadn't expected to.  And no dinner to cook or washing up to do.

Playing guess what the picture is!

2)  Grateful for the volunteers from our local Swan rescue team again this week - I was able to help rescue a swan that had been chased off our lake by the resident pair.  Click here for the full story.  Thankfully the rescued swan was taken to a nearby body of water that has a flock of swans and she seems to be settling in ok.

3)  Also grateful for our NHS service and routine checks this week - had my routine mammogram done at one of the mobile units nearby on Tuesday.  The radiographer was lovely and it was all very efficient.  Results usually come back in about 2-3 weeks.

4)  Bright sunny weather today - still only about 4 degrees C but I was able to get out and refill the bird feeders - they were soon attracting the birds and the squirrel!  I also managed to plant out the mini Christmas tree I'd bought at Christmas.  Hopefully it will survive.  I also managed a walk to deposit some of my books in the local Little Libraries.

5)  Talking of Little Libraries - this was what I brought home yesterday:

These 3 books by C J Sansom are the final 3 in the Matthew Shardlake series - Heartstone, Lamentation and Tombland.  The Little Library actually had all 7 books but I've already read the first 4.

They are tomes (664, 656 and 865 pages respectively) and I need to see if I can fit them to any of the prompts of the 52 book challenge but at least now they are on my TBR pile and I'm sure I'll get through them eventually!

Have a good weekend all.

Thursday's Tea time chat - 13/2/25

Well not the most inspiring title.  Although I am writing this with a cup of tea nearby.  Hopefully I won't let it get cold which is what I often do.

Having done some Tuesday's Twaddle posts I wanted a similar word for  posts on Thursdays but there aren't that many good words.  Tripe or trash were offered as was tosh and even tommyrot.  I decided to change tack and went for tea time chat instead.

Most of my posts could be tea time chats because it always seems to be time for tea - probably because I let the last one get cold and need a fresh cup.  (Well actually a mug.)

Yesterday I had an eventful walk.  The weather still wasn't great - quite chilly and overcast and, despite no rain being forecast, there was definitely moisture in the air.  I opted to walk around the lake despite the mud and I'm glad I did as I came across this:

It's not clear from the photo but there were actually 3 swans there, a male and a female, attacking another female.

It's a complicated arrangement - the male known as Mr Highams Park is new to the lake (no one seems to know what happened to our original male) and he seemed to have paired up with the resident female (Beth).  But, while Beth was at the Swan Sanctuary for a few days because of an injury to her mouth from fishing line, Mr Highams Park seems to have acquired a new partner or rather his original partner (Mrs Holey Foot - she has a small hole in one of her feet).

Beth was returned to the lake this week but Mr Highams Park and Mrs Holey Foot decided she was not to be allowed back and had chased her out of the lake and were attacking her in the undergrowth.  Swans can be very territorial.  

There was an elderly couple there and between us we managed to steer the couple back to the lake and then I kept an eye on Beth while I waited for the lovely lady from the Swan rescue team to arrive.  Thankfully I've dealt with her in the past so I had her number in my phone.  Gill arrived quite quickly and was able to catch Beth.  She will take advice from the swan sanctuary as to what to do next. But at least for now poor Beth is safe.  

I ended up walking home via the road and encountered this little one.

Not sure if male or female but pretty and quite young I think.  It boldly walked across the path in front of me.  I've zoomed in there but it was fairly close.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 12/2/25

Oops.  Hopefully not too many people viewed this before I edited it and put in my responses!

You can join in the fun over at our host Joyce's site here.

1. Did you watch the Super Bowl? Did your team win? What's your favourite game day snack for  whatever sport is happening? 

No - we do get coverage of the Super Bowl in the UK but it's not my thing.

2. What's your 'superpower'? 

Well I don't think I have a "superpower" but I can be quite methodical and organised.

3. Will you do anything special on Valentine's Day? If so do share. Any thoughts on/about this particular holiday? Share a favourite verse or quote relating to love. 

No.  We both hate the way the day has been commercialised.  The last time we went out for a meal on the day (quite a few years ago)  the tables for two were packed so closely together we ended up chatting with our neighbours.  Hardly romantic lol.

4. Are you a fan of the rom-com genre? If so what's one of your favourites? If you're not a movie go-er then what about a book you love that features a great love story? How about a favourite love song? 

Yep, love it.  I've watched Love Actually a few times.  Not a favourite song but the first record I ever bought was Puppy Love by Donny Osmond.

5. Let's get creative...write an acrostic using the word L-O-V-E. 

Look 

Out

Valentine's

Early this year!

Not feeling the creative juices this morning lol

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Well I wasn't very methodical and organised with this post.  I started it back on Sunday when the questions were posted and scheduled it to post this morning.  I fully intended updating it with my answers before then but.....anyway it's done now.  Sometimes I can overthink things!

Book Review - A Springtime Affair - Katie Fforde (2025 #8)

A Springtime Affair by Katie Fforde
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Gilly runs a lovely bed and breakfast in the idyllic house she inherited from her parents. She has two adoring children and loves how her life has panned out, despite her pesky ex–husband.

Enter Leo, a real estate agent who is very handsome and very convincing. Soon Gilly begins to wonder if perhaps selling the house is such a bad idea, especially when her daughter Helena could really do with the money…

Meanwhile Helena is at risk of being evicted from her studio and the timing couldn’t be worse. She is due to deliver a large piece of work to a famous weaver and it could make (or break) her career. Luckily her dashing landlord, Jago, offers to share his barn until she’s finished, and it’s not long before she starts to see him in a different light. But she doesn't have time for love and despite her financial trouble, is determined to hold on to her independence.

And so begins a somewhat complicated journey for mother and daughter who will discover that love and hope can be found in the most unlikely places…

A nice easy light fluffy read. Just what you need after reading about grisly murders. And I love a happy ending.

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#SoCS - 8/2/25 - Bulk

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “bulk.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun! To join in the fun click here.

Well this is definitely going to be a stream of consciousness piece because I have no idea where to go with the work bulk.

I could start with that the bulk of the books that I read are crime thrillers.  I've read a lot of them over the years.   When I was younger I worked my way through a lot of Agatha Christie novels.  I've got one of those on order from the library at the moment as it ticks a prompt on the reading challenge I'm doing.  I imagine it's going to feel very dated but generally her books are not that bulky so it shouldn't take too long to read.

I get the bulk of my books from the library these days and the little free libraries that are dotted around the area where I live.  Even after setting aside just over 20 books for the reading challenge I still have 2 piles of books by my bed that are threatening to topple over.  I really do not need any more books lying around.  (There are also books on shelves out in our garden room, shh don't tell Hubby.)  But it's hard to resist.

I returned a book to the library today that I'd finished and whilst I resisted the temptation to scan the shelves there I did walk a slightly longer route home and, of course, passed a little library.  Well I mean I meant to walk past it but had to just check if there were any new books in there I hadn't read.  Yes I picked up two.

One of them is from a crime series that I've read a few of and I've watched the televised series.  I have a few others of these on my TBR pile so I'll need to see where it fits in.

The other is a James Patterson that I haven't read.  Pretty confident on that.  Sometimes it's hard to remember if I've read something or not so I'm grateful that I can check my Goodreads account on my phone while I'm out and about so that I can usually avoid picking up duplicates.

My other problem is that Hubby likes to read too and he'll pick up books and unless I really don't like the sound of them, or he advises against it, the ones he finishes often end up on my TBR pile too.

I'm pretty good at not bulk buying and stockpiling food etc at home, although I'm organised and don't usually run out of things but when it comes to books they're definitely in bulk in my house.

I've just finished a light and fluffy romance so next up is "Everyone on the train is a suspect".  

I'm off to start reading.

Friday's Fave Five - 7/2/25

It's Friday (just) so time to list the good things from this week and then pop over to Susanne's blog here to see who else is joining in.

1) A visit from my daughter and her family last Saturday.  Always good to see some of the Grandkids.

2)  A walk with Hubby on Sunday.  We took the train to Chingford and walked through the forest and then back down to the plain.  It was bright and sunny but oh soooo muddy in places.

3)  A belated Christmas lunch outing with the keep fit group on Tuesday after the class - we went to a nearby carvery.

4)  A knit and natter session on Wednesday - my knitted squares are beginning to shape up into a blanket at last!

5)  A catch up with former work colleagues today - 4 of us met up in Stratford.  It was quite a while since I'd seen them so lots of catching up to do.

Phew, no pictures  or extras on this post but I've made it before midnight!

Book Review - Dead at First Sight - Peter James (2025 #7)

Dead at First Sight by Peter James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A man waits at London Airport for Ingrid Ostermann, the love of his life, to arrive. Across the Atlantic, a retired NYPD cop waits in a bar in Florida’s Key West for his first date with the lady who is, without question, his soulmate. The two men are about to discover they’ve been scammed out of almost every penny they have—and that neither woman exists. Meanwhile, a wealthy divorcée plunges, in suspicious circumstances, from an apartment block in Munich. In the same week, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to investigate the suicide of a woman in Brighton, that is clearly not what it seems. As his investigations continue, a handsome Brighton motivational speaker comes forward. He’d discovered his identity is being used to scam 11 different women, online. Roy Grace realizes he is looking at the tip of an iceberg. A global empire built on clever, cruel internet scams and the murder of anyone who threatens to expose them.

This is only the 2nd Roy Grace novel I've read by Peter James, although I have watched all of the TV episodes that have been made.

This book is about romantic scams on internet dating sites. It highlights how easily vulnerable people can be convinced they're in love and manipulated into handing over money. Lots of money in some cases. Thankfully I'm happily married and even if I wasn't I wouldn't be using dating sites.

It's a good police procedural but it's not extraordinary. If you hadn't seen the TV series I wouldn't advocate jumping in at book #15. It ticked a 52-book challenge prompt for me and although fairly long (512 pages) it was fast paced and with short chapters an easy read.

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