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1kiwiflowa
Holy Moly it's been years. I just had to request a new password to access my library. According to my library I last added a book in 2015 - right about the time I quit my job of 10 years. So I'm going to spend this lovely Saturday pottering around, getting re-acquainted with LibraryThing and updating. I stuck my nose in here and was delighted to recognise many names/handles and that TIOLI was still going!!
My name is Lisa, I'm now 33 (god) and am jobless (by choice) a housewife I guess, except I'm not married, engaged (for 5 years now) to a lovely man and have two gorgeous maine coon cats Mica and Oscar who are 18 months old (our last moggy Cleo died in 2016, cancer, it sucked). We moved from the big smoke of Central Auckland NZ, to the outskirts of the big smoke, and now live surrounded by native forest, and farms, and I love the slow pace of life out here.
So I find myself with a home library of about 500 books, an online TBR of thousands, and constantly juggling a maximum library checkout of 35 books and found myself nostalgic about LibraryThing, and in particular my little thread here in this group where I could write about what I had read which allowed me to reflect and organise my thoughts. So why not do it again?
My name is Lisa, I'm now 33 (god) and am jobless (by choice) a housewife I guess, except I'm not married, engaged (for 5 years now) to a lovely man and have two gorgeous maine coon cats Mica and Oscar who are 18 months old (our last moggy Cleo died in 2016, cancer, it sucked). We moved from the big smoke of Central Auckland NZ, to the outskirts of the big smoke, and now live surrounded by native forest, and farms, and I love the slow pace of life out here.
So I find myself with a home library of about 500 books, an online TBR of thousands, and constantly juggling a maximum library checkout of 35 books and found myself nostalgic about LibraryThing, and in particular my little thread here in this group where I could write about what I had read which allowed me to reflect and organise my thoughts. So why not do it again?
2kiwiflowa
Currently reading:
Fiction: Certainty by Madeleine Thien
Nonfiction: Britain after Rome : The Fall and Rise, from 400-1070 by Robin Fleming
Audio: The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England by Marc Morris
Books read in 2018:
1. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly 5 stars
2. The Riviera Set by Mary S. Lovell 3 stars
3. Very Good Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse - can't rate genius
4. Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick 5 stars
5. The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories by Anthony Marra 5 stars
6. My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul 3 stars
7. Year Zero: A History of 1945 by Ian Buruma 3 stars
8. The Women's Room by Marilyn French 5 stars
9. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
10. American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis 2 stars
11. Original Sin by P. D. James 5 stars
12. The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Fiction: Certainty by Madeleine Thien
Nonfiction: Britain after Rome : The Fall and Rise, from 400-1070 by Robin Fleming
Audio: The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England by Marc Morris
Books read in 2018:
1. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly 5 stars
2. The Riviera Set by Mary S. Lovell 3 stars
3. Very Good Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse - can't rate genius
4. Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick 5 stars
5. The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories by Anthony Marra 5 stars
6. My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul 3 stars
7. Year Zero: A History of 1945 by Ian Buruma 3 stars
8. The Women's Room by Marilyn French 5 stars
9. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
10. American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis 2 stars
11. Original Sin by P. D. James 5 stars
12. The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
3PaulCranswick
What a lovely surprise, Lisa!
Great to see you back. xx.
Great to see you back. xx.
4kiwiflowa
1. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
5 stars
No haven't watched the movie, but I want to. It's the first question I get asked all the time about this book which is fair because I would probably ask everyone who talks about the movie if they have read the book. This book tells the story of 3-5 African American women who worked for a division of the American Air force in WW2 that developed the aircraft and then turned into NASA. They were mathematicians and their job title was computer. That blew my mind: computers were once people. In the background the book also expands on social history of the place and time and I really like it when books do this, it gives context and I find it incredibly interesting, of course at the forefront in this place and time was Civil Rights and Women's Rights
2. The Riviera Set by Mary S. Lovell
3 stars
So I thought this was going to be about the Fitzgeralds and Hemingway and the set that influenced Tender is the Night as it's the only people I knew connected with the Riviera. Not at all this was about one house on the Riviera called Château de l'Horizon and the people that built it, owned it and visited it.
The first third was about the life of Maxine Elliott and American born actress who turned into a grand dame of British high society in the second half of her life. The second third was when she built Château de l'Horizon 1932. Her most famous and frequent guest was Winston Churchill before the war as she had been good friends with his mother and pandered to his every wish and whim which he rather liked and so came back frequently. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were also neighbors and dinner guests before the war. She died during the war and it was bought by Prince Ali Khan (who I'd never heard of before) and he married Rita Hayworth. This was the final third of the book which I think of as the 'hollywood set'.
This book was well written, I was engaged and finished it even though all the while I was 1, getting sick of marriages, affairs and divorces and 2, had the distinct impression this was the remnants of other books cobbled together (which the author confirmed with a note at the end of the book). Hence the three star rating. I recommend if you are interested in the house and the history described above go to the wikipedia entry for the Château de l'Horizon. I would however give this author another chance.
3. Very Good Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
Can't rate genius
Last year I read the delightful book Goodnight Mr. Wodehouse by Faith Sullivan which reminded me how delightful Wodehouse is so anytime I see a copy of his in the library I pick it up. I can't rate these books.
5 stars
No haven't watched the movie, but I want to. It's the first question I get asked all the time about this book which is fair because I would probably ask everyone who talks about the movie if they have read the book. This book tells the story of 3-5 African American women who worked for a division of the American Air force in WW2 that developed the aircraft and then turned into NASA. They were mathematicians and their job title was computer. That blew my mind: computers were once people. In the background the book also expands on social history of the place and time and I really like it when books do this, it gives context and I find it incredibly interesting, of course at the forefront in this place and time was Civil Rights and Women's Rights
2. The Riviera Set by Mary S. Lovell
3 stars
So I thought this was going to be about the Fitzgeralds and Hemingway and the set that influenced Tender is the Night as it's the only people I knew connected with the Riviera. Not at all this was about one house on the Riviera called Château de l'Horizon and the people that built it, owned it and visited it.
The first third was about the life of Maxine Elliott and American born actress who turned into a grand dame of British high society in the second half of her life. The second third was when she built Château de l'Horizon 1932. Her most famous and frequent guest was Winston Churchill before the war as she had been good friends with his mother and pandered to his every wish and whim which he rather liked and so came back frequently. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were also neighbors and dinner guests before the war. She died during the war and it was bought by Prince Ali Khan (who I'd never heard of before) and he married Rita Hayworth. This was the final third of the book which I think of as the 'hollywood set'.
This book was well written, I was engaged and finished it even though all the while I was 1, getting sick of marriages, affairs and divorces and 2, had the distinct impression this was the remnants of other books cobbled together (which the author confirmed with a note at the end of the book). Hence the three star rating. I recommend if you are interested in the house and the history described above go to the wikipedia entry for the Château de l'Horizon. I would however give this author another chance.
3. Very Good Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
Can't rate genius
Last year I read the delightful book Goodnight Mr. Wodehouse by Faith Sullivan which reminded me how delightful Wodehouse is so anytime I see a copy of his in the library I pick it up. I can't rate these books.
5kiwiflowa
Entirely unplanned I read the two books below concurrently and it was perfection. In both cases I would have read snippets in one recounted in the other and vice versa - one non-fiction published in 1993 and the other fiction published in 2015
4. Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick
5 stars
I listened to this on audio. It was long about 30 hours I think. Maybe I'm exaggerating. I can't read everything via audiobooks more often than not they frustrate me and I give up. This one worked out really well and I wonder if it's because Remnick is/was a journalist so his style and tone suited audio better? Published back in 1993 Remnick recounts how the Soviet Union disintegrated drawing on his experiences as a journalist who was there on assignment during those years. He also provided the background history as needed, which is a lot hence the lengthy book. I found it incredibly interesting and engaging and even though this was published pre-Putin not dated or irrelevant now.
5. The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories by Anthony Marra
5 stars
So I usually struggle with short stories - not this time. The first story was set in the 1930's during Stalin's Terror. The protagonist is a painter and had been studying at art school when the 1917 revolution took place. His job in the new soviet is in censorship. Specifically his job is to paint out the faces of traitors and enemies of the state, who because they were traitors and enemies could not have been at certain events at certain times with certain people. That would be impossible! So they have to be painted out of history and replaced. His act of rebellion is to paint his brother's face, at different ages but always the same face, into hundreds of photos and posters. His brother, eliminated as an enemy is now everywhere for the ages. From this act the rest of the stories follow, all interconnecting in unexpected ways. A relatively short book at 332 pages I was left with the feeling of having read an epic Russian novel with a cast of hundreds spanning generations. Very clever.
4. Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick
5 stars
I listened to this on audio. It was long about 30 hours I think. Maybe I'm exaggerating. I can't read everything via audiobooks more often than not they frustrate me and I give up. This one worked out really well and I wonder if it's because Remnick is/was a journalist so his style and tone suited audio better? Published back in 1993 Remnick recounts how the Soviet Union disintegrated drawing on his experiences as a journalist who was there on assignment during those years. He also provided the background history as needed, which is a lot hence the lengthy book. I found it incredibly interesting and engaging and even though this was published pre-Putin not dated or irrelevant now.
5. The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories by Anthony Marra
5 stars
So I usually struggle with short stories - not this time. The first story was set in the 1930's during Stalin's Terror. The protagonist is a painter and had been studying at art school when the 1917 revolution took place. His job in the new soviet is in censorship. Specifically his job is to paint out the faces of traitors and enemies of the state, who because they were traitors and enemies could not have been at certain events at certain times with certain people. That would be impossible! So they have to be painted out of history and replaced. His act of rebellion is to paint his brother's face, at different ages but always the same face, into hundreds of photos and posters. His brother, eliminated as an enemy is now everywhere for the ages. From this act the rest of the stories follow, all interconnecting in unexpected ways. A relatively short book at 332 pages I was left with the feeling of having read an epic Russian novel with a cast of hundreds spanning generations. Very clever.
6kiwiflowa
6. My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul
3 stars
I read this in one sitting, as a fellow reader I delighted in reading about someone else's pleasure of reading and it's influences on her life and vice versa. It's the sort of book that would have got 5 stars immediately after and then slowly drop down as it hasn't left me with anything to ponder or any lasting thoughts. So despite the 3 stars I do recommend reading it to fellow readers.
7. Year Zero: A History of 1945 by Ian Buruma
3 stars
This got a low rating from me as I've read a few books on the immediate post war era in Europe already including Tony Judt's incredible Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 so for this reader it didn't offer much that was new. It was also hampered by it's narrow focus on 1945 and the author did on occasion even mention this constraint. What it did have going for it was the author's and his father's personal experience of the war which did inform some of the book and was a point of interest and it also tried to look beyond Europe. Europe did dominate, followed by Japan but a few other places did get a mention which is something.
8. The Women's Room by Marilyn French
5 stars
I remember trying to read this when I was a kid, probably around 14 or 15. Not kidding. I only remembered the first line of it about the ladies room being renamed the women's room and being called a ladies room was a euphemism. So it taught me that, what a euphemism was lol. Reading it this time was awesome. I'm a fan of Mad Men and I'd like to think that this is Betty Draper's book, the first half at least anyway. It also really made think and reflect upon my grandmother's life, my mothers and mine. How much has changed so quickly, how much there still is to change.
9. American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis
2 stars
There was one short story in this collection that I liked, and it was about reality TV shows which in reality I hate. Otherwise I was just thankful the book was so short that it spurred me on to finish it. A hundred pages more and I would have given up on it. The stories weren't magical realism, there was no magic, but they were on the Absurd side, and I grated against the absurdity because I couldn't suspend my belief in so short stories. That would have made me think "oh well, not for me then" but I also sensed a mean tone though out the book, that the author really did not like the women she was writing about.
10. Original Sin by P. D. James
5 stars
I stayed up late reading this last night to finish it. I read the first book of the Adam Dalgliesh series, Cover Her Face last year, I'd had it in my TBR for years, and finally read it. Loved it. It's the sort of slow boil murder mysteries, where the setting is richly described, and there are lots of detail to wade though which makes it a slow paced book. Not for some but definitely for me. Bonus because its British. Double Bonus because this one was about an old established publishing house with missing manuscripts and murdered authors etc. This was #9 in the series so I have skipped a whole bunch there but I could not detect any sort of story arc that I had missed with the regular cast. In fact except for Dalgliesh, the head detective, I couldn't tell if anyone else was a regular character in the series and Dalgliesh come to think of it wasn't the main character in this book. Interesting.
3 stars
I read this in one sitting, as a fellow reader I delighted in reading about someone else's pleasure of reading and it's influences on her life and vice versa. It's the sort of book that would have got 5 stars immediately after and then slowly drop down as it hasn't left me with anything to ponder or any lasting thoughts. So despite the 3 stars I do recommend reading it to fellow readers.
7. Year Zero: A History of 1945 by Ian Buruma
3 stars
This got a low rating from me as I've read a few books on the immediate post war era in Europe already including Tony Judt's incredible Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 so for this reader it didn't offer much that was new. It was also hampered by it's narrow focus on 1945 and the author did on occasion even mention this constraint. What it did have going for it was the author's and his father's personal experience of the war which did inform some of the book and was a point of interest and it also tried to look beyond Europe. Europe did dominate, followed by Japan but a few other places did get a mention which is something.
8. The Women's Room by Marilyn French
5 stars
I remember trying to read this when I was a kid, probably around 14 or 15. Not kidding. I only remembered the first line of it about the ladies room being renamed the women's room and being called a ladies room was a euphemism. So it taught me that, what a euphemism was lol. Reading it this time was awesome. I'm a fan of Mad Men and I'd like to think that this is Betty Draper's book, the first half at least anyway. It also really made think and reflect upon my grandmother's life, my mothers and mine. How much has changed so quickly, how much there still is to change.
9. American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis
2 stars
There was one short story in this collection that I liked, and it was about reality TV shows which in reality I hate. Otherwise I was just thankful the book was so short that it spurred me on to finish it. A hundred pages more and I would have given up on it. The stories weren't magical realism, there was no magic, but they were on the Absurd side, and I grated against the absurdity because I couldn't suspend my belief in so short stories. That would have made me think "oh well, not for me then" but I also sensed a mean tone though out the book, that the author really did not like the women she was writing about.
10. Original Sin by P. D. James
5 stars
I stayed up late reading this last night to finish it. I read the first book of the Adam Dalgliesh series, Cover Her Face last year, I'd had it in my TBR for years, and finally read it. Loved it. It's the sort of slow boil murder mysteries, where the setting is richly described, and there are lots of detail to wade though which makes it a slow paced book. Not for some but definitely for me. Bonus because its British. Double Bonus because this one was about an old established publishing house with missing manuscripts and murdered authors etc. This was #9 in the series so I have skipped a whole bunch there but I could not detect any sort of story arc that I had missed with the regular cast. In fact except for Dalgliesh, the head detective, I couldn't tell if anyone else was a regular character in the series and Dalgliesh come to think of it wasn't the main character in this book. Interesting.
7kiwiflowa
Hello @PaulCranswick!! I was happy to see your name/thread too :D I have to go read it and catch up. I expect your kids are now all grown up and you've turned their rooms into book storage?!?! just kidding ;)
8PaulCranswick
>7 kiwiflowa: Not an entirely inaccurate prediction, Lisa!
Yasmyne is away at University in Scotland and her mother is sort of dogging her footsteps with extended UK stays. Kyran goes off to Portsmouth this August whilst Belle is still 14 and full of teenage angst. Books are slowly taking over any available spaces left in the house.
Yasmyne is away at University in Scotland and her mother is sort of dogging her footsteps with extended UK stays. Kyran goes off to Portsmouth this August whilst Belle is still 14 and full of teenage angst. Books are slowly taking over any available spaces left in the house.
9kiwiflowa
@paulcranswick
Well you can't beat my mother, she called me 2 weeks after I left home to go to uni that she had sold the family home, I managed to see it once more during the mid-semester break then it was gone! To be honest what blows my mind the most that Belle is a teenager. She was the sweet little girl in all the family pics.
Well you can't beat my mother, she called me 2 weeks after I left home to go to uni that she had sold the family home, I managed to see it once more during the mid-semester break then it was gone! To be honest what blows my mind the most that Belle is a teenager. She was the sweet little girl in all the family pics.
12norabelle414
Hi Lisa!
13figsfromthistle
Welcome back. You've read some great books so far :)
15arubabookwoman
Hi Lisa--I'm glad to see you back!
16kiwiflowa
@drneutron Jim, @_zoe_, @norabelle414 Nora, @figsfromthistle Anita, @susanj67 Susan, @arubabookwoman Deborah thank you!!!
I spent all Saturday doing a major resort of my library on here and then zap! gone! No LT for TWO DAYS. What are the odds of that?! I was crossing my fingers that there would be no roll back and my work on Saturday gone. Thankfully it all looks how I left it.
Susan I am still stitching and have now added knitting to the mix too! Fibre arts gives me so much joy I've often pondered if I had to pick just one stitching or reading which would I pick and I honestly can't choose. I've finished two samplers this year so far (pics below) If you are on instagram and are interested you can follow me there I post most of my stitching/knitting pics there and and awful lot of cat photos too :) my handle is @lisas_stitching_and_such
True Love Sampler:
All Creatures Great and Small (alternative verse)
I spent all Saturday doing a major resort of my library on here and then zap! gone! No LT for TWO DAYS. What are the odds of that?! I was crossing my fingers that there would be no roll back and my work on Saturday gone. Thankfully it all looks how I left it.
Susan I am still stitching and have now added knitting to the mix too! Fibre arts gives me so much joy I've often pondered if I had to pick just one stitching or reading which would I pick and I honestly can't choose. I've finished two samplers this year so far (pics below) If you are on instagram and are interested you can follow me there I post most of my stitching/knitting pics there and and awful lot of cat photos too :) my handle is @lisas_stitching_and_such
True Love Sampler:
All Creatures Great and Small (alternative verse)
19kiwiflowa
oops forgot this one:
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
4 stars
Prompted by the imminent release of a movie, which is based on a book written by her lover in the 80's, based on a true story of her family's in the 60's, Frances reflects on an event that changed her life and those of her family members forever. It started at Frances' christening party when her mother Beverly meets Burt who wasn't even invited. A few years and an affair later two families have been split by divorce and each long hot boring summer the 6 children of the new blended family are forced together and form a bond when tragedy strikes.
I never thought this would be the first Patchett book I read, unlike her other books I knew nothing of this one and picked it up based solely on author name recognition. It was thoroughly engaging and I liked how Patchett would bring into sharp focus how the events affected different family members at different times leaving the rest fuzzy around the edges with gaps unexplained. It kept the book at 350ish pages instead of whopping big saga.
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
4 stars
Prompted by the imminent release of a movie, which is based on a book written by her lover in the 80's, based on a true story of her family's in the 60's, Frances reflects on an event that changed her life and those of her family members forever. It started at Frances' christening party when her mother Beverly meets Burt who wasn't even invited. A few years and an affair later two families have been split by divorce and each long hot boring summer the 6 children of the new blended family are forced together and form a bond when tragedy strikes.
I never thought this would be the first Patchett book I read, unlike her other books I knew nothing of this one and picked it up based solely on author name recognition. It was thoroughly engaging and I liked how Patchett would bring into sharp focus how the events affected different family members at different times leaving the rest fuzzy around the edges with gaps unexplained. It kept the book at 350ish pages instead of whopping big saga.
20susanj67
Lisa, I've followed you on Instagram (weirdly, I joined yesterday to follow someone else, so I'm a brand new Instagrammer). I love your 2018 finishes. And the Whittaker's kiwi!
21kiwiflowa
We've had a wicked storm here last night and power is out all over the city. We lost power at around 8pm last night and didn't get much sleep with the wind and rain. Several tree's have come down on my road and there's evidence that one of my neighbors had to shore up a tall fence last night. Well anyways knowing that my area would be low priority for getting our power back on I did what any sane person would do and headed in to the CBD to have a nice hot coffee followed by a day of reading at the city library and thinking of fish chowder or something equally as heartwarming for lunch. Happy Wednesday y'all.
22thornton37814
>16 kiwiflowa: Love the needlework! I need to get back to a piece I'm working on. I've been too busy working on some upcoming presentations being made at a national conference. Maybe I could listen to audiobooks and stitch during my reading time, thus doing double duty. ;-)
23kiwiflowa
12. The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
3.5 Stars
The notable point of difference for this novel is it's structure; it is quite literally a mystery within a mystery.
At the very beginning the main character Susan, who's a book editor, gets the latest manuscript from her publishing house's most successful mystery author Alan Conway and takes the weekend to read it. She forewarns us that this book changed her life and that by the end she will no longer have her job and is living somewhere else - pretty foreboding!
You then actually read the manuscript, it's in a different font and has it's own page numbers etc. It's intentionally like an Agatha Christie Poirot mystery set in the 50s so if you are familiar with those then you would probably enjoy it. I quite liked it, given the forewarning I was alert to see if I could spot anything pertaining to the 'real life' story line but with nothing to go on couldn't. There were even some mistakes in there the sort that would be picked by editors and other checkers which is a clever detail. My main complaint is that there's an awful lot of info dumping that was not natural, the Poirot-esque detective Atticus Pund would ask a question pertaining to last week and the person would answer starting with their childhood, their feelings, and volunteer so much that no further questions were required lol.
By the middle of the book, the actual book, you come back to the 'real life' story line, the font and page numbers revert back. The mystery script has stopped and the last chapter is missing! You don't find out 'whodunnit'. Susan going to work on Monday finds out that no one has the last chapter and furthermore the author has died over the weekend, and she sets off to find the missing chapter.
The second half, second mystery, is almost a mirror image of the first except this time there is a lot of consideration given to the Conway's state of mind, psychology I guess, that was absent in the first mystery.
All in all I enjoyed the experience, and could appreciate the cleverness of the plot structure, but I think I tired of reading the same mystery twice which is what this book essentially was. It also didn't help that this turned out to be the second bookish mystery I've read back to back, unintentional as I went into this book blind, but unfortunately took away some of the pleasure I would usually feel about bookish books and the bookish world in fiction.
24kiwiflowa
>20 susanj67: awesome! I don't usually have much success with social media, twitter facebook etc I just don't 'get' and while I have accounts never use them. Instagram is the exception to the rule, it is so easy to use, I'm quite surprised at myself. Easter has never been the same since Whittaker started to do those kiwi's it's only been a few years and I already feel that Easter wouldn't be Easter without them.
>22 thornton37814: Thanks Lori! Yes listening to an audiobook while crafting is the perfect solution. I just wish I liked audiobooks more. I'm having some success with nonfiction on audio, but not with fiction unfortunately.
>22 thornton37814: Thanks Lori! Yes listening to an audiobook while crafting is the perfect solution. I just wish I liked audiobooks more. I'm having some success with nonfiction on audio, but not with fiction unfortunately.
25PaulCranswick
>24 kiwiflowa: I have a facebook account Lisa which was "managed" by my wife for many years until recently when she suddenly decided to set up her own. Don't use it nowadays (other than to see what the wife is doing!) and I don't use any other forms of social media.
26countrylife
I like the books you've been reading! The Tsar of Love and Techno was a five star read for me, too.
27PaulCranswick
Hope you are having a lovely weekend, Lisa.
28PaulCranswick
Don't say you've gone and disappeared again, Lisa!?
29PaulCranswick
Happy holidays, Lisa
