Down to Earth With a Bump: Happy Birthday Dear Hubby!

Wednesday 21 January 2009

Happy Birthday Dear Hubby!

Today is hubby's thirty-%^&*$th (not sure he'll thank me if I broadcast it) birthday - poor old chap. Still, as he always likes to remind me, he's not as old as I am (by all of seven-and-a-half weeks.)

This time last year we celebrated his birthday by spending a night at the fabulous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, which is just a totally crazy and totally American kind of place.

We stayed in the Misty Rock room with its waterfall shower (sorry, no photos I'm afraid), had drinks at the Silver Bar (look at that lovely, delicious, delectable pre-pregnancy glass of wine I was about to enjoy)

ate a huge slice of birthday cake in the Copper Cafe

and had dinner in the Gold Rush Steakhouse

All in all, quite an experience.

So, hubby what did you do in the year since your last birthday? You visited seven American states (or was it eight?), Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize, and Canada. Spent a month living in New York. Took a three-week road-trip though Europe with stops in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and France. You started a new job as an international businessman. And you got me up the duff.

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What Have I Read in 2015?

Fleece Navidad - Maggie Sefton. How can you not love a book with a title like that?? Set in a yarn shop in Colarado, I do enjoy this series
Holiday Grind - Cleo Coyle. I love this series set in and around a coffeeshop in New York (two of my favourite things in one book!); also, I read it while we were in NY, so what could be better??!
Agatha Raisin and the Blood of an Englishman - MC Beaton. Another dreadful installment, but still I can't stop reading them. It's like a car crash.
To Davy Jones Below - Carola Dunn. Another enjoyable installment in this series set in 1930s England (and beyond!)
Pretty Poison - Joyce & Jim Lavene. First in the Gardening Shop mysteries series. Thumbs up as it wasn't too twee.
Bones Under the Beach Hut - Simon Brett. Twelfth in the Fethering Mysteries series. I love this series, not really had a duff one yet.
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate - Alexander McCall Smith. Second in the Isabel Dalhousie series.I didn't particularly enjoy the first in the series, but I really liked this one and look forward to number 3!
Dyer Consequences - Maggie Sefton. Fifth in the Knitting Mysteries series; I enjoyed this one.
The Real Katie Lavender - Erica James. Perfect as a holiday read but not sure it would cut the mustard as an 'at home' read.
The Secrets Between Us - Louise Douglas. Gripping, suspenseful but hit the rocks with about 100 pages to go
Sophie Kinsella - Remember Me? A light and fluffy holiday read, but enjoyable nonetheless
Blackwork - Monica Ferris. From the excellent Needlecraft Mysteries series which I love. Enjoyed this one a lot.
Secrets on Saturday - Anne Purser. Sixth in the Lois Meade series and a pretty poor show, I'm afraid
The Gallery of Vanished Husbands - Natasha Solomons. I sort of liked it, but not much happened
Espresso Shot - Cleo Coyle. Another of my fave cosy series; enjoyed this one
The Mummy Case - Elizabeth Peters. Third in the series set in 1920s/30s Egypt and England. This was much better than the second in the series which almost made me give up
Murder on the Half Shelf - Lorna Barett. Umpteenth in the series which ranks among my favourite cosies
A Killer Plot - Ellery Adams. First in the series; I think I liked it
The Shooting in the Shop - Simon Brett. I love this mystery series, set in the south of England; not 'cosy' as such, but probably not far off
The Christie Curse - Victoria Abbott. I cannot remember a single thing about this book. Eeek, what does that say?!
Agatha Raisin: Something Borrowed, Someone Dead - MC Beaton. As always I ask myself 'why on earth do I keep bothering with this series?', but it's like a dreadful addiction - you know it's bad for you, but still you keep doing it.
Rattle His Bones - Carola Dunn. I enjoyed the previous book in the series so much that I thought I'd crack on with another; sadly, this one wasn't quite up to par
The Shop on Blossom Street - Debbie Macomber. A very easy and light read; looking forward to reading the next in this series
Styx and Stones - Carola Dunn. Cosy crime set in 1920s England; I enjoy this series and this book was a good one

What Did I Read in 2014?

Fear on Friday - Ann Purser. Fifth in the Lois Meade series which I really do enjoy.
Coming Home for Christmas - Julia Williams. Thought this would help me get in the festive mood; but it wasn't even set at Christmas - what a swizz - so don't go making the same mistake as me! Predictable and schmaltzy, I'd probably suggest giving this one a miss.
Thai Die - Monica Ferris. Umpteenth in my favourite cosy series. Enjoyable, as always
The Vintage Tea Cup Club - Vanessa Greene. Chick-lit; very predictable.
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party - Alexander McCall Smith. Ahh, the world of Mma Ramotswe, how I wish I could live there and feel happy and content!
Gunpowder Green - Laura Childs. Second in the cosy crime set in a tea shop; didn't enjoy it as much as the first but I'm still happy to give the next in the series a try
Sentenced to Death - Lorna Barrett. Fifth in the series, and not bad at all. This is one of my favourite cosy series.
The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson. Ridiculous and funny, and ridiculously funny. I liked this one a lot.
Mini Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
The Sisterhood - Emily Barr
Death by Darjeeling - Laura Childs. First in the cosy crime series set in a tea shop; very enjoyable.
A Crafty Killing - Lorraine Bartlett
We Are All Made of Glue - Marina Lewycka. Enjoyed this one very much for the most part.
A Year in the Merde - Stephen Clarke. Not bad for a holiday read.
Three Ways to Capsize a Boat - Chris Stewart
Dead in the Water - Carola Dunn. UK cozy. Not the best in the series.
The Quick and the Thread - Amanda Lee. Cosy crime set in an embroidery shop. Just my cup of tea.
Life After Life - Kate Atkinson. Wow, what a read! I'd thoroughly recommend this book, so much so that I'm almost tempted to read it again already
Hiss and Hers - MC Beaton
Around Ireland With a Fridge - Tony Hawks
French Pressed - Cleo Coyle
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt. Book club book no.2 of the year; liked it even though it took me quite a while to realise it was non-fiction!
Body Surfing - Anita Shreve. I enjoyed this book, it was an easy read and I think could be filed under 'thinking-person's chick lit'
My Animals and Other Family - Clare Balding. Read it in two days; really enjoyable, funny, warm, interesting, an all round good read.

What Did I Read in 2013?

As The Pig Turns - MC Beaton. 22nd in the Agatha Raisin series; badly written, but still I keep reading them!
A Highland Christmas - MC Beaton; from the Hamish Macbeth series
Damsel in Distress - Carola Dunn. Fifth in the Daisy Dalrymple series which I am growing fonder of with every book I read.
Sins and Needles - Monica Ferris. This was a much darker and more detailed book than is usual in this series, but I enjoyed it all the more as a result.
Embroidered Truths - Monica Ferris. Probably my favourite US cozy series. Enjoyable, but not one of her best
A Killer Stitch - Maggie Sefton. Cozy crime with a knitted twist. Not that great, but I still keep reading this series!
The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng. Lovely, lovely book
Death of a Gossip - M.C. Beaton. First in the Hamish Macbeth murder mystery series. Very easy to read, not taxing and a not that well written in parts, but enjoyable nonetheless
Theft on Thursday - Ann Purser. fourth in the Lois Meade series; a slightly darker take on the cozy genre and, as a whole, I've found this series very enjoyable
All That I Am - Anna Funder. First Book Club book of the 2013-14 season; a little slow to get going, but gripping and thought-provoking after that.
The Beach Hut - Veronica Henry; chick-lit/holiday reading combined; if you're looking for something in those genres, you could do much worse.
Deadly Yarn - Maggie Sefton. More cosy to be enjoyed by my cotton-wool brain.
Murder on the Flying Scotsman - Carola Dunn. Fourth in the Daisy Dalrymple series; a gentle 'whodunit' and very enjoyable.
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn. Wow, I LOVED this book. A great thriller with twist upon turn upon twist. If thrillers are your thing, then I wold highly recommend this book.
Requiem for a Mezzo - Carola Dunn. 3rd in the Daisy Dalrymple series. Easy reading cosy crime; I like this series (so far)
The Red House - Mark Haddon. I was really looking forward to this book, but I ended up being so disappointed. I didn't enjoy the 'stream of consciousness' writing style.
Join Me - Danny Wallace. I probably would have liked this book when I was 25. But that was 16 years ago. Instead I found it annoying and immature.
The Great Indoors - Sabine Durrant. Enjoyed a lot more than I expected to, which is always a bonus.
The Double Comfort Safari Club - Alexander McCall Smith. Just as enjoyable as ever. Love this gentle series.
The Alchemist - Paolo Coehlo. Book Club book. I've always steered clear of books by this author, expecting them to be a bit 'knit your own yak-wool teabag'; so, was I pleasantly surprised? Well, at least it was only 170pages long, so I whipped through it in a couple of days. Yes, there were a few sentences that made me stop and think, but mostly it is a bit too much of a hippy-trippy self-help book for cynical old me to really like. But I'm glad I've read it at long last.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce. Book Club choice. I really wanted to enjoy this book, and I thought I was going to at first. But then the story, like Harold himself, started plodding along and became less and less enjoyable and rather annoying/boring to tell the truth. So, all in all I was disappointed.
When God Was a Rabbit - Sarah Winman. I just can't decide about this one. At first I didn't enjoy it, then I did, then I was indifferent. But I still keep thinking about it, so does that mean I liked it?!
If Books Could Kill - Kate Carlisle. Second in this cozy mystery series; I was unsure of the first in the series so thought I'd give it a chance by reading the second; I shouldn't have bothered; this one was even worse than the first. Very disappointing indeed.
Decaffeinated Corpse - Cleo Coyle. Can you guess from the title that this is a cozy?! Always enjoy this series as it features my twin loves of cozy crime and coffee. What's not to like?
The Thread - Victoria Hislop. Book Club choice; I wasn't sure that I would like it, but I really enjoyed it. Very easy to read, despite being quite a harsh subject. I'd recommend this one.
The Winter Garden Mystery -Carola Dunn. No 2 in the Daisy Dalrymple series; cosy crime, gentle and easy to read.
Call the Midwife - Jennifer Worth. The book of the tv series; very enjoyable
The Curse of the Pharoahs - Elizabeth Peters. Second in the Amelia Peabody Murser Mystery series, set in 19thC England and Egypt. Egyptology cosy; really enjoyed this one and was itching to get straight onto the next, but had to change course with a Book Club book instead.
The Poisoning in the Pub- Simon Brett. Part of the Fethering Mysteries series; not quite a cosy, but not a brooding Scandinavian thriller either. Enjoyed it very much.

Down to Earth With a Bump

Wednesday 21 January 2009

Happy Birthday Dear Hubby!

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