What I read
I definitely read less this month – been watching too much TV instead! I’m somehow still 8 ahead of schedule, though. I read two books about bookshops and libraries (BABALS – I’m going to use this until it catches on!) and one about publishing, and quite a lot of audiobooks. I ran out of audible credits by the start of the month so have been scouring the included section plus the library’s online offerings to keep me in things to listen to.
- The Ministry of Unladylike Activity (The Ministry… #1) – Robin Stevens
- All About Sam (Sam Krupnik #1) – Lois Lowry
- The Secret of Moon Castle
- The Glitch – Leeanne Slade
- The Seven Year Slip – Ashley Poston
- Five Run Away Together (Famous Five Graphic Novel #3) – Beja and Natael
- Unlikeable Female Characters – Anne Bogutskaya
- Five Go to Smuggler’s Top (Famous Five Graphic Novel #4) – Beja and Natael
- The Saucy Jane Family
- The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek #1) – Kim Michele Richardson
- A New Chapter at the Little Penguin Bookshop (Little Penguin Bookshop #2) – Joanna Toye
- Wildings: The Secret Garden of Eileen Soper – Peter Duff Heart-Davis
I ended the month still working through:
- The Pole Star Family
- The Women – Kristin Hannah
- The Vanishing Bookstore – Helen Phifer
What I watched
- We decided to take the plunge and try Supernatural which runs for 327 episodes over 15 seasons. We got through all of season one in March, so only 14 left! We also watched 2012 which is possibly one of the most ludicrous films I’ve ever seen.
- I finished Victoria and moved on to Anne with an E (which, like Victoria, ended abruptly and now I’m watching All Creatures Great and Small and series four of Malory Towers. I also watched the three parts of Boybands Forever and the movie Red, White and Royal Blue.
- My sister and I finished the Boyzone documentary No Matter What and started on The Flatshare as I loved the book by Beth O’Leary.
- With Brodie we watched Flight of the Navigator, The Pagemaster and Short Circuit. He loved all three but there was sobbing at Short Circuit when he thought Johnny 5 had been blown up.
What I did
- We visited a local pond after hearing there were frogs in it – there were many frogs and a lot of frog spawn.
- Walked from Tayport to Tentsmuir beach
- Built my Noddy Toy Village
- Went to see Jenny Colgan speaking about her recent book Close Knit at an event.
- Built Lego and had afternoon tea for Mother’s day
- Visited Falkland Palace and lost to Brodie (who was being helped by his dad!) at giant chess.
How was your March?
Fiona
pippastef
worldofblyton
World of Blyton 
I’m 20 books ahead of my goal in goodreads.com, have read 64 books from January until end of March. Still sorting out dozens of children’s books. I reread them and then decide if it’s a keeper. If not, I donate it to the white huge book container at our local library.
We watched the rest of “Reacher” season 3, now started “Bosch Legacy” (new season) and then will continue with “Law & Order Special Victims Unit” season 19, reaching season 20 sometime in April. We watched “Lockerbie” with Colin Firth which was very touching. There was also a two part documentary on Lockerbie on BritBox, one of our streaming channels.
While my husband spent 8 days golfing with friends in Florida, I took advantage of the added spare time and watched “The Winds of War” (Robert Mitchum, all 7 episodes), “North & South” Book 1 and 2 (I never liked Book 3) (Patrick Swayze and Lesley-Anne Down), “Frank Riva” (Alain Delon), “Deceptions” (Stefanie Powers, Barry Bostwick, Gina Lollobrigida), “Crossings” (Cheryl Ladd, Christopher Plummer, Lee Horsley), “If Tomorrow Comes” (Tom Berenger and Liam Neeson) based on the only Sidney Sheldon novel that I thoroughly enjoyed, “Top of the Hill” based on Irwin Shaw’s excellent novel, with Elke Sommer, Mel Ferrer (former husband of Audrey Hepburn), Wayne Rogers, Adrienne Barbeau and Sonny Bono (former husband of Cher).
Are you watching the remake TV series of “All Creatures Great and Small”? It’s nice, but I prefer the original series with Carol Drinkwater and Christopher Timothy. A year ago we spent one week in Carol Drinkwater’s guest cottage at the Olive Farm near Cannes, France. I can highly recommend her 5 Olive Farm autobiographies about her life with her French husband Michel Noll in Provence and their struggles to grow and protect olive trees.
Due to the cold weather we have not made any day trips so far, but we went to André youngest sister on 15th of March. She made a baby shower for her daughter-in-law and I took many photos which I put on my Facebook page. For the first time in 15 years four of my husband’s five siblings were there and I took pics of them.
Thanks for mentioning Mother’s Day. I would have forgotten to send a Mother’s Day card to my mother in Germany.
As always your photos are excellent!
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Yes – the recent remake. I don’t think I’ve seen the original series, but I have read all the books and visited the James Herriot museum in Thirsk.
Well done on getting through 64 books already. How many keepers did you have vs ones for donation? I suspect my donate pile would be embarrassingly small as I struggle to part with things!
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I didn’t count the books that I sorted out, but I only kept a handful. Now I have two shelves emptied.
Many of the books I had read in my childhood in the 1960’s for the last time and unfortunately most of them didn’t pass the test of time.
I had my children’s books sorted by German books (almost all are gone), right now I’m sorting out Swedish children’s books, then British books (Blytons are in an extra Blyton bookcase) and after that I’ll continue with US children’s books and French ones. So there is still a lot to read through.
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