REK, I am so sorry for your loss. Hugs and prayers. 

I finished Not the Faintest Trace (Sergeant Frank Hardy, Bk 1) by Wendy M. Wilson

Very good book set in New Zealand 1881. Lots of good history and cultural information

I Finished Death in the Bush (Mr. Hardy Investigates) by  Wendy M. Wilson    So It is similar to the book above except main character if Frank's father. Love reading about this time period in New Zealand

R E K - I am so sorry to hear of your husband.  {{{{HUGS}}}} to you!  I wish I had something to say that wasn't the usual expressions of sumpathy.  Just know that I am thinking of you and wishing you well as you go through the grieving process.  Coincidentally, my DH and I went to the greenhouse yesterday to purchase some shrubs to replace several that had died over the winter (it was a bad winter for normally winter-hearty shrubs), and we decied to grab a few trees as well.  When we got home, DH planted 2 White Spruce trees in the yard and 1 dwarf hydrangea tree near our house in the landscaping rocks.  So, please add 3 trees to your count!  

I finished reading A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett.  A relatively short book by his standards.  I liked it.  I recently finished listening to Isola by Allegra Goodman, which was very good!  It's based on a real woman from the 16th century, and it's an amazing story. 

New reads are -- 

Eyeball - Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman (it's been a long time since I read an SKP)

Ears - Where the Light Falls by Alison Pataki and Owen Pataki

Shelley: You are on a reading binge.  Wow!  I know that books can become my passion again.  Plugging along on the book I have and I like it.  Thanks for planting trees.  So many have responded to his request.   Even my daughters are planting trees - one planted 30, one potted 30 to give away at the celebration of life and the third chose to donate to the Arbor Day Foundation as they plant in national forests.  I have picked up seeds wherever I go and spread them and planted what I can move.  Wonder how many of those seeds  grow.  Know that wildlife eat the seeds so it's a plus there as well.  And, today I planted a silver maple, an oak and three juniper trees which love this area.

Have read Time and Chance but it's been a long time ago.  I think you will like it.

Thanks Kathy K. for your kind thoughts.  I never knew grieving could be so hard but kind thoughts and conversations with friends help no matter what topic we choose.   

To all:  Happy reading and may you have an awesome day.

Have finished The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff, a 4 star read.  The story is essentially about two women who live in a Polish city during WWII.  The Nazis occupy the city and have "cleansed" it of its Jewish population.  However, two Jewish families are taken into the city's sewers by a worker who feels compelled to save those he can.  They struggle to survive in this dark dismal environment.  A young Polish woman whose life is far different befriends the young Jewish woman living there.   Their conversations, their observations and their empathy for each other carry the story forward.  Good read and well written story with a surreal ending.

R E K - I'm gald you are getting such a good response to your request for trees!  I hope that you continue to find comfort and support as you work through your grief.  It is a funny thing, that process.  When my son died 11 years ago, I found it amazing how the process seems to follow the steps you see outlined in all the literature about grieving.  There's a strange sort of comfort in knowing that while everyone's grieving process will be unique, it is a universal enough experience that many people experience similar things in a similar order.  If you had told me in the year after my son died that I would eventually get to a place where I could think and speak of him without becoming incredibly sad, I wouln't have believed you.  Now, when I think of my son, I rarely ever become  overwhelmingly sad.  I miss him, and I always will, but now memories of him make me smile.  I hope you get to the same place eventually! 

So sorry for your loss. 

Hubby & I planted an Olive tree last week in the backyard.  I went out this Am and named it Stone.

Many ((Hugs)) to you and your family

Thnks for your kind notes.  I've begun a book of short stories by Tatiana De Rosnay called A Paris Affair.  Read three so far.  Rather interesting tales about relationships between men and women.  Many times the theme is all men are unfaithful but one story stood out, The Red Notebook, where the wife moans about her boring husband who never has affairs but she has many.   Reads like a diary until she finds the notebook which turns things over.  Good read.  Am now into Oliver Twist.  Strange I haven't read it before now.  My middle daughter remembers reading it when she was in school.

I finshed Scandal Above Stairs (Below Stairs, Bk 2) by  Jennifer Ashley  Good historical mystery set in 1881 England. Well written characters and plot.

I finished My Name Is Emilia del Valle :: Isabel Allende, Frances Riddle (Translator) .  Her books are always excellent. Set in 1891 San Francisco and Chile.

I started on The Tudor Court series of 4 books by Karen Heenan.  I like the story line and the charactors.  It's about the behind the scenes people, such as the palace singers, clergy, etc.  Just touches on the actual Royals of the time.  Starts with Henry the VIII and his wives in the first book, The Songbird.  I am only half way thru the 2nd book, A Wider World, and it is currently the period of Queen Mary & then Queen Elizabeth.