The Enid Blyton Society

I love Susan Cooper's 'The Dark is Rising' series but the other titles (particularly the last two - The Grey King and Silver on the Tree) are far more mysterious and mystical than Over Sea, Under Stone, which is more like a typical children's adventure story with a sprinkling of myth and fantasy. The series as a whole harks back to John Masefield's The Box of Delights as well as to ancient legends.

I love The Dark is Rising series too! Very entertaining and enjoyable read.

Floragord, "Midnight" is my favorite Erskine novel and at least as thrilling as the best books by Stephen King.
Because of "Midnight" we went to Colchester/Essex in November 2008 to visit the Roman Museum which is harbored inside Colchester Castle and mentioned in the novel.
I'm planning to re-read "Lady of Hay" by Erskine in English and in German parallel. For Christmas I received the new hardcover version of "Lady of Hay" in English with the unseen chapter and the family tree (both is not included in the old German translation).

Last night I finished reading "The Winter Sea" by Susanna Kearsley which is in parts related to "Lady of Hay" and has a gorgeous setting: New Slains Castle in Scotland. We'll visit it in May when we'll be in Scotland.

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I have just started Stephen King's The Stand. At over 1,300 pages - and only reading in bed - that's my whole year's reading sorted in one book.

It’s a great story. Possibly his best ever.

I am reading Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens and making slow progress too. I can’t seem to get into it as I have with his other works.

I am enjoying it, John; in fact I have reached P170. The trouble is, I am put off by the thickness of the book (Oh, that I was reading it on my Kindle!). It seems like a massive pile of homework to get through!

As for Dickens, some of his work is a real slog. I stuck with Nicholas Nickleby last year, and bitterly regretted doing so.

I started to read Mark Stichler's "Hanni und Nanni in New York" today. I had it for quite some time, but I decided to read it today.

Nigel - The Stand is fantastic! His best book I think. I reread it every three years or so

I don't think I could cope with that! On p290 now!

"Snap" on that, Chrissie, just as gripping as a re-read as the first time round. How nice you were able to visit the museum at Colchester, I hope to do that next time I visit a cousin in Ipswich - I can imagine its very atmospheric, with the remains of the Roman temple far below the Castle. Suggestions for this year's books for our discussion group are due next month and I think I'll choose MIDNIGHT. Speaking of chilling atmospheres I walked down the lane last night to the meeting, I had a torch but the complete darkness, no street lights in this rural area, moaning of the cold wind in the trees and the sound of running water from the nearby stream were quite shivery, I was glad to sip tea by the fire and enjoy the group's company!

Chrissie777 wrote:Floragord, "Midnight" is my favorite Erskine novel and at least as thrilling as the best books by Stephen King.
Because of "Midnight" we went to Colchester/Essex in November 2008 to visit the Roman Museum which is harbored inside Colchester Castle and mentioned in the novel.
I'm planning to re-read "Lady of Hay" by Erskine in English and in German parallel. For Christmas I received the new hardcover version of "Lady of Hay" in English with the unseen chapter and the family tree (both is not included in the old German translation).

Last night I finished reading "The Winter Sea" by Susanna Kearsley which is in parts related to "Lady of Hay" and has a gorgeous setting: New Slains Castle in Scotland. We'll visit it in May when we'll be in Scotland.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ary_08.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

floragord wrote:Speaking of chilling atmospheres I walked down the lane last night to the meeting, I had a torch but the complete darkness, no street lights in this rural area, moaning of the cold wind in the trees and the sound of running water from the nearby stream were quite shivery, I was glad to sip tea by the fire and enjoy the group's company!

Floragord, we had a very long power breakdown on Sunday. Usually it never lasts longer than 30 to 60 minutes. This time it started at 2:25 p.m. (I was just in the middle of watching a DVD) and lasted until 8:10 p.m.. No house in the neighborhood had light except one which used a generator. The street lights were all out/off.

As my husband escapes the winter to play golf in Florida right now like every year, I was all by myself, so around 4 p.m. when the daylight was no longer sufficient for reading by the window, I finally went to a neighbour to ask her if she had called the electricity provider? She had and told me that they were working on it.
As my cell phone was in my car as always I couldn't get to it, because the garage doesn't open without a remote which didn't work due to the power breakdown.
That's why I couldn't call my husband who started to worry about me from 6 p.m. on when he usually calls me.

As long as I still had some daylight, I gathered all flashlights/torches in the house plus my Barnes & Noble book reading lamp which can be clipped on to books and used that for reading until 8:10 p.m. when the power came back. Candle light is not strong enough for reading (at least not for me) plus it only turns on the fire alarm system in each room.

The funny thing with power breakdowns: each time our robot vacuum cleaner starts to run and I need to catch him, so he doesn't fall down the stairs.

Chrissie - you're the first person I know who has a robot vacuum!

Rob, I was waiting to get one since 2007! It was a VERY LONG wait.
Finally in 2016 my husband gave in as the white dog hair everywhere in our house became too much to handle and I refuse to vacuum clean with the heavy Hoover vacuum cleaner which gives me back pain (I have back trouble).
In 2007 the reviews were still rather mixed, but obviously technology has been improved since then.
BTW they cost less than $180, so it's really no big deal.

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However, people need to make sure that their robots cannot fall down staircases and that no cables are laying on the ground as they tend to swallow up the cables.
They even have robot vacuum cleaners which can wipe kitchens wet (I wish we would have known that before).

Chrissie777 wrote:

floragord wrote:Speaking of chilling atmospheres I walked down the lane last night to the meeting, I had a torch but the complete darkness, no street lights in this rural area, moaning of the cold wind in the trees and the sound of running water from the nearby stream were quite shivery, I was glad to sip tea by the fire and enjoy the group's company!

Floragord, we had a very long power breakdown on Sunday. Usually it never lasts longer than 30 to 60 minutes. This time it started at 2:25 p.m. (I was just in the middle of watching a DVD) and lasted until 8:10 p.m.. No house in the neighborhood had light except one which used a generator. The street lights were all out/off.

As my husband escapes the winter to play golf in Florida right now like every year, I was all by myself, so around 4 p.m. when the daylight was no longer sufficient for reading by the window, I finally went to a neighbour to ask her if she had called the electricity provider? She had and told me that they were working on it.
As my cell phone was in my car as always I couldn't get to it, because the garage doesn't open without a remote which didn't work due to the power breakdown.
That's why I couldn't call my husband who started to worry about me from 6 p.m. on when he usually calls me.

As long as I still had some daylight, I gathered all flashlights/torches in the house plus my Barnes & Noble book reading lamp which can be clipped on to books and used that for reading until 8:10 p.m. when the power came back. Candle light is not strong enough for reading (at least not for me) plus it only turns on the fire alarm system in each room.

The funny thing with power breakdowns: each time our robot vacuum cleaner starts to run and I need to catch him, so he doesn't fall down the stairs.

Bet you were pleased when the power came on again!, we have a few candles to light for 'dinner atmosphere' but just acquired a torch the other day when I knew I'd be out after dark, guess we're all used to the huge blessings of light, heating and the kettle at the touch of a switch! Its years since I used to read under the bedclothes by flashlight in the dormitory at school, enjoyed many an Enid Blyton tale that way