Well, we were down to only having snow where it had been heaped up, although some of the mounds stood taller than good self. Just as I was getting used to being independently mobile once more, lo it stared to snow again. Ho hum! So why the gap in posts, you may be wondering. No good excuse, except celebrating the festive season and Son One’s 21st birthday. I will try to do better, and actually finish a book or two. Well, I have finished painting half life sized nativity figures, and even found the knitted sets. What a job… Son Two has just returned from University, and claims that it is colder here. Or is it just the change in size of rooms? As I type, a friend (MHH) is en route from the South. I hope he has packed his thermals.

Just a few words about my current reading. Does anyone else have easy reads that they are not keen on admitting to in polite society? I suppose mine would be Stephanie Laurens (shock horror!) which I got onto from Georgette Heyer, who I started reading after rereading Austen many times. I got onto Austen during a period when I needed comfort reading in which virtually no one dies and any crisis is solved by the end of the novel. I eventually reached a stage when I was rereading Heyer, so became lured onto Laurens by the desperate hunt for a new book (which did not involve the librarian disappearing into the book stock for twenty minutes)

Laurens is not as good as Heyer. That is self evident. She is far more racy as well, and her heroes are often far more rakish in every respect. Her plots tend to be less complex, and her characters less well drawn, at least in my limited experience. Her facts seem to be sound as to clothes and manners; certainly more than other Regency romances I have tried. There is a lot more premarital seduction in Laurens, so do not be shocked!

So, easy, historical reads. If you like Austen, try Georgette Heyer. A good satisfying read is The Grand Sophy

but every Heyer fan probably has their own favourite.  An Infamous Army deals with romance leading up to a really impressive account of the battle of Waterloo, reknowned for its accuracy.

Stephanie Laurens is far stronger on relationships within dynasties and indeed writes series of novels centred on a particular family or group. I have enjoyed the Lester series, beginning with The Reasons for Marriage

which deals with a girl who does not want to be married, despite her impressive domestic organisational abilities.  I enjoyed the first two of this four part series as unchallenging reads, which while being predictable were definitely the literary equivalent of comfort food. Just what you need in snowy weather, if you can get it delivered (from 1p from a certain internet site) or available in many bookshops. Just wallow!