Catching Up 
It has been a while since I have written anything about the books I have been reading.
I did a lot of reading in 2018 also had lots of holidays and time with family and friends. In January we met some old friends and went to a New Years Eve Show. Lots of good old music and a fun night out with friends.
In January I was reading books about families, friendships, crime and murder.
I got my authors mixed up and chose to read a book by Anthony Horowitz but it was Greg Hurwitz that I prefer but i still enjoyed the book and finished reading it.
The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz. This was about secrets, murder and an author writing about a freelance detective investigating a murder.

Another book I finished reading was a young adult fantasy fiction about families. It was an E-Book from NetGalley. The Keeper by Natalie Star. Billie turns 16 and is given a charm with a gemstone that has been in the family for years. It is meant to be given to the oldest daughter to wear on her 16th birthday.
The charm has power and turns hot or cold depending who is nearby. This was a fantasy novel with lots of action, good and evil forces a bit like virtual Pokemon.

Early in January I finished reading Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak. I loved this book. A good Christmas book it was an E-Book from NetGalley. Olivia is going home for Christmas, she has been working as a doctor in Liberia and has been looking after patients with a communicable disease. She will need to be in quarantine for seven days and will spend her time with her parents and sister in their family holiday home in Norfolk over Christmas.
Olivia has a secret but so does her mother and father. Anyone who has contact with them will have to stay in quarantine with them.
I loved the way each of the family members interacted. This was a good feel good story about families, secrets and identity. Set in Norfolk and the present time.

The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown was set in Chicago in 1999 and Paris in 1925. Madeleine is unhappy in her marriage and escapes to her hometown and helps her mother prepare to move to a smaller house. Madeleine finds her grandmother Margie's notebook and diary revealing Margie's trip to Paris in 1925. This novel is about families, relationships, artists and writers.

Early in January we had lunch with some old friends. We had lots of laughs remembering days gone by.

I spent a lot of time early in January trying to update my mobile data and upgrading windows 10 on my laptop.  Computers, access to data and social media can be a headache sometimes. I read a book about a person using skype  sees something disturbing.The book was Without a Word by Kate McQuaile. It was set in Ireland and was about friendships, relationships, families, missing persons and murder. Orla is talking on skype with her best friend Lillian. Lillian goes to answer a knocking at the door and never comes back, suddenly the house is on fire and figure looms on the computer screen. Ned Moynihan is investigating Lillian's disappearance.

Another book about murders I finished was False Pride by Veronica Heley. This was an Abbot Agency Mystery about families, relationships and hidden jewels with a few murders to add a bit of interest and confusion.

Bea Abbot and her ex-husband accidentally get involved in a robbery and murder plot. Magda is given precious jewels to keep safe from would be thieves. She hides them but someone else hides them in a better place. People are murdered and injured during the hunt for the jewels.

This novel kept me guessing to the last pages. Everyone was confused and did not know who they could trust. Lots of humor. 

We spent Australia Day camping with family and friends.Jamie cooked roast lamb, roast pork and vegetables in camp ovens, delicious.