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Post by Claire on Dec 16, 2023 0:45:03 GMT 1
Hi all, this year's festive / Winter read is Pony From the Farm by Mary Gervaise. This is part of a series but can be read separately. It's an easy book to find and usually cheap to buy in paperback. Available in America and Australia (thanks to susan who kindly checked it out for us). I'm also hoping to add a short story for Christmas by Pamela Macgregor Morris - if I can get my temperamental printer/scanner to work!
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Post by susanb on Dec 18, 2023 21:54:22 GMT 1
Glad you have it as "Christmas/Winter", as I'm still awaiting my copy....due last Wednesday Holiday shipping crunch... Good luck with the printer/scanner...they always go like a charm when new, and then more and more cranky as they age (like all of us, I suppose )
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Post by susanb on Dec 21, 2023 16:56:05 GMT 1
Still waiting....and now I know why: the bookseller shipped to me via DHL on December 6th, and on December 7th DHL went on strike It looks like they have reached an agreement and the strike is ended, but now they have to clear the backlog of packages that weren't moving during the twelve days they were on strike. At Christmas.
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Post by Claire on Dec 23, 2023 22:45:22 GMT 1
Ah sorry to hear you're still aiting on your copy - sod's law I picked that one! Good news however with our other read. Although the scanner has thrown a wobbly, I have managed to scan the Pamela McGregor Morris story using my iphone, as just remembered it has a document scanning function. Hopefully I'll be able to get it on here OK.
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Post by susanb on Dec 24, 2023 15:56:15 GMT 1
It was moving through the US yesterday, so I figured it would land Tuesday or Wednesday. Shockingly, I just checked tracking, and itโs out for delivery today! We donโt typically get Sunday delivery, so a nice surprise.
Fingers crossed that the scan works out, PMM is always a treat ๐
Merry Christmas!!!!!
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Post by Claire on Dec 25, 2023 15:46:13 GMT 1
Just to add - one of the main characters in the story is a susan !
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Post by susanb on Dec 27, 2023 21:47:06 GMT 1
Finished!
I enjoyed itโฆmuch, much more horsey content than the other series entry that I had read previously.
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Post by Claire on Dec 28, 2023 17:15:00 GMT 1
Glad it finally arrived susan. I got about half way through but then got caught up in real world stuff - aim to finish it in a day or two.
Anybody else read it yet?
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Post by darkhorse on Dec 28, 2023 18:21:35 GMT 1
Just started...
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Post by darkhorse on Jan 2, 2024 19:57:59 GMT 1
I enjoyed it and voted good. I liked the old fashioned atmosphere so far removed from today's mad world!
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Post by Claire on Jan 8, 2024 18:38:41 GMT 1
A bit tardy in commenting due to getting stuck half way through, partly due to the story not gripping me, but mainly as my copy is a paperback with small print and I struggled a bit to read it! Overall, I am glad I perservered. Although I liked the character interaction and enjoyed the old-fashioned nature of the story (agreeing with Darkhorse) and the gentle down to earth mystery element rather than the more cliched pony-napping/thief/gypsy etc element, I do prefer a more tightly plotted read. I also thought that for most of the book, despite being set over the Christma holidays, it seemed decidedly un-Christmassy. I think this was probably in part due to the unseasonal mild weather in the story, and so a lack of the usual festive frost and snow. But also, as there is a very sad episode in the book which did bring the mood down. However I feel that Mary Gervaise very skilfully raises the bar a number of notches with the ending of the book. In the finale, not only are the mystery plot strands tied up, but the arrival of Christmas brings a message of its true meaning - namely the importance of friendships and forgiveness.
If anyone else is a bit stuck, I'd therefore defintely recommend perservering.
For those who have finished it, I'd be interested to know whether you thought it a Christmassy read or not.
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Post by darkhorse on Jan 11, 2024 0:50:13 GMT 1
I agree that I prefer a bit of snow in a Christmas read, although I'm not that keen on it in real life!
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Post by Claire on Jan 11, 2024 23:52:03 GMT 1
Haha yes me too. I did used to quite like snow until stuck with it for almost 4 months solid one winter a few year's ago in the Yorkshire town I used to live in.
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Post by susanb on Feb 1, 2024 23:03:14 GMT 1
sorry, a bit late myself here! I wasn't bothered by the lack of snow...we don't have it often at Christmas, it usually starts in January. I can't count the number of childhood Christmases with a new snow toy (sled, snowshoes) that couldn't be used till after the holiday break from school I don't usually care for the mysteries turning out not to be mysteries, but it felt right here....the dolls faces, the person skulking away from the house, etc. I also thought she handled the tragedy well....it was so clear that the mare was on her last legs, but Susan (not my favorite character....where are all the good Susans?) being in total denial was believable....though I wasn't crazy for her pushing the poor horse in any case. I was fortunate enough to grab a hardcover, which having heard how tiny the print in the paperback is, I'm even more happy about...the eyesight is not improving with age I have a couple of non-pony vintage paperbacks that have been hanging around for an eon...I keep picking them up, opening, seeing the print, and going "nope" and back in the tbr pile they go. All in all a nice old fashioned read, and I'd do more in the series, if someone could advise on the ones with the most equine content?
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Post by Claire on Mar 7, 2024 21:09:06 GMT 1
Thanks for adding your view susan - and I'm late in replying lol.
I totally know where you are coming from with the small print in the paperbacks. My eyesight also struggles. I'm slowly having to replace many of my paperbacks for hardbacks, not a great hardship as there are some lovely hardback editions, though I'll alays have a soft spot for the paperbacks of my youth, particularly the Armada Pony Books.
If I have a spare mo I'll do a quick review of the series to see which have the most pony content.
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