54 of 75 for 2015. A sequel to Parks book Seriously Mum, What's an Alpaca, Where's That Donkey is a serious of well written anecdotes concerning the continuing travails of Alan and Lorna as they stay at their Spanish home near Cordoba. Not as much a continuous narrative as was the first book, this is more a collection of stories about their day-to-day lives, both the highs and the lows. The alpacas play a lesser role in this book, if not in their lives, but the reader continues to learn more about living as an ex-pat in a country where you don't speak the language and where the customs are completely different from what you're used to. A fun read that I highly recommend. ( )

This memoir is very engaging with plenty of humor and anecdotes about the author and his wife living in Spain and raising llamas. They live in a remote village and electricity is supplied by solar power, so in rainy times it is not available. Alan and Lorna realized that in addition to taking in paying guests in the summer they needed income in the winter, so Lorna began teaching Zumba. After a rocky start, her class surprised her by showing up to class wearing “Zumba Lorna” t-shirts they had made. Alan shares funny stories about them and their village and wrote “I think I have become somewhat of a local oddity, walking with an alpaca on a halter followed by a chicken and two cats like some kind of modern day Pied Piper.” This is the second book, the first one is “Seriously Mum, What Is an Alpaca?”. ( )

This is a lovely sequel to the first book 'Seriously Mum, What's an Alpaca'. The book, like the first, is packed full of animals and their tales. But there are also stories about life in Spain, meeting the locals, making friends, taking part in community events, diversifying to make ends meet etc. It is a gentle, pleasant read documenting the ups and downs of living off grid in an unspoiled, rural location.

The final paragraphs are narrated by Barb (the cat)and I found it slightly alarming that she seems to be suggesting that she is moving on. She has been a fixture throughout both books and I found the final sentence 'however, for me it is time to say goodbye' really sad - I'm not sure if this is what the author intended? We need a book three to clarify! ( )