Angel
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Posts posted by Angel
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re vacations without kids...
Us too -- I really like doing things with the kids, and I do feel like we're running out of time; the scheduling of getting everyone at the same time is already difficult -- but we're coming up on our 25th anniversary and we have decided we do want to mark it ALONE, to the shock and dismay of my eldest, who recently chirped, so, what are we doing for the big anniversary?? to which I answered, oh honey, we decided to leave you in charge of the dog... :lol:
:lol: Last year when we went to Universal we did take the dd's along. You are right about feeling the "running out of time" thing. I'm thankful that at 21 and 15 we are still able to vacation with them. Dh did ask me if I was SURE I wanted to take them with us for our 25th :laugh: When we went to Florida in January, dd15 was ok that we were going by ourselves but dd21 really had wanted to go! We left her in charge of the cat ;)
Rose - I hope the surgery goes ok. My oldest son's wisdom teeth surgery was my worst non-death-related personal experience ever.
Nan
I had my wisdom teeth out at 26. My mom told me it was the worst experience she had EVER went through with me. I have large sinus cavities and one of the wisdom teeth roots was very close to the sinus cavity. I wasn't supposed to sneeze or cough. Turns out I'm allergic to Vicodin and vomit for hours till it gets out of my system. Dh and mom assumed is was from the anesthesia and gave me another Vicodin the next morning. :eek: It was any ugly experience for all of us!
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I don't remember what I've posted and what I haven't...still on the crazy train here...so if I double up, please forgive me!
March is fairy tale month for Book Club. Skye has plenty of fairy tale retellings in her bookshelf, but I ordered some from the library anyway. I started a modern retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses but it wasn't any good, and I abandoned it! Instead I pulled Beauty by Robin McKinley off Skye's shelf. It was my favorite read of the year so far! So simple, but so sweet and beautiful. Although I knew the ending, I felt some anxiety as to how it was all going to unfold. I loved each facet of how McKinley chose to tell the tale. Truly worth reading!
My cousin brought me The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. She liked it. My friend really liked it. So I was sorry to find out that I found it just ok. I would have given it up, actually, if my cousin hadn't made a point of saying that I never read anything she suggests. There were some parts of it I enjoyed like the parts about Maya and her back story. I also enjoyed Amy's character. But I didn't like the end nor did I like the language in the book. I did like the book theme throughout and found some great quotes.
Since I still had time before book club, I decided to try and finish The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (another fairy tale). This book is one of Skye's favorite books ... ever... as she really identifies with Ani/Isi. After two starts, the third try was the charm. I began where I left off on the 2nd attempt. I found the beginning of the book so sad and depressing. Eventually, it turned around, and I was able to say that I actually really enjoyed the book. I always like a sweet ending. This is a great book for girls.
Today Skye brought home a vintage copy of a Bobbsey Twins book that I didn't own (I collect them). I decided to read it before I put it on my shelf since it's a new to me story. It shouldn't take me too long.
And my list for the year since I haven't posted in a while...
*01. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (classic - the Arctic, Switzerland, Germany, England, Scotland - 18th century)
*02. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan (children's book - historical fiction - Norway - 20th century)
*03. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (BaW rec - Nigeria - 19th century)
*04. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (classic - reread - England - 18th century)
*05. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (fantasy - reread - England)
*06. Lost Empire by Clive Cussler (Zanzibar, Tanzania, USA, Madagascar, Indonesia - 21st century)
*07. The Original Miss Honeyford by M.C. Beaton (BaW rec - England - 19th century)
*08. Bab: A Sub-Deb by Mary Roberts Rineheart (BaW rec - dusty - USA - 20th century)
*09. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (classic - BaW Feb. author - Italy and England - 20th century)
*10. Beauty by Robin McKinley (fairy tale)
*11. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry Gabrielle Zevin (USA - 21st century)
*12. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (fairy tale)
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My husband and I are exhausted and want nothing more than a cabin by a lake where there is nothing to do but read, drink coffee and maybe spend a little quality time together. But, in a few years when the kids are up and out, we'll have that... and we'll miss the family vacations. :-) Right?
1. Basin and Range, John McPhee
2. Austenland, Shannon Hale
3. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin
4. The Lady in the Van, Alan Bennett
5. In Suspect Terrain, John McPhee
6. Jamaica Inn, Daphne duMaurier
7. A Dangerous Mourning, Anne Perry
8. Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland
9. Defend and Betray, Anne Perry
10. Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt
11. The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson
12. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
13. A Test of Wills, Charles Todd
14. The Original Miss Honeyford, Marion Chesney
15. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
Dh and I feel the same way about family vacations with the kids, but we did get away the end of January by ourselves for the first time in 15 years and it was lovely having tea and reading and relaxing!
I have read the bolded this year as well!
This is an amazing story! Thanks for sharing!
I think the pollen here is starting to go crazy so my sinuses are going nuts.
We're in the middle of Irish dance craziness, so I haven't had time to read. Super-fun but also super-long day on Saturday with the downtown parade & multiple dance appearances. Plus, throw in the time change & another dance appearance on Sunday & I mostly need a nap!!
A short clip of our dancers on Saturday during the parade:
http://vid930.photobucket.com/albums/ad146/Stacia-photos/IMG_0976.mp4
(My dd is the furthest on the left; the tall girl. Lol.)
I hear you about the tree pollen :glare: I swear the trees budded and the next day my nose/eyes/sinuses went bonkers! And I loved the clip of your dd dancing. Looks like so much fun!
I also started my next audio book - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I can't count it towards my number of books read because it's too familiar, but I can count it for bingo in the revisit an old friend square.
Ok, I just have to say it...I don't get it when you all say this! :laugh: You read the book. It's still a book. No matter how many times you read it doesn't change the fact that it is still so many pages of text!! Sorry I just had to say it! If it's a book, and I've read it then I count it!
For anyone interested, here is a link to a small photo album from our trip.
AND, I've been meaning to ask, who would like some post cards of the Harrison Longitude clocks from the Royal Observatory or of TinTin (which I bought at a cool graphic novel/comic book shop in Paris)?
I'm late to the thread this week, and still have the Siesta Key postcards I bought sitting next to my chair, not sent, though that was February, but if there are any left up for grabs, I'd like one ;)
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Is The Twelve Dancing Princesses that you gave up on the one by Elizabeth Day George? My book club almost picked that to read next month and I have it on my nightstand thinking I might read it anyway. Or not now!
I love Beauty! One of my favorite retellings!
No, it wasn't! In fact, I think this is on Skye's shelf, and she really liked it! (Duh, it's on her shelf :laugh: ). I believe she likes Elizabeth Day George overall.
The book I had from the library was The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine. I didn't like the flow of the story nor the direction one of the story lines was taking.
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Last week was a very busy week here! March is fairy tale month for my IRL Book Club. Skye has plenty of fairy tale retellings in her bookshelf, but I ordered some from the library anyway. I started a modern retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses but it wasn't any good, and I abandoned it! Instead I pulled Beauty by Robin McKinley off Skye's shelf. It was my favorite read of the year so far! So simple, but so sweet and beautiful. Although I knew the ending, I felt some anxiety as to how it was all going to unfold. I loved each facet of how McKinley chose to tell the tale. Truly worth reading!
I started The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry over the weekend. My cousin loved this book and brought it to me to read. I'm not loving it so far. In fact I would have stopped reading it already but said cousin did read Juliet when I recommended it so I feel I should keep going with it. The swearing is what's throwing me off. Why is it that when you read modern fiction, they feel swearing is a must. Not everyone talks that way! Maybe that is why I like fantasy and Regency fluff. Sigh. A friend of mine also enjoyed this book so maybe it will pick up.
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Totally off topic, and it's okay if you don't want to answer. Is Aly short for Alyson? I ask because my niece's daughter (turning 8 this week) is Alyson, and you don't see that spelling often. The only other person I "know" who spells it like that is the actress Alyson Hanningan of Buffy fame (and apparently How I Met Your Mother, but I've never seen that show).
Actually it's Alyxandra ;) Though I am an only, my dad is the youngest of eleven kids, and I am 49 out of 52 grandchildren and there's a lot more great & great-great grandchildren. I wanted my kids to have names that were not already in the family (difficult). I like unique. Skye is actually Skyeler. I liked the "y" :laugh: and wanted to carry it over to allow Alexandra to become a little more unique. Aly was dh's nickname, and it fits her personality!
And, thanks again, all my BaW friends. :grouphug: You have all been so kind, so supportive, & so wonderful as my life has been chaos for awhile. I'm happy to report that my dh is starting a new job tomorrow. (Unfortunately, it is in another state & pays a bit less than his previous job. We are not planning to relocate the family, but will need to find him an apartment or other accommodations.) But, still, it's an improvement. And, it's with a company he loves & really wanted to get into. There are quite a few other crazy & stressful things going on now too, so I'd certainly appreciate any continued good thoughts as 2016 progresses. But, thanks again, my friends. You all, you guys, y'all, or all y'all (or however you want to say it) have been a tremendous help, support, & encouragement to me. I am humbled & grateful for the kindness of this group. Sending much love to each & every one of you. :grouphug: :001_wub: :grouphug:
Stacia, so glad to hear this news :hurray:
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Ditto ditto ditto!
My dd is dancing in her high school production of MP and having a blast. Two more weekends to go. It's a great show.
I also read ARwaV instead of APtI and had a similar experience to you. I think it was the right "first Foerster" for me.
This is Aly's first year and she is just in the Ensemble. She, too, is having a blast!
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That looks like it might be fun. I saved the info to look into it later. Thanks.
I love to watch Irish dancing! We know a local homeschooler who is into it. Ds plays Dungeons and Dragons with her and her brother. When her mother found out that I can sew she asked me about making her daughter's costumes. They're crazy expensive and while she would pay me, she was hoping I could do it for less. Wow! I'm good, but nowhere near that good. I politely declined and told her there's a reason why those costumes cost so much. :lol:
Skye is sewing one of Aly's costumes for Mary Poppins. Just that one costume was expensive to sew. Fabric is crazy expensive!! We put together the rest from Goodwill.
And Jenn - your trip sounds so delightful! What a wonderful experience!!
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Life is just ... busy. :glare: I'm not loving busy. I remember when I was in charge of not a single thing and just had to show up ... no planning, no extra teaching, a whole lot less responsibility. Sigh. As I was reading through the thread, I realized it was last week's thread! I'm so behind.
This past Saturday my IRL book club took a field trip to One Dollar Book Swap where every book is $1. I didn't make it through a quarter of the place! We had a good time, and I actually did not go over my budget! I came home with 16 books :hurray: and Skye 15. I can't wait to go again!
Tomorrow the girls and I are going to see Emma performed by our local Shakespeare Company. We are taking the little almost 10yo that dd babysits as well. We have seen them perform Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility. I'm really looking forward to it! I had hoped to get in a reading of Emma before we went but that didn't happen.
Aly is in an upcoming production of Mary Poppins with a local homeschool theater group so March & April will be crazy with practices. I am NOT a theater mom. I feel like Lorelai Gilmore when she has to be a "Chilton Mom" in Gilmore Girls. Um, I don't belong! Aly is loving it though so I'm trying to suck it up. I guess all that rambling to say I don't know how much I'll be able to check in over the next two months.
I wanted to join in on the E.M. Forster read along but didn't want to read A Passage to India. Forster has been on my TBR list for quite awhile. I chose to read A Room with a View instead and found it enjoyable. Forster's writing took a little getting used to. Occasionally it was hard to keep up with the dialogue as he sometimes seemed to veer off in an odd directions or descriptions at odd times. And the characters seemed a little underdeveloped. Well, maybe not underdeveloped, maybe flat. Or maybe I found Lucy to be a little flat. There was so much emphasis on cousin Charlotte (she was well developed) that I found I was craving more depth to Lucy and George. On the other hand, the writing was beautiful. There were numerous parts where the descriptions outshone the dialogue. If I had more time, I would have turned around and read it again since I think that being prepared for the writing I would have enjoyed it more! I had at least three quotes that I wrote down but as they are not near me at the moment and I'm too lazy to get up and find them I guess I'll leave them off.
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I read Boy Snow Bird for my retelling, and I thought it was great, and unexpected. I also really enjoyed Neil Gaiman's The Sleeper and the Spindle.
DD loves Shannon Hale's Books of Bayern series. These are more YA.
We also enjoyed Vivian Vande Velde's The Rumplestiltskin Problem, which is a set of short stories, retelling Rumplestiltskin.
Both Skye and Aly love the Books of Bayern series, and Aly and I enjoyed The Rumplestiltiskin Problem.
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Thinking to get another quick Regency read in this week I decided to pick up Aly's Kindle and read Bab: A Sub-Deb by Mary Roberts Rineheart. I downloaded this book a couple years ago (based on a rec from somewhere here) so technically it could be a "dusty" read. At first I was disappointed. It wasn't a Regency romance. However, by the end of the book, I realized that I really had enjoyed it. Bab is a 17yo in the early 1900's who is waiting her turn to "come out." She narrates her adventures with all the passion of youth and all the spelling mistakes of a 10yo (though she prides herself on her spelling lol). I would like to read this again without the wrong preconceived notion. I think it will be better the second time around.
That makes #8 for me for the year!
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Some leads ~
10 Fantastic Fairytale Retellings You Need To Read
The following wikipedia entry has a long list of retellings if you scroll down a bit ~
Regards,
Kareni
Thanks for the links. My IRL book club's theme for next month is fairy tales - a modern version, a retelling, etc. I may read Cinder because Skye just devoured these and passed them on to Aly, who is also devouring them, but I like to have options ;)
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I read The Original Miss Honeyford by M.C. Beaton in about 24 hours earlier this week. Nothing much to say about it other than it was just the proper fluffy Regency romance I needed for Valentine's Day week. It was also my "Romance" read for book club this month. I'm looking forward to reading more of hers! Thanks to whoever suggested this.
*01. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (classic - the Arctic, Switzerland, Germany, England, Scotland - 18th century)
*02. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan (children's book - historical fiction - Norway - 20th century)
*03. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (BaW rec - Nigeria - 19th century)
*04. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (classic - reread - England - 18th century)
*05. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (fantasy - reread - England)
*06. Lost Empire by Clive Cussler (Zanzibar, Tanzania, USA, Madagascar, Indonesia - 21st century)
*07. The Original Miss Honeyford by M.C. Beaton (BaW rec - England - 19th century)
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To the first paragraph: Yes. Just yes. It's very trendy and popular and cool right now to be trendy and popular and cool. :lol: There's a balance to it that for a good while was swinging veeeery far in the opposite direction of legalistic! I do think that more people are beginning to find that balance now and seeing the problems with either end. One can hope, anyway.
Second: Same. I read some 'books about the Bible' over the years through different ministries and stuff and was getting very tired of it. I was so thrilled whensome friends decided to start a Bible study group that just reads the Bible! What a novel idea! :lol: Now I try to reserve the 'books about the Bible' to be either highly recommended over time (Knowing God by J.I. Packer is, so far, very good, and The Celebration of Discipline is an old favorite of mine) or rereads that I'm trying to decide whether or not to get rid of. I find that sometimes they have their place, but any book has to be taken with a grain of salt. Or a whole shaker full. Whatever. :D
:lol: isn't it!
I am slowly coming back into the world after my baby's birth a little over a week ago. Abigail Therese was born on Feb. 5, 7 lbs 11 oz, 20 inches long, with lots and lots of dark hair with really surprising blonde highlights. She also almost certainly has Down Syndrome. We are waiting on the test results, but it is highly unlikely that they will be negative. This was quite a shock as I had had no prenatal testing and there were no markers on my ultrasound. She does have some heart defects which may require surgery, but as of the moment, she is doing really well. I, of course, have shifted my reading to all Down Syndrome related titles, as I found I knew next to nothing about it. I am not sure how much I will be able to participate going forward, but I have to say that right now it is nice to have my Goodreads feed to scroll through at the end of the day just to have something a little normal.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Welcome to sweet baby girl! If you are comfortable, we'd love to see a picture.
Oh, dear. So I didn't even manage to read a romance? Well, at least that book can be my "Picked based on Cover" square. So, now I will ask you to suggest a romance for me. It will be my "Picked by Friend" square. I do not care for magical realism much. However, I did love The Night Circus. Not sure if that's magical realism and/or romance. I found it to be terribly romantic. I do not like Sarah Addison Allen or GH (I will use initials to avoid booing and hissing from this crowd). If you say Twilight or Outlander I may have to visit your home and have a serious talking to you. ;)
So wanna pick my romance?
Twilight! :001_tt2:
Couldn't resist :lol: :leaving:
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Re: romances - well,, y'all already know that I've read pretty much every Georgette Heyer book ever written. Like Onceuponatime, I grew up reading Gothic romances - Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart. My mom did have a stash of Harlequins and a few other books that she kept under her bed in a box. When I was sick, I was always allowed to spend the day in their bed, and I'd sneak the romances and read them inside of another book, or with another book handy and slide them under the covers if I heard someone coming. I learned a lot from those books! ;) I especially remember the Calder saga by Janet Daily, and the Texas series by Fern Michaels. Whew! Most enlightening to a young teenager who was starting to have feelings for boys, but who had no idea what to do about it. I haven't really read romances since high school, but it was definitely an important phase in my, er . . . development. ;) :D
:lol: :lol: My mom kept hers in her dresser drawer and it was Kathleen Woodweiss. I can so relate!!
'Most women don't see themselves as women of inflence bcause they think they have to do some grand thing to be influential.'
'If we stray too far in one direction, we can become legalistic and set up barriers for people who are seeking Jesus. If we stray too far in the other direction, we may live no differently from those who are apart from Christ, and they may never see Jesus in us.'
I also read the second chapter of The Power of a Praying Wife today. Meh. It was better than the first one... but I still think I have some theological issues with it, as I don't believe in a 'perfect will of God' for an individual. So. This book may be a wash. Or I may keep reading it as I was planning to (one chapter a week, focusing on that in prayer for the week) but only as a bit of a loose reminder or focus point for the week. The first week was 'his wife' (aka pray that I'll be a good wife - that one was just.... wow.) and the second is 'his work'. I can pretty easily just use that loose guideline.
Maybe I'll just read the chapter titles each week. :lol: :lol:
I'm so glad you shared these quotes! I like both, though the bolded rings more true as I see so many people, especially older teens and young adults swinging so far toward the world just to NOT be labeled legalistic or judgmental.
I remember reading The Power of a Praying Wife years ago. I'm not much of a "read a book about the Bible" person, preferring to study the Bible itself, but I remember listening to those who were really getting a lot out of this book and wondering what I was missing :laugh:
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I advise audiobooks. Jim Dale = #Brilliant.
You're a very good mom. Chocolate frogs, that's beyond my pay grade, myself... :lol:
They were a very simple chocolate mold. The worst part...being in the kitchen that long :ack2:
I haven't received my invitation yet. I'm sure it'll be here tomorrow. In case it's not could you post your address here and then we can all join the festivities.
Ah, it's that ruddy bird Errol. He frequently gets lost :P
That sounds like such fun! We never hosted, but attended a number of Harry Potter parties when ds was younger. I made chocolate frogs too. I still have the mold, and though I'm pretty sure I'll never make them again I can't bring myself to get rid of it.
The host of one of the parties had woods behind their house and the teens in the group (the party was hosted by a family in our hs group) set up a tri-wizard tournament in their back-yard woods.
I hope you all have a blast. We have great memories of our HP parties.
That sound really amazing! We wanted to set up Quidditch in our front yard and play but a couple of inches of snow and freezing cold temperatures Saturday prevented that. :glare: Definitely hold on to the mold!!
How fun! We want to come too!
We had a great time! I was shocked to receive rsvp's from everyone we invited but one! Our basement was full! Some of our guests completed the 1000 piece Harry Potter puzzle I found at the thrift store around 10:30 that evening. The oreo bon bon golden snitches were the first food to disappear. I think my 11 yo nephew maybe at half of them! Some of the kids made it through all 8 movies, which ended at 2:30 am. :scared: I went to bed a little after midnight, almost all of the adults left around 10:30. We started at 7:30 in the morning. I had a picture of Moaning Myrtle taped to the toilet downstairs which had the boys (young and old alike) in giggles. I'll try and share some pictures tomorrow!
just have to chime in and say I absolutely LOVE that book! I think it's definitely one of my favorite Narnia books. Link is reading through the series now - I read them to the boys when they were younger, and I just realized I haven't started them with Pink yet! Maybe soon. :) Which actually brings me to another reason I was postI
ing: Good kids books! Well, he's a kid but not a little kid. Link is 12. (HOW THE BLOODY HECK DID I GET A TWELVE YEAR OLD ALREADY?! SHEESH!!) He goes through books like there is no tomorrow.
I love the Narnia books too! When I was younger The Last Battle was one of my favorites but truly I think The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Dawn Treader are now my favorites.
Does your son like fantasy? Most of our titles would be that lol. Dd21 just gave my nephew, 11, the first book in the Dragons in our Midst series by Bryan Davis, Raising Dragons. There are maybe 12 books in that series. Same nephew read and enjoyed the Magyk series, The Land of Stories series, and Artemis Fowl. I'm not a fan of Artemis Fowl myself (I only read the first one and wasn't impressed). Dd15 just read The Land of Stories and liked it. And I read the Magyk and liked it.
So I am reading The Dress Shop of Dreams which I picked randomly because I liked the pretty dress on the cover.
I read this last year as my book I picked because of its cover! I really enjoyed it. I've got another book of hers on my TBR list.
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I haven't had any reading time this week. We are hosting a Harry Potter Marathon/Party this weekend and the girls have kept me busy moving furniture and decorating. Today we made "chocolate frogs." I was hoping to finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this week but totally underestimated the time I'd actually have to read.
Angel...who has a stone wall taped to one living room wall, a Hogwarts crest blanket hung on the other, Harry Potter legos on the mantle, chocolate frogs in the fridge, Jean the Pygmy Puff in a pink bird cage on the piano, and an owlry on the kitty cat tower (not amusing to the kitty cat), and more to come!
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I'll post book related stuff in a separate post.
Yesterday was a sad day in our household. I had made an appointment (THE appointment) for our dog for Tuesday, but he was in such bad shape Friday night that we knew it wasn't fair to make him wait that long. We had hoped for a few more days to say goodbye, but we feel we made the right decision. Fortunately our vet has half day hours on Saturday, so when I called in the morning they said we could bring him in. They were very caring and understanding and let us have as much time as we needed before actually doing anything.
Ds' girlfriend came over early in the morning, went to the vet with us, and stayed most of the day and a good part of the evening. I was grateful to her, and I think her presence really helped him deal with his sadness. Of course our grieving is not over, but yesterday was the hardest and I'm glad she was able to be here to help him through it. She volunteers at an animal rescue thrift shop on Saturdays, but when she called and told them why she couldn't come in, they completely understood.
As I mentioned, my heart is breaking from missing the dog, but also for my son, who grew up with him. They were the poster for "A boy and his dog." I don't want to end this post on such a sad note, so I want to share a message sent to me by a friend. It was in response to a comment I made about seeing my big 18 year old man fall apart over the loss of his childhood pet. I though it was a wonderful sentiment.
This is so so SO hard. The thing is...Dingo left Dennis with a gift he will carry with him his whole life: compassion, and the ability to love and look after a creature put under his care. This, in some way, is Dingo's legacy: he left behind a boy, a young man in pain, but who is a better person for it.
:grouphug: :grouphug: to you all!
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It's funny, isn't it? I wouldn't appreciate this kind of detail either, but am frustrated by the lack of detail in books about pantries. Yes, I know the author couldn't imagine refrigeration because ice boxes hadn't even been invented yet, but I want to know how long that leg of mutton is going to sit in your pantry, Mrs Fiction! Are your shelves made of stone? I want to know!!!!!!!!
:lol: Yes, there are some things that enquiring minds want to know!!!
I can't find who mentioned the cozy mystery Tapas, Carrot Cake, and a Corpse in this week's thread (mum2 maybe??) but it is currently free for Kindle.
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I finished my beach read at home today. Lost Empire by Clive Cussler certainly wasn't small at 497 pages! It was bigger than it looked! This was my first time reading Clive Cussler. I enjoyed not only the adventure but that it was clean as well. Joining Sam and Remi in their exploration was fun. We traveled to Zanzibar, Tanzania, USA, Madagascar, and Indonesia with a very brief stop in England and Mexico. The story also led me to look up the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa in 1883 which was absolutely fascinating as the loudest eruption in history being heard up to 3000 miles away! On the down side I found it a little too technically descriptive in some parts. I didn't need to know, nor did I care, about all the specific parts of their boat or plane or helicopter. I won't be rushing out to pick up another book of his, but I will definitely read him again.
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Home from vacation! Brrr!
DS used to walk in his sleep when he was upset by anything. Crossing my fingers that it stays in the past. It is hard to sleep when you are listening for the slightest odd noise. Much better a shared responsibility for both parents. ;)
I was a sleep walker! I've only done it twice as an adult. My mom would commiserate with you! She told me she knew when my feet hit the floor and was always amazed at how quick I could be. There was a lock out of my reach on the front door. Mom was always worried I would end up in the lake in the middle of the night.
Finished The Martian. Perhaps a Haiku tomorrow. Now I want to see the movie. Speaking of Movies, we watched Jurassic World last night. Pretty good and intense, despite the pitiful acting. :lol:
Dh and I watched The Martian on vacation. And we all loved Jurassic World. We are huge Jurassic Park fans (I'm a fan of both the books and the movie) and was pleased that it was well done. We also loved all the little things that were throwbacks to the original.
February is shaping up to be a bittersweet month for us. Bitter because we are going to have to put our 11-1/2 yo Sheltie down very soon - probably no later than Monday or Tuesday. He's been in poor health for a while, but it's gone downhill quickly the past few days. He's been such a sweet dog. We got him for ds on his 7th birthday because we wanted him to grow up with a puppy just like we each did. They've been inseparable from the beginning. My heart is breaking because I love the dog, but also because my 18 yo not so tough guy is having a hard time letting go even though he knows it's what we need to do. I changed my avatar to honor our sweet boy. It was my avatar for a long time and I don't even remember why I changed it to the sunrise photo I've been using for the past year or so.
:grouphug: :grouphug: My parents lost their sheltie a few years ago. It was hard on all of us. They are amazingly smart and loyal dogs. Our prayers will be with you!
I'm almost finished with the book I started on vacation so I'll be back later to report.
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Before vacation, I read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, another book for Aly's Worldview class. This was a reread for me, and I enjoyed it again. I found myself looking a little deeper while reading, which I certainly hadn't meant to do. Last time I'm not sure that I really gave the story or characters much thought. At least, I don't remember doing so. I admit that this time I was wondering why Dr. Jekyll would want to explore that darker side of his nature. Though I could not compare him to Dr. Frankenstein (as he is in a category all by himself), I found Dr. Jekyll foolish and reckless in a different way. Like Dr. Frankenstein he dabbled in things that were best left alone, but unlike Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll did take responsibility for his actions. And as always, it is fun to hear Aly's thoughts during the discussion.
Today I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, one of my favorite Harry Potter books! Since it has been a while since my last reading of this, I found lots of things I had forgotten, especially the differences between the movie and the book (like Dobby and Kreacher). I have enjoyed picking up even more clues and hints this time around, knowing how the story ends. I love those little nuggets! Since I'm on vacation for a couple more days, I'm going to pick up a smaller beach read before delving back into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
*01. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (classic - the Arctic, Switzerland, Germany, England, Scotland, 18th century)
*02. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan (children's book - historical fiction - Norway, 20th century)
*03. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (BaW rec - Nigeria, 19th century)
*04. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (classic - reread - England, 18th century)
*05. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (fantasy - reread - England)
Tomorrow we might hit 80 here so we've decided it will be a beach day. I love reading on the beach. Two of my favorite things coming together :001_wub:
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Hello from Siesta Key! Dh and I are on vacation...by ourselves. It's been so relaxing. I know these are from a while ago but I still wanted to reply ;)
Angel, yes, my grandmother's Idylls of the King is a small brown book. Says copyright 1912 inside but then on another page says published in 1923. Will try to attach a crummy pic showing it by a regular-sized paperback I just finished.
That is the copy I own! I love old books. I like to collect old Bobbsey Twins books when I run across them.
I picked up the third in the Feist's Serpentwar series from the library just now. I've been rationing out the second and now I'm going to BINGE READ!
I haven't read that in years!! I'm remember really enjoying it.
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There are two British mysteries available for free today on Kindle
Lesley Cookman's Murder in Steeple Martin and
Andrea Frazer's Strangeways to Oldham.
Anybody read either of these? Any reviews?
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Book a Week 2016 - BW12: Vernal Equinox
in The Chat Board
Posted
Skye brought me home a vintage copy of The Bobbsey Twins Toy Shop by Laura Lee Hope. I loved The Bobbsey Twins books when I was a child, and I like to collect older vintage copies. I was just going to put it on my shelf but decided to go ahead and read it. It brought back happy memories and a few chuckles for the things that I never noticed as a child. I'm guessing I was drawn to these book by the "adventures" the twins had and by the perpetually happy ending.
I started a cozy mystery last night. I also need to finish Mere Christianity this week for Aly's worldview class at co-op.