Game Night – Apples to Apples

by Carol5 Comments
Apples to Apples Designers: Matthew Kirby, Mark Alan Osterhaus Manufacturer: Mattel Artist: John Kovalic Year: 2008 Players: 4 - 10 Time: 20 - 30 minutes Ages: 12 and up As I was looking through the list of games I've talked about, I realized that I've never mentioned Apples to Apples. It's probably because I have kind of a love/hate relationship with the game. It's a great game when you have a bunch of people. It consists of two decks of cards, Things/People and Descriptions. Each turn, the current referee draws a Description from the face-down deck and players try to quickly pick, from the cards in their hands, the Things that best match that Description. We actually play that the slowest player doesn't get to submit a Thing that round. Players get to argue for the cards of their choice, then he referee chooses the Thing that appeals most and awards the card to the player who played it....
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The Philosopher’s Stone by Hans Christian Andersen

by Carol6 Comments
"The Philosopher's Stone" by Hans Christian Andersen This was a new fairy tale to me, one that I've never heard before. The version I read, available at SurLaLune is from Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales. Mrs. Henry H. B. Paull, translator. [1872, 1883]. It tells of the wisest man in the world who lives in a crystal castle at the top of the Tree of the Sun in India. He knows everything there is to know, including has happened and what will happen. In a secret chamber in the castle is his most treasure possession, the Book of Truth, which he had read through, page by page, except the section titled "Life after Death" whose pages appeared blank. This man had five intelligent children, four sons and one blind daughter. He spoke to them of the true, the beautiful, and...
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Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

by Carol6 Comments
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout I enjoyed the way this book was constructed. It's a collection of stories about the residents of Crosby, Maine, dealing with their secrets and disappointments, their strengths, their passions, their despairs. The title character, Olive Kitteridge, a retired school teacher, appears in all the stories, although sometimes in only a minor way. Everyone in town knows her and she knows everyone else. Olive is the resident we come to understand the most. At times she can be mean and overly blunt, but she can also be patient, honest and caring. We see her grow through the stories, but at the same time, she is who she is. Olive's private view is that life depends on what she thinks of as "big bursts" and "little bursts." Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need the...
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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

by Carol7 Comments
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan I finally got around to reading this, months after Amber (10) was raving about it. It's no wonder she loves this series. It's full of adventure and mythology, trustworthy friends and angry monsters. Percy Jackson is having a tough time. He's being kicked out of boarding school, but that's the least of his problems. Percy's discovered he's a demi-god, son of Poseidon, but, not only that, he's accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt, which explains why all the monsters are after him. In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to...
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Teacher’s Advice

by Carol7 Comments
"I always remember she said one day, 'Don't be scared of your hunger. If you're scared of your hunger, you'll just be one more ninny like everyone else.'" (pg. 195, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout) In this teaser, a young woman is talking about something her former teacher, Mrs. Kitteridge, said, something that really struck a chord for her. Is there any advice a teacher gave you that has really stuck with you over the years? Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. The rules are easy and I only cheated a little. Grab your current read, open to a random page, and give us two teaser sentences. Remember, no spoilers. I borrowed my copy from the library and the above is my honest opinion. I am an Amazon associate....
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