Read-a-Thon 9:25 pm

by Carol6 Comments
Read-a-thon Update: Total time spent reading/listening: 5 hours, 10 minutes Total time spent cheering: 2 hours 10 minutes Total pages read: 336 Time listening to books: 1 hour 10 minutes Currently reading: The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook and listening to The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux Books and stories finished: Flirting with Forever by Gwyn Cready, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg, and "The Stir Outside the Café Royal" by Clarence Rook Other tidbits: Amber and I have been reading the Konigsburg book for a while, we just happened to finish tonight. David and the guys are watching the hockey game right now. After that they're planning on Axis and Allies, one game I'll gladly sit out of....
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Read-a-Thon 6:45 pm

by Carol4 Comments
Read-a-thon Update: Total time spent reading: 3 hours, 35 minutes Total time spent cheering: 1 hour Total pages read: 319 Currently reading: The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook Books finished: Still only Flirting with Forever by Gwyn Cready. Other tidbits: Took some time out to walk the dog and plant some flower in the front yard. Dinner next, then back to reading. Family insists I feed them, though....
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Read-a-Thon 8:45 am

by Carol8 Comments
Morning, all. I'm looking forward to a day of great reading, but first my answers to the introduction questions. First up on my pile is finishing Flirting with Forever by Gwyn Cready. After that, I'm just kind of winging it, seeing what grabs my attention when I walk to the bookshelf. Three facts about me: I've never cut the grass. I love spaghetti and sauce, which is what I'm planning on for dinner tonight - quick and easy. I have a ten year-old daughter who unfortunately is not planning on joining me in reading today. I don't really have a set TBR pile. The Truth about Forever, The Chatham School Affair, and The Three Musketeers are all possibilities. I don't have any goals. This is going to be a no pressure day for me. Read, visit others, have fun. I've only done this once before, but I don't have any advice, except maybe through your family out of the house for the day. I didn't manage to arrange...
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Scarlet Moon by Debbie Viguie

by Carol7 Comments
Scarlet Moon by Debbie Viguié (Suggested reading level - Young adult) I'm sticking with the Little Red Riding Hood theme today. Ruth is the main character in this re-telling. Her grandmother, Giselle, has been banished from her village under suspicion of being a witch and now lives alone in a cottage in the forest. Giselle is not a witch, but does know about the beneficial and harmful qualities of plants, studies the stars and the world around her. It was a miracle that the villagers had been content to only banish her and not burn her. Ruth shook her head. Grandmother is no witch; she just asks questions no one else will and manages to find the answers. (pg. 22) One day, when she is still a young girl, Ruth and her brother Stephen are attacked by a wolf in the woods. Stephen stabs the wolf and they are both saved, but Ruth's legs are severely damaged, and though they do heal, the scars...
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Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault

by Carol11 Comments
"Little Red Riding Hood" by Charles Perrault Perrault's version of "Little Red Riding Hood" was first printed in 1697, which is why I chose to read it for today's Fairy Tale Friday rather than the more familiar Grimm's version, told in the 19th century. Little Red Riding Hood, a "little country girl, the prettiest ever seen," was given her nickname because of the red hood that her grandmother had made. Notice that the cloak is red, a vibrant color often associated with sexuality and with blood. Anyway, one day Red Riding Hood is sent by her mother to her grandmother's house in the next village with a cake and some butter, since her grandmother has been feeling ill. Along the way, she meets the wolf who wants to eat her but comes up with a better plan. He asks her where she is going. She tells him and he responds that he will go there too and they will see who gets there...
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