Carol's Notebook – Page 270

My Favorite . . YA Novel

January 18, 2017January 16, 2017 by Carol6 Comments

My Favorite.. is a weekly meme hosted by Maureen’s Books. In this meme we share every week something we love with each other. Because let’s face it.. The world can be a dark place and it’s time to share something positive. For more info: My Favorite Meme. I don't read much YA, so I looked at the books I have categorized as YA on Goodreads, all 17 of them from the past 9 years. Some I remember reading, most I don't. I think my favorite though is Briar Rose by Jane Yolen. "[Briar Rose] is a powerful, touching retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story. Before reading it, I couldn’t imagine how Yolen would connect the fairy tale with the Holocaust, but the wall of thorns becomes barbed wire, the prince has a real-life counterpart and the truth of the sleeping spell is a horrible reality. I shy away from Holocaust literature in general. I’m always worried that it will be too depressing, although so...

Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis

January 17, 2017January 16, 2017 by Carol2 Comments

Two men - Huston and DeMarco. Huston is a writer, a family man, a celebrity, and from all indications, has gone off the deep end and killed his wife children. DeMarco is a semi-stereotypical cop, a loner, a wounded man, but a good guy. The two were maybe friends by now DeMarco's job is to find Huston, who is on the run, or not. It's a decent set-up. Huston's thoughts are rambling, he doesn't let us know what happened. DeMarco thinks Huston is probably innocent, but the majority of the book is about finding Huston, other suspects barely enter the picture until late. I struggled through this one. I didn't get a chance to care about Huston because you never really know him, you just know the him that is shattered by the murders of his family. DeMarco I could almost like, but it's not just his dark moods and drinking and stalking his ex, he's not really a good cop....

Readers’ Workouts – 1/17

January 17, 2017 by Carol2 Comments

I made my step goal for the week overall. This week: Thursday - Took a walk Monday - Elliptical Meal plan: Shrimp fried rice Baked potato with sloppy joe Pork chops with apples Taco salad Hashbrown casserole with fruit New Year Fitness Goals: - Lose weight. Goal - Lose 26 lbs. I'm down 2 lbs. (141.4 starting weight) - Run 2 5ks, 1 10K and 1 half. I haven't registered for any yet, but there is a fun run (5K) in March that I think I'm going to do. - Hit my weekly step goal (56,000 steps) for 48 weeks. Weeks completed: 3 How was your week? Readers’ Workouts is hosted by Joy at Joy’s Book Blog ....

Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley

January 16, 2017 by Carol4 Comments

I loved The Rook last year, the first in this series and was looking forward to Stiletto, even though based on reviews I read I had my high expectations tampered a bit. Happily, because while Stiletto was enjoyable, it didn't blow me away like The Rook. Rook Myfanwy Thomas is in the midst of negotiating a way for the Grafters to join the Checquy. The two groups have been enemies for hundreds of years, each believing the other to be monsters, but having the two join forces is rather brilliant. The two groups definitely have different strengths and ways of looking at the world that could complement each other. But Myfanwy is not the main character here. Yes, she gets some screen time, but the stars are Pawn Felicity Clements and Grafter Odette Leliefeld. Odette is a sad young woman, mourning the loss of her closest friends and unsure of her part in the Grafter Delegation. Felicity is assigned to be her bodyguard,...

A Winter’s Respite Readathon 2017

January 16, 2017January 30, 2017 by Carol6 Comments

A Winter's Respite Readathon begins today. The first couple weeks of this year have been busy and a little stressful. I'm glad I can take the next two weeks to relax a bit and hopefully curl up on the couch and read. From Seasons of Reading: Dates are January 16 - 29, starting at 12:00am Monday the 16th, and ending at 11:59pm on Sunday the 29th. Times are central standard time so adjust your times accordingly. Yes, the readathon is now two weeks long! I, for one, am pretty excited about that! Of course, like most readathons, the books read must be novels or novellas, adult or young adult are fine, and you can read children's books too (as long as you do read some novels too). Note: Non-Fiction is also okay! You DO NOT have to participate the entire two weeks. Join in when you can, start in the middle, end early...whatever works best for your schedule. As with all of my...

Thursday’s Tale: Momotaro, the Peach Boy

January 12, 2017January 12, 2017 by Carol1 Comment

I thought it might be fun this month to re-post some of my most popular fairy tale posts. This past year, my post about Momotaro, the Peach Boy from 2010 got the second most views of any of my fairy tales. This is actually one of Japan's best-known folktales, although I had never heard of it before. The story is available on-line here, but I read a copy I borrowed from the library which seems to be a fairly faithful retelling. An old man and his wife are sad and lonely because they have no children. One day, while washing clothes in the stream the woman finds giant peach which she takes home as a treat for her husband. Before they can cut it open, it bursts and a baby boy pops out, an answer to their prayers. They name the child Momotaro, which means Peach Boy. The boy grows up big, strong and brave. When he is a teenager, he decides to...