Thursday’s Tale: Trapper’s Ghost

by Carol1 Comment
I've got another wintry story today from AmericanFolklore.net. It's about a not very nice trapper from Canada. The trapper who roamed the wilds of Labrador on a sleigh pulled by eight pure white Huskies. He was tall and dressed in layer upon layer of animal skins. The trapper was a cruel man, and the people in the local towns did not like him, though they tolerated his company when he came to town because of the rich animal skins he brought with him. When he came to a town, the trapper would sell his skins and then drink away his money at the local tavern. He assaulted the local women, picked fights with the townsmen, and tried to sell alcohol to the natives. After a few days of such behavior, the constable would toss the trapper out of town. Then the trapper would resume his roaming and trapping until he came to another town. No one knows exactly how the trapper met his...
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2017 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

by Carol3 Comments
It's time to start thinking about 2017 Reading Challenges. I'm not sure how many I'm going to sign up for, but I can't resist the Cloak and Dagger challenge that is being hosted by Stormi at Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My!  and Barb from Booker T’s Farm again this year. Rules: You can read any book that is from the mystery/suspense/thriller/crime genres. Any sub-genres are welcome as long as they incorporate one of these genres. You don’t need a blog to participate but you do need a place to post your reviews to link up. (blog, goodreads, booklikes, shelfari, etc.) Make a goal post and link it back tp the sign-up post with your goal for this challenge. Books need to be novellas or novels, please no short stories. (At least 100 pages +) Crossovers into other challenges is fine. Challenge will be from Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st. (Sign up ends April 15th) There will be a monthly link up. If you tweet about your progress or reviews please use...
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Told After Supper by Jerome K. Jerome

by CarolNo Comments
Apparently telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve was a tradition in England. This is a funny little book. I found it because I was looking for Christmassy ghost stories for a Thursday's Tale post, but this is more of a parody of ghost stories. "Christmas Eve is the ghosts' great gala night. On Christmas Eve they hold their annual fete. On Christmas Eve everybody in Ghostland who IS anybody—or rather, speaking of ghosts, one should say, I suppose, every nobody who IS any nobody—comes out to show himself or herself, to see and to be seen, to promenade about and display their winding-sheets and grave-clothes to each other, to criticise one another's style, and sneer at one another's complexion." The narrator tells us that it is Christmas Eve at his Uncle John's house. Gathered together are of the narrator, old Dr Scrubbles, the local curate, Mr Samuel Coombes, Teddy Biffles and Uncle John. At the party goes on and they more of the...
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Readers’ Workouts – 12/6

by Carol3 Comments
December goals: Exercise: Walk with/without the dog - 16 days (1) Gym (cardio) - 4 days (1) Pilates/Yoga - 12 days (1) Weights - 8 days (1) Dinner: Meatless - 4 meals Low carb - 4 meals Seafood - 4 meals (1 ) This week: Thursday - Gym (elliptical) Saturday - Arms Sunday - Pilates Monday - Walk with dog I usually listen to a book while I’m walking, jogging, whatever. This week I finished Through a Glass, Darkly by Donna Leon and started The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay. How was your week? Readers’ Workouts is hosted by Joy at Joy’s Book Blog ....
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Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon

by Carol2 Comments
The dog and I were home one Saturday night when Amber and David went off to watch a hockey game. I hadn't been able to dig out my box of Christmas books yet, but was in the mood for a vintage seasonal mystery. Someone, somewhere said good things about Mystery in White by Farjeon (if it was you, thank you) so I picked it up. I love how many old mysteries have been re-released as e-books in the last few years. As the blurb says, a train gets stopped by a blizzard on Christmas Eve and a mismatched group of people decide to leave the safety of the train and attempt to make it to the next station on foot. Of course they get lost, but happily stumble upon a house - that is empty but has fires roaring and tea set out. "“Don’t disappoint me? Don’t tell me you cannot supply the corpse? A bread-knife on a floor, a boiling...
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Thursday’s Tale: Babe the Blue Ox

by Carol2 Comments
I haven't done a tall tale for a while, but while I was looking for wintry stories, I found this one about Paul Bunyan's ox, Babe. It's from AmericanFolklore.net.  I didn't remember that Paul Bunyan found him during the winter, a winter "so cold that all the geese flew backward and all the fish moved south and even the snow turned blue. Late at night, it got so frigid that all spoken words froze solid before they could be heard. People had to wait until sunup to find out what folks were talking about the night before." Paul Bunyan went out walking in the woods one day during that Winter of the Blue Snow. He was knee-deep in blue snow when he heard a funny sound between a bleat and a snort. Looking down, he saw a teeny-tiny baby blue ox hopping about in the snow and snorting with rage because he was too short to see over the drifts. Paul Bunyan nursed...
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