Thursday’s Tale: White Cap

by Carol2 Comments
  How about another ghost story? "White Cap" comes from Iceland and was retold by Jón Arnason in Icelandic Legends, translated by George E. J. Powell and Eiríkur Magnússon, 1864. A boy and girl lived near a church. The boy tended to be mischievous and often tried to frighten the girl in a variety of ways, until she became used to his tricks, and she assumed everything strange that she saw or heard was due to the boy. One washing day, the girl was sent by her mother to fetch the linen, which had been spread to dry in the churchyard. When she had nearly filled her basket, she happened to look up, and saw sitting on a tomb near her a figure dressed in white from head to foot She wasn't alarmed however, because she assumed it was the boy playing a trick on her as usual. So she ran up to it, and pulling its cap off said, "You shall not...
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Readers’ Workouts – 10/25

by Carol4 Comments
Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I was too busy doing nothing. Here are my steps for the week. I am having trouble getting the motivation to go to the gym and finding the time.   My plan starting 10/24  is actually to do a 40 minute Pilates workout every day for 7 days. So far I'm Wednesday - 20 mins arms Saturday - Dance class was cancelled Monday - Walk with the dog. 40 mins Pilates. Tuesday - 40 mins Pilates I usually listen to a book while I’m walking, jogging, whatever. This week I'm reading Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett.   How was your week? Readers’ Workouts is hosted by Joy at Joy’s Book Blog ....
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24-Hour Readathon

by Carol4 Comments
Today is the 24-hr Readathon. I'm participating because I love it, but I'm not going to be able to read all 24 hours. We have a band show to go to this afternoon, and I can never make it past like 2 in the morning. I'm planning on doing most of my updates through the day on Twitter: @carolsnotebook and maybe Instagram: @carolsnotebook. Tomorrow I'll probably update this post with a final wrap-up. Anyone else reading today? Update: I didn't get as much reading in as I would have liked, in part because I went to bed way too late Friday. I did finish Arsene Lupin, the Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc and read about 70% of Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Brash Blonde by Gemma Halliday. I also listened to about 45 minutes of Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett....
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Thursday’s Tale: The Stolen Liver

by Carol4 Comments
How about a ghost story today, in the lead up to Halloween? This one comes Poland and was retold by Otto Knoop in Ostmärkische Sagen, Märchen und Erzählungen, 1909. It was translated by D. L. Ashliman and I found it on his website, Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts. In the village of Hammer many years ago there lived a young married couple. The wife loved to eat liver and could not live if she didn't eat a liver every day. One day she sent her husband once again to town to fetch a liver. However, the husband met a group of young merrymakers and went with them to a tavern, where he drank away all his money. Sad, and without the liver, he made his way homeward. On his way he had to go through a forest. Here he met a hunter, who asked him why he was so sad. The man told him everything, . The hunter told him that in...
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Readers’ Workouts – 10/18

by Carol5 Comments
Here are my steps for the week. At least I hit my goal 3 of the days. That's way better than last week.   My current plan is to do cardio on Tuesday (60 mins), upper body on Wednesday, cardio on Thursday (60 mins), a total body workout on Friday, cardio on Saturday (60+ mins), and a core workout on Monday. I'm also trying to do a 10 minute-ish Pilates workout each day. Tuesday - 45 mins cardio (video) Wednesday - 15 min arms Sunday - Nature walk Monday - Walk with the dog, walk on the trail I usually listen to a book while I’m walking, jogging, whatever. This week I started Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett. I'm challenging myself to eat no junk food, but we went to a football game on Friday and away for the weekend with friends. Who can pass up junk food at the game or smores around the fire? How was your week? Readers’ Workouts is hosted by Joy at Joy’s Book Blog...
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IQ by Joe Ide

by Carol4 Comments
Isaiah Quintabe - IQ - is Sherlock, if Sherlock was a young black man (at least I think he's black) in modern-day LA who actually cares about the people in his community. He's brilliant, uncorruptible, and determined. He understands people and their feelings and motives. He does his research and plans ahead as well as he can. He finds people and things, deals with cases the police can't or won't. Problem is, he will only take what people can afford in payment, so sometimes it's money, but more often it's muffins or a chicken. Isaiah's side-kick, Dodson, is an interesting guy. He's cocky and more likely to play the angles than Isaiah. Not exactly a Watson, but help nonetheless.He's take the case of a rapper in order to make some money. I though the mystery was well-done. There were several suspects and the hit man was a nasty piece of work. I didn't guess who the would-be killer was, but the...
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