The Sans Pareil Mystery by Karen Charlton

by Carol2 Comments
There were several good things about The Sans Pareil Mystery. I enjoyed learning about the theater in London in 1810 and it is interesting to note that both the San Pareil Theater and the woman running it did actually exist. The mystery itself was okay, although the clues were not necessarily as noticeable as the big flashing arrows saying "this is s bad guy." I like Lavender and Wood as a team, but Lavender seems older to me than young 30s, his attitudes and actions don't necessarily fit. Or maybe the reader's voice sounded older and that projected on to the main character? I had to remind myself that he was younger than I think. For the time period, it was also notable that women played central roles in the story, not just in the plot, but on the side-lines too. We meet women who have younger lovers, who support themselves and their household, who are brave, who are loyal, who...
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Thursday’s Tale: The Boy Who Wanted the Willies

by Carol1 Comment
  Today's story comes from Folktales on Stage by Aaron Shepherd. The book is a very nice collection of scripts for children. Some were new to me and others familiar. There are funny stories and tales with a moral lesson. The scripts are clear and appropriate for children. If I worked with a group of kids, whether in school or storytime, I think it would be a nice addition to my shelves. Shepherd based "The Boy Who Wanted the Willies" on a tale by the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, "The Story of a Boy Who Went Forth to Learn Fear" but added a lot of changes and embellishments. There was once a boy, Hans, who was never afraid of anything, mostly because he didn't have enough sense to be afraid. One evening Hans and his sister were walking by a graveyard when the sister said the place gave her the willies. Hans asked what the willies were and his sister told him the willies are when...
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#ReadersWorkouts #FitReaders 7/19

by Carol6 Comments
Here are my steps for the week. I didn't make my goal of 9,000 steps a day, but considering how busy my week was, I'm not too disappointed.   I am totally blowing this summer. 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. I'm failing miserably at my plan though. Tuesday - Wednesday - I worked til 5 and then went straight to VBS and didn't get home until 9-ish, so I got nothing done Thursday - After work, Amber and I went straight to Pittsburgh for a lecture by David Sibley, so no time to workout Friday-Sunday - We were at the lake. We did some fishing and some walking, but nothing that could really count as exercise. Monday - 60 mins elliptical I usually listen to a book...
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High Summer Read-a-thon

by Carol1 Comment
The High Summer Read-a-thon starts today. I was debating whether or not to sign up, but it's low-pressure and I am a sucker for read-a-thons. Sign up over at Seasons of Reading. Thanks for hosting, Michelle! Here are the rules: Dates are July 18 - 24, starting at 12:00am Monday and ending at 11:59pm on Sunday. That's central time (U.S.), but you can adjust your times according to your time zone. Of course, like most read-a-thons, 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 week. Join in when you can, start in the middle, end early...whatever works best for your schedule. As with all of my read-a-thons, it will be a week of relaxed reading during which we can personally challenge ourselves and whittle away that ever...
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Bookburners: Anywhere but Here by Brian Francis Slattery

by Carol2 Comments
So far, Bookburners reminds me of The Librarians tv show - which is a good thing, but it doesn't have the math/literary/science references The Librarians. What it does have is a group of non-magical people very good at what they do who go around the world collecting magical artifacts - like books and bringing them back to a place where they are all collected and safeguarded. Each episode of Bookburners is just that, a self-contained story that forms a part of the overall storyline. "Anywhere but Here" is Sal's first official case. The team heads to Madrid, where another man has opened another book and bad things are happening. Not downright evil - just wrong, and weird, and cool. The descriptions were awesome, and if the storyline itself is not terribly original, I think this particular danger was pretty doggone cool. Sal is fitting in pretty well. I like how she manages to find the parts where this new job is similar...
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