Bout of Books Update Day 3

by CarolNo Comments
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team Day 3 Update: Books/Stories finished: Little Chickies by Susie Jaramillo, "The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield, Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton, and Night Shift by Charlaine Harris Books started: In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware and Night Night, Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron In the middle of: Nothing Challenge Participated in: 5 Favorites Pages read: 162 Time listened: 1 hr 49 mins Running Total: Books/Stories finished: Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh Little Chickies by Susie Jaramillo "The Garden Party"...
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Thursday’s Tale: Little Chickies / Los Pollitos

by Carol1 Comment
I feel like nursery rhymes sort of fall into the same category as fairy tales and folktales. They're part of a culture, something passed down over the years that most everyone connects to, which is why I'm including Little Chickies as a Thursday's Tale. Little Chickies is based on a Spanish nursery rhyme, "Los Pollitos." I found the nursery rhyme at NurseryRhymes.co, along with the translation. Los pollitos dicen pío, pío, pío cuando tienen hambre cuando tienen frío. La gallina busca el maíz y el trigo les da la comida y les presta abrigo. Bajo de sus alas, acurrucaditos ¡duermen los pollitos hasta el otro día! Translation : The little chicks say pio pio pio When they are hungry And when they are cold. The mother hen looks for corn and wheat. She gives them food and grants them shelter. Under mama's wings, huddling up, Sleep the little chicks Until the next day! Jamarillo has done a wonderful job in the adorable book telling the story of the chicks whose mom takes care of them. Her lyrics are simpler than...
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5 Favorite Fictional Detectives

by Carol6 Comments
Today's Bout of Books Challenge is to list 5 Favorites. "Pick the topic of your choice and share your 5 favorite books that fit. Topics could be a favorite genre, a favorite trope, book boyfriends, or ANYTHING." My choice is my 5 favorite detectives, in no particular order. 1. Sherlock Holmes from The Hound of the Baskervilles and others by Arthur Conan Doyle 2. Hercule Poirot from Agatha Christie's series that started with The Mysterious Affair at Styles. 3. Nancy Drew starred in her own series written by a variety of authors under the pen name Carolyn Keene. The first was The Secret of the Old Clock. 4. Inspector Roderick Alleyn is the gentleman detective from Ngiao Marsh's series that begins with A Man Lay Dead. 5. Finally, we have Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. His first appearance was in Louise Penny's Still Life. I could have made a longer list, but it was only supposed to be 5. Who do you think should have been included?...
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Bout of Books Day 2 Update

by Carol1 Comment
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team Day 2 Update: Books finished: None Books started: None In the middle of: Night Shift by Charlaine Harris and Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton Challenge Participated in: Show Off Your Shelves Photo Challenge https://www.instagram.com/p/BFQB1WFBLU0/?taken-by=carolsnotebook Pages read: 58 Time listened: 2 hr 55 ins Running Total: Books finished:  Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh Pages read: 248 Time listened: 3 hrs 55 mins  ...
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Summer Heat Book Blast

by Carol6 Comments
Book Excerpt: From Protecting Her Pigg by Melissa Keir Arriving on the scene, the smell of smoke with the tang of gasoline assaulted my lungs. The building was a total loss. It bothered me to see something once so beautiful destroyed. “Sir, you can’t be here,” the officer I’d assigned to the perimeter yelled. Turning toward the commotion, I witnessed a tall, dark-haired man storming toward me with violence in his approach. Sizing up the advancing danger, I threw my shoulders back and met the man halfway. “This is my building. Who are you, and what do you know so far?” His gravel voice caused goose bumps to form on my skin. “I’m sorry, Mr…?” Up close, the man took my breath away. His features weren’t “pretty boy” beautiful, but striking. Chiseled chin, full lips, slightly curved nose. Must have been broken at one time. “Pigg, Lucas Pigg. And you are?” Caught staring at his lips, I almost missed the question. “I’m Lily O’Neill, chief arson investigator. We...
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Healthy Speedy Suppers by Katriona MacGregor

by Carol3 Comments
I work and there are days when I get home at 5:05 and we need to have eaten and be out the door for art class by 5:50. I need speedy suppers, which is why I was so excited to see this book. It sounds perfect- healthy, quick, real ingredients, but overall I was disappointed. First, I didn't need the first section. I'm actually a little tired of having cookbooks tell me what essentials to stock my shelves: give me the recipes, I can figure out what I actually want to keep in my cupboards and what pans I need. I liked the variety of recipes and that most used common ingredients, even if she didn't call them what I do, like courgettes=zucchini. There were several my daughter was never going to try, but I'll run into that with just about any cookbook. I also thought the use of photos was good. It's full of pictures of the recipes, but the cover doesn't...
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