Thursday’s Tale: Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

by Carol4 Comments
Today, I've got another of Roald Dahl's poems. This time, Little Red Riding Hood doesn't need a woodcutter to save her, she takes care of the wolf all on her own. Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf As soon as Wolf began to feel That he would like a decent meal, He went and knocked on Grandma's door. When Grandma opened it, she saw The sharp white teeth, the horrid grin, And Wolfie said, 'May I come in?' Poor Grandmamma was terrified, 'He's going to eat me up!' she cried. And she was absolutely right. He ate her up in one big bite. But Grandmamma was small and tough, And Wolfie wailed, 'That's not enough! I haven't yet begun to feel That I have had a decent meal!' He ran around the kitchen yelping, 'I've got to have a second helping!' Then added with a frightful leer, 'I'm therefore going to wait right here Till Little Miss Red Riding Hood Comes home from walking in the wood.' He quickly put on Grandma's clothes, (Of course he hadn't eaten those). He dressed himself...
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Rungle in the Jungle by Robert Logan Rogers

by Carol5 Comments
It sounded like a cute book. The animals get together for a race, the snake tries to intimidate them, but positive thinking and creativity win the day - should be fun. Instead, it just wasn't very good, in my opinion. First, there is no punctuation, which always bothers me- yes, it's a kids book, yes, it rhymes, but please give me quotation marks. When reading books aloud, the quotation marks are great indicators that a change of voice is needed. I want to sound like a slithery snake during his boasts or big and bold when the ape states that he weighs more than a ton, and quotes would have given me the cue. I'm still not sure about the ape's assertion that he would lose weight before the race, though; it bothers me a bit. Second, many of the rhymes are forced or don't make a lot of sense and the pattern isn't consistent. Even rungle isn't a real word. I'm all for making...
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Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far In 2015

by Carol9 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. Today's topic is the Top Ten books We've Read so far in 2015. Here's my list, based on how I rated them when I wrote my reviews. 1. The Autumn Republic (Powder Mage Trilogy #3) by Brian McClellan 2. Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn 3. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson 4. Day Shift (Midnight Texas #2) by Charlaine Harris 5. Flat-Out Sexy (Fast Track #1) by Erin McCarthy 6. The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer 7. The Ice Queen (Bodenstein & Kirchhoff #3) by Nele Neuhaus 8. 7 Simple Choices for a Better Tomorrow by Bob Merritt 9. Shadow and Light (Berlin Trilogy #2 by Jonathan Rabb 10. Night Film by Marisha Pessl It's actually an interesting collection. There's paranormal and non-fiction, mystery and contemporary romance, even a spy novel. I think I'm happier with my reading...
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Readers’ Workouts – 6/30

by Carol4 Comments
So, here are my steps for the week. At least I got my steps in overall for the week, even if I didn't hit my goal on a daily basis. Friday was the only day I missed - I worked 9-5 at my desk and then had a meeting at the church from 6-9. I'm giving up on any kind of plan for now. I'm just too busy to stick with it. Mid-July, it should settle down a bit. My goal is to get in at least 8,000 steps a day, 50 crunches and 10 (girly) push-ups. The rest'll just be icing. My week: Tuesday - 1 mile walk with the dog, 50 crunches, 10 push-ups Wednesday - 50 crunches, 10 push-ups Thursday - 50 crunches, 10 push-ups, 25 minutes on the elliptical Sunday -  1 mile walk, 50 crunches, 10 push-ups Monday - 50 crunches, 10 push-ups, 10 lunges I'm down 9.6 lbs from 5/19. I usually listen to a book while I'm running or walking. The week...
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Watchmen by Alan Moore

by Carol4 Comments
This is a tough review to write. On the one hand, I found the Watchmen boring for the most part. It picked up a bit at the end, but I was never really invested in the story. The world wasn't going to explode, and if it did, I didn't really care about any of the people anyway. I also thought it was a bit heavy-handed. On the other hand, putting it back into the time it was originally published, in the 80s during the cold war, the alternate history he painted probably stuck a bit closer to home. Our political outlook, the world's threats are not the same now as they were then. He also does a fabulous job of weaving together everyone's stories and provided a comic book within his novel portraying pirates and allowing it to mirror his real world. The popular comic is about pirates, not superheroes. Superheroes, or at least costumed adventurers, exist is the real world,...
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