Thursday’s Tale: The Tsarevna Frog

by Carol7 Comments
Today's tale. "The Tsarevna Frog," comes from Russia and features a couple of the more famous Russian fairy tale characters, Baba Yaga and Kostshei the Deathless. It was retold in Folk Tales from the Russian by Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal, 1903. At their father's orders, Tsarevitch Ivan and his two older brothers shot arrows in different directions to find brides for themselves. The other brothers' arrows landed in the houses of the daughters of an aristocratic and a wealthy merchant. Tsarevitch Ivan's arrow landed in the mouth of a frog in a swamp and his father insisted that he marry the frog, that it was his destiny. The father then gave the three brides two challenges, to bake a loaf of bread and to weave a rug. During the night of the challenges, Tsarevitch Ivan's frog wife turns into a beautiful, wise young woman named Vassilissa, who called her servants to perform the tasks. In the morning, Tsarevitch Ivan was astounded and took...
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On DVD: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

by Carol11 Comments
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters From: Paramount Pictures DVD Release: June 11, 2013 Theater Release Date: January 25, 2013 Category: Action/Adventure, Fantasy MPAA Rating: R Director: Tommy Wirkola Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Purchase: Amazon Fifteen years after a horrific experience in a deceptively inviting ginger bread house, an orphan Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) have become famous for ridding the countryside of witches. Despite their stellar success record, the brother and sister face a unique challenge when an extremely powerful witch is identified as the culprit stealing children from a local village with the intent to sacrifice them in an ancient magical ceremony to be held on the night of the Blood Moon. As Hansel and Gretel race against the clock, making several unlikely allies on the way (among them include a troll and a witch hunter fanboy), they unexpectedly come across a link to their own pasts and the secret their parents took with them when they disappeared. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is not a good movie,...
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Audiobook Review: The Brothers of Baker Street by Michael Robertson

by Carol4 Comments
Title: The Brothers of Baker Street (Baker Street Letters #2) Author: Michael Robertson Reader: Simon Vance Category: Mystery Audio published: March 1, 2011 by Blackstone Audio Rating: 3½ out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Amazon | IndieBound | Book Depository When brothers Reggie and Nigel Heath choose 221B Baker Street as the location for their law office, they don’t expect that their new office space would come with one huge stipulation, answering the letters sent to Sherlock Holmes, the most famous resident of that address. Reggie is distressed because the love of his life, actress Laura Rankin (whom Nigel also adores), is gallivanting around with media mogul Lord Buxton. And while Reggie is working on a new case involving one of London’s Black Cab drivers who is accused of murdering two American tourists, the letters to Sherlock Holmes are piling up. There's even one from someone who claims to be the descendent of Professor James Moriarty. I first met Reggie, Nigel and Laura in The Baker Street Letters, which I...
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Audiobook Review: Dragons at the Party by Jon Cleary

by Carol5 Comments
Title: Dragons at the Party (Scobie Malone #4) Author: Jon Cleary Reader: Shaun Grindell Category: Mystery Audio published: May 1, 2013 by AudioGo (first published 1987) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: AudioGo It is Bicentenary year and Australia is having the party of its lifetime. Detective Inspector Scobie Malone, hero of three previous Cleary books and the most human of cops, would much rather be out on Sydney Harbor with his family, watching the fun. Instead he is on duty, investigating the murder of an aide to President Timori, who has just arrived unwanted in Australia following a coup in the Spice Islands republic of Palucca. With Timori is his glamorous wife, Delvina, a lady as famous for her extravagance as for her lust for power. Clearly the bullet was meant for the President, and Malone has the task of tracking down the hit man before he takes a second shot. Malone identifies the would-be assassin as Miguel Seville, an international terrorist now turned contract man,...
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Audiobook Week: Learning About Audiobooks

Audiobook Week: Learning About Audiobooks

by Carol6 Comments
Today is the fifth day of We’re Listening: Audiobook Week 2013. Hosted for the fourth year by Jen at Devourer of Books, Audiobook Week runs June 17–21. It’s a fun way to find audiobook reviewers and see what everyone’s listening to. Today's prompt is about sharing our secrets - it's a shame I don't have any. Where do you learn about great audiobook titles? Buy your audiobooks? Share your secrets with the rest of us! We’d particularly love to know what narrators or publishers are active in social media or do a great job communicating with listeners. The Audiobook Jukebox is a great resource for finding good audiobook titles. I've also gotten a few recently thanks to the reviewer program. I only get downloads, never CDs. I don't buy audiobooks- I'm cheap. I don't even have an audible subscription. What I do is search through my library's on-line selection. I pick up anything new I find that I think I'd enjoy. Unfortunately my library's choices are a little limited. And...
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Audiobook Week: Audiobook Tasks

Audiobook Week: Audiobook Tasks

by Carol8 Comments
Today is the fourth day of We’re Listening: Audiobook Week 2013. Hosted for the fourth year by Jen at Devourer of Books, Audiobook Week runs June 17–21. It’s a fun way to find audiobook reviewers and see what everyone’s listening to. Today's prompt is about what we do while we listen. What do you do while you listen? Any particular tasks or games that you find amazing for audio time? I guess maybe I approach this a little different. For me it's more like what do I have to do that I make a little better, easier, more enjoyable if I listen to an audio book while I'm doing it. I don't play games while I listen, I find I can't concentrate on the book. I also don't watch tv. I don't listen in the car for a couple of reasons: most of my drives are less than ten minutes long and my books are on my MP3 player which can't plug into my...
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