Thursday’s Tale: Baba Yaga

Thursday’s Tale: Baba Yaga

by Carol152 Comments
Today's Thursday Tale is actually about a specific character, not a specific story. I've mentioned Baba Yaga before, when Vasilissa the Beautiful encountered her, but today I wanted to talk a little more about the witch herself. She is one of my favorite fairy tale characters, even though she doesn't usually have a story of her own, just appears in others' tales. Baba Yaga is a strong, powerful, frightening woman who comes to us from Slavic folklore. She is far from your "typical" witch.  Whenever she appears on the scene, a wild wind begins to blow, the trees around creak and groan and leaves whirl through the air. Shrieking and wailing, a host of spirits often accompany her on her way. She flies around on a giant mortar, kidnaps and presumably eats small children, and lives in a hut that either stands on chicken legs, and is sometimes surrounded by a fence with a skull on each pole. Sometimes the hut has...
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U Is for Unmentionables

U Is for Unmentionables

by Carol11 Comments
No, not those unmentionables. Unmentionables as in people with special gifts, superhuman abilities, like Diesel and Lizzie in Janet Evanovich's Wicked Appetite. I'm not a fan of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, even though I always feel like I should be. Something about it just rubs me the wrong way. I don't know if it's Stephanie herself or the feeling that Evanovich is just trying too hard. But that means that I've only read a couple of Plum novels, and none of the in-between ones, so this is my first meeting with Diesel. Those more familiar with her work will I'm sure recognize the name and alread know that he's just downright sexy, and a little dangerous. I do like her earlier romances though, which is why I decided to give Wicked Appetite a try. And it was an audio available at my library when I needed a new one to listen to. Lizzy Tucker is a cupcake baker, who makes amazing goodies....
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T Is for Tonight

T Is for Tonight

by Carol10 Comments
I am thrilled to be a giver tonight for World Book Night. It's an opportunity to spred the joy and love of reading, to entice people to get lost in a different world. I'll be giving out 20 copies of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak in my town. It's an an edition specially printed for this occasion. I chose this book because it's a story I truly loved. Narrated by Death, it's a touching, moving story with vivid images. It was originally published as a young adult book, but I think everyone, ages 12 to 100 will be captivated by it. Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist – books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors...
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24-Hour Read-a-Thon

24-Hour Read-a-Thon

by Carol14 Comments
Today is the 24-hour Read-a-Thon. And I'm hoping to do lots and lots of reading, starting by finishing A Plain Death by Amanda Flower. Before I get absorbed in a story, though, I wanted to go ahead and answer Hour 1's questions. 1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I'm in Ohio. It's rainy today here, and much coller than yesterday - a perfect day to stay inside and read. 2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I don't really know. I don't have any that I have huge expectations for, and to be honest, I don't really have much of a plan. I'm just going to pull off the shelf (or Kindle) whichever book grabs my eye at the time. 3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Brownies! And spaghetti for dinner. 4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I love to read and play boardgames. I have a wonderful husbad and daughter who may...
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S is for Scotland

S is for Scotland

by Carol5 Comments
Photo credit In A Double Death on the Black Isle by A. D. Scott, Scotland is as much a character as the actual people. In the 1950s it's a beautiful country in transition, the ancient feudal system is crumbling, women are finding their own places in the world, but old prejudices and beliefs still exist. Joanne Ross, a still-learning reporter, has a tough life as a single mother working to support her two girls after leaving her abusive husband. She can't divorce him, because of the scandal that would surely ensue, and can't keep him away from herself or the girls. Then there's her "friend," Patricia Ord Mackenzie who is pregnant and marries a the father, a fisherman who is definitely below her class. Her family are upper class, wealthy landowners, and her mother is furious with her choice. Now in the same day, two men die on the Black Isle. Patricia’s husband is killed in a fall on the same day Fraser Munro, the reviled son...
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