A Lazy Monday

by Carol6 Comments
It's been a lazy Labor Day Monday. I actually slept until like 11:30, decided that lunch was going to be catch as catch can. We did go grocery shoping but I think that's all I've done, well, and dye my hair. We had our cook-out yesterday, although it turned into more of a cook on the grill then eat inside event. It was too drizzly all day, but we had good food and played some board games. It was a nice day. I haven't done any reading today either, but I did post some things last week. It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Reviews: “Housewifely Arts” by Megan Mayhew Bergman Still Alice by Lisa Genova Nekane, the Lamina & the Bear by Frank P. Araujo The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny Other posts: "Beyond the Peaks" - original flash fiction I joined the RIP VI challenge I shared a couple of photos, Wednesday and Saturday Currently, I’m reading/listening to: Belladonna in Hollywood by Alex Severin Spinsters in...
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Review: The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

by Carol14 Comments
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny is a well-done mystery, plenty of suspects, plot twists, even a traditional denouement, but it's more than that. It's about friendships and envy, about love and jealousy. It's about the characters for me, the mystery is almost secondary. We're back in fictional Three Pines, an idyllic Canadian city that happily sees  more than its share of murder. Really, why do people continue to live in these towns, like Cabot Cove and St. Mary Mead? Luckily for us they do. April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. (T. S. Eliott, The Waste Land) It's spring, and amid the Easter celebrations, a psychic arrives, a Wiccan actually, and the townsfolk convince her to hold a séance with them in the old Hadley house to rid the town of its evil. Bad idea, obviously. A local,...
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RIP VI

by Carol8 Comments
It's that time of year again. The leaves are starting to change, the weather's getting cooler. Time to curl up on the couch under an afghan with a cup of coffee and a good book. To quote Carl at Stainless Steel Dropppings, "it is once again time to revel in things ghostly and ghastly, in stories of things that go bump in the night. It is time to trail our favorite detectives as they relentlessly chase down their prey, to go down that dark path into the woods, to follow flights of fantasy and fairytale that have a darker heart than their spring time brethren. To confront gothic, creepy, horror stories in all their chilling delight." Yes, folks, it's time again for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge, which runs September 1st through October 31st. It 's a celebration of some of my favorite genres and a couple I don't read often. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. Dark Fantasy. Gothic. Horror. Supernatural. I'm signing up for Peril the First, with the goal of...
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Beyond the Peaks

by Carol7 Comments
Beyond the Peaks 347 words The sun is rising over the far hills. I hear its song waking the world. The birds twitter their thanks, the trees seem to straighten, ready to face a new day, even the grain, blowing gently in the breeze reflects its golden light. I feel alone this morning, the only audience for this magnificent show. Silly, I know, but I relish the peace and quiet. It's been a long journey. I sit beside the great tree, taking a rest before beginning the hike over the hills. The tree is a landmark for me, tall, strong, safe, so broad and solid, here for centuries, keeping silent vigil over the valley.  The ball rests in my hand, heavy for its size, the liquid silver swirling just below its surface. I had finally found the orb in a small shop in Freymere, abandoned among dusty relics and battered books, its power unrecognized. I bought it for a pittance, happy that I had...
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Thursday’s Tale: Nekane, the Lamina & the Bear by Frank P. Araujo

by Carol4 Comments
Nekane, the Lamiña & the Bear is a retelling of a classic Basque tale. The Basque are an ethnic group that live in a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France. This basics of the story will be familiar but the Basque version is certainly unique. A young girl, Nekane, is sent to her Uncle's house with a basket of fish and olive oil, but of course has to travel through the deep, dark woods to get there. Her mother warns her about the lamiña, a forest spirit who loves olive oil and will try to take it by taking any shape it wishes. Her mother tells her though, that the spirit is limited by the shape it takes, so if it takes the shape of a bird it can fly but won't be able to breathe underwater. Also, it...
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