Review: Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski

by Carol4 Comments
Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski is the equivalent of an action movie. It's starts off with a car chase and just keeps going non-stop. You've got fights galore, a fire, some gadgets and syringes. Charlie Hardie is a former cop, well not exactly a cop but sorta of a cop consultant, who now spends his time house-sitting for people with money to spare. He spends his days more or less drinking and watching movies. Until his latest assignment. After breaking having to break into the house to watch, he finds Lane Madden inside. She's a has-been actress who tells a bizarre story that They are out to kill her, they being The Accident People, a behind the scenes group in Hollywood who take care of problems but make the deaths seem like accidents. Turns out she's right and the rest of the book is about Hardie and Lane doing their best to stay alive, stay one step ahead of Them. By...
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Review: The Bat Scientists by Mary Kary Carson

by Carol10 Comments
We had to get this The Bat Scientists by Mary Kay Carson. First, it's about bats, one of Amber's favorite animals. Second, it's part of the Scientists is in the Field series, which we love. Third, we met the author at the Ohioana Book Festival and she signed it. "The single biggest threat to bats is human ignorance about them," says Merlin Tuttle. "Most people are very happy to protect bats if only they understand them." (pg 28) This book goes are far way in helping middle school kids learn about bats. It talks about the different types, about their habitats and about threats they face. It tells how bats help people, eating insects, and in a couple of towns drawing in lots of tourists. Amber already knows a lot about bats. You have to remember we've been reading animal books since she was little. What impressed me about this book is that it talks about the scientists with Bat Conservation International who...
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“In Need of a Champion”

by Carol11 Comments
In Need of a Champion 405 words I hate this place. This forest full of creatures and plants, birds pulling at my hair, apples falling on my feet, grass staining the bottom of my gown. Even the trees and flowers seem to mock me, their rich hues and graceful curves overshadowing my beauty. But I have my mission. The hunter I need is in the woods today, stalking the deer. He will be my champion in the games on the Mount. I've been watching him. He's agile and swift, his arrows fly true, he's intelligent and not a little cunning. He will beat the other god's representatives, by skill or by deception, I care not which. Ah, he's coming.  I sit on a tree stump, spreading my teal skirt around me, and wait. He approaches slowly, warily. He nears and I see the surprise in his face when he recognizes me, wandering no doubt why I am here. He falls to his knees...
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Thursday’s Tale: Bluebeard’s Ghost by William Makepeace Thackeray

by Carol11 Comments
Image source: SurLaLune Fairy Tales "Bluebeard's Ghost," written by William Makepeace Thackeray in 1843, picks up where the original "Bluebeard" left off. Mrs. Bluebeard, Fatima, is a widow, but a very rich one, having inherited Bluebeard's entire estate. Funny how a nice inheritance can make you forget all of the dead's faults. She's even convinced herself that the previous wives were not killed, after all, Bluebeard had written in the family Bible what had happened to each of them, like the one woman who died of a sore throat, and the one who had a complaint about the head and shoulder. After they were dead, he just couldn't bear to be parted from them. Finally, Mrs. Bluebeard decides that it is just too difficult to live in the country home, too many memories of her beloved husband, so she and her sister go to her town home. Once in town, she first refuses all social engagements, only allowing the vicar into her...
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