Mailbox Monday

by Carol15 Comments
I've decided to share the books I've received once a month instead of every week, so I thought the first Monday in the month would be perfect.  Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of  A Girl and Her Books and is being hosted by Serena of Savvy Verse and Wit this month.    Here’s what I found in my mailbox, or delivered to my Kindle, over the last month of so: Boca Knights by Steven M. Foreman (Won from Tea Time with Marce. Thanks!) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (Received from Crown.) Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star by Heather  Lynn Rigaud (Won from Palmer's Picks for Reading. Thanks!) Jack The Theorist by Jon Hartless (Won from Freda's Voice. Thanks!) Two and a Half Dead Men by Jason Krumbine (From Pump Up Your Book for blog tour.) Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus by John Eldredge (From FaithWords via NetGalley) Stories for Nighttime and Some for...
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Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup

by Carol10 Comments
This past week I was looking for cheap, easy, yummy dinners. Okay, that's what I'm looking for most of the time. Anyway, I tried this variation on Chicken Noodle Soup and it was a definite hit. Amber loved it and even ate the celery, which she doesn't usually do. Chicken Ravioli Soup (recipe thanks to DisneyFamily.com) Ready In: 30 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 8 cups chicken stock or broth 1/2 cup diced carrot 1/2 cup diced celery 2 cups refrigerated mini cheese-stuffed ravioli (I used frozen tortellini instead. It's what we had and it's Amber's favorite.) 1 cup cooked chicken - diced salt and pepper to taste Directions  Heat chicken stock in a soup pot to boiling; reduce heat and add carrot and celery. Simmer until vegetables are soft - about 20 minutes. Add ravioli and cook according to package directions -- usually about a 5 minute simmer. Stir in cooked chicken, salt and pepper as desired and serve. Using the tortellini instead of regular egg noodles made it a little heartier, a little more...
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Her Chosen

by Carol9 Comments
Her Chosen 392 words "Ingrid, leave," she commanded imperiously, not wanting to hear any more of the fairy's prattling.  As the girl flitted away, Aura sat, enjoying the deep quiet of the forest at night, broken only by the occasional hoot of an owl. She settled her skirts around here, their beautiful pink silk contrasting nicely with the grass and trees surround her, and waited. Just after daybreak she heard the sounds she had been waiting for, the footsteps of humans, hunters. Whispering a warning to the deer and the foxes to head deeper into the woods, she began to sing a soft song, a melody she allowed only one of the men to hear, the handsome one she had seen yesterday, with the dark hair and blue eyes. He was the one she had chosen. Erik heard a faint sweet tune, but none of his companions seemed to hear it, too intent perhaps on listening for the crack of a twig that would...
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Thursday’s Tale: Little Red Cap by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

by Carol12 Comments
Image source: Sur La Lune Fairy Tales I've talked about Perrault's Red Riding Hood before, but I wanted to visit the Grimm's version this week, in honor of Banned Books Week. The Grimm version differs slightly from Perrault's. First, obviously is the girl's nickname, Little Red Cap, but in other ways as well. Little Red Cap is of course on her way to grandma's house, this time carrying wine and cake. She meets the wolf along the way and he persuades her to stop and pick some flowers, while he rushes ahead eats grandma and disguises himself as the old woman. When Little Red Cap gets to the house we have the standard and answers, what big eyes you have and so on. The wolf eats Little Red Cap, but here the girl and her grandma get a happier ending. A hunter comes by, sees the wolf asleep on the bed after his feast, and cuts the wolf open, freeing Little Red...
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Review: And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

by Carol9 Comments
I don't usually read anything special for Banned Books Week. I just don't go out of my way to read books that have been challenged in libraries or schools. I have read several, but that was because I wanted to read them or had to for a class, not to "Read a Banned Book." This year, however, as I was reading some of the Banned Books Week coverage, there was an article which of course I can't find right now, but the girl in it after having had And Tango Makes Three read to her class or group was so happy because it depicted a family that resembled hers. I had heard of the book before but had never read it, so since our library had a copy available I picked it up last night. And Tango Makes Three is a cute little story aimed at preschoolers and young elementary kids. Two male penguins, Roy and Silo, spend all their time...
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