The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor

by Carol9 Comments
The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor "More ghosts," Elinor said. "It seems that we constantly manufacture them. We are factories of ghosts." (pg. 438, ARC) Jerusalem College in Cambridge in 1786 is full of secrets, privileges, abuses, power struggles, illicit sex. And a ghost. Sylvia Whichcote, who drowned in the garden pond, is said to haunt the garden and was seen by young Frank Olderhaw. Frank was subsequently committed to a home for the mentally unstable, but his mother wants him cured and returned to London. To this end, she hires John Holdsworth, a bookseller and widower who has fallen into financial ruin. John has written a book, The Anatomy of Ghosts, that explains his disbelief in ghosts, and so Lady Anne believes he is perfect for the task. When he arrives in Cambridge, Holdsworth realizes that to help Frank he must solve the mystery of Sylvia's death. In the process, he is drawn deeper in the Cambridge community, and encounters...
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Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy

by Carol9 Comments
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy, illustrations by Kimberly Shaw-Peterson (Suggested reading level: Pre-school through Grade 3) I admit it - I'm a spaghetti-aholic. I love pasta of all shapes sizes and with a variety of sauces, but my all-time favorite is spaghetti with plain old tomato sauce. And by favorite I mean I could eat it three meals a day everyday. I don't, but I'd love to. So you can see what attracted me to this book. I don't read many picture books now that Amber's older, but I couldn't pass this one up. Lucy is a sweet, pretty girl whose grandfather has taught her that everyone is different, but that everyone has a heart with feelings. It's a shame that Ralph, a boy in her class, wasn't taught the same lesson. He teases Lucy about everything from her hair to her food, hurting her feelings. When she gets the chance to tease him back, though, she helps him...
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Teaser from In the Woods

by Carol6 Comments
We had been tapping Andrew's phones for a week now, with results pathetic enough that O'Kelly was beginning to emit ominous, volcanic grumbling noises. During the day Andrews made large numbers of snappy, testosterone-flavored calls on his mobile; in the evenings he ordered over-priced "gourmet" food — "takeaway with notions," Sam called it, disapprovingly. Once he rang one of those sex chat lines you see advertised on late-night TV; he liked to be spanked, apparently, and "Redden my arse, Celestine" had instantly become a squad catchphrase. (pg. 300, In the Woods by Tana French) I tend to like mysteries in the first place, but the writing style is truly making this one stand out for me. Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. The rules are easy and I only cheated a little. Grab your current read, open to a random page, and give us two teaser sentences. Remember, no spoilers. I received my copy through PaperbackSwap, and the...
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Game Night – The Beginning

by Carol7 Comments
At Giant Fire Breathing Robot, the question was asked: Who instilled in you your love of gaming? The answer's easy. My parents. We played games all the time when I was a kid, from Candyland when I was little to Monopoly, Scrabble,Life, Pictionary, Backgammon, etc. Then, probably in high school, we started playing Euchre all the time, lunch, breaks, restaurants, whenever. Fast forward to when Amber was born and we moved back to town after being gone for a couple of years. I don't exactly know how it developed, but I think that instead of going out on a regular basis, it became easier for us for our friends just to come over to our house. And when you get together every week, you need something to do and games are perfect. Our tastes have broadened, last week for example we played Dominion and Death Angel, but it's still playing games.  (Why can't any of the space marines be women by the...
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