An Outlaw Thanksgiving by Emily Arnold McCully

by Carol4 Comments
An Outlaw Thanksgiving by Emily Arnold McCully (Suggested reading level: Grades K-4) How would like to have shared Thanksgiving dinner with Butch Cassidy and his gang? Thrilled, scared, grateful? While this story is fiction, according to the author's note it's based on an actual Thanksgiving dinner that took place in 1886. In November 1886, Clara and her mother are heading west on the train to meet Papa in Utah and then head on to California. Their train gets snowed in and a nice man who they met on board offers to take them with him to Brown's Hole for a few days, until the train is dug out. He promises them a real Thanksgiving dinner with respectable ranchers. The feast is magnificent, but then Clara recognizes on of their hosts from a wanted poster- it's Butch Cassidy! She's brave enough to ask him if he's planning on robbing the train. "Well, a poster don't tell the whole story of a man," Butch said. "We've all...
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Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson

by Carol3 Comments
Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson Crispin is on the case again. This time a tavern girl comes to Crispin for help; whe has a dead man in room, killed by an arrow. It becomes even more complicated when Crispin discovers he is one of three Frenchmen bringing a religious relic to the King - Christ's crown of thorns. And someone's attempting to kill the King. I read this book while ago and had to return it, so I just have a few comments. I enjoyed this "medieval noir." Crispin, a former knight now peasant, is coming to learn what is truly important to him. He's smart, sexy, resourceful, a good hero. The book had several similarities to the first in the series - a woman in distress, a religious relic, but the story was well-plotted and did keep me guessing until the end. Once again, I love the setting, London in the late 1300's, and I'm beginning to feel like...
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Tuesday Teaser from Escapade

by Carol4 Comments
He hadn't apologized. Why should he? He hadn't done anything wrong. He couldn't do anything wrong. Ever. But I was upset, for whatever reason, and he liked me, and so he would mollify me. He was a generous man. (pg. 8, Escapade by Walter Satterthwait) This is a description of Houdini and it just struck me as really fitting, as least for Houdini as the character in this mystery. Whether or not he was like that in real life, I have no idea. This book hasn't really grabbed me yet, but I'm only on page 52. So far, there's been no murder and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle hasn't shown up yet. 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 ...
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