“The Old Grave-Stone” by Hans Christian Andersen

by Carol8 Comments
    "The Old Grave-Stone" by Hans Christian Anderson The title for this story sounds a lot spookier than the story really is. A fairy tale about a gravestone has all kinds of possibilities, but this is more the story of the people whose names are engraved on the stone. The gravestone was actually purchased when a church was being demolished and it now lay in the courtyard of a house. The people who live there are talking about the stone and the oldest man in the room remarks that it must be the gravestone of Preben Schwane and his wife, Martha. He tells of the couple who were well-loved by everyone. Preben and Martha were a fine old couple, and when they both sat on the bench, at the top of the steep stone steps, in front of their house, with the branches of the linden-tree waving above them, and nodded in a...
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Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman

by Carol4 Comments
Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, illustrated by S.D. Schindler Halloween is just over a week away, so I wanted to share one of my favorite kids Halloween books. Our copy has been read so many times that the pages are falling out. A witch grows a pumpkin, but when she's ready to bake a pumpkin pie, the pumpkin is too big and she simply can't get it off the vine. Along come some of the neighborhood monsters each willing to help. Just then, along came a vampire. “Big pumpkin,” said the vampire. “It’s big and it’s mine, but it’s stuck on the vine, and Halloween’s just hours away,” said the witch. And she kicked that pumpkin. “I am bigger than both of you and stronger too,” boasted the vampire, “Let me try.” “Hmph!” said the witch. “Hmph!” said the ghost. But they thought about pumpkin pie and stepped aside. The rhythmic, repetitive text is perfect and I love the monsters. There's the must have Halloween visitors, the witch herself, a...
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A Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore

by Carol2 Comments
A Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore I love everything about Christmas, the carols, the decorations, the traditions, so I am thrilled that seasonal books are starting to show up on the shelved. of course I've been singing Joy to the World since like June, and I never put away a couple of my Christmassy things, but that's beside the point. The story begins Nov 3, 1827 and ends with a Christmas wedding, which just makes me smile. It's a fairly predictable romance, which I say in a positive way. I like standard romances. Becky's a widow whose first husband was horrible man. She's looking for an affair, no strings attached. Jack's something of an adventurer but is more interested in a marriage than a fling. He needs her money to pay off a blackmailer. Of course, the two fall in love, she finds out he lied, but eventually he is able to redeem himself. In the middle you have a scandal, a...
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Winner!

by Carol5 Comments
Congratulations to the winner of Rowboat! Kate {The Parchment Girl} I hope you enjoy playing. It's a fun card game. I'll be sending you an e-mail shortly. I just need your mailing address to pass on to Moosetache Games. I am an Amazon associate....
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The Word Made Flesh by Eva Talmadge & Justin Taylor

by Carol1 Comment
The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide by Eva Talmadge and Justin Taylor It's a treasure box full of words, authors, quotes that people love enough to include permanently in their life. The day I received it in the mail I started looking through it, in awe over the gorgeous tattoos and the variety of genres, authors, and topics. It's a beautifully done book, all the photos are in rich vibrant colors and it's printed on heavy paper. I like that not only does it have the picture of the tattoo, it also tells who the photos is of and where the reference is from. Often, the page includes a caption telling what made the individual choose that tattoo, what it means to them. Not only, has this book made me want to get another tattoo (but what should it be?), it's also  a trove of authors and books that I feel inspired to read. After all, they've made a huge...
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