Leonard Rose by Steven Honigberg

by Carol1 Comment
Leonard Rose: America's Golden Age and Its First Cellist by Steven Honigberg I have an admission to make. I haven't quite finished this book yet. Leonard Rose is a fascinating man, devoted to the cello, dedicated, a perfectionist and the book is well-researched, detailed and truly interesting, I'm just finding it slow reading. It's tough to keep straight all the other musicians, composers and conductors Rose comes in contact with. I have some small bits of knowledge about classical music, but I feel like I would connect with this book so much more if I just knew more. I am thankful for the CD that was tucked into the cover. Actually hearing Rose play adds a whole new dimension to the book. One of the few cellists I have actually heard of, perhaps the only one is Yo-Yo Ma, who was actually one of Rose's students once upon a time. "If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing...
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Game Night – Duck! Duck! Safari!

by Carol2 Comments
Duck! Duck! Safari! Designer: Kevin G Nunn Manufacturer: Advanced Primate Entertainment Year: 2009 Players: 2 - 5 Time: Varies Ages: 6 and up Duck! Duck! Safari! takes rubber ducky gaming into the tropics. Inside this bulging box of fun you will find the famous jungle explorer Ducktor Livingstone, five safari animal duckies and all the pieces for FIVE original and exciting games. Presume an evening of fun. These five games are carefully selected to range in complexity, duration and number of players so safari expeditions of all ages and sizes will find something wild to explore! This is a heck of a cute game, but don't let the rubber duckies full you, it's a family game that's good for older kids and parents, too. There are rules for five games in the box, the suggested age range for the easiest is 6+, while the most difficult suggests ages 10+. At Origins, David, Amber (10) and I played Savannah (ages 8+,...
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BBAW – Future Treasures

by Carol3 Comments
We want to hear all about your FUTURE treasures.  We’ve been visiting each other and getting to know each other better…now is your chance to share what you enjoyed about BBAW and also what your blogging goals are for the next year! What I enjoy most about BBAW is the visiting and getting to know new people, exploring blogs I've never run across, discovering new books that others treasure. It's a great community and I'm happy to be part of it. I'm not good at setting goals, to be honest, not just with my blog but with life in general. I don't know what the coming year will bring. I do know that I'll continue to post about the books I love and hate, okay I rarely actually hate a book but you know what I mean, tell you about games I enjoy and anything else that passes through my mind. So, what about you? Any goals for next year?...
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“The Three Army Surgeons” by The Brothers Grimm

by Carol2 Comments
"The Three Army Surgeons" by the Brothers Grimm Over the last year or so, I've learned that fairy tales are not all sweet and light, some are downright gruesome and nasty. Today's choice, a new one to me, certainly falls in the second category. Three surgeons "who thought they knew their art perfectly" were traveling and stopped at an inn to stay the night. The innkeeper asks them to prove what they can do. They each state that they will cut off a body part, a hand, heart, and eye respectively, and reattach them in the morning.  The innkeeper believes that that will indeed prove that they know everything, but the surgeons actually carry a salve with them that joins body part together. Each of the surgeons cuts off the body part. The pieces are put on a platter and given to the servant, who placed it in the cupboard. During the night, though, the servant girl's lover, a soldier, comes and she...
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BBAW – Fourth Treasure

by Carol8 Comments
Sure we’ve all read about Freedom and Mockingjay but we likely have a book we wish would get more attention by book bloggers, whether it’s a forgotten classic or under marketed contemporary fiction.  This is your chance to tell the community why they should consider reading this book! I was looking through my list of "5-star books" that I've read over the last few years, seeing what treasures I found there that I wish would get more attention. Here's a few I found that I loved when I first read them. They each have quirky characters and outrageous plots, even the non-fiction choice. Pipsqueak by Brian M. Wiprud New York City taxidermy collector Garth Carson was seconds away from snagging the greatest find of his career-the original Pipsqueak the Nutty Nut, stuffed-squirrel puppet star of his favorite 1950s kiddie TV show-until a biker, a brawny redhead, and a murder derailed his dreams and stole...
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