Winners!

by Carol5 Comments
Congratulations to the winners of Rion by Susan Kearney. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. Freda Mans Vicki Wurgler Jackie B Teresa W. Kelly I'll be e-mailing you all in the morning. I just need your address to pass on to the wonderful people at Hachette Book Group....
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Game Night – Foosball

by Carol7 Comments
Isn't our new Foosball table wonderful? Our old one was getting kind of tired, and all the men were mismatched from being broken during play and replaced. Rob and Kerri (my brother and sister-in-law) got this one for us for Christmas. It's amazing how much use we get out of it. We probably play a few games at least twice a week, and it's great for adults and kids, at least the ones who are tall enough. Notice, Rob and David even attached a couple holders to the ends....
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Hansel and Grethel

by Carol12 Comments
Hansel and Grethel I read the version of Hansel and Grethel from Grimm's Fairy Stories by Jacob Grimm and Willhelm Grimm, available at Project Gutenberg. I knew the basics, but had forgotten some of the details. There is a poor woodcutter who lives with his wife and two children from a former marriage. The family has next to nothing to eat and the wife's solution is to leave the kids deep in the woods, alone, and then there will be two less mouths to feed. The father doesn't want to do it, doesn't want his children killed by wild animals, but eventually agrees. Can you imagine? The father agrees to leave his kids to die! Well, the first time, they manage to find their way home thanks to pebbles Hansel left on the path for them to follow back, but then they're left out in the woods again! Even after the children being saved once, their father lets his wife have her way...
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Still Life by Louise Penny

by Carol14 Comments
Still Life by Louise Penny In this traditional mystery, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team are called to investigate a suspicious death in the small rural village of Three Pines. Jane Neal, a long-time resident of the town who seems to have been loved by everyone, is found dead in the woods. Although her friends and neighbors hope it is a tragic accident, Gamache believes otherwise. The strength of this book for me was the characters. The town is populated by an interesting group of people  who are fully-developed, with hurts and disappointments, loves and dreams. In a lot of ways, they are examples of people we meet everyday, people who may very well have secrets behind their own doors. Jane herself is a wonderful character, integral to the story even though we never meet her alive. She lives on in the stories her friends tell, the way her dog mourns,  and in her paintings, one of...
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Y is for You

by Carol7 Comments
You Slay Me by Katie MacAlister All Aisling Grey had to do was deliver a centuries old, gold dragon statue to her uncle's client in Paris, but instead she finds the woman murdered and a strange, sexy man lingering nearby. Drake Vireo claims to be with Interpol, but before Aisling can verify this, he, along with the statue, disappears. Now the French police's prime suspect in the case, Aisling must figure out who really killed the woman and exactly where Drake disappeared to with her artifact. Aisling's efforts to clear her name become even more complicated once she learns she is a Guardian (as in guarding the portals to hell), and dishy Drake is a real-life dragon (otherwise known as wyvern). Scouring Paris' occult community for clues, Aisling, armed with a crabby demon in the shape of a Newfoundland dog, finds herself not only mixed up in murder and magic but also tangling and tangoing with a sexy dragon. Graced with...
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Simple Pleasures

by Carol11 Comments
Gamache had risen before the sun that morning. His little travel alarm said 5.55. He was always delighted when a digital clock had all the same numbers. (pg. 174-175) It was a tranquil few minutes, and Gamache appreciated every calm moment, pouring rich full bodied café au lait from the thermos into the little metal cup, and burrowing into the paper bag for a flaky croissant, still warm from the oven. (pg. 175) Gamache is the detective in Still Life by Louise Penny. He is a Chief Inspector with the Sûreté du Québec and is in the small town of Three Pines investigating the death of a long time resident. My comments about the book overall should be up in the next couple of days. What struck me about these two short passages is that even in the middle of a murder investigation, he can take the couple minutes to appreciate the little things, like the numbers matching or a delicious fresh croissant....
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