Tomorrow’s Groundhog Day!

by Carol5 Comments
The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun by Wendie Old, illustrated by Paige Billin-Frye (Suggested reading level: Grades 2-5) Tomorrow morning, I'll wake up to hear whether or not Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. I'm hoping, as always, that he doesn't. I'm not a winter lover. But why groundhogs and why February 2nd? This fun little book answers those questions and has a lot of other info packed in. It starts off with a description of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where the event has turned into a three day festival. It also gives facts about groundhogs, their lives and mating habits, and discusses hibernation. I found the most interesting chapter "The Beginnings of Groundhog Day." The author traces it's history, beginning with the spring festival, Imbolc, celebrated by the Celts in ancient Ireland through the day becoming St. Brigit's Day, eventually known as Candelmas. An old German saying is, When the bear sees his shadow at Candlemas, he will craw back into his hole for...
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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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