What’s Cooking, Jamela? by Niki Daly

by Carol1 Comment
What's Cooking, Jamela? by Niki Daly (Suggested reading level: Ages 4-8) Usually, when I think of Christmas stories, I think of re-tellings of the first Christmas.  Or I think of snow and pine trees, cold weather and hot chocolate. Basically, I tend to read Christmas stories that are similar to my Christmases. What's Cooking, Jamela? however, takes place in modern South Africa—no snow for sure, but lots of love. Jamela's mama and grandmother make plans for Christmas, including buying a chicken to fatten up for dinner.  Jamela feeds the chicken, who she names Christmas, water and corn everyday. It even eats food from her hand. As Christmas gets closer, Jamela and the other kids put on a nativity play at school, complete with traditional clothing and instruments. On the day before Christmas, before the chicken can be killed, Jamela tries to help it escape, but it ends up running through town, causing havoc. "Christmas in not a chicken," cried Jamela. "Christmas is my friend....
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T is for Trash

by Carol1 Comment
Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday. Today's letter is T. I read this one in fall of 2008. It has to be one of the most unusual stories I've read. It's beautifully written and I loved the characters. I guess it's a mix between romance and fantasy at heart, all about sex and nature and choices people make that others just can't understand. Awesome book! Trash Sex Magic by Jennifer Stevenson Sex is a force of nature. A woman stood behind him—no, no mere woman: a bombshell, a vamp, a va-va-voom—a gypsy queen, a menace from Venus. Raedawn Somershoe lives in a trailer on the banks of the Fox River. She likes men and men like her. It runs in the family: her mother, Gelia, can seduce a man just by walking across a road. When they set their sights on a man, something magical happens. Alexander Caebeau drives a bucketloader for a construction company. He’s lonely, homesick, tired of cutting down...
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The Longest Night by Marion Dane Bauer

by Carol4 Comments
The Longest Night by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Ted Lewin (Suggest reading level: Ages 4-8) Yesterday was the winter solstice, the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, which is why Amber (9) and I took a break from the book we're in the middle of to read The Longest Night. In the forest, the night is cold, dark and seems like it will never end. Several animals think they are stong enough or smart enough to wake the sun, but it turns out that a small, humble bird heralds the dawn. "The night is long and long," says a chickadee. "The sun is gone and gone. If not crow or moose or fox, then who? Who can bring back the sun?" "You," says the wind. "Only you." This is a beautifully written book, clear enough for younger children to understand, but the phrasing is poetic and conveys the mood wonderfully. You can feel how worried the creatures are, how they each think they are the ones...
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Teaser Tuesday

by Carol4 Comments
Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. You also need to share the title of the book that you're getting your "teaser" from...that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given. Please avoid spoilers! I'm cheating a little today. My teaser: But even with his tremendous wings and fierce bellow, he couldn't defeat three blood-hungry dragons. Not if he stayed rooted to the ground. An easy target. Fly. She shot him a message. Not leaving you. -pg. 49, Rion by Susan Kearney Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. My copy was provided by the publisher for review. I am an Amazon associate....
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Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter

by Carol2 Comments
Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter I've been reading a lot of kids books this month, but this one is definitely for adults. These are two hot paranormal romances, perfect for the wintry weather we've been having lately. I will definitely be reading more by both of these author's. Of course, paranormal romance is one of my favorite genres. In Cole's "Untouchable," Murdoch Wroth will stop at nothing to claim Daniela the Ice Maiden -- the delicate Valkyrie who makes his heart beat for the first time in three hundred years. Yet the exquisite Danii is part ice fey, and her freezing skin can't be touched by anyone but her own kind without inflicting pain beyond measure. Soon desperate for closeness, in an agony of frustration, Murdoch and Danii will do anything to have each other. Together, can they find the key that will finally allow them to slake the overwhelming desire burning between them? Showalter gives us the...
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From Amber’s Sketchbook

by Carol6 Comments
Okay, it's not a drawing today. Amber (9) made this cute dog out of polymer clay for a book report. It's part of a diorama. The book was Flash by Ellen Miles. I didn't read it, but Amber seemed to really enjoy it. It's part of the Puppy Place series about kids who foster puppies until they can find them forever homes. The book had to be realistic fiction, not a genre we actually have much of at our house. Amber's books tend to be fiction that falls more along the fantasy lines or non-fiction. There's not much in between....
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