The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

by Carol10 Comments
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis I don't know how many times I've read this book. My copy is from a box set that was bought sometime in the 80s, but this is the first time Amber (9) and I have read it together. The story is always magical. Four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, are sent to a Professor's house in order to avoid the London bombings. While there, they discover a wardrobe that leads to the land of Narnia, which is under the spell of the White Witch. She make sure it always winter in Narnia, but never Christmas. The four children help the mysterious, powerful Aslan defeat the Witch and bring spring to Narnia. They then become kings and queens, fulfilling an ancient prophecy. There is a lot of Christian symbolism throughout the story, which I enjoy and appreciate more, I imagine, as an adult than I did when I was younger. Amber recognizes...
Read More

Read-a-Thon Books

by Carol13 Comments
I've been trying to pull together a stack of  "possibles" for the Read-a-Thon. These are ones I pulled off the shelf yesterday. Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs So Into You by Sandra Hill Julie & Julia by Julie Powell Flesh and Fire by Laura Ann Gilman The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Peacekeeper by Laura E. Reeve Still Life by Louise Penny Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan The Italian's Inexperienced Mistress by Lynne Graham Branded by the Sheriff by Delores Fossen An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny (in The Great Book of Amber) I know I won't get them all read, obviously. Also, I may end of grabbing entirely different ones. I figure I can always go to Amber's bookshelves if I just need a short easy something for a break. Also, I'll read a little with Amber, but I'm not sure what we'll be reading by then. I told her she can stay up late if she's reading with me...
Read More

K is for Kissing

by Carol4 Comments
Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday. Today's letter is K. I'm going back to one I read in April 2008. The description is from Goodreads.com, because I don't remember the book well enough to summarize is on my own. Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler David Schickler's debut seems at first to be a lot of fun: a gaggle of young Manhattanites with fancy jobs and fine educations chase each other around town, falling in love or not. In a series of linked stories, Schickler gives us a perverted heiress; a bumbling schoolteacher whose teenage student proposes marriage to him; a bad comic who finds his métier in off-off-Broadway theater. The writing is cool and a bit willfully naive: "Rally McWilliams was profoundly lonely," begins the title story. "She wanted to believe that she had a soul mate, a future spouse gestating somewhere in Nepal or the Australian Outback. But in Manhattan, where Rally lived, all she found were guys." The...
Read More

Movie- Inkheart

by Carol8 Comments
I talked about the Where Wild Things Are movie yesterday and I guess I'm still stewing it over in my mind a little. Maybe part of the problem was that the book was fresh in my mind. I had just reread it a week or so beforehand and I could remember every little piece of it. It's a classic childrens story and the movie obviously had to add more, just to fill the time allotted. David, Amber (9) and I watched Inkheart (PG) on DVD last week and we all really enjoyed it. It had adventure and action, fantasy creatures and people with amazing gifts. It's all about the power of the written word. Mo and his daughter, Meggie, share a passion for books. What they also share is an extraordinary gift for bringing characters from books to life when they read aloud. But there is a danger: when a character is brought to life from a book, a real person disappears...
Read More

Teaser Tuesday

by Carol9 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! My teaser: "He'll put all to rights as it says in an old rhyme in these parts:— Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death And when he shakes his mane we shall have spring again. You'll understand when you see him." -pg. 74, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. My copy is from a box set purchased in the 70s or 80s. I am an Amazon Associate....
Read More