Winners!

by Carol3 Comments
Congratulations to the winners of I Hate People! by Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon! kim kathemc gwendolyn b. Emilie S ShootingStarsMag I've e-mailed all the winners. I just need your mailing address so I can pass it on to the Hachette Book Group....
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Booking through Thursday

by Carol7 Comments
Now that summer is here (in the northern hemisphere, anyway), what is the most “Summery” book you can think of? The one that captures the essence of summer for you? (I’m not asking for you to list your ideal “beach reading,” you understand, but the book that you can read at any time of year but that evokes “summer.”) I was trying to think of a book that evoked summer for me and having no luck, but then I thought of Jimmy Buffett. His songs, attitude, everything screams summer to me, as do his book titles. Maybe I'll pull a couple of his out of the pile downstairs and read them this summer, finally. I know I have Tales from Margaritaville and Where Is Joe Merchant? somewhere. What about you? Join in at Booking through Thursday....
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The Mystery of Alligator Swamp created by Gertrude Chandler Warner

by Carol2 Comments
The Mystery of Alligator Swamp (Boxcar Children Special #19) created by Gertrude Chandler Warner From the cover: Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny head down south to Louisiana and find themselves swamped in a new mystery! In the lush bayou country, the Aldens learn all about fishing, Cajun cooking, and the alligators of the swamp. When a boat is found with a bite in it, the local fishermen wonder if the legendary alligator, Gator Ann, is up to her old tricks. Impossible—unless Gator Ann is a ghost! Could Alligator Swamp be haunted? The Boxcar Children put their heads together to catch a gator! My thoughts: This was another cute Boxcar Children mystery. I've never been to Louisiana, let alone the bayou, but this book definitely made me want to visit.  Amber and I learned a lot about alligators and the swamp. I think one of the fun things about reading childrens' mysteries is that the clues are so blatant and the plots so predictable, I can usually guess what's...
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Wondrous Words Wednesday

by Carol1 Comment
I ran across a couple new-to-me words this week. They're both from The Mystery of Alligator Swamp (Boxcar Children Special # 19) created by Gertrude Chandler Warner. pirogue- in its simplest form, a dugout made from one log, but also a number of more elaborately fashioned boats, including various native canoes, the structure and appearance of which generally resemble those of a dugout. The pirogue is widely distributed and may be found as a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Mexico; as a shallow-draft boat that is used to maneuver through the Louisiana swamplands; and as a boat used by the Indians of Guyana. "It's Billie's old pirogue," he said. "The one made out of the hollow cypress log." leucistic- a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin. "Marshmallow's not an albino," Eve explained. "She's a . . . leucistic alligator, like the ones in the zoo...
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Teaser Tuesday

by Carol6 Comments
Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. 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: Rock and roll—loud, unintelligible, and antisocial—was anathema to Dad. Even so, he managed to show up at a couple of our band's gigs, though he'd always be standing at the back of the room, as far from the noise as he could get without stepping out the door. -pg. 56, Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along....
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Musing Monday

by CarolNo Comments
Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about library borrowing… Do you restrict yourself on how many books you take out from the library at a time? Do you borrow books if you already have some out? Do you always reborrow books you don’t get to? I go to the library about once a week to pick up books for me and Amber, although I may stop by more often and just sit for an hour before work or during lunch to read without interruptions or distractions. I don't limit myself to a certain number of books, but I tend to only have 3-4 out at a time. The stack of books I own that I haven't read yet is just too big. No, I don't always reborrow books I don't get to, but I do love that you can renew them on-line, otherwise I'd be paying fines fairly often....
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