I have been reading up a storm - wentworth, Ngaio Marsh, Nancy Atherton - all my faves from the past. But I have added a few middle grade books to my list of READ books.
Scrolling through all my favorite book newsletters, I ran across this little sweetie on Shelf Awareness. It's a picture book trailer and the artwork makes bats love soft and cuddly. Enjoy!
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| I read this one, too |
My love for Patricia Wentworth titles continues. Her plots are convoluted. Her solutions are sometimes way too simplistic. But I don't care. I love her characters, whether they are independent young women navigating life in a changing Britain between the wars, or frightened wives trapped in confusing relationships. The fashion updates are awesome. The dialogue borders on Noel Coward-esque. You MUST enjoy the time period between 1920 and 1955, and the cinema of that period, to fully appreciate these books.
When I shared my need to read these older mysteries with a friend, SHE shared Gutenberg.org. Almost any book in the public domain is available to borrow from Gutenberg.org. Only a handful of Wentworth's titles have slipped into public domain. I read The Astounding Adventure of Jane Smith, downloaded from Gutenberg, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Oh, the plot was totally off the wall. It included hidden underground chambers, nefarious international organizations, grief-stricken beauties and way too many secret passageways. The main character sparkled with gutsy independence. Her "suitor" stayed well out of the way until the very end. All sympathetic characters had their reputations restored. The book was the stuff of black and white mysteries of the 1940s.
Check out Gutenberg.org for all kinds of impossible to find older titles.
My friend also shared Open Library. This site attempts to offer as many books as possible to just as many readers. They have a dozen or more Wentworth titles available for loan. There are limitations and if you look at the FAQs or Help & Support pages these limitations are explained. For instance, I borrowed a book - BUT - because it was the only book of that title in the library at the time, I could only read it for one hour. You can borrow audio books, as well. Some titles are marked Not in Library. You can request those books and will be alerted if the book is added. OR you can search for the book in a nearby library through Library.Link. (You have to share your location.) Or look on WorldCat which simply lists all the libraries in their database that hold that title.
FREE BOOKS! Talk about endless love!
My local library offers all kinds of books to love and I have cheated on Patricia by reading a few Aunt Dimity books. Written by Nancy Atherton, this series of cozy mysteries offers a delightful rags-to-riches heroine, Lori Shepherd, who now shares her adventures with Aunt Dimity - long deceased - through a blue notebook. I KNOW!!! Totally insane but so comfy!
These mysteries are rarely, if ever, fatal so when I read the jacket flap for Aunt Dimity and the Widow's Curse, I was flabbergasted. A new resident of the village of Finch confesses to murdering her first husband. No worries about spoilers here - the publishers put in on the jacket flap! I snapped that book up and, as an Aunt Dimity title, it is perfect. Think Hallmark mysteries minus gore and overacting.
I haven't forgotten books for young readers. I have a couple of THOSE to tell you about in my next post. Let's hope I get to it soon.
Keep reading!
In High School, I became enamored with the soundtrack from Oliver! (Singing softly, "Whe-e-ere is LOVE? Does if fall from stars above? Will I ever know that sweet hello...? etc.) Of course, my favorite song to belt along with was "FOOD! Glorious Food!"
Why not? We need food. Some food tastes heavenly. Creating deliciousness from not necessarily delicious ingredients is clever, challenging and fun.
Authors know this and they add food elements to their books for kids. I just re-read "Listen, Slowly" by Thanhhà Lai and the foods of Viet Nam are touted on almost every single page.
The books that allow their characters to bake, cook, fry, broil their own recipes are especially engaging. (Hot book review word alert - 'engaging'.)
Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai After Jingwen's and Yanghao's father dies, their mother moves them to an English-speaking country. (I think it's Australia but it may be New Zealand.) Yanghao, being younger, makes headway in learning English by Jingwen has a lot of trouble. He is angry that his mother "left" their father behind and followed through on the family's plans to move and open a special bakery. Jingwen decides that he has to bake every single one of his father's cakes to make things better for his family. BUT his mother, who must work, has forbidden the use of the oven. And Jingwen speaks so little English that he bribes Yangwao to help him.
I can't remember recipes in this book but the descriptions of the baking process, the ingredients, the temperature, the sneakiness make a recipe of sadness. The cakes sound delicious. The memories are bittersweet.
Roll With It by Jamie Sumner. Ellie's CP and wheelchair don't keep her from trying to win baking competitions. After she and her mother move in with her grandfather to help watch over him, she is suddenly the only disabled kid and the new kid in a small public school. It does not help that she lives in a trailer park - hey! I lived in a trailer park for awhile. Stop with the judging! - across town. Her new neighborhood nets her a real friend with a can-do attitude.
Once again, no actual recipes that I remember. Where are the recipes?
The Doughnut King (The Doughnut Fix #2) by Jessie Janowitz. Well, I never read the first book so I don't know how Tris's family moved from NYC to the nowhere town of Petersville, BUT in this book, Tris already has a doughnut stand selling the most delicious chocolate cream doughnuts ever. Problems abound. As people move out of Petersville, he has trouble creating demand. When he solves that problem, he can't keep up with demand. A spot on a cutthroat kids' cooking show creates even MORE demand.
I want a doughnut, now.
I probably mentioned THIS book back in 2017 when I read it. The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald wins the Best Food-Related Title to Date. Oscar has gone missing. His bike is found at sea. Everyone, but Meg, assumes that this is an accidental death or a suicide. Meg doesn't believe Oscar is dead at all. But, she has been away for several months. Maybe something happened to Oscar to make him depressed enough. No! Meg can't believe that the baker of the best apple tart in the world is dead.
NO RECIPE!! So disappointed!
Blast from the past! Touch-Luck Karen by Johanna Hurwitz is an entry in Hurwitz's Sossi family series. Karen, 13, would rather baby-sit or cook than do schoolwork. Her grades are so bad that her parents refuse to let her continue babysitting. She MUST bring her science grades up by doing a project. Karen uses her other enthusiasm to demonstrate chemical reactions. Cooking to the rescue.
This book was published in 1982 and I read it during the next decade. I remembered that science demonstration and LOVED it and remembered it all these years. Was there a recipe? Now THAT, I can't remember.
I have not blogged for 6 weeks and I don't remember how!! Do I come up with a topic and stick with it? Is that a thing? I don't think that's a thing. I think people's thoughts jump around like bunnies in Spring. And it IS Spring. So stream of consciousness and random thoughts, here goes!
I play an online game in which you need to fit a set number of tile arrangements into a big 9 x 9 tile square. Is it unreasonable for me to take a violent dislike to any column of five tiles - horizontal or vertical? I really do NOT like those five tile rows in a deeply personal way.
Dana Simpson just came out with Book 13 of Phoebe and her Unicorn, Unicorn Famous. What will happen when Phoebe ages out of the believing in unicorns thing? Maybe I do NOT have to worry about this, actually, since Phoebe is no more real than her fabulous friend, Marigold Heavenly Nostrils. Simpson should get an award for naming unicorns.
Why are books about orphans who live in great big old buildings so popular? (I linked to Ally Carter's first Winterborne Home book but you don't have to think hard to come up with another one.) I get the orphan part. Having no parents sets the character free of any expectations or parental protections. At the same time, it's so sad!
And why big - as in city block big - and old? OK! That doesn't take too much imagination. But, I believe that setting a foundling school in one of the growing number of abandoned malls or strip malls might be intriguing. Those buildings have back passages that the general public never see.
Wait! That reminds me of the Hobie Hanson books by Jamie Gilson. When their school got flooded, Hobie's school moved into a series of empty stores in the mall. I loved those books but I bet they are dated now. I have to let Goodreads know that I read every one of them - as an adult - (because I am old). People who read these books as kids might even have children of their own who are graduating from secondary school soon - maybe.
Loss... When we lose an author we adored, even though that writer was really old and deserved some rest, it is HARD. Beverly Cleary was over 100. Sid Fleischman was in his 90s. But they were supposed to keep writing until my grandchild had grandchildren. It might be time for me to read Ramona and her Father again - or By the Great Horn Spoon.
I made my LAST book review presentation at the Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference on Saturday. This year, I worked with Mary Hyson, who loves to talk about books more than I do and who works with books for middle grades and YA every working day. I don't do that anymore, because - see paragraph 6.
Anyway, if you want to see our awesome slide show click here.
I am all tired out from jumping all over the place. The view out my window is beautiful. I hope your view is, too.
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| Our tulips in the late afternoon. In the morning they are even more glorious. |
I received my second COVID-19 shot today. Within hours, a friend texted me to say she and her husband received THEIR second shot today, too. And could we come to dinner in two weeks? Dinner? At someone's house? IN PERSON??? Hallelujah! Praise God!! Amen!
(The HUB gets HIS second shot in two days. Life is good.)
We WILL wear masks. Hugging is still not recommended. But visiting in person!!! With someone I am not related to? Wow!!!
The funny thing is this: I was not aware of the negative effects of insularity on me. Yes. I have dragged and yes, I also felt sluggish and reluctant to engage every morning.
Still, when I sat in front of my computer screen to talk with groups of people, I felt huge waves of gratitude. I enjoy NOT going to stores. My younger sister started a music sharing hour with me each week. That would NOT have happened in non-quarantine times. See? Things worked out for me! I prefer eating at home and don't miss restaurants.
Right now, I feel so light, so unburdened that I suspect the whole looking-on-the-bright-side thing kept me sane but not unaffected by quarantine.
Some things will change. In a couple of weeks, Hub will want to go out to eat. If I need one ingredient to make a recipe, I will run to the store and get just that one thing. We might drive to upstate New York to visit the above mentioned sister's palatial new home. We CAN GO PLACES!! Masked, of course, socially distant, but NOT HERE!
Here is what I hope will not change: Music with my sister; Scrabble games with my Mom two or three times a week; walks - but NOW I can walk more places once the snow melts; staying home - I do like staying home; a slower pace; an appreciation of what we have.
It may be the Spring sun returning. It may be my second vaccine dose but Hope is in my heart today.
Awhile back, Adm. William H. McRaven started a commencement speech this way, "If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed."
I never saw the sense of making my bed until the last decade. After all, you're just going to climb into that same bed in a few hours anyway.
The first thing to change my mind and my habits was noticing the delight of climbing into a bed after I change the linens. "Ahhh," I think as I sniffed the sun dried scent. "Clean sheets."
After that, I made my bed more days than not.
Then I read one of those little motivational commentaries that our search engines toss up every day. It assured me that making my bed would revolutionize my life, even if I made the bed 5 minutes before I climbed in for the night! That's crazy talk!
So I make sure my bed is smooth and nest before I climb in at night. Here are 5 ways that making my bed makes a difference in my day.
1. I feel cared for. Hub and I sleep in separate rooms because of back conditions and huge snoring issues - both of us snore hugely! So, why bother? The fact that I do bother means that someone cares enough to make my bed. Sure, that someone is me. I still feel that I am worth caring for. Make your bed.
2. That piece of discipline, if done early in the day, sets me off in a "getting things done" mode. I get the message that the day has started. Make your bed for a good start to your day.
3. I do get more things done. Once that bed is made, I don't want to waste the effort by climbing back in. So, I go do other things - like writing a blog post, or cleaning, or walking or hanging out with the Man, Make your bed to feel like you accomplished something.
4. The habit of bed making gave me permission to buy a lovely hand-quilted quilt. Spreading that quilt across my bed every morning makes me feel rich. Hand-quilted quilts can cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. The fact that I bought mine at a church Christmas Bazaar from the Quilting Group for not-so-much does not matter. Each morning as I toss that quilt out like a fisherman casts his net, I feel like the quilt is catching and keeping the blessings that come from a group of women all stitching at the same frame. Make your bed beautiful. Find something lovely to spread on your bed and you will want to look at it every day.
5. I sleep better. I do. And on the nights that sleep evades me, the neatness of my bed reminds me that I am fortunate. Make your bed. Make YOUR bed. You HAVE a bed. You are blessed.
Little Blue Bunny and his compatriot, Franklin, are back at SAOG (Secret Agents of Good) school this week. With all the white stuff outside, they decided to hone their spy skills.
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| (What they get up to when they are NOT in SAOG training!) |
Today they plan to become...SUPER SMELLERS!!! AND TERRIFIC TOUCHERS
Yes, the Blue Bunnies of Beneficence will use their noses to sniff out (hehehehe) different scents. Why is this important, you ask?
Well, a SUPER SMELLER can warn others of gas leaks, or of possible bad tastes, or of garlic overload.
But also, a SUPER SMELLER can stay safe by avoiding food that smells "off" - usually a sign of spoilage.
Here are some Spy School ideas.
-What's That Smell Game?
1. Gather some small cups or containers.
2. Gather an equal numbers of items with strong smells - like onions, vinegar, flowery perfume, peppermint, vanilla, or coffee. NOTE: stay to food safe items. Some very smelly items should be avoided - like cleaning supplies.
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| (Smelly things.) |
3. Place a little bit of one smelly substance into each cup, one smell to a cup
4. Cover the cups with a thin tissue. Some things that smell also have identifiable looks.
5. Challenge your spy student to identify the smell in each cup.
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| (Franklin is taking the plunge. I hope it smells good.) |
Make it harder.
Place the cups around a room and ask your SAOG trainees to find them, using their sense of smell.
-AAHHHH! What did I touch?
Sometimes we have to reach into containers to find things like lost toys, or lost crochet hooks, or lost pocket change or lost keys. Actually, I am thinking of sofa cushions right now, which are not containers. I think you know what I mean.
When reaching into dark places, it is helpful to know when to NOT grab something - or to be able to figure out what we DO grab. Just saying. This is where TERRIFIC TOUCH power comes into play.
For this game you need an empty box with a hole big enough to reach through. I suggest a tissue box, because those boxes come with holes.
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| (Could you guess what this was, if it was in the box?) |
1. Place something with a particular shape or texture into the box. NOTE: for safety sake do NOT use sharp, poisonous or dangerous items for this test.
2. Cover the hole with a cloth so the trainee can NOT see inside.
3. The trainee must reach inside.
4. a. The trainee can tell you what they think is in the box.
b. The trainee can describe how the item feels.
5. If the trainee is successful in step 4, it is the trainee's turn to test the tutor, (or trainer or teacher or....).
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| Good guessing, Franklin! |
-Grab it!
This game is like a scavenger hunt for the senses. Make a list of words that describe things, like fuzzy, or furry or fluffy or feathery or - moving on to another letter now - smooth, sleek, slippery, slimey, shivery..
or any other describing word. You can add words that use other senses, like "bright" for the sense of sight, or "sweet" for taste or smell, or "loud" for hearing.
Challenge your SAOG trainees to GRAB something that matches your word. If you are keeping score, give extra points to trainees who grab creative choices. Or not. Play it by ear. Or eye, or tongue or nose or fingertips. It's all good.
Extra Points for putting everything away.
The Final Installment of SAOG Spy School will show up here sooner or later.
