What We're Reading: Red Seas, Good Luck and Sophie's World

Happy Friday! We are settling in for a spring weekend of reading. Here's our #FridayReads that we'll be tucking into over the weekend! 

Angel: My next read is Red Seas under Red Skies, sequel to the Lies of Locke Lamora. I'm looking forward to it!  Lies was my big "look forward to" read last year, which means I'm looking forward to this, too. Yay Friday!

Have you read any of the books in the Gentlemen Bastard series? If you have and want to chat about them you can tweet Angel @miabrightborn or leave a message in the comments.

Jenny: I'm currently reading Sophie's World: a book that blends philosophy with

an eerie magical-realism-ish story about a little girl in Sweden and her mysterious philosophy teacher. This one is a birthday present I'm finally getting around to finishing--hopefully cutting into the enormous stack of books-to-finish that I have!

Want to talk Sophie's World? You can tweet Jenny @TheGenuineJenny or leave a message in the comments.

Genn: I've got a long weekend here in London. I'm finishing my re-read of Far From You (so bloody good!) and still working my way through A Dance with Dragons. But, I'm going to start The Good Luck of Right Now this weekend. I've been wanting to read it since the book came out last month. I loved The Silver Lining's Playbook. The book was fantastic and I adored the movie. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock was one of the most interesting and important books I read last year about school violence, revenge, suicide and abuse. So, I'm really looking forward to reading The Good Luck of Right Now.

If want want to chat books, especially Matthew Quick novels especially The Good Luck of Right Now you can tweet Genn @gennmcmenemy or leave a message in the comments.

What are you reading this weekend? Let us know in the comments or tweet us. Happy weekend! 

Book BINGE

Oh my word,  it's been a while. I can feel how long with every fiber of my being. I haven't had a book binge like this in YEARS. And, while I intend to go into it in greater detail (or rather, the books in greater detail), I am still reveling in the feel of FINALLY having gone through some books in the way that I was MEANT to. In the way some people reserve for punishment, chocolate, and bad TV, I am a glutton when it comes to books.

See, I've always been a voracious reader. Once upon a time, I would go to the library and take out as many books as they'd let me (anywhere between three and ten) and have them back in the next day or so. Limits to the books to bring home were especially cruel when I was visiting my dad because library visits were few and far between, sometimes once a summer. So, I'd read the whole stack several times before it got returned. And pretty much anything else I could find -- newspapers, medical journals, textbooks from my dad's premed years (mmm... nothing says "breakfast" like looking at abnormal spleens).

But, I haven't visited the library -- or my dad's house -- in years.

Time gets in the way for everyone, and for me, something else slipped in there. A lethargic sort of apathy, which was not helped, I'm afraid by my choice of reading. See, sometime recently, I got it into my head that I would go back and read a pile of books I didn't remember having read and couldn't remember what I wanted to do with them. Because, that's the thing. Generally, if I read a book, I remember what it was about, even vaguely. There will be a plot point or a character or a situation that stood out, even in those books I was "meh" about. If I really liked it or really hated it, I'll have even more vivid recall.

But this pile, I couldn't remember zilch. So, I've been trying to bang through them. I keep them in the bathroom, by the bed just so I have them there to work through. And for the most part, they're all pretty boring romances that are taking me FOREVER to get through. And perhaps that's part of why I don't remember. They didn't have enough connection for me between the characters, or they pushed a connection that didn't feel like it should be there (and repeated for good measure that it existed). Some have been about inappropriate relationships. But, none of this I could remember... except in a few. One of the last ones before the book binge, I'd gotten three pages in and remembered "oh yeah, the mother did it. I don't remember how the rest of it goes, but the mother was the murderer" (I generally like cross genre stuff, especially if I'm reading a romance. If you can't keep a plotline going... you lose my attention, regardless of how hot or frequent sex scenes might be. I want a story, People.). Got to the end and sure enough, Mom was the murder. Still going in the bye-bye-box, though. I just don't have enough love or enough space for it.

On the other hand, though, once through, I decided to switch gears and go with a series Genn has been trying to get me on for YEARS. Holy Moses. I have been through five books (sort of the first books) in less than five days. The series is huge. And while I haven't bought the rest of them yet, I've let the momentum carry me and I'm now half way through another book (as of last night). Completely different genre, completely different author, but I am FLYING through. And trust me, I'll write something up about these books soon. For now, I'm just reveling in it.

It feels like coming home to myself for the first time in a long time.

Hopefully, I can keep this going. And I think I'll be able to if I don't dip back in to the "should I keep these" pile....

Hopefully.

What's kicked you out of a slump?

Cupcake...: Mental Floss... I Wish I had Some Right Now....

So, I have an unabashed love for trivia, and since Genn got me onto the Green brothers videos, the MentalFloss videos featuring the Green brothers is like chocolate covered crack.

But, it's been a few weeks since I'd watched one and I was catching up and I figured that if this was going to be indelibly burned into my brain, it should be in yours, too.

Mind you, I knew some of this already thanks to some conversations and questions flung between us three, but as he recommends in the video, don't look things up if you're squeamish, or if you're at work.

So, I do have two questions for anyone out there for the comments:

1) It doesn't have to be in relation to anything about the video, but do you have a piece of trivia that gives you the heebie jeebies you'd like to share?

2) I'm looking at a reading stretch in the near future and I'm looking for some recommends. I'll offer some of mine, but what would you recommend?

What I've Been Reading - The Old Book Pile

I'm back into the old book pile and I'm still super surprised at how little I remember some of these books I've been rereading. I'm almost wondering if I read them at all. Which is strange because I'm usually pretty good on read-recall. I'm not going to name names, though. Mostly because the books in question of the last couple of weeks have been both out-of-print and (embarrassingly) god-awful romance novels that I've been hanging on to for I can't remember how long.

For some of these books, I don't even know why I've been holding on to them. Even though I love a well written book, several of these are not. And like an earlier complaint of mine the relationships kind of suck. I don't see the attraction between our protagonists at all and/or some of these people are just plain ridiculous.

It doesn't help that some of the plot lines seem to go along the lines of this:

Actually, that may have been why I saved them all these years. It would have been lovely, right? ;) I've had most of these for about that long. I'm still weeding through them, mostly because I figure I need to decide if I'll ever read this popcorn again. Especially since I have books that I've read both more recently and had for a really long time that inspire me to feel like this:

I suppose I just can't figure out why I can't remember these books as well as some others. (Including that high fantasy book I disliked in high school that got me banned from a friend's house because I gave it to him and warned him that there were some parts his parents wouldn't like and I wasn't particularly interested in having just lying around my house -- not that I recommended the book at all, just that if he wanted it, it was all his. I'm just glad my sisters and brother never read it -- there's just something about a woman getting flayed alive, leaving nothing but her face recognizable and vividly described that just struck me as something I didn't want my sibs to get their hands on.....)

Maybe it's because they're fast reading? I don't know. I'd get rid of the lot, except that I know there must be some reason I've been hanging on to some of them forever.

I dunno. Does anyone else have the same issue?

Basket Case

 

I'm Angel. A bit odd and often
looking for trouble....
even if I make it myself.

Somehow, I've gotten behind again. It'll get better, I know it will. Mostly because eventually I get caught up: my left brain and right brain start working together again, my left foot and my right foot reconnect and both hands get on the keyboard and we start moving in a more positive direction.

Until that happens, I tend to be something of a list fanatic and a basket case -- but not the way you might think. No, for those projects and things that are in progress or shortly to be done that have some kind of physical heft to them (unlike, say, remembering my blog posts) I put them here:

So, there are books and magazines, craft projects, things to fill out, and it's not the tidiest way to keep it, but it helps to know that I can reach in and grab something as it comes up in the list... like this project list:

Jenny! I found the book I'm hoping to give you good news soon!

Of course, this is only one of my lists, but it helps keep me honest.

How do you stay organized?


A Few Things I've Learned From Zombie Movies

This weekend, I went to see World War Z and it blew my mind. I loved the book. The film was a real departure, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I’m a huge fan of the genre and I’ve spent hours talking to friends about what we would do if. (Especially when we watched the trailer for WWZ we saw last year. Between the squealing we may have laid bets over who would survive the longest.)

But, this post isn’t exactly about World War Z or those plans. It just got me thinking. And even though you think you know what I was thinking based on the title of this post, I can assure you, this has little to do with how to survive the apocalypse and everything to do with everyday life.

And we’re still not talking survival.

Zombies themselves have a lot to teach us about how we get through things, get ahead of things, get behind things.

First of all, and this was hugely important to my morning: How to get in.

Hey, Guys? Can someone let me in?
The weather out here's for shit.

What the “in” might be is variable. For me, I had a really hard time getting into the office suite this morning. And that’s part of where I had this particular revelation. As I was trying to turn the key in the door (and getting nowhere), I found myself banging my head against the glass. Much like the early zombies in World War Z, or the solitary zombie in so many other movies that the protagonist just doesn’t see on the other side of an unblocked window, sometimes you’ve just got to break through it with whatever means you have. A head is a very effective method. You have a bony plate there thanks to your early proto-human ancestors. Use it. Of course, the parasitic wriggle to get your body through the glass is just flair on the part of WWZ zombies. But, go with what works.

And, if banging your head doesn’t work, try this: Get help from your friends.


 



We are out of brains. Seriously. All we've got is a moldy cauliflower.
Come back tomorrow!

This may seem like a very Beatles reference, but you really do get by with a little help from your friends. Whether it be two or three or a full horde, sometimes it takes a number of us to overcome the barrier of what is going on in life. In the case of getting into my office, I didn’t need brute strength or overwhelming numbers, but a single person with a bit more finesse and finger dexterity helped. Also, I regularly forget my key, so this option is generally the one I usually look toward. A good friend with a key of their own and a sweet tooth is better than a good memory sometimes. As long as I remember to bring cake.

To a zombie, anything is surmountable.



We can do this, guys! It's just a wall!

There is no “when God closes a door....” When there is no door, a zombie just climbs the walls. Or, breaks them down. Whether resourcefulness or sheer stubbornness, they’ll get there, generally before you do and be lurking in the dark. Waiting. Like a creeper. Barring yourself in doesn’t help. They’ve got all the time in the world and even when they don’t, they use their heads or get help from friends. Believe me, there was a moment this morning I thought about breaking down the door. And, then I used my head. ;)

For something good, go the extra mile.

 



Have you tried the brains at this place? They're DELICIOUS!

I don’t know if you’ve seen Warm Bodies, (I thought it was HILARIOUS!) but this is a key lesson you can hear from the z-spective in why brains are awesome. And they must be awesome. In every movie you see them shambling mile after mile, never tiring, never stopping -- rarely decomposing -- all looking for one thing. Brains. If it means that much to you, be the zombie. Keep going. For me, there have been crazy things I have been willing to go an extra mile for as well as the more mundane. But, I thought it was worth it. So, whether that be a treat from your favorite bakery or that opening night ticket, that hard to find book or that friend that just lives a wee bit too far: shamble on, zombie. Shamble on. This morning? Breakfast. Most important meal of the day, people. Don’t get between me and that first meal. Or, any meal for that matter. You will get bitten.

There is never such a thing as too late or too early.

It's the weekend! Who left that alarm clock on???

You never know when zombies are coming, right? They’re just on the move. They’re on a mission and sometimes they may be dormant, but they’re still there. And they’ll keep coming. Day or night. Be there. My cat’s got this one down like a champ. He is there at three in the morning when I blearily stumble to the bathroom. He’s there at seven when I’m scrambling to get out the door for work. He’s there when I shamble through the door at night. When I’m home at noon with a head cold, he’s there. Regardless of time and schedules, he's there, demanding to be fed. I’m still working on that level of persistence myself. But, my boss assures me that someday I will also have that much focus on work. Even if it shakes my marriage. Four in the morning is never -- apparently -- too early for an email. Or, to look for a response. (Gad, I hate Monday Morning email checks. Maybe I should make it my mission to go looking for some coffee.)

I hope you have a good Monday and enjoy whatever it is that kicks you out of the coma. I’m going to get buckled into what I’ve got going on here, but maybe -- if you’re interested, and let me know in comments -- I might tell you more about what I’ve been learning from zombies of late.

In the meantime, shamble on.

Cupcake: This is my week

So... yeah... I think this fairly well exemplifies the situation of my week....

So unto the world I say:



Let 'em eat pancakes.

Only 'cause I ain't got nuthin' else.




Cupcake: That this is in this world....

Yes, we live in a world where this exists.....


A drive-through just for picking up your beer. By the can or cases of beer.

Ahh, North Carolina.....

Cupcake: Try Not to Smile

I dare you not to smile....



Yep. It's a hedgehog with a sombrero. You're welcome. Happy Wednesday. ;)

Thoughts... When Life Gives You a Jeffrey, Stroke the Furry Wall

For a comedy about an up-and-coming talent rep and train-wreck fictional has-been rockstar, there are some amazingly deep thoughts in Get Him to the Greek. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie and if you’re under a certain age or have ... delicate... sensibilities it may not be the right movie for you, nor would I recommend the soundtrack without one helluva sense of humor, but there’s one particular song on that soundtrack -- which directly relates to some mayhem our heroes get into, as most do -- that has stuck with me pretty firmly.

 

More like a lyric.

 

When the world slips you a Jeffrey, stroke the furry wall.

 

 

 

See, there are going to be things in your life that are going to seriously fuck you up (pardon my language). Some you’ll see coming. Their very names reveal their potential to cause harm and proverbial shitstorms. Something called a “Superstorm,” “Stormageddon,” “meltdown,” “dodgeball,” “monster,” or “collision” will not be made of fuzzy kittens and rainbows. They are going to cause damage. They might just break you.

 

But then there are the things you don’t or can’t see coming. Things that have innocuous names. Like Jeffrey. Or Miranda. Or Liam. Or Evita. Princess, sweetheart, or munchkin, even. They seem nice. Friendly, even. Possibly diminutive and/or delicate. Poofy. Then *pow* and you never saw it coming. As someone in the movie says: “No one is going to be scared of something named Jeffrey.” (or a Geoffrey, whichever spelling you prefer. I kept writing Geoffrey, but IMDB tells me I’m wrong.)

Sure, he looks cute now, but just you wait until he's chasing you down.
Those claws and fangs aren't just for show.

 

There are great examples of this. My cat -- a super poofy little thing named Hobbes with a tiny meow and a sudden and ferocious temper. I’m sure you’ve seen those lists of “cute as a baby, nasty as a grown up” pictures of animals circulating the interwebs. Sometimes, it’s a five-foot-nothing blond chick with china doll looks named Karrin (which, by the way I fear as I have read nearly all of Jim Butcher’s novels and the five-foot-nothing blond Karen I know is former military. And, I dare you to tell me it isn’t a healthy fear).

 

It is in those times, when you’re blindsided and the world is upside-down you need a furry wall. You need something comforting to focus on. Something hopeful and happy that maybe takes you back to something good in the past -- a childhood memory or an adult one. A security blanket. A good friend. A literal furry wall (since some of us are more tactile than others). Something solid and real to keep you standing upright.

 

 

 

Of course, a shot of adrenaline might be needed, too. You never know.

 

All of us get hit by Jeffreys, whether of our own choosing or not. And the immediate aftermath leaves us in need of our furry walls. But we also need to keep going. Because whether or not we realize it, we’re on a mission. In the case of the movie, it was getting the Rockstar to the Greek Theater which would, in theory, revitalize his whole career. And in spite of Jeffrey, they still get there.

 

So wherever you are, whomever you are, if you’re rocked, reach out. Grab hold. Get through the storm. Move on.

 

 

Cupcake of the Week - Sweet Ways to Quit

Oh, we've all thought about it: some kind of glorious last goodbye to a job or a task we hate. I personally love the story of the flight attendant who, fed up, popped the emergency slide grabbed two beers and took the quick way out, waving the bird the whole way, but that's just one way to do it.

Some are sweeter than others.



I stumbled across this article and figured that while you or I may never actually go this route, it was certainly something we can all savor in that part of our collective hearts reserved for that spectacular send off.

For your enjoyment, a list of sweet resignation cakes from BuzzFeed. Enjoy!

Meanwhile, I'm going to have another look at the pile of crap in my basement that needs sorting ... my old story notes, random gifts bought but never sent, things I said I'd "fix" and never got around to.... gah, that's a project I'd like to quit! (My husband says I can't set fire to it. I've got to do it the old fashioned way.... but only because it would burn his stuff, too.... And the house. Stupid house.)
:(

Wish me luck!

What I'm reading: Magical Russian Saints!

Okay, so it’s not actually about magical Russian saints, but I’m currently re-reading Shadow and Bone and am looking forward to reading the second book Siege and Storm, both by the incomparable Leigh Bardugo.

 

Shadow and Bone follows a heroine that doesn’t believe she has much heroic in her in the beginning. She knows she’s different and she doesn’t want it. Alina is madly in love with her long-time friend Mal. Both were raised as orphans and both joined the military in order to be useful to the world. But where Mal turns heads and makes her jealous (even inadvertently) through the looks he gets from the fairer sex, Alina herself hasn’t made many waves. She’s always been seen as sickly and frail. There were really only a few things that seemed to make her stand out -- her love of maps, Mal’s inexplicable attention to her, and this secret. And once the secret is out, the biggest powers in the world want her -- or want her dead.

 

She’s the Sun Summoner. The contrast to the Darkling. The one who is meant to free her people from the shadow they’ve lived under for so long. And quite possibly the most powerful magic user -- called Grisha in her world -- alive. Possibly even more than the Darkling himself.

 

It’s a great book and really well written. The world is rich and detailed, like a jeweled box or a faberge egg. The character, while potentially powerful, has been her own block for so long that between being a fish out of water, you also feel her powerlessness in a situation that she is new to. I love Alina. She dragged me along her story the first time -- and again now. She has her flaws, but I can only imagine she’ll get better with time. And the fact that the setting feels very “Russian fairytale” to me is very awesome.

 

I recommend this book with a white russian or a straight-up vodka, because the winters are long and cold in the north. It’s always good to have something to keep you warm. And if neither of those is your taste, a cup of tea. Russian Caravan, of course.

Cupcake - Post-PAX round up

Oh, Pax. You were everything I'd hoped for and more, from the Tamriel Food Truck, to the Indy games, to the concerts (like MC Frontalot and Johnathan Coulton!), to all the great people dressed in awesome costumes and the amazing displays.

I dedicate this cupcake to you, awesomeness!



I was so sad to have to leaf.....

 Thank you for an awesome time, PAX. I hope we see each other again next year.... :)

What I'm Reading - Bad Bad Romance

So, yeah, I've been working through a whole bunch of old books hoping to figure out what to keep and what to throw and I've realised that the 80s and 90s were pretty terrible for romance.

Just how awful do you ask?

Well, I'm starting to take notes on just how often in these books the following occurs:

1) How often does the hero "take charge" and "show her who's the boss" by randomly kissing her, despite the fact that they're supposed to be discussing business, whether as adversaries or as boss/employee?

1.1) How often do the hero and heroine have an unequal and therefore unhealthy dynamic between them? (I consider this a subheading because of this often being a boss/employee relationship. This is not to say that this can't work out, but when someone uses their position of power to force or coerce an awkward relationship of some kind to happen, this definitely is a doesn't work in my book.)

2) How often does the heroine "melt" or "swoon" for no apparent reason, other than his manliness? (and this doesn't necessarily include strictly bodice rippers, either.)

3) Is this about a big city ___ and a country ___?

4) How many times is __ iterated as being a "man's" or a "woman's" job?

4.1) How many times is a man called misogynist or a woman a feminist? Does one of these two not actually fit the definition, leaving you to wonder if the writer knows themselves what the word means (usually the woman)?

5) How often is lust turned into "love" by the end of the book (inexplicably)?

Oh, I'm still working up my metrics, but holy heck, I'd forgotten just how bad some of these are. And you might ask how I'd gotten so many bad romances if I'm tearing them apart now. Well, many I inherited over the years from other people, left at my house, borrowed, a few bought for a quarter at garage sales. Some bought at the used bookstore while I was still forming my understanding of male-female relationships. Some, I apparently read without getting the "romantic" element. I was HUGELY surprised recently by a reread book that I remembered some big plot points -- there was an immortal rape-y/incest-y father-cult-leader guy, reincarnation, this scarf that was supposed to bind people together -- but apparently entirely missed or forgot just how completely.... anti- each other the protagonists were. To the point that I don't understand AT ALL how the two of them ended up "falling in love." Seriously. They're not nice to each other. She suspects him of being this other person. (Someone who, by the way, neither takes no for an answer nor understands the meaning of "bad touch.") Meanwhile, he's angry at the world for an accident that had left him unable to do many of the things he used to enjoy -- like non-pity sex and sailing. And oh yeah, not constantly bleeding from a psychic curse.

I have --seriously, now -- read better fanfic. I do not remember AT ALL why I liked this book.

At this point I'm not sure what I'll do with the books when I'm done, but probably get rid of them unless they give me a huge laugh. If anyone is interested... just let me know....

Fairytale - The PAX Edition

While I promise, my next time up I will have another installment of the Snow Queen, I wanted to take the opportunity (since I'm there today) to throw in a shout to fairytales and games.

Video and table top games are an opportunity for creative geekery to blossom within the confines of and blow out the established mythologies. Games like the Fable series, take this head on by inviting the player to take on becoming part of the legend mythos that is built around what happens in the story, while others, like Bioshock and many war games, take "established" history in a new direction. Tabletop games, like D&D and White Wolf, where players and gamemasters alike take an active role in shaping the story that's being told, invite whole new mythologies based on collective imaginations. Some of the familiar stories get retold regardless of the medium and some change -- weeping women by the riverside and bogeymen in the dark, these are a part of the history and mythology and inform much of the classes, races, and storylines you see in RPGs.

But, what is history other than the stories we tell eachother about our collective past.

I have a wild feeling that in some future period, these stories we've created that turn the established roles and stories on their head may become part of what is concidered to be the "normative" fairytales and collective mythos of our time instead of fun tangents.

Of course, that may be what Aristophanes and other Greco-Roman stories are. We just don't know, because so few of them remain. Did they "know" they were fiction or fiction-based-on-true-events or did they fully believe it to be fact (Genn would be the better person to ask on this).

Either way, I'm hoping to send on some of the photos (probably attached to this post) of the new mythologies I see at PAX. And I really hope that I get to interact with a few.

Io smile upon you and beware the Deep Crow.

Karma - We are up in your bizzness. For a good cause.

I come from a long line of very nosy people. My sisters and I come by it naturally. There's something about us that has to ask questions. Something about us that inspires confidence in people, that gets them telling us things that we probably shouldn't know (less in a setting like this, more in a face-to-face kind of way). But, more than that, we have a tendancy to take the opportunity to snoop. Sometimes it's as small as watching someone out of the corner of our eyes and from that observation trying to figure out more about them and who they are; sometimes it's as much as what happened this weekend, something that made the snooping for good not evil.

So, I met up with my sister this weekend for a little girl-time, and as part of it, we ended up in a parking garage in this little shopping district near here. As we're bopping along, heading for the elevator, my sister spots a wallet.

Now, yes, the best way to find the woman to whom it belonged was to make a search of it. But, we have very different search patterns. I was a little uncomfortable -- even with as much of a snoop as I can be -- with an out right rifle. I'm more of a ... directed strike type. I would have looked for something specific, the sort of something that stands out -- a business card, an address -- and go from there. Sometimes even researching in more public ways from there. I've spent too much time working at keeping private information private to be particularly comfortable with anything else these days.

My sister, on the other hand is a full-on rifler. And a thourough one. I now know waaay more than I probably should about that poor lady, BUT we were able to find her phone number in there, called her, and got her to come back for it. Apparently it had fallen out when she was loading her children into the car.

I've been there. Losing a wallet -- whether it has money in it or not -- can be really scary, especially when you don't know where you might have left it. I used to put a little contact sheet in my wallet, and I think I will again.

One way or another, I wanted to put a shout out to my sister for finding the lady and returning the wallet. And not being content just to leave it with someone from security. Snoop on, Lady. Snoop on.

Cupcakes -- Geeky, Geeky Cupcakes....

In two weeks, I'm headed to Pax East. To get in the mood, I share these delights with you....

 

Rise, Thriller Zombies! Dance, My Dancing Uruk-hai!

 

 

 

Code Monkey not crazy, just proud... I dig. Believe me, Sir. I dig.

 

 

 

So say we all....

 

 

That is some backstab, sir.... But I think the guy up top has you beat. DM says you're gonna die. Roll a ... D20

 

 

And a little Guild -- because Felicia Day is totally my geek crush.

 

... Strangely, though, I can't seem to find any fun geeky songs with sexy guys...... Although I love the breakdancing Spock in "Geek and Gamer Girls" and the cameos....

 

Enjoy!

Fairytale Friday: The Snow Queen, Or Don't Piss a B**** Off. Part 3

Previously: Bad pranks lead to a dangerous situation for both of our heros.

Lila couldn't feel her fingers or her feet by the time she saw the little glimmer of light in the dark. The little house appeared almost out of nowhere and nothing looked as warm and inviting in her entire life. She stumbled for the door and knocked. The person on the other side of the door would be an absolute stranger, yes, but she had to hope that she could trust them long enough to get warm and go back out again.

The door opened and a gnarled little old woman looked up, up, up at Lila. Lila wasn't a particularly tall girl, but she wasn't a small girl. But this woman, with her beetle black eyes made Lila feel like a giant. But she had a kindly smile in her apple-doll face. "You poor child! Come in out of the cold."

"Hello, my dear. It isn't often that I have visitors...." (1)

Lila was ushered inside and stripped of her coat and boots and parked on a chair by the fire. The old woman fussed over her, brought her warm broth and tea, and tucked her in under a pile of blankets.

"Now, Child, tell me why it is that you're out wandering on a night like this," the woman said settling in to a chair across the fire from her.

Lila looked at the old woman over her mug of tea and admitted, "A friend of mine and I played a prank on the Snow Queen and she took him. I knew it was a bad idea, but I didn't stop him. I'm just trying to get him back."

The old woman clucked her tongue. "Have you any idea where to go?" Lila shook her head. "So, you just walked out on a night like this one with the idea of getting your friend back. You're couragous and loyal, but that only gets you so far, my dear. If it isn't paired with wisdom it can get you killed. Stay with me tonight, do some chores for me in the morning, and I will set you on the right path. And a little friendly advice: If you know something is a bad idea, don't do it. Don't borrow trouble where it isn't needed." She stood and patted Lila on the shoulder. "I'll make a pallet for you here by the fire. I'm afraid I don't have much, but I'm happy to share."

As Lila laid down her head, she wondered what had happened to Mark and if he had someplace warm to sleep tonight.

She woke the next morning feeling rested and cozy, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why she was here, on the floor of the old woman's cottage. The old woman -- Flora -- as she came to find out, was very kind. She gave her breakfast and in return for the warm night out of the wind and the food she'd been given, Lila happily helped Flora by taking care of chores around the cottage. She swept and cleaned out the ashes from the night's fire before building a fresh one. She went out into the cold to gather firewood to bring inside.

It was a brilliant day, inspite of the cold and Lila gathered and chopped wood for the fire. Flora called her in for lunch, and when she did, Lila spotted her reflection in an old iced over rainbarrel. Something about her hat sparked a memory and she peered down at the ice trying to figure out why. Someone had given her this hat. It wasn't her mother or her father... It was another face, one full of mischief and pride. A boy's face. He'd bought it himself with saved allowance from a woman in town who made strange and fantastical hats.



And hats with a sense of humor.... Mush, Lila, mush. (2)


Mark. She was supposed to be finding Mark.

When she entered Flora's cabin, Flora knew immediately that Lila remembered. She looked sad, but did as she promised. "The home you seek is many, many miles north of here. Your trip will be long and cold. I'll give you what I can to help get you there. But, remember, a kind heart will find help everywhere."

Flora gave her a hand drawn map, a thermos full of hot soup, some fresh bread, and a few odds and ends in a packet. "It won't be easy," Flora told her, "Winter is a hard time and the Snow Queen is as hard and cold as her gransire. But, I hope my gifts will help you. Be careful, Dear."

Lila gave Flora a hug and started on the path she'd been pointed towards, turning to say good-bye, only to find the warm little cabin and it's occupant had disappeared. All she could see behind her were her own tracks in the snow.

---
(1) borrowed from celebrationgoddes.wordpress.com
(2) found on ecrater.com

Cupcake -- ON MY BIRTHDAY!!

Because I can't imagine anything more happy on a birthday, I'm sharing this barrel full of love with you.

Enjoy. :)

The Spellman Files

I know... I know... but
the Goodreads version was too small
to see the details on the cover....

So, just after the holidays, I was looking for a good book. While I did have other things I'd been reading, a good friend recommended a book she'd loved. We had talked before about the... range of narrative I like to read and she thought this hit most of the criteria:

The Spellman Files was a great book. The voice is fantastic and the family certainly puts the "fun" in dysfunctional.

Lisa Lutz's book follows one Isabel Spellman, Private Investigator, employee of Spellman Investigations -- which is run by her mother and father and includes her 14-year old investigat-a-holic sister and just-about-everything-a-holic uncle and tells the story of Isabel's life within the framework of an on-going investigation. She has a brother, too, "the good one" who got out, became a lawyer and made good -- most of the time. 

I'm a bit of a nut for things like this (there really aren't a lot of things I'm not a nut for, but I digress). I loved Harriet the Spy, Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys; I grew up on Sam Spade and Miss Marple. These days I end up reading a lot of Cathy Reichs, Tony Hillerman, and Patricia Cornwall. And if you throw a little Clue!-like comedy into the mix, I'm over the moon. I love puzzles and I love to see where the threads lead.

And this book has a lot of leads and a lot of threads. 

I like Izzy. She has, as I said, a fantastic voice. She's tough and funny and rough around the edges and she knows it. She still manages to find humor even as her world starts falling apart. 

And it does fall apart, leaving Izzy to follow clues -and some very bad leads- to try and pick up all the pieces.

I know I'm not saying much, but this is a book you really have to read to understand and I don't want to -- even inadvertently -- give away the game. 

Go. Read. Laugh. Not laughing is suspicious. You don't want to be investigated by the Spellmans, do you?