the murder on the links.

"Now I am old-fashioned. A woman, I consider, should be womanly. I have no patience with the modern neurotic girl who jazzes from morning to night, smokes like a chimney, and uses language which would make a Billingsgate fishwoman blush!"

I'm addicted...how I am ever to get through my January reading list when all I can read is Agatha Christie! I just finished up a delightful Miss Marple, and I am currently devouring a Poirot...

*great sigh of contentment*

Well, hmmf.

"...Well, hmmf. I suppose some allowance has to be made on account of him being city-raised. City-raised young ones ain't been learned to do things when they was young. They don't have the gumption of them that's raised in the country."

-Little Britches

on reading good books

Margaret never reads a book twice - she adamently told me that last night. I don't blame her...who could force themselves to hack through one of those trashy horror/romance novels a second time? Not I, hopefully not you, and not even Margaret, who has one clutched in her fingers every day she comes to work. (Some of those authors oughta be fined...but anyway!!)

Get your hands on a good book, and you can read and reread without it losing any of the excitement and fun enjoyed during previous readings. The Scarlet Pimpernel is one such book. I have read it multiple times over the past few years, and love it every time. Last night after work I curled up with a candy bar and my well worn and adored copy. When the forecast for the next day (including a list of jobs left by mom and 8 hours of work) forced itself into the back of my mind an hour later, I reluctantly put down my book. You can guess where I will be tonight after I get off work...!

A word to the wise: Read the Scarlet Pimpernel. After you've digested it's excellent plot and witty writing, devour the sequels. They're nearly as delightful. And after a year or two, I'd suggest reading The Scarlet Pimpernel again - you'll have forgotten some of the spicey details.

(Oh, and don't forget to recommend it to Margaret...she could use a good book recommendation, IMHO.)

Book Bag

Vienna Prelude - Bodie and Brock Thoene

I believe the best way to learn history is to read historical fiction. My mom's homeschool history curriculum? Historical fiction books. I have been reading historical fiction since I could first read - for school, aloud with my family, and just for fun. I think the Zion Covenant series is an exceptional learning source for World War II history, while capturing attention with excellent writing and an intriguing storyline at the same time. Vienna Prelude opens in 1936, with Hitler and the Reich gaining power in Germany. Elisa, who is a musician with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, is a part-Jewish German. Her Jewish identity hidden by her Aryan looks and fake last name, Elisa thinks she is safe - until her father is thrown into Dachau prison on his way to freedom in Austria. While frantically searching for a way to help her father, Elisa watches as the Nazi party begins to sweep across Austria. What can she do to help fight the gruesome power that is slowly overtaking the people and the place she loves?

I am now reading the third book in the Zion Covenent series, Munich Signature. All three books have kept me on my toes, and I am also learning an abundance of World War II history that I never knew before!

Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney - Paul Johnson

To my own shame, this is the first I have read of Paul Johson. Browsing his other titles, I am certain it won't be my last. Although I've only read a chapter and a half, I'm hooked. Creators opens by talking about what creation is, while briefly mentioning some well known creators. Then Johnson delves into the lives of thirteen different creators, some of which I am familiar and some which I am not. I can't give much of a review considering I have just begun to read this book, but I am almost certain it will prove to be a worthwhile read.

Soon to be Read/Other Current Reads - Reviews Forthcoming!