One of my favorites from the Narnia series, this story had me laughing out loud, angry, and sad, all in one setting. The thing I enjoy most about C.S. Lewis and his writing is how he just puts it out there. Right there; yes, for you to see, and contemplate, and enjoy.
Okay, enough reminiscing.
There are some great lines in this story, as well as the others, that make me remember them long after I read them.
Chapter 3: “The worst of sleeping out of doors is that you wake up so dreadfully early.”
The Pevensies wanted to go back to Narnia, but they did not know what that would cost them. Prince Caspian is the rightful heir, being denied his throne by his uncle. It is a quick story, with all of the allegories you come to expect from Mr. Lewis. And I have to honestly say; Reep-a-Cheep is likely my favorite “character” out of all of them! Well, except for Aslan, of course!
If you have seen the movie, I have to say it is quite different from the story, but I do enjoy the movie as well. How did you feel about this installment in the Narnia series?
Book 2 in The Booktown Mystery series did not disappoint! Tricia Miles is now contending with her sister, Angelica Miles, being a full-time resident in Stoneham, New Hampshire. Angelica bought “The Cookery” bookstore after the murder of Doris Gleason, the first murder Tricia found herself caught in the middle of.
Zoe Carter, National Bestselling Author and local resident, finally agrees to a book tour, her first ever. Her last stop is at “Haven’t Got A Clue”, Tricia’s mystery bookstore. When Ms. Carter ends up strangled in the bathroom after the less-than-stellar book signing, Tricia once again finds herself caught in the middle, between any number of possible suspects, and Sheriff Wendy Adams, who may very well be Tricia’s biggest enemy.
Tricia seems to have another enemy, as she gets closer to discovering who the killer is, and the killer is bound and determined to stop her, even if it means she is the next murder victim. Tricia needs to figure out how Ms. Carter’s niece is involved, as well as her faithful employee Mr. Everett, and a host of other members of this (usually) peaceful, quiet town.
This is a great read that you will get through in no time, and as an added bonus, there are several recipes included that Angelica has prepared throughout the story.
To learn more about Lorna Barrett and this series of books, be sure to visit her website here: http://lornabarrett.com/
Book number three in the Narnia series, by the numbering on the books I have, is “The Horse and His Boy.” This is also the only book I seem to have missing from my collector’s box that holds all 7 of these books. I haven’t the slightest idea where it went, who may have had it last, or how I managed to lose a book!
With that being said, this is actually my least favorite book out of the 7 in the series. This is a novel that can stand alone, and there is no need to read, or have read, and of the other books to enjoy this one. I did like this story, I just did not find it as interesting as the other 6 stories. This story is set in Narnia for its entirety, and focuses on a boy running away from home, who meets a horse who is also running away from home.
The Full Color Edition
Shasta discovers his adoptive father is going to sell him as a slave, and learns from Bree, a horse at the stable, that Bree has been treated badly by this same adoptive father. A plan gets underway, and soon both Shasta and Bree are on the run, trying to get to Narnia and the High Kings and Queens there; yes, the Pevensies. (And yes, of course the horses talk, it is Narnia!)
They also meet a girl and her horse who are running away from home; she being a Princess forced to marry against her will. Once they reach their destination, they both learn things about themselves that will change their lives forever. These two eventually get married, and have a son who becomes the most famous King of Archenland.
The thing I liked best about this story was the cat who seemed to follow Shasta all through his journey. Sometimes a lion chasing him, and sometimes a cat comforting him; Aslan always makes his presence known.
Which Narnia story did you like the least? I know it’s hard to choose when they are all great stories, but they can’t all be your favorites, or are they?
Making a television series out of a terrible book is a waste of time, money, and talent. Okay, maybe I am being a bit harsh, but I literally about fell out of my chair when I saw today that J.K. Rowling’s “The Casual Vacancy” is being made into a television series.
A very difficult read for me
If you liked this book, you may want to stop reading now. I have this book still on my bookshelf for two reasons:
1) I cannot bear to throw a book in the garbage (I am going to repurpose it).
2) I do not want to donate it to my local library and risk anyone else reading this rubbish.
From what I am understanding, Michael Gambon, aka Professor Dumbledore, has a leading role. What? Why?
Michael Gambon on the set of “The Casual Vacancy”; yes, in his pajamas.
I see this as a bad idea for several reasons:
He is Professor Dumbledore. He should not be recycled into your next book.
People will expect a Dumbledore-type character, which he is not playing.
People will think (Okay, I am thinking) you could not find anyone else to act in this television series.
Okay; I just did not like this book. I wanted to like it; I tried to like it. But I could not. She could have written it under a pseudonym like she did with “The Silkworm“, and not knowing it was J.K., I still would not have liked it.
I am really curious if I am the only one who finds so many wrong things going on here. And I would really love to hear from someone who liked this story. Honestly. I want to know if I missed something, judged too quickly, or just did not get it.
You have read a book so wonderful that you just could not wait to read the next one, right? Me too. Then I search and ask, only to find out that there is not another book to follow up the one I just read.
What?
How could this book not have had a follow-up story? You want to know what happened to the characters beyond the last page of the last chapter, but it was never written.
A Classic!
I would have loved for Harper Lee to have written a follow-up book for “To Kill a Mockingbird“. What did Scout do when she grew up? How was her life changed by what she experienced from that court trial? What happened to Boo Radley? What about Jem and Dill? I am still amazed that this is the only novel Harper Lee ever wrote.
“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte is another story. Catherine, Edgar, and Heathcliff had a rough go of it, but what happened to Mr. Lockwood?
“The Catcher in the Rye“, “The Bell Jar“, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower“, and I could go on all day long!
Did you have a story that when you closed the book at the end, you wondered what happened to the characters with whom you had just invested so much of your time and feelings?
I absolutely loved this book! I can honestly say this is one of my favorites by Stephen King. I have not read all of his stories, but I have read most of them. I still think my all-time favorite of his is “From a Buick 8”. Have you read it? If not, you need to go to your local library and check it out (pun intended)! From what I understand, this is not the only story we will be seeing involving Bill Hodges. That makes me a very happy reader!
Bill Hodges is a retired detective, not coping well with sitting at home. When the perp (perk if you’ve read the story) decides to send him a letter, it gives Bill a new sense of purpose. This is one that he cannot let go, nor turn over to his former partner.
He goes back over everything he did involving this case, and the things he ignored that he shouldn’t have. You get to see Bill come to terms with the mistakes he has made, both at work and in his personal life. He tries to right the wrongs, when he can.
Brady Hartsfield (the jacket sleeve said Brady Hartfield, the spelling error surprised me. On the sleeve? Really?) is a brilliant mind from a troubled childhood. Still living at home with his alcoholic mother, he works two jobs while planning his next big kill.
Bill has two unlikely people working with him, which makes this story even more interesting. It is full of suspense, mystery, and even a few laugh out loud moments. I was literally holding my breath more than once while reading this! There were a couple spots where Mr. King mentioned two of his previous books; it fit right in with the story and was a nice touch.
If you haven’t read this, I highly recommend it. If you have, I would love to hear what you thought about it!
Another fantastic story by Caryl McAdoo, Hope Reborn is a Texas Romance set in the mid 1850’s. I read this story and really enjoyed it, and if you like historical novels, romance novels (clean romance novels!), or just a story that will make you feel good, you should give this one a try!
You can’t beat free, and once you get a taste of one of Caryl’s stories, you will be wanting more! Stop by tomorrow for my review of this book!
After a Thursday I would rather forget, and a Friday spent at home that I was not happy about, I managed to get motivated and get some things done around my house.
Yesterday we had a Winter Storm Warning starting at 11 am and I seriously considered leaving work to beat the storm, since I had to stop and get cat food and milk. Against my better judgment, I stayed for my whole day, and left work at 3pm. By now we had 50 mph winds, white-outs, and as I was cleaning my car off to leave work, my driver’s side wiper broke off my car. Already frozen after 4 minutes outside (wind chills were about -15) I was in the parking lot, cussing up a storm, holding my windshield wiper in my hand.
I am in Muskegon. It is a blessing being this close to the lake in the Summer, and a curse in the Winter.
I found someone who was able to zip tie it onto the arm, and scared out of my mind, I began my treacherous journey home. I was afraid to leave the wipers running for fear it would break off while I was driving, so I would turn them on when I absolutely could not see anything, which was basically like leaving them on non-stop.
I got to the nearest auto parts place about 30 minutes later, and half-way to my home. I bought a new set of wipers, but they could not put them on for me. He really wanted to help me out, but it was against company policy. So by now I am in tears, frustrated, stressed, and angry. I get back in my car and continue my journey heading home, still knowing I have got to stop and get milk and cat food.
After that horrible journey home, I just needed to hug Benny!
After an hour and a half, I made it home. I can get home from work in less than 15 minutes on a warm day. So after only working 4 days in this new year, I had to use a vacation day for today. I would not be able to get my new wipers put on before today, and I was pretty sure my car would be snowed in anyhow (it was).
So after avoiding doing anything for the majority of the morning, including getting out of bed, I figured I had better get some use out of the day. After doing some cleaning and organizing, I was able to finally begin reading Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King. I am not very far into it, but I am loving it so far. I have read mixed reviews about this story for the past few weeks, but until I get further into it, I will not have a good idea of what I really think about it.
So my chores are done; unfortunately for my girls, who have had school closed for the last two days, I cannot say the same 🙂 I am making a big pot of spaghetti and garlic bread, and then I have nothing to do the rest of the night except continuing to read Stephen King!
If you are under a Winter Weather Warning yourself, I wish you warmth, comfort, and a great story to keep you busy!
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