Extreme Pumpkins by Tom Nardone

Gourd artist, Tom Nardone, is wondering when pumpkin art went from scary to cute. He's written and illustrated a book attempting to set the record straight, reminding us that Halloween is supposed to keep us shaking in our boots! Want your neighbors to think your crazy? Insane? Not playing with a full deck? That you're bored with too much time on your hands? If your a man, that you can't get a girlfriend? Ever.
Check out these ideas here.
If you dare that is..

Nothing says Halloween like a pumpkin a flame on your porch.

I guess.

Helluva Halloween Challenge

Wuthering Heights and pie.

I love old books. Even old paperbacks, and yes I know they can be pretty gross, but something about the brittle, yellowed pages and the unknown stains help set the mood for me, especially with an old classic. I've been collecting them for a while now.

My favorite find is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
This particular copy is from 1943. It includes the original Biographical Notice and Editor's Preface, both written by Currier Bell (Charlotte Bronte), and has wood engravings throughout by Fritz Eichenberg.

I love this cover of Cathy Earnshaw.

Aren't they the coolest? This book is one of my all time favorites. My mother loves it. My grandmother loved it! And my daughter better love it too. It's in her blood!

And since I obviously have a problem with this...

(Seriously I NEED HELP!)

I can't seem to quit canning.

And because there's nothing like pie and a good read, I made this because I like to torture myself.

Here's the recipe for this fantabulous apple pie filling!

5 cups sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

10 cups water

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

Cook until thick and bubbly.

Add 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Pour over sliced apples in 7 quart jars to within one inch of the rim.

Process and seal 25 minutes in a hot water bath.

Books and pie: A lethal combination.

Dead to the World and Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

Yes, that is Sookie riding piggy-back on Eric's back all black spaceshuttle-like, and yes his feet look like little white flames shooting out the bottom of his pants.

That's just one of the many positions the two of them take in this book.

*cough*
(Sorry, I have the swine flu..)

First things first. Bill's in Peru.
(Feel free to celebrate here.)

Second, witches finally make a long over due appearance in this series, and they're mad at the local vampire sheriff, Eric. They've taken his memory and now he's on the run, shirtless....



Ah, sorry, ah, were was I, oh, he's on the run straight to Sookie's house, soon to be the house of love.

Woo. Woo.

An amnesic Eric is an irresistibly hot Eric. And Sookie isn't exactly known for resisting. Anybody. In grand Harris style expect an epic battle between witches, werewolves, and vampires in the last chapter. Sookie will be in danger and may or may not get beaten up. Again. Even so, I liked this one. It's my favorite in the series so far, for ah, obvious reasons, and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it!
4 stars

Dead as a Doornail? Hmm, it was okay, because everything after this last one would pale in comparison. Someone is using shape-shifters as target practice and it's up to Sookie to get to the bottom of it, before her own bottom is shot off that is. Her brother Jason is suspected in the shootings. What? Jason is a suspect? That hardly ever happens.

Want to know about the politics of werewolf land? A lot is thrown into the big pile of hairy debris here, and many new characters are introduced. Why do I like these books (I keep asking myself this over and over, and over)? Sookie's character just gets more interesting with each novel. Having grown up in a semi small town myself, I enjoy the small towny sort of feel of this series. So far, it hasn't taken itself too seriously, but we'll see what happens in the future. Until then, I'll enjoy my guilty pleasures. Albeit, a little guiltily.
3 stars

Helluva Halloween Challenge and the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

The Four Feathers by A.E.W. Mason

I'm sitting here watching Star Wars with my youngest son, and trying to think of a way that it relates to this book on the dynamics of men who fight for their country and those they leave behind, all woven within the melodious sounds of trumpets blaring and lasers blasting. Nothing inspires war like a rousing soundtrack.

I thought this book would be about England in the 18th and 19th century and their quest to dominate Africa and the surrounding countries, but truly it was hardly about war at all. Not war itself anyway, but the effects of war on its soldiers and their loved ones.

Harry Feversham is the child of many glorious war heroes. Much is expected of him when he joins the British Army, but when actual war in Africa is imminent, the newly engaged Harry opts out to relieve his fiance from having to be without him for several years, and because basically, he believes himself unequal to the task. In a nutshell: He's afraid.

Three of his Army friends find this unacceptable and they answer his resignation with the universal symbols of cowardice: three white feathers. His fiance Ethne, upon finding out he has resigned from the Army, breaks off their engagement and gives him the fourth feather. Harry is crushed, and upon his shame reaching its pinnacle he makes a decision: He means to redeem himself and restore his honor by saving the life of his three friends who are currently serving in Africa.

I haven't mentioned a fourth friend, Captain Jack Durrance. On the sidelines he is Harry's greatest ally and also in love with his fiance, Ethne. Unlike the recent movie version with Heath Ledger remaining the hero throughout, the bulk of the actual story is from the point of view of Captain Durrance who has no idea why Harry has resigned, nor that anyone has accused him of being a coward as he is steadfastly defending England's interests in the Sudan until he becomes permanently injured and must return home where he and Ethne reunite. While recovering from his injury, he begins to piece together what has happened to Harry who seems to have disappeared, and with the help of some of Harry's remaining friends, makes a steadfast resolve to hear news of him in Africa and help him however possible from England.

This book, in all actuality, is about sacrifice. Durrance's physical sacrifice for the country of his birth, as well as giving up the woman he loves for his best friend. Harry's sacrifice of giving up six years of his life for Ethne and the three friends he feels he must prove his worth to. It is also about honor in war. There once was a time, probably up until the end of WWII, that service to one's country was of paramount importance. If you did not jump at the chance to live, and die, at your nation's defense, you were looked down upon. Not just in England. I would say here in America too. Having seen the pictures of the lines of people cheering along homeward bound railways, being at war was a national effort, a means of pride and ownership of the task at hand.

Does it seem that way now to you? Here in America, serving in the military is no longer a requirement, and if you chose not to do it, no one really cares. Why is that I wonder. Are we different as a nation? As a world population? The answer is obvious. Yes. We are a different generation, who up until recently haven't had to give up much for our country, and it shows.

Even Star Wars isn't just about war between the Alliance and the Empire, or how cute Han Solo is, or Princess Leia's cinnabon hair (although that stuff is important!). It's about people. It's about what friends will do for each other in a time of crisis. Even that show is about honor. No matter what we do, we can't quite get away from it. Do we want to?
4 stars



Classics Reading Challenge

What are you reading Mondays..

Ack, it's that time of month again. October Monday reads over at J.Kaye's book blog. What a great time for some playful, and frightening spookiness.








I finally finished this week -

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

The Four Feathers - by A.E. Mason

The Pit and the Pendulum and A Tale of the Ragged Mountains - by Edgar Allan Poe

More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - by Alvin Schwartz

And I finally finished the audio version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! Finally! That took f-o-r-e-v-e-r!

This week I have three I started weeks ago and am still trying to finish --

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters - by Jane Austen and Ben Winters

The Poisonwood Bible - by Barbara Kingsolver

Mother Night - by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Reading anything good this week?

Come on! Throw me a bone here..

Benny and Joon and a step back in time.

Long before Johnny Depp was that, you know, that one guy (who I hear is making another movie by the way):

Wait, sigh....

He was this, many, many, I mean many years ago, and many cigarettes earlier:

Benny and Joon was on my little tv again this morning. What a great movie. Early 90's cinema at its best. A little bit of trivia here, and who could forget the ironed grilled cheese at just the right setting. Silk would be to soggy. Cotton would burn it.
And the death scene. Oh my gosh I was crying I was laughing so hard.

They just don't make movies like this anymore.
Watch and feel decades younger.

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James

What? A memoir written by our dearly departed Jane Austen has been found? Whew, now all our questions will be answered, like: What was up with Tom Lefroy anyway, was he maybe batting for another team? Who inspired that droll Mr. Collins Endless Summer sort of sex appeal? Did her home fires ever burn wildly for a special someone named Fitzwilliam? We're saved!

Alas, no..not exactly.

But for the most part, this was an okay attempt. Not very original, but isn't it a pretty cover? This is not the first to tackle the long lost correspondence of the famous author, Jane Austen Ruined My Life is one I've read recently, and I'm certain it won't be the last. I find the concept very interesting. The letters that still exist are amazing! Loved the book by Penelope Hughes-Hallett. Imagine what we could gain from such a find? Besides glory, wealth beyond your wildest dreams, unfound fame, etc.

Written more in novel than diary form, in Lost Memoirs we learn what happened to Jane during the lost years while she lived in Bath with her family, and an occasional memory from earlier on. A time when she supposedly was reworking what was to become Sense and Sensibility.

And there's a man in her life, a Mr. Ashford, who instead of, according to historians, being the poor curate from Lyme and dying like he's supposed to, we'll...he made a miraculous recovery. And guess what, not only are he and Edward Ferris almost identical twins, but he's the one that encouraged her to start writing again! The parallels between what James has made of Austen's life and that particular novel are almost one in the same. Not very original, right down to people's names, incidents, phrases from her novels, etc. Which I can understand her borrowing, with the - did Jane Austen write what she knew kind of questions, but it was a little much for me by the end.

The writing is good though, and I'll still admit, birthday cakey fun. Did I mention the pretty cover? I love Jane Austen's story. Reading this did not hurt my infatuation with the woman's life. I want to know more about her, and Syrie James obviously knows her stuff, and like her book on Charlotte Bronte, included some Austen extras in the back. My problem is I'm now not sure what is fact or what is fiction. I want the mashed potatoes and gravy, I want the filling peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread, because sometimes too much birthday cake just makes me break out, and hungry again in an hour.

But you know what, I still almost always inevitably eat it.

Always.

3 stars

Everything Austen Reading Challenge

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

There's something you should know about me: When it comes to books, well... I cheat. I often look at the last pages of a novel before I finish it. I knew Tess died. I knew Dumbledore died and what happened to Snape. Same with tv - Buffy died three times? I knew it before I saw it. Sometimes the anticipation is just too much. It becomes a distraction from my enjoyment. Sometimes I just have to know!

This branches like a big, old withered Department 54 Halloween tree into all aspects of my life. I'm generally an impatient person.(Well, duh?) I'll never do cross-stitch, make jewelry or do anything that involves intense small movements for increased periods of time. I've come to accept this fact about myself, that I'll never be able to tie a knot with a pair of tweezers, let alone use them to pluck the hairs from my chin, but with my reading I must inject one strange, bizarre anomaly.

Agatha Christie.

That master of suspense. That seller of a half a billion books, and no I didn't make that up. The "champion deceiver of our time." I've only read two of her novels, this one and Murder on the Orient Express, and I must say, both times I was peeing my pants with suspense, dying to know what happens, canvasing for clues, hidden red herrings, but...did I look ahead as a result of my heart palpitations?

No.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't look ahead. I didn't want to know. Christie is different. Whether it's true or not, my mind is under the delusion that she's leaving me clues along the way. That somehow I can figure out who the killer is. Maybe it's because I secretly think I'm Nancy Drew right down to the Aquanet hairdo and I can solve the mystery of the skeleton key, or, ah..I mean who was the mastermind behind these evil plots.

Just like in Murder on the Orient Express, I was sure who the murderer was (I was wrong, of course). I wondered aloud and often about the fates of the ten people invited to Indian Island under suspicious circumstances by a mysterious stranger whom no one could identify. One by one, they are grimly advanced upon, following the pattern of a grisly nursery rhyme, Ten little Indian boys went out to dine...

Needless to say, it's a nail biter from beginning to end. Her cast of characters was so ingenious, honestly I don't know why she lists them in the front of the book. They're so well described, so distinguished from the rest, that it's impossible not to know which was which with perfect clarity.

It reminded me of one of my all time favorite movie's, Clue, which now I know is loosely based on this book.

An excerpt -
Mrs. Peacock: What are you all staring at?
Mr. Green: Nothing.
Mrs. Peacock: Well who's there?
Colonel Mustard: Nobody.
Mrs. Peacock: What do you mean?
Wadsworth: Nobody. No body, that's what we mean. Mr. Boddy's body, it's gone.
Mrs. White: Maybe he wasn't dead.
Professor Plum: He was!
Mrs. White: We should've made sure.
Mrs. Peacock: How? [muttering]
Mrs. Peacock: By cutting his head off, I suppose.

Ah, music. Sweet music.
I highly recommend this book.
4.5 stars

Check out others and add your own to Cym Lowell's Book Review Blog Party!


Helluva Halloween Challenge and The Classics Reading Challenge

In a dark, dark wood...Can You See What I See? On a Scary Scary Night by Walter Wick

I'm a big fan of the I Spy series, especially this one released last year by Walter Wick. Set to the tune of In a dark, dark wood.... our story begins outside a village with a grand castle in view. Each set piece and page moves us closer to solving the riddle, to the village, to a building in that village, to the stairs, a cabinet, an item in the cabinet - okay you get the picture, until the set is so small, so intricately photographed. It's amazing! The details are spectacular. The riddles are of course, excellent, and yes, some items are a challenge to find - even for smart adults, and not so smart ones like me. This is a great Halloween read for kids, and adults looking for some spooky fun this October! It's on Amazon here.

My second favorite would be the original I Spy Spooky Night. Our copy of this is barely hanging on by a thread it's been looked over so much, and I only bring it out in October! Again the pictures are fun and rich with the kind of details that fanciful dreams are made of.

I guess that's why I like these books so much. They remind me of being a kid, when things were simpler. They encourage imagination and wonder, and as an added bonus, they make us use our brains by tricking us into learning how to problem solve, how to think outside the box.

Perfect for kids and adults this time of year.

5 stars

Anyone else have a favorite Halloween read for kids? I'm always looking for new ones to add to our haunted library.

Helluva Halloween Challenge

The Lost Symbol

by Dan Brown

Robert Langdon is asked by a friend to come to Washington, D.C. to deliver a lecture at the U.S. Capitol Building. Once he arrives, Robert realizes things aren't as they should be and he is once again dragged into a race against the clock to solve a puzzle that is life or death.

I did enjoy this book but not as much as the other two Robert Langdon novels. I found this one to be a little strange. The other two have their odd moments as well but I was able to get past them. This one was harder to get past. It has a lot to do with the Masons and a field of science called noetics and I had a hard time grasping either one. They are both filled with some very odd things and although Brown does his best to explain them they still came across as very bizarre for me.

Although I had a hard time with some of the context of the book I still enjoyed it and it was a page turner with only the middle of the book being a little slow. Brown definitely does his research and I enjoyed learning new information about a city I have visited. I liked that I could actually picture where he was and what he was looking at. Something I couldn't do in the other novels. I just wish he would have involved the city more like he did in the previous two novels.

All in all, it was a pretty entertaining book.

3 stars

More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

I've been sicker than a dog all weekend, and for some reason in my mind that meant - read as many scary stories as you can! Nothing like being scared out of your wits with a runny nose and cough. I now know that just increases their effect.

More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was a great place to start. Collected from folklore and retold my Alvin Schwartz, these stories are short and to the point, thereby bypassing a common error with these types of books - I wasn't bored to tears by the length and bad writing. These are supposed to be written for a younger audience (it says on the back for ages 9 & up) but I would think twice before letting someone that young read them. Not unless you want to be up with them in the night!
I'm a grown-up for crying out loud, and I was totally creeped out by most of them, covering a wide variety of haunting subjects. A new bride locked in a trunk forever in The Bride. Being buried alive in Rings on Her Fingers. The Ghost in the Mirror was enough to give me nightmares forever. Wonderful Sausage about a secret ingredient that just happens to be human flesh. The Cat's Paw. The Dead Man's Hand. In some he even includes actions in parenthesis like (Now rush at someone in the audience and SCREAM: AAAAAAAAAAAAH!)

Illustrated by Stephen Gammell, these drawings are horrifying! It's not that hard to imagine someone screaming.

These pictures would give my eleven-year-old nightmares. They'd give my fifteen-year-old nightmares! They gave me nightmares!

So, in other words, if you like a scary short story, I highly recommend this collection. Read it on Halloween for maximum effect though, or better yet, give it to an arch enemy as a birthday gift.
Trust me, you won't regret it...wink,wink.
4 stars

Helluva Halloween Challenge

Pie Friday

Reading These is My Words got me thinking about food. Warm food that grows in warm places, and for some reason that made me think of soft, velvety peaches filled with orange creme flesh.

Hence, the best fresh peach pie recipe evah!

Combine ¾ to 1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour
¼ tsp nutmeg or cinnamon

a dash salt

Add to 5 cups sliced fresh peaches

Line 9-inch pie plate with pastry

Fill with fruit

Dot with 2 tablespoons butter

Adjust lattice, seal, crimp edges

Bake in hot oven 400 for 45-50 or till done

Easy as....well, pie.

October Short Stories - The Pit and the Pendulum and A Tale of the Ragged Mountains by Edgar Allan Poe

Words that came to mind while I was reading The Pit and the Pendulum – horror, terror, darkness, despair, nightmarish. What a creepy story. Short, yet so effective. As the narrator’s doom literally sinks towards him, I felt glued to the page. My heart beat faster with each painstakingly described moment.

The man, his all-white judge and jury, his sentence of death and the delirium that follows, all unbearable to witness, but even in this darkness of thought, he perseveres with a little bit of luck by avoiding the death trap in the middle of his prison.

I saw clearly the doom which had been prepared for me, and congratulated myself upon the timely accident by which I had escaped.

His captors are not so easily foiled. A new nightmare awaited, much worse than the first.

Having failed to fall, it was no part of the demon pan to hurl me into the abyss, and thus (there being no alternative) a different and a milder destruction awaited me. Milder! I half smiled in my agony as I though of such application of such a term.

The steel blade of the pendulum perceptibly descended. And still they tempted him with food barely within reach. The rats! His torture was complete, but in the last moment his tormentors were his saviors, and he was free of the bindings that held him in place of certain death.

Or so he thought.

What a story!

In A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, Poe delves into the truly weird and uncanny with a story about a man named Bedloe who gets lost while traveling in mountain passages on a day out from his home. He finds himself in a dream-like state in a completely different land and time period, caught in a battle with a people the likes of which he has never seen in his life.

He believes himself killed in this battle, but then he awakens, and finds his way back to his village, still alive, still breathing much to his amazement.

But why was he thrust back into this particular time and place? Was it time travel or reincarnation, or even just an odd dream? All is explained by the end of the story. I had no idea Poe wrote anything thing the likes of which could be called science fiction.

If you're looking for some great October spookiness, these stories are thoroughly engrossing and not that hard to read. Be sure to put in your order for dark stormy skies before hand though, thus ensuring you'll never go to sleep again! Ha.

Up next: The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter

Helluva Halloween Challenge and the Classics Reading Challenge

First love burns brightest. Sigh....

Am I the last person on the planet to know about this one?

Bright Star
A movie about the three year relationship between 19th Century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne. Anybody who knows anything about Keats knows this will be a tear jerker.
But I'll still see it.
What is wrong with me?
Get a tissue ladies.

Pumpkin Jokes -

How do you fix a jack-o-lantern?

With a pumpkin patch

Who won the skeleton beauty contest?

No-Body

When is it bad luck to meet a black cat?

When you're a mouse.

What is a pumpkins favorite sport?

Squash
Why do pumpkins never quarrel?

Because they don't have the stomach for fighting.

Hee-hee

Got any good jokes?