Zombie Delight

The Epicurean Z
You ask what makes my culinary bell ring?
I’ll tell you, dear friends, it’s only one thing.
Fingers!
With garlic and butter in a delicate sauté,
Or toss with linguine and a sauce de Mornay.
Cut thin and layered for a scalloped delight,
Or simmer in red sauce … it’s Italian tonight!
Chopped and toasted gives salads a crunch,
Or slice [...]

Read Full Post »

The Outsiders – S.E.Hinton

Have you ever read a book that exceeded your expectations? Great, isn’t it? I didn’t know quite what to expect from The Outsiders; I’d noticed it had a special placement in my library because it’s considered a classic, but I didn’t look twice. What got me bringing it home, was Patrick Swayze. Yup. Patrick Swayze.
After [...]

Read Full Post »

Books to Feed the Soul-A Pocketful of Miracles

It is often said that when the pupil is ready the teacher appears. I believe that said teacher can also be in the form of a book by an inspiring author. So in addition to whatever novel, picture books, etc. I am reading at any given time, I am also reading a book of a [...]

Read Full Post »

Middle Grade and Young Adult Reading/Writing

In my search to learn more about writing on the middle grade level, I made a list of titles that have won Newbery Medals as the logical place to begin my education. As the ALA site does not break the titles down by MG or YA, some of the selections I made turned out to [...]

Read Full Post »

Full-Frontal Snogging – Humor on the YA Bookshelf

Here’s the full title – Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging – confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison. (Yeah – a tad too long for a post title!) My last trip to my local library had my very wonderful librarian, Jennifer, suggest a book to me in addition to my list of MG and YA titles. [...]

Read Full Post »

Work as Love

Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
Kahlil Gibran “On Work” from The Prophet
After working intensely on one of my major jobs [...]

Read Full Post »

The Character Who Never Grew

It was my idea that when you read a novel, you should feel something for the character, identify with her in some way, and as you go through the course of the book, cheer her on through adversity, feeing her pain, and then rejoice in her overcoming challenges. But what if the character just never [...]

Read Full Post »

Honored to Receive the Honest Scrap Award

I recently found I was chosen for an award by a fellow blogger, The Battered Trunk.
I readily found what I, as a new recipient, needed to do, but was unsure exactly what the award was about. A little online delving, and I found the following definition of the Honest Scrap Award on Buddhist Minister Rev. [...]

Read Full Post »