Slashback by Rob Thurman

My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

They’re baaa-aaack! The Brothers Leandros, that is. And despite some misgivings I had during the early pages of Slashback, they are back in style in a way that surpasses the last book on every level, to my mind.

Let me begin by saying

The Old Rope Swing

I thought maybe I’d share one of my poems tonight, from a series I’m working on, featuring a ten-year old boy named Mac, who has grown up spending his summers camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. He’s one of my favorite people, young Mac, and I hope you enjoy reading about him now and then.

The Old Rope Swing

Sailing up, up into
Blue summer sky,
Hot rope rough against his hands,
He shouts with joy, and lets go.
For a crystal moment,
He hangs suspended,
Frozen in time
Like a fly in amber.
All awkward angles–
Shoulder blades and
Elbows, and
Knobby knees,
Painted against the sky,
Heart filled with fierce joy.

Dropping, down, down
Into clear green water
Cold on his skin,
He sinks to the silty bottom
And sits suspended
In an alien world,
Watching  the silvered flashes
Of tiny fish darting to and fro,
Startled by his sudden appearance.
I am a fish, too, he thinks,
And holds his breath
As long as he can.

Finally, he rockets up
Through a stream of
Tickling bubbles,
Breaking the
Surface of the water
With a loud whoop of
Childish exuberance.
All thoughts of becoming a fish
Forgotten as he
Scrambles out,
Shakes the water from his hair,
And, grinning, hitches up his
Baggy shorts.

He’s ready
To do it all again.
Flying through the summer air,
Dropping into the cold water
To commune with fishes
Silvered in refracted light.
Then leaping to the surface,
A boy of ten once more,
Laughing through an endless summer
Made perfect by a cool green pond,
And an old rope swing.

     –Marcia Meara

 

Death’s Rival by Faith Hunter

My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

It’s 4:00am here in central Florida. I just finished reading Death’s Rival and am totally unable to sleep. A combination of too many kick-butt pneumonia- fighting drugs, or  an overdose of kick-butt vampire-killing Jane Yellowrock in action? I can’t really decide which. But I figure if I’m wide awake, I may as well use the time for something productive, like reviewing this outstanding addition

Like A Bad Penny, Here I Am Again!

Back home from San Diego, after much sturm und drang, having gotten caught in airline hell on last Tuesday, when American Airlines stopped flying for the better part of the day. Caught in long lines, flight cancelled and rescheduled…THREE times…finally arriving at 2:30am! I was 24 hours in transit and exhausted, but by golly, I MADE IT! And got to spend 4 days of blissful Granny Time with Kaelen. Then I came down with some sort of dread disease that meant I had to wear a mask and not touch him any more! Eeeeep. And more flight trouble on the way home because…GET THIS…two passengers in FIRST CLASS decided to have a FOOD FIGHT, and apparently made such a mess that my flight out of Dallas was delayed for almost an hour while the crew cleaned up the cabin! Can you imagine? First Class JERKS is what they were. So I got home that night at 2:30am, sick and miserable. But you know what? I’d go through it all again to spend those four days with my lovely new grandson. What a sweet baby he is!

I have been quarantined at home by my doctor here, who says I’m teetering on the edge of pneumonia, but she is determined to head it off. So I’m to take my meds and REST. No housework. (Awwww…say it isn’t so!) Just “read, relax, rest, and recuperate.” I think I can do that. And I’m not banned from blogging, so hopefully, I’ll soon be back in the swing of that. I have two books to review here and tons of garden pictures to share on Who’s Your Granny, so I’m good to go. And just so you can see the reason I ever got caught up in all that airline mess in the first place, here’s a little piccie for ya. 

Now tell the truth. If this were YOUR brand new grandson, you wouldn’t regret the Flight From Hell, either, would you?

Be back soon with my next review!

*going off now, tapping my ruby slippers together, and repeating over and over, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.”*

Go Granny, Go Granny, Go Granny, Go!

*me, humming the Beach Boys around here, as I finish packing*

Just a quick note to let you all know I’m off to San Diego in the morning, to meet the wise and serene Kaelen. I can hardly wait to get my hands on the little guy for some serious baby-to-granny bonding! I will have computer access and my iPhone, so I can check in from time to time, if I’m not too busy lovin’ on that baby, of course, but I won’t be posting any reviews or the like until I get home next week.  Thankfully, Gramps will hold down the fort until I’m back, but that doesn’t include doing my blogging for me, as I’m sure you understand. Gramps is a lot of handy things, but a blogger, he is not.

Can’t wait to share more photos and adventures, though not to worry. Kaelen will NOT become the focus of this blog, no matter how truly adorable he might be. I swear on a stack of Harry Dresden books, I will be back to my normal reviews and commentary, such as they are, shortly after my return. And the subsequent posting of a few hundred baby pictures, of course.

😀

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

(Not really)

Yes, really.

(Shaking head “NO” here.)

(Nodding head “YES” here)

(Nuh-uh.)

(Yuh-huh.)

*sigh*

*pout*

😀 😀 😀

Okay, I’m outta here!

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

I have come to the conclusion that Neil Gaiman just may be my Go-To Man when I’m in the mood for Major Creepiness. Capital M. Capital C. Really! I’ve read books that were scarier, books that were funnier, and books that were more convoluted or complex, but I don’t think I’ve ever read anything creepier than Neverwhere in my life. And I mean that in a GOOD way, of course.

The story of a secret world beneath London,

Quote #74 – Cole Porter

“It’s spring again,
And birds on the wing again,
Start to sing again,
The old melody…”

                                                      –(from “I Love You” by Cole Porter)

Photo by Dan Williams found online.

Hello, World!

My name is Kaelen. (My Granny would never have seen that coming!) Kaelen is Celtic for Mighty Warrior, and after the way I spent the last forty-eight hours, I think my mommy and daddy called it right. It was a long battle, but I made it! And I think my mommy is a warrior, too! She and I struggled for a long, long time, but she got me here just fine. I met my daddy right away, and he looks like a warrior, himself, so I guess it’s a family thing! I weigh 8 pounds and 11 ounces, and I’m 21 inches long. I’m told that means I’m not only mighty but BIG, too. I can’t wait to get to know all about the world, but for now, I’m just going to take a wee nap. Even Mighty Warriors need their rest, you know. ‘Nite. 

(PS…I’m a boy, btw…I’ve heard it’s hard to tell at my age, but I’ll soon be flexing my Mighty Warrior muscles and performing prodigious feats of Boy-like strength, and it won’t be so confusing any more.)

The Year’s At The Spring – Robert Browning

The year’s at the spring
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hillside’s dew-pearled;

The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in His heaven –
All’s right with the world!

         –Robert Browning

What Are You Reading?

Yes, you guessed it! Time for another What Are You Reading post. Every now and then, I just have to know what some of you are reading. I find the best books that way. I am currently about halfway through Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, and enjoying it very much. This guy can do creepy and weird like nobody’s business. I have a little list where I add authors I have managed to ignore for way too long and am busy catching up with. The list includes Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, among others, and I have thoroughly enjoyed what I have read of each of them, already. Both make me wonder what took me so long to find them.

So what are YOU reading? And what’s next in your To Be Read pile?  Whose pages are you turning today, and what do you think of them so far?

Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire

My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

No one–absolutely no one–creates better Urban Fantasy worlds than Seanan McGuire. Her Toby Daye series has proven that to me time and time again, and now her Incryptid Series cements it in stone. The first Incryptid Novel, Discount Armageddon, was a fantastic romp in a world filled with some of the best

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

My Rating: 3-1/2 out of 5

Let me start by saying that I think Patricia Briggs is a fine Urban Fantasy writer. I have enjoyed the Mercy Thompson series very much over the years, and the spin-off Alpha and Omega series even more. So I am sorry to have to give what would have been