Frances plans to go to summer camp with her best friend Agnes, but her mother decides to go to a retreat in Oregon. Frances has to stay at her nerdy Aunt Blue's for the duration. I liked the book a lot.
Quote:
"Some mistakes are worth making." "How do you tell which mistakes those are?"
Also edited by Paul Diamond. Twenty-seven repudiatedly true stories of cycling adventures gone bad. Some are funny, some are sad, some are exciting. Twenty-five Count and Spin Cycle were very funny, but my favorite was It's All In A Name, in which we learn how Carla earns her nickname from her bike club.
Read:
12/2007
Contents: The home front / Brian Stableford -- Aboard the beatitude / Brian W. Aldiss -- Odd job #213
/ Ron Goulart -- Agamemnon's run / Robert Sheckley -- Grubber / Neal Barrett, Jr. -- Sandman, the tinman, and the Betty B / C.J. Cherryh -- The big picture / Timothy Zahn -- A home for the old ones / Frederik Pohl -- Not with a whimper either / Tad Williams -- The black wall of Jerusalm / Ian Watson -- Station ganymede / Charles L. Harness -- Downtime / C.S. Friedman -- Burning bridges / Charles Ingrid -- Words / Cheryl J. Franklin -- Read only memory / eluki bes shahar -- Sunseeker / Kate Elliott -- The heavens fall / S. Andrew Swann -- Passage to shola / Lisanne Norman -- Prism / Julie E. Czerneda. Expecially liked the cat story by Franklin and the story by Zahn.
Twins Josh and Sophie become embroiled in a war for the survival of humanity, to their dismay. Book one of how many to come? The author says many of the characters are based on historical and mythological figures. Pretty good!
Words I Had To Look Up:
sigils (pg. 314) -- Signs, words, or devices held to have occult power in astrology or magic pergola (pg. 366) -- An arbor or a passageway of columns supporting a roof of trelliswork on which climbing plants are trained to grow.
Quote:
...Sophie leaned over and hit the windshield wiper switch. The heavy blades activated...and simply swept the bird off the hood in a flurry of feathers and a shrill croak of surprise. (pg. 98) Mere mortal SUV wipers can sweep a Dire-Crow, "huge" bird, right off the hood? A bird that can peck through windshield glass? I think NOT!
Book six of the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. I started this series four years ago, and now it is finished. Some weeps at the end. I enjoyed the series, and especially the occasional humor. I am sure my neighbors wondered what I was chortling about.
Third book in the series. Perry is still trapped at Alcatraz, the twins are now in London. It's what, day four? Yikes!
Words I Had To Look Up:
Gabriel Hounds...Ratchets (pg. 206) -- Gabriel Hounds are a pack of spectral hounds said to be haunting Britain during the Wild Hunt. Ratchet is the archaic term to describe a hound hunting by scent. Mary Stewart wrote a book titled The Gabriel Hounds.
Quote:
"It's a conjugation," Sophie said in awe. (pg. 286) -- It's a conjugation of conjurations!
Book #5 in the series. Lots of stuff happens. San Francisco may get eaten by monsters. I can't remember what happened in the previous books. Volume #6 awaits.
Law Prof. Nat gets banged up when she visits a law class for inmates at a prison. Eventually solves a crime. Book moves right along, but didn't care for "surprise" ending. Read the Readers Digest Condensed edition.