What are you reading?

[Frelga]

Enjoy the experience.

I'm sure I posted before that Prisoner of Azkaban was the last book I read to my son. (and only because it got a bit intense for him in places). I miss those days.

[RoseMorninStar]

The first Harry Potter book became a hit when my daughter was in 3rd or 4th grade. Just the right time to get her interested in reading. There were book release parties where you could dress up and win prizes and the book stores did all sorts of fun things. Of course we had neighbors who protested that they were works of evil, yadda, yadda. At one of my daughters parties we made wands. This is the one I made for her. It's a little worse for the wear after all these years.

*edited for grammar error

[Frelga]

That's really cool, Rose! What are the leaves made of?

[RoseMorninStar]

We used Sculpy clay.. the stuff you bake in the oven. The handle is made of Sculpy too.

Inanna, I'm so glad you & Irika are enjoying the stories and distraction.

[Jude]

At one of my daughter had parties we made wands. This is the one I made for her. It's a little worse for the wear after all these years.

But... does it still work?

[Frelga]

At one of my daughter had parties we made wands. This is the one I made for her. It's a little worse for the wear after all these years.

But... does it still work?

Undoubtedly it works as well as the day it was made.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

What did you use as the magical core, Rose? While Mr Ollivander only uses phoenix feathers, unicorn hairs, and dragon heartstrings, other materials, such as Veela hair, or Thestral hair, have also been used by other wandmakers. What did you go with?

[RoseMorninStar]

Frelga :mike drop: Perfect answer.

Voronwë, My daughter loves all things raccoon. She was quite obsessive about it when she was young. I had a raccoon tooth which is placed inside the handle. I can't quite recall now, but I'm sure I made up some story in which it wasn't just an ordinary raccoon but something magical. 14". Rosewood.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That's awesome, Rose!

[Frelga]

Whippy? Bendy?

[RoseMorninStar]

Rigid. And it has a small crack from some bit of long done magic.

I miss doing all of those fun things with the kids. I still have a small cache of extra unfinished wands that didn't get chosen sitting on my counter - and that had to be almost 20 years ago! There are 2 that are 'pre-finished' (pretty, simple ones) for anyone who didn't want to make their own. They did not get chosen.

[Frelga]

That's awesome. I love the sparkly.wands. And the plain ones.

Was it Jude who recommended Louise Penny? I'm a couple chapters into Still Life, and enjoying it. And my kitchen is getting very clean. (Yay, audiobooks!)

[Jude]

It was probably me. Are you going to read the whole series?

It's funny you should mention Louise Penny, because only today I discovered that she and Hillary Clinton are collaborating on a novel:

State of Terror, by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

STATE OF TERROR follows a novice Secretary of State who has joined the administration of her rival, a president inaugurated after four years of American leadership that shrank from the world stage. A series of terrorist attacks throws the global order into disarray, and the secretary is tasked with assembling a team to unravel the deadly conspiracy, a scheme carefully designed to take advantage of an American government dangerously out of touch and out of power in the places where it counts the most.

This high-stakes thriller of international intrigue features behind-the scenes global drama informed by details only an insider could know.

According to the Blackwells site, it comes out in October this year. Definitely adding this to my list.

[Maria]

Stormlight Archive. Sort of a guilty pleasure--mechanically, the writing is not great, but they're 1000-page books and I've been going through them in about 2 weeks each, so obviously doing something right.

I love the Stormlight Archives! Well... there were parts of the last one that really annoyed me, but over all it was a worthwhile experience. It took me a while to get used to Sanderson's style of writing- introducing concepts without explanation and you were just supposed to pick it up from context But once I got used to that - I became a fan. I don't particularly like his books for children, but every other Sanderson novel I've read I've liked. Except War Breaker. But that's not part of any series so it's easy to ignore.

My husband and I build a set of wooden nest boxes this weekend and as we were carrying them to the hen house--- we started comparing it to carrying a bridge. My husband wanted to hoist them up above our heads, but I refused to go that far. Two are not enough to carry a bridge! Not even a little one! Side carry was as much as I felt safe with.....

[Impenitent]

... My husband wanted to hoist them up above our heads, but I refused to go that far. Two are not enough to carry a bridge! Not even a little one! Side carry was as much as I felt safe with.....

Rofl

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

[Inanna]

That’s so funny.

By the last one you mean the latest one that just came out?

[Maria]

Yes, the latest one published: "Rhythm of War".

[Frelga]

I finished Still Life by Louise Penny. It's a good example of that oxymoron, a cozy murder mystery.

Listening to Midnight Riot (Rivers of London) now. It's off to a good start.

In a way, they are both fantasy. One features a sensitive, erudite cop who can spend weeks in a small village filled with quirky, artistic people to solve a murder that can be easily explained as an accident. The other has ghosts, wizards, and spells. I'd say they are both equally mythical, but Still Life is set in Canada and maybe they are really like that.

I'll go back to Barrayar after this one.

[Inanna]

You left Barrayar? Why?

[Frelga]

Just the way the library holds worked out. I've been waiting for Midnight Riot since March. Barrayar is immediately available and can wait a bit.

And oh, just got a notification that The Merciful Crow is available. I can't remember why I queued it up. Someone here?