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Children's book: The Unruly Orchestra: Learn about musical instruments and the symphonic orchestraChildren’s book: The Unruly Orchestra: Learn about musical instruments and the symphonic orchestra by Daphna Lustiger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I voluntarily read to review this book.

Almost. That is the best thing I can say. I was excited, as a former music major, to see a picture book about the orchestra. But on the first page, I got disappointed. Two of the instruments named were not shown.

The text wasn’t rhythmic or as fun as it could be. And I think it still needs a good editor.

The pictures were fun and I wanted the story to be as fun.

Still, I would have read it to my children. I think I could have made it more fun with sounds of the instruments lined up to actually introduce each part. It could be a fun story, if cleaned up a bit, to a field trip to a concert or an educational segment about Peter and the Wolf, and possibly pulling out triangles and fun band percussion instruments. and a good old march around the classroom.

My deepest disappointment was the piano not named as it was being called a pipe organ (not usually in an orchestra, and no pipes).

Still, the book could have hope with a bit more clean up.

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The Storied Life of A.J. FikryThe Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Um. Yeah. What if Data wrote a book? The emotions and exciting adventure are missing. Lots of telling that seem to lead nowhere.

But if you love books and bookstores, you are hooked without mercy. You don’t want to quit because there has to be a reason for all the quotes and little notes that start each chapter.

I didn’t care for A.J. Fikry. The author doesn’t paint him in any kind of good light. The other characters around him are equally yawn-producing. But BOOKS and a BOOKSTORE! Keeps the engine running, the reader reading. Weirdly, at the end I found tears flowing. How did the author do that? I even found myself wondering how the next book would look. I wanted more of the characters. (trying not to spoil here.)

A friend recommended the book. I’m glad she did. I recommend this for readers who love books. I will look into other books by this author. I may reread this to see if I can figure out how the author wrote this intriguing book in the dryest of fashions, throwing ‘show-not-tell’ and other rules of writing out the window.

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Shoulder Surgery


Tonight at midnight my husband will get up and get prepared for the trip to the hospital. My brother will be driving around 2:30 AM for an hour and a half to the hospital. The surgery is scheduled for 5ish. There was no way I could do the drive that early. Why did they have to schedule out of towners at that hour?

So Tuesday is my drive day. When he gets out of surgery and had time to recover I will dive up to get him and bring him home. I so wish for the days my body would let me be awake at any time and drive to anywhere at any time. I feel bad about not being by his side. We will be face-timing as soon as he can talk. Thank goodness for modern technology!

I will try to keep you all apprised of the situation. And I have a review to post tomorrow so I won’t be gone from the blogosphere for long.


Outlander (Outlander, #1)Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has been several days since I finished book one. I still feel caught in the afterglow of it.. While I was reading it I binge-watched the show. First with my son and brother. Then with my friend. Then with my husband. So this review includes the book, the audible version and the show.

I borrowed the book from the local e-library. I noticed it came with text-to-speech. But the show was full of Garlic so I didn’t want to hear the TTS mispronouncing those words. So I used my credit to pick up the Audible version to whisper synch.

Narrated by: Davina Porter, made the story come alive. Her voice isn’t like the actor of the show which was a bit of a surprise but Davina did a great job acting the different characters of the book.

I have to admit that I will more often suggest the book over the show. The explicit rape scenes may trigger those who watch the show. The book leaves more to the imagination. It spent more time on the story itself than details of the acts.

My only complaint of the book was that it was so long I didn’t finish before it was due back. Who knew that the email that says a book is due on Monday that you don’t have most of Monday to finish? They took the book back Sunday night at midnight. I was forced to buy the book with only 10% left to read. Oh, well, now I can share it with my husband and read it again someday.

With the trigger warning for the show, I highly recommend the book, audio, and show for everyone. Those days spent back in history, especially in Scotland were dreamy! Wish I could actually go and experience the whole UK.

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The above double toy (finished today), from following instructions Denise of Loomahat.com on this YouTube tutorial:

Though I like making the blanket and getting better at it, I don’t like sewing on the bits and pieces. I think they are cute and I think someone will find comfort in this toy, I need a break. And I bet you guys need something else to look at here.

But I had to share the toy because of the prompt for today’s challenge of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Thank you Linda G. Hill for the fun prompts!

stream-of-consciousness-saturday-2018-19

Frightening


Last night as I wrote my blog, the TV was off. My husband was in another room. I was alone. I glanced up at the TV and saw this:

It looks like a space monster. Or an Ood. The space one the right held my reflection. If I was young or a scardy-cat, I might have screamed. Instead I looked around and saw that the lamp next to me appeared as a forehead and eyes. The rest of the monster was just things on the shelf beneath the lamp. I just thought I’d share the scare. You’re welcome!

 


Sorry to non-yarners, but when I feel challenged I answer the call. Today I started a lavender lovey Blanket double toy. The blanket itself takes a couple days of constant counting. The acorn pattern is fairly simple, if you pay attention. ADD makes that hard so I have tricks to help me stay on track. I had to print out the pattern and Mark where I was at all times. I had to put a marker at the beginning of each set so I could count rows to be accurate. My first try at the blanket, I had to rip it all out as I blogged a few days ago. It is the bind-off that gives me the most trouble. The one I shared two days ago I made with the drawstring bind-off. I figured the crochet border hides the sin. Today I took my time to listen to Denise’s tutorial. It turned out so nice I didn’t want to put the border on. But tightening the loose loops is always hard for me. It took three hours to get it done. Here’s the blanket without a border.

Here’s with the border.

And here’s more of the project I need to assemble tomorrow.

I used the safety eyes instead of sewing them.

Since I’m posting from my phone I’ll ask that you look to yesterday’s post or Loomahat.com for the tutorial.

I hope you’re all having a great week and weekend!

One-Liner Wednesday


Wow! Thank goodness for Wednesday! (That’s all I have!)

One-Liner Wednesday is the challenge I may not have passed. But thanks for the fun, Linda G. Hill.

Finished Project


One side is a doll, the other a little lamb. Now I want to make more of these! LoomaHat’s tutorial can be found here.

Try Two


After frogging, I started working on the project again.

Now I just need to see it together. The border still isn’t perfect, but I plan to make more and, well, practice makes it!

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