October 31st is 'Carve a Pumpkin Day', although looking at these it seems a bit late to start ....

Great Pumpkins: Crafty Carving for Halloween, by Peter Cole with Jessica Hurley and photographs by Kate Kunath is what I consider to be the more traditional carving ... the insides of the pumpkin are scooped out and the design is lit from behind. Of course, this goes way beyond the traditional triangle eyes, nose, and the toothy smile! Check out the three pumpkin skeleton, the Eiffel Tower, and my favorite, Pumpkins in Space.

Extreme Pumpkin Carving,(second edition, revised and expanded) by Vic Hood and Jack A. Williams is just what the title says it is. This makes me think of wood carving the designs are so finely detailed. Amazing faces and spooky critters and 3-D effects. Wow!

Try doing a Google image search on 'extreme pumpkin carving' and check out the results! My favorite (no surprise) was Starry Night, but there are dozens of amazing designs.

Happy Halloween!

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October 30 is National Candy Corn Day! And, I even found a book to celebrate. :-) I do appreciate Leslie Meier, she makes this so easy sometimes.

It's time for the Annual Giant Pumpkin Fest in Tinker's Cove. For months growers have been loving tending their pumpkins (one is named Priscilla), and now someone is smashing them. Then there's the body in the trunk of the car designated as the target for the pumpkin hurl. Candy Corn Murder, like all of Meier's mysteries, is a nice, cozy read.

It's almost Halloween and the festival in Caerphilly is in full swing. Kid friendly during the day, more spooky and scary after dark, it's been an interesting balance for everyone (store owners change their decorations, employees alter their costumes). There's a cat worth thousands, a family picture with a hidden secret, and a scavenger hunt with a spooky theme. Lord of the Wings, by Donna Andrews is the newest in the Meg Langslow Mystery series. This has been a great series! I loved the ravens!

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Alan W. Petrucelli adds a touch of humor to Morbid Curiosity: the Disturbing Demises of the Famous and Infamous. He writes celebrity obituaries and this is a collection of many of those. He clears up a few urban myths, fills in details on some less than complete causes of death, and explains just what happened to some of the bodies or cremains. Rather an interesting read. ;-)

What started out as a local book instead became a cross country tour of graveyards by mother and son (the photographer) Marilyn and Reid Yalom. (If that name sounds familiar, see July 26, 2014). The American Resting Place: Four Hundred Years of History Through Our Cemeteries and Burial Grounds describes how burials have changed in the last four centuries. What about slaves? How do you bury someone when you can't dig a grave? As the 'melting pot', America is full of different cultures and customs which made for an interesting read.

For information on burial customs, writing a will, selecting what will happen with the body, and so much more! As strange as it sounds, I enjoyed the variety found in The Whole Death Catalog: a Living Guide to the Bitter End, by Harold Schechter. I learned how a body decomposes, and what happens in an autopsy. There's a chapter on coping with a loss (including the loss of a pet), and what to say to children. (Each chapter has further reading suggestions). There are novels, movies, songs, and even calendars about death, too, not to mention museums and, of course, websites. My favorite epitaph? "Here Lies (name) Age 102. The good die young." (think about it) (!)

For well written mysteries featuring a funeral home owner, there's the Buryin' Barry series by Mark de Castrique (September 30, 2014).

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There are (what look to be) wonderful recipes in Celebrate Autumn: a Bushel of Fresh-Picked Fall Recipes, Tips and How-to's For the Festive Season of Friends and Family. From hearty breakfasts to soups, picnics, tailgate parties and more, this was a fun read for even this non-cook! I did not see an author, but it is from Gooseberry Patch, "A Country Store in Your Mailbox" and there is subscription information.

I couldn't do an entire month of posts this month without including The October Country, by Ray Bradbury. It has been some time since I've read it, but hey, it's Bradbury! A collection of his short stories, a glance at the table of contents made me shudder. For some reason The Crowd is the one that I remember best ....

How to Cook Children: a Grisly Recipe Book, by Martin Howard and Colin Stimpson seemed like a good title to include in an October post. Lots of fun with words here! There's Kate and Sidney Pie, and Deepfried Small Fry. Be sure to read how to serve Pie-Ella. This book gave me a new definition to Baked Alaska(n). ;-)

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Today, October 21, is Count Your Buttons Day. :-) It sounded like a fun trail and this is what I found.

The Collector's Encyclopedia of Buttons (Revised 5th Edition), by Sally C. Luscomb is exactly what it says it is ... pages and pages of buttons and descriptions from across the centuries. I wish the pictures were in color, but the black and white images were clear. I was amazed at the intricate detail on the buttons with images or pictures.

I waffled in the placement of this book ... I ended up putting it with my button post, but it would also fit nicely with any post on 'books'. Or perhaps, more on the 'underwear' trail of the post from August 5. Hmm, or with the fork (March 26, 2015). At any rate Books, Banks, Buttons and Other Inventions from the Middle Ages, by Chiara Frugoni and translated by William McCuaig certainly would have made some of my history classes more interesting. So many useful items here! Eyeglasses made reading easier while moveable type made the printing of books easier. The zero made math easier, although much like the author, I cannot explain just why, only that it is so! Cards, and hence the games that used them gained popularity. And buttons! What an improvement!

Naturally, there is a mystery involving buttons: Buttons and Bones, by Monica Ferris. It is one from her Needlecraft Mystery series. Anew family moves into a cabin on the lake (it seems any lake is 'the lake' in Minnesota). They pull up the old linoleum and discover a trap door to the root cellar, where (naturally) they find a skeleton. How to buttons help figure out who it belonged to?

And yes, I did think about political buttons, but they were no books available locally that I could access in time for this post. ;-)

And of course, in my usual twisted way, I had to include Belly Button Book! by Sandra Boynton. Hippos with belly buttons ... hard to resist!

And, from the September 27, 2014 post, there is How to Sew a Button.

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This is more of a 'looking' book than a reading book, but I thought it fit nicely with the book mentioned below. It was a gift from California Reader and one I return to at least once a year just to look at the pictures. For the Love of Libraries: a Book of Postcards is filled with striking black and white photographs and anecdotes by Diane Asseo Griliches about all kinds of libraries from around the world.

Improbable Libraries: a Visual Journey to the World's Most Unusual Libraries, by Alex Johnson is also a 'looking' book. Take an armchair tour around the world to see all the odd places where libraries are found. Libraries are found on camels, boats, and buses. They hang from trees, or are stuffed into very small spaces. Some are in new and oddly shaped buildings, some in old houses. Some patrons even arrive by surfboard. Be sure to check out how books are displayed from the back of a donkey!

I've always had a fondness for Thomas Jefferson. He was a reader and a musician. He loved to collect books and had several libraries during his lifetime. Read all about this reader in Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library, by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by John O'Brien. I love the illustrations of books everywhere! The author's notes at the end provide additional details, don't skip them. ;-)

The Library Book: the Story of Libraries from Camels to Computers, by Maureen Sawa and illustrated by Bill Slavin was a wonderful discovery! I loved this book! While technically a juvie book, there is a lot of information here, such as when books became books in the form we know today, just how the first printing press worked, and for a chuckle (and a shudder) early forms of punishment for lost, stolen and overdue books.

For more books about books see the post for August 2, 2014. Find When Books Went to War on the February 21, 2015 post.

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I'm continuing down the 'night' trail today. (What fun this has been)!

Little Owl's Night, by Divya Srinivasan is a lovely journey through the forest at night. Just who is active, and what do they have to say?

For an old style 'inter-active' book, one in which you create the activity without microchips, etc. try Touch the Brightest Star, by Christie Matheson. Read it out loud (I read it to my dog), follow the instructions, it's fun! At the back is an explanation of the magic of the night: fireflies, stars, owls .... very nice.

And, of course, Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown. Love it? Hate it? I have had both reactions from parents who have read it over and over and over ... but my favorite response was from Tall Reader who had a smile on her face and a faraway look in her eye. It has been published in several languages, and inspired many parodies.

Other books about night (from 2014) may be found on the August 16 and September 26 posts.

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Today is 'Wear Something Gaudy' Day, and while I'm not sure Hawaiian shirts really qualify as gaudy, it was the only thing I could find. The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Islands, by Dale Hope, with Gregory Tozian is a wonderful history of the shirt whether you give it a serious read, or just look at the pictures. (Be on the look out for movie stars, performers, and a U.S. president). There are fun bits of legends, and short biographies of the artists who created wonderful designs.

Canadian Reader tells me that Dorothy L. Sayers has a mystery titled Gaudy Night. I'll try and find it and include in a later post. :-)

I'll continue today's post with books from other trails. :-)

There aren't too many books about artichokes, so this one caught my eye: Annie Pitts, Artichoke, written and illustrated by Diana de Groat. Struggling actor Annie is cast as an artichoke in the class play. A play with a dull topic, as far as she is concerned ... nutrition! It turns out not to be as dull as she imagined. There is another book about artichokes in the April 12, 2014 post.

This one belongs with several other posts ... language, England, words ....

I know this book came out a while ago, but I am just now getting around to reading it. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way, by Bill Bryson is a wonderful history of the evolution of language. Sometimes I think it's a wonder we can communicate at all! This book got better and better the more I got into it. Don't miss the chapter on swearing (and be careful what you say). ;-)

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Tucked away on a corner shelf, in a very small section I call "I know this author!!!" is Forbidden, by Theresa Chambers. This was published some time ago, and she now writes under the name Theresa Dalheim. Forbidden, and her next book, Torchlight: Book 1 of the Ninth Cycle are available as ebooks at amazon, but I have the first as a print copy (it's all in who you know, you know?!) Good characters, good adventure .... give them a try!

I wasn't sure just what I would include here, since my "I know this author" section is so small, and then I had one of those light bulb moments ... I'll include a book recommended by this very author! :-)

My mind boggled at the amount of research that went in to The Book on the Book Shelf, by Henry Petroski. Books were not always stored and/or displayed in the way we are so familiar with today. They were not always books as we know them, either. For a look at shelving read this book! And don't skip the Appendix for ideas on how to arrange them ... author? subject? title? I'll admit the ISBN order seemed awkward to me, but arrangement by color brought back a memory from my college days. It was finals week. There had been many sleepless days (remember when we could do that?) One of the final questions on a final project was how else could we arrange a library. By color was one, but instead of the usual 'rainbow spectrum' bands of color, we came up with plaid.

Are you one of those who don't have an e-reader? I don't either, but amazon has a free download of a very basic one. I have to sit at my computer to use it, but for now I just have the one book downloaded. ;-)

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It's back across the pond today.

Mom always wanted to teach a history class using biographies. I think she would have enjoyed this book: A History of London in 50 Lives, by David Long. From the royal family, to artists, authors, thieves, even an ape and a spy, this is a nice collection of short bios covering centuries in one of the greatest cities in the world.

Stuff Brits Like: a Guide to What's Great About Great Britain, by Fraser McAlpine was a great read! The author has a nice, light, humo(u)rus style that kept me turning the pages as I read about food, attitude (apologetic), accents, spelling, weather, the BBC .... lots of fun stuff! My only comment/complaint is that there is no table of contents or index and the entries are not in alphabetical order so it's hard to refer back to a favorite entry.

Remember the story on the news a few years ago about finding Richard III's bones? What an amazing story it is! I recently read two books, in two days! Start with The King's Grave: the Discovery of Richard III's Lost Burial Place and the Clues It Holds, by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones. Ms. Langley long thought the view the world had of Richard III was one sided, that there must have been more to the man than the image we have (mostly due to Shakespeare). She was right! She worked hard ... on research, government paperwork, funding raising and so forth to make the dig in the car park happen. Then came Digging for Richard III: the Search for the Lost King, by Mike Pitts. There's more about the actual dig here, and the tests done to prove the bones belonged to Richard III. (Follow the trail of the mitochondrial DNA, it was pretty interesting). (And that's all I'm going to say). ;-)

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A blend of books again today. :-)

Although fiction, Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline, is well researched. It might have seemed like a good idea, sending homeless, orphaned children to farm country and a 'better chance at life', it didn't always turn out that well. Partnered with a modern day story of a young woman in foster care, it's a moving read about an unusual friendship.

The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents, by Ronald Kessler could have had the subtitle 'Powerful People Behaving Badly'. I was embarrassed to read just how badly some of the first (and second) families treat those assigned to protect them, how they flaunt the rules and defy protocol. In contrast to that, I was amazed at how hard the agents work, and the efforts they take to protect these people. And, I was annoyed to read how management does not support them, often making it harder for them to do their jobs. A good, if somewhat frustrating read.

He was a doctor ahead of his time. He believed in pre- and post- operative care (no putting the patient in a carriage and sending them home immediately). He believed in explaining to the patient just what was going to happen. He believed in a clean operating area, clean tools, clean hands.(He found a lot of resistance here). He was also a pioneer in plastic surgery and did a lot of work with burn victims. (Think flammable clothing and cooking around open flames). Learn all about this fascinating man in Dr. Mutter's Marvels: a True Story of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine, by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz.

From Constant Reader comes this recommendation: Flight By Elephant: the Untold Story of World War II's Most Daring Jungle Rescue, by Andrew Martin. There are books that make me really glad to be here, where I am, and this is one of them. It takes place in the jungle. It's hot, and damp. There are bugs. Food, showers and clean laundry are rare. And don't get me started on the leeches! And yet, men and elephants were willing, and successful (mostly) in the rescue of refugees fleeing the Japanese. This would go nicely with Elephant Company. (September 29, 2014).

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Did you see the recent "supermoon eclipse"? That sent me on this trail: a book about an eclipse, of course, by none other than a favorite author of mine, Isaac Asimov! What is an Eclipse? explains just what makes an eclipse (you can become one yourself if you stand in front of someone else, blocking their view of, say, the frig). The scientific terms are explained as well. Asimov does a really good job here. :-)

Then, naturally, a book about Eclipse, the horse. Nicholas Clee did a nice job with Eclipse: the Horse That Changed Racing History Forever. He tracked down the records abut the jockeys, the grooms, the owners, breeders, pretty much anyone who came into contact with the horse. (There is a nice listing of all his sources, etc. at the back). He tracked the linage both backwards and forwards to horses like Seabiscuit and Secretariat. A bit dry at times, but not bad overall.

(Now, I do know there is a book titled Eclipse that is part of the Twilight Series, by Stephanie Meyer, but I've not read it so have not included it here.);-)

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Find out just how many lights there are at night in Night Lights by Susan Gal. This is a fun book to read out loud. :-) Keep an eye on the dog (and notice what book is being read. Do you recognize it?) I loved the ending.

Singing the Dark, by Gail Sproule, and illustrated by Sheena Lott reminded me a bit of the time when I lived where I could here a piper 'pipe the sun down'. Kaylie loves to join her mother on the hillside to sing the sun down. Just a lovely book.

Are you brave enough to spend the night in a dark barn? Join four young boys as they try in Night in the Barn, by Faye Gibbons, illustrations by Erick Ingraham.

What happens at night in the deep, snowing woods? Find out in North Country Night, by Daniel San Souci. Glorious illustrations follow several animals as they search for food and shelter.

In the country, where there are no cars or sirens making noise, what do you hear? Frogs? Falling apples? An owl, perhaps? Night in the Country, by Cynthia Ryland and illustrated by Mary Szilagyi is a softly illustrated book of sounds. Lovely.

Here's another 'world tour' book: While You Are Sleeping: a Lift-the-Flap Book of Time Around the World, by Durga Bernhard. Just what IS going on on the other side of the world? This is a fun, clever book.

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At first I planned on putting Spirit of Steamboat: a Longmire Story, by Craig Johnson. with other Christmas books as it's one of those nice 'miracle' sort of reads but then it opened up a new trail for me to follow. An unexpected visitor on Christmas Eve day reminds Sheriff Longmire of a long ago emergency flight. The only plane that might be able to fly through blizzard conditions to deliver a badly burned child to the hospital that could save her life is an old WWII bomber, and the only pilot available has just one leg. Lots of interesting twists here, which led me to, naturally, a book about the horse you see on the Wyoming license plate.

That horse is Steamboat, and here is his story: Steamboat: Legendary Bucking Horse: His Life and Times and the Cowboys Who Tried to Tame Him, by Candy Vivey Moulton and Flossie Moulton. This was the horse that no cowboy wanted to draw to ride in the rodeo! Well behaved and easy to manage ... until some one got on his back, then watch out! Nicely researched with short biographies on the men who tried to ride him.

Then on to license plates. I didn't find as much as I thought I would without buying something but The Way Cool License Plate Book, by Leonard Wise was a decent enough read. While pretty much a book about vanity plates, there is a nice history of when license plates were first issued, what they were made of during the war years, and several games to play while on the road. There is lots of fun trivia too, including "Wyoming's cowboy and bucking bronco have appeared on its plates since 1936 making it the oldest plate in continuous use." (p. 12)

There are four mysteries by April Henry, set in the PNW, and featuring Claire Montrose. She works in the office where vanity plates are approved or not. Staff must be careful not to issue 'bad language' (and double check to be sure it's not written backwards and hence visible in a rear view mirror). These were fun, I wish there were more. Start with Circles of Confusion.

Next it was Wyoming in general: from the Celebrate the States series, Wyoming, by Guy Baldwin and Joyce Hart. There are chapters on history, geography, and what it's like to live there that made for an interesting read. I was disappointed, though, that there was no mention of their license plate!

And finally, fond memories of the Mary O'Hara books My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead and Green Grass of Wyoming AND, new to me Wyoming Summer. I was not aware of this book and was happy to discover it. It was taken from a journal that that author kept while living on the ranch that would become the background for her novels. Mary O'Hara was also a musician and a composer and there are entries that tell about what inspired her compositions.

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