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!

Reading Hermit With Dog

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!

Reading Hermit With Dog

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).

Reading Hermit With Dog

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). ;-)

Reading Hermit With Dog

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.

Reading Hermit With Dog

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.

Reading Hermit With Dog

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.

Reading Hermit With Dog