Here are more books I've been reading lately. 

Three Blue Hearts by Lynne Kelly, Children's fiction (middle grades), 2025

In this story, Max's parents are divorced, and his father is a councilman with higher political aspirations. Max often disappoints his father because he is not the perfect poster child for his father's ambitions. His mother is studying the historic effects of storms and takes Max with her for the summer to an island off the coast of Texas, where she is conducting research. 

On his first day there, Max finds an octopus that has washed onshore during a storm. He decides to try to save it, and with the help of some local kids, he takes it to the island's vet and animal rehab center. He spends the rest of the summer learning about and caring for the octopus. He makes friends and, along the way, learns to accept himself. Of course, there is drama, but it has a poignant ending.

While I knew that octopuses are much smarter than previously thought, I didn't know much about them. I learned right along with Max. For example, the title, Three Blue Hearts, comes from the fact that octopuses have three hearts and their blood is blue because of the copper in it. I enjoyed learning about them and the other animals at the center. This book is another winner from Kelly.

Not relevant to many, I also enjoyed reading about familiar places around the Houston area where the story takes place, because I lived there for 10 years. When Max talked about a camping trip to Brazos Bend, I thought, "That's where Wally went on a Cub Scout camping trip!" I am glad Ward went along on that one because there were plenty of alligators roaming around. 😀

The Secret Language of Birds by Lynne Kelly, Children's fiction (middle grades), 2024 

Like the other two, this book involves a middle school child's close relationship with an animal. In this one, Nina discovers a whooping crane nest while at summer camp in an off-limits area. This find is special because whooping cranes haven't been seen in this area for over 100 years. Nina and her friends watch the nest and report back to the Whooping Crane Society on its activities. 

Predictably, there are problems when Nina and her friends are found out by the camp director (Nina's aunt) that they have been in the off-limits area. There is also a mystery as to who the female crane is, and Nina works with her friend Iris to identify the crane by analyzing the pattern of the calls. (Iris was the main character in Song for a Whale.) This was another learning experience for me, this time about birds. 

I also recommend this book. However, if you only have the time or inclination to read one of Kelly's books, I would read Song for a Whale. It has won many well-deserved awards and accolades.

Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, Children's fiction (elementary grades), 1946 

This was the 1946 Newbery Winner for children's literature. Miss Hickory is a child's doll made from twigs with a hickory nut for a head. The child goes away for the winter, and Miss Hickory is on her own on the farm. She interacts with various animals, often helping them to solve their problems.

The book has very good descriptions of the natural cycles of the plants and animals, and the animals' real habits are part of their character. It would be a good read-aloud book for a bedtime story, a chapter at a time.

However, I found the book odd. Maybe it's just me, but while I could accept that the animals were talking, I couldn't quite figure out how Miss Hickory came to life. It seemed incongruent. 

But that wasn't the weirdest part. SPOILER ALERT! Miss Hickory is afraid of Squirrel because he is eyeing her head as food. Eventually, he does eat her head and brain (the meat of the nut). Because she is free from thinking, with no brain, Miss Hickory is no longer afraid of things around her. She climbs to the top of an apple tree, goes to sleep in the crook of a branch, and eventually becomes grafted to the tree. 

While I appreciated the beautiful descriptions of nature, this story was just too weird for me.

The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen, Adult fiction, 2018

The pilot, Hugo, is shot down by German planes and is befriended by a local woman, Sofia, who helps him hide out in the ruins of a local monastery. A budding romance grows among the very real dangers of the war.

After her father dies, Joanna finds a letter written to Sophia among his things and becomes curious. She travels to Tuscany, partly to learn more about her father and partly to get away from her recent troubles. She doesn't learn much from the locals, but senses that maybe they know more than they are saying. She is convinced of it when a local murder happens. There is another budding romance along the way, and Joanna feels at home as she is embraced by the local farm woman, where she is staying.

This book had just the right mix of things for me: history, mystery,  romance, and descriptions of Italian food. I continue to like Rhys Bowen's standalone novels.

Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen, Adult mystery, 2015

  The Royal Spyness books follow Georgie, 35th in line to the British Throne, in the 1930s, as she stumbles onto murder after murder. There are castles, rich people, royalty, and many class restrictions that surround the stories. Despite being royalty, Georgie has no money, which causes a set of problems all its own. The stories are in historically accurate settings, and humorous relief is provided by her inept maid, Queenie. And a little romance is thrown in with her beau, Darcy.

In this adventure, Georgie is helping Greek Princess Marina before her wedding to Prince George. There is a murder on the palace grounds, but the investigation has to be hush-hush because it involves the Royal family. Georgie becomes a key part of the investigation and, of course, eventually solves the murder. 

I am glad I picked up this book, as it was a nice comfort read. Besides the mystery, I enjoyed learning about English customs and food of the time. I also like how Bowen weaves real historical figures into the narrative.

I'm still waiting on some holds from the library, so my next read may be #11 in the series, as Ward also has that one checked out.

That's it for now.

Until next time...

Squirrels love bird feeders.

We have had a bird feeder at our house for years and years. While we have never reached the number of visitors we had at our old house, we have enjoyed watching our feathered friends here.

However, the last three years have seen an unwelcome trend. Late summer, the birds stop showing up and stay away until spring. This includes all of the birds that don't migrate. It's as if the bird community has a meeting and says that they are done with our feeder and move on to other things. We still see plenty of birds around, just not at our feeder. I asked Aunt Martha, my bird expert, for insight, and she said maybe the neighbors had put up more feeders. 

When it happened again this year, we did our standard. We cleaned the feeder and filled it with fresh food. No takers. After a couple of months, we moved the feeder to the back. No takers. We bought expensive food. No takers. 

Red-bellied woodpecker

Tufted titmouse

Male and female cardinal

Caroline wren

Note: All of the pictures are from years past. Our newly arrived birds are too skittish for me to get close enough for a picture.

A couple more crocuses have bloomed.

Good morning, everyone. Are you a morning person? Do you wake up ready to go? If you are, then you and I are opposite, just like my husband and I are. I have sleep inertia where I wake up slowly, and over the last several years, I usually wake up with a headache. A migraine-like headache because it's always on the left side of my head. Fortunately, it usually dissipates after a couple of hours. 

So that's probably more than you wanted to know, but if you haven't guessed, this is another speed-blogging/stream-of-consciousness session. I've been intending to visit with you here for several days now. But you know what they say about good intentions. (The road to hell is paved with good intentions.)

We finally have all of the holiday things stowed away for another year, and everything is back in its normal place. Without the lights and other decorations, the place seems bare, but it is good to be back to some order. 

And it's especially good that we have order back in our kitchen. We've had mice in there, and the pantry and a couple of drawers have been emptied for a few days while we caught the culprits. All seems quiet on that front for now, so after a thorough cleaning, the kitchen has some order again.

We've had a few days recently with temperatures in the 50s, so we took advantage of the warm weather and visited the boats on Carroll Creek. Carroll Creek Park is a river walk with walkways, sculptures, and landscaping. For a couple of months around Christmas, they feature lighted boat sculptures in the water. It's a charity event for local organizations. Wally and Theo went with us, and we had a nice dinner at a local pub afterwards. Below are some pictures.

There goes my timer, so I wrap this up before I go another week without posting. 

Until next time...

Here are the last books I read in 2025. 

 Busy Body by M. C. Beaton, Adult mystery, 2010

I have read a few of the earlier ones, but chose this one because it takes place around Christmas. An overzealous code enforcer has angered everyone in town. Among other things, he made the church take down the Christmas tree from the roof, and others take down their light displays.  He ends up dead, and there are more victims along the way. Agatha and her staff investigate this crime and others, and Agatha eventually figures out the key to solving the mystery. 

I was a little bored at the beginning as the author caught the reader up on Agatha's history, but when Agatha and the others finally started solving the mystery, it got better. This series is very popular, and many people swear by it. I think it's just okay. But Miss Landers has read all of them in order and says that's what I need to do to really enjoy them.

Jingle by Gordon Korman, Children's mystery (elementary and middle grades), 2016

Griffin and his middle school friends have been signed up to be elves at their town's Christmas extravaganza during their school holiday break. They are not happy, but do it. On opening night, the lights go out, and a $10 million star from the top of the Christmas tree goes missing. Griffin and his friends are prime suspects as they have been involved one way or another with other crimes in their town. So they set about to find the star and absolve their names. There are many twists and turns, but eventually it all ends well.

Gordon Korman is the master of telling stories about middle school kids. Generally, his characters have distinct personalities and personal challenges in their lives. This book was no exception. It was a fun read and just right for my calm bedtime reading. It was nice to read a mystery for a change that did not involve a murder.

Winter Morning Walks: one hundred postcards by Jim Harrison, Adult poetry, 2000.

This book of poetry came from postcards that the author wrote about morning walks he took one winter as part of his cancer recovery. I learned about it from Granny Sue. She owns a copy and says that she gets the book out every year and reads a poem on the day it was written. That sounded like a lovely idea. I immediately put in a request, but it took a while for the library to find the book because they had to get it from another system. Because of that, I was not able to renew it. So I didn't read a daily poem, but read them over several days. 

Since these were originally on postcards, none of the poems is very long. I could feel the cold and see the things Harrison was describing on his walks. And the reflective mood he often had gave me food for thought.

While I appreciate poetry, it is not something I read regularly. This was a nice diversion from what I usually read, but I don't think poetry will be making a regular rotation in my reading.

The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida, Adult fiction, 2020, 2025 English translation

The story revolves around a 24/7 convenience store in Japan. Each chapter features a different person, but they all connect back to the store and its regular visitors and workers. Each person has something that they are trying to overcome or move forward with, and the store connections help them do that.

I think the word I see most often used to describe this book is "heartwarming." And I would totally agree. It is definitely a feel-good book. Also, there are a lot of eating and food descriptions that are satisfying to read. The food seems better in the Japanese convenience stores than it does here. 😀

I found the translation awkward at times, but not enough to distract from the story. Also, I found it hard to keep all the characters straight, especially at the beginning, with their multisyllabic Japanese names. But as the major characters were established and the book began to focus on individual stories, it became easier.

While I wouldn't say that this is great literature, I would read more by this author. I'm guessing that if this book is successful, some of her other books will be translated into English as well.

Until next time...

One of the best gifts I got happened a few days before Christmas, when a crocus I had been working with for the last four months bloomed inside. It made me very happy. Other leaves are up, and I hope there are more blooms to come.

Winter is showing itself throughout the country, whether with heavy rains, deep snow, or wild winds. Here, the front that's been wreaking havoc across the country has made it very windy with temperatures dropping 30°F in just a few hours. Some of the neighbor's trees have come down, but we're okay. I hope that all of our old trees have already come down, as we have lost four in the last few years. My sister in Maine had almost 2 feet of snow on Christmas Eve, which changed more than one holiday plan. I feel fortunate that we were not trying to travel during these challenging times. 

Or I should say, we weren't trying to travel far. We went to Ward's father's house on Christmas, which is only 1 1/2 hours away if traffic cooperates. And it did that day. There were 20 of us who gathered, and a good time was had by all, with ages ranging from 4 months to 92. It still amazes me that we are able to shove all of the furniture aside and piece together a table where we all sit together for dinner. 

We're slowly putting away the Christmas clutter, but don't plan to take down the decorations yet. I'm a "take it down on New Year's Day" kind of person, but Ward likes to leave things up until Three Kings Day on January 6. And that's okay because the lights on the tree and the mantle make a very nice atmosphere.

Wally and Theo got me an air fryer for Christmas. I'm looking forward to learning how to use it and doing all the amazing things my friends say it can do. They brought some tater tots over for its maiden test, and they were quite crispy. 

Also, Theo got me an American's Test Kitchen cookbook, and we've made one recipe from it — a Spanish lentil dish. There was a nice blend of spices, but we both thought it wasn't good enough to warrant all of the steps it took to make it. I'm still deciding what to cook next. We plan to take turns picking a recipe from it to try. 

Of course, when Wally was looking at it, he started on page 314 (for Pi). Next, he doubled and checked out the recipe on page 628. It reminded me of when he was at home, and I sometimes made him responsible for meals during his school breaks. He would take a cookbook, open it at random, and alternate between choosing the recipe on the right or one on the left. Whatever worked for him. 😀 I didn't interfere unless he asked for help. 

Back to the mundane. I need to get the sheets out of the dryer and remake the bed.

Until next time...

P.S. I haven't taken many pictures recently, except at family gatherings, and I can't show all of those faces. Let's see if my next post has more pictures.