The Friday Five - Summer/Camping
Jun. 6th, 2025 03:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seleneheart1. Have you ever been to summer camp?
Every summer from the time I was seven until sixteen. The best two weeks of the whole summer. The camp was on land owned by the company my father worked for, and since it was one of the biggest employers in town, lots of kids I knew from school were there too and kids from some of the other schools in the area. It was in the middle of nowhere, had to take a bus most of the way there, and then walk the rest. One time, one of the girls in my cabin decided she was going to wear her swim suit the whole two weeks and not take it off. Not for horse back riding, not for archery, not for overnight camping in the woods. She did shower though. She was one of the cool girls, so she got away with it without much shame or harassment. Site of my first kiss. Where my counselor read us The Little Prince and I had to go find that book when I got home. Where we did crafts with substances that I think are illegal in this country now - I googled them a few years ago - wire dipping. And clacker balls. And so so many lanyards. But, yeah, I loved that place. You had to earn the right to come back as a counselor, which I did for one summer, but then I got involved in other stuff in high school that took up my summers, so I stopped. It closed down, and the company sold all the land. It's been clear cut and the cabins bulldozed. But there's a Facebook group keeping the memories alive.
2. Have you ever made a s'more?
Yes, many times.
3. Have you ever slept under the stars (no tent/tarp)? Yes, several times. Both at camp above and later in college.
4. Have you ever had a member of the opposite sex sleep over at your house?
What are we, twelve? Yes, yes I have.
5. What type of bed do you have (queen, twin, bunk, etc.)?
A queen bed. My cozy place.
Every summer from the time I was seven until sixteen. The best two weeks of the whole summer. The camp was on land owned by the company my father worked for, and since it was one of the biggest employers in town, lots of kids I knew from school were there too and kids from some of the other schools in the area. It was in the middle of nowhere, had to take a bus most of the way there, and then walk the rest. One time, one of the girls in my cabin decided she was going to wear her swim suit the whole two weeks and not take it off. Not for horse back riding, not for archery, not for overnight camping in the woods. She did shower though. She was one of the cool girls, so she got away with it without much shame or harassment. Site of my first kiss. Where my counselor read us The Little Prince and I had to go find that book when I got home. Where we did crafts with substances that I think are illegal in this country now - I googled them a few years ago - wire dipping. And clacker balls. And so so many lanyards. But, yeah, I loved that place. You had to earn the right to come back as a counselor, which I did for one summer, but then I got involved in other stuff in high school that took up my summers, so I stopped. It closed down, and the company sold all the land. It's been clear cut and the cabins bulldozed. But there's a Facebook group keeping the memories alive.
2. Have you ever made a s'more?
Yes, many times.
3. Have you ever slept under the stars (no tent/tarp)? Yes, several times. Both at camp above and later in college.
4. Have you ever had a member of the opposite sex sleep over at your house?
What are we, twelve? Yes, yes I have.
5. What type of bed do you have (queen, twin, bunk, etc.)?
A queen bed. My cozy place.
Book Bingo: G2 | eBook/Audiobook | A Sorceress Comes to Call
Jun. 5th, 2025 06:52 amseleneheartA Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Blurb:
I've had this on my 'Want to read' list for a while. I've previously read T. Kingfisher's The Halcyon Fairy Book, which is her annotations of various fairy tales, plus some bonus original fairy tales/retellings, so I was intrigued to read a full novel based on a fairy tale, in this case The Goose Girl.
A really great read - interesting to see all the elements of the original fairy tale woven into a full length book, including the geese. The horror elements in most Grimm fairy tales are fully fleshed out here, so be ready for that. It's hard to know when/where this is set. In the author's notes, she references the Regency Period, but it isn't really set in Britain. Some fantasy version of it, perhaps.
Blurb:
Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.
After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.
Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.
I've had this on my 'Want to read' list for a while. I've previously read T. Kingfisher's The Halcyon Fairy Book, which is her annotations of various fairy tales, plus some bonus original fairy tales/retellings, so I was intrigued to read a full novel based on a fairy tale, in this case The Goose Girl.
A really great read - interesting to see all the elements of the original fairy tale woven into a full length book, including the geese. The horror elements in most Grimm fairy tales are fully fleshed out here, so be ready for that. It's hard to know when/where this is set. In the author's notes, she references the Regency Period, but it isn't really set in Britain. Some fantasy version of it, perhaps.
2 More Bingos
Jun. 1st, 2025 01:28 pmseleneheartThe last couple of books I read gave me two more bingos. I'm currently reading books that will satisfy the two remaining squares with a theme, and then I'll just put whatever I read after that on the free space.
Book Bingo: B5 | From the Library | The Body in the Garden
May. 30th, 2025 09:16 amseleneheartThe Body in the Garden by Katharine Schellman
Blurb:
This is the first mystery in the series - setting the place an time more than the following books. We get more of Lily's backstory and grief over the loss of her husband, and her initial friendship with Ofelia as well as her working relationship with Simon Page. Very enjoyable.
Blurb:
London 1815. Newly widowed Lily Adler returns to a society that frowns on independent women, but she's no stranger to the glittering world of London's upper crust. She's back in town and eager to have a renaissance with friends, particularly with Lady Serena Walter--from their school days--determined to create a meaningful life for herself even without a husband. She expects scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn't expect, as she's visiting Lady Walter is a dead man laying in her garden.
Lily happened to overhear the man just minutes before he was shot: young, desperate, and attempting blackmail. When she finds out Lord Walter bribes the investigating magistrate to drop the case, Lily is worried, and becomes the only one with the key to catching the killer.
Aided by Navy Captain Jack Hartley and heiress from the West Indies Miss Ofelia Oswald, Lily sets out to discover whether her friend's husband is mixed up in blackmail and murder. The unlikely team sets out to conceal their investigation behind the whirl of London's social season, but the deceased knew secrets about people with power. Secrets that the powerful have desire and influence to keep hidden. Now, Lily will have to uncover the truth, before she becomes the killer's next target.
This is the first mystery in the series - setting the place an time more than the following books. We get more of Lily's backstory and grief over the loss of her husband, and her initial friendship with Ofelia as well as her working relationship with Simon Page. Very enjoyable.
