Year 2, Day 49 : Uni the Unicorn and the Dream Come True

Chatting Books Online Year 2 , Day 48. Today’s recommended book is : Uni the Unicorn and the Dream Come True .

In this book we revisit our friend the little girl who believes in Unicorns and Uni the Unicorn (who believes in little girls). Only there is a problem . It has been raining for days and days (tell me about it !) and as a result all the unicorns are losing their powers (need rainbows for that !) . Well the two of them together come up with a plan to stop the rain , regain the unicorn magic and help everyone in the land of unicorns live happily ever after . I’m wondering if that would work here , because I sure am tired of this rain and feeling rather un-magical myself about now .

This storybook is hardcover and sells for $17.99 a copy .

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you.

Year 2, Day 48 : The Ultimate Children's Classic Collection

Chatting Books Online year 2 , Day 47. Rather than recommending a single book today I have decided to recommend a whole set. So today's recommendation is The Ultimate Children's Classic Collection by Wordsworth Editions This is a fabulous starter library of classics for children. A great set for family read-a-longs that will take you through quite some time.

The books included in this boxed set are: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Treasure island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Black beauty by Anna Sewell, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett , and Peter Pan and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J M Barrie. One of my favorite things about this set is that it includes the second book of the three sets that require such right in the volumes. The one thing I don't love about this set is that the books are paperback - but it does hold the cost down so it is an understandable thing .

This boxed set of 7 paperback volumes currently sells for $ 29.99

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you.

Year 2 , Day 47: The House on First Street

Chatting Books online Year 2, Day 46. Today’s recommended book Julia Reed’s memoir : The House on First Street , My New Orleans Story .

This was both the perfect choice of book for me to read right now ; and the worst possible pick . You see the book is part love letter to the city of New Orleans and part lament about the travails of home renovation . In my own life right now I am both redecorating my home in St Francisville about to embark on a renovation and addition and I am about to transplant from my home in New Orleans to live full time in the country . So throughout reading the book I was at times nostalgic , at times excited , at times dreading the renovation , at times looking forward to the end result , and at times a bit sad . The sadness is not so much for me , I am embarking on a new adventure (apparently ones with large snakes on my back porch about which I am not thrilled but that is another story for another day ). Mostly I am sad for the city of New Orleans that throughout its history seems to repeatedly be its own worst enemy , and I am sad that the literary world has lost the voice of such a wonderfully heartfelt writer . It takes a special writer to bring you on a journey combining raucous French Quarter parties , fine meals in fabulous restaurants you can practically taste as you read the passage , traveling the state with an infamous (and later imprisoned) politician , through a total home renovation that went anything but smoothly, and Hurricane Katrina and do it all with humor and grace . I am glad I read it , and I suggest you do too .

We currently carry this book in paperback , it is 199 pages and sells for $15.99 a copy .

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you.

Year 2, Day 46 : The Week in Review April 26-May 2, 2021.

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 45. The Week in Review April 26-May 2, 2021.

Thanks for joining us again this week as we sent out new book recommendations to you .

This week we recommended a novel that asks the question what would you do differently if you could undo past regrets in your life in The Midnight Library.

I also recommended the play in book form Harry Potter and the Cursed Child where we get to drop back into the lives of our favorite wizards 19 years from when we last saw them .

We then learned not to be prideful and greedy with Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories

We learned to improvise and get creative in the kitchen with The New York Times Cooking No - Recipe Recipes .

We learned about antique roses in The Rose Rustlers and then we wrapped up the week with a quote from great literature to celebrate every birthday from 0 to 100 in 100 Years .

If you missed any of these reviews and want to read what I had to say about them you can see all of our Chatting Books Online picks by visiting our website at: http://www.conundrumbooks.com/chatting-books-online .

We still (and always will going forward) offer shipping if you cannot make it to the store. Or just stop by the shop during or normal hours . See you soon !

Year 2 , Day 45: 100 Years

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 44. Today's recommended book is 100 Years: Wisdom From Famous Writers On Every Year of Your Life . It is a book of selections by Joshua Prager.

The book is very simple. each page contains an age 0-100 and a quote from a famous writer from one of their books where they explicitly list that age and then tell us something about life at that age. From Samuel Beckett telling us about 0 (Birth) to J D Sallinger talking about age 100 and every year in between someone had something to say about being that age. It is interesting to see how feelings on age have changed throughout the years since these were written - and how they have remained the same.

It is a simple, and interesting book that would make a great birthday gift for that friend who loves literature and you just don't know what to get for them. You know , that person you feel like you would like to get a book for but you cannot imagine what book they do not already own? Problem solved.

This gift book comes in hardcover and currently sells for $ 17.95 a copy.

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you.

Year 2, Day 44: The New Yorl Times Cooking No-Recipe Recipes

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 43. Today's recommended book is : The New York Times Cooking No-Recipe Recipes. The basic idea of this cookbook is that if you are even a somewhat experienced cook you don't need a step-by-step recipe but instead a framework and idea that can lead you to improvise and come up with dishes with your own flair.

So as they state : you do not need a recipe , but you do need a well stocked pantry - and it gives a breakdown of what to have on hand to always be able to create wonderful meals from whatever is on hand.

So each page has a beautiful picture of some simple dish and then a list of ingredients suggested , but without measurements, and a very simplified how-to section. I love this book because it really lets your creativity fly . Afterall, half the battle is just deciding what to serve and these ideas and pictures certainly help with that! Check out the page on Black Bean Tacos I have included and you will get the picture.

This cookbook is cloth covered, 242 pages, and sells for $28.00 a copy.

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you.

Year 2, Day 43: The Rose Rustlers

Chatting Books Online Year 2 , Day 42. Today's recommended book is : The Rose Rustlers by Greng Grant and William C. Welch.

Tis the season for blooming roses, which also makes it the season that social media is abuzz with people trying to identify favorite roses so that they can get one, grow, one, propogarte one, etc. That is where this book comes in handy. This book is written by two "Rosarians" and self proclaimed "Rose Rustlers" . What is a rose rustler you ask? Well you see these two horticulturists specialize in antique roses, particularly those hardy, sturdy roses found in a vacant lot , in a cemetery or a road side ditch. Thoise beautiful prolific roses of old that produced bountiful small blooms and needed very little, if any, care. These guys have made it their mission to rustle them up together , gather a fun anecdote about each and info on growing them and share them with you in this book with lots of lovely photos.

The book is softcover (more cardboard than paper) , 232 pages and sells for $30.00 a copy. . And yes, there is a section on the Peggy Martin Rose.

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you.

Year 2, Day 42: Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories

Chatting Books Online year 2, Day 41. It is time for another of my all-time favorite Seuss books so today's recommended book is : Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss.

Do you remember Yertel ? He was the King of turtles in a pond. He sat atop a rock "throne" and considered himself king of all he could see. Which was all well and good until one day when he decided he would like to see , and be king of, more. So he called his subject turtles and told then to climb on each other's backs and he climbed to the top and saw so much more. And for a while he was happy , but you guessed it he then wanted to stack more turtles to get even higher , see even more, and therefore Rule even more. And on it went until a plain little turtle at the bottom called Mack got increasingly sore and hungry and then one day he burped causing all the turtles to tumble down landing Yertel in the mud.

Also included in the book are the stories of Gertrude McFuzz who was jealous of other birds fine tail feathers and The Big Brag where a rabbit and a bear try to out sniff and out hear each other .

Both stories end as you would expect with the main character learning that their greed and pride was their downfall and they learn to be happy in their original states so three stories on the same theme. Greed is Bad and you are not the best at everything and trying to prove you are will only leave you in a mess..

This collection is sold in a hardcover storybook and it currently sells for $ 16.99 a copy.

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you.