Year 2, Day 56: A Catfish Tale

Chatting Books Online year 2, Day 56. Today's recommended book is : A Catfish Tale by Whitney Stewart.

In this cajun storybook we meet Jacques and his wife Jolie. They happily live in the swamp. Jolie loves to sing and Jacques loves to fish. One day he pulls up a fish that (imagine this) talks to him and tells him he can't keep him he is a magical catfish. So Jacques throws him back and paddles home and tells Jolie his "fish story" . She , of course, cannot believe Jacques did not ask the magical catfish to grant him a wish and insists he goes back and asks for one tiny little favor. To which the catfish exclaims "Ah, Tooloulou-if that ain't the easiest thing to do!" and grants the wish. Well the tiny little wishes become bigger and bigger until in the end Jolie and Jacques only want to be exactly where they started, fishing and singing in the swamp.

This magical , swampy storybook 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.

Year 2, Day 55 : Mr Boddington's Etiquette

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 55. Today's recommended book is one I discovered in those snippets on the back page of a ladies magazine , and it is a new favorite and will certainly be a staple on our shelves. It is : Mr. Boddington's Etiquette, Charm and Civility for Every Occasion.

This book is just packed with useful information that every young person certainly should read when just launching and older persons like me should read once in a while as a refresher and reminder. It contains such useful information such as how to address a letter or invitation (what is appropriate if the couple is married, is it different if one is a doctor, or if they are the same sex etc - such useful stuff!). It even gives sample thank you notes letters of condolence, etc. Then it moves on to hosting and being hosted. When is it appropriate to bring a hostess gift and when is it not necessary? What items are important that you have on hand for overnight guests? How do you get folks (politely) to leave when they have stayed too late?).

It goes on to give table manners tips , when you can (and should not) wear a hat. When a hand written letter is necessary and when an email will suffice. How to make introductions at an event, the proper manners at a wedding and what are the rules on gifting. Who to tip and when to tip them - and how much (hair dresser, bellman, hotel cleaning staff , concierge , etc) . There is even a section on the proper etiquette during and after a business meeting and while on the job

I must say I have a new book to add to my favorites list at our shop! This book comes in a lovely hardcover gift sized edition , it is 224 pages long and it sells for $18.95 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 54: In Wilderness is the Preservation of the World

Chatting Books Online Year 2, day 54. Today's recommended book is: "In Wildness is the Preservation of the World" by Eliot Porter and Henry David Thoreau.

I just love when I discover a book to stock in our shop by a friend coming in to special order a book a friend of theirs told them about. So before I even see the book in person I know someone loved it enough to recommend it to a friend. Then the book arrives (and I usually order a couple so that I can peruse a copy myself ) and it is even more ;lovely than I imagined. That is how I came to know about this beautiful book.

The book itself pairs passages by Henry David Thoreau alongside beautiful images by photographer Eliot Porter . The book was first published by The Sierra Club in 1962 and has often been referred to as "the very first coffee-table book".

This stunning reprint of the book is bound in green cloth over hard cover , it is 168 pages and currently sells for $24.95 a copy. A lovely addition to any nature lover's collection and an amazing way to read more Thoreau .

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 53: Dancing Day

Chatting Books oNline Year 2, Day 53. Today's recommended book is : Angelina Ballerina , Dancing Day by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig.

What does a perfect day look like for an aspiring ballerina? Angelina is a little mouse that finds out in this board book. Starting with plies while brushing her teeth and pointed toes under the breakfast table Angelina sets about her day. After school she gets to go to her ballet lesson and pirouettes very well, then her parents surprise her with a trip to the real ballet where she gets to meet her favorite prima ballerina who signs a pair of her ballet slippers and gives them to Angelina for encouragement to follow her dreams. More love and family at home and a night of ballet dreams. That is what a perfect day looks like for a certain aspiring ballerina mouse.

We currently carry this book in board book style and it sells for $6.99 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 52: The Week in Review May 3 - 9 , 2021.

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 52. The Week in Review May 3 - 9 , 2021.

Thanks for joining us again this week as we sent out new book recommendations into the universe.

This week we recommended a variety of books including a memoir by Julia Reed with The House on First Street, a bit of book related historical fiction with The Lions of Fifth Avenue. There was a classic collection of books for children (or children at heart) with The Ultimate Children's Classic Collection and two storybooks with The Swamp Kids Adventures The Missing Chord and Uni the Unicorn and the dream come true, then we finished the week by crossing the pond to dig in the alluvial soil of the Thames with Mudlark.

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 51: Mudlark

Chatting Books Onine Year 2, day 51. Today's recommended book is " Mudlark, In Search of London's Past Along the River Thames" by Lara Maiklem.

Do you know what a mudlark is ? A Mudlark is a person who scavengesfor usable debris in the mud of a river or harbor. I have talked to some Mississippi River Mudlarks right here in our own town, but this book is about Mudlarking along the Thames in London, England. The author has been mudlarking for over 15 years and has a loyal social media following (87.2k followers on Instagram alone @london.mudlark) . Through this book Lara uses the items she finds along the Thames to tell stories from London's past. For instance when she finds a ladies pin she explains where the term "pin money" came from. It is part travel guide to London, part history book and all fascinating.

The book is available in hardcover , at 311 pages and currently sells for $27.95 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 50 : The Missing Chord

Chatting Books Online Year 2 , Day 50. Today's recommended book is The Missing Chord from The Adventures of The Swamp Kids series by Leif Nedland Pedersen.

This fun, rhyming bouncy book brings us back to the swamp where we are introduced to a group of friends Pierre a le Gator, Tutu the Turtle, Campeaux the catfish and Mon Cher a racoon. They are playing music together in hopes of winning the battle of the bands at the Fall Fais do do, but something is missing from their sound. That is until a friendly crawfish stumbles upon a washtub and learns to play the washtub base and join the band. Like all the books in this series there is even a bit of lagniappe at the end where we learn about swamp musician Doug Kershaw and we even get a lesson in how to make our own wash tub base (so long as you don't mind drilling a hole in your wash tub!).

Another delightful storybook from the Swamp Kids series this hardcover storybook currently sells for $16.95 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 49: The Lions of Fifth Avenue

Chatting Books Online Year 2, day 49. Today's recommended book is The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis.

I was first tipped off to this book by a friend who reads even more than I do and over the years has made me aware of several books that have become all-time favorites (she was the first to recommend Richard Grant's Dispatches from Pluto to me as well). Well, she was right again it is a totally enjoyable read.

This novel starts in 1913 with the Lyons family as they settle into life in an apartment hidden in the depths of the New York public library . Laura has everything she wants. Her husband Jack is the newly named superintendent of the library and an aspiring novelist. She has two beautiful children and things seem to be going well, until she sees that there may be more to life than what is right in front of her eyes. Suddenly valuable books start disappearing .

The book flashes forward 80 years to 1993 where we meet Sadie, a woman working in her dream job at the Berg Collection , a special section of the New York public library where the rarest of the rare books are kept. And books suddenly start disappearing again.

As the two timelines unfold we see the connections between the storylines and learn the mystery behind the disappearances.

Part historical fiction, part contemporary novel. and all page turning mystery

This book currently is available in hardcover, 354 pages and sells for $ 27.00

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.