Year 2 , Day 120 : The Nancy Drew Starter Set

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 120. Today’s recommendation is the Nancy Drew Starter Set with books by Carolyn Kenne.

I don't know about you but I loved reading Nancy Drew mysteries when I was a girl. Actually I recently found my copy of The Secret of the Old Clock and was thrilled to have it back in a place of honor on my bookshelves.

Included in this boxed set are hardcover copies of books 1-5 including : The Secret of the Old Clock, The HIdden Staircase, The Bungalow Mystery, The Mystery at Lilac Inn, and The Secret of Shadow Ranch.

These books are perfect for 8-10 year olds who want to travel along with our favorite girl detective back to a simpler time. The original publication of these dates back to 1930 but they are just as fun to read today .

This boxed set of 5 hardcover chapter books sells for just $36.99 .

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

Year 2, Day 119 : Mushrooms of the Southeast

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 119. Today’s recommended book is :Mushrooms of the Southeast by Todd F. Elliott and Steven L. Stephenson.

It seems like I am suddenly seeing lots of pictures on social media of friends out foraging in the woods for mushrooms these days so I thought this book might be useful to bring to your attention It is a book of Mushrooms in the Southeast and for these purposes it covers Louisiana , as well as Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

In the book you will find vivid color pictures of each specimen and then important information about it. Not only the correct names and scientific information, but also more useful information like where to find it, is it edible, or is it poisonous. I don't know about you but I find that to be highly useful information.

This cardboard covered book is from our favorite garden book purveyor The Timber Press, it is 407 pages and currently sells for $27.95 a copy.

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

Year 2, Day 118: Falling by T J Newman

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 118. Today’s recommended book is :Falling by T.J.Newman.

This book is a wild ride. It starts with a plane crash and gets scarier from there. What happens when an airline pilot is given a choice by a terrorist . Sacrifice his entire family ( wife, 10 year old son, and 10 month old daughter) who will be blown to bits with suicide vests; or crash the plane he is flying killing all 140+ souls on board plus those who are at the unknown crash target?

This was one I could not put down until finished and had no clue how it would end. Hugely suspenseful. Best thriller of the summer so far ! (and no, strangely it did not make me afraid to fly).

This book is currently available in hardcover and audiobook. The hardcover book is 304 pages and currently sells for $28.00 a copy.

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

Year 2, Day 117 : Super Pete

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 117. Today’s recommended book is : Super Pete featuring our friend Pete by Cat by Kimberly and James Dean.

In this I Can Read Level 1 Beginning Reader book our pal Pete opens a secret door into his lair where he has lots of cool stuff that help him fight crime and save the city from bad guys. Think of things like invisible jets and tricked out watches and a slingshot and a really cool catsuit of course.

In case you have ever wondered what the Beginning Reader levels mean Level 1 means that this book is ideal for sharing with emergent readers because it has short sentences, familiar words and simple concepts for children eager to read on their own. This book is perfect for Pete the Cat fans between the ages of 4 and 8 .

This is a hardcover book , that is 32 pages long and currently sells for $16.99 a copy.

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

Year 2 , Day 116 : Places in Mind by Catharine Savage Brosman

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 116. Today’s recommended book is : Places in Mind by poet Catharine Savage Brosman.

Catharine Savage Brosman has joined us a few times over the years as the poet at The Writers and Readers Symposium so if you are a regular attendee the name may be familiar. This collection of poetry focuses on "places" and I put that in quotations for a reason. Though she certainly does talk about specific places in some of the poems from things close by and familiar like The Columns Hotel or Commanders Palace as well as places further afield like Soho or the Boulevard Ste Germain she also focuses on places in the mind like where your mind goes when you see an egret in flight or taste a perfectly prepared Brussel sprout.

As she says in the "To the Reader" note (forward) :

" a manual for tourists this is not -

adventures in the mind are what you've got".

This beautifully written paperback collection of poetry is 70 pages and currently sells for $16.95 a copy.

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

Year 2, Day 115 : The Week in Review July 5 - July 11 , 2021.

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 114. The Week in Review July 5 - July 11 , 2021.

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

This week I recommended a variety of books including : a book of poetry and art by J K Lawson called Maker Rebirth, and a guide to gardening in our area put out by the folks at Magnolia Mound called A Year In The Garden . Also included were two novels : The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V E Schwab where a young women makes a deal with the devil to save her from an unhappy marriage and ends up wondering the earth alone for over 300 years, and The Maidens by Alex Michaelides where we see a psychological thriller and murder mystery involving the Greek Tragedies and set against a backdrop of the university scene at Oxford in England , We also visited a musical sing along Wheels on the Bus with our pal Pete the Cat , and finally we wrapped up the week with an intersting discussion about Shel Silverstein's classic The Giving Tree.

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 .

Year 2 Day 114 : The GIving Tree

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 113. Today’s a little different , the book of the day today is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

I was re-reading this book for the first time in many years today at the bookstore to try and decide if i would recommend it today when a friend came in and we had the most interesting conversation about this book .

My friend brought up that while the tree is very “giving” it made my friend upset that the boy is all take and no give . She asked “is this what we are teaching our children ?” , and I actually had to stop and think about this . And she was right . The tree loves the boy and the boy loves the tree . But the tree gives leaves , and climbing places , and apples , and branches , and then her whole trunk , and finally allows the old man to sit on her stump in his old age . But what does the boy give ? Yes. He says he loves the trees but then he goes away for “a long time “ and only comes back when he needs something - which of course the tree gives .

It is completely a book about unreturned love , given without any expectation , which is a beautiful thing . But she has got me thinking that it would have been nice of the boy to fertilize the tree , or put up a plaque in its honor - or even better, maybe plant a grove of new trees in her honor . But the point of the book is to love and live without expectation . So she has really made me think, and I don’t actually know yet where I end up in this opinion . But what I do know is the book is beautiful , both in writing and in this edition’s binding .

It is slipcovered and bound in green cloth with gold imprint . Really a lovely edition .

So what are your thoughts on The Giving Tree ?

This lovely green cloth bound edition is supplied in a green cloth bound box , it currently sells for $17.99 a copy .

Year 2, Day 113 : Pete the Cat, The Wheels on the Bus

Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 112. Today's recommended book is: Pete the Cat's Wheels on the Bus sound book.

This is a fun new (to us at least) board book from our friend Pete the Cat . It is the classic "Wheels on the Bus" but has two additional benefits to it. First, it has a fun blue button on the front and when you press it it plays a funky, groovy, rock and rollish instrumental version of Wheels on the Bus so that you can sing aong as you flip the pages and read the words. The second plus are some additional verses : "the kitties on the bus go Pete the Cat, Pete the Cat , Pete the Cat" and other such.

This fun and musical board book currently sells for $12.99 a copy.

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