Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie


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10 Fictional Places We’d Love to Visit This Summer

TSA lines moving at glacial speed? Travel package rivaling the national debt? Accommodations that make the Bates Motel look like an upgrade?

Let’s go!

Summer vacay is just around the corner. So pack your bags and set sail on the U.S.S. Mom and Kimster for some favorite fictional summer vacay locations. We’re talkin good food, good scenery, and good times. Based on books. (Accessories not included. Batteries sold separately.)

ALL ABOARD!

  • Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl). What could be more fun than all the free chocolate Mom could possibly chow down? ‘Sides. It’ll be a brand new year by the time she comes down from that sugar high.
  • The Emerald City (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum). The sentries! The horse-drawn carriages! The green glasses! A yellow-brick road and a hot air balloon! Oh yeah!
  • Cair Paravel (The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis). Seeking magical, scenic, and epic adventure with talking animals and a Really Big Lion? All you have to do is walk through a wardrobe.
  • Neverland (Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie). Mom: Okay, Kimmi. Where’d ya stash my pixie dust?
  • Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane (Mary Poppins – P.L. Travers). What IS inside that carpet bag, anyway?
  • Rivendell (Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien): The ultimate “Calgon, take me away” retreat. Plush accommodations. Breathtaking natural beauty. Excellent elven wine and endless plates of food. Miles of hiking with a sweet furry face we all know and love. And no one will ask to see Mom’s passport.
  • The Shire (The Lord of the Rings again- J.R.R. Tolkien): If we’re not busy rescuing hunanity and saving the world, we’ll park here for a while. Chow down on six meals a day (but who’s counting?). Snooze and cruise while waiting for Gandalf to show up with the latest fireworks extravaganza.
  • Camelot (The Once and Future King – T.H. White). A king. A queen. A knight. A round table. And Morgan le Fey. What could possibly go wrong?
  • The Hundred Acre Wood (Winnie-the-Pooh – A A. Milne). Terminal cuteness with the world’s most loveable bear ‘of very little brain’ and his sweet forest friends. Who wouldn’t want to join Pooh for a friendly pot of honey?
  • Chew and Swallow (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs – Judi Barrett). A town where food falls out of the sky. All day. Every day. Kimber: Sign me up!

Where are you heading this summer? Let us know which fictional paradise you’re hoping to wake up in!



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7 Captivating Children’s Books for the Ultimate Summer Break

So Mom is skipping merrily around the house. Opening every window in sight. Crowing about sunshine and summer.

Who loves ya, baby?

So embarrassing.

But that got one of us thinking. What are some great children’s books set during the sunshine season? The kind that’ll keep kiddos engaged, turning pages and avoiding endless choruses of “I’m boooorred”? Cuz summer is prime reading time! And not just for us dinosaurs (Don’t tell Mom I said that, okay?).

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Paws, Patients, and Pure Grit Discovered in ‘So You Want To Be a Veterinarian’

Kimber the Magnificent here. With a true-life story. About Yours Truly. It’s real short. But it’s relevant to this review. So kindly keep you hair on, pal. Goes like this:

Awhile back Her Royal Momness looked out the window into the yard. She noticed I was limping. Mom ran outside like a shot from a cannon. Found my front paw was all bloody. No idea what happened or how. Just Too. Much. Blood. After recovering from her heart attack, Mom got the neighbor kid to help carry me into the house. Then we called Dr. Dan. He’s my doctor. We set a new land-speed record racing over to Dr, Dan’s place (don’t tell anyone, okay?). And Dr. Dan and his helpers took care of me. Bandage. Pain meds. Anti-biotic thingies. Observation. They even got me this little plastic bootie for my foot. To protect my bandage from getting wet. Mom had to tie it on my foot every time I had to go outside. So annoying. But it worked. And about a week and half later-ish, I was up and running and zooming all over creation, like usual! So yea, Dr. Dan!

Still with me? Good! I’m telling you this because I wanted to let you know that I was not scared at Dr. Dan’s place. That’s because I love Dr. Dan! He talks real soft and slow. I see him twice a year (that foot ouchie was a “seismic anamoly.” No idea what that means. It’s just what Mom said, okay?) At my usual check-ups, Dr. Dan says. “How’s my sweet girl today?” His face is all smiley and his voice is happy when he says that. I like Dr. Dan because Dr. Dan likes me! He also remembers I like the bacon-flavored treats best. Dr. Dan is one of my favorite-est hoomans in the whole world. (He’s not Mom. But, hey. Who is?)

So when Mom got a review request for this little’uns book about how they can be a veterinarian like my good buddy Dr. Dan, I said “Take it!” The world needs more Dr. Dans. I’ll let Mom fill you in on the rest:

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Kimber’s Guide to June Reading

Brilliant AND Beautiful!

Happy June 1!

No idea what that means, spake I, Kimber the Magnificent. But Mom is crowing about “Hoo-ray for June!” So “June” must be a good thing, right? Especially if “June” comes in Filet Mignon, medium-well, wrapped in bacon and all juicy and yummy and…

Wait. Where was I?

Oh yeah. June. And reading.

Well. Today you’re in for a treat, Cupcake. Cuz today I’m gonna give you a rundown on how this June reading thing works in my house. Like this:

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Why ‘The Colonel’s Revenge’ Will Make Your Mom Forget Dinner Time

The Colonel’s Revenge

A Mateus de Silva Adventure (Koehlerbooks, 2026)

By Jeffrey K. Schmoll

Genre: Fiction – Action/Adventure

Pages (Print): 252

Via: Author’s request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.

“Revenge is a dish best served cold” – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

So. You may want to break out your winter gear and an extra blankie for the newest action/adventure book by Jeffrey Schmoll. Cuz we’re talkin’ Edmond Dantes-esque revenge here as expert writing, pitch-perfect pacing and a lightning-fast plot race across pages and places like a runaway freight train in The Colonel’s Revenge.

Yeppers, this story has it all. Unusual settings: Angola, Namibia and South Africa. Friends lost on the battlefield. Diamonds, gems, treasure. A desperate fight for survival in a brutal, illegal gold mine. Losing a family. Finding a grandson. Love. Loyalty. Betrayal. Second chances. And enough high-octane adventure to send you into orbit. I’ll let Mom tell ya more. (Cuz, ya know. Mom. Insert eye roll here.)

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Let’s Lose “Happy” Memorial Day

Yo!

Kimber the Magnificent here. Giving you a little heads up. Cuz The ‘Ole Curmudgeon is being an old curmudgeon today. Again. Still. It has to do with this holiday thingy today. I’ll let TOC fill ya in:

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Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact: How ‘Kindness Heroes’ Ignites Hope

You gonna eat that?

Kimber here. Saying you might want to stock up on tissue before tackling one of the best non-fiction books we’ve read all year. It’s Jackie Kurtz’s Kindness Heroes: Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things. Cuz we just finished it. And Mom is doing that sniffly, sparkly-eyed thing. Again. Cuz, ya know. Mom. (Insert eye roll here.)

We received a complimentary copy of this book for honest review.

I’ll let Mom tell ya more:

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Deck the Halls with Deadly Secrets in This Seasonal Whodunit

The Christie’s: A Christmas Murder 1984

By Daryl Smith (Indie author, 2026)

Genre: Fiction/Murder Mystery/Christian Fiction

Pages: (print): 148

Via: Author Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book for honest review.

It’s Christmastime in 1984 Dearborn, Michigan. High Schooler James Christie is attending a Christmas Eve party. Ex-San Francisco detective/ace private investigator Johnny Wong is also attending the party at the Christie mansion. It’s a good thing the detective is in attendance. Because when industrial magnate and family patriarch David Christie falls dead at said party shortly after changing his will, the hunt for the killer is on in this faith-flavored seasonal whodunit.

There’s also superstition. Strange things that go bump in the night. The Christie family curse. Missing pictures. The Third Army. Suicide. Microchips and Silicon Valley. A gold pen. An ancient pact.

This book moves well and is an interesting read. It’s packed with plenty of misdirections, red herrings, and clever clues. It’s a good effort. The cover art is terrif! But it’s not yet ready for prime time. Here’s why:

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The Issue With “The”

Her Royal Momness and I were cruising literary headlines the other day. Several asked stuff like:

Psst! Throwin’ this in for free: I’M The Best, okay?
  • What’s the most emotional book you ever read?”
  • What’s the funniest book you ever read?
  • What’s the saddest book you ever read?”
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Better Than Bacon: 16 Ways to Download Books for Free

Someone say “bacon”?

Oh boy! Oh Boy! Oh boy! Today we’re highlighting two of my favorite words: FREE and BOOK! No. Really. This list includes 16 apps and websites where you either create a free account to download books for free, can download unlimited audio and ebooks free for a limited time, or just read for free, period. Hi, Libby. 

Sound good? Great! Grab the nearest fork and let’s dive in:

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