Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Author Archives: Eowyn


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‘Stable Weight’ Balances the Scales

Stable Weight: A Memoir of Hunger, Horses, and Hope (Hopewell Publications, 2021)

By Lisa Whalen

Biography/Memoir/Health, Mind & Body

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

Ever gingerly opened a book, unsure where it may head, or how?

Stable Weight was one of those books. When Mom and I sat down to read it, she let me in on a secret. I’ll explain at the end of this review. So stay tuned. And don’t tell Mom. Let’s just keep this our little secret, okay? Meanwhile, on to the review:

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‘No Ordinary Day’ Packs a Wallop

No Ordinary Day

By Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, 2011)

Genre: Children’s

Pages: 160

Via: Library

“The best day of my life was the day I found out I was not alone in the world” begins this slim, no-nonsense tome by Deborah Ellis, followed by, “This is how it happened.”

The Deets

Easily read in a day or two, No Ordinary Day is narrated by the protagonist, Valli, a young orphan girl who escapes the coal pits of Jharia, India to roam the highways and byways of Kolkata, India.  The story unfolds through Valli’s eyes, ears, and feet.  Yes, feet.  Feet that have been burnt, cut, and injured without an “Ouch!”

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30-ish Favorite Authors of All Time

Hold on to your bacon, friends! Cuz Her Royal Momness has come up with a Royal Doozie this time! Yes sirree, Lassie!

You know how the more you read, the more you begin to get favorite authors? Realize that no matter what they publish, the way they write and structure their work is going to pull you in every time? Like that nice, juicy burger left unattended on the backyard barbecue, so when no one was lookin’…

What?

Oh, right. Favorite authors of all time.

This is harder than you may think. And think. And think. And think again. But some hoomans asked about our fave authors the other day. So we’re up to the task. Or the Royal Doozie, as the case may be.

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‘Tundavala’ Adventure Tome Hits the Jackpot!

Wait. Do I smell bacon?

Well. Great gobs of galloping goose grease! And bacon! Lots and lots of bacon!

Mom and I got this book in the mail the other day. Added it to our TBR pile. You know. The one that’s about 256 feet tall. Her Momness says, “No worries, Kimmi. Let’s just take a quick peek at the book blurb. Maybe a gander at a sentence or two. Or a paragraph or… 67. A few pages… chapters… bases…”

Silly Mom.

Next thing ya know, it’s 1:47 a.m. We’re rounding third base. Sliding into home. And turning the last page. Silly Mom again. Cuz ya know what? We couldn’t put this thing down! (The book. Not the bacon. Well, okay. The bacon, too. But ya know what we mean, right?) Here’s why:

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15 Summer Hits & Misses


Kimber the Magnificent: Summer’s winding down and Her Momness and I thought now would be a good time to revisit some Summer Hits and Misses. 

So we’re gonna include some Seriously Pawsome Reads and some Kitty Litter Box candidates. Fifteen in all. In no particular order.

Ready? Set? Let’s go!

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How To Make the Most of a Writing Contest

Being all Beautiful and Brilliant and Everything.

Turning a corner here today into somethin’ a little diff: writing contests.

Raise your paw if this has ever happened to you. (It’s okay. Nobody’s lookin’.):

You’re cruising the internet, local bookstore or writer’s group and come across an announcement for a writing contest. It may be fiction or non. Short story, humor, poetry. Whatever. You’re intrigued. You check out the guidelines. Polish your best material to a solar sheen. Submit. And cross your fingers.

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Fantasy Flies High in ‘Last Witch on Skye’

 

Oh, me! Oh, my! It’s The Last Witch on Skye!

Okay, okay. That’s lame. Mom’s idea. So you know who to pin that one on, okay?

Anywho, we got this review request the other day from a lady in the foreign country of Nova Scotia. No idea where that is. Do they have burgers? (We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Our review queue was closed at the time. Still trying to catch up. But there was something about this book and the review request that caught our eye. Convinced us to make an exception. Kimber: Probably had something to do with the smell of freshly barbecued…. What?

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Libraries and The ‘Dog Days’ of Summer

What do humans mean when they say ‘dog days of summer’? That I can hang my nose out the car window more on warmish days? That it’s too hot to do anything except lie in the shade and dream about kibble and surfing? Something related to Sirius, the ‘dog star’?

‘Dog star,’ huh? I kinda like the sound of that.

Wait. Kid on a bicycle going by.

Now. Where was I? Oh, yeah ‘Dog days.’ We’ve had several this summer. Temperatures ticked up to the mid and upper nineties. That may not sound like much to you Phoenix or Las Vegas types. But in western Washington, that’s as rare as a smart cat. It’s so rare in fact, that most houses don’t have air conditioning. Pontoons, maybe. But not A/C.

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Book Bridges: When Moms Get Dewy-Eyed & Sparkly

It looked like this here yesterday. And like:

So Mom and I decided a soggy Saturday’s a good day to clean out the attic. (It seemed like a good idea at the time.)

Now, you may not know this about me. But I’m a Great Attic Clean-Up Supervisor. I found a comfy rug. Laid down. Watched Mom cart stuff up and down the stairs. Dust. Categorize. Box. Un-box. Re-box.

Supervisin’s a tough job. But somebody’s gotta do it.

Anyway, Mom opened this one box. And sat down. “Oh my!” says she. “Kimmi, look at this!”

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Should I Blog Every Day?

Six words that strike terror into the heart of bloggers:

Please share your latest blog post.

This according to Her Mom-ness. Me? I’m cool with a daily walk and “dinner” twel… I mean twice a day. But you know how moms are. For as long as I can remember – both minutes – Her Mom-ness has insisted that:

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