What we are reading, watching and listening to.....

I thought I would talk a bit about what we are doing for entertainment , for those of you that would be interested....
Evelyn:
Right now the two favorite books of hers are, Honey, Honey, Lion! by Jan Bret and Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D.B. Johnson. The Jan Bret came from the library, this will be the second or third time that we have checked that one out, and it is a tale from Africa , there are lots of realistically drawn animals in this and a simple but engaging storyline. The Henry book was a gift from Aunt Jenny and her gang, it's based on a story form the life of Thoreau. Essentially Henry and his friend decide to go to Fitchburg and Henry walks while his friend works to earn money to ride the train- they want to see who gets there first. Evelyn never gets tired of this story! The pictures are wonderful and they appear simple at first but they are actually full of details. Last night when we were reading this story, she asked if we could go to Fitchburg, she wanted to go there and ride a train and then find a blackberry patch.

Leslie:
Les is always reading about 3 or 4 books at a time so I didn't try to get pics of his. He is now reading one called The Cork Boat , from the library; he was reading The Golden Compass, but has set that aside... I am sure that there are others stashed about the house.

Michal:
I am reading The Tin Roof Blow Down, sent to me by my Dad. It's the latest in Burke's Dave Robicheux series. I love this series. Dave is a New Orleans on again, off again police detective and these are mysteries around his cases and life. The stories are gritty and can be dark, but Burke's writing is clear and concise with vivid images brought to life by his poetically descriptive style. The secondary character of Clete Purcell almost single handedly makes the books worth reading. After this I am going to jump back into the world of Harry Potter. Recent e-mailings with my in-laws have gotten me in the mood to read this series again. That is all I will say, if I write anymore, this entry will end up being a 50 page breakdown of why the HP series is so great. Then Les and I are reading the latest Martin Cruz Smith, Stalin's Ghost. This is the latest in Smith's Arkady Renko series and we have read all of them aloud, Renko is never a disappointment.
One of my other hobbies is Crochet. I just got the Amigurumi book in and I have started on one of the projects already. I am working on the fawn and will start the monkey next. I am also crocheting a Christmas afghan for our house. It's a snowflake pattern on a pine green background, made in hexagons and then stitched together.

Watching:
We just started watching Planet Earth, a BBC series that is phenomenal. The images and photography in this are astounding. They used a new kind of high-def camera for filming and they are able to get stuff that has never been filmed before. I highly recommend this.
Update: OK although this series is enjoyable and incredible , there is ALOT of cute , fuzzy things being eaten by predators. Seriously. Alot. One particularly harsh sequence involving a tiny, fuzzy, yellow baby snow goose and an arctic fox. Now I realize that these things happen in nature , but do I really have to see it over and over again , for each species?? I think not. OH and if I ever see another seal get eaten by a shark again, I believe that I will loose my mind. SO maybe watch this one with the kiddies and one finger on the fast forward.


Listening:
Neko Case, Anne Savoy, Chris Isaak, David Gray and Dwight Yoakam....