Ruby Red- Kerstin Geir

From Goodreads: Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!


Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential.

Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.
 
My opinion:
I loved this! Although I had figured out a few of the plot twists, I don't know what caused them yet. (I'm sure that they will be explained in the rest of the trilogy) Gwyneth and her best friend are a delight, her interactions with the school ghost (who doesn't know he's dead) are amusing, and her family is just plain baffling. She handles her unexpected ability to time-travel fairly well, considering some of the situations she gets thrust into. I'm dying to know what has created the schism in time-travel factions, and what Gwyneth's mystery power will turn out to be.

Two for Tuesday

This may or may not become a regular feature, but I wanted to share 2 of the Christmas Ornaments that I've finished stitching. Sadly, my camera is still refusing to upload pictures, so once again I have to thank the kind folks at Google Images for the assist.

First we have this one:

 Brittercup Designs, 2011 ornament from the Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. I've added beads to represent the ornaments on mine. 

and this:

 This is also from the JCS ornament issue, but I couldn't find a bigger picture.

Anyway, I had fun doing those two, and hopefully will be able to share more as I finish them. and maybe I'll finally learn how to get MY pictures to upload!

Oh- and for those who are interested, my friend Laura is hosting an ornament exchange on her blog. You can sign up here: http://thecrossstitchcorner.blogspot.com/2011/12/january-exchange.html and join the fun. We did a bookmark exchange last year, and if this one goes well, I'm hoping she'll do some more in 2012.

Poetry Monday

Homage to My Hips



these hips are big hips.


they need space to


move around in.


they don't fit into little


petty places. these hips


are free hips.


they don't like to be held back.


these hips have never been enslaved,


they go where they want to go


they do what they want to do.


these hips are mighty hips.


these hips are magic hips.


i have known them


to put a spell on a man and


spin him like a top






Lucille Clifton

Poncho- Year One

I first came across this series a few years ago. Poncho is a funny little dog, and his interactions with the humans, cats, fish, and other dogs in his life are a hoot. Creator Paul Gilligan decided to go back and explore Poncho's origins, and I'm SO glad he did. You get to see his life from just before birth until he goes to live with his pet human, Chaz. The puppy sibling relationships are a scream- loved the Goth girl pup. Great addition to my collection.

Poetry Monday

My Love Is Like To Ice



My love is like to ice, and I to fire:


How comes it then that this her cold so great


Is not dissolved through my so hot desire,


But harder grows the more I her entreat?


Or how comes it that my exceeding heat


Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold,


But that I burn much more in boiling sweat,


And feel my flames augmented manifold?


What more miraculous thing may be told,


That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice,


And ice, which is congeal's with senseless cold,


Should kindle fire by wonderful device?


Such is the power of love in gentle mind,


That it can alter all the course of kind.






Edmund Spenser

Moon Over Soho- Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant is back in this second installment of Aaronovitch's series, and all I can say is "More, please!" I'd swear he's writing these things just for me- set in London, featuring jazz and a biracial hero, with a healthy dollop of paranormal activity thrown in. All things I love, and well written, to boot! I liked the fact that a critically injured character from the first book still appears in the second, and without being magically cured of the damage she suffered. It's hard for Peter (and Leslie herself) to deal with the aftermath, but it doesn't get glossed over. Peter's mentor is also still suffering the effects of his injuries from Midnight Riot, and Peter is left with a great deal less superivision as a result. This, for him, does not prove to be an entirely good thing as he is faced with a man-eating woman (literally), several unexpectedly dead jazz musicians, and yet another woman who wants Peter for her own. Good stuff!

Poetry Monday

I Sit and Think



I sit beside the fire and think


of all that I have seen,


of meadow-flowers and butterflies


in summers that have been;






Of yellow leaves and gossamer


in autumns that there were,


with morning mist and silver sun


and wind upon my hair.






I sit beside the fire and think


of how the world will be


when winter comes without a spring


that I shall never see.






For still there are so many things


that I have never seen:


in every wood in every spring


there is a different green.






I sit beside the fire and think


of people long ago,


and people who will see a world


that I shall never know.






But all the while I sit and think


of times there were before,


I listen for returning feet


and voices at the door.






John Ronald Reuel Tolkien