Cartoons, a sad squirrel tale and Will Write For Chocolate

In last Friday's Blathering, I posted a list of the top 100 search terms that people use to find my Web sites. One was "cheap liposuction." I was highly amused by hsifyppah's artistic comment, which she has given me permission to post here:



:-D


Speaking of squirrels, I have a sad squirrel update: After not hearing squirrel sounds for the past couple of days, we started noticing an unpleasant odour on the main floor of the house. Hm. Worried that a squirrel might have gotten trapped and died behind the wall, Jeff decided to cut away part of the drywall near a spot where much of the squirrel sounds had taken place, and found a dead female red squirrel with three dead offspring, each the size of the juvenile squirrel we captured and released last week.

:-(

We're still confused as why they got trapped in this particular spot, which is only one of many we heard them running through. Jeff is going to take another look around the house today after work, in hopes of finding (and blocking) the spot that the squirrels used. We really don't want this to happen again.

I've been reading a lot more lately. I've decided to only list books that I've finished than books I'm in the midst of reading; the latter would be too long. Like many others, I've found it's often far easier to buy a book and put it on a "to read" pile than to find/make the time to actually read it. :-)

So here are some of my recent (and completed) reads, all books for young people:

	Septimus Heap is the first book in the Magyk series by Angie Sage. A fun read with some engaging characters, though I found all the highlighted Magyk words a tad irritating. I'm looking forward to the second book, though I will probably wait until it comes out in paperback.
	The Gravesavers by Sheree Fitch was recommended to me by my sister and one of my nieces. LOVED this book. I enjoyed Fitch's original imagery and style of writing. Loved the interesting way she chose to tell this story -- two stories, actually, that eventually intertwine: one in the past, one in the present. Fitch has written many picture books, but this is her first novel. I'm very much looking forward to seeing more!
	I picked up The Tale Of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo because I enjoyed her "Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" so much. I'm usually not a big fan of talking animal books, but DiCamillo manages to make her talking creatures three-dimensional and interesting; you can't help but care about them. I also loved the illustrations by Timothy Basil Ering. I didn't find Despereaux nearly as moving as Tulane, but still thoroughly enjoyed this book.

And last but not least, Will Write For Chocolate has been updated!

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