Sometimes I luck out and find a good free book on the Kindle. Murder in Wonderland, by Leslie Leigh is a great example of this. The first in the Allie Griffin Mysteries series, it features Allie – a plucky widow trying to break into the upper crust of her hometown Verdenier by hosting the local book club in her own home only to have one of the snootiest of the snooty fall over dead in the middle of her Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland themed table.

There are various direct quotes and clever connections to the Alice books through out the story. The main character is obsessed with the book and it shows.

The cast of characters at the book club are all rather interesting, some with some rather sordid pasts. The author (and main character) cleverly align them with people out of the Alice books. It certainly made them stick in the mind more and was a wonderful way to add characteristics to them without having to go into high detail. After when you hear RED QUEEN you don’t exactly think sweet little widow lady.

This book is light on violence, no sexual content and no true profanity… instead Allie will often say the word. Something I found rather humorous and not the least bit annoying.

The mystery is an interesting one and the ending a surprise to me. Which I love. There is a shady police officer but he is more of an annoyance than a major thorn in the side. This is balanced out with another more capable and realistic officer thankfully.

So, literary references, humour, fun characters and a mystery that keeps you guessing! Not bad for a random free read, not bad at all!

A new series and a new reading partner with this one… Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe was added to our summer reading program (with the rest of the original Bunnicula books) thanks to Gammie. She has enriched our summer learning beyond belief and we are so very very thankful! 

This is a young readers book, but as an adult I had an absolute blast reading it. To get the full experience of the book you MUST read the Editor’s Note first. (and the author write up at the end where you read about how his wife helped with the creation of this series but has since passed away) The main characters are all entertaining animals… pets actually, and their human family entertaining as well. 

This is definitely a great book for all ages. I would think my girls would enjoy it as well, though so far it feels more geared to my sons’ interests (what with the children of the family being all boys). There is a good giggle or two in there, an adventure and the potential of a new friend/permanent family member…

Is Bunnicula more than just a rabbit with unusual markings and features or are we looking at a case of mistaken identity??? Do check this book out if you get the chance! But don’t take my word for it… ask Zander! (beware of spoilers)

Zander: I like Harold because he is so smart. Harold is the dog. I like the story because it was full mystery. I think Bunnicula was the cutest thing. I think the ending was funny (there was a funny part at the end). I think anyone who knows how to read should read this book. I want to read the whole series because I like how it is full of mystery and funny parts. Not a ton of books have a lot of funny parts in them. 

And that is what he said… so check out Bunnicula and the books that follow RIGHT NOW! 

And with that the BLOG is back to normal. What an amazing 5 days to recount and now reality. What does September hold for the Reinsch-Johnson family? Well, we need to have an educational plan written up… In fact the boys are officially registered as 2nd year homeschoolers. How exciting!! And then there is my hope to have the rest of the unknown boxes and buckets gone through and put away… an end to the settling in after what has become a very positive move. Sunday School starts next weekend for the boys which is a great excitement to them. I am trying to set up a crafting night at least a couple times this month, and Cousin Veronika has suggested a book club… What can I say, I enjoy keeping busy!

Just cuz it is such a great pic of him!

I am not sure what is up with the girls in the family but both are rather pouty this weekend. Lots of sleep for Echo and lots of understanding for Trinity. We decided regardless of attitude we would go out as a family in the mildly temperamental van. It is driving us places without much complaining but we certainly are NOT going out of the city until it has been dealt with! And with it being a long weekend this weekend – well it wasn’t worth rushing out to a service station. Ken wants to contact the Canadian Tire back in the city and complain. This would be the THIRD cooling system issue in as many months… are they not even looking at things??

Anyway we went out to the shopping area and stopped in at Michaels where I picked up WHITE duct tape. The plan is to use that for Echo’s costume – the crook and then if need be use a sharpie for the black on Gavin’s ring tailed lemur costume. Gotta love 50% off one item coupons! (Did I mention the Cricut is on super sale but NOT the size of one that I need?)

And then there is the homeschooling item we purchased there – dry erase CRAYONS! YUP no more dried out markers… another 50% off coupon and the kids should be more than content. Trinity managed to dry out ALL of the markers over the past year by not putting lids on properly. So hopefully these work as well as they say they do. 

Crayons!!!

We finished our shopping at Chapters where the brand of workbooks (Canadian) we use for the twins’ math workbooks were on for 20% off. Emanuel’s BrainQuestall inclusive for Kindergarten was not… so we promised him that AFTER Daddy got paid this week he and Daddy could go and buy his book. (after all I FORGOT one for him and for Trinity at mom’s over the wedding weekend… so busy)

Workbooks!! Now we have 3 copies.. Uncle Wayne was able to find one for us with the first pages gone. So the plan is to have it for backup and redo.

After surviving taking the kids out for shopping and the van making its new noise and minor warning of temperature change we had quiet and naptime for 6 out of the 7 people in the house. I woke up to kids watching tv, Sean at my crafting desk with his computer and Karyn holding Echo. Company for dinner!

Karyn and I ran out for frozen yoghurt and chatting time with Echo in tow. Echo tried some of the snack (strawberry) but it was very cold and she was not overly enthused. We had to play around with Karyn’s new iPhone and take some pictures of not only Karyn’s new shoes but Echo as well. And then late last night we watched Conan the Barbarian (well I went to bed before it was over… it was BAD).

Today Cousin Veronika and Adam came by for some spices we had extra from Ted and asked me to go with them to Michaels and then out for lunch at The Rock (wood fire baked PIZZA noms). I got to check out the car Adam got from a co-worker for free to save on gas to and from work. Adam recently painted it black.

A slight but VERY frustrating hiccup with my email… all of my sent mail is gone and in turn took ALL the threads connected! ACK so if I have NOT responded to you in a while – PLEASE email me back rosereinsch@gmail.com. I know that a lovely lady sent me pictures of her sheep Deichshaf and now I am not sure which of my email addies is hers… thank goodness I saved the pictures to my desktop BEFORE this happened! BUT her lovely UK sheep will be featured on Fat Sheep’s blog shortly. As it is Fat Sheep has been busy blogging about her experiences at the wedding etc. so be sure to check her out HERE.

We spent out late afternoon in the backyard, the shed is now tidy and accessible (well for the most part), Echo spent that time on her blanket in the shade of our umbrella while the kids varied their levels of helpfulness.

Chatting

Once that was done Ken came out and the kids “helped” finish up their playset. Very exciting to have the backyard completed. Though we do need a good mow, that should be tomorrow’s outside activity, and if the weather holds… the little pool filled for Echo!

Working on the playset

A lovely evening for the whole family outside in the sunshine. And now I have the evening to work on scrapbooking and our homeschooling plan.

Bunny baby and her cookie