365 Books: The Widows of Broome by Arthur Upfield

Do you see pictures when you read? I do - I see pictures of the world the author describes, the people (to some extent, but mostly in flashes); if the author describes someone following footprints in the dirt, I see the footprints. I thought this was normal but a recent conversation with someone made me …

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365 Books: The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

Why do we like what we like? On the first page, Mrs. Pollifax's doctor - in 1966 - diagnoses her with depression. Her husband has died; her adult children have moved away. Although she volunteers and participates in the garden club, she feels she has outlived her usefulness. The doctor suggests that she take up …

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Piping Down the Valleys Wild edited by Nancy Larrick

Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.We had nothing to do and nothing to say.It was nearing the end of a dismal day,And there seemed to be nothing beyond.THENDaddy fell into the pond! Quick, who wrote that poem? I discovered this poem as a young child, in one of the first books I remember owning, Piping …

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365 Books: The Plague Court Murders by Carter Dickson

Would you stay the night in a haunted house? That's the question that draws the narrator into this creepy book. His friend, who has been acting stranger and stranger, since returning from family exile in Canada after the suicide of his elder brother, which caused the friend to unexpectedly inherit the family estate. An estate …

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