Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Wide Window - A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 3

Read this one to my 7-year old daughter with a few edits. It was okay but not quite as good as the first two. The Baudelaire siblings are entrusted to the care of one Aunt Josephine, a worry-wart in the third degree. A sinister pirate-like character by the name Captain Sham shows up, romancing the nervous Aunt but the children suspect him of being guilty of a little dastardly devilry. Could it be "you know who?" Ah! The tattoo of the eye on his left ankle will give away his identity, but wait --Captain Sham has a wooden peg-leg. What gives?

The plot on this one was slightly thin but the dialog was deliciously fun and a blast to act out. I love to make Count Olaf sound sinister and it's very easy to do! He's such a nasty bird!



Thursday, April 7, 2011

Shaming the Devil: Essays in Truthtelling - Book Review

Another fantastic collection of moral essays from Professor Alan Jacobs! In this volume he covers topics such as the benefits of Christians reading W.H. Auden, a critique of Phillip Pullman and his twisted interpretation of Milton's Paradise Lost, (His Dark Materials) and finally a collection of essays on using computers and being challenged to understand just exactly what we "do" when we use those rascally machines. Jacobs pays attention life in the details and I appreciate his honesty