Bargain Book Bonanza (26): A Pioneer Kindle Freebie For Adult Fans Of Little House On The Prairie

 Welcome to Bargain Book Bonanza!

A book haul linky party for bargain loving bookworms!

Want to join the party? Just visit the Bargain Book Bonanza page for the particulars.


DeLynne is hosting this week!

Tracy wrote here ages ago about her Kindle, and at the time it seemed to me like some incredibly modern, foreign device.  We didn't have them here in Australia. 

But then my beautiful mother bought each of our girls (aged 14 and 10) one and we got used to them. My girls just love them and use them all the time.  

I do recommend Kindle for kids, especially since Amazon replaced both Kindles when they were accidentally damaged in separate incidents.  No questions, no need to return the old ones, just a new Kindle in the mail immediately.

But, I didn't have a Kindle (aren't all mums like that?) and kept thinking that one trip to the States I'd shout myself one.  Well, lo and behold Aussies can now buy the Kindle almost anywhere, and the very first time I saw it in Australia I just happened to have cash in my wallet (now that is a miracle!). I bought it before you could slide and release that power switch. 

So now we are a Kindle family (Hubby has shown absolutely no interest in an e reader of any kind.) and very happy.  I was a bit worried that I would start spending lots on books, since most of my reading comes from BBB-type sources.  However, I have found the Kindle very economical reading after the initial purchase.

I Googled 'free Kindle books'  and was overwhelmed with choices.  There are many sites that offer free e books, but so far I have stuck to the free category in the Amazon site.  One of my finds is Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, written in the early 1900's.

Unlike so many stories of hardship and subjugation in the West (that poor Caroline Ingalls following Pa's every whim), this collection of letters tells a life full of joy and achievement.  

There is some sorrow, of course, but basically Elinore is a woman who chooses her destiny, seeks adventure, helps those less fortunate, and thrills at the landscape around her.  She makes friends, among them a French trapper, and enjoys an active social life while raising her family. 

Bring out the pioneer woman in you and read this book.  It's available in paperback, so even if you're an old fashioned girl you can read it, too.

Images from http://commons.wikimedia.org, all oil paintings by Cornelius Krieghoff.

If you have a bargain book, please share. We love to brag on bargains!

Home remedies

Hello book-bloggers! I am not going to even try and excuse my long, dwindling absence but I can say that I am ecstatic to finally be doing a post I have probably had in my mind for about a month. For those who don't know who I am, this basically sums it up.

My hair (among many other beauty issues I am having right now) has become excessively dry lately. My hair is my child. It's as simple as that. I have been growing it since... well, forever... and the most important thing is to keep it nice and shiny. And you know, to respect my friends and family, make the most of life, etc etc.

Treatments for this kind of issue are incredibly expensive, I've discovered! I was displeased and got a cheap one that probably won't work for about $3. Back in the day when Mum used to be a hippie and Dad had a mullet, she made her own versions of these kinds of products out of the DIY beauty-bible, Bodycraft.

Bodycraft, surprisingly, is full of remedies for skin, hair and mind that look like they will actually work. My favourite categories are the bath oils, hair masks and perfumes. If you just buy a few essential oils and work with what you have in your pantry, you should be looking naturally beautiful and feeling pampered. Who doesn't love pampering? And aromatherapy bath oil recipes? 

Aromatherapy Bath Oil

- I cup brandy or vodka

- 5 teaspoons essential oils

- 3 teaspoons glycerine

Shake well and put one teaspoon of it in your bath!

(Excerpted from the book, pg 126)

I will try hard to post soon. When I finally get out of this bath I'm about to have!

http://viewsofnow.blogspot.com/

More Fashion... More Alice...

G'day, Izzy here! I honestly did not mean to go this long without book blogging. Honest! I just let time slip away a little, combine that with the fact that I can barely keep up my own blog and I have been reading pure rubbish lately and you have a very lazy book blogger. Sorry!

Okay, I may be a little obsessed with fashion. I know what you're thinking, (Doesn't every little fourteen-year-old want to be a fashion designer?) but I like to think of myself as a little, well, deeper than that. And I am going to be a writer, thank you very much. Or a marine biologist. Or a magazine editor. Or a stylist. But I'm deep, obviously.

Back to the point: I had to blog about this book. 

The Atlas of Fashion Designers is like that magical man-book in Ella Enchanted (excuse the PG children's movie reference). You just think of what you want, look it up and it's there!

It contains what seems to be every fashion designer you ever wanted to know about. And then some. Plus, interesting interviews with the designers, an overview of their work and glossy, full-page pictures.

Who doesn't love glossy full page pictures?

Sketches, close-up shots of their handiwork and exclusive photos are also included. Believe it or not, it's not just full of high-priced couture like Chanel. It also has ethnic designers and accessory masterminds. I don't understand why you wouldn't be interested by now. Unless of course you're not deep enough.

Aside from reading about fashion, I have also been working very hard on a little English project of mine. You should know by now that I am obsessed with Alice in Wonderland. Obsessed to the point that I am convinced it is a true story and someday a rabbit in a waistcoat is going to run by my window and I will have a fabulous adventure.

We were asked in the project to prove the existence of a mythological creature, myth or legend. So I just had to prove Alice in Wonderland was a true story. For those who are interested, tell me and I will do a blog post containing my revealing speech to the monument of truth that is Alice in Wonderland. If you aren't. I'll get the memo. 

X.

My blog: http://www.viewsofnow.blogspot.com/

Tuesday Treasures: The Boy's Life of Abraham Lincoln

 Tuesday Treasures is a recurrent feature in which I share the bookish distractions that catch my eye in the school library I work in on Tuesday. I'm not the librarian; I am the speech pathologist. You will hear no complaints from me about sharing a workspace-- this little old school library collection is chock full of wonderful treasures. Plus, I get to release my inner-librarian. The students who wander in looking for books assume I am the Tuesday Librarian.

Can't believe it has been so long since I've posted a Tuesday Treasures! My only excuse is personal difficulty with the space/time continuum that the school had no heat for over a month and it was too cold  in the cavernous library to think let alone take photos with frozen fingers. (FYI: articulation therapy is not good when the speech path is chattering from the cold; now I have stutters to fix.)

Today, I spotted a very ugly book on the library cart...

See.. isn't it ugly? Poor dingy grey thing. Never one to judge a book by its cover, I took a peek inside and it is an absolute treasure!

Can you believe that books this old are still in the school library?! Makes my little bookish heart go pitter-pat.  The first few pages are a bit worn and torn but the book is in remarkable condition considering how many book reports it has aided over the last century. Don't you wish more hardbacks today had sewn bindings?


Helen Nicolay, the author, was the daughter of Abraham Lincoln's secretary, John G. Nicolay.  You can read more about them here.  Very interesting-- especially the part about Mary Todd Lincoln not trusting Mr. Nicolay. Bet there is a good story there.


Anyhoo, back to Helen:  As a young woman, she took dictation for her father's ten volume biography of Lincoln. Following her father's death, she began writing her own books of history and biography, as well as becoming a recognized artist. This talented lady wrote many books for children to make 'history seem alive and interesting to young people'.  

Helen sure succeeded with this one. It is very engaging and informative and I lost myself in several chapters!

The book is loaded with compelling black and white illustrations. Here are a few...

'He borrowed every book in the neighborhood.'   Gotta love a bookworm!

"He always brought a cheery atmosphere into the dining-room."   Lincoln told great stories and loved to jest. If political dicussions became too hot, he was able to soothe any ruffled feathers. 

I didn't get a photo of Lincoln scything hay/wheat but apparently politicians were expected to prove their muscle and mettle out on the campaign trail. Lincoln won many a vote by helping out farmers or joining a game of quoits.

The house in which Abraham Lincoln was married. I'd like to pop right in this one-- in living color, of course, not black and white.

"The lad took her picture from his pocket and showed it to him." 

This illustration refers to a meeting with soldier William Scott who was sentenced to be shot for falling asleep on his watch within range of enemy fire.  Lincoln heard about the incident and went himself to talk to the young man. After chatting awhile, the president kindly said... 

"My boy, you are not going to be shot to-morrow. I believe you when you tell me that you could not keep awake. I am going to trust you, and send you back to your regiment. Now, I want to know what you intend to pay for all this?" 

The young man had no money but said his family might mortage the family farm or, if the president could wait till payday,  perhaps his comrades would help. The President replied:

"My bill is a great deal more than that, it is a very large one. Your friends cannot pay it, nor your family, nor your farm. There is only one man in the world who can pay it, and his name is William Scott. If from this day he does his duty so that when he comes to die he can truly say 'I have kept the promise I gave the President. I have done my duty as a soldier,' then the debt will be paid."

William Scott fell in battle a few months later and the debt was paid.  Can hardly bear that one, bloggy friends!  You know how battle, honor and glory affect me...  

There are funny little penciled notes scrawled here and there throughout the book but look what I found on the back of one illustration:  notes for a whole book report assignment! Some of it makes no sense.  Number three reads 'His reason in writing this book'... hmm...

Like I mentioned before,  this biography has been well used by a century of students (and still being used). I really really had to fight the urge to swipe it for it's own protection but if it has survived this long...  

If you are interested in The Boy's Life of Abraham Lincoln,  the text is available to read online or for ebook download at Gutenberg.org. 

Package Deal

Well, hello blogging world. I'm Izzy Rose, nice to see you again! Yes, I have been very busy doing large amounts of nothing, and feeling guilty about it. Finally, I have a book worth reading about! (Please excuse my punniness)

Fashion Illustration Step by Step by Loreto Binvingnat Streeter and Chindy Wayne not only shows simple-to-follow instructions for a very basic outfit, but includes many different ways you could draw it, including realistic, digital and watercolour. This gives those who read it the opportunity to distinguish themselves as an illustrator, and to experiment with texture and colour. Plus, for those who aren't exactly artists, the illustration methods are set out from easiest to hardest. Early Christmas present, I think yes.

My drawing skills will be incredibly superior in fashion class next year, and I have another fashion book for my increasing collection. The package deal, you may ask?

That's me. Reader, blogger (sometimes!), student, photographer, budding fashion illustrator and designer.

X.
http://viewsofnow.blogspot.com/