When I was young, I used to sit on the floor reading Nancy Drew Mysteries. “Play with me!” my little sister whined next to me. “When I get to the end of the chapter,” I said, not paying attention. Then the end of the chapter came. It was always a cliff-hanger. I turned the page and read more…

The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen by M.T. Anderson. Read by Mark Cashman Katie Mulligan of Horror Hollow and Jaspar Dash, Boy Technonaut, both stars of children’s series, as well as their friend Lily, who is not, are on vacation. But the Moose Tongue Lodge is not the haven from mysteries they hope it will be. It turns out that a number of other children’s series characters have showed up at the lodge, too – including the insipid Cutesy Dell twins (who turn out to have hobbies they don’t mention in their books) and the hunky but dumb Manley Boys. The “adorable Hooper Quints” have been kidnapped, a priceless diamond necklace has been stolen, and the stuffed heads from the Lodge are disappearing. This sequel to Whales on Stilts (which I haven’t read) is a wonderful send-up of the children’s mystery genre, and a darn good story to boot. It includes an allergy-related cliff hanger, as well as great dialogue and reflections on the nature of time and friendship (no kidding!). ’s favorite line (paraphrased): “’So, what happened to your singing nun nanny?’ ‘Um, that was kind of embarrassing. She was a nun, she was a nanny: we thought she could fly.’”

More knitting porn for me…
Yarns to Dye for by Kathleen Taylor I really thought I wouldn’t be into dying my own yarn, until I read this cool article in Knitty, about dying yarn with food coloring in your crock pot. And now… well, maybe I’m still not that into dying my own yarn. But it was really fun to read about. I wasn’t too impressed with the actual projects or the colors in the book – they had way too many socks and mittens knit in fingering weight yarn for a book that claimed to be written because the author wanted to do self-striping things that weren’t socks, in heavier yarn. But the instructions are the meat of it, and they are bang-up. They tell you how to figure out repeat lengths and how to prep, dye, and finish the yarn to make basic stripes, graduated dyes, zig-zags, and fair isle patterns. Entertainment for the craftsy.