GRAMNIPOTENCE: March 2016

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

SERPENT IN THE GLASS

THE SERPENT IN THE GLASS

By D. M. Andrews

This is a middle grade story with magic and mythic elements.

It begins like this: “A badly painted garden gnome with a look of surprise upon its face sat atop a bright red toadstool. In its hand it held a fishing rod, the hook of which hung unmoving in the windless Hertfordshire air several inches above a small pond’s still surface. The gnome’s eyes seemed fixed on the other side of the garden where a greenhouse sat in the shade of a crab apple tree. Every other pane of glass had been painted lime green so as to create a checkerboard effect. Thomas stood on a large wooden box in the loft, his eye pressed against the hole in the roof as he stared down through a broken tile.”

The author, D. M. Andrews, is a skilled story teller. This novel is the first of a series of stories. It was hard for me to connect with the main character because of the detachment of the story teller. The mythic and magical elements of the story were confusing and took me out of the story. They were not woven into the story’s whole properly.

The device of an orphan going off to school is common to middle grade literature, but it should be handled in an unusual way to draw us into the adventure. The other characters were not realistically drawn. The dialogue was not age appropriate. The magical elements were very imaginative. It is too bad that the sum of the parts did not make a suitable whole.

I give it three stars out of a possible five.

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Mary

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

JOIN ME FOR TOGETHER TUESDAYS!

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Mary

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

DONUTS ARE A GATEWAY FOOD

I love donuts. During my southern sojourn where there was only one donut shop in town, I went for years without having one. I call it the great donut dry spell. I would come home and buy a dozen donuts and promptly eat them. I think it is known as binging, but that was before I properly understood the term. So you’ll have to cut me slack.

Now I have to watch my weight, and my diet. So I have discovered that I just don’t need them. I must have satisfied my craving all those years ago. Can leave them alone completely, and go on my merry way, eating healthy foods like squash. Squash is a maligned vegetable joke at my house. As in the much quoted: “Who needs it?” line from my husband.

Rocking along, eating healthy, exercising, and working, just doing my thing until…I. smell. a. donut. And weaken. The enticing smell of ‘eat me you know you want to’ drifting from my husband’s daylight donut bag, fresh from the drive though window. My husband never counts his calories.

So I start with just one donut, then maybe two, to keep the first one company… The next thing I know I’m face down in a plate of cake wondering: how I got there, where my car is, and how high my blood sugar is. Don’t get me started on beignets!

Okay, I'll present you with a healthy alternative, oatmeal.

This is Overnight Oatmeal so don't forget that part. Take 1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats, 1/3 cup of your favorite milk (soy, almond, coconut) and 1 teaspoon chia seeds. Add all ingredients in a jar and stir. Refrigerate them overnight or for five hours. In the morning use a combination of desired toppings. (Fruit, cheese, nuts, honey, chocolate chips) Add more liquid to get desired consistency before you add toppings. Enjoy this healthy alternative!