Day 263 : Bayou Night

Chatting Books Online Day 263. Today's recommended book is "Bayou Santa" written by Leif Nedand Pedersen and Illustrated by Mickey Asche.

This is a beautiful book about Papa Noel Robicheaux a very kind man who was known throughout the bayou as being a good man who carved beautiful gifts for all of the children throughout the bayous. When Santa found himself pressed for time delivering gifts in Acadiana he decided he needed a proxy and knew just who it should be . Filled with a bit of elfin magic and a lot of kindness this book would be a beautiful addition to your Cajun Christmas Collection .

The book is written in rhyming verse , this great big beautiful hardcover Storybook sells for $19.99 a copy and we currently have copies signed by the author !

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you -Now mask up and share the joy of Christmas!

Day 262 : Dasher

Chatting Books Online Day 262. Today's recommended book is "Dasher" by Matt Tavares. As soon as I read this new Christmas book last year I knew it would long be a favorite of mine.

Dasher is the story of a family of reindeer who lived a somewhat hard life with a traveling carnival. But there were good parts too. Dasher, a young female reindeer in the family, particularly loved getting to meet all the children some of whom brought her carrots which were her most favorite food. Dasher's mother would sometimes tell a story about a lovely place she used to live that was covered in a soft blanket of snow and absolutely magical. This wonderful place was directly below the north star and seemed perfect so when the pen gate blew open one night Dasher took her chance and ran for the north star. She travelled for hours not getting any closer and then she heard bells and saw Santa standing next to a sleigh and a horse named Silverbell. Seems Silverbell used to pull Santa's sleigh but the job was getting to be too much. You will have to read the book to see how it ends (wink wink). I will say however that they lived Happily Ever After.

This delightful new Christmas storybook sells for $17.99 a copy.

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you -Now mask up and I hope you also live Happily Ever After !

Day 260: The Cajun Night Before Christmas

Chatting Books Online Day 260. It's officially the Christmas Season, and you know what that means, right? It means I am free to recommend my favorite Christmas books as often as I like - even every day if I feel like - I make the rules for this feed after all !

So let's start with THE Louisiana classic , the Cajun Night Before Christmas by James Rice. Written phonetically in cajun dialect this is the story that makes every small child giggle when listening to it being read by adults - makes the adults giggle too to hear themselves slaughter "cajun speak". So when you see a jolly old elf dressed all in muskrat leading a skiff pulled by eight alligator through the swamp don't be surprised , just make way for him to continue his work. And don't forget to call out: "Merry Christmas to all, til I saw you some mo !:.

This full color storybook sells for $16.99 for the book that every southern household needs on their shelves - and don't forget those displaced southerners who may have moved away but need a bit of home in their stockings this Christmas .

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you -Now mask up and don't "Trip over de dorg" on your way to the bookshop!

Day 261: A Christmas Carol Deluxe Gift Edition

Chatting Books Online Day 261. Today's recommended book is a true Christmas Classic. It is from one of my very favorite, (all-time) authors Charles Dickens and it is a story that has been retold in so many ways we all know the tale (think Scrooge McDuck, Scrooged , the classic a Christmas Carol just to name a few favorites).

Anyway, today's recommended book is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens and particularly it is this gift edition that is a replica of the first edition in a beautiful red embossed binding with gilded lettering and page edging . It also has all of the original illustrations from the actual first edition , and a facsimile of Charles Dickens’ original handwritten cover page, and a dust box to keep it lovely year after year.

Originally published in 1843 this age old lesson of appreciating what and who you have before it is too late is the perfect message once again this Christmas. If you have never actually read the book you owe it to yourself to do so. And as a side note if you have never watched the movie "The Man Who Invented Christmas" you really should. It is a fabulous biographical drama about Charles Dickens during the time period between when he was suddenly the toast of the town after writing Oliver Twist and his struggles to produce this book that meant so much to him. It is a movie where I literally found myself exclaiming out loud and clapping at some of the moments particularly when he unwraps the first printed copy of A Christmas Carol .... and it looks just like this one ! (less the dust box of course). So I guess I have two recommendations today: Read A Christmas Carol and Watch the movie The Man Who Invented Christmas.

This hard cover deluxe gift edition with dust box measures 7.0" L x 4.5" W and sells for just $12.95 a copy (makes a lovely hostess gift or extra small gift to have on hand).

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you -Now mask up and God Bless Us Everyone !

Day 259: The Week in Review Nov 23 - 29, 2020

Chatting Books Online Day 259. The Week in Review Nov 23 - 29, 2020

Another week gone by, and a week's worth of book recommendations just for you!

This week I told you about another 6 books including the following:

We started the week with a book about our neighboring parish in New Roads and Old Rivers.

Then we learned how to celebrate the holidays undersea in Happy Narwhalidays.

We talked about a a new book with old familiar characters in John Grisham's newest A Time for Mercy.

Then we got a bit nostalgic with a book about the tradition of St Joseph Altars.

We kicked off the annual downtown Gingerbread man hunt with Gingerbread Man Super Hero.

And finally we wrapped up this week by doing a dance or two with our dinosaur friends in Sandra Boynton's Dinosaur Dance.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my recommendations, and maybe have come in to pick up a book to add to your TBR (To Be Read) pile. Next week brings another assortment of recommendations to get ready!

If you missed any of these reviews and want to read what I had to say about them you can see all of our Chatting Books Online picks by visiting our website at: http://www.conundrumbooks.com/chatting-books-online .

We still (and always will going forward) offer shipping if you cannot make it to the store. Or just stop by the shop during or normal hours . See you soon !

Day 258: Dinosaur Dance

Chatting Books Online Day 258. Zang! Bop! Kiddly Pow, the Dinosaur Dance is starting now ! Well that can only mean one thing - today's recommended book is "Dinosaur Dance" by Sandra Boynton.

This rhyming , silly board book is as much fun to read as all of Sandra Boynton's beloved children's board books so you know it is good. Whether doing the Shimmy Shimmy Shake , the Quivery Quake or the Cha Cha Chas Dinosaurs sure know how to dance and thanks to this book we can all dance right along with them !

This board book for the young and silly set sells for just $5.99 a copy.

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you -Now mask up and dance with the dinos!

Day 257: Gingerbread Man Super hero

Chatting Books Online Day 257. Today kicks off the second annual Gingerbread Man Hunt throughout downtown shops (fun event for kiddos, a candyland like map where they go from shop to shop and hunt for Gingerbread Men) so in honor of the hunt today;s recommended book is : Gingerbread Man Superhero by Dotti Enderle.

As you probably guessed a little old lady bakes a gingerbread man cookie for her husband but it leaps to like when she opens the oven intent on saving the world from evils like the Macaroon Monster all through the help of his "Flour Power"!

This hardcover storybook sells for $16.99 a copy. Get yours today before he runs away (you can't catch him, he's the...)

To purchase a copy come see us at the shop during business hours or you can call or message me to have a copy shipped to you -Now mask up and use your Flour Power ! .

Day 256 : St Joseph Altars

Chatting Books Online Day 256. On this day of Thanksgiving it is only appropriate that today's recommended book is one all about giving Thanks. "St. Joseph Altars" by Kerri McCaffety is a book I found while looking through a stack of books at my Mother's house, and appropriately so, my mother is Sicilian and has for years talked of plans to one day host our own St Joseph Altar. I decided right then and there to order copies of the book for myself and for the bookshop and to make sure that it happens .

The book is filled with explanations of the traditions and history of St Joseph Altars both in New Orleans and abroad. It also contains lots of pictures and even recipes for the foods traditionally included in a tableau and feast. Including all the wonderful baked goods like fig cookies (Cuccidati) and Anise cookies, and ciabatta , it even has Emeril Lagasse's Cannoli recipe and several recipe's from Irene DiPietro of Irene's Cuisine. One of the pictures was particularly nostalgic for me. It was a photo of a stack of paper plates filled with Cuccidati and covered with saran wrap, it could have been a picture taken of the stack my Nonna would walk in with each Christmas morning. We have carried on her cookie tradition but have been putting them in tins. It took this picture to bring back the memory of Nonna’s plates.

I am incredibly thankful for my Mother and for the traditions in which I was raised. I look forward to adding our own St Joseph Altar to those traditions with the guidance, ideas, and recipes put forth in this book

The book is hardcover and sells for $24.95 a copy.

The shop is closed today in celebration of all for which we are Thankful. Thank you for being part of our bookstore world. It is with great gratitude for you : our friends, and readers that we give thanks today.