Thank you to everyone that stopped by to enter the Giveaway for a chance to win a copy of:
The Wedding Gift
Winner: Vicki @ I’d Rather Be At The Beach
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© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
By October nesting season has ended for most birds in North America. The fledglings have left the constant care of their parents, learned to fly and can find their own food. As juveniles they are growing adult feathers and looking more like their parents every day.
Soon many of these young birds will be migrating to their winter homes or gathering into large flocks for the winter. This week they were busy eating, playing and acting like teenagers.
Common Yellowthroat
This Common Yellowthroat is a young male. He is just beginning to grow in the black feathers on his face. Adult males have a distinct black mask and bright yellow underparts. The females are brownish with only a small amount of yellow and no black mask.
American Robin
Robins form large flocks for the winter and I’ve been noticing groups of 20 or more birds gathering in the forest preserves.
This youngster chased a moth and landed in a lower branch right in front of me. Two seconds later that moth was swallowed whole! Young robin is already growing in his adult red breast and losing the speckled breast of a fledgling.
Cedar Waxwing
I watched a large unruly flock of young Cedar Waxwings descend on a few grapevine covered trees. They were chattering and calling as they twirled through the branches. The young birds’ chest feathers have a mottled look. The adult waxwing has a sleek, silky look.
Great Blue Heron
There is a Great Blue Heron Rookery within a few miles of my house so it’s not uncommon to find a lone bird at the pond in the park. This youngster was standing at the edge of the water perfectly still like a statue waiting for lunch to swim past.
I could tell this bird was a juvenile by the solid dark crown, striping on the throat and neck and a two-toned bill, features they lose when they grow their adult feathers.
Saturday Snapshot was originated by Alyce at At Home With Books. For the summer it will be hosted by Melinda of West Metro Mommy. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Joyland
by Stephen King
Narrated by Michael Kelly
Genre: Crime
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publish Date: June 4, 2013
Format: Audio, 7 hours | 33 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
Rating: 4 of 5
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.
My Thoughts:
Joyland is a coming of age tale with a decades old crime, a mystery, a little romance and a ghost. The one thing it doesn’t have is grisly horror. No worrying about the fate of the family pet or who will be the next to get chopped to bits in this novel. I’ll read almost anything Stephen King writes, but I especially enjoy his more subtle tales, like this one, that are creepy but not horrific.
It is 1973. Devin and his girlfriend have broken up and he has taken a summer job at a local amusement park. We can feel the old carny atmosphere, the rides, the games and the families out for a day at the park. The story is told in the first person by Devin. This was a nostalgic summer for him, a turning point in his life. Reading about this time period was nostalgic for me too. No, I never worked at a carny, but it did bring back memories of the many amusement parks I visited back then. Joyland could have been any one of them.
A murder is at the heart of the story, but it is a decades old murder so this is not a thriller or a suspense novel until the very end when Devin realizes who the real killer was. Most of the novel is about the people and Devin’s relationships with them: His school friends, other workers at the carny and especially Mike, a young boy in a wheelchair and Annie, his protective mother, who Devin develops a crush on. King has created a great cast of everyday folks, people we feel like we already know or would want to know.
I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Michael Kelly, a new narrator for me. I was pleased with his voice. The accents were good, I could tell the characters apart and, most importantly, his voice for Devin sounded right, like the insecure young man he was supposed to be. Other than keeping track of all the characters, this was an easy listen and at only 7½ hours, a short book.
Like 11/22/63, this is a Stephen King book for the non-horror fan. And a good story too.
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Linked to the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril, VIII event.
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© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Almost wordless: A favorite of butterflies and bees, this Joe Pye Weed is growing by the pond near my house. And just who was Joe Pye that he has all these wildflowers named for him? Turns out no one really knows for sure, his legend is shrouded in mystery.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
The Best of Connie Willis:
Award-Winning Stories
by Connie Willis
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Del Rey
Publish Date: July 9, 2013
Format: Hard | 496 pages
Rating: 5 of 5
Publisher’s Synopsis:
All ten of the stories gathered here are Hugo or Nebula award winners—some even have the distinction of winning both. With a new Introduction by the author and personal afterwords to each story—plus a special look at three of Willis’s unique public speeches—this is unquestionably the collection of the season, a book that every Connie Willis fan will treasure, and, to those unfamiliar with her work, the perfect introduction to one of the most accomplished and best-loved writers of our time.
My Thoughts:
For those who enjoy speculative fiction, Connie Willis is a must-read author. Her stories span the range from humor to horror, whimsical to serious. She has written short stories, novellas, novels and a few really long 800-page novels. As the author herself says in the introduction, science fiction isn’t just rockets blasting through space and planets filled with multi-eyed monsters. And I agree, it’s much more than that. It can also be brilliant, thought-provoking, compelling stories with realistic characters.
As a long-time fan of Connie Willis, I had already read several of the stories in this collection. My favorite was Fire Watch, a time-travel story about the Blitz in London, which ultimately inspired the novels Blackout/All Clear. Alternate history, a journey to the afterworld, Emily Dickinson, a bizarre physics convention, and a hysterical send-up on women’s liberation are only a few of the other experiences to be had. There is something for everyone.
I first discovered the delight of a Connie Willis story when I read her novel The Doomsday Book, historical fiction with a science fiction twist: Time-traveling Oxford historians visit a 14th-century English village to conduct research and end up in the middle of the plague. I was hooked!
This book is more than just another collection of award-winning stories. It’s also a great introduction to her work for new readers plus insight into the author’s thoughts in the form of commentary at the end of each story. As someone who is already a fan this was a special treat for me.
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Source: Review copy provided by Del Rey through NetGalley.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. Today’s linky is hosted at Beauty in Ruins as the scheduled September host is again MIA.
Last week I received a couple of audio books that are perfect October reads (or listens), just in time for the RIP Event and the Doctor Sleep Readalong.
Audiobooks
Evil Eye: Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong by Joyce Carol Oates from Highbridge Audio through Audiobook Jukebox.
Few authors are able to create an atmosphere of unease and terror as well as Oates. All the novellas in this collection feature love that is somewhat askew, just off center and, ultimately, horrifying.
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King from Simon & Schuster Audio.
Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.
New Giveaway
Now through September 28th readers with a US address can enter to win a copy of The Wedding Gift, historical fiction by Marlen Suyapa Bodden. Click HERE to enter.
From Publishers Weekly: In this stunning debut, Marlen Suyapa Bodden effortlessly transports the reader to 1852 Alabama, where slavery and racism may rule the day, but everything isn’t as black and white as it may seem … Bodden weaves a page-turning tangled web of misogyny, greed, scandal and violence in this powerful story about races colliding against the backdrop of America’s darkest era.
What are you reading?
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© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
When I’m out walking and looking for birds I’m usually gazing up at the trees. One of the easiest ways to find birds, is to scan the tops of dead trees. That can be dangerous in more ways than one, the most common problem is stepping into a hole and twisting my knee or ankle, but that’s another story. And yes, it’s happened.
Last week I saw a lot of birds but most were hiding behind leaves or in constant motion resulting in blurred photos. I did find this large green ball way up in one of the trees. It looks suspiciously like a walnut but someone had to put it there. The trees around it were all dead so it didn’t just fall down. Perhaps a squirrel who hasn’t learned how to safely stash food for the winter.
It was pretty high up there. Now I’m curious to see if it’s still there when I go for my walk today.
As for the birds, last week I saw a lot of beautiful warblers which have begin to migrate through the Chicago area. Warblers are one of the most difficult birds to photograph and to identify. They are fast, tiny, look a lot alike and tend to hide in the leaves.
This is a Magnolia Warbler, a gorgeous bird that I only see during migration. A quick fan of the tail was all I could capture before the bird dove back behind the leaves.
Saturday Snapshot was originated by Alyce at At Home With Books. For the summer it will be hosted by Melinda of West Metro Mommy. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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