Thing 5.2: Success with Downloadable Audiobooks!

When I tried this again today, there were titles available. Hooray! So I downloaded The Cat Ate My Gymsuit & listened to a few minutes of it.

I found the process a bit cumbersome, and the download took quite awhile. If one had ample time to allow for downloading, this would be a nice way to get free listening material for one's mp3 player. I'm not sure I'd ever use it to listen to a book just sitting in front of the computer though.

Thing 5.1: Punished for working ahead

Well, Roberta & I were trying to do the downloadable audio books assignment & unfortunately got stalled...our "digital bookshelves" were empty! Theoretically, there should be 5 titles available to choose from, but this is the message we got:

My Digital Bookshelf

You do not have any titles checked out at this time. Once you have checked out one or more titles, they will be available on this page for download for the duration of the lending period.

Perhaps the digital bookshelf elves are too busy right now...we'll try again later!

Mystery Books

I had another visit with my favorite St. Francis Xavier fourth graders today to promote mystery books. The kids were great--totally participatory and enthusiastic. Together we came up with a bunch of mystery series that we all liked: Nancy Drew (and the update on the "oldies", The Nancy Drew Notebooks), Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Bailey School Kids, A to Z Mysteries, and others. Below is the list of books I brought to promote.

The Sherlock Files: the 100 Year Old Secret by Tracy Barrett
American siblings transplanted to London by their parents learn that they are descendents of Sherlock Holmes & have inherited his unsolved cases.

Grooves: A Kind of Mystery by Kevin Brockmeier
Nerdy 7th grader Dwayne learns about record players in science class and starts experimenting on different surfaces, only to find his blue jeans contain a coded message for help! Could the greedy owner of the bluejeans factory be keeping his workers imprisoned?

The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse: A Chet Gecko Mystery by Bruce Hale
Chet is a 4th grader, a detective, and oh yeah, a gecko lizard. Hilarious spoofs on old "noir" detective stories with great humor & a fun cast of (reptilian) characters.

The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson
Siblings, with the help of some ghostly relatives, help their great aunt and uncle jazz up their tourist attraction & solve the mystery of some missing rare white cattle. Good ghost/mystery combo.

Spider Kane and the Mystery at Jumbo Nightcrawler’s by Mary Pope Osborne
The author of The Magic Tree House series takes on mystery-solving insects with entertaining results. Spider Kane's character was inspired by an actual spider who frightened the author when she moved to a country cabin.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Classic, "Clue"-like whodunit from the 1970's. Mysterious millionaire Westing dies, leaving a motley crew of potential heirs, who have to solve clues to find out who gets the big money. So popular it inspired a movie and a website!

The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan: An Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer
Another Sherlock Holmes spinoff: Enola is the younger sister of the great detective, who must struggle against Victorian restrictions on girls while she solves mysteries. Fun series!

Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen by Wendelin Van Draanen
Contemporary series, featuring a feisty heroine with an overdramatic family life. In this one, Sammy takes on a mystery involving dead cats all over town and has to cope with finding out she's actually a year younger than she thought! (Thanks, alot, Mom!)

Thing 3 and Thing 4: Online Apps & Cooperative Web Spaces

Between Google Docs & wikis, I prefer wikis. I think wikis (at least pbwiki) are more intuitive & user-friendly. I can't see myself ever using Google Docs again, but I already manage wikis for two groups I'm involved in outside of work and love them! My favorite part of pbwiki is the automatic alert system; wiki users don't have to keep checking for changes since they get email alerts. In that respect, pbwiki's alot like Facebook, which also sends email notices when posts are made. Pretty nifty!

I'm going to the Hideout in Chicago tonight to hear a great local singer. Kelly Hogan has an unbelievable voice, both in range and power, and sings everything from jazz to country and beyond. If there were true justice in the world, SHE would be a star and Britney Spears would be waiting tables. But, c'est la vie!

Anyway--let me also plug the Hideout, a swell family-owned bar on Wabansia in Chicago. A bit out of the way, but worth the trip (and one place in the city where it's easy to park!) They do a summer blockparty to benefit literacy causes and also do some fun holiday programming for families---so other folks besides the over-21 crowd can come and have fun.

Winter Wonderland

I don't care what anyone says; I LIKE winter! Snow on December 1st was wonderful--the tree branches were frosted and beautiful. I can't wait to get to Fullersburg Woods and take a snowy hike! Today we're supposed to get more snow; my husband even got a memo at work that they might get out early! For 3 inches---come on! Where's that pioneer spirit? :)