12 Days and 12 Facts for This Holiday Season by Author Caroline Taggart... And a Special Little Giveaway!

12 Days and 12 Facts for This Holiday Season

By Caroline Taggart,
Author of I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School

Ever catch yourself saying I Used to Know That?

Each holiday season brings another round of cocktail parties, family get-togethers, and corporate gatherings -- and invariably, lots of small talk. It's easy to feel overwhelmed when discussing politics, literature, and other intellectual "stuff," especially when what is thought to be general knowledge is often long-forgotten. Enter I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School. From English and Literature to Math and Science, from History and Geography to Religion and Other-Worldly Topics, this book leaves you equipped to handle any topic of conversation.

Here we've cherry-picked twelve fun facts for the holiday season -- one for every day of Christmas (or whatever holiday you prefer!) Quiz yourself to see how much "stuff" you need to brush up on before hobnobbing with the boss or office crush.

1. On building sentences: Just what is a "clause"? (Not to be confused with Santa Claus.) Answer: A clause contains a subject and a verb and may stand alone as a sentence or as part of a sentence (when it is often called a subordinate clause): Santa Claus loves cookies but can't eat them without milk.

2. How many bones is the spine made up of? Answer: 26 small bones called vertebrae (Be careful lifting all those heavy holiday boxes.)

3. Acclaimed author Charles Dickens (1812-70) wrote which Christmas classic? Answer: A Christmas Carol. The miserly Ebenezer Scrooge tries to ignore Christmas and is haunted by the ghost of his former partner, Marley, and by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, who show him the error of his ways.

4. The fist chapter of this famous book opens with "Call me Ishmael." Name the book and author. (Hint: it makes a whale of a gift!) Answer: Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Melville is also the author of Pierre and the unfinished Billy Budd.

5. There's a name for the process of watering your Christmas tree? Who knew? Answer: Grab the kids and give them this science factoid as they nurture the family tree: Osmosis is a form of diffusion that is specific to the movement of water. Water moves through a selectively permeable membrane (that is, one that lets some types of molecules through but not others) from a place where there is a higher concentration of water to one where it is lower.

6. Can you name all 6 wives of Henry VIII, father of the Church of England? Answer: (Listed in order) Catherine, Anne, Jane, Anne, Catherine, Catherine. They are often remembered as divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Sure makes you think twice when complaining about bad relatives.

7. Who was the 16th President of the United States? Answer: Abraham Lincoln (R, 1861-65) and yes -- he really was born in a log cabin on a winter's day. Notably famous for many reasons including his Gettysburg Address: "Four Score and Seven Years ago our fathers brought fourth upon this continent a new nation conceived in Liberty . . . "

8. 'Tis the season to be jolly giving! Don’t forget to tip well this season -- etiquette coaches will tell you that means no less than 18%. So just how much should you tip on a bill of $50? Answer: Percent means by a hundred, so anything expressed as a percentage is a fraction (or part, if you prefer) of 100. So 18% is 18 parts of 100, or 18/100 or .18. If your bill is $50, multiply 50 by .18 to get your tip total of $9. If you're feeling generous, a 20% tip would require you to multiply 50 by .20, for a total of $10.00

50.00 x .18 = 9.00

50.00 x .20 = 10.00

Percentages can also be holiday-relevant when it comes to figuring out in-store sales. In this case, you want to multiply by the inverse of the percentage listed. So if you have a $50 sweater that's on sale for 25% off, multiply 50 by .75 for your total of $37.50. That same $50 sweater on sale for 40% off would equate to $30, or $50 multiplied by .60.

50.00 x .75 = 37.50

50.00 x .60 = 30.00

9. Brr, it's cold outside. But just how cold does it have to be to get some snow around here? Answer: Did you know that the freezing point of water is 32 degrees Fahrenheit? Keep an eye on the temperature and watch your footing for ice on the ground. (See previous fact about those treasured vertebrae!)

10. Everyone knows Santa and his elves live in the North Pole. But what about the South Pole (aka Antarctica)? Answer: The South Pole was discovered by Roald Amundsen (1872-1928, Norwegian), who was also the first to sail though the Northwest passage, the sea route from Pacific to Atlantic along the north coast of North America. Antarctica is the only continent that contains no countries -- instead, it is a stateless territory protected from exploitation by an international treaty. A good place for the elves to protest low wages?

11. Which Ocean is bigger: the Pacific or the Atlantic? Answer: The Pacific Ocean is larger at 69,374 square miles -- that's almost double the Atlantic, which comes in at 35,665 square miles. Making it evenmore astonishing that St. Nick can cross the globe in just one night.

12.Remember the reason for the Season! Can you name a few things that both Judaism and Christianity have in common? Answer: Both are monotheistic religions that share the first five books of the Christian Old Testament. Both religions view Jerusalem as a sacred site, the former for the Wailing Wall (contains the remains of the temple that was thought to be the place where God resides on earth) and the latter for Christ's burial and resurrection site.

Happy Holidays to all!... Caroline

©2009 Caroline Taggart, author of I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School

Now for the Giveaway!

Congrats to Beth from Iowa who won the giveaway!

And Thank you to everyone who joined in on the fun!

Happy Holidays!

I reviewed I Use to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School by Caroline Taggart back in Sept. I thought it was an entertaining & fun little book! (Here's a link to the review) This little book would make an excellent gift and perfect for stuffing in a stocking! But Guess What?! I have a GIVEAWAY! Courtesy of Caitlin of FSB Associates I have one copy of I Use to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School for a giveaway! Thanks Caitlin! It's a quickie giveaway though- only one week! This will end Dec. 15th!

Here's how you can enter to win...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*Get an extra entry for following my blog! Just leave a comment letting me know you're a follower! ( Not a follower yet? No problem, sign up by clicking on the 'followers" button! Just let me know you became a new follower!)

*Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only.(No PO boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on Dec. 15th. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

Here's a little bit more about Caroline...

Caroline Taggart, author of I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School, has been an editor of non-fiction books for nearly 30 years and has covered nearly every subject from natural history and business to gardening and astronomy. She has written several books and was the editor of Writer's Market UK 2009.

Memoir Mondays... mennonite in a little black dress, a memoir of going home by Rhoda Janzen

A Memoir of Going Home

"Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside down. It was bad enough that her brilliant husband of fifteen years left her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com, but that same week a car accident left her with serious injuries. What was a gal to do? Rhoda packed her bags and went home. This wasn’t just any home, though. This was a Mennonite home. While Rhoda had long ventured out on her own spiritual path, the conservative community welcomed her back with open arms and offbeat advice. (Rhoda’s good-natured mother suggested she date her first cousin—he owned a tractor, see.) It is in this safe place that Rhoda can come to terms with her failed marriage; her desire, as a young woman, to leave her sheltered world behind; and the choices that both freed and entrapped her.

Written with wry humor and huge personality—and tackling faith, love, family, and aging—Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is an immensely moving memoir of healing, certain to touch anyone who has ever had to look homeward in order to move ahead."

They say "you can always go home", and that's exactly what Rhoda Janzen does in mennonite in a little black dress. After a hysterectomy, a husband who left her for a guy named Bob at the age of "over 40", and a horrible car accident, Rhoda was having a bad stretch of luck! But instead of Rhoda crying in her pillow at night, she picks herself up and off she goes- back to her loving family who have more than few endearing quirks. With a wry sense of humor and a flair for putting words to paper you can't help but turn those pages and laugh as she writes about love, her family and her faith!

It seems that Rhoda couldn't wait to shed her somewhat strict Mennonite upbringing- but as we travel to where her life arrives at the end of the book, we also travel back to her childhood, her friendships and relationships with her family. Though there's that touch of sarcasm in her descriptions, the way she writes about her family and growing up Mennonite is hysterical!, this is also a heart-warming tale, because you can feel the love that Rhoda feels for her family and friends come off the page.

The writing is terrific! The story will make you laugh and cry at the same time! And in the world of memoirs this is one you will definitely enjoy! Rhoda Janzen is a refreshing writer! Brutally Honest, such as dealing with her 'pee bag' & yet the story is charming... This is a woman who has the strength to overcome some incredibly bad luck... You may not become a Borscht loving convert, but you'll laugh as Rhoda describes Borscht as catnip for Mennonites! And you can also read her Mennonite history primer in the back of the book, where she sets the record straight...

"Mennonite girls do not put out, no matter how alluring we are in our bonnets and aprons."

Would you like to read a little of mennonite in a little black dress?! Here's an excerpt of Chapter One! I want to thank Ashley of Henry Holt and Co. for sharing this book with me! Thanks Ashley I loved it!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

The Sunday Salon...Cookbooks to make your Mouth Water! And a Cookbook on Kindle for Free!

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake...

When the weather turns a little colder there's nothing I enjoy more than cooking... Maybe you could call it comfort food cooking, maybe it's just the wonderful smells that stay locked in the house when all the windows are locked down to keep the snow out, but when winter comes to Connecticut food takes on a different meaning...

The cookbook shelves are bursting with great new recipes too! There have been quite a few cookbooks that have caught my eye, so today let's do lunch... and dinner... and brunch..

Not Your Mother's Slow Cooke Recipes for Entertaining by Beth Hensperger & Julie Kaufman... I love my crockpot! What's better than throwing ingredients in a pot and coming home to a wonderful meal?! Beth & Julie have written a couple of other slow cooker cookbooks, this newest one emphasizing dinners for groups, which would be especially nice if you are cooking dinner for your book club! I've always thought crock pot cooking was about cooking a great meal and having leftovers for another meal, so even if you're not cooking for the book club, or you don't have a big family, this book has wonderful recipes that you'll be glad you have something for another night! And because it's "recipes for entertaining", there are also fun recipes such as Hot Crab Supreme dip, Buttermilk Fondue which is made with various cheeses and garlic, or Mulled Cider made with cardamom and saffron. The book has a selection of soups, such as Onion Soup with Champagne, Port and Camembert, sauces, vegetable recipes, bean & chilli recipes, and poultry, beef & pork recipes. I'll be reviewing some of these recipes later as well as talking about using your Kindle as a cookbook! Yes, this cookbook is on Kindle and as of this post Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Entertaining is a FREE download! Is using your Kindle the same as using an actual cookbook? We'll chat about

that later... Here's the link for your Kindle Ready version!

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., & Zoe Francois... Who doesn't like fresh bread?! I have

a bread machine, but this cookbook puts bread making back in the oven! The secret to healthy bread in 'five minutes a day' is using a simple, and I mean simple, 6 ingredient recipe. There is NO kneading! You measureyour ingredients, mix them with water, and let the dough you just made rise for 2 hours (Leaving it alone for longer than the 2 hours won't 'hurt' the dough). After rising you put the dough in the refrigerator and that's about it. You pull off a 1 lb. ball from the dough you made to bake a loaf of bread. The book is a wealth of great information about the science of bread making, but you'll also find full descriptions of ingredients that you can add, tips & techniques, troubleshooting, a great section on equipment, and of course recipes using the basic "master recipe", such as whole grain garlic knots, and other recipes for flatbreads & pizza, breads with hidden fruits & vegetables, such as sweet potato and spelt bread, gluten-free breads & pastries, and enriched breads & pastries. Watch for my review of this book as I make my first "oven" fresh loaf!

Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking, Yiddish Recipes Revisited... Growing up I enjoyed my father cooking fried Matzo, loved eating fresh Challah, and having a Knish here and there. When my father passed away, I missed his Jewish cooking (and the stories that went with it!). The Joy of Cooking was my first cookbook and I never found any inspiring Jewish cookbooks. When I saw Arthur Schwartz's newest book, Jewish Home Cooking, I had to pick it up. Not only is it a beautiful book with wonderful full color photos, it brought back some fond memories as well! And it is loaded with wonderful recipes! Pot-Roasted Brisket, Kasha Varnishkes, Sweet and Sour Potted Meatballs, and even that fried Matzo recipe! Between the recipes we read tidbits on Jewish cooking and some Jewish traditions. There are recipes for appetizers, soups, side dishes, main courses, Passover recipes, breads and desserts.

The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones... Judith Jones is an editor who took an unknown cook by the name of Julia Child and made her into a household name. (She also is responsible fo

r editing Anne Franks diary). She is an editor, but also a fine cook in her own right. When her husband died she wasn't sure she was going to ever "enjoy preparing a meal and eating by herself." But she did! This is her wonderful cookbook proving that if you are alone you still can eat wonderful meals! These are recipes designed for one, some of which will have leftovers that Judith has another wonderful variation for. It's a beautiful little book, with full color photographs, clear & concise directions, and added tidbits of information here and there. I'm not single, but these recipes should be easily tweaked for a couple! And that was my thought when I bought it!

What's your favorite cookbook?! Do you change your cooking with the seasons? Soup & crock pots for winter? Cookbooks give us the ability to eat in Brasil one day and Sicily in the next! Where is your next destination? Just as there are many wonderful choices to escape to in fiction, there are many choices in what to cook for dinner! Hope you enjoyed some of my new cookbook choices! And if you have a Kindle, don't forget to download that Slow Cooker cookbook!

Have a delicious week! Suzanne

Ansel Adams in Color... A Beautiful Book just waiting for your Coffee Table!

A Beautiful Coffee Table Book

Toward the end of his life Ansel Adams wrote, "People are skeptical about my thoughts on color. I do not blame them, as I have protested it and have not shown color pictures. I feel the urge now and only wish I was sixty years younger!" Adams began to photograph in color in the mid-1930s. He did significant personal or "creative" photography in color, and his distinctive visualization of a scene and technical mastery is immediately evident in his color photographs. Overall, he made nearly 3,500 color images, but only a small fraction have ever been published. Adams thought seriously about publishing his color images but the task was not accomplished during his lifetime. The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust asked the distinguished master photographer Harry Callahan to select the best of Adams' color work for publication in this book. Accompanied by an introductory essay by Enyeart, and a selection of Adams' fascinating, often contradictory writings on color photography, these magnificent color images add a new dimension to Adams' enduring legacy.

Ansel Adams is well known for his breathtaking black & white images. But this wonderful book gives us an unexpected surprise in that it showcases his color photography. And these rare photographs are equally breathtaking. The play of light, the beautiful colors, the amazing framing of a subject are what you'll experience as you leaf through the pages of Ansel Adams In Color... I remember going to an Ansel Adams photography show at a museum in New York a few years back and being totally fascinated by the one or two color photographs on display. It was the first time I had actually seen any of them and they were beautiful... and this book is filled with them! This book is actually the newly revised and expanded edition of the book Ansel Adams in Color that was published in 1993. With new printing techniques, these photographs are reproduced closer to the originals. AND there are 20 previously unpublished color photographs that have been added to this edition!

Harry Callahan, himself an accomplished photographer, edited this collection of color photographs of Ansel Adams. He writes in the editor's note in the beginning of the book how he first met Ansel Adams and how he chose the images for the book. Even in this brief intro we are given bits of insight into the mind of the great photographer. But it is the essay by photographic historian James L. Enyeart that really bring the man behind the images to life. Adams' difficulty with the technical aspects of color photography, his process of visualization and how he thought landscape photography was an extremely difficult subject for color photography. In the back of the book there are selected writings on color photography by Ansel Adams which are also interesting... In part of a letter written to his future wife, Virginia Best, he writes,

"I got the notion to try a color plate of our garden, which is very attractive now with all the dahlias (about 300 plants) in full bloom... I got one good one , and three worthless ones. Besides I dropped the new filter and busted it. A rather expensive trial, I must say, but now that I have the "hang of it," I will do better." It's amazing to read about Ansel Adams thinking something of his was "worthless" and even funnier to read about him believing he has the "hang of it".

The bulk of this book are the full color images each reproduced on a single page with a stark white border surrounding the photograph. Even if you aren't interested in the historical aspects of the book, the gorgeous photographs can be enjoyed on their own. It's that time of year when we are trying to find that 'perfect' gift... This would make a wonderful coffee table book or a much appreciated gift to anyone who enjoys photography! Here's a LINK to an article about the book at Smithsonian.com. And here is a LINK to the publisher's website to read more about Ansel Adams in Color.

Of course this book isn't Kindle Ready! BUT it is available as of this posting from Amazon at an incredible 46% off its regular price! Here's the LINK!

Thank you Anna of Hachette Book Group for a copy of this beautiful book for review! It is a feast for the eyes!

Secrets of a Christmas Box... A New Christmas Favorite & a Review!

"From the start of December,

to Christmas Eve night,

one chapter an evening,

wrapped up with delight."

Secrets of a Christmas Box by Steven Hornby is a charming, wonderful story that will have you smiling as you turn the pages reading the adventures of Larry, Debbie and Splint, ornaments that come to life after the lights are turned off and the family goes to sleep...

"In the secret world of the Christmas 'Tree-Dwellers', Larry, a glass snowman, wakes up from the long sleep in the Christmas box, to find his brother is missing from the tree. With friends, he escapes into the house to search for him, and embarks on a series of fantastical adventures."

After the Christmas box comes out and the ornaments are all put on the tree, the fantastic world of the Tree-Dwellers comes to life. Slowly the ornaments wake up from their seasonal sleep and a huge celebration is begun. New ornaments are welcomed and old friends share a pine needle or two for treats. It is pure delight as we peek into the world of the ornaments, at the dangers of breaking if they fall off the tree, or the need to remember their 'bedtime branch', so the family doesn't know they moved from where they placed them! You'll be looking at your Christmas tree a little differently after reading this fantastic tale!

The book is divided into 24 chapters, so you can read one chapter a night starting Dec.1st and ending Christmas Eve. It is well written, with cute illustrations spread throughout and a wonderful story to read together as a family. It just warmed my heart to read it as Larry, Debbie and Splint show us the true meaning of friendship & the importance of family...

Start a new family tradition with the reading of Secrets of a Christmas Box during the month of December! And feel the magic of the season that Steve Hornby created in a little story that will touch your heart.

“Growing out of my childhood, I remembered trying to hold onto those magical feelings I only got at Christmas time, the warm fuzziness in my stomach and the giddy excitement of knowing Santa Claus would soon be arriving... I wanted to create a world that captured those magical feelings I had as a child, but also include a sense of what Christmas means to me today, every time I open up that wonderful Christmas box.” – Steven Hornby

Would you like to read an excerpt of Secrets of a Christmas Box? Here's a sample... it's Chapter Nine! And I want to especially thank Golriz Fanai of Ecky Thump Books, who send me the review copy of this wonderful book! Thank you Golriz! It was magical!