my son and family lived in germany where the boys were in love with kindereggs. they have a two piece plastic container that is kind of the shape of a c-battery but shorter. they are hard as the dickens to open! inside is a tiny toy that you construct using an instruction sheet, also inside and written in german. they are very intricate and wheels turn, etc. some series are whole items like clowns or animals or cars. there are collectors who pay good money for the toys. i still have a bag full of them and some are smaller than any toy parts i have seen here other than polly pocket dolls. the cylinder is contained inside a thin shell of two lays of chocolate...white and brown. it is a high quality candy and easily breaks into small pieces. you can also buy the candy by itself and my grandsons still get it from my daughter who now lives in germany. years ago i was able to buy kindereggs from a man in canada who sold them on ebay. the last time i tried, about 4 years ago, he no longer shipped to the us although the ban had been in effect prior to then. they just made the punishment harsher. so there, everything you need to know about them from someone with over 10 years experience.....lol.

jessy, reading your original request and the information you provided has me at a total loss. I though English schools were bad enough at teaching irrelevant courses and subject matter (although they are belatedly trying to tidy up their acts) but the above is just so strange. I asked my DH (a long-time teacher) what age Grade 9'ers were and told him what was expected of your son. He said it sounded typical of a 'modern' university course, where 'studying' is left to the student, everything is wishy-washy and very little basic information is either taught or learnt. As some other RP'ers have said I would be interested if this course has been decided by the history/English teacher, the Head of the Dept or a School board. (here in England by the time pupils reach 14+ years it is the Examination boards that set the curriculum) As it stands, although your son might get something from the reading matter as works of literature I honestly don't think he will learn any history except maybe a little from The Scarlet Pimpernel. How, for eg can he learn any historical facts from the stories of King Arthur? It's as daft as asking a child of the future what he learnt about our generation from reading The Lord of the Rings. I'd love to hear the teacher's explanation of Patterns of Interaction and what it actually means or be a fly on the wall during his lessons. This woolly concept seems way too long (the history alone would occupy a UK kid the whole of his senior school days) and bound to lead to terminal boredom. As far as the book-cover thing goes. What I seriously would suggest, if they have to produce some sort of 'Art Work' is that between them, the class produces an illustrated 'time-line' as a frieze round the room, starting with the first Unit 1300 > > > adding the main historical events and fitting the book titles into the appropriate places. This way not only will they notice how far away Homer is from the 'modern world' but they might learn the sequence of history, a concept of which many children (and adults) have little understanding. Jessy this is most interesting . . . because it seems so CAZY. :-) . . . btw, keep off Richard Burton imo. He had serious problems of a sexual nature (his wife burnt all his letters and papers) so not really suitable for school!

Mary, my question to you wasn't rhetorical: I'm trying to get at what you mean by compelling. Since I've only read one book on your list, I need some more information to see if I've read anything this year that might apply. Now, "Best Books" or favorites, as the writer of the blog does a good job of explaining the whys of, are a whole other kettle of fish. I can find a book compelling without really thinking it's one of the best books I've read -- or even liking it, for that matter. Though compelling and "liking" are sometimes simultaneous, only one is requisite for me to consider it for my "Best of the Year." Maybe I'm splitting hairs, though. I tend to overanalyze when I'm puzzled. :-( Okay, I'll just list my favorites of the year, compelling or not. Birds Without Wings - I can't believe I read it way back in January! The Wilderness Journals of Everett Ruess, edited by W.L. Rusho Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War - Nathaniel Philbrick Below the Convergence: Voyages Toward Antarctica, 1699-1839 by Alan Gurney Vee, I read Frankie and Stankie back in June. I liked it quite a bit, perhaps because it had a more memoirish feel to it than most fiction. What about it appealed most to you? Sheri, I was taken with The Big House, too. I wrote a review of it over at Bibliophil when it was still fresh on my mind. I reread what I wrote and now a couple of years later I'm delighted that I still remember it remarkably well.

Good grief, that sounds incredibly rude! We don't do it that way at all. We have a designated club member who contacts a prospective author and explains that we would like to take him (or her) out to lunch or dinner at the local restaurant of the author's choice to talk about their writing. No surprises. If the author is not interested (which sometimes happens) we thank them and look for someone else. We find it works best for us with authors who are not already famous. You would probably not have heard of any of the authors we've met. We have a good time, and often find that our authors are a great source of ideas about what to explore in their home towns. The New Orleans author spontaneously gave us a tour of his city. He's not the only one to do this. They have done the research; they know the place intimately; and they enjoy sharing their knowledge. We've gone to large cities and small towns. A secondary motive, for me at least, is to see as much of the country as possible. I've never been anywhere that was not well worth visiting, even places that did not sound intriguing to me at first. It's so easy to let your eyes glide over parts of the map that are not fashionable. In my opinion, you do yourself a disservice with that. Ours is the only traveling book club I've ever heard of, though many authors are delighted to meet with book clubs in their area. Also our authors have told us that no other traveling book clubs have ever contacted them. It makes a very enjoyable 'girlfriend' vacation as well. I value my book club highly. Even when I was thinking of moving, I planned to stay a member. Rosefolly