What makes me happy part 2

Snow days. :) (Or rather, ice days.) We didn't have to drag our kids kicking and screaming out of bed because of the freezing rain/ice pellets last night. It doesn't look like Michigan, but it's just not safe to drive on the rollercoaster hills of NW Arkansas like this.

Also, the bulk of my Christmas shopping is done, so I don't have to go back out in it.

Also, I found the library book I've gotten er...two overdue notices on. And we have an extra day to find DD's glasses before she has to go back to school. (Unless she left them at school, that is.)

In which I point readers to entertaining new books/author sites

Last summer I think, beckylevine wrote that she really liked the MG book Leepike Ridge, by N.D. Wilson. Well, I have now gotten hold of it, and this is another winner. Tom Hammond, age 11, feels resentful of the guy who wants to marry his mother, and goes out for a midnight spin on the foam from the new refrigerator packing to sulk. He gets caught in the current, and swept away to an underground cave, and spends the rest of the book in survival mode. The book's got mystery, action, man against man, man against nature, archaeology, and crawdads. Refreshingly, it's NOT about how-to-make-junior-see-the-error-of-his-attitude-and-just-get-with-the-adult-program-please. The author has an entertaining web site (take note, those who may be trying to create one)--it does not have tons of bells and whistles, but it is fun to read.

(The only complaint I have about the book is that at least in the library edition, it has no flap copy. I've noticed this in other Random House children's books. What is up with this? Even my 8-year-old says he looks at the back or at the jacket to see if he'd be interested in reading an unfamiliar book. There are no words at all, though. You have to look at the Library of Congress summary inside, and that is pretty spare. If I hadn't heard of the book by word of mouth, I would have put it back because there wasn't really a quick way to figure out what it was about. So, Random House designers looking to sell books! Please attach brief flap copy on book to attract potential readers!)