whatwasthatbook

This community reunites people with the books they've lost! We were featured in the lj_spotlight in October 2006 and again a few years later (I can't remember exactly). As a result, this is by far the largest community of its kind here on LiveJournal. We have a good success rate, thanks to the tireless assistance provided by and for our many members.
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I seem to recall picking this up from among Sid Fleischman's books at the library, but it may have just been in the F's. It was about a family who lived on a paddleboat, and some bandits try to take over their boat at one point and the family defends it. But the family is a little odd, and Addams Family-ish, so they have a peculiar defensive style, like they're amused by the attempted takeover. I seem to recall the mother lighting and firing cannons. The jacket cover that I remember was mustard-colored, and the family as drawn was tall and spindly, and a little ghastly - the way I remember other Sid Fleischman books to look. I've looked over his bibliography and none of the titles ring a bell, nor does looking for the book jacket, because the ones I've seen all seem to have been updated, so that isn't helping.

Edit: Found! Sid Fleischman's Humbug Mountain  Thanks, greatly!  Can't wait to get a copy again, and introduce my niece to it.  Thanks

Hello

I read these books in the early 1990s and have been trying to track them down for about 10 years now. I can remember embarrassingly little about them - but I think there was a trilogy. The main character was a monk who was sent off on various missions and quests. He had some magic skills and only one hand (he had a silver hook). I do remember one scene where he was in a row boat on a lake with another character. Also, there was a long climb up a cliff face.

I know, is it possible for me to be any more vague, but this has been annoying me for years.

Thanks for your help!

Hello! I'm trying to find a book I loved as a kid. I remember it was about a girl whose family travelled around in a trailer (which made registering in school for the first time difficult, since she didn't have a real address). Her family is so poor that her very talented mother draws pictures on toilet paper. At some point her mother sends her a picture of a toucan, but as a private joke between them, if you turn the toucan upside down it looks like a man sitting on the toilet.

I also remember maybe a diagram about eating peas with a fork.

Any ideas?

Sometime in the 90s, when I was but a young child, I read one of my mum's library books, and I really want to read it again. I have no idea of the title or author, and only some idea of the plot. Does anyone recognise this? I have asked my mum and google and neither has any idea.

I have always assumed it was nonfiction travel writing, but having thought about it there is a good chance it could have been fiction because it all sounds very fantastical. It was written by (or from the POV of) a woman who went on holiday to either Africa or South America with two male acquaintances and one female acquaintance. She and the other woman woke up one day to discover that the guys had robbed them and run off, leaving them stranded with no money and hardly any of their luggage. All they had to wear was a couple of pairs of t-shirts and long skirts, as their jeans had been stolen too. After initial panic, and through a combination of necessity and adventurous spirit, this lead to an epic, shoestring journey across Africa/South America that lasted somewhere in the region of two years.

Unfortunately, past the set up, my recollection is extremely fuzzy. Hence my not knowing the country! I know it was hot.

Arguments for South America: I seem to recall a trip down the Amazon in a raft. But perhaps it was the Congo?

Arguments for Africa: I also recall a cross-continent boat journey with a captain who turned out to be very sleazy, and I think the author was American. But maybe she wasn't?

Given when I read it, and the state of the book, I think it was probably set in the 80s. But could also be early 90s or 70s.

I will be amazed if anyone gets the book off that, but it is worth a shot. Eternal gratitude in return!

I remember reading a book, years ago, when I was in school(around about the year 2002) that was about a society where families were only allowed to have one child. The story was based around a little boy, I think, who lived in the attic of his house and was never allowed outside because he was the second child in his family so he needed to be kept a secret. If I remember correctly, this child met another; a girl, I believe, who was also a secret and they developed a friendship somehow, even though they could rarely see each other because travelling between their houses by day was very difficult since neither of them was supposed to exist.

This is all I remember but I know that I enjoyed reading the book very much, as a child.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello.

It was a tale about bears. One bear had blackberries, and another one had some honey. One of them was male and the other was female but I don't remember who had what. There was a third bear who wrote poems and sang songs. He made the bear with blackberries meet the bear with honey and then they made blackberry and honey muffins or cakes together. The book had very colorful illustrations.
I'd read it when I was a child so I guess it was written before 2000.

Thank you.

I have searched and searched for this colorful children's book, hardback (I think) about fairies living in the forest.

The illustrations were very colorful. They were beautiful and vibrant, but unfortunately only one specific page comes to mind: It was in the forest, and there was a large table, a preparation of a feast or celebration of some sort. On it was all sorts of food, but I think I specifically remember there being a (pink?) jello mold (lol) on the table, kind of like this one. There were female fairies with wings, dressed formally with colorful and sparkly dresses.

...That's all I've got. I am aware that this post is obnoxiously vague, but I would appreciate any insights or suggestions, as I am growing increasingly desperate.

Hello. A librarian friend of mine pointed me to this community for help in finding this pre-1983, possibly young adult, book. It's about a teenage girl in the time of Eleanor d'Aquitaine. The girl was a distant relative of the queen who ended up going to her court. I remember the girl's sister saying her green eyes made her look like a witch and the girl wearing her mother's shoes to go to the queen's court. I read the book at my grandfather's house sometime between 1976 and 1983, but it may have been there a while.

Thanks!