Sunday, January 26, 2020

BW4: The Wind was on the Withered Heath





"They sat long at the table with their wooden drinking bowls filled with mead. The dark night came on outside. The fires in the middle of the hall were built with fresh logs and the torches were put out, and still they sat in the light of the dancing flames with the pillars of the house standing tall behind them, and dark at the top like trees in the forest.  Whether it was magic or not, it seemed to Bilbo that he heard a sound like wind in the branches stirring in the rafters, and the hoot of owls.  Soon he began to nod with sleep and the voices seemed to grow far away, until he woke with a start.

The great door had creaked and slammed. Beorn was gone. The dwarves were sitting cross legged on the floor round the fire, and presently they began to sing.  Some of the verses were like this, but there were many more, and their singing went on for a long while: 




The wind was on the withered heath,
but in the forest stirred no leaf:
there shadows lay by night and day,
and dark things silent crept beneath.

The wind came down from mountains cold,
and like a tide it roared and rolled;
the branches groaned, the forest moaned,
and leaves were laid upon the mould.

The wind went on from West to East;
all movement in the forest ceased,
but shrill and harsh across the marsh
its whistling voices were released.

The grasses hissed, their tassels bent,
the reeds were rattling—on it went
o'er shaken pool under heavens cool
where racing clouds were torn and rent.

It passed the lonely Mountain bare
and swept above the dragon's lair:
there black and dark lay boulders stark
and flying smoke was in the air.

It left the world and took its flight
over the wide seas of the night.
The moon set sail upon the gale,
and stars were fanned to leaping light."

The Hobbit:  Queer Lodgings

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Sunday, January 19, 2020

BW3: 52 Books Bingo - Four Corners




Our first bingo category is Four Corners and there are a number of ways to go with this. Explore different countries, cultures and archaeological sites, people, and with Four Corners in the title.

A quadripoint is a point on earth which intersects with four distinct territories. The first one that comes to mind is Four Corners region, a quadrant in the southwestern United States where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah intersect. The land and Four Corners Monument is maintained by Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation and serves also as a boundary between the Navajo Nation and the Ute Mount Ute Tribe reservation.

Read stories set in Four Corners Country, or mysteries set on Native American Reservations or set in the Navajo Nation, poems by Four Corners Poets, as well as check out Four Corners Press. Learn about the Ute's and other Native American Tribes and Nations.

The second quadripoint is the Four Corners of Africa,where the Chobe River flows into the Zambezi River - Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Explore art books published by Four Corners Books, armchair travel to New Guinea with Kira Salak in Four Corners: Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea, explore basketball with FOUR CORNERS: How Unc, Nc State, Duke, And Wake Forest Made North Carolina The Crossroads Of The Basketball Universe or delve through the Library of Congress 4 Corners of the World: International Collections for book ideas.


Our second 52 Books Bingo category is Fourth in a Series which can be the fourth book in any series or books such as Isaac Asimov Presents the Golden Years of Science Fiction Fourth Series or Five Anonymous Plays (Fourth Series) by John Stephen Farmer. Or the fourth man or woman or musical note or something with four corners.



“I sailed a bit as a child, but it wasn't until I was around 40, when 
I was halfway through Patrick O'Brian's 'Master and Commander' novels,
that I had the sudden epiphany that I had to go sail on a square-rig ship.”

-- Billy Campbell


Let your imagination be your guide and have fun following rabbit trails.


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Sunday, January 12, 2020

BW2: Hero's journey - The Hobbit





“As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things 
made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, 
a fierce and a jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then 
something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and
see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees, and the waterfalls,
and explore the caves, and wear a sword, instead of a walking-stick”  


Happy Sunday!  Did you know January is National Hot Tea month?   Please join me for a delicious hot cup of your favorite tea while we go on a hero's quest!  A few weeks ago, I watched The Lord of the Rings Trilogy with my son who hasn't read the books yet. He prefers to see the movies first which is the opposite of me as I like to read books first, then see the movie and have much more fun comparing the two. It has been ages since I’ve seen the movies so most was long forgotten and it was interesting experiencing them through his eyes. It had also been decades since I read the books and in trying to answer all his questions, it put me in the mood to reread the series and where better to begin than with Bilbo Baggins in the prequel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

"Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum."

Speaking of Bilbo's pantry, if you want to eat like a hobbit, be sure to dip into An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery, then join me for elevenses while we read.

Both The Hobbit and the Unexpected Cookbook are available to read or listen to free on Kindle Unlimited right now.

If you'd would like to learn more about the Hero's journey, check out Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey and/or Hero with a Thousand Faces, or follow another fictional character as they are put to the test.

Are you ready to answer the call to adventure? 


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Wednesday, January 1, 2020

BW1: Happy New Year - Our Journey continues

Courtesy of Julia Blackshaw - 
Places I've Never Been Before



I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else. ~ Neil Gaiman


Happy New Year! Cheers to another year of armchair traveling with 52 Books and welcome to all our newbies and everyone joining in for another round. I'm looking forward sharing our reading adventures together.

Thanks to this challenge,  over the past few years my reading choices have become rather eclectic. My shelves reflect my various moods which have segued from science fiction and fantasy to mystery and romances to historical fiction to non fiction, which means I have a wide variety to which to choose. I'm looking forward to reading all the whimsical and entertaining, historical and fantastic, adventurous and literary books on my shelves as well as the new shiny ones about to be released.

As hard as it is to resist buying new books as soon as they come out, I promised my ever expanding library of virtual books as well as my dusty and chunky books, I'd read them first before I added more. Poor babies are feeling neglected at the moment. Part of the fun is reading through them alphabetically and discovering old friends. My muse was definitely not amused during 2019 so I will make an extra effort to pay him more attention.

The grand Dame Agatha Christie requests your presence and invites you to have a cup of tea or a whiskey, if you prefer, while you discuss the meaning of an Well Educated Mind or which Nobel Prize Winner she thinks you may enjoy reading. Maybe she'll join you on a Brit Trip But first, she may choose to enjoy a moment of Silence, before she gives you clues to 52 Books Bingo or shares a bit of news about our Ladies of Fiction. and gives away Whodunit!

We also plan to have a J.R. Tolkien Readalong starting with The Hobbit during the first quarter of the year, and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the remaining three quarters. I'll post more about it next week.

The goal is simple. Read 52 books and how you get there is entirely up to you. All our annual and perpetual challenges as well as weekly or seasonal mini challenges are optional and meant to tickle your reading taste buds. Which generally results in having fun, getting lost (in a good way) following rabbit trails and an ever expanding want list of reads. 


(I'll tell you a secret. Shh! Don't tell anyone else she whispers with a wink!) You can even set your own goal if you like. Read what you want, explore and dive into those longer books, engage your mind and soul and don't worry. Do your best, challenge yourself and you may be surprised to discover how many books you end up reading.

It has become a tradition with 52 Books to begin our travels in the Far East, generally with Haruki Murakami, and I currently have Killing Commendatore on my virtual shelves. However, I'm going to start with our Ladies of Fiction author of the month, Banana Yoshimoto, and her debut literary novel, Kitchen. Plus I'm two thirds of the way through Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and currently reading #11 Knife of Dreams.

 Instead of having a very short week one, our first week will run until Saturday, January 11th.  

Are you ready to dive in?  Please share your reading plans for 2020 and/or your reading wrap up for 2019 or let us know which book(s) you are currently reading.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts about your reads. 


~Cheers to a wonderful reading new year~ 


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For the first week, link to your I'm participating post, reading plans or to your most current review. Share your book reviews and link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have a social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. The link widget closes at the end of each book week.

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