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Sunday, December 27, 2020

BW52: 2020 Year End Wrap UP


 

The year is almost over and our cups may be running low, but they aren't empty yet.  Now's the time to brew another pot of words to fill them up again. So gather all the ingredients you need to make a whole new batch.  Fill your carafe with a mix of history, science fiction, math, romance, essays, mysteries, art, and folklore. Spice it up with a little bit of myth, accompanied by a splash of adventure.  And while you wait for your books to brew, let's take a moment to reflect. 

Tell us about your reading year? What were your goals this year? Did you have a plan, and/or follow rabbit trails or just wing it?

  • How many books did you read?  
  • Which were your favorite stories and which ones had the biggest impact on you.   
  • Which one made you giggle, weep, dance, or sing?   
  • Made you want to dive in and live in their world? 
  • Which book would you like to revisit? 
  • One book you thought you would love, but didn't? 
  • Which book would you recommend everyone read?
  • Did you discover any new to authors or genres?
  • Share your thoughts, opinions,  reading stats, favorite characters, covers or quotes.

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Maureen Doallas: “Reading Goodnight Moon”

Do you remember reading it?
*
Reading Goodnight Moon
is not like stopping
at McDonald’s
for your favorite double-shot latte.

You don’t drive through.

You take each word
in a languishing slide off the tongue,
naming what is named
that you never saw before.

Looking, finding, pointing delighted
in the room the moon the light
the red balloon that lifts

Darkness even as sleep
falls fast
and clock’s hands change

What you see changing
before a child’s eyes.

If you slow long enough
to take in what your child sees
with eyes that

Refuse to be moved
to a new page before
the first page is exhausted.

The last page you turn
holds the dream
you thought would never last:

A snuggling close closer still
beneath moon’s shadows.

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As Stephen King says "Books are a uniquely portable magic," and I hope your reads inspired and enlightened, transformed and transported you, and filled your life with knowledge, imagination, and pleasure. Thank you for joining me in another reading adventure and I'm looking forward to more bookish adventures.   Cheers to a happy reading new year!

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Link to your reviews. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field paste a link to your post, then check the privacy box and click enter. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us what you have been reading. 



Sunday, December 20, 2020

BW51: December Solstice

 

Josephine Wall Snow Angel

Winter is coming in our neck of the woods with rain and snow on the horizon and all kinds of adjectives are coming to mind such as chilly, frosty, icy, foggy, rainy, frozen and so on and so forth.  Whatever shall we do?  

Go forth and brave the brisk, biting weather or cozy up with books about winter  or with winter in the title, while curled up on the couch, drinking cocoa by the fire.  Dip into feel good must reads or dance into the past with a winter romance.  

Maybe read about nippy arctic winds and frozen travelers exploring the North Pole in the Arctic or the South Pole in Antarctica.  Explore the polar regions or take an imaginary polar cruise and delve into one of  12 Must Read Books About Antarctica.  Don't forget to visit Iceland or Greenland during your armchair travels.  

Since Christmas is on our minds this week, dive into books about that which is just about everyone's favorite holiday with old St. Nick, Debbie Macomber's Christmas Angels, or Festive Christmas Books to Get You in the Holiday Spirit.  

Meanwhile I'll leave you with one of my favorite poems which puts me in a wintery, festive mood.


Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

by

Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.   
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here  
To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer 
To stop without a farmhouse near  
Between the woods and frozen lake 
 The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,  
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


~~~~Cheers~~~~~

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Tuesday, December 15, 2020

2021 Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks

 

Courtesy of Jen Campbell



Are you ready to explore the world with another round of Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks?  The goal is simple - read 52 books. How you get there is up to you.  I'm in a follow my muse, clocks and corsets, dragon flying, explore the magical and mystical as well as the historical,  swashbuckling, take me out of this world mood.   What are you in the mood for? Whether you read fiction or nonfiction, like to spread your reading wings and read outside your comfort zone or stick with the tried and true, join me aboard The Roving Pum Deg Dau o Lygrau airship for a fun filled reading adventure.  

We have three new challenges to tease your reading palates in 2021.  An updated 52 Books Bingo with 20 bonus squares that will take us deep underground to the outer edges of space.  The Daughters of Mnemosyne  will fill us with creativity, wisdom and insight, and last but not least, the Fictional Librarians Bookology, will lead us to our author of the month and spelling challenge. 

We also have a variety of weekly, monthly mini challenges and perpetual challenges  including: 

Well Educated Mind --  Continue to explore the classics in 6 categories: Fiction, Autobiography, History/Politics, Drama, Poetry and Science. 

Agatha Christie  --  read at least three of her books per year.  Read the books in chronological order as listed, group by detective or collection, or randomly if you choose. 

Brit Tripping --- A year long mystery read traveling the Roman Roads through England reading reading a book from each of the 45 counties with a few extra trips to London. 

Plus Alphabet Soup, Dusty and Chunky, Feed Your Muse, Mind Voyages, Nobel Prize Winners and Sounds of Silence.

The mini and perpetual challenges are all optional, Mix them up anyway you like or follow your own path in the quest to read.  

  • The challenge runs January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 
  • Our book weeks begin on Sunday
  • Week one begins Friday, January 1st and ends Saturday January 9th. 
  • Participants may join at any time. 
  • All books are acceptable except children books.** 
  • All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc. 
  • Re-reads are acceptable as long as they are read after January 1, 2021
  • Books may overlap other challenges. 
  • If you have an blog, create an entry post linking to this blog. 
  • Sign up in the "I'm participating post" in the sidebar
  • If you don't have a blog or social media account, post about your reads in the comments section of each weekly post. 
  • The link widget will be added to the bottom of each weekly post to link to reviews of your reads. The link widget closes at the end of each book week. 

Sunday, December 13, 2020

BW50: Thirteen things

 



Happy Sunday dear hearts!  Today is the 13th which reminds me that 2021 will be our thirteenth year of 52 books in 52 weeks. I'm excited for the new year and I'll post more about it later in the week.  

So what is it about the number 13?  Do you think of it as lucky, unlucky, or just a number? Well! 

13 is a prime number as well as a emirp, a happy number, a star number, one of the three Wilson primes, as well as a Fibonacci number. You and your kids may appreciate these 13 fun books about math and numbers.

Zeus was the thirteenth and most powerful of the Greek Gods.  Hmm! Makes me wonder who is the 13th Major Roman God.   Perhaps we need to move forward to explore any year xx13 or delve into the 13th Century.

How about reading a story with 13 in the title or is the 13th book in a series.  Check off another book in your TBR pile by reading the 13th book on one of your physical, virtual, or goodreads shelves.

Remember what it was like to become a teenager? Oh, the teenage angst!

There are approximately 13 moon cycles in the year as well as 13 weeks in each season – “Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there, yes I will."  Whoops, say hello James Taylor

In a deck of 52 cards, there are 13 cards in each suit of heartsdiamonds, spades, and clubs.

Numerology wise, 13 is a number of focus and pragmatism.

 And for those who love Doctor Who, 13 Doctor Who Books to get you through 2020!

 

Have fun exploring! Rabbit trails are a must! 

 

 

 

Link to week 49

 

Visit  52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges, as well as share your book reviews with other readers  around the globe.

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Sunday, December 6, 2020

BW49: This is my Life by Willian Stanley Braithwaite


This is My Life

By

William Stanley Braithwaite 
(December 6, 1878- June 8, 1962)


To feed my soul with beauty till I die;
To give my hands a pleasant task to do;
To keep my heart forever filled anew
With dreams and wonders which the days supply;
To love all conscious living, and thereby
Respect the brute who renders up its due,
And know the world as planned is good and true—
And thus —because there chanced to be an I!


This is my life since things are as they are:
One half akin to flowers and the grass:
The rest a law unto the changeless star.
And I believe when I shall come to pass
Within the Door His hand shall hold ajar
I'll leave no echoing whisper of Alas!




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Sunday, November 29, 2020

BW48: Ladies of Fiction Bookology - Rumer Godden

 



Welcome to December!  This month we honor those who died on December 7, 1941 in Pearl Harbor, celebrate St Nicolas Day on the 6th, the beginning of Winter on the 21st, as well as Festivus, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing day, and the all important Christmas book flood  Jólabókaflóð.  

We also are celebrating our Ladies of Fiction Bookology author of the month, Rumer Godden, writer of literary fiction novels, children's books, short stories, and poetry. Several of her books including Black Narcissus have been made into films and Television.  She resided and worked in both England and India and moved to Scotland the last years of her life to live with her daughter. Her last novel was published in 1998 before she passed away on November 8, 1998

There are a number of ways to complete the bookology challenge, including but not limited to:

Spell out the author's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.

Read one or more books written by the author.

Read a book written in the country or time period of the author.


~Cheers and happy reading! 

 Please 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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Sunday, November 22, 2020

BW47: Best of 2020

"Reading is like breathing in, Writing is like breathing out" ~ Pam Allyn     What a wonderful quote!  Reading to me is as necessary as breathing and writing has become much the same. I get grumpy without my daily dose of words.  I am ever so thankful for books and those who make them possible from the writers to the publishers to the online and brick mortar stores from whom I can satisfy my bookish sweet tooth.  Especially writers, as we are the beneficiary of  their creativity. They inspire, entertain, enrich our lives, teach us how to do new things, enlighten us with knowledge, make us laugh or cry, and ponder the meaning of history and life.  

From classic literature to comic books, there is a wide variety to satisfy every reading palate. As we head into the end of the year, the best of lists are being released and the desire is great to fill our shelves, both virtual and physical with those books we want to read. My year ends with an end of the year shopping extravaganza, before I institute a buying ban at the beginning of the new year.  Usually until April, sometimes longer, to give myself time to enjoy those which reside on my shelf for a bit before abandoning them to the temptation of the new. 

Ready for the best of the best?  Let's begin with New York Time's 100 Notable Books of 2020 and the 10 best books through time

According to Oprah, these are the best of 2020

Financial Times shares their 20 best from crime to history to economics.

Esquire presents 44 of the best books to elevate your reading list

Electric Literature offers up 20 Small Press Books you may have missed in 2020.

Five Books shares a plethora of  top 5 lists from award shortlists to audiobooks.

And let's not forget the Greatest Books  of all time. 

Stay tuned to NPR's Book Concierge who will be coming out with their year end interactive reading guide for 2020 in a couple weeks. Meanwhile 2013 to 2019 lists are available. 

Have fun following rabbit trails. 


Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!


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Sunday, November 15, 2020

BW46: Bookish Birthdays and Events




Happy Sunday! Today is I Love to Write Day so grab your pens or pencils and write a note, a poem, a letter, get back to work or start working on that novel you've been planning forever. Your muse is waiting for you.  Are you ready for an interesting exercise?  All you have to do is put pen to paper and answer the question, "Writing is like..." And no, writing isn't like a box of chocolates. *grin* 

Meanwhile it's time for another round of author birthdays.  

Nov 15: German novelist  Gerhart Hauptmann who won the 1912 Nobel Prize in Literature and poet Marianne Moore  winner of the1951 Pulitzer Prize.  

Nov 16 George S Kaufman, playwright and journalist as well as Portuguese novelist José Saramago, 1998 Nobel Prize winner, and Nigerian author Chinua Achebe.

Nov 17:  Dutch Poet Joost van Den Vondel and civil war historian Shelby Foote

Nov 18: Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood and British dramatist Sir W.S. Gilbert

Nov 19: Poet Allen Tate 

Nov 20: Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf, 1909 Nobel Prize winner, and South African novelist Nadine Gordimer, 1991 Nobel Prize winner.

Nov 21:  French Philosopher Voltaire,  and American feminist author, Marilyn French.


Celebrate Native American Heritage Month  with Everybody Reads 2020: Native Voices: Own voices memoir, poetry and novels by Indigenous people or 31 Native American Authors to Read Right Now

Many book events around the world have turned to celebrating online this year and The Miami Book Fair's special events starts today with many authors interviews available on demand.  As well as  Portland Book Festival (November 5th through the 21st.), the Gaudeamus Book Fair in Romania (November 16th to the 22th) and  Dublin Book Festival 2020 (November 27th through December 6th.)

The Baillie Gifford Prize 2020 longlist has been released for the best in Nonfiction with the winners to be announced November 15th and the winners of the 2020 National Book awards Longlist will be announced on November 18.  

World Philosophy Day is coming up on Thursday, November 18 and a perfect time to dive into the mind of the 12 Famous Philosophers and Their Guiding Principles.  Perhaps add one or two to your reading list for next year. 

Have fun following rabbit trails! 

Cheers! 


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Sunday, November 8, 2020

BW45: Ladies of Fiction bookology - Jayne Ann Krentz and Cherie Priest


 

This month you are getting two for the price of one with Cherie Priest and Jayne Anne Krentz.  I somehow missed highlighting Krentz last month so the two red heads get to share this month.  Both the ladies currently reside in Washington.  

Jayne Ann Krentz encompasses three different worlds writing contemporary romantic suspense as well as historical romantic suspense under the pseudonym of Amanda Quick, and futuristic paranormal suspense under her real name, Jayne Castle. Krentz has written many books under 7 different pens names over the years from the 80's to the present. I've read quite a few and all are very entertaining. 

Cherie Priest has written over two dozen books as well as multiple short stories in the steampunk, horror, and mysteries genres.  She is best known for her Clockwork Century series starting with Boneshaker which I have on my shelves and am looking forward to reading. 

There are a number of ways to complete the bookology challenge, including but not limited to:

Spell out the author's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.
Read one or more books written by the author.
Read a book written in the country or time period of the author.


Cheers and happy reading! 


Please 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.

In the Your Name field, type your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field paste a link to your post, then check the privacy box and click enter.


Sunday, November 1, 2020

BW44: Non fiction November




 

Welcome to November and National Novel Writing Month, Native American Heritage month, National Caregiver Appreciation month.   This week we celebrate National Author Day, so if you have some time this week thank an author for all their wonderful words via email, snail mail, facebook, or twitter. We are also observing Dio De los Muertos, voting on U.S. General Election Day, if you haven't already, as well as letting our Men Make Dinner Day, and if you are like me, having a Margarita with my Nacho's on  National Nacho Day

We are celebrating all things non fiction this month from the practical to the literary and creative. Fill your mind with facts and figures, history and geography, cultural and biographical, or learn something new from cooking to woodworking. There is a wide variety to appeal to most everyone.

Annie Dillard on the Art of the Essay and the Different Responsibilities of Narrative Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Stories

25 great nonfiction essays you can read online for free

Fiction v nonfiction – English literature's made-up divide

A Reading List for Stronger Creative Non-Fiction

Creative Nonfiction Magazine

100 Great Narrative Nonfiction Books

The Best Nonfiction Books of 2020

The Best Celebrity Memoirs to Read

50 Cookbooks We're Diving Into This Fall

11 Nonfiction books that read like fiction

Works of Nonfiction to Rival Any Great Thriller Novel

Have fun following rabbit trails.  ~Cheers


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Sunday, October 25, 2020

BW43: 52 Books Bingo - Ghosts and Goblins

 



We approach All Hallows Eve where the veil between the living and the dead is thin and Ghosts and Goblins come out to play.    

There are a wide variety of fantasy novels where goblins come out to play from historical fiction to futuristic to mythology.  You'd generally think of goblins as evil creatures but they come in all shapes and sizes and I'm sure the last thing on your mind is romance, however some authors have taken the goblin mythology and written stories with goblins as romantic leads and heroes such as in Shona Husk's Shadowland Series.

Ghost stories abound from the real to the  creepy to the spooky to the surreal to romance and ghostly detectives and cozy mysteries.   And let's not forget Gargoyles!  

Read a book with ghost in the title or picture on the cover.

Read a book with goblin in the title or picture on the cover.

Read a book with gargoyle in the title or picture on the cover.

Challenge yourself and spell out ghost, goblin, or gargoyle, one book per each letter in the title.


A few more links to close out our October Spooktacular reading month: 

9 books to creep you out this Halloween season

2020 Halloween reads for Kids and Teens. 

Goblins: Books for kids

11 Haunted Novels with Emotional Ghosts

Top 10 Unconventional Ghosts in Literature 

Have fun following rabbit trails! 

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Sunday, October 18, 2020

BW42: October by Paul Laurence Dunbar

 


October

By

Paul Laurence Dunbar 



October is the treasurer of the year,
And all the months pay bounty to her store;
The fields and orchards still their tribute bear,
And fill her brimming coffers more and more.
But she, with youthful lavishness,
Spends all her wealth in gaudy dress,
And decks herself in garments bold
Of scarlet, purple, red, and gold.
She heedeth not how swift the hours fly,
But smiles and sings her happy life along;
She only sees above a shining sky;
She only hears the breezes' voice in song.
Her garments trail the woodlands through,
And gather pearls of early dew
That sparkle, till the roguish Sun
Creeps up and steals them every one.
But what cares she that jewels should be lost,
When all of Nature's bounteous wealth is hers?
Though princely fortunes may have been their cost,
Not one regret her calm demeanor stirs.
Whole-hearted, happy, careless, free,
She lives her life out joyously,
Nor cares when Frost stalks o'er her way
And turns her auburn locks to gray.


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Sunday, October 11, 2020

BW41: 41 things

 



And now for something completely different!

Welcome to all things forty one this week.  People, places, things, dates that have something to do with 41.  



Read a book about the 41st President:  41 A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush 




President only for 32 days in 1841 - William Henry Harrison 

President from 1841 -1845 - John Tyler 






What Beatles song repeats the title in the lyrics forty-one times? Let it be.  Read a book with Let It Be in the title


Have fun following rabbits trails, exploring events and people from 41BC all the way up to 2014.  




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Sunday, October 4, 2020

BW40: October Spooktacular


 

Welcome to our October Spooktacular reading month.  It's time to dip your toes into the water and scare yourself silly.  Read thrilling stories stocked with the mysterious and shocking, paranormal stories brimming with ghosts and goblins, or urban mysteries packed with vampires and werewolves.  If you are anything like me, I can't stand horror books filled with blood and guts.  Give me a psychological thriller any day, roiling with nail biting, spine chilling suspense, creepy settings, and characters you certainly wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.  

Choose from a wide variety of classics to the contemporary, or the Hitchcockian and Lovecraftian to Stephen King and his son, Joe Hill, to Dean Koontz, to the men and ladies of suspense.

If you haven't read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, now would be the perfect time.  Put away all your preconceived notions from the movies as the book is very different and will shock and amaze you.  If you have read it, dip your toes into retellings of the story as well as the reimagining's of  Bram Stoker's Dracula

From the really scary to the mild:

The 20 Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2020

Best Horror of 2020

31 Psychological Thriller Books That Mess with Your Head

Lock Your Doors: 8 Young Adult Thriller Books 

2020 Halloween reads for Kids and Teens

Currently on my night stand are Dean Koontz's Devoted, Josh Malerman's Bird Box, Dan Simmon's Hollow Man, and Marisha Pessl's Night Film, to name a few. Hmm! Which should I read first?

~Cheers to a spooktacular reading month~ 


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Sunday, September 27, 2020

BW39: Freedom to Read


 

This week we celebrate the freedom to read. Beginning in 210bc with Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti, to the present, books have been challenged, outright banned and even burned for the thoughts and ideas written in their pages.  Challengers have many reasons, afraid their children will be exposed to differences they choose not to acknowledge, afraid they will be exposed to people or language or ideas they don't agree with. 

The fear of words, ones that teach and reach right into your very soul and expose you to new ideas, is a powerful thing. Letters on a page. One word, two, a sentence, a paragraph, one building upon another, to a book full of  words that motivate, illuminate, educate, and open our eyes, our minds, our hearts and souls to different people, cultures, and worlds, both real and imaginary.  Books that lift us up, fill us with joy as well as sorrow, teach us to analyze and debate and think about what if.   

Banned Books Week was created in 1982 by the American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom, in response to challenges and requests to ban books from libraries and bookstores due to their content.  Eight out of the top ten most challenged books for 2019 were for their LGBTQIA+ content. The last two, the Harry Potter series for exposing children to magic and witchcraft and nefarious characters, and The Handmaid's Tale for vulgarity and sexual overtones.  Every year, the ALA receives complaints and requests to remove classic books from the library and/or the curriculum. 

How Banning Books Marginalizes Children

Why Your Kid Should Read Banned Books

Parental fear and cultural erasure: The logic behind banning books.

California School District considers ban on classic books.

Who Should Decide What Books Are Allowed In Prison?

Kuwait relaxes book censorship laws after banning thousands of titles

Editorial on Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Banning books part I and Part II

Around the globe - A Map of Forbidden Books in 2019 

Access a database of 70,000 books banned around the world going back to 1575

Celebrate your freedom to read a banned or challenged book this week! 


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Sunday, September 20, 2020

BW38: September Equinox

 


Time for the changing of the seasonal guard with Autumn marching into view in the Northern Hemisphere and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. What's the first thing to comes to mind when you think about Autumn or Spring?  Either the leaves are changing colors or flowers are beginning to bloom - nature's  circle of life.  Which brings us to our Fall Reading Mini Challenge.  

Read a book with Fall or Spring in the title

Read a book with seasons or weather in the title

Read a book with woods, forests, leaves, or trees on the cover

Read a book with a color in the title

Read a book about colors 

Read a book about color guards

Pick a color and pick a book with the color on the cover

Read a book with a colorful character

Read a book with a character with color in their name.

Settle in to read one of the New Books for FallOprah's picks for Fall, 12 books to keep you occupied for the rest of 2020 or Books set in the Southern Hemisphere

Challenge yourself to Spell out Equinox, Autumn, Fall, or Spring, using one book for each letter from the title. 

Happy Equinox!  ~Cheers~ 

Please 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.

In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field paste a link to your post, then check the privacy box and click enter.