Sunday, July 25, 2021

BW30: Bookish Miscellanea

 


Inniskeen Road: July Evening

by 

(1904 - 1967)

The bicycles go by in twos and threes -
There's a dance in Billy Brennan's barn tonight,
And there's the half-talk code of mysteries
And the wink-and-elbow language of delight.
Half-past eight and there is not a spot
Upon a mile of road, no shadow thrown
That might turn out a man or woman, not
A footfall tapping secrecies of stone. 

I have what every poet hates in spite
Of all the solemn talk of contemplation.
Oh, Alexander Selkirk knew the plight
Of being king and government and nation.
A road, a mile of kingdom. I am king
Of banks and stones and every blooming thing.


A few bookish birthdays

July 25:  Josephine Tey (1896), and  Robyn Carr (1951)

July 26: Laurence Watt Evans (1954) and Giosuè Carducci  (1835)

July 27:  Cassandra Clare (1973)

July 28:  Beatrix Potter (1866)

July 29:  Chang Rae Lee (1965)

July 30: Emily Bronte (1818) 

July 31  J. K. Rowling (1965) 


11 Books by Olympic Athletes

Orson Scott Card's Favorite Classic Sci-Fi Books

What To Read If You Already Breezed Through All of Virgin River's Season 3

10 Thrilling African Noir Novels

Famous Villains Who Shaped The Crime Fiction Genre

The Wheel of Time Will Premiere on Amazon in November

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

Chapter 73. The Promise

Chapter 74. The Villefort Family Vault

Chapter 75. A Signed Statement

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Sunday, July 18, 2021

BW29: The Cane-Bottom'd Chair by William Makepeace Thackeray



The Cane-Bottom’d Chair

by

William Makepeace Thackeray
July 18, 1811 - Dec. 24, 1863

In tattered old slippers that toast at the bars,
And a ragged old jacket perfumed with cigars,
Away from the world and its toils and its cares,
I’ve a snug little kingdom up four pair of stairs.

To mount to this realm is a toil, to be sure,
But the fire there is bright and the air rather pure;
And the view I behold on a sunshiny day
Is grand through the chimney-pots over the way.

This snug little chamber is cramm’d in all nooks
With worthless old nicknacks and silly old books,
And foolish old odds and foolish old ends,
Crack’d bargains from brokers, cheap keepsakes from friends.

Old armour, prints, pictures, pipes, china (all crack’d),
Old rickety tables, and chairs broken-backed;
A twopenny treasury, wondrous to see;
What matter? ’tis pleasant to you, friend, and me.

No better divan need the Sultan require,
Than the creaking old sofa that basks by the fire;
And ’tis wonderful, surely, what music you get
From the rickety, ramshackle, wheezy spinet.

That praying-rug came from a Turcoman’s camp;
By Tiber once twinkled that brazen old lamp;
A Mameluke fierce yonder dagger has drawn:
’Tis a murderous knife to toast muffins upon.

Long, long through the hours, and the night, and the chimes,
Here we talk of old books, and old friends, and old times;
As we sit in a fog made of rich Latakie
This chamber is pleasant to you, friend, and me.

But of all the cheap treasures that garnish my nest,
There’s one that I love and I cherish the best:
For the finest of couches that’s padded with hair
I never would change thee, my cane-bottom’d chair.

'Tis a bandy-legg'd, high-shoulder'd, worm-eaten seat,
With a creaking old back, and twisted old feet;
But since the fair morning when Fanny sat there,
I bless thee and love thee, old cane-bottom'd chair.

If chairs have but feeling, in holding such charms,
A thrill must have pass'd through your wither'd old arms!
I look'd, and I long'd, and I wish'd in despair;
I wish'd myself turn'd to a cane-bottom'd chair.

It was but a moment she sate in this place,
She'd a scarf on her neck, and a smile on her face!
A smile on her face, and a rose in her hair,
And she sate there, and bloom'd in my cane-bottom'd chair.

And so I have valued my chair ever since,
Like the shrine of a saint, or the throne of a prince;
Saint Fanny, my patroness sweet I declare,
The queen of my heart and my cane-bottom'd chair.

When the candles burn low, and the company's gone,
In the silence of night as I sit here alone—
I sit here alone, but we yet are a pair—
My Fanny I see in my cane-bottom'd chair.

She comes from the past and revists my room;
She looks as she then did, all beauty and bloom;
So smiling and tender, so fresh and so fair,
And yonder she sits in my cane-bottom'd chair.

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Count of Monte Cristo 

Chapter 70. The Ball
Chapter 71. Bread and Salt
Chapter 72. Madame de Saint-Méran

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Sunday, July 11, 2021

BW28: 52 Books Bingo - Maps

 

World of Harry Potter


Happy Sunday!  Did you know today is National Blueberry Muffins day?  Plus it is the anniversary of E.B. White's birthday, and the anniversary of when Robert Bailey Thomas published the very first Farmers Almanac in 1792.  So grab a muffin and come along with me on a journey of discovery as we explore with our next 52 books category - Maps. 

Whether you explore by foot, car, train, sailing ship or  space ship, authors and characters like to explore and helpfully provide us with maps of their worlds and their journeys. Read about real life geographers, explorers and adventurers.  Read about a character mapping the world or possibly uncovering new worlds.  Read a book with a map on the cover or in the title.  Read about the history of cartography, or even a cartographical mystery.  

There are many different types of maps so there are a number of ways to go with this category and you can interpret it anyway you like.






And last but not least, one of my favorite things is creative cartography which was introduced to me in a writing class and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer.

Have fun following rabbit trails and see where they lead you!

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 67. The Office of the King’s Attorney
Chapter 68. A Summer Ball
Chapter 69. The Inquiry

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Sunday, July 4, 2021

BW27: Fictional Librarian - Israel Armstrong

 



Happy Independence Day.  Our fictional librarian for July is  Israel Armstrong, created by Ian Sansom.  We are journeying along with Israel to the fictional town of Tumdrum in Northern Ireland.  He has taken the job of librarian only to discover the library has been replaced with a mobile library in The Case of the Missing Books.  

There are a variety of ways to complete this challenge with plenty of rabbit trails. Read a book with one or more of the following (but not limited to) and have fun exploring:


  • Spell out the first and/or last name of the character's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.
  • Spell out the first and/or last name of the author - one book per letter.
  • Read one or more books in the series.
  • Read any book written by the author.
  • Follow in a character's footsteps and read a book set in the country or time period of the story.
  • Follow in the author's footsteps and read a book set in their place or time of birth.
  • Read a book with the first or last name of the character or author in the title.

Happy Trails! 

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

Chapter 64. The Beggar
Chapter 65. A Conjugal Scene
Chapter 66. Matrimonial Projects

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