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Sunday, December 26, 2021

BW52: 2021 Year End Wrapup

 

Prospect House in London

“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, 
perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to 
voyage through time.”  ― Carl Sagan


Our infinite sky reading adventure on board the time traveling Pumdeg Dau o Lyfrau airship during 2021 is coming to an end; however our armchair travels will continue on. It's time to trade in our airship for a new means of transportation.  Meanwhile please join me in the conservatory for our end of the year tea and book party.  Help yourself to a cup of tea, a glass of wine or a mug of my hubby's special roast coffee while we chat about our reads.  

  • What were your reading goals for the year?  How many books did you read? 
  • Did you explore outside the box, delve into new worlds or take comfort in the old.  Let your fingertips doing the walking, sorting through your TBR stacks, reading whichever book caught your eye or yelled the loudest for your attention. Did you heed the call  of your dusty books calling your name, whispering read me, read me. That's not creepy at all, is it? Only a bookworm would understand and listen.... *grin*  

We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.”
― Ursula K. LeGuin

  • What was your most entertaining read of the year? 
  • Which stories stuck with you the longest?

When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls. What is to happen next will take place within the four walls of the story. And this is possible because the story's voice makes everything its own.” ― John Berger, Keeping a Rendezvous

  • Which characters did you fall in like or love with? 

I will go to my grave in a state of abject endless fascination that we all have the capacity to become emotionally involved with a personality that doesn't exist.”  ― Berkeley Breathed

  • Which stories or characters made you want to dive into their world and live there?
  • Which stories surprised you, made you reflect, laugh out loud, tear up, or irritated the heck out of you?
  • Which stories inspired web wonderings and lead you on rabbit trails? 

“I’ve always thought that a good book should be either the entry point inward, to learn about yourself, or a door outward, to open you up to new worlds.” –Taylor Jenkins Reid

  • Which stories would you read again and again? 

“Isn't it odd how much fatter a book gets when you've read it several times?" Mo had said..."As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells...and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there, too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book had preserved you like a pressed flower...both strange and familiar.”
― Cornelia Funke, Inkspell

  • One book you think everyone should read?
  • Where in the world and through what time periods did your reading adventures take you? 
  • Share your stats, new to you author discoveries, favorite quotes, or covers. 

What I love most about reading: It gives you the ability to reach higher ground. And keep climbing.”–Oprah

Thank you for sharing your reading adventures with me this year. I appreciate each and every one of you and hope you had fun along the way and look forward to more bookish adventures. Cheers to a happy, enlightening, and inspiring reading new year!

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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.





Sunday, December 19, 2021

BW51: Welcome to Winter

 

Winter Dreaming by Josephine Wall

Happy Sunday, my lovelies. Although Winter in our part of the world officially begins on Tuesday, the 21st, it seems to have arrived a couple days early.  Jack Frost was nipping at our toes this morning when we woke to a coating of frost on the ground.  It's the first real freeze we've had in a couple years and I'm hoping its enough to make our morning glory turn dormant for the winter.  The plant is the gift that keeps on giving as we're now sharing it with all our neighbors.  Unintentionally of course.  Fortunately, they all love us.  

Wintertime always puts me in the mood to read about blizzards, icebound explorers, and arctic adventures,  while I hibernate inside my warm house, cozy on the couch with a warm blanket and one of my lap cats. Join me in reading a book that takes place during winter, is set in an icebound location or is about battling the elements.

21 Books Set in Cold and Snowy Destinations to Read This Winter

26 Cozy Winter Reads for 2021

21 authors pick their favorite winter reads

17 Beautiful Icelandic Novels To Inspire a Trip to Iceland

14 Books Set in Greenland That Will Put It At The Top Of Your Bucket List

Winter Science Fiction And Fantasy

And since Christmas is coming up, maybe a Christmas Story or two. 

Classic Christmas Short Stories You Can Read Right Now

33 Best Christmas Books to Read Around the Holidays

Christmas Reads for Adults: 20 Best Books You Must Read This Christmas


Merry Christmas to you and yours! 

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 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.


Sunday, December 12, 2021

BW50: A Time to Talk by Robert Frost

 



Happy Sunday! I love the picture above as well as this simple poem by Robert Frost and the imagery they evoke.  Have a wonderful reading week, my lovelies. 


A Time to Talk

By 

Robert Frost

When a friend calls to me from the road
and slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don't stand still and look around
on all the hills I haven't hoed,
And shout from where I am, "What is it?"
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade end up and five feet tall,
And plod:  I go up to the stone wall
for a friendly visit. 


For 2022, I'm introducing a new year long reading challenge called A to Z and back again.  One word beginning with that letter every week as we work all the way through the alphabet forward, then back to A. The word of the week will be announced with each Sunday's post.  There will be numerous ways to play which include reading a book with the word in the title; read alphabetically by author or title; includes the emotion or action or characteristic or job of the character or the story; find a synonym or antonym; form an aptigram or antigram; Create a story or poem and let your thoughts fly. 

To give you an example, since we are on week 50, we'd be on the letter c. 

The word of the week: Chivalry.   Make of it what you will. 

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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.


Sunday, December 5, 2021

BW49: Fictional Librarian - Sarah Dove

 


Happy Sunday, my dears! We're weighing anchor and taking a short flight to Dove Pond, North Carolina to join our fictional librarian of the month, Sarah Dove, created by Karen Hawkins.  Books have talked to Sarah for as long as she can remember. For the residents of Dove Pond, they are mystified when Sarah gives them a book to read, which turn out to be just what they needed to read to solve a problem. The Dove family has 7 daughters and the first two books in the series, The Book Charmer and A Cup of Silver Linings are both great reads.  I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, The Lost Book of Cakes which will be out sometime in 2022.   Karen Hawkins booklist also includes several historical romance series. 

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 or any book in the author's booklist.
  • 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.

Have fun as there are a variety of ways to complete this challenge with plenty of rabbit trails.

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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.