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Sunday, February 27, 2022

BW9: The Golden Age of Mystery

 


Happy Sunday!  This month we’re waving goodbye to February and winter in my neck of the woods, and saying hello to March and the beginning of spring. We are also celebrating Women's History Month and women who were vital to history. 

And speaking of history, our Crime Spree hostesses Sandy and Amy are taking us back to the Golden Age era this month.  Take it away, ladies: 


If you find yourself spending the weekend at your curmudgeonly uncle’s manor and he ends up murdered, you’re probably in a Golden Age mystery. Luckily, you’re innocent of the crime if you’re young, beautiful, and in love. But if you happen to be a ne'er-do-well that recently been cut out of the will then…

This website is fantastic for exploring even more authors. Who are some of your favorite Golden Age authors?

Authors to explore:

    Agatha Christie’s website is a fun place to lose an hour

·         GK Chesterton

·         EC Bentley

·         Dorothy Sayers

·         Margery Allingham

·         Edmund Crispin

·         Georgette Heyer

·         Patricia Wentworth (sidenote from Amy: Skip the first book and start here.)

·         J. Jefferson Farjeon

·         Josephine Tey

 

Challenge: Evade Scotland Yard by choosing a new to you Golden Age author to read.

Thank you ladies.  Juan and I are trying to stay out of sight of the gents at Scotland Yard as we follow in the footsteps of the the queens and gentlemen of the Golden Age. 

Which brings me to our A to Z and back again -- Our letter and word of the week are I and Informer.

Have fun investigating! 

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Please share your book thoughts 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, February 20, 2022

BW8: Bookish miscellanea

 

Sun Glare: Alaska by Rockwell Kent 

Happy Sunday! In my web wanderings, I was drawn into an article about artist Rockwell Kent and his quest for solitude and inspiration in Wilderness, Solitude, and Creativity: Artist and Philosopher Rockwell Kent’s Century-Old Meditations on Art and Life During Seven Months on a Small Alaskan Island, which lead to Musings on Art: Rockwell Kent - A Champion of Peace,  which lead to Kent's illustrated Moby Dick. Makes me want to read the Moby Dick, or The Whale illustrated versionnow as well as Kent's book, Wilderness, his journal about his time in Alaska.  Rabbit trails as so much fun. 

Another interesting article about Author Joanne Harris turns down US book deal over censoring of ‘f-bomb’, particularly because it was pertinent to the story.  Which lead of course to her blog and her response about sensitivity readers the publishing houses have begun to employ. In her blog post On Sensitivity readers, weakness, and staying alive, Harris makes a good point. 

"Books all have shelf lives, just as we do, and Dickens’ work has survived in spite of his anti-Semitism, not because of it. The work of many others has not. Books are for readers, and if an author loses touch with their readers - either by clinging to outdated tropes, or using outdated vocabulary, or having an outdated style – then their books will cease to be published, and they will be forgotten. It happens all the time. What one generation loves and admires may be rejected by the next."  

But that doesn't mean they need to be banned or changed.  It's all in the context.


Free books, who doesn't love them.  Lots of books are entering the public domain this year such as Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, Milne's Winnie the Pooh, Franz Kafka's The Castle, and many others.


Moving on to movies about books, check out the Netflix Book Club, if not to join, but to see what books are being adapted for Netflix. 


While we are on the subject of books to movies, Lee Child's Jack Reacher first book was adapted for a series on Amazon Prime.  I watched the first episode and had to close my eyes during the prison fight, but otherwise I think Alan Ritchson is a great choice for Reacher. 


Reading choices when it comes to narrators.  Years ago, I only read books written in third person narration and refused to read any written in first person. Until I came across a writer who usually wrote in third and had switched to first, captured my attention, pulled me into the story without confusing me and sold me on first person narration.  Since then I've found some really good books from writers who do first person very well.  The ones who don't, forget about it. You know the ones I mean.  

I went back to school in my late forties to finish my Bachelor's Degree and during a literature class, imagine my surprise when I had to read a book written in second person narration.  Yes, it was weird, but once I got into the story, was able to accept the narrator and keep going.  Since then,  I'll stumble across another written partially or totally in second person and give it a go.  Of course, we're back to whether it's well done or not and does it pull you in. I'm currently reading such a book which has mixed narration, both 2nd and 3rd and finding myself enjoying it.  All this to say, which style narration do you enjoy?   Have you ever tried Second Person narration stories?  

For our writers, have you ever tried writing a story in second person?  Give it a try   Here's my attempt for our A to Z and Back again for E.  

And speaking of which:  

A to Z and Back Again -  Our letter and work of the week are H and Harried.

Did you know that today is Hoodie Hoo day?  So go outside at noon and wave your hands and yell Hoodie Hoo and chase away your winter blues. Go ahead, I dare you.  

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Please share your book thoughts 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, February 13, 2022

BW7: 52 Books Bingo - She Did What?


Happy Sunday! I'm declaring this week Valentine's Week as we continue with our romance theme for the month.  I'm combining it with our 52 Books Bingo category "She Did What?" which bumps it up into a lot of different genres including literary, suspense, thriller, psychological, or maybe young adult. What do you think of when someone says 'She did what?"  Said yes, or no? ran away, started her own business, blasted into outer space, or stole something from someone?  

9 Books Similar to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

20 Best Romantic Suspense Novels

Unlikely Romances

Literary Romance Novels, 20 Love Stories for Every Reader

 11 Fictional Female Scientists Who'd Rule the Lab

12 Books That Prove Women Outlaws Are Even Cooler than Women Heroes

Could be anything! Even a book title. 


A to Z and Back Again -  Our letter and word of the week are G and Gadfly


Happy Galentine's Day!

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Please share your book thoughts 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, February 6, 2022

BW6: Crime Spree Bookology - Jayne Ann Krentz

 


Happy Sunday!  We are going to continue with the romantic suspense theme and align our bookology spelling challenge with the crime spree authors, highlighting  one of the authors Sandy and Amy mention at the beginning of the month. Decided to mix things up after I discovered the Book on Books Bookology wasn't working for me with two failures in a row.  The Trial and error method told me to move on to something more fun and hence the birth of Crime Spree Bookology.  

We get three for one this month with Jayne Ann Krentz, who 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. Some of her series encompass all three genres and some are standalones. Krentz is a prolific writer and 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. 

There are a number of ways to complete the Crime Spree 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.

Read a book by an author similar to Jayne Ann Krentz

Learn more about Krentz through A Conversation With Jayne Ann Krentz, and How I lost control of my Jayne Castle World.


A to Z and Back Again -  Our letter and word of the week are F and Foiled.

Happy Trails! 

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Please share your book thoughts 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.