BW26: Half Way There!

 

Happy Sunday! We are half way through the year which coincides with the 4th of July so celebrating with fireworks, fire crackers, and sparklers, and making much noise.  We're full of zest, zang, zoom, and zeal so make the most of your time. 

Our dragon of the month is Falkor from the Never Ending Story.  

What has been your most favorite story so far this year?  Have you discovered a new author or series to explore? Any interesting book news you'd like to share?

Halfway Down

By 

A. A. Milne

Halfway down the stairs

Is a stair

Where I sit.

There isn't any

Other stair

Quite like

It.

I'm not at the bottom,

I'm not at the top;

So this is the stair

Where

I always

Stop.

Halfway up the stairs

Isn't up

And it isn't down.

It isn't in the nursery,

It isn't in town.

And all sorts of funny thoughts

Run round my head.

It isn't really

Anywhere!

It's somewhere else

Instead!

BW25: "It's Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime"

 

Happy Sunday!  So happy Summer is here with more time to enjoy some summer reading. Make sure to throw in a book with a Y in the title such as Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks or and author whose name starts with Y such as Yeats, Yoshomito, or Yancey. 

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

By 

William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

BW24: X is for .....

 

Happy Sunday.  X marks the spot with a dot, dot, dot. Don't know why that little ditty popped up in my head.  

One author I really have enjoyed and learned much from is Qiu Xiaolong, author of the inspector detective Chen Cao who is a homicide detective in the Shanghai Special Cases Bureau in China. Inspector Chen Cao was introduced with the publication of Death of a Red Heroine in 2000.  Set in the mid 1990's in China, it was a police procedural blending fact and fiction delving into the politics and culture of the country. The character is in his early thirties and also writes poetry and works as a translator.  Inspector Chen must navigate his way through government politics while trying to solve murders.  The 13th book in the series Love and Murder in the Time of Covid was released in 2023. 

His latest stories are a duology series which takes place in seventh century China called the Judge Dee Investigations. The first book Shadow of the Empire is a companion piece from his 12th novel - Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder - in which the inspector is reading a Judge Dee novel.  The second book was released in 2024: The Conspiracies of the Empire.  I'm looking forward to reading both. 

BW23: Wuxia Literature

 

Happy Sunday! Our next 52 Books Bingo category is Wuxia! Wuxia literature is historical fiction stories in which the characters use traditional Chinese martial art disciplines for either good or bad. 

9 Classic Wuxia Stories That Define the Genre

10 Best Wuxia Novels for Martial Arts Fans

Goodreads Wuxia and Xianxia or Wuxia books

Wuxia World 

Happy Reading!

BW22: Dragon of the month: Saphira

Saphira Bjartskular by Joshua Raphael

Happy Sunday! June is a time of honor and celebration with World War II D Day, Flag Day, Father's day, Juneteenth, the summer solstice as well as Great Outdoors Month, Rose month, and National Adopt a Cat month. 

 Our dragon of the month is Saphira from Christopher Paolini's Eragon. I happily supported the Saphira Figurine kickstarter campaign last year and look forward to receiving a collectable figurine of Saphira when it's ready.

Christopher Paolini's Inheritance cycle includes Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance and is a wonderful series about a farm boy who discovers a dragon egg and is thrust in a world of magic and power.  Works set in the same world include Murtagh and The Fork, The Witch, and the Worm.  Paolini's other works -  To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and Fractal Noise - are amazing thriller stories set in outer space.   He's also been involved in other works including the short stories anthology Guys Write for Guys Read which I recently acquired. 

Join me in reading stories by Christopher Paolini this month!