BW52: A is for Arctic and Antarctica

 

Happy Sunday!  I love stories about anything icebound - whether it is Arctic countries or the North Pole set in the Arctic Ocean, or the continent of Antarctica. I would never live there but like to live vicariously through the characters, fictional or real.  I'm currently reading Claus by Tony Bertauski, the 1st book in the 12 book Clause series, and a North Pole adventure which reimagines the story of Santa Claus and Christmas with secretive good elves, and bad elves who want to get rid of human kind.  Join me in exploring bone chilling reads: 

Six Bone-Chilling Stories Set in the Arctic or Antarctic

Take a trip to the icy Arctic and Antarctica with these 8 awe-inspiring nonfiction books

An Arctic Reading List: Here Are the Books That Will Enhance Your Journey

Goodreads Books about either the North or South Pole regions

I was reminded a few days ago that it isn't the quantity, but the quality of the books we read that's important.  With that thought in mind, how was your reading year?  

Where did your armchair travels take you? 

Did you discover any new to you genres, authors, subject matters? 

Which book or books exceeded your expectations? 

Which book did you think you had all figured out, but were surprised by the turn of events?

Which book world would you like to travel to or live in?

Out of all the stories you've read, which 5 characters would you like to get together with for dinner and to talk? 

How do you feel about cathartic reads? The ones that hit you in all the feels? Do you avoid them or dive in, let the words wash over you and pull you into the characters lives and emotions.  

Which book made you cry? Laugh out loud? Throw it across the room? 

Which story had the most interesting characters? Setting? World Building?

Which book was the most thought provoking and made you want to talk about it with others? 

Share your favorite quotes, book covers,  discoveries, and anything else that stood out. 

Please note: Week 52 will be really short with only four days to go before January 1st,  so if you need extra time to post a reading wrap up, (like me) you can link up in the coming weeks in 2026.   And for those who are continuing with their 52 books goal, the links will still available each week.  

Thank you for sharing your reading adventures with me. Hope you had a great Christmas and may you be blessed with a wonderful New Year! 

BW51: Books, Christmas, and Winter! Oh My!

 

“I am pieces of all the places I have been,

and the people I have loved. I’ve been stitched together 

by song lyrics, book quotes, adventure, late night 

conversations, moonlight, and the smell of coffee.” ~ Brooke Hampton

Happy Sunday! We have much to celebrate as we approach the end of the year: Christmas, and the beginning of Winter, which of course, leads us to books, books, and more books. 

Speaking of books, the interweb is abuzz with the best books of 2025, and fortune was upon me when I clicked on Literary Hub's Ultimate Best Books of 2025 List.  They did the work for me as they checked out all the lists, compared who and what and which books were repeated multiple times, then linked to all the sites. Oh Boy!  I fell down the proverbial rabbit hole yesterday, exploring all the links and  adding several books to my year end wish list to purchase before my new year buying ban goes into affect. 

Plus it's time to cozy up to the fire with a hot toddy and read books about Christmas and/or set during Winter.  

Read a Cozy Christmas book or  with Christmas in the title, 

Read a book set during Winter, or with Winter in the title. 

A proverbial rabbit holes had me adding to my stacks the young adult science fiction story, Claus: Legend of the Fat Man which fills the bill for a Christmas read as well as Winter. 

"In the early 1800s, Nicholas, Jessica and Jon Santa attempt the first human trek to the North Pole and stumble upon an ancient race of people left over from the Ice Age. They are short, fat and hairy. They slide across the ice on scaly soles and carve their homes in the ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean. The elven are adapted to life in the extreme cold. They are as wise as they are ancient.

Their scientific advancements have yielded great inventions -- time-stopping devices and gravitational spheres that build living snowmen and genetically-modified reindeer that leap great distances. They’ve even unlocked the secrets to aging. For 40,000 years, they have lived in peace.

Until now.

An elven known as The Cold One has divided his people. He’s tired of their seclusion and wants to conquer the world. Only one elven stands between The Cold

One and total chaos. He’s white-bearded and red-coated. The Santa family will help him stop The Cold One. They will come to the aid of a legendary elven

known as...Claus."

Have fun exploring all the titles! 

Note:  Week 52 is going to be really short with only four days  so if you need more time to do a reading wrap up, they may be posted in the new year as L.E.S.T.E.R  begins January 1st.  And if you want to continue with your 52 books goal, the links will be available each week.  

Merry Christmas!  ~Clink~

BW50: Cauliflower?

Happy Sunday! What does cauliflower have to do with books, you ask?  Me too, when it popped in my head this morning.  Huh?  Well cauliflower is used as a substitute for other foods and mimics their flavor. A disguise, an imitation of the real thing.  In stories we have people who imitate, and mimic. Characters who hide their identities, are imposters, or even a doppelganger for the real thing.  Supernatural entities and shapeshifters mimic human beings.  From the classics to the contemporary, stories are full of characters throughout who have disguised themselves. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books featuring doubles, doppelgängers and impersonations

Atwood? Shakespeare? Harry Potter? Top 10 false identities in fiction

Mysteries & Thrillers Featuring One of Our Favorite Tropes: Unknown Identities

The top 10 impostors in fiction - An oldie but a goodie.

Goodreads Character disguised as different gender 

Share your favorite cauliflower books!

2026 Literary Exploration Society to Expand Reading

 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost,  Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood

Since we began 52 Books in 52 Weeks in 2009, the variety of 52 books challenges has exploded. While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I think it's time for us to slip off the beaten path and take the one less traveled. The first order of business, change the name.  

My husband always comes up with code words or nicknames for things we do. When I narrowed our book reading challenge name down to two options, he went with the first option and immediately added 'to expand reading' and lovingly provided a nick name. Which lead us to today.  Welcome to the: 

Literary Exploration Society To Expand Reading 

or L.E.S.T.E.R for short

The url of read52booksin52weeks.com will remain the same 

L.E.S.T.E.R. will still be the home for the Well Educated Mind reading challenge as well as the perpetual and past challenges linked above from our many reading adventures around the world. 

We will have a variety of weekly, monthly, annual reading quests to aid in our  adventures:

2026 Bingo quest:  25 new categories to inspire with Mile Davis and all those Jazz rabbit holes to David Bowie's Book lists to the quirky and the cozy.

2026 Literary Legends: Explore authors and stories that have endured throughout the years.

2026 Contemporary Authors: From Haruki Murakami to Alan Moore, there is a variety of modern day authors to explore.

2026 A to Z and Back Again in which there are many ways to complete the project and you don't have to stick with authors or titles only. The choices are unlimited.

and /or try one or more of our perpetual challenges:  

Agatha Christie  -- Read her books in chronological order as listed, group by detective or collection, or randomly if you choose. 

Mind Voyages - A science fiction / fantasy challenge through the decades, exploring the Hugo and Nebula winners and nominees, Philip K. Dick, and Robert Heinlein. 

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

Dip into past challenges such as Brit Tripping, Dusty and Chunky, Feed Your Muse, Inspiration, Nobel Prize Winners or Sounds of Silence.

The goal is to set your own goal and how you get there is up to you. Ask yourself these questions:  Are you a promiscuous reader or prefer to inhale one book a time?  Do you like to follow a plan, or be spontaneous? Do you like to read fiction or nonfiction? Do you like to read from your own shelves, buy books, or get them from the library? Do you like to read widely and broadly or do a focused study of something new or old?  Do you like to reread stories time and again?  Do you like to delve into your favorite author's backlist to the exclusion of all else or sip them slowly through the years. Do you need more time to dive into that chunky or dusty book that's been languishing on the shelf? Do you like to explore new to you authors, genres, spaces and places?    Do you like to follow connections, take side trips, or dive into rabbit holes? Let your books be your guide and see where they take you.

Reading is as necessary as breathing so my answer is yes to all these questions since all that matters is the reading. To our current readers, I appreciate you and look forward to next year. If you like to lurk, wave hello. And if you just found us, please join us to play along or chart your own path. 

 

BW49: December, December!

I Heard a Bird Sing

by

Oliver Herford

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December.

A magical thing

And sweet to remember.

"We are nearer to Spring

Than we were in September,”

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December. 

Happy Sunday!  December is a time of crisp air, snow, rain, warm winter coats, smoky fireplaces, Christmas shopping, sleigh rides, singing carols, sorting through all your lists and checking them twice, making plans for the end of the year and the beginning of the year.  And reading of course. 

Booker Prize: best wintry reads from the Booker Library, chosen by you  Including Dickensian tales which are also one of our 52 Books Bingo Categories.

Keeping Up With The Penguins: 7 Dickensian Novels

Wreninkpaper:  All the (Dickensian) Year Round

Story Graph: Books with December in the title 

Goodreads Favorite Christmas Stories 

Goodreads December Reading Lists

Happy Reading!