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
Happy Reading!
Saphira Bjartskular by Joshua Raphael
Happy Sunday and thank you to all who died in the service of our country and hugs to all their families. I love reading unique stories - some of which may be weird, mind blowing, extraordinary, and most often - unusual or unconventional. Stories like Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar, Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, or 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. What books have you read that were unique, unusual, or unconventional?
Literature’s 12 Most Unusual Books
10 “unique” and distinctive books
Top Ten Tuesday: The Most Unique Books I’ve Read
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.
She Is the Quiet
by
Jen Ambrose
She is the quiet that settles in after the storm,
not the thunder,
not the flash—
but the stillness that holds the house together
when everyone else forgets to breathe.
She is the hand that never lets go,
even when it seems like she has.
Invisible strength tucked in folded laundry,
school lunches,
and the way she always remembers
what you forgot to say.
She doesn’t ask the world for attention.
She listens for the creak of the floorboards,
knows the weight of each footstep,
feels the shift in the air
when someone needs her.
Her love isn’t loud.
It’s the worn chair at the kitchen table,
the light left on in the hallway,
the way she knew before you did—
what you were carrying.
She is the thread.
Not the needle. Not the fabric.
But the thing that binds it all
so gently
you don’t realize it’s there
until something unravels.
And still, she stays.
Even when she’s tired,
even when her heart is stretching
farther than it should,
she stays.
Not because she has to.
Because she chooses to.
Every day.
Happy Mother's Day!!!
Welcome to May and our Dragon of the Month - Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback - from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. When Charlie Weasley, Ron's brother took him to the dragon sanctuary in Romania where he worked, it was later discovered Norbert was actually a Norberta. But he, erm She wasn't the only dragon in the wizarding world.
Ranking the wizarding world’s top dragons
My house is Gryffindor - Find your house!
May is also Mystery Month, Gifts from the Garden Month, Date your Mate Month, plus Bike Month and Barbecue Month. Just think of the books we could read this month. I'll be revisiting Harry Potter and will probably be reading some mystery and foodie books and living vicariously through books in which the characters love flowers. Achoo!
Quest
by
Carrie Williams Clifford
My goal out-distances the utmost star,
Yet is encompassed in my inmost Soul;
I am my goal—my quest, to know myself.
To chart and compass this unfathomed sea,
Myself must plumb the boundless universe.
My Soul contains all thought, all mystery,
All wisdom of the Great Infinite Mind:
This is to discover, I must voyage far,
At last to find it in my pulsing heart.
Happy Sunday! Let's end National Poetry Month with a Quest over land, by sea, through space or into ourselves. I have a few interesting nonfiction books on my shelves that fill the bill such as Wanderlust: A History of Walking – Rebecca Solnit from the Personal Quest's List as well as the memoir - True North: A Journey into Unexplored Wilderness by Elliott Merrick, plus All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley.
Robin Hobb's Dragon Keeper, The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi By Shannon Chakraborty, The Bone Ships By RJ Barker, among others which are mentioned in the most recommended lit.
From the Wisdom list - Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Persig, and Virginia Woolf's A Room on One's Own. I'm looking forward to reading them all. I may not get to all of them this year but I'll have fun trying.
Armchair Travel: 10 Books About Walking
The most recommended quest books
Set sail with these 10 books about epic ocean voyages
Books about traveling a long time in space.
Have fun!
God, give us eyes to see
the beauty of the Spring,
And to behold Your majesty
in every living thing –
And may we see in lacy leaves
and every budding flower
The Hand that rules the universe
with gentleness and power –
And may this Easter grandeur
that Spring lavishly imparts
Awaken faded flowers of faith
lying dormant in our hearts,
And give us ears to hear, dear God,
the Springtime song of birds
With messages more meaningful
than man’s often empty words
Telling harried human beings
who are lost in dark despair –
‘Be like us and do not worry
for God has you in His care.
–Helen Steiner Rice
Occam’s Razor as Arbiter
by
Odin Roark
Might the simplest of explanations be the right one?
In the maze of thoughts, where complexity weaves its web,
the sharpness of a simple thread of clarity
cuts through the tangled mess.
Words, like gentle rustling, unravel the knots of confusion,
each syllable a beacon, guiding us to understanding.
In the quiet reserve of a hush, truth finds its voice,
unburdened by the weight of unnecessary adornment.
A child’s question, a teacher’s patient reply,
the elegance of a clear answer in a world of noise and haste.
For in the heart of simplicity, lies the power to illuminate,
to bridge the chasms of doubt and bring light to the darkest corners.
Happy Sunday! Our next 52 Books Bingo category is Narrative Nonfiction. Also known as creative or literary nonfiction which are true stories told in literary form rather than dry objective reporting. Narrative nonfiction entertains as well as informs but engages the reader's emotions as well their attention. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt was the first nonfiction book I read written in narrative or creative nonfiction format and led me to reading read more nonfiction. Join me in reading Narrative Nonfiction this month.
The Painted Porch Bookshops - Narrative Nonfiction
Narrative Nonfiction - created by Epic teacher, Mrs. Gorli
Allegheny County Libraries staff created list - Narrative Nonfiction: Books that read like novel
Five Books Narrative Nonfiction
Goodreads 42 Popular Narrative Nonfiction Books for Riveting Reading
Happy Reading!
Welcome to April where we are going to meander through the month, reading this, reading that, dipping our toes into a little bit of poetry, an epistolary or two, maybe learning about astronomy, or history, or humor. And dragons!
Our dragon of the month is Querig from Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant which I'm looking forward to reading.
"In post-Arthurian Britain, the wars that once raged between the Saxons and the Britons have finally ceased. Axl and Beatrice, an elderly British couple, set off to visit their son, whom they haven't seen in years. And, because a strange mist has caused mass amnesia throughout the land, they can scarcely remember anything about him. As they are joined on their journey by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and an illustrious knight, Axl and Beatrice slowly begin to remember the dark and troubled past they all share.
By turns savage, suspenseful, and intensely moving, The Buried Giant is a luminous meditation on the act of forgetting and the power of memory."
Ishiguro is a Nobel prize literature winner who has written classics such as Remains of the Day to science fiction stories like Klara and the Sun.
Happy meandering!
Happy Sunday! Literary Linguistics - the interface between literature and linguistics and the study and analysis of language. Since one of our 52 Books Bingo categories is linguistics, I figured it would be fun, and ended up following so many rabbit holes on the internet, I forgot what I was there for. Digging myself out of the linguistic hole before I forget to write this post. LOL!
There are many science fiction and speculative fiction authors who enjoy creating new languages and cultures for their stories, whether from our past or the future, much to our benefit, which is what I'll probably be reading. So join me inn reading about the etymology of language or delve into fictional world where linguistics plays a huge role.
The best books on Linguistics recommended by Professor David Adger
Pop Linguistics Books for Prep or Pleasure
A very long list of pop linguistics books and lingfic
The Best Science Fiction Books with Alien Languages
Science Fiction using Languages or Linguistics as a Plot Device
Try not to fall into any rabbit holes!
