BW49: Welcome December

 

Happy Sunday!  December is upon us which means this month will be full of celebrations beginning with Hanukkah, Advent, St. Nicholas Day, St. Lucia Day, Christmas and Boxing Day, the arrival of Winter as well as Festivus for the rest of us.  And we can't forget the wonderful reading tradition in Iceland - Jólabókaflóð.  

This year is, as they say,

winding down.

It’s not a race to the finish,

it’s not a victory lap,

it’s not anything but a slow

staggering stumble

across a line

that we simply hope

means

we can try again next time.

~Jenny Justice 

December is the time to evaluate, and think about all the stories, people, adventures, tests and trials we've read this year.  The authors and stories we'd liked to leave behind and the ones we'd like to read more of.  As I add more books to my tbr list, both physical and electronic, taking into account that by the time I get around to reading them, I may not be in the mood for that particular book, I remind myself, there's plenty of time  as reading is an never ending journey.  I'll be in the mood eventually.   So enjoy the process and fill up your shelves, because whether we race or stumble across the finish line, remember there's always next year. 

Announcing the Translation Prizes 2023 shortlists

World Fantasy 2023 Winners announced

End of the Year Sleuthing: 10 New Mystery Thriller Books for December 2023

40 New Christmas Romance Books Releasing in 2023 Bringing Holiday Cheer

Our post is sponsored by the letter d which stands for delightful, delicious, and demanding. 

BW30: Bookish Miscellanea

 

Inniskeen Road: July Evening

by 

Patrick Kavanagh 

(1904 - 1967)

The bicycles go by in twos and threes -

There's a dance in Billy Brennan's barn tonight,

And there's the half-talk code of mysteries

And the wink-and-elbow language of delight.

Half-past eight and there is not a spot

Upon a mile of road, no shadow thrown

That might turn out a man or woman, not

A footfall tapping secrecies of stone. 

I have what every poet hates in spite

Of all the solemn talk of contemplation.

Oh, Alexander Selkirk knew the plight

Of being king and government and nation.

A road, a mile of kingdom. I am king

Of banks and stones and every blooming thing.

A few bookish birthdays

July 25:  Josephine Tey (1896), and  Robyn Carr (1951)

July 26: Laurence Watt Evans (1954) and Giosuè Carducci  (1835)

July 27:  Cassandra Clare (1973)

July 28:  Beatrix Potter (1866)

July 29:  Chang Rae Lee (1965)

July 30: Emily Bronte (1818) 

July 31  J. K. Rowling (1965) 

11 Books by Olympic Athletes

Orson Scott Card's Favorite Classic Sci-Fi Books

What To Read If You Already Breezed Through All of Virgin River's Season 3

10 Thrilling African Noir Novels

Famous Villains Who Shaped The Crime Fiction Genre

The Wheel of Time Will Premiere on Amazon in November

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

Chapter 73. The Promise

Chapter 74. The Villefort Family Vault

Chapter 75. A Signed Statement

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BW17: Bookish miscellanea

 

Happy Sunday!  Did you know today is World Penguin Day? My favorite documentary is March of the Penguins narrated by Morgan Freeman, and the movie Happy Feet always makes me want to dance and sing along with Mumble, and Mr. Poppers Penguins makes for a  charming, amusing read as well as a wonderful movie.  This week's odd holidays include taking time out this week to eat a pretzel or a steak, tell a story, kiss your mate, read a poem or dance by the light of the moon, to the music of a sax or trombone, while the horses race a mile and we have fun with a new hairstyle.  I'm sure we can find a book theme in there somewhere. And we segue from April's world of the poetry into May's land of mystery. 

Exciting Book Adaptations to Watch Out For

Playwrights, Magicians, and Zombies: 16 Fictional Shakespeares

The Creative Sherlock Holmes: Appreciating the Rational Thinker's Hidden Artistry

Chinese-Inspired Fantasy Books That Reframe Familiar Fairy Tales

Compiling the Canon

Five tourist trips in England inspired by classic novels

Terry Pratchett’s debut turns 50: ‘At 17 he showed promise of a brilliant mind’

18 YA Verse Novels To Pick Up During National Poetry Month

10 Unstoppable Women Detectives

Birthdays past and present:  Walter De La Mare,  James Fenton, Marcus Aurelius ,  Bernard Malamud, Jessie Fauset, Terry Pratchett,  Yusef Komunyakaa, Larry Niven, and Annie Dillard. 

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Count of Monte Cristo readalong 

Chapter 34. The Colosseum

Chapter 35. La Mazzolata

Chapter 36. The Carnival at Rome

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BW16: Bookish Potpourri

Hello my lovelies. Did you know today is World Plant a Vegetable Garden Day? How about just a plain old planting day. When I met my husband 28 years ago, he had two huge Hawaiian Schefflera plants growing in his shop and by the time we moved the business last October to our new building, it was still alive (barely) root bound, a messy clump of limbs and leaves, with its fair share of aphids, that none of us wanted to move. He saved a clipping and low and behold, roots began to grow and the plant lives on. I think it's time to repot, dontcha think?



Ramadan is coming up on the 20th and April 22nd is Earth Day and Arbor Day on the 24th. I think I jumped the gun on National Zucchini Bread day on April 25th because I baked a couple loaves of zucchini bread this past week of which we have devoured one loaf and the other is in the freezer for later. 

So get to planting and cooking while listening to some great audiobooks or bookish podcasts.

Also consider reading a book which was written 50 years ago in 1970, 75 years ago in 1945, or maybe a 100 years ago in 1920, plus learn about 30 Newsworthy Anniversaries in April 2020.

Cuddle Up With the 25 Best New Books Coming Out in April 2020

We have several anniversaries of well known authors birthdays this week including William Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte, Henry Fielding, Halldor Laxness, Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh, Daniel Defoe, and Anthony Trollope to name a few.

It's National Library Week and many libraries are providing online services.

Please also support your independent bookshops and help them stay afloat.

Don't forget it is still National Poetry Month. Bustle provides an interesting list of reads, and poets are taking open mic nights and readings online during April. Plus learn to write your own poems as well.

HOPE WAITS

I'm here, she says

Lean on me. Wait, don't go.

I have much to teach,

We have far to row.

I'll do my best for tomorrow

There is hope in my sorrow

We look, we listen, we wait.

We do our best to bear the hands of fate.

We are saved. I am here.

No more pain, no more fear.

Yes, I'll wait.

Stand tall, it's not too late. 

Hope waits, hope gives,

Sorrow passes, hope lives. 

Don't worry, don't hate

Sorrow walks alone through the gate.

Remember, no matter what

The door will not shut.

Nothing is beyond my reach. 

I have much to teach. 

Don't worry yourself so.

Save the tears for tomorrow.

Hope tells the tale, 

blessings prevail.

Hope waits.

Blessings and good thoughts winging your way for a bright tomorrow! 

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BW30: Bookish Birthdays and News

Time for another round of bookish birthdays and news! Today is the anniversary of  Ernest Hemingway's birthday as well as John Gardner, Harold Hart Crane, Francis Parkinson Keyes, Yrjö Jylhä, Marshall McLuhan, Mohammed Dib, Tess Gallagher, and Buchi Emecheta. Have fun following learning about some maybe not so familiar authors and poets.

In the News

In honor of the moon landing fifty years ago - 7 Otherworldly Books about the Moon and Space and How women and the moon intertwine in literature and A WIRED Booklover’s Guide to the Moon

Do You See What I See? A Poetic Vintage Art-Science Primer on the Building Blocks of the Perceptual World

Writers to Watch Fall 2019: Anticipated Debuts

Lesser Known Works by Authors You Love

16 Books that should be on your Radar: July 2019

TED’s giant summer reading list: Books to open right now

Ten Diverse Books by Women to read in 2019

Happy Reading! 

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If you'd like to share your book reviews, you may link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have any internet or social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. Please do not add links of 52 Books, nonexistent or old web pages. They will be deleted. If your link disappears, please email me if you need to change or update your links. The linking widget closes at the end of each book week.

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BW21: Bookish Birthdays and News

It's time for a round of bookish birthdays and news. 

Herman Wouk, author of the Caine Mutiny passed away at the age of 103 last Friday. Herman Wouk Bucks Literary Trends to Produce Best Selling Novels. Herman Wouk, 'The Jackie Robinson Of Jewish-American Fiction

I've already added the next two books to my virtual stacks:

First Flames: An Interview Between Debut Authors Hafsah Faizal and Nafiza Azad.  Language Has Magic In 'The Candle And The Flame'

Award finalist for Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon, Read an Excerpt from P. Djèlí Clark’s The Black God’s Drums

The Real Sherlock Holmes: The Story Behind Arthur Conan Doyle's Creation

Michael Chabon’s Advice to Young Writers: Put Away Your Phone

Author Birthdays

May 19

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry

Jodi Picoult

Nora Ephron 

May 20

Honore de Balzac

Sigrid Undset

May 21

Dante Alighiere 

Alexander Pope

May 22

Arthur Conan Doyle

Peter Matthiessen

Herge

May 23

James Blish

Scott O'Dell

Margaret Wise Brown

May 24

William Trevor

Michael Chabon 

Joseph Brodsky

May 25

Robert Ludlum

John Gregory Dunne

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have fun exploring and following rabbit trails 

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If you'd like to share your book reviews, you may link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have any internet or social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. Please do not add links of 52 Books, nonexistent or old web pages. They will be deleted. If your link disappears, please email me if you need to change or update your links. The linking widget closes at the end of each book week. 

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BW50: Bookish Birthdays and News

Treasure Hunt Puzzle 

It's time for another round of author birthdays and bookish news. We're approaching the end of the year and best of lists are in the news.

Bill Gates narrows it down to the 5 books I loved in 2018

New York Times Critics' Top Books of 2018

New Yorker's Best Books of 2018

Mental Floss's 56 Best Books of 2018

New York Public Library's 2018 Best Books for Adults

School Library Journal's The Best of 2018

Five Books best of for Science, Philosophy, Politics, and Nature.

Smithsonian.com’s Chief Digital Officer Shares His Favorite Books of the Year.

Indigo's Best Books of 2018.

Literary birthdays this week include 

12/09: Poet John Milton and Samuel Washington Allen

12/10: Poet Emily Dickinson, Nobel prize poet Nelly Sachs, and Scottish Fantasy Author George Macdonald

12/11: Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz and Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

12/12: French novelist Gustave Flaubert and English playwright John Osborne

12/13: German poet Heinrich Heine and American Poet Kenneth Patchen

12/14: Short story writer Shirley Jackson and American essayist Stanley Crouch

12/15: Irish Author Edna O'Brien


Have fun following rabbit trails

Brit Trip

We're traveling on Watling Way to Lancashire.  Lancashire was not recorded in the Domesday Book which makes it one of the younger counties in England.

Rabbit trails: Birds Whooper Swans Lancaster Castle

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BW37: Bookish News and Birthdays

The Astronomy Lesson - Steven Seward 

Time for another round of Book News from the Sahara Desert region and Bookish Birthdays from around the world 

Poetry Soup, and other North African Creatives to Watch

The Book of North African Literature: Pierre Joris on Poetry and Miscegenation

The four best African cookbooks that will have you cooking like a pro

From Tradition to Destruction: The Lost Libraries of Chinguetti

Best Books to read about Egypt before you go

Literature Unchained: The Literary Scene in Tunisia Post-2011

Countries and their cultures - Mauritanians

Author Birthdays from around the world

Sept 9:  Father of modern Hindi literature - Bharatendu Harishchandra

Sept 10:  African American Poet and Harlem Renaissance writer - Georgia Douglas Johnson and American poet and leader of the Imagist movement - Hilda Doolittle

Sept 11:  Scottish Poet - James Thomson 

Sept 12: Polish science fiction author - Stanislaw Lem 

Sept 13: British author - J.B. Priestley 

Sept 14: Irish author - Bernard MacLaverty

Sept 15: American writer - Tomie dePaola 

Brit Tripping

Our Brit Trip on Akeman Street is taking us to Somerset this week.

Somerset County is famous among Regency enthusiasts as the location of Bath and was a fashionable place to take the waters. It also has a vast Roman history and Arthurian link.

Rabbit trails:  The Circus  More on The Circus  Glastonbury Abbey  Tarr Steps

Have fun exploring! 

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BW30: Bookish Birthdays and News

It's time for another round of bookish birthdays and interesting book news!

The 32nd winner of the Arthur C Clarke Science Fiction award is  Anne Charnock for her novel Dreams Before the Start of Time. 

Check out the next generation of Instant Pot Cookbooks.

The Man Booker Prize just celebrated its 50th anniversary and awarded the Golden Man Booker Prize to Michael Ondaatje for The English Patient. 

Barnes and Noble's reads present 10 Books That Will Make You Smarter in Every Way. 

Debbie Macomber, one of my favorite authors, shares her summer reading list. 

The Conversation's Playing Detective with Canada's Female Literary Past.

Author Birthdays 

July 22 -  Emma Lazarus, whose poetry is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty:

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

July 23 - Mystery Writer Raymond Chandler and literary novelist John Nichols .

July 24 - French author Alexander Dumas and Danish Author Henrik Pontoppidan who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917.

July 25 -  American novelist Robyn Carr and  Bulgarian Elias Canetti who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981.

July 26 -  Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925 as well as English writer Aldous Huxley. 

July 27 - Italian Poet Giosuè Carducci who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1906 as well as Anglo-French poet Hilaire Belloc.

July 28 - English writer Beatrix Potter  and victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins


Our Brit Trip is taking us to Gloucestershire this week:  

Gloucestershire is the picturesque home to the Cotswold towns and villages. The area is also the country residence of Princes Charles at Highgrove.

Rabbit trails: Badminton House (yes, like the sport) , Tewkesbury Abbey  

Have fun following rabbit trails this week! 

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BW48: Bookish notes and birthdays

As November winds down, it is time for another round of Bookish Notes and Birthdays!



A Wave of New Fiction from Nigeria: As Young Writers Experiment with Genre

Dawn Watch Explores The Life And Legacy Of Joseph Conrad

2017 Costa Book Awards Shortlist Announced

SBTB's Covers and Cocktails: Southern Hospitality

YA Books That Feature Sisters

Best Multicultural and Diverse Books about or featuring a variety of cultures.

Artist Andrew DeGraff on Cinemaps: an Atlas of 35 Great Movies

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for December 2017  - ideas for movies to books reading.



Author Birthdays this week:  

11/26 -  William Cowper and Eugene Ionesco 

11/27 -  James Agee and Gail Sheehy

11/28 -  John Bunyan and William Blake

11/29 -  C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle, Louisa May Alcott

11/30 -  Jonathan Swift and Mark Twain 

12/01 -  Rex Stout and Charles Finney

12/02 -  Elizabeth Berg and Ann Patchett



“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.”   ― Mark Twain

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BW30: Bookish Notes and Birthdays

Snow Queen by Michael Whelan

We are winding up our Science Fiction and Fantasy months and it's time for another round of bookish notes and birthdays! 

Arthur C. Clarke Award will be announced on July 27th, 2017 and the authors on the shortlist for best science fiction novel published in 2016 are: 

A Closed and Common Orbit  by  Becky Chambers
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
After Atlas by  Emma Newman
Occupy Me by  Tricia Sullivan
Central Station by  Lavie Tidhar
The Underground Railroad by  Colson Whitehead



The 2017 Sunburst Awards shortlist nominees for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic has been announced:

Spells of Blood and Kin by Claire Humphrey
The Witches of New York by Ami McKay
Sleeping Giants  by Sylvain Neuvel
Necessity by Jo Walton
Last Year by Robert Charles Wilson 


Unbound Worlds: 4 Works of Feminist Science Fiction to read right now  and So You Want to Read the 80's: Here's where to start


Omnivoracious:   The Best Science Fiction Fantasy of 2017 so far


Valley News:  Sci Fi is the Genre of Progress 


Author Birthdays 



Robert Heinlein - 7/7/07

Dean Koontz - 7/9/45

Sheri S. Tepper - 7/16/29

Cory Doctorow - 7/17/71  -  Excerpts from July Interview in Locus Online

James Cooke Brown - 7/21/21

Gardner Dozois - 7/23/47

Barry Malzberg - 7/24/39

Aldous Huxley -  7/26/1894 

Cassandra Clare -7/27/73

Kate Elliott -  7/27/58

Robert Asprin - 7/28/46

Wil Wheaton - 7/29/72 

Cherie Priest - 7/30/75

J.K. Rowling - 7/31/65


I'm sure your wishlists and tbr piles will grow exponentially as mine has.  *grin* 

Have fun following rabbit trails! 

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Please link to your specific post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us what you have been reading. Every week I will put up Mr. Linky which will close at the end of each book week. No matter what book you are reading or reviewing at the time, whether it be # 1 or # 5 or so on, link to the current week's post.

BW22: Bookish notes and birthdays

It's time for another round of bookish notes and birthdays.  A potpourri of books and birthdays as we usher out Eastward/Emerald May.

When you think of emeralds, what comes to mind?  How could we forget the emerald Isle's.   How about reading story set in  Emerald Isle, North Carolina or Emerald Isle of Ireland?  Check out Irish Central's Top Ten Irish novelists in History.  Nor should we forget Cleopatra, since emeralds were her favorite gemstone.  I have Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra: A Life currently on my shelves and have been wanting to read Michelle Moran's Cleopatra's Daughter for some time.  Browse through Goodread's list of nonfiction and fiction reads about Cleopatra and delve into her life.

Monday is Memorial Day here in the United States where we honor those who died fighting for our country.  Writer's Relief lists Our Memorial Day Reading list: A Tribute to Those who served.  The Art of Manliness has a great post with 43 Books about War every man (and woman) should read.

On the 50th anniversary of the publication of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, Alvaro santana-Acuna ponders in The Atlantic: How It Became a Classic.


Author Birthdays:

May 28 - James Bond novelist - Ian Fleming and Australian Nobel Prize winner for literature - Patrick White

May 29 - Essayist - G.K. Chesterton and British novelist - T.H. White

May 30 - Children's writer - Countee Cullen and Argentine poet - Juan Gelman

May 31 - Essayist - Walt Whitman and poet - Elizabeth Coastworth

Have fun following rabbit trails!

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Please link to your specific post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us what you have been reading. Every week I will put up Mr. Linky which will close at the end of each book week. No matter what book you are reading or reviewing at the time, whether it be # 1 or # 5 or so on, link to the current week's post.