BW52: A is for Adventure

 

“He held up a book then. “I'm going to read it to you for relax.”

“Does it have any sports in it?”

“Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True Love. 

Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. 

Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest Ladies. Snakes. Spiders... 

Pain. Death. Brave men. Cowardly men. Strongest men. 

Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.”

“Sounds okay,” I said and I kind of closed my eyes.”

― William Goldman, The Princess Bride

Happy Sunday! Our wild and whimsical reading quest is winding down for the year but that doesn't mean it is the end of our reading.  Reading is a never ending adventure because there is always another tale to explore that fills you with emotion, or teaches you something new, or helps you discover a different perspective, and or gives you something to ponder long after the story has ended.  Reading is as necessary as breathing, vital to our lives, minds, and imaginations. 

We've been counting down the days to Christmas with our advent calendars as well as anticipating  the annual book flood Jólabókaflóð.  However, we started a little early and our shelves and stockings are filling up.  But nevertheless, we'll spend Christmas Eve curled up on our cozy couch reading until the thought of Santa coming down the chimney drives us to our beds.  Winter also officially started on Saturday, the 21st, which means plenty of cold weather books to keep us company.  

Somebody reminded me the other day, it isn't the quantity of books we read that's important, but the quality.  With that in mind, how was your reading year?  

Tell me about any new authors discoveries you'd like to continue reading. Or ones you disliked and will never read again.  

Where did your armchair travels take you?  

Which books made you think and ponder and leave you with a big book hangover.  Or which books made you want to throw it across the room in frustration because of the characters choices.  

Share book quotes that stood out, beautiful book covers, or anything else that stood out for you. 

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.  

Do you annotate your books, write in the margins, engage with the book, talk back to the characters?  

Maybe it's an age thing but my reading slowed way down this year and I engaged way more that I usually do with stories. Some made me angry, others made me pause, a few made me cry.  I used to read only to be entertained, now I find myself delving into deep and dense stories.  

To that end, I'll be reading Les Miserables starting January 2025, so please join me if you haven't read it yet.

Thank you for sharing your reading adventures with me. Merry Christmas and may you have a blessed New Year! 

BW52: 2023 Year End Extravaganza!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Are you having a merry Jolabokaflod! It's time to retire this year's walking shoes, curl up by the fire or under a cozy comforter and figure out where you've been and where you would like to go next year.   Buy a new pair of shoes or wings if you dare, and maybe buy a bigger backpack to stow all those new and old books you want to read in 2024.  

Although I love exploring and reading new authors, genres, spaces and places, I like to revisit old friends along the way.  While I may map out a plan for the new year, I always build in plenty of time for side trips along the way.  I like spontaneity, delving here, there, and every where, following rabbit trails full of whimsy.  In fact, I'm looking forward to a whimsical new year full of reading adventures. 

So tell me...how was your reading year?  

Did you follow a plan or go with the flow?  

Did you stick to tried and true authors or genres or explore outside your comfort zone?

Where did your adventures take you?  Outside of time or into space? A different country, state, or city? 

Which stories made your heart sing or cry or laugh or fly? Made you want to hug the author or characters?   

Which story  made you want to throw it across the room in disgust? 

Which authors did you add to your  "I want to read more or again pile."

Share quotes, covers, stats, and ideas for next year such as new or different authors or genres or stories to explore. 

Our post is sponsored by the letter A for autodidactic, autotelic, anti hero, archetypes, and annotation. 

Thank you for sharing your reading year with me! 

Hugs, loves, and kisses!

BW52: 2021 Year End Wrapup

 

Prospect House in London

“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, 

perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to 

voyage through time.”  ― Carl Sagan

Our infinite sky reading adventure on board the time traveling Pumdeg Dau o Lyfrau airship during 2021 is coming to an end; however our armchair travels will continue on. It's time to trade in our airship for a new means of transportation.  Meanwhile please join me in the conservatory for our end of the year tea and book party.  Help yourself to a cup of tea, a glass of wine or a mug of my hubby's special roast coffee while we chat about our reads.  

• What were your reading goals for the year?  How many books did you read? 

• Did you explore outside the box, delve into new worlds or take comfort in the old.  Let your fingertips doing the walking, sorting through your TBR stacks, reading whichever book caught your eye or yelled the loudest for your attention. Did you heed the call  of your dusty books calling your name, whispering read me, read me. That's not creepy at all, is it? Only a bookworm would understand and listen.... *grin*  

“We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.”

― Ursula K. LeGuin

• What was your most entertaining read of the year? 

• Which stories stuck with you the longest?

“When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls. What is to happen next will take place within the four walls of the story. And this is possible because the story's voice makes everything its own.” ― John Berger, Keeping a Rendezvous

• Which characters did you fall in like or love with? 

“I will go to my grave in a state of abject endless fascination that we all have the capacity to become emotionally involved with a personality that doesn't exist.”  ― Berkeley Breathed

• Which stories or characters made you want to dive into their world and live there?

• Which stories surprised you, made you reflect, laugh out loud, tear up, or irritated the heck out of you?

• Which stories inspired web wonderings and lead you on rabbit trails? 

“I’ve always thought that a good book should be either the entry point inward, to learn about yourself, or a door outward, to open you up to new worlds.” –Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Which stories would you read again and again? 

“Isn't it odd how much fatter a book gets when you've read it several times?" Mo had said..."As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells...and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there, too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book had preserved you like a pressed flower...both strange and familiar.”

― Cornelia Funke, Inkspell

• One book you think everyone should read?

• Where in the world and through what time periods did your reading adventures take you? 

• Share your stats, new to you author discoveries, favorite quotes, or covers. 

“What I love most about reading: It gives you the ability to reach higher ground. And keep climbing.”–Oprah

Thank you for sharing your reading adventures with me this year. I appreciate each and every one of you and hope you had fun along the way and look forward to more bookish adventures. Cheers to a happy, enlightening, and inspiring reading new year!

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BW52: 2020 Year End Wrap UP

 

The year is almost over and our cups may be running low, but they aren't empty yet.  Now's the time to brew another pot of words to fill them up again. So gather all the ingredients you need to make a whole new batch.  Fill your carafe with a mix of history, science fiction, math, romance, essays, mysteries, art, and folklore. Spice it up with a little bit of myth, accompanied by a splash of adventure.  And while you wait for your books to brew, let's take a moment to reflect. 

Tell us about your reading year? What were your goals this year? Did you have a plan, and/or follow rabbit trails or just wing it?

• How many books did you read?  
• Which were your favorite stories and which ones had the biggest impact on you.   
• Which one made you giggle, weep, dance, or sing?   
• Made you want to dive in and live in their world? 
• Which book would you like to revisit? 
• One book you thought you would love, but didn't? 
• Which book would you recommend everyone read?
• Did you discover any new to authors or genres?
• Share your thoughts, opinions,  reading stats, favorite characters, covers or quotes.

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Maureen Doallas: “Reading Goodnight Moon”

Do you remember reading it?

*

Reading Goodnight Moon

is not like stopping

at McDonald’s

for your favorite double-shot latte.

You don’t drive through.

You take each word

in a languishing slide off the tongue,

naming what is named

that you never saw before.

Looking, finding, pointing delighted

in the room the moon the light

the red balloon that lifts

Darkness even as sleep

falls fast

and clock’s hands change

What you see changing

before a child’s eyes.

If you slow long enough

to take in what your child sees

with eyes that

Refuse to be moved

to a new page before

the first page is exhausted.

The last page you turn

holds the dream

you thought would never last:

A snuggling close closer still

beneath moon’s shadows.

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As Stephen King says "Books are a uniquely portable magic," and I hope your reads inspired and enlightened, transformed and transported you, and filled your life with knowledge, imagination, and pleasure. Thank you for joining me in another reading adventure and I'm looking forward to more bookish adventures.   Cheers to a happy reading new year!

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2019 Year End Reading Wrap Up

“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.” ~ Annie Dillard

Happy Solstice!  Join me for a cup of tea, a glass of wine or your favorite beverage as we reflect on our 52 Books rambling reading adventures the past year. Can you believe we are not only winding up 2019, but the end of a decade. We have traveled around the world and the universe. We wandered the deep blue sea and climbed the highest mountains and even explored the limitlessness of outer space. Our armchair travels have taken us through different time periods, through fictional, magical and historical journeys along with pioneers and astronauts, historians and time travelers, villains and sleuths. Ah books! The spice of life! 

Tell us about your reading year? What was your goal this year and did you have a plan, and/or follow rabbit trails or wing it?

Where did your armchair travels take you? Which books stood out, made an impression and/or stayed with you the longest? What did you learn from them?

Which book had the most original, most unique story?  

Which book made you laugh? Which one made you cry?

Which book did you like the least and why?

Which new to you authors did you discover and would you read another book by this author?

Did you try any of the main or mini challenges? If so, which Bingo category did you like the most and the least and what did you read? Which authors and/or detectives would you like to continue exploring from Whodunit Bookology.

Please share your book lists, stats for the year, favorite quotes, and/or favorite book covers.

Congratulations to all our readers and those who followed our progress. Neil Gaiman once said "Read. Read anything. Read the things they say are good for you, and the things they claim are junk. You’ll find what you need to find. Just read.” Whether you read fast or slow, listen to audio books; read fluffy, light romances or heavy classics, comedy to drama, urban fantasies to thrillers, or nonfiction to comics, the most essential thing is reading.

I appreciate each and every one of you and hope you had fun along the way. I have enjoyed sharing our reading journey and look forward to more bookish adventures. Many wishes for a happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Jolabokaflod, Christmas or Festivus to you all and cheers to a happy, enlightening, and inspiring reading new year!

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2018 Year End Wrap Up!

Courtesy of Eye for Design

Merry Christmas dear hearts.  We are gathering in London this week to celebrate Christmas, the completion of our mystery Brit Trip as well as our armchair travels around the world.  Many, many thanks to Sandy and Amy for guiding us along the Roman Roads through England and providing us with many, many fun rabbit trails.

While we are celebrating in London check out these wonderful Rabbit trails: 

Christmas Dinner, Magical London Christmas, Victorian Christmas, Victorian Christmas Feast, Victorian Christmas Traditions,  Pop ups,  Christmas Markets, and Lights.

During my adventures I went through several pairs of walking shoes and filled my backpack with quite a few new to me authors to enjoy during the new year. How about you?  Please tell us about the highlights of your reading year:

During your travels did you have time to stop and smell the flowers with our Blossom Bookology challenge or explore a plethora of mysteries with 52 Books Bingo?  Did you stay on the detective bus, join the rebel bus or hang around with Bertram Wooster?  Did you remain earthbound or take off for worlds unknown?

Did you reach your reading goal or did you decide to just meander about and follow  rabbit trails and end up getting lost in the enjoyment of reading?  Waving my hand as I lost track halfway through the year.

Where did your armchair travels take you?  Which countries and time periods did you journey through?

Which books stayed with you the longest?  Did you set any aside to read again at some point and savor the story all over again?

Did you discover any new to you authors or genres?

Which books intrigued or entertained, made you laugh, cry, dance or sing?

Share your favorite titles, covers, quotes and of course, your reading lists.

Congratulations and thank you to all sharing in our 52 Books reading journey.  Thank you also to all those following our progress and hope you decide to dip your toes in next year.  Whether you read fast or slow, dabble in classics or romance, fill your shelves with translated books or comics, prefer non fiction or contemporary books, the most important thing is the reading.  I have enjoyed our adventures together and look forward to more fun in the coming new year.

You know when you start to read

The books on your shelf tend to breed.

They expand your horizon 

And fill your house by the dozen.

Fiction, nonfiction, poetry and essays,

Dive in and let yourself play.

Imaginary and not so imaginary worlds fill your mind.

Real life gets left behind.

It’s never too late

Let thoughts cogitate and marinate.

A debate, a discussion

Oh my…a literary concussion! 

So grab a cat, a cup,  a cozy chair,

Never mind about your hair.

Ignore the day and set yourself free,

Blessed be with much love --- me! 

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BW52: 2017 Reading Year Wrap Up

White House Book Tree 2013 

Merry Christmas to you and yours!  Our Adventurous Prime reading journey is drawing to a close.  Did you enjoy spelunking and digging up gems from around the world, uncovering polished stones as well as rough, blemished chunks of minerals just waiting to be revealed.  I had loads of fun searching for and reading new to me authors plus reading through series by favorite authors with the Birthstone Bookology challenge as well as delving into different centuries, countries, and genres with 52 Books Bingo.  

• Where did your reading take you this year?

• What was your reading goal for the year and did you meet or beat your personal goal?  Did you end with a prime number of reads?

• Top 5 (or more) favorite reads?

• Which book stayed with you the longest after finishing it?

• Which book made you want to read it all over again?  

• Which book did you think you were going to love, but didn't?

• Which genres or authors you thought you'd never read and was pleasantly surprised to like them?

• Which countries and time periods did you visit?

• Which books or authors would you recommend everybody read? 

• Which mini challenges did you enjoy? 

• Please share favorite covers or quotes

• And last, but not least, share your list of completed reads! 

 
Congratulations and thank you to everyone who joined in our 2017 adventurous reading year.    I'd also like to thank all who have followed our progress.  Are you ready to dive in yet?  *grin*  Whether you read fast or slow or listen to audio books;  read fluffy, light romances or heavy classics, comedy to drama, urban fantasies to thrillers, or nonfiction to comics, the most essential thing is reading.  

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” 

~ Charles William Eliot

I have enjoyed sharing our reading journey and look forward to the new year and more bookish adventures.  

~Cheers to a blessed and happy reading new year!

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BW52: 2016 is a wrap!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!  Our reading year is once again drawing to a close.  I'm happy to say this year is ending with much gratitude and grace and I am looking forward with optimism to many new adventures in 2017.  We sailed the waterways of the world, dropping into different ports of call east and west of the Prime Meridian, then jumped off ship to explore North and South America.  Many of you chose to chart your own course and followed a variety of rabbit trails.

Where did your reading take you this year?  

How many books did you read and did you meet or beat your own personal goal?  Or did you get caught up in reading and forget to keep track like me?  *grin* 

What countries and time periods did you visit?

What were your most favorite stories?   Any stories that stayed with you a long time,  left you wanting more or needed to digest for a while before starting another?   Which books became comfort reads

What is the one book or the one author you thought you'd never read and found yourself pleasantly surprised that you liked it?

Did you read any books that touched you and made you laugh, cry, sing or dance.

Any that made you want to toss it across the room in disgust?

Please share a favorite cover or quote.

Congratulations on completing another reading year and thank you to all who followed our reading journeys.    Reading to me is as necessary as breathing and it is also comforting. It is an escape from the real world. I get rather crotchety without my books.  How about you?

I really appreciate you sharing your reading journeys with me. No matter what we read, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, literary or contemporary, historical or futuristic, a chunky book or a cozy, the most important thing is the reading.   I hope you had fun too as you followed your own reading paths and enjoyed your bookish journeys.  I look forward to 2017 and sharing another reading year with all of you.

Best wishes for a happy, adventurous, reading New Year!

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BW52: 2015 Year End Wrap Up

Jonathan Wolstenholme - Many Books 

TA DA!  We've made it through another year. Our reading adventures took us around the globe, rambling and roaming in pursuit of literary adventures, thrilling mysteries and regency romances.  We delved into the capricious and cunning, debunked the banned, dipped into the fascinating world of creative non fiction, hiked into history and scrutinized the supernatural and spectacular ghostly tomes. We expanded our horizons as we burrowed into translated stories thanks to Archipelago Books, Europa Editions and Literary Saloon pointing us in new directions.  Let's wrap up our 2015 reading year before we do it all over again next year.


Please share your reading lists and tell us about your reading year:




How many books did you read this year and did you meet or beat your own personal goal?

Share your top 5 (or more) favorite books.

Which books or authors you thought you'd never read and were pleasantly surprised to like them?

One book that touched you - made you laugh, cry, sing or dance!

Share your most favorite character, covers and/or quotes?

One book you thought you'd love but didn't?

What countries or centuries did you explore?

What books would you recommend everybody read?

What was your favorite part of the challenge?

Congratulations and thank you to everyone for joining in and to those who followed our progress.  I may have challenged our comfort zones a bit this year and probably will even more so in the new year as we sail around the world.  Once I stepped outside my own reading box, I discovered so many new worlds. Plus it made me appreciate my comfort reads even more.  No matter what we read, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, literary or contemporary, historical or futuristic, a chunky book or a cozy, the most important thing is the reading.  For me, reading is as necessary as breathing. It is an escape or should I call it a decampment from the real world. I get rather crotchety without my books.  How about you?  I really appreciate you sharing your reading journeys with me.  I hope you had fun along the way, following your own reading paths and  rabbit trails and enjoyed your bookish journeys.  I look forward to 2016 and sharing another reading year with you all.  

Best wishes for a Happy Reading New Year! 

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BW 52: 2014 Year End Wrap Up

Happy Winter!   Huzzah!  We made it through another adventurous,  intriguing, mystical and mysterious, time altering, life changing year.  This year turned into the Year of the Fluff for me while I dealt with the grief of my mother's passing.   I had grand plans to read through all the centuries and around the world. However, my mind knew just what it needed and I curled up with urban fantasies, paranormals, romantic suspense and light mysteries with a dash of mysticism and splash of history.  

Christmas break has officially started and I am looking forward to cuddling up on the couch with a good book or two and enjoying our two weeks off from lessons.  In the meantime, I'm looking forward to reading everyone's list of reads for the year and adding a few more books to my ever teetering stacks.

So?  How did it go?

• How many books did you read and did you meet your own personal goal?  
• Most thrilling, oh my goodness, I want to read it again, unputdownable book?
• Top 5 favorite stories?
• Least favorite book? 
• New author discovery?  New genre discovery?
• What countries or centuries did you explore?
• Share a favorite character, story, quote or cover 
• One book that touched you - made you laugh, cry, sing or dance.
•  Are you ready to do it all over again?
• Do you have any goals to check out different genres or authors, read translated books or stories in another language for 2015?  

Congratulations and thank you to everyone for joining in.  I have loved sharing our reading journeys together.   Since today is officially Winter, let's wind up the year with some wintery reads. 

Brew me a cup for a winter’s night.
For the wind howls loud, and the furies fight;
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I’ll toast your bright eyes, my sweetheart fair.
~Minna Thomas Antrim, "A Night Cap," A Book of Toasts, 1902

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BW52: 2013 Year End Wrap Up!

It's official - Winter has arrived. Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Los Posadas or Happy Winter solstice. Which also means it is time for our year end wrap up. This year went by way too fast in my opinion, was a bit more stressful than normal and I'm ready to relax for the next couple weeks, getting cozy on the couch with some good books. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's year end list of reads, which is sure to expand our wish lists and cause our already teetering TBR piles to grow exponentially. 

1. How many books did you read and did you meet or beat your own personal goal? 
2. What are your top 5 (or more) favorite stories?  Top 5 least favorites? 
3. One book you thought you would never read and was pleasantly surprised you liked it? 
4. Most thrilling unputdownable book? 
5. Did you come across a story that you enjoyed it so much, you turned around and read it again or plan on  rereading it again in 2014? 
6. One book you thought you would love, but didn't? 
7. Which book or books had the greatest impact on you this year? 
8. Do you have a favorite cover or quote from a story you'd like to share?  
9. What book would you recommend everyone read?  
10. What was your most favorite part of the challenge? Did you do any of the mini challenges? 

To round out the rest of the year, we'll be having a winter read-along,  reading all those books with winter in the title or set in the season of winter.  Which works quite well if you are still reading books set in the Antarctic for the Continental Challenge.  Join me in reading Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale.   

Thank you to everyone who joined me in this reading journey this year and congratulations!  Reading to me is as necessary as breathing. It doesn't matter how fast or how slow you read or whether you are reading classics or contemporary books, the most important thing about the whole challenge is reading. I'm happy to have shared the experience with all of you.  I'm looking forward to hearing about everyone's reading year and to more fun in the coming new year. 

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Link to your reviews or year end wrap up posts:    Please link to your specific book review 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, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.