BW37: Time for a Mini Challenge

 

Happy Sunday!  Did you know September is Self Improvement month, National Piano Month, Classical Music Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, National Sewing Month, Fall Hat Month, and Happy Cat Month. Lots to read and learn about. Today we remember 911 and all those who died, and everyone who came together to help. And take a moment to think about or pray for peace and strength for the family of Queen Elizabeth as they mourn the death of their mother. 

It's been a while since we've had a Judge a Book by the Cover or Pick a Random Book mini challenge and I'm in the mood for a book store adventure.  How about you? 

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:  

Judge a book based on its cover:  The hardest part will be not reading the synopsis on the back or the inside flap. Yeah, I know. It’s really hard.  When you see the cover, keep in mind what captured your attention and tell us about it. What you thought the book was going to be about? When you read it, let us know if you were you close or no cigar? 

Or

Pick a Random Book: Choose a random book based on its position on the shelf.  To choose a book: decide in advance which genre you are going to choose. Or leave it up to chance - pick a direction, pick an aisle.  Choose a number between 1 and 7 as there are about seven sections in each aisle. Decide which shelf you are going to choose from - top, 2nd, 3rd, fourth, or bottom shelf. Pick one number between 1 and 30 as I'm assuming there are about 30 books to a shelf. Use these numbers and count over a certain number of sections in the aisle, pick a shelf, and count to the chosen number and that's the book you'll get.

That's how I discovered Anne Bishop's Written in Red a few years back. I chose the science fiction/fantasy aisle, counted over 3 sections, then down 2 shelves and looked for the 15th book on the shelf.

Take a trip to the book store or the library in search of a new book. Or if you are short on fund, play along utilizing your home shelves. You can even play along online.  

Have fun exploring!

Our A to Z and Back Again Letter and Word of the week are P and Procedural. 

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Please share your book thoughts reviews and link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have a social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. The link widget closes at the end of each book week. 

In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field paste a link to your post, then check the privacy box and click enter.

BW41: 41 things

 

And now for something completely different!

Welcome to all things forty one this week.  People, places, things, dates that have something to do with 41.  

Best Books to Read For Ages 41 – 60

41 Books Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg

Read a book about the 41st President:  41 A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush 

Authors born in 1941

Read a book with 41 in the title or 41st book in the series

Best selling and popular books in 1941 

President only for 32 days in 1841 - William Henry Harrison 

President from 1841 -1845 - John Tyler 

Literature in 1741, Books set in 1641, and Took place in 1541.

41 Best Books of 2020 to elevate your reading 

41 debut Authors over 40 

14 Female authors recommend 41 favorite female authors

41 more books worth reading

What Beatles song repeats the title in the lyrics forty-one times? Let it be.  Read a book with Let It Be in the title

Read the 41st book from the lists of Best 100 including Great American Read, Must Read Classics, Best Books of the 21st Century, Greatest Books, Most Influential,  BBC's Big Read, or Goodread's listopia of 100 Best.   

Have fun following rabbits trails, exploring events and people from 41BC all the way up to 2014.  

Please share your book reviews and link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have a social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. The link widget closes at the end of each book week.

In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field paste a link to your post, then check the privacy box and click enter.

BW39: September Equinox

Courtesy of imagenes hermosas de todo tipo 

Fall, leaves, Fall

by

 Emily Bronte 

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.

Autumn is upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere. My favorite time of year. The trees painted with burnished colors of yellow, gold, purple, and oranges. Leaves crackle and crunch underfoot during our daily walks. Crisp cool breezes mix with barbecues, football games and laughter. The promise of rain. Joy is in the air.  It is the perfect time to read a foodie book or experiment with new recipes or modify an old one.  It's also time to for a mini challenge: Read a book about the season. 

Find a book with Autumn, fall, season, equinox, September, moon, night, clock or axis on the cover.  Or with one leaf on the cover, the color of leaves, or in the title.  I think there are about 25 different types of apples including Fuji, Lady, McIntosh and Liberty. Read a book with a type of Apple in the title or one with an apple on the cover.  Even one about an apple.  This is usually the time of year I pull out How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World which has a great apple pie recipe in the back of the book. Delicious. Plus lots of ideas for rabbit trails.  Have fun brainstorming and follow lots of rabbit trails as you explore the Autumn season.  Or Spring if you live in the Southern Hemisphere.  

Brit Trip

This week we're traveling Watling Way to Sussex.  A.A. Milne lived for much of his adult life in Sussex and his Hundred Acre Woods is based upon Ashdown Forest.

Rabbit trails: Virginia Woolf’s Suicide  Battle of Hastings   Chichester Cathedral  Arundel Cathedral Brighton  Rudyard Kipling’s Bateman  Arundel Castle

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Link to your reviews. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field paste a link to your post. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us what you have been reading. 

BW32: Blind date with a book

Happy Sunday!   This month we are going on a blind date with a book.  Your mission is to go on an adventure to the library or book store in search of a new book.    You may also use the internet by doing a google image search for  book covers.   Or play along using your home shelves if short of funds or time.

At the book store, pick a random book based on its position on the shelf.  To choose a book: decide in advance  (1) Genre, (2)  two number between 1 and 5, and (3) one number between 1 and 30. Using these numbers, find the chosen Genre in the book store or library, count over certain number of sections in the aisle, go down that number of shelves and count to the 3rd number and that's the book you'll get.  I'll be going to Barnes and Noble sometime this week and will let you know what I find.

I did a random search on google and these books attracted my attention: 

Spread your reading wings a bit and chose a genre you don't normally read. 

Our Brit Trip is taking us to Derbyshire this week: Derbyshire is primarily a rural county that boasts being the location of many pop culture references including – the home of Pemberly, the location for Georgette Heyer’s novel The Toll-Gate, and the filming location of The Princess Bride.

Rabbit trails: Highest peak in Derbyshire – Kinder Scout  Bolsover Castle  Chatsworth House

Have fun exploring!

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Link to your reviews. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field paste a link to your post. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us what you have been reading.  

BW16: Red Shoe

Red Shoes by Lael Weyenberg

It's time for a mini challenge and an opportunity to complete the Red Shoe on the Cover category for 52 Books bingo.  Read a book with an image of a red shoe or a pair of red shoes on the cover or with Red Shoe in the title.  You can also mix it up a bit by exploring books with shoes in different shades of red as well. 

Courtesy of Jennifer Weiner

Check out Goodread's selection of Red Shoes as well as Books with one shoe on the cover,   Find out more about the history of red shoes through Australian Ballet's Why So Fascinating, Sassy Bella's The Scarlet Heel, and Tales of Faerie's Red Shoes in fairy tales and history. 

For our Brit Trippers, trip on down to Tyne and Wear which is located on the Tyne River and on the North Sea making it historically a large center of shipbuilding for centuries.

Rabbit trails: Souter Lighthouse

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Link to your reviews. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field paste a link to your post. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us what you have been reading.  

BW20: Happy Mother's Day

In the Garden - George Goodwin Kilbourne

Happy Mother's day, my lovelies. Whether your child is 6 months, 6, 16, 26 or even 36, you are there for middle of the night feedings to middle of the night heartfelt chats. Motherhood's nest is always open and ever comforting.  And when you need wisdom, a dose of I told you so, a good laugh, a healing cry or a not so patient nudge out the door, you can rely on your mom to know the right thing to do.

Your mission is to read a book about mothers.  There are many different avenues to pursue from essays to humor to self help to real life to fiction. Books about mothering, motherhood, mothers and son or mothers and daughters. Nurturing and creating, cooking and tending.  Relationships and life, rights and wrongs.  Books talking about traditions and different cultures and how mothers are honored around the world.   Find a book with mother in the title or challenge yourself to read several books with one letter in the title to spell out mother.  

Happy reading!

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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.

BW16: Homonym and synonym challenge

Happy Sunday and Happy Easter to all who celebrate.  I have homonyms on my brain today as my brain wonders about the wonders of words as we wander through this universe we call earth.    Think about words spelled the same or that sound the same but have different meanings. Such as  son and sun, write and right, tale and tail, night and knight, coarse and course, medal and meddle,  cache and cash.   How we may fold our clothes or fold at cards.  Go to court or give permission to the boy next door to court your daughter.  Do you need to bail out the boat or bail out your brother.   Are you here or can you hear what is happening or are you searching for the South Pole or your fishing pole?  Where on earth am I going with this, you ask?  I don't know as I've lost my train of thought. It's gone off the rails...


Oh yes, I have a mini challenge for you!

Think about words relating to Easter and/or Passover. Spiritual or secular words related to the occasion or Sundayish.   Then read a book with that word or words in the title.  At first I picked a variety of words and had fun following rabbit trails as I also looked up synonyms for each word. Then I went back to the simple and chose light which lead me to Louise Penny's # 7 in her Inspector Gamache series, A Trick of the Light which I've been wanting to read for a while.

As well as Jayne Ann Krentz's paranormal suspense - Light in Shadow.  Both of which are now in my virtual stacks.  *grin*

Join me in the Homonym challenge and 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.

BW6: Pick a book by the cover

Time for a mini challenge!  A few years ago I joined a challenge in which one of the tasks was to pick a book by its cover. The hard part - don't read the blurb and find out what it is about beforehand.    Easier said than done. The temptation is just too much.  Especially in person - however it is a bit easy to do when on line.  Since then I have chosen books a few times using this method and usually end up with something excellent.  Also, I couldn't pick books by authors I've already read. In the past I've utilized Amazon and wandered through the new releases.   This time, I  googled book covers 2016 and viewed images. I selected books with both covers and titles that caught my eye and intrigued me the most. 

What do you think?  Which one should I read?  I dare you to try picking out a book based on its cover alone and see what you end up with.   Of course, you have to share. 

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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.

BW4: The Shape of Culture - Past, Present, and Future

Does when and where you are born really matter or is it who you are born to that shapes you?  How much does the culture of family, your community, your town play into your thoughts, ideas and speech? The south is ingrained in my soul.  I’ve lived in California now for more than half my life but I’ll always be a southerner at heart.  I’m a bundle of contradictions, my speech riddled with hey and howdy and y’all along with like and awesome and dude.

When I was in the fifth grade, we moved to California.  Culture shock.  I’d left behind friendly voices,  the refrain of “Y’all come back now, ya hear”  and chit chat at the check-out counter, exchanging it for bored clerks who ignored me while they chatted among themselves.   The kids all looked at me funny and asked why I talked so weird, their speech peppered with you guys and you know’s and here you go. “What guys and no, I don’t know and where am I going?”

I didn’t know I had an accent and that I talked with a twang, dropping my g’s both comin’ and goin’.  About a year after we moved, one of my sister’s friends called.  On my gosh, is that what I sounded like? Just imagine Hee Haw and you’ll get it because it just doesn’t translate to paper.  I was so happy when we moved south to Georgia,  back to the land of y’all and hey and friendly smiles.  No one was a stranger,  the ever present gnats at dusk making everyone think you were waving at them.

Football and bowling, stealing the other school’s mascot, cruising through Sonic and playing video games at the arcade.  Pigging out on Krystal’s mini burgers and Church’s fried chicken. All sounds a little like American Graffiti.  Carefree high school days.

I’ve been in California over 30 years now and the minute I hear anyone talking with a southern drawl, I slip right back into it seamlessly. There are times I have to concentrate, speaking precisely, reminding myself not to forget those g’s at the end of ing and that not everyone likes to be called hon or sugar.

And Lord a mercy, when I’m plumb tuckered out and I still have to fix supper; when I’d ruther rest my feet and sit a spell, and have my son fetch me a drink, I sit back and wonder why the gal at the café annoyed me so much when she called me hon. 

What does this have to do with books, you ask?  This week your mission is to learn more about local and/or popular culture.  You can even let a friend choose a book for you. Either of which would satisfy a couple spots on the bingo card.  There are a wide variety of books to choose from. Check out Goodreads list of Popular Culture Books or Ideas.Ted.com Guide to Reading the World or watch Ann Morgan's My Year Reading Books from Every Country.    

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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.

2017 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Courtesy of Lauren Conrad 

Are you ready to join me for another round of reading 52 Books in 52 Weeks?  The rules are quite simple and how you get there is entirely up to you.  It's going to be a gem of a year as we excavate for new as well as old reads.  Whether you like unearthing one book at a time or scooping up multiple books, burrowing in with a classic, digging into a chunky read or shining up one of those dusty books from your shelves, it all averages out in the end.  The goal is to read 52 Books. 

In the past few years, we've been across and around the world by foot, car, train, plane and sea.  To aid us in our journey this year, we'll be digging deep to discover the jewels of our reading world.  We have a variety of challenges to assist with our reading voyage this year including another round of 52 Books Bingo. 

Birthstone Bookology Reading adventure which will take us around the world and through different time periods from the ancients to the present.   You can go a variety of directions with this challenge. Read a book for each letter in the birthstone of the month.  Read a book with the birthstone or the color of the birthstone in the title. Find a book set in the time period or setting where the birthstone was discovered and/or mined.    

Dusty Mini challenge: Limit buying new books for 1 - 4 months and/or read 4 to 12 or more books gathering dust on your shelves prior to 2016.

Chunky Mini Challenge -  books more than 500 pages.

Well Educated Mind:  Continuing exploring the classics in 6 categories: Fiction, Autobiography, History/Politics, Drama, Poetry and Science.  

Plus we'll be doing a year long readalong of Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of Western Science as well as another round of 52 Books Bingo.  

The mini, weekly and monthly challenges are optional, Mix it up anyway you like.

So put on your hard hats, grab your shovels and pickaxes and get ready to explore.   

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. 
2. Our book weeks begin on Sunday. 
3. Participants may join at any time. 
4. All books are acceptable except children books. 
5. All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc. 
6. Re-reads are acceptable as long as they are read after January 1, 2017. 
7. Books may overlap other challenges. 
8. Create an entry post linking to this blog. 
9. Sign up with Mr. Linky in the "I'm participating post" below this post. 
10. You don't need a blog to participate. Post your weekly book in the comments section of each weekly post. 
11. Mr. Linky will be added to the bottom of the weekly post to link to reviews of your most current reads.

BW48: Foodie Books

Thanksgiving is over and even though our tummies are stuffed with turkey and more, we're heading into the season of food.  All kinds of Christmas and Hanukkah and winter celebrations on the horizon so figured I'd present a mini challenge.  Pick a book with food in the title or about food. It can't be a straight forward cookbook because that's just too easy.   You have several ways to go with ingredients, seasoning, artistic creations, sensations, and other gastronomical delights. 

There are plenty of fun non fiction titles -  Cravings, Fresh off the Boat, Relish, In Defense of Food, The Man Who Ate Food, Relish and Salt, as well as plenty of fiction titles such as 

When in Doubt, Add Butter 

Or one of my favorite series which you can argue isn't food, but talks alot about food, The Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle.

On What Grounds

Or how about this delightful book full of magical realism and yummy recipes

Pomegranate Soup

I'm getting hungrier by the minute.  *grin*   Find all kinds of interesting books searching on  Goodreads for Foodie Books, Popular Food Fiction, Food in Book Titles as well as Bustle's 13 Books All Food Lovers Should Read, plus Bon Appetit's 20 New Food Books to Read.

~cheers~ 

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Link to your most current read. 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.

BW38: September Equinox

Paul Hugues - Women in the Park 

I've got James Taylor's You Got a Friend running through my brain today.

When you're down and troubled and you need a helping hand

and nothing, whoa, nothing is going right.

Close your eyes and think of me and soon I will be there

to brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am

I'll come running to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there, yeah, yeah,

you've got a friend.

La la la la ~~~~~~  *grin* 

As of Thursday, it's Fall here in the Northern Hemisphere,and for those in the Southern half, Spring.   It's all about the leaves, springing forth  to brighten our lives or changing colors and decorating the earth.  ~Beautiful either way~.

Since I have music running through my head, let's run with it and see where it goes.  My trusty thesaurus  gives me for lyrical: melodious, soulful, passionate, dulcet, agreeable and orchestral to name a few.   Feeling a bit poetical as well as epic, dramatic, song-like or tuneful yet?  What about the melody of crackling leaves, the romance of flowers, the wind whistling through the trees, the song of birds and odes to the moon.  Hmm! There seems to be a number of directions to go, so pick a musical word or theme and see where it leads you.

My meanderings lead me to K.M. Aul and his Senses Novels #1 Aura and #2 Dulcet.

Have fun!

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Link to your most current read. 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 have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.

BW37: Time for another mini challenge

Courtesy of Love to Sew 

Happy Sunday!   Just realized we are halfway through the year and I haven't done a Pick a Book by the Cover or Pick a Random Book mini challenge yet. Shame on me. Your mission this month is to go on an adventure to the library or book store in search of a new book.  Or play along using your home shelves if short of funds or time.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pick a book based on its cover.  Don't read the synopsis on the back or the inside flap.  Tell us what you think the story is going to be about based on the cover.  Then after you've read it, let us know if you were close or no cigar.

Or you can pick a Random book based on its position on the shelf.  To choose a book: decide in advance  (1) which Genre, (2)  two numbers between 1 and 5, and (3) one number between 1 and 30. Using these numbers, find the chosen Genre in the book store or library, count over certain number of sections in the aisle, go down that number of shelves and count to the 3rd number and that's the book you'll get.

That's how I found Anne Bishop's Written in Red a couple years back. I chose the science fiction/fantasy aisle, counted over 3 sections, then down 2 shelves and looked for the 15th book on the shelf.

You can also challenge yourself to spread your reading wings a bit and chose a genre you don't normally read.

Have fun exploring!

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Link to your most current read. 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 have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.

BW34: 52 Books Bingo mini challenge - Pick a book with color in the title

Painting is silent poetry and poetry is painting that speaks ~ Plutarch

Time to add a bit of color to our reading lives - a dash of vermilion, a pinch of amber, a rainbow of blues and greens, a dab of sienna or a splotch of tangerine. Find a book with color in the title. Let your imagination run wild and paint your day!

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Link to your most current read. 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 have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.