BW1: Happy New Reading Year

Courtesy of World Atlas 

Happy New Year and cheers to a wonderful new year of reading 52 Books in 52 Weeks. Welcome back to all who are joining me for another round and to those joining in for the first time.

 The rules are quite simple. Read 52 Books. That's it. How you get there is up to you. To aid us in our reading adventures, we have several optional challenges which are listed in the link bar above:  A to Z, Dusty and/or Chunky and 52 Books Bingo, as well as our perpetual Well Educated Mind challenge.  We have monthly themes and author flavors listed along with a few readalongs and various mini challenges throughout the year to tickle your reading taste buds.  

There is no Frigate like a Book  

To take us Lands away,  

Nor any Coursers like a Page  

Of prancing Poetry –   

This Traverse may the poorest take         

Without oppress of Toll –   

How frugal is the Chariot  

That bears a Human soul.

~ Emily Dickinson

In previous years we have traveled by train, plane, car and on foot, backpacking across the continents. This year, with Emily Dickinson as our muse, we will be sailing around the world, visiting various ports of calls.  We'll start off East of the Prime Meridian in the Indian Ocean.  Quite a few countries are bordered by the Indian Ocean including Africa and the Arabian peninsula,  India, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, as well as the Antarctic. So many choices.  You may choose to travel along with me or chart your own course.

Our author flavors of the month are Vikrim Seth and Arundhati Roy.   I'll be weighing anchor in the Bay of Bengal and begin exploring India with Seth's A Suitable Boy.

Discover more authors from India through  Penguin India and  Harper Collins Publisher India  as well as independent press Grapevine India.

In February we will be starting a year long read of Susan Wise Bauer's History of the Renaissance World, reading two chapters a week.  Please join us. 

Our first reading week will run from January 1st through Saturday, January 9th.  Take your time to explore the different challenges, links to book resources, visit your fellow readers and of course, read.  I look forward to hearing all about your adventures.  

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For the first week, link to your I'm participating post, reading plans or to your most current review. 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.

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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Link to your most current read and / or year end wrap up. 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.

BW51: Winter Solstice

Josephine Wall Tree of Four Seasons

Winter officially arrives here in the Northern Hemisphere with the Winter Solstice on Tuesday, the 22nd as well as Christmas on the 25th, marking the beginning of our Winter Reading.  This is also the beginning of our two week break from lessons for which I am quite thankful.  Time to curl up with a good book or two or three, amidst preparations for the new year and another round of 52 Books.  Yes, we are doing it all over again.  Did you have any doubts?   Scroll down below this post for the 2016 52 Books in 52 Weeks announcement and I'm Participating link. 

As the solstice ushers in winter and summer, it also present a turning point. Synonyms that come to mine are apogee, crown, rise,  crest, pinnacle, summit, pitch and zenith.  Winter brings cold, frost, chill, white, snow, rain, freeze, brisk, gloves and ice to name a few.  What do you think of when it comes to Winter or summer if you are in the Southern Hemisphere?  Christmas brings gifts, cheer, family, birthday, blessings, faith and yuletide. Peruse your stacks and choose a book about the solstice, Christmas, Winter, seasons or any related words and synonyms in the title.   

Happy Winter and yuletide greetings from my house to yours. 

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History of the Medieval World

Chapter 75 - New Found Land

Chapter 76 - Schism

Chapter 77 - Danish Domination

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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.

2016 Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Are you ready to join me for another year of Reading 52 Books in 52 Weeks? The rules are quite simple. How you get there is up to you.  Whether you are a monogamous reader or like to dip into multiple books at a time, love diving into chunky books or sailing along with a beach read, submerging yourself in a classic or weighing anchor with those dusty books gathering dust on your shelves, it all averages out in the end.  The goal is to read 52 Books.  

We're going to sail around the world this year, starting off East of the Prime Meridian for the first half of the year, criss-crossing the oceans and seas, visiting various ports of call.  We have several author readalongs planned for the year from E.M. Forster's A Passage to India, to Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, to Dante's Paradiso as well as revisiting Moby Dick and various adaptations of the story both fiction and non fiction.   We'll continue with Susan Wise Bauer's History series with our year long read of History of the Renaissance World.    Check out Monthly Themes and Readalong  for more information

There are several mini challenges to help amp up the fun, explore new authors and genres and spread your reading sails.

A to Z Challenge:  Challenge yourself to read books alphabetically by Title and/or by Author or both. Have fun searching out those difficult letters.

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 5 categories: Fiction, Autobiography, History/Politics, Drama and Poetry.  Susan Wise Bauer's 2015 revised version includes a new category of Science to explore.

All the challenges and readalongs are optional. Mix it up anyway you like.

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. 
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, 2016.. 
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.

Happy Reading! 

I'm Participating in 2016

I'm Participating in 2016 

Copy and paste or type in your url website or blog address including http://www.yourname.com

BW50: Best of 2015

Courtesy of Cats Fine Art

I've been perusing all the best of  2015 book lists and finding many good books to add to my ever teetering stacks.  Some I am familiar with and others seemed to have flown beneath my reading radar...until now.   Since it is time to start thinking about next year, thought I'd spark your appetites and pocketbooks as well as mine. 

The Atlantic's editor and writers share the Best Book I Read This Year.   I've already added several to my wishlist.  

The Wall Street Journal's compilation Best Books from the best of 12 sources lists.  They tried to do all the work for me.   *grin* 

Explore Brainpicking's Best Art Books as well as Best Science Books of 2015.

Check out Bill Gates Best Of and his video of short reviews.

Bookriot's crew took a vote and came up with their best of the best. 

Bethane Patrick of the Literary Hub offers her 10 Great Books by Women Overlooked in 2015.

Have fun exploring! 

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History of the Medieval World

Chapter 72 The Hardship of Sacred War

Chapter 73 Basil the Bulgar Slayer

Chapter 74 Defending the Mandate

***Note - We'll finish up in January and start History of the Renaissance World in February ***

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BW49: Book news and birthdays

I want one!!!
The Bohemian Chair - picture courtesy of Dishfunctional Design 

Ready to dish and dine on delectable delights for dinner during December?  Yeah, me too. Don't you just love that chair. I seriously want one to curl up in and read to my heart's content.  It's time once again for some Cookish and bookish as well as birthday news.

December 6 

Poet William Stanley Braithwaite (1878–1962) influenced by English Romantic poets John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Wordsworth.

Poet Alfred Joyce Kilmer 1886–1918) influenced by the natural beauty of the world.


December 7

Willa Cather (1873 - 1947)  Novelists about frontier life on the great plains including Death Comes for the Archbishop and O Pioneers!

Akiko Yosano  (1879 - 1942)  Most controversial classical woman poet in Japan.


December 8

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910) 1903 Nobel prize winner and Norwegian poet and novelist

Richard Llewellyn (1906 - 1983) Welsh novelist best known for How Green was my Valley.


December 9

John Milton (1608 - 1674) English poet, best known for his epic Paradise Lost.

Sarah Wright (1928 - 2009)  African American writer and cofounder of Philadelphia Writers Workshop.


December 10 

Nelly Sachs (1891 - 1970)  1966 Nobel prize winner and German author.

Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)  American Poet.


December 11

Naguib Mahfouz  (1911 - 2006)  1988 Nobel prize winner and Egyptian novelist.




Cookish links:

27 favorite new cookbooks from Los Angeles Times 

Epicurious 2015 cookbook canon - 10 essential cookbooks 

and I guess it should come as no surprise that Goodreads Choice award for 2015 best cookbook goes to The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime. 


Bookish links:


Rainer Maria Rilke (author of Letters to a Young Poet) on the rewards of rereading.

Have no idea what to do with all those books?  Check out 35 things to do with them.

Enjoy reading only woman authors -- The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women.

Need something to do with your hands while listening to those audiobooks -- Try out a coloring book for adults.     And also check out Julie Beck's  article in The Atlantic -  Zen of Adult Coloring books.

And last but not least, 

Publisher Weekly compilation of  Best Books of 2015. 

The Guardian's Best Books of 2015.

Happy reading! 

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History of the Medieval World 

Chapter 69 Kings of England  

Chapter 70 Baptism of the Rus  

Chapter 71 The Holy Roman Emperor  

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BW48 - December dawdle and dabble

Courtesy Aiken House and Gardens

Our winter weather has finally arrived and it was a frosty thirty degrees this morning. Welcome to December - a time to dawdle and dabble.   I'm ready to curl up by a cozy fire with one of my fur babies and/or my hubby, and read. Our reading year has flown by far too quickly and I don't know about y'all, but I'm ready to just relax and read whatever suits my fancy this month from my teetering book stacks.    

Good thing that includes Henry James since he is our author flavor of the month.   I just happen to have Partial Portraits, an older 1970's version,  with his essays about the art of fiction as well as Emerson, Eliot and De Maupassant to name a few.  I read The Portrait of the Lady a few years back for a literature class, but never got around to reading any of his other stories, short stories or non fiction.  Now seems the perfect time.  

While we are dawdling this month, we can't forget this month heralds the arrival of Winter as well as Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, St Lucia Day, Boxing Day, and St Nicolas Day.  Plus  many other things to celebrate from the inspirational to the absurd like wear brown shoes day  to the silly like national Ding a Ling day to the optimistic with look on the bright side day.   

So go dawdle and dabble through your book stacks and enjoy! 

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History of the Medieval World

Chapter 66 -     Turn of the Wheel pp 498 - 503

Chapter 67 - Capture of Baghdad  pp 504 - 510

Chapter 68 -       Three Kingdoms   pp 511 - 517 

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BW47: Happy Thanksgiving

Courtesy of  Averie Cooks

The Pumpkin

BY

 JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

Oh, greenly and fair in the lands of the sun,

The vines of the gourd and the rich melon run,

And the rock and the tree and the cottage enfold,

With broad leaves all greenness and blossoms all gold,

Like that which o'er Nineveh's prophet once grew,

While he waited to know that his warning was true,

And longed for the storm-cloud, and listened in vain

For the rush of the whirlwind and red fire-rain.

On the banks of the Xenil the dark Spanish maiden

Comes up with the fruit of the tangled vine laden;

And the Creole of Cuba laughs out to behold

Through orange-leaves shining the broad spheres of gold;

Yet with dearer delight from his home in the North,

On the fields of his harvest the Yankee looks forth,

Where crook-necks are coiling and yellow fruit shines,

And the sun of September melts down on his vines.

Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,

From North and from South come the pilgrim and guest,

When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board

The old broken links of affection restored,

When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,

And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before,

What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?

What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

Oh, fruit loved of boyhood! the old days recalling,

When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!

When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,

Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

When we laughed round the corn-heap, with hearts all in tune,

Our chair a broad pumpkin,—our lantern the moon,

Telling tales of the fairy who travelled like steam,

In a pumpkin-shell coach, with two rats for her team!

Then thanks for thy present! none sweeter or better

E'er smoked from an oven or circled a platter!

Fairer hands never wrought at a pastry more fine,

Brighter eyes never watched o'er its baking, than thine!

And the prayer, which my mouth is too full to express,

Swells my heart that thy shadow may never be less,

That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below,

And the fame of thy worth like a pumpkin-vine grow,

And thy life be as sweet, and its last sunset sky

Golden-tinted and fair as thy own Pumpkin pie!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

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History of the Medieval World

Chapter 63: Basileus  pp 479 - 487

Chapter 64: Creation of Normandy  pp 488 - 491

Chapter 65:  The Kingdom of Germany   pp 492 - 497

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BW46: Armchair Traveling West of the Prime Meridian

Courtesy of World Atlas

I had an epiphany after last week's post, since we only have a few weeks left in the year. (oh my!) Started giving some thought to 2016 and had a grand idea. For our armchair travels, will split our bookish travels and the world up into four quarters: Traveling East and West of the Prime Meridian and North and South of the Equator. Which will give everyone a variety of ways to go. For example: East of the pm and north of the equator booking it across Europe and Asia or exploring the seas, South of the equator and following the ocean currents or hang out in South America, West of the pm and sail across the Atlantic to North America.  I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

This week we'll be doing a scouting trip West of the Prime Meridian. But let's not forget those countries intersected by the dividing line on the Continent of Africa as well as Europe.  You can dip down into Morocco with Edith Wharton's tales of her journey in 1917 

In Morocco

Before hopping on a steamer ship and traveling across the Atlantic with Simon Winchester.

Atlantic 

as well as Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea, which Moby Dick was based upon.  By the way, if you missed the 2012 MD readalong, you'll get another chance in 2016.  More on that later. 

Are you in the mind to explore North America with Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods

or dip down into South America with David Grann's Lost City of Z.

Put on your traveling shoes and join me West of the Prime Meridian.

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History of the Medieval World 

Chapter 60 - Great Army of the Vikings pp 458 - 465

Chapter 61 - Struggle for the Iron Crown pp 466 - 471 

Chapter 62 Kampaku  pp 472 - 478 

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BW45: Armchair traveling East of the Prime Meridian

Seoul Korea - Beautiful steps around the world
courtesy of Kevin Lowry

It's been a while since we've been around the world, armchair style, so thought I'd meander about and see what I could find.  We've traversed the continents, our backpacks filled mostly with fiction, although I remember seeing a few travel and historical books mixed in with our reads.  Time to delve a bit deeper and see what we can see.  This week we'll trek east of the Prime Meridian and start at the North Pole with Hampton Sides and his thriller chiller of a tale - In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette. 

Then drop down into Siberia with George Kennan's Tent Life in Siberia: An Incredible Account of Siberian Adventure, Travel, and Survival 

before exploring a bit of China with Peter Hessler's River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze.

I have a hankering to follow the Silk road across to the Mediterranean sea with Colin Thubron's Shadow of the Silk Road where I'll settle for a while on the Turquoise coast for a breather.

Join me in exploring East of the Prime Meridian.

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History of the Medieval World 

Chapter 58 Foreign and Domestic Relations pp 442 - 449

Chapter 59 The Second Caliphate pp 450 - 457

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BW44: Non fiction November

Welcome to Non Fiction November.  Are you ready for a month of reading diaries, dissertations and dramas as well as anecdotes, adventures and autobiographies. Our author flavors of the month are Truman Capote, Stacy Schiff and Bill Bryson.  Yes, a rather eclectic grouping and it just so happens that  I have those authors on my shelves. 

I'm actually not a huge fan of reading non fiction, except for writing books,  Which makes it all the more interesting that I'm now leading a flash non fiction writing class utilizing Dinty's Moore's Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Non Fiction.  I've stepped way outside my box and well as comfort zone with the writing exercises.  Which has lead to my wanting to read more non fiction.   

I've gathered quite a collection of world war history books as well as spy craft, thanks to my husband and son. Thanks to numerous recommendations, I now have Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra, Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, Susan Cain's Quiet as well as Erik Larson's Dead Wake and In the Garden of Beasts waiting in my stacks to be read.   We'll see how far I get. 

Also, thanks to the ladies on WTM, Stacia and Rose,  we have in the works for this month:  a comparison reading of Shakespeare's The Winter Tale along with Jeanette Winterson's modern retelling The Gap of Time. 

Join me in a game on Non Fiction Bingo, made especially for you all, and see how many bingo's you can complete, vertically, horizontally or diagonally.  And if you want to get really creative, try a T or an L or an E.   

Happy Reading! 

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History of the Medieval World 

Chapter 56:  The Vikings -- pp  427 - 436

Chapter 57:  Long Lived Kings -- pp 437 - 441 

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