BW38: John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress

The 2nd novel in Susan Wise Bauer's Well Educated Mind list of fiction reads is the allegory  The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. He wrote the story in two parts:  the first published in 1678 and the second in 1684.  It was finally combined into one volume in 1728.   The first part is about a man named Christian who carries a heavy burden and in order to rid himself of that burden, decides to travel to the celestial city.  His journey takes him through valley of the shadow of death, vanity fair, the slough of despond and delectable mountain.  The 2nd part is about his wife and children who follow his path a few years later.  

Beginnning: 

"As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where was a den; and I laid me down in that place to sleep: and as I slept I dreamed a dream.  I dreamed, and behold I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back.  I looked, and saw him open the book, and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled: and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry; saying, 'What shall I do?'

In this plight, therefore, he went home, and restrained himself as long as he could, that his wife and children should not perceive his distress; but he could not be silent long, because that his trouble increased. Wherefore at length he brake his mind to his wife and children; and thus he began to talk to them: "O, my dear wife," said he, "and you the children of my bowels, I, your dear friend, am in myself undone by reason of a burden that lieth hard upon me; moreover, I am certainly informed that this our city will be burnt with fire from heaven; in which fearful overthrow, both myself, with thee my wife, and you my sweet babes, shall miserably come to ruin, except (the which yet I see not) some way of escape can be found whereby we may be delivered." 

At this his relations were sore amazed; not for that they believed that what he had said to them was true, but because they thought that some frenzy distemper had got into his head; therefore, it drawing towards night, and they hoping that sleep might settle his brains, with all haste they got him to bed. But the night was as troublesome to him as the day; wherefore, instead of sleeping, he spent it in sighs and tears. So when the morning was come, they would know how he did. He told them, "Worse and worse:" he also set to talking to them again; but they began to be hardened. They also thought to drive away his distemper by harsh and surly carriage to him; sometimes they would deride, sometimes they would chide, and sometimes they would quite neglect him. Wherefore he began to retire himself to his chamber to pray for and pity them, and also to condole his own misery; he would also walk solitarily in the fields, sometimes reading, and sometimes praying: and thus for some days he spent his time."

The story is available online in numerous places including here as well as in audiobook form.  My challenge to you is to read The Pilgrim's Progress at least once at some point in your life.  I'm not quite ready to pose a readalong because it is just one of those books that you have to read when it is the right time.  It's one of those books I have to digest a few pages at a time, otherwise my brain will explode.  LOL!

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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. If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.

BW 37:Harper Collins launches new Imprint - Bourbon Street Books

Harper Collins has launched a new imprint called Bourbon Street Books. The imprint will be featuring originals, reprints and reissued classic mysteries, crime novels and thrillers with authors such as Lynda La Plante, Oliver Harris and and oldie but a goodie, Dorothy Sayers.    Yes, they will be releasing reprints of  Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey with Harriet Vane series--Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Busman's Honeymoon, and Gaudy Night.   The first two new books in the line to be released and available October 23rd are two British crime fiction novels: 

The Hollow Man

 Synopsis:  Waking up on Hampstead Heath not far from a crashed squad car, Detective Nick Belsey wants out—out of London and out of the endless complications of his life. When Alexei Devereux, a wealthy hermit, vanishes, leaving behind a suicide note and his Porsche, Belsey discovers an opportunity—a new identity and a fortune—waiting for the taking.Unfortunately, there are others who share the detective's interest in Devereux, including Scotland Yard. A dead rich man with suspicious financial holdings is bound to have some dangerous ties and a few ruthless enemies. Now, Belsey and his clever plan are about to be overshadowed by far more ambitious players with their own brilliant—and deadly—scheme.  Combining dark humor, dazzling twists, and a sharp narrative style, The Hollow Man is a tour de force of suspense—and the debut of an extraordinary new writer.

Blood Line

La Plante's latest Anna Travis novel:  Under the watchful eye of DCS James Langton, DCI Anna Travis takes charge of an investigation for the first time. But is it purely a missing person's case - or a full blown murder enquiry? An ominous pool of blood and no victim lead Anna on a desperate hunt for a man who has disappeared without trace. As Anna becomes obsessed with seemingly irrelevant details, Langton fears that she is losing control. They still have no body and Anna is under increasing pressure to make an arrest...

Follow their new facebook page for more information.

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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. If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.

BW36: Back to school

It's that time of year and have been immersed in curriculum choices and planning 7th grade for my kiddo. We are doing Middle Ages to the Renaissance this year and  I had the eyes are bigger than the stomach syndrome but have managed to narrow down my choices.  I discovered K12 wonderful history book Human Odyssey and so enjoyed reading it decided to use it as the main spine.  Already ordered #2 as well.  While we're studying it, I'll be reading Susan Wise Bauer's History of the the Medieval World.

Although I should probably finish reading History of the Ancient World first.  Plan on taking a fictional tour around the middle ages with The Door in the Wall,  The Trumpeter of Krakow, Adam of the Road,  Robin Hood and 1001 Arabian Nights and King Arthur and his Knights as well as throw in a bit of Shakespeare. Should prove to be an interesting year.

What is your favorite historical period to learn about?

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September is 

Adult Literacy Awareness Month

American Newspaper Month

Be Kind to Editors & Writers Month

Children's Books Month

Library Card Sign-Up Month

National Humor in Business Month

National Literacy Month

National School Success Month

National Shameless Promotions Month

Read-A-New-Book Month

Self-Improvement Month 

 

 

Aren't you glad to be a reader?

 

 

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BW 35: Something Wicked This Way Comes

If a book is adapted to film, do you usually watch the movie first, then read the book or visa versa?  Back in the 80's when Disney released Something Wicked This Way Comes I just had to see it.  I remember seeing the previews and being intrigued enough to want to see it.  Needless to say when we saw the movie, I was scared out of my skin.   

At that time it never occurred to me to read the book. It wasn't until a year or so ago, I finally picked up the book and read it, thoroughly enjoyed it.   Nowadays, I'd rather read the book first, then go see the movie. So much more fun that way and gives you plenty to discuss afterwards.  Of course, there are some books that I have loved, but have no desire to see the movie.  A, because it's totally been changed from the original or b, my overactive imagination just can't handle the visual aspect of the story.  

Although I may read scary, creepy, chilling books; watching them is an whole different ball of wax.  Remember covering your eyes at the scary bits, peeking through your fingers. That's me, even now.  My son seems to have the same sensitivity.   Nowadays when he expresses an interest in seeing a movie and I know its based on a book, we read the story first.  He's the inquisitive type, doesn't like surprises and needs to know what's going to happen.  Reading the book first saves me from explaining everything during the movie. 

And my friends wonder why I prefer waiting until movies come out in DVD. *grin*  At least then you can pause the movie, answer the questions, then move on.

Without further ado:

Synopsis: "For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin.The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, uhering in Halloween a week early. The shrill siren song of a calliope beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. And two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes. . .and the stuff of nightmare"

Excerpt Chapter 10

"Just after midnight.  

Shuffling footsteps.

Along the empty street came the lightning-rod salesman, his leather valise swung almost empty in his baseball-mitt hand, his face at ease.  He turned a corner and stopped.  

Paper-soft white moths tapped at an empty store window, looking in. 

And in the window, like a great coffin boat of star-colored glass, beached on two sawhorses lay a chunk of Alaska Snow Company ice chopped to a size great enough to flash in a giant's ring. 

And sealed in this ice was the most beautiful woman in the world.

  

The lightning-rod salesman's smile faded.

In the dreaming coldness of ice like someone fallen and slept in snow avalanches a thousand years, forever young, was this woman. 

She was as fair as this morning and fresh as tomorrow's flowers and lovely as any maid when a man shuts his eyes and traps her, in cameo perfection, on the shell of his eyelids.

The lightning-rod salesman remembered to breath.  

Once, long ago, traveling among the marbles of Rome and Florence, he had seen women like this, kept in stone instead of ice.  Once, wandering in the Louvre, he had found women like this, washing in summer color and kept in paint.  Once, as a boy, sneaking the cool grottos behind a motion picture theater screen, on his way to a free seat, he had glanced up and there towering and flooding the haunted dark seen a woman's face as he had never seen it since, of such size and beauty built of milk-bone and moon-flesh as to freeze him there alone behind the stage, shadowed by the motion of her lips, the bird-wing flicker of her eyes, the snow-pale-death shimmering illumination from her cheeks.

So from other years there jumped forth images which flowed and found new substance here within the ice.  

What color was her hair? It was blond to whiteness and might take any color, once set free of cold.  

How tall was she?  

The prism of the ice might well multiply her size or diminish her as you moved this way or that before the empty store, the window, the night-soft rap-tapping ever-fingering gently probing moths.

Not important.

Far above all--the lightning-rod salesman shivered--he knew the most extraordinary thing. 

If by some miracle her eyelids should open with that sapphire and she should look at him, he knew what color her eyes would be.  

He knew what color her eyes would be.

If one were to enter this lonely night shop--

If one were to put forth one's hand, the warmth of that hand would...what?"

Melt the ice.

The lightning-rod salesman stood there for a long moment, his eyes quickened shut.  

He let his breath out.  

It was warm as summer on his teeth.

His hand touched the shop door.  It swung open.  Cold arctic are blew out around him. He stepped in.

The door shut.

The white snowflake moths tapped at the window."

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BW34: Author Birthdays and Linky Love

We have a few interesting authors sharing the same birthdays this week so leaving you with some linky love. Check them out, perhaps put one of their books on your Want To Read It List or read one of their stories in honor of their birthdays. 

August 19  Gene Roddenberry
August 19   Mary Doria Russell
 

August 20  H.P. Lovecraft 

August 20  Greg Bear 

August 21  Anthony Boucher

August 21  Sabrina Jeffries

August 22  Ray Bradbury 

 

August 23  Nelson De Mille 

August 24  Orson Scott Card

August 24  Jorge Luis Borges  

August 25  Patrick McManus  

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BW 33: Hugo Gernsback

 

Happy Birthday Hugo Gernsback!

Who is Hugo Gernsback and why are the Hugo Science Fiction / Fantasy Awards named after him?  

Hugo Gernsbacher, born August 16, 1884 in Luxembourg immigrated to the United States in 1904 to New York.  Hugo was fascinated by electricity and invented a dry battery which he patented upon arriving in the United States.   He established a radio and electrical supply house called Electro Importing Company and developed a small portable radio transmitter called the Telimco Wireless Telegraph.    He went on to patent 80 inventions. 

Gernsback  published a magazine for electrical experimenters called Modern Electronics which was later taken over by Popular Science.   To fill up some empty space in the magazine, he decided to write a futuristic story which ran in 12 installments.

That story was later published in 1926 as a novel called "Ralph 124C 41+"  which was set in the 27th century and is still available today.  He started a number of magazines including the first magazine dedicated exclusively to science fiction called  "Amazing Stories." the magazine of scientifiction in 1926.

First Issue April 1926

Hugo coined the term scientifiction which later went on to be known as Science Fiction.  Thanks to the beauty of the internet I found an original pdf of an article of Gernback's called Plausibility in Scientifiction on Mumpsimus (thank you, Matthew)

 

click on link to read "Plausability in Scientifiction" 

Gernsback unfortunately went bankrupt and lost control of Amazing Stories. He quickly bounced back and went on to publish three more magazines:  Air Wonder Stories, Science Wonder Stories and Science Wonder Quarterly.

Air Wonder and Science Wonder were merged into one magazine Wonder stories in 1930 and sold it in 1936 to Beacon Publications where it continued to be published for 20 more years. 

Gernsback is lauded as the father of science fiction.  The first annual Science Fiction Achievement awards was awarded back in 1953 with retro awards handed out for the years 1946 in 1996, retro award 1951 given in 2001 and 1954 retro award presented in 2006.  The award were unofficially called the "Hugo's" until the name was officially changed and use beginning in 1993.    In 1960 he was given a special Hugo Award as "The Father of Magazine Science Fiction."  The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 and Hugo Gernsback was one of the first inductees along with Jack Campbell (1908-2006), A.E. van Vogt's (1912-2000) and John W. Campbell Jr. (1910-1971)

Hugo Gernsback died in New York on August 19, 1967 at the age 83.    

If you want to know more about Hugo Gernsback, his electronic accomplishments, all about his magazines and his life, you find everything you want to know here and  here.

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BW32: Difficult books

Ulysses Sepia by 96dpi

A few Christmases ago, my husband decided he was going to buy me the largest possible book he could find, the one with the most words.  I ended up with War and Peace (1440 pages) and an independently published book called Walls of Phantoms (1320 pages)   I enjoyed the first and for my husband I slogged through the latter.  The links are to my reviews.   So I was quite amused and relieved when did a search today and discovered he could have gotten me Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (7 volumes at 4211 pages), Madison Cooper's Sironia, Texas (2 Volumes at 1731 pages) or Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdom's (4 Volumes at 2342 pages).  I think I got off lightly.  

While perusing the interwebz, I stumbled across The Millions Difficult Books series which they started in 2009 and for 2012 have put together a list of the top ten they consider the most difficult of the difficult.
Check out the link for their reasoning. 

The Faerie Queen

To The Lighthouse

A Tale of a Tub

Phenomenology of Spirit

The Making of Americans

Nightwood

Clarissa

Being and Time

Finnegan's Wake

Women and Men

The only book on this particular list I've read is To The Lighthouse and while stream of consciousness writing is not easy to read, can't say it was the most difficult book I have ever read.  Would have to say Nausea by Jean Paul Sartre which, like it's title, was simply nauseating.

Have you read any of these books?  What is the one book you would consider the most difficult so far to read?

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BW 31: Miguel de Cervantes 'Don Quixote'

The first novel  in Susan Wise Bauer's list of fiction reads from her book The Well-Educated Mind is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.  It wasn't what I expected and found it interesting, intriguing, humorous and sad. The main character Alonso Quijano, after reading a few too many books about chivalric exploits, decides to go on a knight's quest,  declares a certain lady as his lady love, though she knows nothing about him, recruits a squire and sets off on a journey.  The problem is, he's quite mad.   I'll leave you with the first chapter as an enticement if you haven't read it yet. 

Don Quixote

CHAPTER 1:  WHICH TREATS OF THE CHARACTER AND PURSUITS OF THE FAMOUS GENTLEMAN DON QUIXOTE OF LA MANCHA

In a village of La Mancha, the name of which I have no desire to call to mind, there lived not long since one of those gentlemen that keep a lance in the lance-rack, an old buckler, a lean hack, and a greyhound for coursing. An olla of rather more beef than mutton, a salad on most nights, scraps on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays, and a pigeon or so extra on Sundays, made away with three-quarters of his income. The rest of it went in a doublet of fine cloth and velvet breeches and shoes to match for holidays, while on week-days he made a brave figure in his best homespun. He had in his house a housekeeper past forty, a niece under twenty, and a lad for the field and market-place, who used to saddle the hack as well as handle the bill-hook. 

The age of this gentleman of ours was bordering on fifty; he was of a hardy habit, spare, gaunt-featured, a very early riser and a great sportsman. They will have it his surname was Quixada or Quesada (for here there is some difference of opinion among the authors who write on the subject), although from reasonable conjectures it seems plain that he was called Quexana. This, however, is of but little importance to our tale; it will be enough not to stray a hair's breadth from the truth in the telling of it.

You must know, then, that the above-named gentleman whenever he was at leisure (which was mostly all the year round) gave himself up to reading books of chivalry with such ardour and avidity that he almost entirely neglected the pursuit of his field-sports, and even the management of his property; and to such a pitch did his eagerness and infatuation go that he sold many an acre of tillageland to buy books of chivalry to read, and brought home as many of them as he could get. 

But of all there were none he liked so well as those of the famous Feliciano de Silva's composition, for their lucidity of style and complicated conceits were as pearls in his sight, particularly when in his reading he came upon courtships and cartels, where he often found passages like "the reason of the unreason with which my reason is afflicted so weakens my reason that with reason I murmur at your beauty;" or again, "the high heavens, that of your divinity divinely fortify you with the stars, render you deserving of the desert your greatness deserves." 

Over conceits of this sort the poor gentleman lost his wits, and used to lie awake striving to understand them and worm the meaning out of them; what Aristotle himself could not have made out or extracted had he come to life again for that special purpose. He was not at all easy about the wounds which Don Belianis gave and took, because it seemed to him that, great as were the surgeons who had cured him, he must have had his face and body covered all over with seams and scars. He commended, however, the author's way of ending his book with the promise of that interminable adventure, and many a time was he tempted to take up his pen and finish it properly as is there proposed, which no doubt he would have done, and made a successful piece of work of it too, had not greater and more absorbing thoughts prevented him.

Many an argument did he have with the curate of his village (a learned man, and a graduate of Siguenza) as to which had been the better knight, Palmerin of England or Amadis of Gaul. Master Nicholas, the village barber, however, used to say that neither of them came up to the Knight of Phoebus, and that if there was any that could compare with him it was Don Galaor, the brother of Amadis of Gaul, because he had a spirit that was equal to every occasion, and was no finikin knight, nor lachrymose like his brother, while in the matter of valour he was not a whit behind him. In short, he became so absorbed in his books that he spent his nights from sunset to sunrise, and his days from dawn to dark, poring over them; and what with little sleep and much reading his brains got so dry that he lost his wits. 

His fancy grew full of what he used to read about in his books, enchantments, quarrels, battles, challenges, wounds, wooings, loves, agonies, and all sorts of impossible nonsense; and it so possessed his mind that the whole fabric of invention and fancy he read of was true, that to him no history in the world had more reality in it. He used to say the Cid Ruy Diaz was a very good knight, but that he was not to be compared with the Knight of the Burning Sword who with one back-stroke cut in half two fierce and monstrous giants. 

He thought more of Bernardo del Carpio because at Roncesvalles he slew Roland in spite of enchantments, availing himself of the artifice of Hercules when he strangled Antaeus the son of Terra in his arms. He approved highly of the giant Morgante, because, although of the giant breed which is always arrogant and ill-conditioned, he alone was affable and well-bred. But above all he admired Reinaldos of Montalban, especially when he saw him sallying forth from his castle and robbing everyone he met, and when beyond the seas he stole that image of Mahomet which, as his history says, was entirely of gold. To have a bout of kicking at that traitor of a Ganelon he would have given his housekeeper, and his niece into the bargain.

In short, his wits being quite gone, he hit upon the strangest notion that ever madman in this world hit upon, and that was that he fancied it was right and requisite, as well for the support of his own honour as for the service of his country, that he should make a knight-errant of himself, roaming the world over in full armour and on horseback in quest of adventures, and putting in practice himself all that he had read of as being the usual practices of knights-errant; righting every kind of wrong, and exposing himself to peril and danger from which, in the issue, he was to reap eternal renown and fame. Already the poor man saw himself crowned by the might of his arm Emperor of Trebizond at least; and so, led away by the intense enjoyment he found in these pleasant fancies, he set himself forthwith to put his scheme into execution.

The first thing he did was to clean up some armour that had belonged to his great-grandfather, and had been for ages lying forgotten in a corner eaten with rust and covered with mildew. He scoured and polished it as best he could, but he perceived one great defect in it, that it had no closed helmet, nothing but a simple morion. This deficiency, however, his ingenuity supplied, for he contrived a kind of half-helmet of pasteboard which, fitted on to the morion, looked like a whole one. 

It is true that, in order to see if it was strong and fit to stand a cut, he drew his sword and gave it a couple of slashes, the first of which undid in an instant what had taken him a week to do. The ease with which he had knocked it to pieces disconcerted him somewhat, and to guard against that danger he set to work again, fixing bars of iron on the inside until he was satisfied with its strength; and then, not caring to try any more experiments with it, he passed it and adopted it as a helmet of the most perfect construction.

He next proceeded to inspect his hack, which, with more quartos than a real and more blemishes than the steed of Gonela, that "tantum pellis et ossa fuit," surpassed in his eyes the Bucephalus of Alexander or the Babieca of the Cid. Four days were spent in thinking what name to give him, because (as he said to himself) it was not right that a horse belonging to a knight so famous, and one with such merits of his own, should be without some distinctive name, and he strove to adapt it so as to indicate what he had been before belonging to a knight-errant, and what he then was; for it was only reasonable that, his master taking a new character, he should take a new name, and that it should be a distinguished and full-sounding one, befitting the new order and calling he was about to follow. And so, after having composed, struck out, rejected, added to, unmade, and remade a multitude of names out of his memory and fancy, he decided upon calling him Rocinante, a name, to his thinking, lofty, sonorous, and significant of his condition as a hack before he became what he now was, the first and foremost of all the hacks in the world.

Having got a name for his horse so much to his taste, he was anxious to get one for himself, and he was eight days more pondering over this point, till at last he made up his mind to call himself "Don Quixote," whence, as has been already said, the authors of this veracious history have inferred that his name must have been beyond a doubt Quixada, and not Quesada as others would have it. Recollecting, however, that the valiant Amadis was not content to call himself curtly Amadis and nothing more, but added the name of his kingdom and country to make it famous, and called himself Amadis of Gaul, he, like a good knight, resolved to add on the name of his, and to style himself Don Quixote of La Mancha, whereby, he considered, he described accurately his origin and country, and did honour to it in taking his surname from it.

So then, his armour being furbished, his morion turned into a helmet, his hack christened, and he himself confirmed, he came to the conclusion that nothing more was needed now but to look out for a lady to be in love with; for a knight-errant without love was like a tree without leaves or fruit, or a body without a soul. As he said to himself, "If, for my sins, or by my good fortune, I come across some giant hereabouts, a common occurrence with knights-errant, and overthrow him in one onslaught, or cleave him asunder to the waist, or, in short, vanquish and subdue him, will it not be well to have some one I may send him to as a present, that he may come in and fall on his knees before my sweet lady, and in a humble, submissive voice say, 'I am the giant Caraculiambro, lord of the island of Malindrania, vanquished in single combat by the never sufficiently extolled knight Don Quixote of La Mancha, who has commanded me to present myself before your Grace, that your Highness dispose of me at your pleasure'?" 

Oh, how our good gentleman enjoyed the delivery of this speech, especially when he had thought of some one to call his Lady! There was, so the story goes, in a village near his own a very good-looking farm-girl with whom he had been at one time in love, though, so far as is known, she never knew it nor gave a thought to the matter. Her name was Aldonza Lorenzo, and upon her he thought fit to confer the title of Lady of his Thoughts; and after some search for a name which should not be out of harmony with her own, and should suggest and indicate that of a princess and great lady, he decided upon calling her Dulcinea del Toboso—she being of El Toboso—a name, to his mind, musical, uncommon, and significant, like all those he had already bestowed upon himself and the things belonging to him.


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BW30: 2012 Christy Award winners

The Christy Awards, named in honor of Catherine Marshall's most famous novel Christy, are given for excellence in Christian fiction:

The Christy Award is designed to:

• Nurture and encourage creativity and quality in the writing and publishing of fiction written from a Christian worldview.
• Bring a new awareness of the breadth and depth of fiction choices available, helping to broaden the readership.
• Provide opportunity to recognize novelists whose work may not have reached bestseller status.

The 2012 Winners were just announced and they are:

Contemporary Romance:  Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig
(Finalists included My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren and Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate)

Wolfsbane

 Contemporary Series: The Amish Midwife by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould
(Finalists included Dancing on Glass by Pamela Binnings Ewen and The Touch by Randall Wallace)

The Amish Midwife

Contemporary Standalone:  Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock
(Finalists included Dry as Rain by Gina Holmes and Words by Ginny Yttrup)

Promises to Keep

First Novel:  Words by Ginny Yttrup
(Finalists included An Eye for Glory by Karl Bacon and Southern Fried Sushi by Jennifer Rogers Spinola)

Words

Historical:  Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin
(Finalists included Forsaking All Others by Allison Pittman and Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs)

Wonderland Creek

Historical Romance: The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen
(Finalists included A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander and To Die For by Sandra Byrd)

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall

Suspense:  The Queen by Steven James
(Finalists included Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins and Pattern of Wounds by Mark Bertrand)

The Queen

  
Visionary:  Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
(Finalists included The Chair by James L. Rubart and Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee)

Veiled Rose

Young Adult:  Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren
(Finalists included How Huge the Night by Heather Munn and Lydia Munn and The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson)

Waterfall

Yes, more books to add to your wishlist. *grin*  I'm looking forward to reading some of the winners books,  especially Steven James, and a few of the nominees.  The links all lead to the authors websites.

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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. If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.

BW29: Tolstoy and the Purple Chair

I'm not a big non fiction reader except for maybe books about writing.  However when I heard about Nina Sankovitch's Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, I was intrigued.  The title captured my attention first, then the background. 

Synopsis:  "Caught up in grief after the death of her sister, Nina Sankovitch decided to stop running and start reading.  For once in her life she would put all other obligations on hold and devote herself to reading a book a day: one year of magical reading in which she found joy, healing, and wisdom.

With grace and deep insight, Sankovitch weavers together poignant family memories with the unforgettable lives of the characters she reads about. She finds a lesson in each book, ultimately realizing the ability of a good story to console, inspire, and open our lives to new places and experiences.  A moving story of recovery, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is also a resonant reminder of the all encompassing power and delight of reading."

Sankovitch documented her year of reading at Readallday.org where she reviewed all the books.  Her reading was rather eclectic and I already lost an hour perusing through her thoughts on some of the books.  My wishlist is going to grow by leaps and bounds.  But first, I need to read the book.  It just came out in paperback on June 19th, and I have the wonderful folks at Harper Perennial to thank for providing me with a copy.  Will let you know what I think when done.   And no it isn't going to prompt a read a book a day project.  I may be a fast reader, but not that fast. 

Check out Nina's blog and find her on Facebook here.

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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. If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.

BW28: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

 Back in 2009 I was presented with the opportunity to read and review Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Angel's Game. It was the prequel to The Shadow of the Wind which I hadn't read yet, but decided to take the chance because it sounded very intriguing and it was. Intriguing, interesting dark, full of mysterious and supernatural happenings, obsession and murder.  Check out my review here.

Amazon: Zafon's narrator/hero is David Martin, an orphan brought up in true Dickensian squalor. After years of struggle, he achieves success writing a popular series of "penny dreadfuls" called City of the Damned. In time, his work comes to the attention of Andreas Corelli, a Parisian publisher with a truly Faustian proposition. Corelli offers David 100,00 francs if he will use his narrative gifts to create a viable new religion.

The extraordinary tale that follows is many things at once: mystery, love story, supernatural thriller, historical drama, gothic romance, and meditation on the primal importance of stories, of narrative itself. As the author reminds us throughout this novel, books have souls, and reflect the souls of both their readers and their writers.

After reading Angel's Game, just had to read Carlos Ruiz Zafon's bestseller "The Shadow of the Wind."  Also dark, but rich in detail and interesting characters.

 Amazon:  Barcelona, 1945—just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. 

To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.

Which bring me to the release of The Prisoner of Heaven on tuesday, July 10th, the 3rd book in the series which takes us back to Barcelona and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.  

Synopsis:  Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julián, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city’s dark past. His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s and the early days of Franco’s dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love and ultimately transform their lives.

Happy to say I have been given the opportunity to review the book, unhappy to say there was a delay in shipping the book from the publisher so haven't gotten to read it yet. *pout*  So now I wait with baited breath and very tempted to go back and reread both books since it has been a couple years before I read and review The Prisoner of Heaven.  In the meantime, check out the excerpt on Carlos Ruis Zafon website. 

How often do you reread books in a series when a new book comes out? 

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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. If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.