“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by.” ~ Robert Frost
Sunday, December 25, 2022
BW52: 2022 Year End Wrap up
Saturday, December 17, 2022
BW51: December Solstice
Happy Sunday! The December solstice is upon us and it's time to celebrate. It's Winter in our neck of the woods and whilst we're preparing for Christmas and enjoying hot toddies by the fire, it's Summer in the Southern Hemisphere (those lucky dawgs), and folks are enjoying fruity rum drinks on the beach.
15 Books celebrating Christmas around the World
The Reason for the Season: 9 Books That Celebrate the Meaning of Christmas
RD's 35 Best Christmas Books to read around the holidays
Book Girl's Guide to 30 Best Christmas Books for Adults
For some reason, I've been in a winter mood all year long, indulging in reads set in frigid cold settings, characters braving the elements, all the while falling in love, finding killers, solving mysteries, or simply exploring.
I discovered a new to me series this year in Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series which is 22 books long but well worth reading. Once I started reading, couldn't stop. I can also recommend James Rollins Ice Hunt to Alistair Maclean's Ice Station Zebra to to Nalini Singh's Caressed by Ice to Hampton Side's non fiction tale of In the Kingdom of Ice, . They are all quite good.
Read a book With Snow, Ice or Frost on the Cover or in the Title
Read a Romance Book with Ice in the title.
Read a book with Winter in the title
Read about Eskimos, penguins, the Iditarod, or polar bears.
Tolstoy's Therapy 15 of the Best Books to read on cozy winter days.
Our letter and word of the week are B and Brrr!
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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.
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Sunday, December 11, 2022
BW50: 52 Books Bingo - Creativity
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| Courtesy of Marie Cardouat |
Happy Sunday! Our last 52 Books Bingo Category for the year is Creativity, my favorite subject. It's time to unleash your inner Creativity.
Creativity takes all shapes and forms from the physical to the intellectual, deliberately or spontaneously. Whether you have a creative mind or creative hands, there are a wide variety of ways to be creative and things highly creative people do differently. What is the difference between Artistic and Creative ability? And then there is Creative Leadership Lessons from Star Trek. What do you think?
15 Books About Creativity to Get You Out of a Creative Rut. One book I revisit over and over is The Artist Way by Julia Cameron which unlocked my imagination.
The 9 Books Every Artist Should Have on Their Shelf
Art and Fiction: 15 Brilliant Novels About Art and Artists
The Artist’s Library: 40 Must-Have Books for Music Producers
40 Best Books about Writing. So many good books including Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing, and Stephen King's On Writing. Lynn Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves which is hilariously good, as well as Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird.
The 25 Best Cookbooks Of 2022. I have a big collection of cookbooks but my favorite is still an old Good Housekeeping. However, I am fascinated with Moosehead Restaurant's variety of cookbooks.
There are so many ways to be creative and I've been diving down rabbit holes all afternoon. *Grin. However I don't want to overwhelm you with links so have fun diving down your own rabbit holes.
How do you nourish your creativity?
Our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the week are C and you guessed it, Creativity
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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.
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
BW49: Crime Spree Recommendations
Happy December! It's cold and rainy and we're tucked up, nice and cozy with books and family. The best place to be, whether it be physically or virtually. Thanks to Sandy and Amy we've had a grand year, going on a crime spree.
Let’s end the year with a feeling of festivity, joy, and a reminder that rich uncles frequently change their wills during the Holidays so be on your best behavior.
· Grandparents of Crime: The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
· Romantic Suspense: Holiday in Death by JD Robb
· Golden Age: Mystery in White by F. Jefferson Farjeon or Nine Tailers by Dorothy Sayers
· Classic Children’s Mysteries: I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
· Historical Mysteries: The Queen’s Christmas by Karen Harper (Tudor) or Silence in the Sanctuary by Deanna Rayburn (Victorian)
· Religious Characters: The Raven in the Forgate by Ellis Peters or Twelve Drummers Drumming by CC Bennison or Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman
· The Americans: And Four to Go by Rex Stout or The Finishing Stroke by Ellery Queen
· True Crime: The Meaning of Our Tears: the True Story of the Lawson Family Murders of Christmas Day 1929 by Trudy Smith
· Police Procedural: Water like a Stone by Deborah Crombie
· Around the World: Maigret’s Christmas by Georges Simenon or Voices by Arnaldur Indriưason
· Hanukkah: Festival of Deaths by Jane Haddam
Challenge: Give up your life of crime by recommending a
favorite mystery book to a BaW friend.
Our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the Week are D and Delight.
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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.
Sunday, November 27, 2022
BW48: Best Books of 2022
Happy Sunday! It's that time of year when we are all thinking about next year's reading plans and making our lists and all the best of the best 2022 book lists are popping up. According to the Chinese zodiac 2023 is going to be the Year of the Rabbit, which is great for me since we all know how much I get lost following rabbit trails and jumping down rabbit holes on the internet.
I'm resisting the urge to buy at the moment, adding books that sound interesting or intriguing to my wish list, and will revisit them later, rather than impulse buy. My kindle is full of books that I look at and wonder what was I thinking. But then again, I have a broad assortment to choose from, whatever my mood. I'll read them in the end, eventually. Let's explore:
Readers Digest Best Time Travel Books That Will Transport You to Another Time and Place and 30 Best Fantasy Books of All Times. Lots of rabbit holes to fall into with links to historical fiction, romance, young adults books, and more. Will be coming back to this one over and over again.
Bill Gates 5 of my all time favorite books. Mendeleyev's Dream is on my wishlist and I should probably consider rereading Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land since it keeps popping up for me. Synchronicity!
Powell's Best Fiction Books of 2022 - the staff's descriptions alone will make you want to read every book on the list.
Financial Times Best Fiction of 2022 - An eclectic list of fiction
NPR's massive list of Books We Love - You'll be dipping in and out of this one for days.
Time's 100 Must Read Books of 2022 - Great for the cover art alone.
BookPage Best Non Fiction Books of 2022 - A wide range of non fiction that are intriguing.
Our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the Week are E and Explore.
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Sunday, November 20, 2022
BW47: Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Sunday! Did you know today is absurdity day so do something silly. The 21st is World Hello day so go out and say hello to people. The 22nd is Go for a Ride day so explore. The 23rd is National Espresso day so fix yourself a fabulous cup. The 24th is Thanksgiving so eat lots of turkey. The 25th is either Black Friday or Buy nothing day so do or don’t, it’s up to you. Whispers – go buy lots of things. *wink* We are celebrating this week in our household too with my sister and brother in law’s 44th anniversary, hubby’s brother’s 67th birthday, my 63rd birthday, plus Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for.
A Song for Merry Harvest
By
Eliza Cook
Bring forth the harp, and let us sweep its fullest, loudest string.
The bee below, the bird above, are teaching us to sing
A song for merry harvest; and the one who will not bear
His grateful part partakes a boon he ill deserves to share.
The grasshopper is pouring forth his quick and trembling notes;
The laughter of the gleaner’s child, the heart’s own music floats.
Up! up! I say, a roundelay from every voice that lives
Should welcome merry harvest, and bless the God that gives.
The buoyant soul that loves the bowl may see the dark grapes shine,
And gems of melting ruby deck the ringlets of the vine;
Who prizes more the foaming ale may gaze upon the plain,
And feast his eye with yellow hops and sheets of bearded grain;
The kindly one whose bosom aches to see a dog unfed
May bend the knee in thanks to see the ample promised bread.
Awake, then, all! ’tis Nature’s call, and every voice that lives
Shall welcome merry harvest, and bless the God that gives.
Happy Thanksgiving!
A to Z and Back Again Letter and Word of the Week are F and Foresight.
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Thursday, November 17, 2022
Please join us for our 15th annual Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks reading adventure
Join us for our 15th annual Read 52 books in 52 weeks reading adventure.
The goal is easy - Read 52 Books. We don't any set reading lists so how you get there is up to you. However, we do have a variety of challenges including weekly, monthly mini challenges, annual and perpetual challenges to entice your reading taste buds If you aren't up to 52 but want to join in, you can set your own goal.
2023 52 Books Bingo - 25 new categories which will take us on a exploration around the world.
2023 Bookish Bookology - Our author of the month in which you can read one or more books by the author, or spell out their first or last name.
2023 A to Z and Back Again - All the way from A to Z and back again as we play with words.
Participate in one or more of our perpetual challenges:
Agatha Christie -- Read her books in chronological order as listed, group by detective or collection, or randomly if you choose. Read at least three per year.
Brit Tripping --- A year long mystery read traveling the Roman Roads through England reading reading a book from each of the 45 counties with a few extra trips to London.
Mind Voyages - A science fiction / fantasy challenge through the decades, exploring the Hugo and Nebula winners and nominees, Philip K. Dick, and Robert Heinlein.
Well Educated Mind -- Continue to explore the classics in 6 categories: Fiction, Autobiography, History/Politics, Drama, Poetry and Science.
Plus Dusty and Chunky, Feed Your Muse, Inspiration, Nobel Prize Winners and Sounds of Silence.
There is a little bit of something for everyone. Follow your muse and read widely or wildly, follow rabbit trails, read outside your comfort zone or stick with the tried and true. Choose whatever path is right for you.
The mini and perpetual challenges are all optional, Mix them up anyway you like and follow your own path in the quest to read.
- The challenge runs January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023
- Our book weeks begin on Sunday.
- Participants may join at any time.
- All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc.
- Re-reads are acceptable as long as they are read after January 1, 2023
- Books may overlap other challenges.
- Create an entry post linking to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks and sign up in the link below.
- If you don't have a blog or social media account, post about your reads in the comments section of each weekly post.
- The link widget will be added to the bottom of each weekly post to link to your book reviews, and closes at the end of each book week.
Sunday, November 13, 2022
BW46: A bit of this, a bit of that!
Happy Sunday! I'm leaping down rabbit holes today on the internet, exploring this, that, and the other. Kind of like my sleep lately. Ever since the time change, I've been waking up around 4, unable to get back to sleep for a while. Ideas bounce through my head for the story I'm working on as well as book ideas and book bingo, too tired to write them down and hope I'll remember them in the morning. Some ideas remain when I wake, others are still floating around in my mind, on the tip of my tongue but not quite there. Oh well. What was I saying. Oh yes. *grin* I've been exploring, letting my fingers do the walking through the web. A sample of today's finds. Enjoy!
Where to Start with Nora Ephron
Entangled Publishing Launches Red Tower Books, Focused on Romantic SFF
On writing a New Take on the Thin Man, set in Space
Hungarian Speculative Fiction: Forceful, Vicious, Viscous
Murder in the Moors: Crime Fiction Books Set in the English Moors
True Life: I was a Dragon Book Kid
25 Best Steampunk Books (2022)
Our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the week are G and Grateful.
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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.
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Sunday, November 6, 2022
BW45: 52 Books Bingo - Different Culture
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| Courtesy of Smarter Travel |
Happy Sunday. Our next 52 Books Bingo category is a Different Culture which links up quite well with our Crime Spree Around the world for this month.
Why Diverse Books Matter: Mirrors and Windows
20 Fascinating Cultural Traditions Around the World
What Colors Mean in Other Cultures
Experience New Things with These 21 Books About Cultures That May Not Be Your Own
10 Cross-Cultural Novels that Illuminate the World We Live In
27 Books About Different Cultures & Faraway Places: Travel Writers’ Recommendations
RD's best books by Native American, Black, Hispanic, and Asian Authors.
GQ's Best Modern Middle Eastern Literature to read right now.
Europa Editions World Noir: International Mysteries and Crime Fiction.
12 classic European novels to add to your reading list
Our A to Z and Back Again Letter and Word of the Week are H and Hubris.
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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.
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Sunday, October 30, 2022
BW44: November Crime Spree - Around the World
Happy Sunday, dear hearts. November is upon us and our newest crime spree category brought to us by Sandy and Amy is all about translated books.
Crime isn’t limited to the US (or England for us Anglophiles). Some of the most interesting, translated works are mysteries from the Around the World, including the tortured protagonists and bleak settings of Scandinavia to the creepiness of Japanese mysteries to the sunshine noir of African authors.
Places to explore:
· Africa: The Missing American by Kwei Quartey
· Nordic: Jussi Alder-Olsen and Arnaldur Indriưason
· Japan: Seishi Yokomizo’s Detective Kosuke Kindaichi series and The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
· Australia: Jane Harper
· Spanish: Carlos Ruiz Zafron
Challenge: Dust off your forged passport and get on
Interpol’s most wanted list by reading a translated mystery.
Sunday, October 23, 2022
BW43: 52 Books Bingo - Myths, Monsters, and Imagination
Happy Sunday! We are continuing our October Spooktacular with the next 52 books category - Myths, Monsters, and Imagination.
Monsters in Entertainment: Obsession or Projection?
Eight creepiest mythical creatures from around the world
Terrifying monsters in literature
Samhain Reading List: 13 Frightening Works of Fiction for Celebrating Halloween’s Celtic Roots
Caspar Henderson: rereading The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges
"The Book of Imaginary Beings tosses stone after stone into the subterranean caverns of the reader's mind. It takes us along passageways and turns corners to reveal strange shapes and images, some of which may precede and outlast anything conceived by man. If we are attentive, the reverberations can help us trace the dimensions of those spaces. We glimpse chinks of light and are then engulfed in sudden dazzling floods of it." Casper Henderson, The Guardian.
Getty's An Introduction to the Bestiary, Book of Beasts in the Medieval World
Let's not forget my son's favorite - Godzilla and all the monsters he's fought over the years from Mothra to King Kong. Toho's Kingdom of the Monsterverse and all things Godzilla.
And our A to Z and Back Again letter and word of the week are J and Juggernaut.
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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.
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Sunday, October 16, 2022
BW42: Noah Webster
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| Noah Webster: Portrait by James Herring, 1833 |











