Literary Exploration Society to Expand Reading (Formerly 52 Books)

Sunday, October 17, 2021

BW42: 52 Books Bingo - Dystopian and Utopian

Dystopian novels are on my mind today. Particularly since my son recently read Ready Player Two and has been waiting for me to read it. We've both watched and read Ready Player One and thoroughly enjoyed them. So on to the second novel which fits in perfectly with our next two 52 Books Bingo categories -Dystopian and Utopian There are books set in a perfect Utopian world which may or may not be a good thing, The imaginary perfect world which can easily slide into the imperfect Dystopian world. So, one of your missions for our October Spooktacular is to read a dystopian or utopia story.

100 Great Works OF Dystopian Fiction: Tales about a world gone wrong

Best Dystopian Science Fiction Books

Kazuo Ishiguro: A Dystopian Book in Dystopian Times

10 Strangest Sci-Fi Dystopias

8 Vital Utopian Novels That Envision a Perfect World: Imagine all the people, living life in peace...

19 Best Utopian Science Fiction Books

Have fun following rabbit trails!

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Count of Monte Cristo - 17 chapters left

Chapter 100. The Apparition
Chapter 101. Locusta
Chapter 102. Valentine

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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.

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Sunday, October 10, 2021

BW41: Fictional Librarian - Hanna Casey

Happy Sunday! It's time to jump back on board our airship, the Pum Deg Dau o Lygrau. We are setting sail for the west coast of Ireland to visit the fictional town of Finfarran. We will be joining Hanna Casey, our fictional librarian of the month. The series, created by Felicity Hayes-McCoy, begins with The Library at the Edge of the World and is about Hanna, who is fifty five and recently divorced, has to start all over again and moves back home to live with her mother and ends up leading the campaign to save the town library.

Read a book with one or more of the following (but not limited to) and have fun exploring:

Spell out the first and/or last name of the character's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.
Spell out the first and/or last name of the author - one book per letter.
Read one or more books in the series.
Follow in a character's footsteps and read a book set in the country or time period of the story.
Follow in the author's footsteps and read a book set in their place or time of birth.
Read a book with the first or last name of the character or author in the title.

Have fun as there are a variety of ways to complete this challenge with plenty of rabbit trails.

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 97. The Departure for Belgium

Chapter 98. The Bell and Bottle Tavern

Chapter 99. The Law

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Sunday, October 3, 2021

BW40: October Spooktacular

Welcome to our October Spooktacular reading month. I have the music of The Addams family theme song running through my head today:

Their creepy and their kooky

Mysterious and spooky

Their all together ooky

The Adams family

Their house is a museum

When people come to see 'em

They really are a screaming

The Adams family.

Neat.

Sweet

Petite

So put a witch's shawl on

A broomstick you can crawl on

We're gonna play a call on

The Adams family

Their creepy and their kooky

Mysterious and spooky

Their all together ooky

The Adams family

Strange

Deranged

The Adams family

Does it put you in the mood for some spooky or kooky, spine-chilling or thrilling, creepy or cozy, scary or mysterious? Yes, me too.

Spooky to me doesn't necessarily equal horror. I detest blood and guts horror books or movies. Give me emotion, give me pee in your pants scary moments. Give me tense moments that make you laugh or cry. Give me mind bending stories with devious and conniving characters and lots of twists and turns. Give me stories that make me think and go whoa, I didn't see that coming. Entertain me, thrill me, shock me.

If you haven't read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Bram Stoker's Dracula, now would be the perfect time. Put away all your preconceived notions as the books are very different from the movies and will shock and amaze you. If you have read it, dip your toes into retellings of the story as well as the reimagining's of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

If you are slightly on the squeamish side and can only handle a little bit scary or a little bit spooky, read a cozy supernatural mystery or what the Austin Public Library considers a cozy horror which includes

Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None or Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles.

For those who like psychological thrillers, like me, read Female Psychological Thrillers/Suspense Written by Women.

From historical thrillers to psychological page turners, check out Pan MacMillian's list of the Best Thriller books of 2021.

What is one of the spookiest or thrilling books you ever read?

Have fun following rabbit trails!

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 94. Maximilian’s Avowal

Chapter 95. Father and Daughter

Chapter 96. The Contract

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Sunday, September 26, 2021

BW39: Banned Books Week

The theme for Banned Books Week this year is "Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us." Banned Books Week was created in 1982 by the American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom, in response to challenges and requests to ban books from libraries and bookstores due to their content. Poems and poetry collections, and poets have also been censored throughout history including Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. I have the book on my shelves, so will have to dive in to see what the fuss is all about.

According to the American Library Association the top ten most challenged books and the reasons why for the past year are:

"George by Alex Gino: Reasons: Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting “the values of our community”
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds: Reasons: Banned and challenged because of author’s public statements, and because of claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely: Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism, and because it was thought to promote anti-police views, contain divisive topics, and be “too much of a sensitive matter right now”
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson: Reasons: Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint and it was claimed to be biased against male students, and for the novel’s inclusion of rape and profanity
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and allegations of sexual misconduct by the author
Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin: Reasons: Challenged for “divisive language” and because it was thought to promote anti-police views
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a “white savior” character, and its perception of the Black experience
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Reasons: Banned and challenged for racial slurs and racist stereotypes, and their negative effect on students
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison: Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: Reasons: Challenged for profanity, and it was thought to promote an anti-police message."

Celebrate your freedom to read a banned or challenged book this week!

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 91. Mother and Son
Chapter 92. The Suicide
Chapter 93. Valentine

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Sunday, September 19, 2021

BW38: September Equinox

Climb aboard our good ship Pumdeg Dau o Lyfrau and let us sail over the trees and seas and look upon the leaves for the September Equinox is upon us with Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Let's follow the breeze and celebrate the changing of the season and fall into reading with a book about the seasons, the changing of the guard, the passing of time. Maybe even get an early start on something spooky as October is coming up fast.

The sights and sounds of autumn are my favorite time of year with the wind rustling through the branches, and the crunch and crackle of fallen leaves. All the shades of yellow and orange and purple and red form a colorful palette on which to play.

"Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love — that makes life and nature harmonize. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot, letter to Miss Lewis, 1st October 1841"

What is your favorite part of the season?

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 88. The Insult
Chapter 89. The Night
Chapter 90. The Meeting

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Sunday, September 12, 2021

BW37: Book Lust by Nancy Pearl

To me, reading is as necessary as breathing. Without my books, I get very cranky. I love the stories that make you sigh as well as the ones that make you hold your breath and forget to let it out. The ones that grab you and pull you into the world of the characters, the ones that make you want to dive into the world of the book and not let go. The ones that make you think, and the ones that make you laugh out loud or cry. The ones that make you wish you had the imagination to write, along with the ones that make you want to throw them across the room for various reasons. The ones that stay with you long after you've finished the book. And the ones that make you want to revisit them over and over again.

If you can't tell by now, I have a case of book lust which brings me to Nancy Pearl, the author of Book Lust and so much more.

It was just announced that The National Book Foundation will be presenting to Nancy Pearl the 2021 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community on Nov 17, 2021.

Book Lust, More Book Lust, and Book Lust to Go are so much fun to peruse, but I have to admit to getting lost in rabbit trails while looking up books which of course had lead to a startling long wishlist and an ever growing TBR stack. Pearl even has a Book Lust Journal in which to record your thoughts on stories. Check out Pearl's Podcasts, her interview on How Reading Informs the Person That You Are, and the Millions interview about her first fictional novel George and Lizzie and Getting Out of Her Own Skin.

Share which book or books have you added to your stacks lately?

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 85. The Journey
Chapter 86. The Trial
Chapter 87. The Challenge

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Sunday, September 5, 2021

BW36: 52 Books bingo - Number in the Title

Happy Sunday! If you are a procrastinator, then today is your day as it is Be Late for Something Day. Your excuse. You got caught up in a book as you wanted to get a head start on Read a Book Day on Labor Day.

Which brings us to our next 52 Books Bingo category which is read a book with a Number in the Title. You can interpret it any way you like by reading a book with an actual number in the title or the word number in the title or with numbers on the cover or a book about numbers.

Out of curiosity, I would like to know: What is your favorite number and why?

I fell in like with this poem the instant I read it.

NUMBERS BY MARY CORNISH

I like the generosity of numbers.

The way, for example,

they are willing to count

anything or anyone:

two pickles, one door to the room,

eight dancers dressed as swans.

I like the domesticity of addition—

add two cups of milk and stir—

the sense of plenty: six plums

on the ground, three more

falling from the tree.

And multiplication’s school

of fish times fish,

whose silver bodies breed

beneath the shadow

of a boat.

Even subtraction is never loss,

just addition somewhere else:

five sparrows take away two,

the two in someone else’s

garden now.

There’s an amplitude to long division,

as it opens Chinese take-out

box by paper box,

inside every folded cookie

a new fortune.

And I never fail to be surprised

by the gift of an odd remainder,

footloose at the end:

forty-seven divided by eleven equals four,

with three remaining.

Three boys beyond their mother’s call,

two Italians off to the sea,

one sock that isn't anywhere you look.

Have fun following rabbit trails of numbers

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 82. The Burglary

Chapter 83. The Hand of God

Chapter 84. Beauchamp

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Sunday, August 29, 2021

BW35: Fictional Librarians - Jess Brightwell

Happy Sunday! As we slide into September, it's time to climb back aboard our airship, the Pum Deg Dau o Lygrau and weigh anchor and sail into the world of The Great Library, one of the series written by Rachel Caine who passed away last year. Our librarian of the month is Jess Brightwell, a young book smuggler on the streets of London who is admitted to the Great Library in Alexandria as a postulant.

There are a variety of ways to complete this challenge with plenty of rabbit trails. Read a book with one or more of the following (but not limited to) and have fun exploring:

Spell out the first and/or last name of the character's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.
Spell out the first and/or last name of the author - one book per letter.
Read one or more books in the series.
Read any book written by the author.
Follow in a character's footsteps and read a book set in the country or time period of the story.
Follow in the author's footsteps and read a book set in their place or time of birth.
Read a book with the first or last name of the character or author in the title.

Dear Rachel Caine: A Thank You and Goodbye,

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 88. The Insult

Chapter 89. The Night

Chapter 90. The Meeting

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Sunday, August 22, 2021

BW34: Doing is Being by Ray Bradbury

Today is the anniversary of one of my favorite writers Ray Bradbury who entertains and inspires me with his writing.

Doing is Being

Ray Bradbury

Doing is being.

To have done’s not enough.

To stuff yourself with doing — that’s the game.

To name yourself each hour by what’s done,

To tabulate your time at sunset’s gun

And find yourself in acts

You could not know before the facts

You wooed from secret self, which much needs wooing,

So doing brings it out,

Kills doubt by simply jumping, rushing, running

Forth to be

The new-discovered me.

To not do is to die,

Or lie about and lie about the things

You just might do some day.

Away with that!

Tomorrow empty stays

If no man plays it into being

With his motioned way of seeing.

Let your body lead your mind —

Blood the guide dog to the blind;

So then practice and rehearse

To find heart-soul’s universe,

Knowing that by moving/seeing

Proves for all time: Doing’s being!

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 85. The Journey

Chapter 86. The Trial

Chapter 87. The Challenge

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Sunday, August 15, 2021

BW33: Hugo Gernsback

This week, we are celebrating the anniversary of the birthday of Hugo Gernsback who was born August 16, 1884. Yes, you may be experiencing deja vu since I love to revisit Hugo every four years or so.

Hugo Gernsbacher was born in Luxembourg and immigrated to the United States in 1904. He 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. The story named Ralph 124C 41+ was later published in 1926. It 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 in 1926.  Hugo coined the term scientifiction which later went on to be known as Science Fiction.

He 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. Digital copies of Amazing Stories, Air Wonder, Science Wonder, and Wonder magazines are available to view through the Pulp Magazines Project.

Gernsback is lauded as one of the fathers of science fiction. In 1960 he was given a special Hugo Award as The Father of Magazine Science Fiction. The award were unofficially called the Hugo's until the name was officially changed beginning in 1993.

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

If you are in the mood for more science fiction and fantasy fun, don't forget you can dive into Mind Voyages and explore the Hugo and Nebula winners and nominees, take side trips through the different decades reading the nominees, check out Philip K. Dick and Robert Heinlein or the all inclusive I'm going to Pluto because Pluto is still a planet as far as I'm concerned Voyage in which you can mix it up, choose the number of books you want to read from each voyage, include some new books you pick up along the way and enjoy the ride.

Links to all the voyages are available on the Mind Voyages blog.

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 82. The Burglary

Chapter 83. The Hand of God

Chapter 84. Beauchamp

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Sunday, August 8, 2021

BW32: 52 Books Bingo - Gods and Goddesses

Josephine Wall's Diana

Happy Sunday! Time for another round of 52 Books Bingo and our next category is Gods and Goddesses. Delve into the world of the fictional or factual, mythological or spiritual, out of this world or part of this world, from the good, the bad, and even the not so pretty. Read a book about or with God or Goddess in the title or on the cover, a character who is immortal or about a character versus God or the Supernatural. There are many ways to go with this selection so have fun with it and explore.

10 Magical Fantasy Books Inspired by Irish Mythology

10 Best Norse Mythology Books

Pocket Dictionary of Aztec & Maya Gods & Goddesses

Goodreads Chinese Mythology books

Top 10 goddesses in fiction

14 Mythology-Inspired Books Featuring Gods and Goddesses

12 Divine Fantasy Novels in Which the Gods Walk the Land

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 79. The Lemonade

Chapter 80. The Accusation

Chapter 81. The Room of the Retired Baker

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Sunday, August 1, 2021

BW31: Fictional Librarian - Lindsay Norris

Happy Friendship Day! Cheers to all our reading buddies who have made our bookish adventures entertaining and illuminating. Welcome to August which is also Family Fun Month, Admit Your Happy Month, National Picnic Month as well as Romance Month. Our fictional librarian of the month is Lindsay Norris from the Library Lover's Mystery series written by Jenn McKinlay. Lindsay is the director of the Briar Creek Library who started crafternoon Thursday for patrons to do crafts and discuss books at the same time and turns into an amateur sleuth when her friend becomes a prime suspect in a murder.

There are a variety of ways to complete this challenge with plenty of rabbit trails. Read a book with one or more of the following (but not limited to) and have fun exploring:

Spell out the first and/or last name of the character's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.

Spell out the first and/or last name of the author - one book per letter.

Read one or more books in the series.

Read any book written by the author.

Follow in a character's footsteps and read a book set in the country or time period of the story.

Follow in the author's footsteps and read a book set in their place or time of birth.

Read a book with the first or last name of the character or author in the title.

Happy Trails!

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

Chapter 76. Progress of Cavalcanti the Younger

Chapter 77. Haydée

Chapter 78. We hear From Yanina

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Pages

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Sunday, October 10, 2021

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Sunday, August 22, 2021

Sunday, August 15, 2021

Sunday, August 8, 2021

Sunday, August 1, 2021