BW8: Storytelling

 

Happy Sunday!  Growing up, my brother was the one who told the most magnificent stories, whether he was retelling a Monty Python skit, relating an event that happened, or telling us about a book he'd read. We would hang on his words, groaning or laughing as he told a tale, astonished by the details, even if he'd only read or heard something once. I was never great at oral storytelling, maybe because it was difficult to get an word in edgewise with my large talkative family.  Today, the role has been taken over by my husband and son, both who have Eidetic memories,  remembering everything that's ever happened in their lives. Which can be great, unless it's something stupid you wish they'd forget. LOL!    I prefer writing, taking my time to remember, exploring thoughts and phrases, seeing the words on the page. 

Who is or was the Storyteller in your family?

 
Which brings us to our 52 Books Bingo quest for this week - Storyteller and all those lovely books they have created for our pleasure: narratives, myths, memoirs, drama, poetry as well as the world of fiction. From the classics to the contemporary writers of today there is a wide variety to choose from.  

Who do you think are the best storytellers of the past and present?   

50 Greatest Storytellers Of All Time

Masterful Storytelling: 10 Novels Worth Savoring

20 Best Storytelling Books of All Time

The Best Books On Storytelling

This week, our post is brought to you by the letter H.  Big h, little h, what begins with H. Why Homer and Horatio and Heyer as well as  Hemingway and Hosseini and Herbert to name a few. 

Happy reading! 

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BW7: Ode to Common Things to Pablo Neruda

Wishing you the happiest of days, the happiest of weeks as we celebrate Super Bowl Sunday, Galentine's Day, Valentine's Day, Singles Awareness Day, Do a Grouch a Favor day, Random Acts of Kindness Day, and of course, National Drink Wine day. 

As I was meandering about the internet I came across Meanderings and Muses (Don't you love that name) Odes to Common things. And wouldn't you just know it, I fell down a rabbit hole.  Found The Examined Life's article on Pablo Neruda's Sublime Poetic Wonder at Meaning and Utility in Everyday Things.   Then stumbled upon Interludes where his poetry inspired  The Music of Poetry - Pablo Neruda: Odes to Common Things.   Yes, he even penned An Ode to a Book, but I liked his Common Things better.  

Shall we should all write an ode to our books, our lives, our loves?   Have an adventure and read a book of Odes, offbeat odes, an ode to stardust, or An Ode to Snow. 

Ode to Common Things 

By 

Pablo  Neruda

I have a crazy,

crazy love of things.

I like pliers,

and scissors.

I love

cups,

rings,

and bowls –

not to speak, of course,

of hats.

I love

all things,

not just

the grandest,

also

the

infinite-

ly

small –

thimbles,

spurs,

plates,

and flower vases.

 Oh yes,

the planet

is sublime!

It’s full of

pipes

weaving

hand-held

through tobacco smoke,

and keys

and salt shakers –

everything,

I mean,

that is made

by the hand of man, every little thing :

shapely shoes,

and fabric,

and each new

bloodless birth

of gold,

eyeglasses,

carpenter’s nails,

brushes,

clocks, compasses,

coins, and the so-soft

softness of chairs.

 Mankind has

built

oh so many

perfect

things!

Built them of wool

and of wood,

of glass and

of rope :

remarkable

tables,

ships, and stairways.

 

I love

all

things,

not because they are

passionate

or sweet smelling

but because,

I don’t know,

because

this ocean is yours,

and mine :

these buttons

and wheels

and little

forgotten

treasures,

fans upon

whose feathers

love has scattered

its blossoms,

glasses, knives and

scissors –

all bear

the trace

of someone’s fingers

on their handle or surface,

the trace of a distant hand

lost

in the depths of forgetfulness.

 I pause in houses,

streets and

elevators,

touching things,

identifying objects

that I secretly covet :

this one because it rings,

that one because

it’s as soft

as the softness of a woman’s hip,

that one there for its deep-sea color,

and that one for its velvet feel.

 

O irrevocable

river

of things :

no one can say

that I loved

only

fish,

or the plants of the jungle and the field,

that I loved

only

those things that leap and climb, desire, and survive.

It’s not true :

many things conspired

to tell me the whole story.

Not only did they touch me,

or my hand touched them :

they were

so close

that they were a part

of my being,

they were so alive with me

that they lived half my life

and will die half my death.

Our post is sponsored by the letter G this week: Genres full of gorgeous, gregarious, generous, or gallant characters who gadabout.

Happy Reading!  

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BW6: 52 Books Bingo - Sleuths

 

Happy Sunday! Our next 52 Books Bingo category - sleuths - fits in nicely with our Agatha Christie read this month.  We have different varieties of sleuths from the amateur sleuth, to the hardboiled private eye to the religious investigator, to the kid, teen, and female sleuths to the cozy amateur or police detectives.  Below are just a few links for your perusal. 

Top 12 New Best Cozy Mysteries Featuring Amateur Sleuths

A Recipe for Hard Boiled Fiction

Divine Mysteries: 10 Great Clerical Sleuths

Middle Grade Mystery and Detective books 

10 YA Books That Prove That Teens Are the Best Detectives

Classic Teen Detectives

The Best Female Detectives in Fiction Written by Women

Tap Into Your Inner Sleuth With These Dazzling Detective Novels

Our post is brought to you by the letter F this week. From the feisty fiends to the felonious forger to the foxy fed, follow the footprints to find the facts. 

Have fun! 

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BW5: February Author of the Month: Agatha Christie

 

Happy Sunday! February is upon us which begs the questions -  will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow and we'll have six more weeks of Winter?  Most likely.   But did you know, before the ground hog, there was a hedgehog. Poor guy was usurped by the ground hog in 1887 in America.

Ireland folklorist Kevin Danaher says that "To see a hedgehog was a good weather sign, for the hedgehog comes out of the hole in which he has spent the winter, looks about to judge the weather, and returns to his burrow if bad weather is going to continue. If he stays out, it means that he knows that mild weather is coming.”  The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs.

February is also Black History Month, Creative Romance Month, and An Affair to Remember Month.   

AND our Bookish Bookology Author of the month is Agatha Christie.  

Dame Agatha Christie was born September 15, 1890 in Torquay, Devon. She began writing poems when she was a child and short stories by the age of 18. During the first world war, she started writing detective stories.  In 1919, her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published and she went on to publish 66 detective novels, 14 short story collections as well as plays, plus 6 romances under the pseudonym of Mary Westmacott.   She created numerous characters including Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence as well as Ariadne Oliver, Harley Quin and Parkey Pyne. 

She loved archaeology and traveling. She traveled on the Orient Express in 1928, then in 1930 went on to an archaeological site in UR, Nineveh in the Middle East  where she met Max who become her second husband. She accompanied him on many digs and her stories were inspired by all her true life experiences.  In 1955, She was the first to receive the Grand Master Award, the highest honor by the Mystery Writers of America's.  In 1971, she was granted female knighthood as Dame Commander of the British Empire for her literary work.  She passed away at the age of 85 on January 12, 1976.

Agatha Christie is also one of our 52 Books bingo categories as well as the subject of one of our Perpetual Reading challenges. I've been bouncing around the list, instead of reading chronologically, and currently have Why didn't they ask Evans?, Mystery of the Blue Train, and Sad Cypress in my reading stacks. 

 If you've been following the Read Agatha Christie 2023 Motive and Methods readalong challenge, February's read is Partners in Crime, from one of her Tommy and Tuppence short story collections.   

And the Royal Reading Room recently covered Agatha Christie during their Christmas Interlude which including a video discussion between Vaseem Khan, Dreda Say Mitchell, Robert Thorogood, and James Prichard on the Legacy and Life of Agatha Christie.  

Enjoy exploring through the creative mind of Agatha Christie.

Our post is sponsored by the letter E. Big E, little e, what begins with E.  Earl and Edward, everyman and everywhere, earnestly earning enlightenment and erudition. 

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BW4: 2023 Chinese Lunar New Year: Year of the Rabbit

 

Happy Sunday! Today is the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year which is the Year of the Rabbit.  

"Rabbits are known to be incredibly witty, outgoing, well-spoken, creative, empathetic, thoughtful and meditative; the water element of 2023 means this year will bring even more introspection, peace and hope... It’s a season to hone into your imagination, intuition and instincts. With artistic inspiration as a focal point, the rabbit encourages you to fill your heart and soul with hobbies and crafts. Poetry, painting, making music—any activity that instills inner harmony will reign supreme."  Stylecaster - Cam Zhang

Good thing I'm in a creative mood this year.   

I love following rabbit trails and have been following a lot of rabbit trails lately on Instagram, posts about books and bullet journaling and writing and books, books, and more books, with a little bit of self help thrown in, along with a smattering of celebrities. Which brings me to the point of this post - we're going to dive down a rabbit hole this week and read something with or about or symbolizes rabbits this week.  No, it doesn't have to be an actual rabbit. 

While reading Julia Cameron's Write for Life this week,  I was reminded of the story, The Tortoise and the Hare when Cameron reminds writers to take it slow and easy and not race ahead. "Slow and steady wins the race." 

I'm suddenly reminded of The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown which we used to read way back when James was a toddler. And of course, Goodnight Moon, both which hold a special place in our hearts. 

Read a books with rabbits or bunnies or other animals on the cover, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. 

Read a book with an animal protagonist, maybe rabbit detective's like Mr. and Mrs. Bunny — Detectives Extraordinaire!

Read about an Anthromorphic animal, like Watership Down by Richard Adams, or Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. 

Read a book about a character with the nickname rabbit like John Updike's Rabbit, Run. 

Read about the joys of rabbits, the care and feeding, the raising of rabbits.

Who is your favorite rabbit character?  

Have fun! 

This post was brought to you by the letter D! Big D, little d, what begins with D. Dutch rabbits, deer, dingo or dragonflies. Donuts, dragon fruits, drumsticks or dandelions.  Dickens, Dumas, Dorothy or Daniel. Whether they are dangerous, dandy, or down right dastardly, don't deny you like to read about stories with a begin or end with a D.

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BW3: Blue

 

Happy Sunday!  I follow different publishers and different book bloggers, and I keep seeing all these bookshelves that are categorized by books of the same color.  Some of the pictures are kind of pretty and others, truth be told, look garish and unsightly. There are even companies,  like Juniper Books, who curates books by color.  

Is it the color that matters, or the content of the book that matters?  To me, it's more the content. The color coding would drive me crazy, because I like to categorize, then alphabetize my books. All my Nora Roberts books take up one whole bookcase, while Robert Jordan's may take up a shelf as well as Faith Hunter and few others.  And some of the authors do make some kind of attempt to color coordinate their covers. Take for example, James Rollin's Sigma Force series or J.D. Robb's In Death series.  Yes, they are double parked, at least until our new shelves come in. And that's another story. 

Hmm? Robb's name seems to have gotten larger over the years.  

But,  I do have some bookshelves which I'll arrange the books by height:

Yes, I'll admit it's a thing, probably as much as someone else arranging their shelves by color is a thing. Everyone has their own ways of shelving books, whether it's pleasing to the eye, organized by category or alphabetical or chronologically, artfully or willy nilly.   How do you like to arrange your bookshelves?  

And you're probably wondering why I named this week's post Blue.  That's because I'm reading The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau which is a historical novel about finding the secrets of porcelain and the color blue and it gave me the idea for the post.  

Your mission this week is the read a book with a blue cover or with blue in the title or about the subject blue, whatever that may be. 

Our post is sponsored by the letter C this week.  Big C, little c, what begins with C.  Color, coins, capital or class. Clarke or Cruickshank's, Cooper or Cox,  Conrad or Child, what a conundrum. Find a  character that's canny or cagey or cunning. 

Happy Reading! 

 

Please share your thoughts and reviews. 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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BW2: 52 Books Bingo - Eastern

"East of the sun and west of the moon.' As unfathomable as the words were, I realized I must figure them out, reason it through. For I would go to this impossible land that lay east of the sun and west of the moon. From the moment the sleigh had vanished from sight and I could no longer hear the silver bells I knew that I would go after the stranger that had been the white bear to make right the terrible wrong I had done him.... All that mattered was to make things right. And I would do whatever it took, journey to wherever I must, to reach that goal.” ~ Edith Pattou, East

Happy Sunday!  Our first 52 Books Bingo category is Eastern which means our reading journey is taking us east.  But where in the east? We could go to the Far East, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, East of the Mississippi, or maybe the East coast.  Turn towards the east and read a book from whichever town, city, state, or country is in that direction.  Find a a book with East in the title or a character, or even a dog named East. Ask a family member to blindly pick a point on the map located in the east and read a book by an author closest to that point. How you interpret it is up to you.

11 Fantastic Books set in Asia

15 Must Read Books by Middle Eastern Authors

50 Must Reads of Slavic Literature 

53 Books Directly Related to Mississippi

Books with East in the Title 

Authors with East in their name

Our post is brought to you this week by the letter B.  Big b, little b, what begins with B?   Read a book by Babbage or Baker or Bruce.  Read a book about a Beatrice or Betty or a Ben. Read a book about a Bee or a Bat or a Badger. Read a book set in Baton Rouge, Bangladesh, or Bangor, or Botswana. Read a book about Badminton, or baseball, or barrel racing. Whether they are beguiling or baffling, beautiful or bossy, every book begins with a b. *wink*

What book did you read this week that was better than a bag of chips? 

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BW1: Welcome to another bookish adventure around the world

 

"A book, too, can be a star, a living fire to lighten the darkness, 

leading out into  the expanding universe" ~ Madeleine L'Engle

Happy New Year and welcome to our 15th year of Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks. If you are new to our reading quest, the official goal is 52 books. How you get there is up to you.  But I'll tell you a secret. Shh, I'll whisper, but don't tell anyone.  For those who hate setting goals, we have an unofficial goal which is to set your own goal.  Read what you want, explore and dive into those longer books, engage your mind and soul and don't worry.  Have fun. Follow as many rabbit trails as you like and see where they lead. 

To help us have fun, there are a number of mini, monthly, annual, and perpetual challenges to choose from.  For 2023 we have an updated Bookish Bookology which is our author of the month. There are a number of ways to complete the challenge, including but not limited to:  

• Spell out the author's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.
• Read one or more books written by the author. 
• Read a book written in the country or time period of the author.

We traditionally start our year with Haruki Murakami, our January author the month, so we are going to dive right in and head to East Asia. Which coincidently fills our Eastern Bingo category.  Nudge nudge wink wink!!

I couldn't wait so I already started After Dark which is all about the magical hours between midnight to dawn. Standing by to reread almost immediately is 1Q84 which I think is one of Murakami's best stories ever.  According to Murakami it is a mind bending ode to George Orwell's 1984.  Also on my shelves are Novelist as a Vocation and his short story collection Men Without Women.  And if you like comparing books to film, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car was adapted from the short story Drive My Car in Men Without Women.  

We also have an updated Bingo which is taking us around the world, from the north to the south, from the east to the west as well as taking us through the libraries of Agatha Christie, Neal Peart, Jorge Luis Borges and Mind Voyages Science Fiction / Fantasy adventure.  And if you're working your way through Well Educated Mind, the list is available in the menu bar.   

We'll be working our way through the alphabet again with A to Z and Back Again. There are a variety of ways to complete the project and you don't have to stick with authors or titles only.  Check out the link on the menu bar for more information. 

Our A to Z and Back Again letter of the week is A.

Are you ready? Great! It's time to put on your hat and walking shoes, strap on your backpack, grab that walking stick and start our reading adventure. 

Happy reading and cheers to a wonderful, enlightening, fun reading new year! 

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BW52: 2022 Year End Wrap up

“Books are keys to wisdom's treasure;

Books are gates to lands of pleasure;

Books are paths that upward lead;

Books are friends. Come, let us read.”

― Emilie Poulsson

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, my lovelies. It's time to retire this year's walking shoes, hang up our hats, and sort through our backpacks to see what treasures we found during our reading adventures.  Come join me in the parlor, grab a hot cup of tea or coffee, a glass of wine, or some juice, and curl up by the fire, while we talk about our books. 

So, how'd it go? 

Are you the type of reader who likes to have a reading plan or do you like to  meander about the countryside, reading whatever comes to to hand?  Do you like to read only one book at a time or do you like to dip your fingers and toes, even your whole body into more than one story at a time? 

Did you heed the call of those chunky and dusty books? 

Did you read only from your TBR pile or did you seek out new stories, new thrills? 

Tell us about your most entertaining read of the year? 

Which story or stories stuck with you the longest?

Which characters did you fall in like or love with? Did they make you want to dive into their world and live there?

Which stories surprised you, made you reflect, laugh out loud, tear up, or irritated the heck out of you?

Which stories inspired web wonderings and lead you on rabbit trails? 

Where in the world and through what time periods did your reading adventures take you? 

What is the one book you think everybody should read?  Everyone's last mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read one of those books in 2023.  Let us know which one you choose. 

Sandy and Amy took us on a delightful crime spree into the world of clues and conundrums, the crafty and the cagey, and the quick and clever with the grandparents of crime, to the classic children's mysteries to the golden age, and around the world and back again. Where did your adventures take you during your crime spree?  Thank you ladies!

How many books did you read? Share your stats, new to you author discoveries, favorite quotes, or covers. 

What are your reading plans for next year? 

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who have shared in our reading adventures and to those who followed our progress. I hope we've inspired you to read more.  Whether you read fast or slow, dive into the classics or delve into comtemporary romance, sleuth your way through mysteries, explore translated stories or pour through non fiction, the most important thing is the reading. 

“Reading is like thinking, like praying, like talking to a friend, like expressing your ideas, like listening to other people’s ideas, like listening to music, like looking at the view, like taking a walk on the beach.” – Roberto Bolaño

Cheers to a happy and healthy, enlightening, and inspiring reading new year!

And we can't forget our A to Z and Back again Letter and word of the week are A and Again! 

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Please share your year end wrap up, 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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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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BW50: 52 Books Bingo - Creativity

 

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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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.

 What have been your favorite categories this year? Have you discovered any new genres to love?

 

·  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 Indriðason

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