BW25: "It's Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime"

 

Happy Sunday!  So happy Summer is here with more time to enjoy some summer reading. Make sure to throw in a book with a Y in the title such as Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks or and author whose name starts with Y such as Yeats, Yoshomito, or Yancey. 

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

By 

William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

BW24: X is for .....

 

Happy Sunday.  X marks the spot with a dot, dot, dot. Don't know why that little ditty popped up in my head.  

One author I really have enjoyed and learned much from is Qiu Xiaolong, author of the inspector detective Chen Cao who is a homicide detective in the Shanghai Special Cases Bureau in China. Inspector Chen Cao was introduced with the publication of Death of a Red Heroine in 2000.  Set in the mid 1990's in China, it was a police procedural blending fact and fiction delving into the politics and culture of the country. The character is in his early thirties and also writes poetry and works as a translator.  Inspector Chen must navigate his way through government politics while trying to solve murders.  The 13th book in the series Love and Murder in the Time of Covid was released in 2023. 

His latest stories are a duology series which takes place in seventh century China called the Judge Dee Investigations. The first book Shadow of the Empire is a companion piece from his 12th novel - Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder - in which the inspector is reading a Judge Dee novel.  The second book was released in 2024: The Conspiracies of the Empire.  I'm looking forward to reading both. 

BW23: Wuxia Literature

 

Happy Sunday! Our next 52 Books Bingo category is Wuxia! Wuxia literature is historical fiction stories in which the characters use traditional Chinese martial art disciplines for either good or bad. 

9 Classic Wuxia Stories That Define the Genre

10 Best Wuxia Novels for Martial Arts Fans

Goodreads Wuxia and Xianxia or Wuxia books

Wuxia World 

Happy Reading!

BW22: Dragon of the month: Saphira

Saphira Bjartskular by Joshua Raphael

Happy Sunday! June is a time of honor and celebration with World War II D Day, Flag Day, Father's day, Juneteenth, the summer solstice as well as Great Outdoors Month, Rose month, and National Adopt a Cat month. 

 Our dragon of the month is Saphira from Christopher Paolini's Eragon. I happily supported the Saphira Figurine kickstarter campaign last year and look forward to receiving a collectable figurine of Saphira when it's ready.

Christopher Paolini's Inheritance cycle includes Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance and is a wonderful series about a farm boy who discovers a dragon egg and is thrust in a world of magic and power.  Works set in the same world include Murtagh and The Fork, The Witch, and the Worm.  Paolini's other works -  To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and Fractal Noise - are amazing thriller stories set in outer space.   He's also been involved in other works including the short stories anthology Guys Write for Guys Read which I recently acquired. 

Join me in reading stories by Christopher Paolini this month! 

BW21: Unique, Unusual, or Unconventional.

 

Happy Sunday and thank you to all who died in the service of our country and hugs to all their families.  I love reading unique stories - some of which may be weird, mind blowing, extraordinary, and most often - unusual or  unconventional.  Stories like Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar,  Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, or 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.   What books have you read that were unique, unusual, or unconventional? 

9 Unique Books I’ve Loved

Literature’s 12 Most Unusual Books

10 “unique” and distinctive books

Top Ten Tuesday: The Most Unique Books I’ve Read

Unconventional Style / Voice

BW20: A Time to Talk

 Time To Talk

By

Robert Frost

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk,

I don't stand still and look around

On all the hills I haven't hoed,

And shout from where I am, What is it?

No, not as there is a time to talk.

I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,

Blade-end up and five feet tall,

And plod: I go up to the stone wall

For a friendly visit.

BW19: Happy Mother's Day

 

She Is the Quiet

by

Jen Ambrose

She is the quiet that settles in after the storm,

not the thunder,

not the flash—

but the stillness that holds the house together

when everyone else forgets to breathe.

She is the hand that never lets go,

even when it seems like she has.

Invisible strength tucked in folded laundry,

school lunches,

and the way she always remembers

what you forgot to say.

She doesn’t ask the world for attention.

She listens for the creak of the floorboards,

knows the weight of each footstep,

feels the shift in the air

when someone needs her.

Her love isn’t loud.

It’s the worn chair at the kitchen table,

the light left on in the hallway,

the way she knew before you did—

what you were carrying.

She is the thread.

Not the needle. Not the fabric.

But the thing that binds it all

so gently

you don’t realize it’s there

until something unravels.

And still, she stays.

Even when she’s tired,

even when her heart is stretching

farther than it should,

she stays.

Not because she has to.

Because she chooses to.

Every day.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

BW18: Norbert

 

Welcome to May and our Dragon of the Month  - Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback - from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  When Charlie Weasley, Ron's brother took him to the dragon sanctuary in Romania where he worked, it was later discovered Norbert was actually a Norberta.  But he, erm She wasn't the only dragon in the wizarding world. 

Ranking the wizarding world’s top dragons

My house is Gryffindor - Find your house!  

Harry Potter series

May is also Mystery Month, Gifts from the Garden Month, Date your Mate Month, plus Bike Month and Barbecue Month. Just think of the books we could read this month.  I'll be revisiting Harry Potter and will probably be reading some mystery and foodie books and living vicariously through books in which the characters love flowers.  Achoo! 

BW17: Quest!

 

Quest

 by 

Carrie Williams Clifford 

My goal out-distances the utmost star, 

Yet is encompassed in my inmost Soul; 

I am my goal—my quest, to know myself. 

To chart and compass this unfathomed sea, 

Myself must plumb the boundless universe. 

My Soul contains all thought, all mystery, 

All wisdom of the Great Infinite Mind: 

This is to discover, I must voyage far, 

At last to find it in my pulsing heart. 

    

Happy Sunday!  Let's end National Poetry Month with a Quest over land, by sea,  through space or into ourselves. I have a few interesting nonfiction books on my shelves that fill the bill such as Wanderlust: A History of Walking – Rebecca Solnit from the Personal Quest's List as well as the memoir -  True North: A Journey into Unexplored Wilderness by Elliott Merrick, plus All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley.  

Robin Hobb's Dragon Keeper,  The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi By Shannon Chakraborty, The Bone Ships By RJ Barker, among others which are mentioned in the most recommended lit.  

From the Wisdom list - Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Persig, and Virginia Woolf's A Room on One's Own.  I'm looking forward to reading them all.  I may not get to all of them this year but I'll have fun trying. 

Armchair Travel: 10 Books About Walking

The most recommended quest books

Set sail with these 10 books about epic ocean voyages

Books about traveling a long time in space.

Personal-Quest Books

Have fun!

BW16: Happy Easter

 

God, give us eyes to see

the beauty of the Spring,

And to behold Your majesty

in every living thing –

And may we see in lacy leaves

and every budding flower

The Hand that rules the universe

with gentleness and power –

And may this Easter grandeur

that Spring lavishly imparts

Awaken faded flowers of faith

lying dormant in our hearts,

And give us ears to hear, dear God,

the Springtime song of birds

With messages more meaningful

than man’s often empty words

Telling harried human beings

who are lost in dark despair –

‘Be like us and do not worry

for God has you in His care.

–Helen Steiner Rice

BW15: Occam's Razor by Odin Roark

 

Occam’s Razor as Arbiter

by

Odin Roark

Might the simplest of explanations be the right one?

In the maze of thoughts, where complexity weaves its web,

the sharpness of a simple thread of clarity

 cuts through the tangled mess.

Words, like gentle rustling, unravel the knots of confusion,

 each syllable a beacon, guiding us to understanding.

In the quiet reserve of a hush, truth finds its voice,

unburdened by the weight of unnecessary adornment.

A child’s question, a teacher’s patient reply,

the elegance of a clear answer in a world of noise and haste.

For in the heart of simplicity, lies the power to illuminate,

 to bridge the chasms of doubt and bring light to the darkest corners.

BW14: 52 Books Bingo - Narrative Non Fiction

Happy Sunday!  Our next 52 Books Bingo category is Narrative Nonfiction. Also known as creative or literary nonfiction which are true stories told in literary form rather than dry objective reporting. Narrative nonfiction entertains as well as informs but engages the reader's emotions as well their attention.  Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt was the first nonfiction book I read written in narrative or creative nonfiction format and led me to reading read more nonfiction.  Join me in reading Narrative Nonfiction this month. 

The Painted Porch Bookshops - Narrative Nonfiction

Narrative Nonfiction - created by Epic teacher, Mrs. Gorli

Allegheny County Libraries staff created list - Narrative Nonfiction: Books that read like novel

Five Books Narrative Nonfiction

Goodreads 42 Popular Narrative Nonfiction Books for Riveting Reading

Happy Reading!