BW44: November Notions

Cross References by Jonathan Wolstenholme

 

Happy Sunday! Welcome to November and our foray into all things non fiction.  Non Fiction falls into 5 different broad categories: Narrative ( one of our bingo categories), Expository (yet another bingo category), Persuasive, and Descriptive. Within those broad categories, there are many different genres, some which blend, overlap, or stand alone. So the choices are unlimited.  

The Complete List of New York Times Nonfiction Best Sellers 

45 Non-Fiction Classics You’ll Want to Pick Up (and Won’t Want to Put Down)

Narrative Nonfiction: Books that read like novels

November also starts our latest dragon of the month: Glauring.  He is the father of dragons in J.R.R Tolkien's Middle Earth,  created by Morgoth in The Silmarillion and became the main antagonist in The Children of Hurin. 

Our A to Z and Back Again letter this week is I.  Look for books with titles starting with I  or authors whose names begin with I .  Find a book that is inspirational, idealistic, or full of irony.  Maybe a story that is immense or starts in media res. 

Have a great non fiction November and have fun exploring different genres! 

BW43: October by Robert Frost

 October 

By 

Robert Frost 

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

To-morrow’s wind, if it be wild, 

Should waste them all. 

The crows above the forest call;

To-morrow they may form and go. 

O hushed October morning mild, 

Begin the hours of this day slow,

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know; 

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf; 

One from our trees, one far away;

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst. 

Slow, slow! 

For the grapes’ sake, if they were all, 

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—

For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

BW42: K is for ...

 

Happy Sunday!  I just finished The Forest of Lost Souls by Dean Koontz which was amazing. I couldn't put it down and kept reading long into the night until I finished it. A psychological thriller about a woman against a megalomaniac and his cohorts.  Wonderfully written characters, descriptions, and images which made sleep lost well worth it.  Every story written by Koontz is unique and charming as well as horrifying. Not blood and guts horrifying, but psychologically, thought provoking, fear producing, scary.  I have read many of his books over the years, starting with By the Light of the Moon, then the Odd Thomas series which are good starting points, if you haven't read any of his books. 

Another author I never thought to approach is Stephen King until I read his non fiction book - On Writing. It fascinated me enough to try reading one of his stories.  I picked out Duma Key and read the back cover, then a few random pages and liked what I read, so decided to get it. Duma Key wasn't so much a horror story as it was a supernatural, psychological thriller.  A man's painting take an eerie turn when he discovers that whatever he paints becomes reality.   The story totally captured my attention and kept me reading long into the night.  Which lead me to reading Under the Dome as well as his Gunslinger series which are good starting points as well.

Books that contain Underground Knowledge or non fiction books that will expand your knowledge

Knock Offs - Books that imitate J.R.R. Tolkien stories

Books about Knitting - Fact or Fiction

Killer espionage novels 

Books with Kiss in the title 

Books with Keyholes and Magic Keys 

Read a book by authors whose names start with K or have a word in the title start with K.

Have fun! 

BW41: Language

 

Happy Sunday!  I enjoy reading stories that play with language, and create fascinating and creative words to fit their world.  I recently finished Neuromancer by William Gibson which reminded me of the Matrix and was filled with invented terminology which had me lost part of the time, but was able to figure out the meaning with the action. A few years back I read the The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall in which he created a world of language where the words on the page created visual images of meaning. Another fascinating story about communication is Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dun in which as the 26 letters of the alphabet fall from a sign, the island residences are forbidden from using them in conversation.   

From Star Trek to Dune to Lord of the Rings to Embassytown to 1984 to The Fifth Season, science fiction and fantasy is riddled with made up language. 

Ten Great Books With Their Own Languages

Novels where the worldview is highly affected by a SF-created language.

20 of our favorite fictional languages from brilliant fantasy worlds

A book with a made-up language.

Happy Reading! 

BW40: October dragon of the month: Furtia Stormcaller

 

Happy Sunday!  Yes, I changed our Dragon of the month to Furtia Stormcaller, a Seiikinese sea dragon from Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree.  Once I started reading Priory of the Orange tree, couldn't put it down. From Tane to Ead to Nicholas to Loth to the dragons to high seas adventures with pirates to court intrigue, Shannon built an interesting and intriguing world which totally sucked me in. 

“To be kin to a dragon, you must not only have a soul of water. You must have the blood of the sea, and the sea is not always pure. It is not any one thing. There is darkness in it, and danger, and cruelty. It can raze great cities with its rage. Its depths are unknowable; they do not see the touch of the sun. To be a Miduchi is not to be pure, Tané. It is to be the living sea. That is why I chose you. You have a dragon’s heart.”

I've always been fascinated by dragons, whether good or bad, considered a god or a means of transportation. Thought I'd leave you with a few quotes about dragons:

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”  ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

“A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.” ~ Rebecca Yarros, Fourth Wing.

“Jason scratched his head. "You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, ‘festus’ means ‘happy’? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?” ~ Rick Riordan, The Lost Hero

Happy Reading! 

BW39: October Spooktacular

 

Happy Sunday! It's that time of year to put together your spooky reading list for our October spooktacular.  The first books that always come to mind are Frankenstein or Dracula which surprisingly defy all expectations from their movie counterparts, so if you've never read them, now would be a good time to do so.  And then there are the reimagined takes on the stories which are just as good.  

 Frankenstein Reimagined   -  Dean Koontz Prodigal son was excellent which lead me to read the whole series. 

 Dracula Reimagined - Dacre Stoker as well as Kim Newman are great go to authors.

Spooky doesn't equal horror.  I have a really hard time with blood and guts horror books or movies. I had to hide my eyes several times during the viewing of the latest series of Alien Earth. LOL! It was scary good, but oh my goodness.  

Stories with emotional, pee in your pants scary, moments filled with tension that make you laugh or cry.  Mind bending stories with devious and conniving characters and lots of twists and turns. Stories that make you think and go whoa, I didn't see that coming. From psychological thrillers that entertain, thrill, or shock to cozy mysteries for the faint of heart, there is a little bit of something for every one. 

Seven Fairytale Retellings Transformed into Horror -  The Book Eaters is currently on my list to read.

Build Your Spooky Season TBR With These New October Releases!

Ghost Themed Cozy Mystery Series

Happy Reading! 

BW38: Autumn is upon us

 

Happy Sunday! Autumn is upon us as nature paints the landscape with yellow, red, orange, purple, and more while we walk through crackling leaves, crisp air and the fragrant smells of pumpkin and cinnamon and woodsmoke. Fall is also a great time to curl up, nice and cozy, with a good book or two or three with Fall vibes, that reminds you of fall, set in the fall, has fall in the title, is all about pumpkin baking or a pumpkin criminal.  So many ways to go with our Autumn reads.   

Autumn Fires

by 

Robert Louis Stevenson

In the other gardens

   And all up in the vale,

From the autumn bonfires

   See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over, 

   And all the summer flowers,

The red fire blazes,

   The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!

   Something bright in all!

Flowers in the summer,

   Fires in the fall! 

Happy reading! 

BW37: 52 Books Bingo: Picaresque Literature

 

Happy Sunday.  Our next 52 Books Bingo category is Picaresque literature which according to litreactor:  "typically describes a low-born hero or rogue who uses his wits to wander through various branches of society without truly belonging to any of them, moving from adventure to adventure."  The  picaresque genre was established with the anonymously published Lazarillo De Tormes in the 1500's  during the Spanish inquisition. 

The Picaresque Novel: What It is and Why You Should Try Reading One

The Greatest Picaresque Books of All Time - a huge interesting and eclectic list in which I've read very few such as Don Quixote, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Gulliver's Travels, Hopscotch, White Noise, Glory Road, and the Undertaking of Hart and Mercy.

Beyond Dickens: 8 Picaresque Novels For The Modern Reader

Happy reading! 

BW36: Quintessential literature

 

Happy Sunday! What is Quintessential literature?  Well, that depends on your point of view.  What do you consider significant, or which book do you think has literary merit, has historical significance?  What does the world at large think? Whose definition do you go by?   

Mental Floss 13 Quintessential Gen X Books

Book Bub's 76 Books and Novels That Everyone Should Read in Their Lifetime.  I've read 23 and several on the shelves waiting to be read. 

Penguin Random House The Must-Read Books of 2025 (So Far)  An eclectic list of which I've read other books by most of the authors but not these books. 

I'm still working my way through Peter Boxall's 1001 Books to Read before you Die. Periodically I'll thumb through the pages, check off the books I've read, notate which ones I have on my shelves, and mark the ones I know I'll never read. But then again, my interests might change in 10 years, so they'll get a second or third chance. 

Have you discovered that there are books you wouldn't have read ten, twenty, thirty years ago, that now they spark your interest? Yes, me too. 

 Happy reading!

BW35: September Dragon of the Month: Dulcy

 

Happy Sunday and Welcome to September which is Happy Cat Month, National Sewing Month, National Courtesy Month, and Self Improvement month to name a few.   This week we celebrate Labor Day, Pierce your ears day, Skyscraper day, Bring your manners to work day, Be late to something day, Fight procrastination day and the all important read a book day.  Hopefully not all at the same time. *grin*

Our dragon of the month is Dulcy from the Sonic cartoon and comic series.   According to Sonic Retro: 

"Dulcy is one of the most powerful Freedom Fighters next to Sonic. However, due to her inexperience, she often does a poor job when it comes to landing. She sucks her thumb, occasionally gets disoriented, thinking that she's talking to her "ma" Sabina, is claustrophobic, and likes the color purple and chocolate."

Our next 52 Books bingo category fits right in with our A to Z and Back Again letter of the week which is Rain Forest. 

James Rollins is one of my favorite authors and his mystery thriller Amazonia is an excellent read. 

From Goodreads Rainforests and Jungles of the World The Poisonwood Bible, Heart of Darkness, Congo, and The Lost City of Z are must reads. 

32 Books Set In The Amazon Rainforest That Will Make you Feel Like You’re There  - Mostly nonfiction

Ten Great Books set in the Amazon Rainforest - Mostly fiction

Happy armchair travels! 

BW34: Science

 

Happy Sunday!  Let's dabble with science this week, either fact or fiction. There are so many ways to go with this subject.  Star Wars, Star Trek, the cosmos, history, research, time, space, extraterrestrials, artificial intelligence, etc. 

Books About Space That Are Out of this World

Crossroads of Science and Fiction

10 Fiction Books About Scientists That Will Blow Your Mind

100 or so Books that shaped a Century of Science

Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

Have fun! 

BW33: Thought Provoking

 

Happy Sunday!  One of our 52 Book Bingo categories and our A to Z and Back Again, coincides with T which stands for thought provoking.  I just finished one which was a bit thought provoking - Orbital by Samantha Harvey.  It was a small book at 224 pages, but very dense.  I thought it would be a good book to read in bed to put me to sleep. Which it did, but like the book, for the past week my brain circled all night, same as the book, orbiting around and around the earth, detailing list after list of things, places, points, etc giving me much to think about.   Wonderful writing and a good example of list writing for other writers, but not much of a plot.  

The most thought provoking book you’ve ever read

10 Thought-Provoking Books You Must Read

"I Couldn't Bring Myself To Pick Up Another Book For Weeks": Avid Readers Are Sharing The Most Life-Changing Book They've Ever Read

13 Books That Will Make You Think For Days

57 Books That Truly Make You Think

Happy reading!