BW39: Book News

George Goodwin Kilburne-  In The Garden 

Happy Sunday! My mind is full of chatter, complexity, corniness, characters and coltish conundrums, and since I haven't entertained you with babbling and bookish news in a while, now seems the perfect time.

For the couple months,  I've been immersed in the 18th century with Claire and Jamie in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series and just finished the whole series ending with Written in My Own Heart's Blood.  However, Gabaldon says there is more to come and is in the midst of  researching and writing the 9th book Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone.  Fortunately Heart's Blood didn't end in a cliff hanger so I'm not left with an unfinished feeling.  It's one of those series, just like J.D. Robb's In Death Series in which I will no doubt, want to revisit at some point.

This week the book world is celebrating Banned Book Week which runs from September 25 through October 1st and the theme is diversity.  Check out the list of frequently challenged diverse books and be sure to check out ALA's free webinar on September 29 on how Authors and Librarian's respond.

And while you are delving into banned books, check out the Library of Congress list of Books that Shaped America.

The 2016 Nobel Prize winners in all categories including literature will be announced the first week of October  and Literary Saloon (19 September post) contemplate who the winner will be along with links to several discussions.

Also check out PW's Inside the 2016 National Book Award Nominees. The finalists will be announced in October and the winner in November.

Have you ever read The Lottery by Shirley Jackson?  Publisher's Weekly lists 11 Things You probably didn't know about Shirley as well as Atlantic Monthly's review of  Haunted Womanhood.

And speaking of haunted, next week begins our October Spooktacular reading month.  Start brainstorming and figure out which spooky read you want to tackle.


Happy Reading!

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.

BW38: September Equinox

Paul Hugues - Women in the Park 

I've got James Taylor's You Got a Friend running through my brain today.

When you're down and troubled and you need a helping hand

and nothing, whoa, nothing is going right.

Close your eyes and think of me and soon I will be there

to brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am

I'll come running to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there, yeah, yeah,

you've got a friend.

La la la la ~~~~~~  *grin* 

As of Thursday, it's Fall here in the Northern Hemisphere,and for those in the Southern half, Spring.   It's all about the leaves, springing forth  to brighten our lives or changing colors and decorating the earth.  ~Beautiful either way~.

Since I have music running through my head, let's run with it and see where it goes.  My trusty thesaurus  gives me for lyrical: melodious, soulful, passionate, dulcet, agreeable and orchestral to name a few.   Feeling a bit poetical as well as epic, dramatic, song-like or tuneful yet?  What about the melody of crackling leaves, the romance of flowers, the wind whistling through the trees, the song of birds and odes to the moon.  Hmm! There seems to be a number of directions to go, so pick a musical word or theme and see where it leads you.

My meanderings lead me to K.M. Aul and his Senses Novels #1 Aura and #2 Dulcet.

Have fun!

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.

BW37: Time for another mini challenge

Courtesy of Love to Sew 

Happy Sunday!   Just realized we are halfway through the year and I haven't done a Pick a Book by the Cover or Pick a Random Book mini challenge yet. Shame on me. Your mission this month is to go on an adventure to the library or book store in search of a new book.  Or play along using your home shelves if short of funds or time.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pick a book based on its cover.  Don't read the synopsis on the back or the inside flap.  Tell us what you think the story is going to be about based on the cover.  Then after you've read it, let us know if you were close or no cigar.

Or you can pick a Random book based on its position on the shelf.  To choose a book: decide in advance  (1) which Genre, (2)  two numbers between 1 and 5, and (3) one number between 1 and 30. Using these numbers, find the chosen Genre in the book store or library, count over certain number of sections in the aisle, go down that number of shelves and count to the 3rd number and that's the book you'll get.

That's how I found Anne Bishop's Written in Red a couple years back. I chose the science fiction/fantasy aisle, counted over 3 sections, then down 2 shelves and looked for the 15th book on the shelf.

You can also challenge yourself to spread your reading wings a bit and chose a genre you don't normally read.

Have fun exploring!

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.

BW36: September Sojourns through the South

Welcome to September Sojourns through the South celebrating all things southern as well as our annual Banned Books Months.   We are going to stroll through the southern states with our author flavors of the month William Faulkner as well as Zora Neale Hurston.

William Faulkner is known for his southern literature and won a Nobel Prize in 1955 for his fictional story A Fable and posthumusly in 1963 for The Reivers.  However, he is best known for As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury. He set the standard for southern literature which focuses on the American South's history as well as family, community, racial tensions and social class.

Check out his 1965 interview in the Paris Review with Jean Stein in The Art of Fiction #12 as well as Ol' Curiosities Book Shoppe What is Southern Literature.

Zora Neale Hurston was a cultural anthropologist and writer during the Harlem Renaissance and is best known for Their Eyes Were Watching God,and  wrote 4 novels as well as numerous short stories, essays and plays. After she died, Alice Walker wrote an essay about Hurston introducing her work to a new generation of readers. 

Check out The Power of Prose presented by PBS on African American Women as well as History.com's The Harlem Renaissance.

Since I think we should start celebrating the freedom to read now, September is also designated as our annual Banned Books Month. For more on  Banned Book week which runs from September 25 through October 1, check out Banned Books website to read about this year's theme on diversity.

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.