Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks: September 2019

Sunday, September 29, 2019

BW40: Whodunit Bookology - Toby Peters

Our October Whodunit Bookology detective of the the month is Toby Peters, created by Stuart Kaminsky who has authored more than 50 novels and is the former president of the Mystery Writers Association.

There are a number of ways to complete the bookology challenge, including but not limited, to the suggestions below:

Read the first book in the series.
Read one book per letter in the character's first or last name.
Read one book per letter in the author's first or last name.
If you're really ambitious, one book per letter in the character's first and last name.
Follow in a character's footsteps and read a book set in the country or time period of the character.

Learn more about the character Toby Peters, the late Stuart Kaminsky, and his interviews with mystery writers in Behind the Mysteries.

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Sunday, September 22, 2019

BW39: To Autumn by John Keats

To Autumn

John Keats - 1795-1821

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,

Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cider-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

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Sunday, September 15, 2019

BW38: Proust invokes the Past

Courtesy of Wikipedia

I have Marcel Proust on my mind today. A couple years ago I read Swann's Way which is the first volume of In Search For Lost Time which includes seven volumes:

Swann’s Way
In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower
The Guermantes Way
Sodom and Gomorrah
The Prisoner
The Fugitive
Time Regained

I had a love/hate relationship with the story. Proust is passionate about everything and long winded; his sentences flow like a river, side streams branching out in every direction. He’s a romantic at heart, with a sense of humor, analyzing everything. Sometimes I got caught up in his whirlpools of emotion and other times, I felt like I was a leaf floating on the surface of the water, bobbing along with no direction, no purpose. His stories aren’t meant to be casually read. His words require you to immerse yourself entirely, his stories experienced and not just observed. Check out Proust's Madeleine moment as well as Pieces of Light discussion on Proustian Memory and the power of memory and sensory experiences.

“Taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remained poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.” ~Marcel Proust

Which led to my very own Madeliene moment.

It’s on the tip of my tongue, both physically, mentally and emotionally. A taste, a scent, that takes me back. But back to where? A fleeting memory of time past. So amazing how smells and flavors can catch me unaware, make me stop and reflect. There have been many times over the years when a scent wafted past my nose and took me back to high school, or an old house, a day on the lake, or a moment of grief.

Honeysuckle takes me back to my first home in Texas and sipping on a honeysuckle bush outside a friend’s house. I can see our block, our neighbors, long forgotten and pushed a bit further into the background of my conscious with each move. My dad was in the military so there were many moves over the years. Our house was the gathering spot and I remember long summer days and evenings playing hide-n-seek, head stands on the front lawn, and the boy next door teasing me.

Growing up and even into my 20’s, I couldn’t understand my parents fixation with food when we traveled. The concern of where and when we were going to stop and eat. Do we eat to live or live to eat? It wasn’t until later I realized it wasn’t the food, but the place. Food takes on a different flavor when we equate it with a place, use it as a placeholder for our memories. A favorite restaurant takes on a new meaning when it isn’t the food we are going for, but the camaraderie and a place to rest, think and talk.

When my mother died, dad insisted on going to one of their favorite restaurants. Little did I know they’d practically adopted the owner and the staff into the family. Surrounded by love, familiar scents and comfort food, it helped him grieve.

Favorite foods, recipes from the past passed on, not just because they taste good, but because it reminds us of mom and grandma and of bright days cooking and puttering around the kitchen, eating and playing games.

I love how Proust poetically and philosophically leads us to the point of memory. He could have very well said – It’s on the tip of my tongue. But where is the beauty in that?

In 1886, when Proust was 14, he was asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding his writing. The original manuscript was recovered and in 2003, it was sold at auction for $120,000. Below are the questions:

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
What is your greatest fear?
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Which living person do you most admire?
What is your greatest extravagance?
What is your current state of mind?
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
On what occasion do you lie?
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Which living person do you most despise?
What is the quality you most like in a man?
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
When and where were you happiest?
Which talent would you most like to have?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Where would you most like to live?
What is your most treasured possession?
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
What is your favorite occupation?
What is your most marked characteristic?
What do you most value in your friends?
Who are your favorite writers?
Who is your hero of fiction?
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Who are your heroes in real life?
What are your favorite names?
What is it that you most dislike?
What is your greatest regret?
How would you like to die?
What is your motto?

How would you answer these questions? And perhaps create your very own madeleine while doing so.

Create a perpetual challenge for yourself and join me in reading Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. I'll be continuing my read with In Search of Young Girls in Flower

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Sunday, September 8, 2019

BW37: 52 Books Bingo - Medical/Legal Thrillers

Our next 52 Books Bingo category is Medical and Legal Thrillers. Medical thrillers may involve a mysterious disease such as Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain or center around doctors or medical personnel such as in Robin Cook's Coma. Legal thrillers center around lawyers and judges, legal issues, and courtroom drama such as John Grisham's The Firm or Brad Meltzer's The Tenth Justice.

The International Thriller Writers society has published several short story anthologies including Thrillers: 100 Must Reads and is a great source for writers who write all types of thrillers. Another great source is Crime Reads.

10 Best Legal Thrillers That Bring the Courtroom Drama according to Celedon Books.

ABA Journal's Pick for the Top 10 Law Novels of the Last 10 Years

BestThrillers.com The 21 Best Legal Thrillers of the 21st Century, Ranked

10 Legal Thrillers on Alafair Burke’s Bookshelf

Pinterest list of Medical Thrillers

Crimereads 9 Great Medical Thrillers chosen by a physician and the Enduring Power of the Medical Thriller.

Mystery Sequels Medical Thriller authors and Legal Thriller authors.

Amazon New Releases - Legal Thrillers and Medical Thrillers

Indian Prairie Public Library All Time Faves: Medical Thrillers

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Sunday, September 1, 2019

BW36: Whodunit Bookology - Darko Dawson

Our September Whodunit Bookology detective is Detective Inspector Darko Dawson and his story is set in Accra, Ghana. We are introduced to Inspector Dawson in Wife of the Gods, the first book in a 5 book series written by Kwei Quartey.

Kwei Quartey was born in Ghana where both his parents lectured at the University of Ghana. Although he loved books and writing, during Kwei's teen years he decided to become a doctor. He never gave up his love for writing and found a way to blend both his writing and medical career. He currently resides in Pasadena, California, and works at a wound care clinic three days a week, dedicating the rest of his time to writing.

There are a number of ways to complete the bookology challenge, including but not limited, to the suggestions below:

Read the first book in the series.
Read one book per letter in the character's first or last name.
Read one book per letter in the author's first or last name.
If you're really ambitious, one book per letter in the character's first and last name.
Follow in a character's footsteps and read a book set in the country or time period of the character.

Learn more about Kwei Quartey through his blog NPR interviews, or Criminal Elements Welcome to Ghana review of Wife of the Gods. Check out LitNet's Indepth review of Wife of the Gods if you don't mind a few spoilers.

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