BW13: Ladies of Fiction - Elizabeth Hunter

Welcome to April and National Poetry Month, National Humor Month, International Guitar Month, and as well as Stress Awareness Month and Lawn and Garden Month.  What a great combination!  The first Wednesday in April is National Walking Day so grab your walking shoes and enjoy some fresh air.  Reading, music, humor, poetry, walking and gardening will help relax you mind, body, and soul. 

This month we celebrate our Ladies of Fiction with novelist Elizabeth Hunter who has written over 30 romance, contemporary fantasy, and paranormal mystery novels.   She resides in California and traveled extensively, researching world mythologies, history and the bonds of friendship, love, and family.  I discovered Hunter's books a few years ago when I read The Scribe in her Irin Chronicles series and was hooked.  I also have the Elemental Mysteries series as well as a couple books from the Elemental world books in my virtual stacks. I'm looking forward to reading her newest book, Suddenly Psychic, released February 16, 2020 and available on Kindle Unlimited.

There are a number of ways to complete the bookology 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.

Learn more about Elizabeth through interviews with She Wolf Reads, with Susan Illene of Dark Fantasy, and Book Reader Chronicles.

We are also beginning our readalong of  J.R.R. Tolkein's Fellowship of the Rings for this quarter and I'll post more about it next week. 

Stay safe, be well, and happy reading!

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BW12: Happy Birthday Billy Collins

Marginalia

by

Billy Collins

Sometimes the notes are ferocious,

skirmishes against the author

raging along the borders of every page

in tiny black script.

If I could just get my hands on you,

Kierkegaard, or Conor Cruise O'Brien,

they seem to say,

I would bolt the door and beat some logic into your head.

Other comments are more offhand, dismissive -

'Nonsense.' 'Please! ' 'HA! ! ' -

that kind of thing.

I remember once looking up from my reading,

my thumb as a bookmark,

trying to imagine what the person must look like

why wrote 'Don't be a ninny'

alongside a paragraph in The Life of Emily Dickinson.

Students are more modest

needing to leave only their splayed footprints

along the shore of the page.

One scrawls 'Metaphor' next to a stanza of Eliot's.

Another notes the presence of 'Irony'

fifty times outside the paragraphs of A Modest Proposal.

Or they are fans who cheer from the empty bleachers,

Hands cupped around their mouths.

'Absolutely,' they shout

to Duns Scotus and James Baldwin.

'Yes.' 'Bull's-eye.' 'My man! '

Check marks, asterisks, and exclamation points

rain down along the sidelines.

And if you have managed to graduate from college

without ever having written 'Man vs. Nature'

in a margin, perhaps now

is the time to take one step forward.

We have all seized the white perimeter as our own

and reached for a pen if only to show

we did not just laze in an armchair turning pages;

we pressed a thought into the wayside,

planted an impression along the verge.

Even Irish monks in their cold scriptoria

jotted along the borders of the Gospels

brief asides about the pains of copying,

a bird signing near their window,

or the sunlight that illuminated their page-

anonymous men catching a ride into the future

on a vessel more lasting than themselves.

And you have not read Joshua Reynolds,

they say, until you have read him

enwreathed with Blake's furious scribbling.

Yet the one I think of most often,

the one that dangles from me like a locket,

was written in the copy of Catcher in the Rye

I borrowed from the local library

one slow, hot summer.

I was just beginning high school then,

reading books on a davenport in my parents' living room,

and I cannot tell you

how vastly my loneliness was deepened,

how poignant and amplified the world before me seemed,

when I found on one page

A few greasy looking smears

and next to them, written in soft pencil-

by a beautiful girl, I could tell,

whom I would never meet-

'Pardon the egg salad stains, but I'm in love.'

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BW11: March Equinox

Welcome to my virtual parlor, dear hearts.  How is everyone doing?  We operate an audio repair shop which is constantly busy and we've been hearing all kinds of stories from our customers. A musician today said he's torn about whether he should cancel his latest gig or not as music brings happiness and keeps people from getting depressed. As it is a small venue, he says the people can practice social distancing.  

As Plato said: “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”  

The same can be said about books too!  So this week we are celebrating the vernal equinox,  here in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumn equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.  Nature is in a state of glorious metamorphosis, a transition. 

While we all hibernate as best we can, your mission this week is to read a book about things to do with nature, both physical and spiritual, seasons, spring or autumn, or transitions and all the wonderful synonyms that go along such as upheaval, growth, conversions, flux, etc.   You may also consider reading a book with Spring or Autumn in the title or spelling out the word Spring and/or Autumn.

Spring reading: 10 book being adapted for tv/film.

44 Books To Read Over Spring Break If Your Travel Plans Are Canceled

100 must read books about nature.

Popular Nature Spirituality Books

Autumn reads

Authors with seasons in their names

Stay safe, be well and have fun following rabbit trails! 

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Please share your book 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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BW10: 52 Books Bingo - Creative

Bridge to Nowhere

by

Robin

On a bridge to Nowhere

To see No One,

Who could be Any one,

Who has traveled,

happy and safe,

everywhere and somewhere.

Music leads him

from near to far

across the bridge

to Nowhere.

The sky is full of light

sparkling and clear.

The air is full of love,

plenty and dear.

There, they sing and

dance and play,

Making up lines as they

have plenty to say.

Past the bridge that

leads to Nowhere,

They live to the rhythm

Of bass, cymbals, and drums

And maybe

A horn or flute or two.

Feet stamp, hands clap

And hips sway

To the beat

of the drum.

Who laughs, What sings

and Baby laughs with joy.

How do you do?

Welcome to Nowhere.

Let's get creative! Our next 52 Books Bingo category is creative which can be interpreted a number of ways. Granted the majority of books are the product of creative writing so you could just read any book.  However... What does it mean to be creative? What if you think you aren't a creative person, and are wondering how to be more creative. What can you do to inspire or improve upon your creativity?

There are books a plenty to inspire and nourish your creative soul, unleash your creativity or unleash your creative potential. You may want to get creative with Art, or read historical fiction about artists, main characters who are artists or about what makes a great artist tick.

Your creativity may lean towards being creative in the kitchen, decorating your house, landscape design or Arts and Crafts. Perhaps you enjoy Creative Writing, enjoy writing poetry or songs or comedy. You can also go off the beaten path with Popular creative literature books.

Have fun following rabbit trails or as Dr. Seuss would say:

“You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! 

Your mountain is waiting, 

So… get on your way!” 

What would you like to create this week?

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Please share your book 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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BW9: Ladies of Fiction - Deborah Crombie

Welcome to March and National Women's History Month as well as Irish American Heritage Month, National Craft Month. and Paws to read Month. This week is Read an ebook week which shouldn't be to hard for any us. *grin* It is also Will Eisner's Week in celebration of his legacy, comic books, graphic novels and free speech.

This month we celebrate our Ladies of Fiction with mystery novelist Deborah Crombie who wrote the 18 book series about Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mysteries set in England. Crombie currently resides in Texas, but still visits England frequently. She previously lived in Chester, England, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Her first novel, A Share of Death, was inspired by a past visit to Yorkshire and homesickness for England. Happy to hear she is currently working on the 19th book.

I previously read Sound of Broken Glass, #15 in the series, totally out of order (silly me,) so wasn't familiar with the characters. However, I enjoyed the story and it made me want to read the whole series, which really should be read in order as the story follows the progression of the characters lives.

There are a number of ways to complete the bookology 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.

Learn more about Deborah Crombie through a Q & A with Louise Penny , In conversation with Barbara Peters, owner of Poisoned Pen Bookstore, and Author Stories Podcast. 

Which brings me to the question of the week:  What do you like about mystery stories and who are your favorite mystery writers?  

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Please share your book 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.

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.