BW22: Ladies of Fiction - N.K. Jemisin

 Photographer Laura Hanifin, copyright 2015

Welcome to June, the Rose month and National Gay Pride month, National Accordion Awareness month, National Adopt a Cat month and National Fresh Fruits and Vegetables month. This month we honor DDay, the flag on Flag day, and celebrate the beginning of summer with the summer solstice. 

This month we also celebrate our Ladies of Fiction with N.K. Jemisin, who lives in New York and is the author of numerous science fiction, fantasy, speculative, and mainstream novels and shorts stories including the Broken Earth, Dreamblood, Hundred Thousand Kingdoms series.

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 or novel.

Learn more about Jemisin through New Yorker's Dream Worlds, her interview with the Guardian, and on creating new worlds and playing with imagination.  Coincidently Tor is have a readalong of The Fifth Season for the next six weeks and discussing on twitter under hashtag #tordotreads.

Happy reading! 

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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BW21: Lamplight by May Wedderburn Cannan

Lamplight 

by

May Wedderburn Cannan

Source: Penguin Book of First World War Poetry

We planned to shake the world together, you and I

Being young and very wise;

Now in the light of the green shaded lamp

Almost I see your eyes

Light with the old gay laughter; you and I 

Dreamed greatly of an Empire in those days,

Setting our feet upon laborious ways,

And all you asked of fame

Was crossed swords in the Army List.

We planned a great Empire together, you and I,

Bound only by the sea;

Now in the quiet of a chill Winter's night

Your voice comes hushed to me

Full of forgotten memories; you and I

Dreamed great dreams of our future in those days,

And all I asked of fame

A scarlet cross on my breast, my Dear,

for the swords by your name.

We shall never shake the world together, you and I,

For you gave your life away;

and I think my heart was broken by the war,

Since on a Summer day

You took the road we never spoke of, you and I

Dreamed greatly of an Empire in those days;

You set your feet upon the Western ways

And have no need of fame ---

There's a scarlet cross on my breast, my Dear,

And a torn cross with your name. 

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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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BW20: 52 Books Bingo - Renaissance

Our next 52 Books Bingo category is taking us back in time to the Renaissance which took place between the 14th to 17th centuries and began in Italy with a humanism revolution bringing changes to art, literature, music, philosophy, religion and more.

Famous writers during that period includes William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, Niccolo Machiavelli, Francesco Petrarch, Dante Alighieri, and Geoffrey Chaucer to name a few.  Now would be a perfect time to continue my Dante's Divine Comedy read as I still haven't read Purgatorio yet and it's been glaring at me from my shelves. *grin*

Let's not forget the ladies with Shakespeare’s Sisters: A Celebration of Renaissance Women Writers

Renaissance writers who shaped the modern world

Biographies and history books on the Renaissance

Reading the Renaissance: the guilty pleasures of historical fiction

Sarah Dunant's top 10 books on the Renaissance

Popular 14th Century Novels, 15th Century, and 16th Century and popular Renaissance books.

While we are time traveling, try moving forward in time to the 1920's and the Renaissance Women: 12 Female Writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

I currently have several Renaissance books in my shelves including Dante's Purgatorio, Machiavelli's The Prince as well as historical fiction authors Sarah Dunant's Sacred Hearts as well as Stephanie Storey's Oil and Marble in my book shelves which I'm looking forward to reading soon.

Have fun armchair traveling through the Renaissance.

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BW19: Happy Mother's Day

Willow Tree - Tenderness

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and 

sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity;

when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, 

still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts 

and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and 

cause peace to return to our hearts.” ― Washington Irving

This week is dedicated to all mom's everywhere including our angel moms. She who goes by many names including ma, mama, mum, mother, mumsy, mamman, mutter, mathair, mor, madra, majka, maji, mater and my favorite, she who rules the roost. Yes I made that last one up but it's true isn't it! My mother ruled the roost with love and schedules when I was growing up, keeping me and my four siblings in line. Which is probably why we are all so organized to this day with our day planners and white boards and charts. *grin*

Your mission this week is to read a book about moms or with mom characters or with mother in the title. Or spell out mother or ma or use one of the many variations, reading one book per letter in the title.

19 Badass Literary Moms Who Need To Be Celebrated

Our favourite mothers in literature

11 of the Best Moms in Children’s Literature

Mothers in literature: the best books about the closest bond

Psst, Moms! 6 Enticing Books for When You Need a Break

A Mother's Love: 30 Books Celebrating Mighty Moms & Daughters

Nine more great books about motherhood to add to your TBR pile

Who is your favorite literary mom? Two of my favorite moms are Molly Weasley from Harry Potter and Charlotte Mira in J.D. Robb's In Death series who later in the series becomes like a surrogate mom to Eve. So very sweet yet tough.

Happy Mother's Day, my lovelies. 

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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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BW18: Ladies of Fiction - Sharon Kay Penman

Welcome to May which is officially May Mystery Month as well as National Commitment Month which means it's time to reassess all those goals we made at the beginning of the year. Coincidently it is also Date Your Mate month. There are many fun things happening this week such as Bird day, plus May the Fourth be with you and a day long marathon of Star Wars. It's time to party on the 5th with Cinco de Mayo, then celebrate all our wonderful health care folks with National Nurses day on the 6th. National Tourism day on the 7th means lots of armchair traveling before No Socks Day on the 8th so you can play footsies with your significant other. Did anyone lose a sock? The 9th is Lost Sock Memorial day which gives you time to find the matches or discard those lonely unmatched socks. 

This month we celebrate our Ladies of Fiction with Sharon Kay Penman who has written multiple historical fiction novels including the Welsh Trilogy set in 13th Wales, and Angevin Novels set during the time of the Plantagenet Kings, as well as a historical mystery series Justin De Quincy set during the 12th century. Her newest novel The Land Beyond The Sea is also set in the 12th century and surrounds the the reign of King Baldwin IV, the King of Jerusalem.

I'm not a big fan of dry history books so am really picky about historical fiction. I fell in love with Penman's writing years ago with Here Be Dragons. Her books are meant to be savored and read slowly as they are rich in detail and imagery and makes history come alive. After I finished the Welsh trilogy, I wanted to read When Christ and Her Saints Slept which has been on my shelves forever but just hadn't gotten around to it. Now is the perfect time to dive into the world of the Plantagenets.

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 or novel.

Learn more about Sharon through an interview with the Literary Librarian, the Historical Novel Society, and Goodreads Ask the Author.

Happy reading! 

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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.