Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks: February 2021

Sunday, February 28, 2021

BW9: Fictional Librarian - The Librarian once known as Dr. Horace Worblehat

Goodbye February, it's been fun. Grab ahold of the rope ladder and climb back aboard the good ship Pumdeg Dau o Lyfrau for our March travels through the parallel universe of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Our guide is our fictional librarian of the month - The Librarian, once known as Dr. Horace Worblehat. He was changed into an orangutan by a beam of magic, decided he liked it and didn't want to be changed back to a human so had his name excised from all records.

There are a variety of ways to complete this challenge with plenty of rabbit trails. Read a book with one or more of the following (but not limited to) and have fun exploring:

Spell out the first and/or last name of the character's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover
Spell out the first and/or last name of the author - one book per letter
Read one or more books in the series.
Read any book written by the author
Follow in a character's footsteps and read a book set in the country or time period of the story.
Follow in the author's footsteps and read a book set in their place or time of birth.
Read a book with the first or last name of the character or author in the title.

Find out more about The Librarian with Making the Librarian, Do not call him a Monkey, and Terry Pratchett with A Conversation with Terry, and with Fading Memory, Terry revisits Carpet World.

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong:

We all got off to a slow start, so I'm throwing in a week to catch up and finish reading through Chapter 12. I'm enjoying the story so far. The characters are fascinating, the imagery and emotions so vivid. I'm reading it slowly, absorbing the nuances and tidbits, the politics, the footnotes to history. The narrator's similes and metaphors add character to the settings. What do you think about Villefort and his father.? The reasons why Villefort throws Dante in prison? Dante's reaction to Chateau d'IF? I'm reminded of Sir Walter Scott's quote - "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive."

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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.

Sunday, February 21, 2021

BW8: Bridge to Nowhere

Happy Sunday, my lovelies. Did you know Monday is Walk your Dog day, National Margarita day, and International Thinking day. So grab a drink, take a walk with your fur baby, and ponder life, the universe and everything. And don't forget to buy some Girl Scout Cookies since thinking day was created in 1926 during the fourth Girl Guide/Girl Scout International Conference Plus. And the 26th is Tell a Fairy Tale day so read a fairy tale or make up one of your own.

Bridge to Nowhere

On a bridge to Nowhere

To see No One,

Who could be Anyone,

Who has traveled,

Happy and safe,

Everywhere and somewhere.

Music leads Them

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

And 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.

And all the voices ring,

Welcome to Nowhere.

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

You might have noticed I messed up the chapters last week (fixed the count in previous post) and repeated 7 and left out nine. I'm a bit behind myself so no worries and will add in an extra week to catch up if needed.

X Little Cabinet in the Tuileries

XI The Corsican Ogre

XII Father and Son

What things stood out in the last chapters read? Share your thoughts on the characters and their actions so far.

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Sunday, February 14, 2021

BW7: Daughters of Mnemosyne - Erato

Courtesy of Greek Boston

Happy Valentines Day! We are going to dive into the world of romance literature this week as well as love poetry. Our next Daughter of Mnemosyne is Erato, the muse of lyric and love poetry. Her name means the Lovely One and her symbol is the Kithara and she wears of wreath made from myrtle and roses.

How do I love thee, let me count the ways!

Dip your toes into Shakespeare's Sonnets, love poems of Rumi or Pablo Neruda, ancient love Poems from Japan by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu to contemporary poetry written by Rupi Kaur.

Romance novels come in all shapes and sizes and ratings from G to XXX, from the Victorian to the Contemporary, from the simple boy meets girl, to musically inclined heroes and heroines to those set in a fantasy world to the magical and mythical to the not so lost in space

Read a book with Erato in the title

Read a book with roses on the cover or in the title.

18 Feel-Good Books That Will Make You Believe In Love

22 Books to Read on Valentine's Day—Before, After, or Instead of a Hot Date

Quiz Yourself on These Romantic Literary Quotes

Share your favorite love poem and have fun exploring rabbit trails.

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

VII The Interrogation

VIII The Catheau D'If

IX The Evening of the Betrothal

When we practice to deceive... Danglers makes sure Caderousse is drunk enough not to interfere while he entices Fernand by writing a letter and throws it in the corner where he knows Fernand won't be able to resist retrieving and delivering it to the authorities. Once Caderousse understands what Danglers and Fernand have done, why do you think he agrees to stay quiet? Do you think Dantes is a bonapartist or innocently delivering a letter because he promised the captain. Is the scene with Monsieur de Villefort, Marseille's Deputy Crown Prosecutor, a foreshadowing what's to come when Dantes is brought before him. What do you think he'll do? Share your thoughts and comments about the story so far.

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Sunday, February 7, 2021

BW6: 52 Books Bingo - Alternate Reality

A Universe in Bloom by Kevron2001

I enjoy reading books set in alternative worlds which leads to our next 52 Books Bingo quest - Alternate Reality. For argument sake, we could debate that any book of fiction is considered not true and based in an alternate reality. A reality not our own. However, alternate realities could be viewed as an alternate universe, worlds that may or may not co-exist with our own, perhaps parallel, where the laws of nature or totally different, or encompass the past or the present or the future, in which stories bend or fold around our reality and create or recreate or toss history on its ear with what if's.

What do you think the differences are between alternate reality, alternative history, parallel universes, or multiverses? How are they the same?

Physicist Brian Green Explains Why Parallel Universes May Exist and how quantum mechanics and general relativity play a part.

SyFy Wire in the Science behind the fiction talks about What's the reality behind multiverses and alternate realities.

I was surprised to find that the very first science fiction book to delve into alternate realities was written by the Duchess of Newcastle in 1661 - The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish. Which Sam Leith recommends as one of his top 10 outstanding alternate reality stories.

Joanna Kavenna on Five Books, the Best Books on Parallel Worlds, recommends five books she doesn't consider well known. Athough, I think we all are quite familiar with Philip Dick, Lovecraft, and Borges.

Philip Dick's Man in the High Castle, which I have on my shelves and have been meaning to read for quite some time, but never quite gotten around to it, has appeared multiple times during my internet wanderings today, which probably means the universe is telling me to read it now. *grin*

An eclectic mix of books to check out:

Mind Joggle's 11 Unputdownable Books About Alternate Realities

Electric Lit's 9 Mind Bending Books about Parallel Universes

Bookriot's What If? 15 great alternate history books and series.

Goodreads Alternate Universe Books

Have fun following rabbit trails!

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Count of Monte Cristo: Realalong

IV The Plot

V The Betrothal

VI The Deputy Crown Prosecutor

Did you finish chapters one through three? My, my. We have an interesting group of characters. What do you think of Dantes? Danglars is quite manipulative, isn't he? Why do you think Danglars dislikes Dantes? What's up with Caderousse taking advantage of the Dante's father while his son was at sea? Does it speak to the type of person he is and what can we expect from him in the coming days? Does Mercedes think she has Fernand, who she considers to be "her friend, her cousin and her brother" wrapped around her finger and can control him? Dantes immediately sees to the heart of the man and sees an enemy. Something else to take into account. Do you think their ages affect how they react? Share your thoughts and comments about the story so far.

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