BW17: Bookish miscellanea

 

Happy Sunday!  Did you know today is World Penguin Day? My favorite documentary is March of the Penguins narrated by Morgan Freeman, and the movie Happy Feet always makes me want to dance and sing along with Mumble, and Mr. Poppers Penguins makes for a  charming, amusing read as well as a wonderful movie.  This week's odd holidays include taking time out this week to eat a pretzel or a steak, tell a story, kiss your mate, read a poem or dance by the light of the moon, to the music of a sax or trombone, while the horses race a mile and we have fun with a new hairstyle.  I'm sure we can find a book theme in there somewhere. And we segue from April's world of the poetry into May's land of mystery. 

Exciting Book Adaptations to Watch Out For

Playwrights, Magicians, and Zombies: 16 Fictional Shakespeares

The Creative Sherlock Holmes: Appreciating the Rational Thinker's Hidden Artistry

Chinese-Inspired Fantasy Books That Reframe Familiar Fairy Tales

Compiling the Canon

Five tourist trips in England inspired by classic novels

Terry Pratchett’s debut turns 50: ‘At 17 he showed promise of a brilliant mind’

18 YA Verse Novels To Pick Up During National Poetry Month

10 Unstoppable Women Detectives

Birthdays past and present:  Walter De La Mare,  James Fenton, Marcus Aurelius ,  Bernard Malamud, Jessie Fauset, Terry Pratchett,  Yusef Komunyakaa, Larry Niven, and Annie Dillard. 

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Count of Monte Cristo readalong 

Chapter 34. The Colosseum

Chapter 35. La Mazzolata

Chapter 36. The Carnival at Rome

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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.

BW16: National Poetry Month

 

National Poetry Month Poster by Bao Lu

April is National Poetry Month and it's time to build a rhyme.  Use a letter, use a vowel, write a ode to a towel, or write rhapsodies about an owl. From blank verse to free verse, from haiku to dodoitsu, from nonet to sonnets, from the abstract to the sublime, be it weighty or flighty,  anyone can do it, if you dare write a line.     

Ode to C

Big C 

Little C

What Begins with C

Thanks to Dr. Seuss

We won't end up in a Tree

Calliopes and carousels

chugging, chanting, caroling. 

Circling without a care. 

Courteous citizens

develop the knack,

Reaching, stretching.

Fingers to snatch

That colorful, oval,

 brass ring.

Homonyms

As the son walked in the sun, he couldn’t decide if he was right to write about the tale of the tail.  Who would believe it would affect him so and change the effect of the rain when he decided to reign. Nobody told him to fold his cards or fold his clothes.  He preferred to bail out the boat rather than to bail out his brother. She preferred to count out her cents and ignore all common sense while the scent of the horse made him hoarse. The whole time he dug the hole, she was at the inn, jammed in the door jamb. The knight came in the night to pick up the male only to discover it was only mail.  Who was she to meddle with the medal and allowed him to speak aloud.  He was awed even though she was odd, when she offered him cash and instead handed him her cache of keys.  The boy was rather coarse when he showed him the course.   

  

Okay your turn.  Are you drawing a blank? Sit with paper and pen and don't think, just write, let your brain play and see what you have to say.   If I can do it, so can you. 

 Blank

What do you see,

When you draw a blank?

Letters, foggy and fuzzy

 Roam and flee.

Words, simple.

Yet not.

Like butterflies about to land.

Do you catch them or wait?

As they sit on the tip of your tongue.

or the back of your hand.

Rhythm and rhyme,

Let it be.

Make you see.

Take your time. 

Words, simple.

Yet not.

Pens bleed

Across the page.

Strokes and symbols

Take on need.

Blank and blind

Thoughts and letters,

Illuminate and illustrate

What comes to mind.

Words, simple.

Yet not.

Do you dare????  Please share! 

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

Chapter 31. Italy: Sinbad the Sailor

Chapter 32. The Waking

Chapter 33. Roman Bandits

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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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BW15: 52 Books Bingo - Cloistered Life

 

Saint Guilhem Cloister

Happy Sunday! Our next 52 Books Bingo category is the Cloistered Life. Years and years ago when I was a teenager...  Why does it sound like the opening crawl to Star Wars?   "In a galaxy far far away...."   *grin* 

No, I did not wish to become a nun when I was younger, but was always fascinated by the idea. Our high school religious class took a field trip to a cloistered convent and it was an interesting experience to say the least.  We were allowed to talk to the sisters through a screen in which they could only see us from the waist up, a privacy screen raised in case any outside visitor was inappropriately dressed. They were a giggly group of ladies who enjoyed their simple life of prayer and work inside the convent walls.  

The experience stuck with me which is probably why I enjoy stories about hermits and anchorites, monks and nuns, abbeys and monasteries, and lives lived in solitude.  Books such as historical fiction The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader, biographical stories such as And Then There Were Nuns by Jane Christmas and  Thomas Merton's Seven Storey Mountain, and fictional books such as Dean Koontz's suspense story  Innocence in which a young man lives beneath a city in solitude and Louise Penny's The Beautiful Mystery in which Armand Gamache tries to solve a murder within a cloistered monastery. 

Delve into books about Cloistered Life, Monks,  Hermits,  Anchorites or recluses.  

Silence in Literature, Catharsis, and Internal Retreats

The Silent Protagonist

The top 10 loners in fiction

There are a number of ways to go with this category and you can interpret it anyway you like, so have fun following rabbit trails and see where they lead you.  

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

Chapter 28. The Prison Register

Chapter 29. The House of Morrel & Son

Chapter 30. The Fifth of September

We are at the end of volume one which ends with chapter 27.  How has Dantes changed since the beginning?  He's gone from innocence to ...? What happened to the characters in his life during his imprisonment?  Who does he save?  How will he get his revenge? Share your thoughts and comments on what has taken place so far.  Also any favorite quotes if you'd like. 

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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.

BW14: Fictional Librarians - Irene Winters

 

Happy Easter to all who celebrate!   Sharpen your pens and pencils and get ready to write some poetry, tell a joke or two, or plants some flowers, for April is upon us and with it National Poetry Month, National Humor month, and Lawn and Garden Month.

We're pulling up anchor and sailing through a worm hole to the secret world of Irene Winters, a librarian spy in the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman.  The library is set in a secret dimension, and locations and time periods vary depending on which door Irene chooses to go through as she hunts for dangerous books.    The stories are pure fantasy with dragons, secret societies, detectives, magic and plenty of humor and of course, books. Mystery and adventure follows Irene where ever she goes.

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.

Learn more about Genevieve Cogman through her interview with Fantasy Literature, and Penguin Random House video by Cogman.

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

Chapter 25. The Unknown
Chapter 26. The Pont du Gard Inn
Chapter 27. The Story

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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.