BW35: Fictional Librarians - Jess Brightwell

 

Happy Sunday!  As we slide into September, it's time to climb back aboard our airship, the Pum Deg Dau o Lygrau and weigh anchor and sail into the world of The Great Library, one of the series written by Rachel Caine who passed away last year. Our librarian of the month is Jess Brightwell, a young book smuggler on the streets of London who is admitted to the Great Library in Alexandria as a postulant. 

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.

Dear Rachel Caine: A Thank You and Goodbye,  

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Count of Monte Cristo 

Chapter 88. The Insult

Chapter 89. The Night

Chapter 90. The Meeting

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BW34: Doing is Being by Ray Bradbury

 

Today is the anniversary of one of my favorite writers Ray Bradbury who entertains and inspires me with his writing.  

Doing is Being

By 

Ray Bradbury

Doing is being.

To have done’s not enough.

To stuff yourself with doing — that’s the game.

To name yourself each hour by what’s done,

To tabulate your time at sunset’s gun

And find yourself in acts

You could not know before the facts

You wooed from secret self, which much needs wooing,

So doing brings it out,

Kills doubt by simply jumping, rushing, running

Forth to be

The new-discovered me.

To not do is to die,

Or lie about and lie about the things

You just might do some day.

Away with that!

Tomorrow empty stays

If no man plays it into being

With his motioned way of seeing.

Let your body lead your mind —

Blood the guide dog to the blind;

So then practice and rehearse

To find heart-soul’s universe,

Knowing that by moving/seeing

Proves for all time: Doing’s being!

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Count of Monte Cristo

Chapter 85. The Journey

Chapter 86. The Trial

Chapter 87. The Challenge

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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.

BW33: Hugo Gernsback

 

This week, we are celebrating the anniversary of the birthday of Hugo Gernsback who was born August 16, 1884.  Yes, you may be experiencing deja vu since I love to revisit Hugo every four years or so.  

Hugo Gernsbacher was born in Luxembourg and immigrated to the United States in 1904.  He was fascinated by electricity and invented a dry battery which he patented upon arriving in the United States.   He established a radio and electrical supply house called Electro Importing Company and developed a small portable radio transmitter called the Telimco Wireless Telegraph.    He went on to patent 80 inventions.

Gernsback  published a magazine for electrical experimenters called Modern Electronics which was later taken over by Popular Science.   To fill up some empty space in the magazine, he decided to write a futuristic story which ran in 12 installments. The story named Ralph 124C 41+ was later published in 1926. It was set in the 27th century and is still available today.  

He started a number of magazines including the first magazine dedicated exclusively to science fiction called  Amazing Stories in 1926.  Hugo coined the term scientifiction which later went on to be known as Science Fiction.

He unfortunately went bankrupt and lost control of Amazing Stories. He quickly bounced back and went on to publish three more magazines:  Air Wonder Stories, Science Wonder Stories and Science Wonder Quarterly.  Air Wonder and Science Wonder were merged into one magazine Wonder stories in 1930 and sold it in 1936 to Beacon Publications where it continued to be published for 20 more years.  Digital copies of Amazing Stories, Air Wonder, Science Wonder, and Wonder magazines are available to view through the Pulp Magazines Project. 

Gernsback is lauded as one of the fathers of science fiction. In 1960 he was given a special Hugo Award as The Father of Magazine Science Fiction. The award were unofficially called the Hugo's until the name was officially changed beginning in 1993. 

Hugo Gernsback died in New York on August 19, 1967 at the age 83.  

If you are in the mood for more science fiction and fantasy fun, don't forget you can dive into Mind Voyages and explore the Hugo and Nebula winners and nominees, take side trips through the different decades reading the nominees, check out Philip K. Dick and Robert Heinlein or the all inclusive I'm going to Pluto because Pluto is still a planet as far as I'm concerned Voyage in which you can mix it up, choose the number of books you want to read from each voyage, include some new books you pick up along the way and enjoy the ride. 

Links to all the voyages are available on the Mind Voyages blog.

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Count of Monte Cristo 

Chapter 82. The Burglary

Chapter 83. The Hand of God

Chapter 84. Beauchamp

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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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BW32: 52 Books Bingo - Gods and Goddesses

 

Josephine Wall's Diana 

Happy Sunday! Time for another round of 52 Books Bingo and our next category is Gods and Goddesses. Delve into the world of the fictional or factual, mythological or spiritual, out of this world or part of this world, from the good, the bad, and even the not so pretty.  Read a book about or with God or Goddess in the title or on the cover, a character who is immortal or about a character versus God or the Supernatural. There are many ways to go with this selection so have fun with it and explore. 

10 Magical Fantasy Books Inspired by Irish Mythology

10 Best Norse Mythology Books

Pocket Dictionary of Aztec & Maya Gods & Goddesses

Goodreads Chinese Mythology books

Top 10 goddesses in fiction

14 Mythology-Inspired Books Featuring Gods and Goddesses

12 Divine Fantasy Novels in Which the Gods Walk the Land

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Count of Monte Cristo 

Chapter 79. The Lemonade

Chapter 80. The Accusation

Chapter 81. The Room of the Retired Baker

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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.

BW31: Fictional Librarian - Lindsay Norris

Happy Friendship Day!  Cheers to all our reading buddies who have made our bookish adventures entertaining and illuminating.  Welcome to August which is also Family Fun Month, Admit Your Happy Month, National Picnic Month as well as Romance Month.  Our fictional librarian of the month is Lindsay Norris from the Library Lover's Mystery series written by Jenn McKinlay.  Lindsay is the director of the Briar Creek Library who started crafternoon Thursday for patrons to do crafts and discuss books at the same time and turns into an amateur sleuth when her friend becomes a prime suspect in a murder. 

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.

Happy Trails! 

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Count of Monte Cristo Readalong

Chapter 76. Progress of Cavalcanti the Younger

Chapter 77. Haydée

Chapter 78. We hear From Yanina

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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.