Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks: April 2023

Sunday, April 30, 2023

BW18: May Author of the Month - Kirsten McKenzie

Kirsten McKenzie

Happy Sunday and Welcome to May! May is Mystery Month as well as Gifts from the Garden Month, National Bike month, and National Photograph month. This week is Be Kind to Animal week. Let's gather around the maypole, honor our brothers and sisters, meditate in the garden, celebrate all things Star Wars, party on Cinco De Mayo, read a free comic book, and wear a fancy hat for Kentucky Derby day.

Our author of the month is Kirsten McKenzie. She is the author of the time travel books - The Old Curiosity Shop series which includes The Fifteen Postcards, The Last Letter, and Telegram Home. She is currently working on a spinoff series, the Ithaca Trilogy. The first book Ithaca Bound is available now. She has also published a horror thriller Painted and thriller The Forger and the Thief.

Our post is brought to us by the letter R which stands for random, romance, realism, and racing.

Join me in reading Kirsten McKenzie's works this month.

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Sunday, April 23, 2023

BW17: National Poetry Month

Happy Sunday! We are going to close out the month with a nod to National Poetry Month and this year's Poet Laurette Ada Limon.

The Last Thing

First there was the blue wing

of a scraggly loud jay tucked

into the shrubs. Then the bluish-

black moth drunkenly tripping

from blade to blade. Then

the quiet that came roaring

in like the R. J. Corman over

Broadway near the RV shop.

These are the last three things

that happened. Not in the universe,

but here, in the basin of my mind,

where I’m always making a list

for you, recording the day’s minor

urchins: silvery dust mote, pistachio

shell, the dog eating a sugar

snap pea. It’s going to rain soon,

close clouds bloated above us,

the air like a net about to release

all the caught fishes, a storm

siren in the distance. I know

you don’t always understand,

but let me point to the first

wet drops landing on the stones,

the noise like fingers drumming

the skin. I can’t help it. I will

never get over making everything

such a big deal.

This week's post is brought to you by the letter Q for guiet, quintessential, question, and quest.

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Sunday, April 16, 2023

BW16: 52 Books Bingo - Food Lover

Happy Sunday. Calling all foodies! April is full of food holidays which means it is time for another round of 52 Books Bingo with Food Lovers. Today is the Day of the Mushroom and I can smell the butter and garlic now. Wednesday is National Garlic Day by the way so get those garlic pressers ready. Or maybe you are more in the mood for eggs with Eggs Benedict day, or cheese for cheeseball day or Jelly Beans. Whatever you are in the mood for, let's get reading and cooking with:

32 Best Devour-Worthy Novels About Food

Novels About Food: 32 Scrumptious Books For Foodies

20 tasty and tantalizing food memoirs

Top 10 culinary memoirs

Goodreads huge listopia of foodie books

Are you hungry now?

Our post is sponsored by O and P which stands for Oulipo and Poetry.

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Sunday, April 9, 2023

BW15: Happy Easter

The Splendor of Lilies

Margaret Elizabeth Munson Sangster

Oh, rare as the splendor of lilies,

And sweet as the violet’s breath,

Comes the jubilant morning of Easter,

The triumph of life over death;

And fresh from the earth’s quickened bosom

Full baskets of flowers we bring,

And scatter their satin soft petals

To carpet a path for our King.

In the countless green blades of the meadow.

The sheen of the daffodil’s gold,

In the tremulous blue on the mountains,

The opaline mist on the wold.

In the tinkle of brooks through the pasture,

The river’s strong sweep to the sea.

Are signs of the day that is hasting

In gladness to you and to me.

Oh, dawn in thy splendor of lilies,

Thy fluttering violet breath,

Oh, jubilant morning of Easter,

Thou triumph of life over death!

Then fresh from the earth’s quickened bosom

Full baskets of flowers we bring,

And scatter their satin soft petals

To carpet a path for our King.

Happy Easter to all!

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Sunday, April 2, 2023

BW14: April Author of the Month - Barbara Kingsolver

Happy Sunday! April is a fun month of the year since it is National Poetry month as well as National Humor month, National Frog month, and National Kite Month. Today we celebrate Palm Sunday as well as Children's Book Day, the 3rd is Find a Rainbow Day, the 4th is School Librarian day, the 5th is National Walking Day, the 6th California Poppy Day, and the 7th is Good Friday as well as World Health day, and the 8th is All is Ours day.

Plus our Author of the Month is Barbara Kingsolver, best known for the Poisonwood Bible which I found to be an absolutely amazing story and stayed with me long after I finished it. Nathan Price knows nothing about the Congo or its people, but is determined to start a church and save all the natives. The story is from the perspective of Orleana Price and her four daughters. Rachel, a teenager who vain and self absorbed; twins Leah and Adah, both extremely intelligent, but physically different. Adah disabled from birth and can't speak. Leah adores her father whereas Adah views him and the world more realistically. And Ruth who sees the world through her five year old eyes. While Nathan insists on the natives conforming to his view of the world, Orleana and her daughters do their best to survive, learning about the world they now are forced to reside it.

The Poisonwood Bible is full of African history and culture. Because there are many different meanings to the same words, whether the emphasis is on one part or another, it leads to many miscommunication between the Prices and the villagers. Throughout, the villagers remain a constant. They end up teaching the Prices about life, individuality, liberty, and death. Africa changes the Price family, for better and for worse, forever. I didn't expect to enjoy this story as much as I did but from Rachel's self absorbed rants to Adah's metamorphosis, the lives of the Prices and the story of Africa completely enfolds you. If you haven't read The Poisonwood Bible yet, I recommend it.

Kingsolver has written many books which I am looking forward to reading. She was an editor for Best American Short Stories in 2001. Plus her stories are part of the core literature curriculum in many high schools and colleges.

Join me in reading Barbara Kingsolver's works this month.

Our post is brought to us by the letter N which stands for narrator, night, national, and names.

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