Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks: January 2024

Sunday, January 28, 2024

BW5: E is for Epic

Courtesy of NTP012419

Happy Sunday! I have an affection for long novels, probably because I read so fast. Books of 200 to 300 pages go by in a flash leaving me wanting more. And for some strange reason, I tend to read books of 500 pages and up much slower. Maybe there is more to savor, to absorb, to ponder. Maybe it's the world building or the ensemble cast of characters, or the scale and detail of the story itself.

What makes a novel epic versus just being a chunky book full of story? A story is full of narrative, generally focusing on a single event. An epic is a quest, or a series of quests, a mingling of stories and characters, told on a grand scale, encompassing years and years of history, mythology, or fantasy.

My favorite epic stories have been a variety of historical fiction, to fantasy to westerns with Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, Stephen King's Gunslinger series, Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove, Marian Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Aragon, J.K. Rowling Harry Potter Series, to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy.

From the ancient epics to modern epics, there is a wide variety to tickle your reading palate.

What books would you consider epic? Share the most epic story you have ever read. What stories set in the modern day, besides fantasy or paranormal, would you consider epic?

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Sunday, January 21, 2024

BW4: D is for Dystopian

Happy Sunday! I'm in a dystopian frame of mind this week. I just finished Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang and once I started reading, couldn't put it down. The etymology discussions, how the characters related to the world around them, how the characters grew in knowledge, the choices they made, some good, some bad, the heart wrenching decisions. The themes of colonialism, the empire, racism, friendship, and power all combined to create a story that made me think and how it related to today's world and why people do the things they do.

I segued from Babel to two different stories that I couldn't make up my mind which I wanted to read more. Samuel R. Delaney's Babel-17 about the power of language which is very weird with it's strange characters to Samantha Shannon's The Bone Season which is another dystopian set in Oxford with it's themes of magic, aliens, and oppression. Maybe I'll alternate for a while because both are tickling my fancy.

Out of 45 Dystopian Books That’ll Change Your Worldview I've read 15 so far. How many have you read?

Share the most terrifying dystopian story you've ever read or one that made you think.

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Sunday, January 14, 2024

BW3: Cliffhangers

Happy Sunday! I hate cliffhangers. I adore cliffhangers. The clock is counting down, someone is left in a perilous position, or died, reality is not what it seems, or a character is psychologically or literally dangling from a cliff.

Cliffhangers get our imagination pumping and sometimes leave us exasperated and frustrated when the next book isn't readily available. You'll be reading along and realize you are almost to the end of the book. Wait! This is happening too fast. How is the story going to wrap up? Is the story going to wrap it up? Then with bated breath, you come to the last page and the story ends in a cliffhanger. Grumble, grumble roar.

I remember reading Michelle Gagnon's Kelly Jones murder mystery series in which I became deeply invested in the characters and the story. The Tunnels, segued into Boneyard, then supposedly ended with The Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper ended in a cliffhanger which had me gasping, and going back a few pages to make sure I didn't miss something, then rereading the last chapter three more times. No, she didn't. The author did not just leaving me hanging like that? And the next book wasn't available yet. for another year. Sigh!

Of course, there is the thrill, when a trilogy or series has been completely released, of rereading the stories again, from start to finish. And usually by that time, I've forgotten most of the story line so it feels like reading them again for the first time.

Kudos to the authors who pull you into the story, make you care about the characters and know how to craft an excellent cliffhanger, leaving you breathless, waiting in anticipation for the continuation of the story.

Share authors who have written stories ending in a cliffhanger that have left you wanting more.

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Sunday, January 7, 2024

BW2: 52 Books Bingo - Fire

Mageman Courtesy of Gerhard Santos

Temper us in fire, and we grow stronger.

When we suffer, we survive.

~Cassandra Clare

Happy Sunday! We are going to have so much fun with our 52 Books Bingo this year as we begin with our first category which is one of the elements of nature - FIRE. Fire, literal and symbolic, represents different things to different cultures- mythology, religion, ritual, destruction and purification, enlightenment, sexuality, birth and resurrection, heat, energy, metabolism, creativity, cooking, and more.

There are so many ways we can go with the aspect of fire. What comes to my mind is sweat lodges, phoenix, fire fighters, smoke jumpers, arson, sparks, flame, heat, the divine, passion.

Stories involving a Phoenix

The history of Fire

Stories about Arson Investigation

Stories with Female Smoke Jumpers

Books with four elements in the title

Big b, little b, what begins with B - blaze, bonfires, and boldness, as well as bards, ballads, and Bildungsroman all begin with b.

Have fun finding stories that play with fire!

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Monday, January 1, 2024

BW1: Welcome to our Wild and Whimsical Reading Quest

"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading,

you can only think what everyone else is thinking."

— Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood)

Happy New Year! Welcome to another year of Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks. Welcome back to all our regulars and our newbies. If you haven't participated in years past, the goal is to read 52 Books. How you get there is up to you. And if you prefer to set your own goal, you are welcome to do so. We don't have a set reading list so you can choose to play along or chart your own path in your quest to read. All that matters is the reading.

To aid in the journey, there are a number of weekly, monthly, annual, and perpetual quests along with an updated quirky 52 Books Bingo and our author of the month Bookish Bookology to explore.

We traditionally start out the year in the weird and wonderful world of Haruki Murakami, our January author of the month. While we wait for his newest book, The City and It's Uncertain Walls to be released in the United States some time this year, I'll be exploring his non fiction conversations with Seiji Ozawa in Absolutely on Music, and dive into the fiction world of Sputnik Sweetheart.

Although Penguin suggests starting with some of Murakami's slimmer novels, my first introduction to Murakami was his chunky fantasy novel 1Q84, filled with magical realism, music, cats, weird characters, choices, and the meaning of life. Which lead to reading most of his bibliography.

Discover more about Murakami in his non fiction memoir, Novelist as a Vocation in which the man seriously doesn’t think he is a good writer, but shares his stories, his process, and so much more.

Plus, we are traveling through the alphabet again with A to Z and Back Again. There are a variety of ways to complete the project and you don't have to stick with authors or titles only. The choices are unlimited, including:

Choose an author whose first or last name begin with the letter.
Pick a book starting with the letter in the title of the book. Except for those pesky articles or prepositions.
Read a book with a character whose name starts with the letter.
Choose a book in which the setting of the story starts with the letter.
Choose a genre that starts with the letter.
Read a book with a literary term or plot device starting with the letter.

Big A, little A, what begins with A - Allusion, Angels, Agatha, Adams, Adventure, and Action all begin with A.

Are you ready to go? Great! Put on your hat and walking shoes, strap on your backpack, grab your walking stick as we follow rabbit trails of thought throughout the world on a wild and whimsical reading quest.

Happy Reading!

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