Week 20 is live

Happy Sunday! It's time for another round of 52 Books Bingo and this week it's all about Ensemble Casts. My favorite kind of book. I love books with ensemble casts, especially series books because they make it seem like the story goes on and on and on. There are books in which the cast revolves around one main character and others which rotate through a series of characters, all working together for a common end. The Gang’s All Here Seven books with an Ensemble Cast Books with a large cast of characters Ensemble Cast - Read a book with three or more main characters. 4 Mystery Audiobooks Performed by Top-Notch Ensemble Casts 5 More Audiobooks Featuring Multiple Cast Members Do you enjoy reading books with an ensemble cast of characters? From Agatha Christie and Leo Tolstoy to Robert Jordan's and J.D. Robb, there is a wide variety to choose from. Who is your favorite author and/or books with an ensemble cast you've read and would recommend? I just noticed that we have a predicament, a quagmire, a problematic quandary. Que Pasa! When I pondered and questioned why my weeks weren't adding up, I realized I missed P and Q in our letter and word of the week. We missed a pilgrimage, a quest. Oops, my bad. Jumping back on the Quixotic path for a moment. ************************** Link to book week 19 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges.

James surprised me with three books: Brandon Sanderson's #2 in the Stormlight Archive - Words of Radiance. N.K. Jemisin's #2 in her Broken Earth series - Obelisk Gate. And Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility. He didn't just pick the three books listed at the top of my wishlist, which is something my hubby would have done. LOL!. He made the effort to go through the list, looking at the comments I made on each book. Plus these were books I had added on different dates. So thoughtful.

Reading a very dusty series from my shelves starting with Taliesin in Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle Trilogy. "A magnificent epic of cataclysmic upheaval and heroic love in a breathless age of mythic wonders It was a time of legend, when the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror faded from the captured Isle of Britain. While, across a vast sea, bloody war shattered a peace that had flourished for two thousand years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis. It is the remarkable adventure of Charis—the courageous princess from Atlantis who escapes the terrible devastation of her land—and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. A story of an incomparable love that joins two astonishing worlds amid the fires of chaos, and spawns the miracles of Merlin . . . and Arthur the king!" Watched the first movie in the Hobbit trilogy which was very good.

week 19 is live

Happy Mother's Day my lovelies! Hope you all are having a marvelous day, celebrating with your families. We all have colds so I gave my son one task: go to my Amazon wish list, pick something out, make sure it's prime, and will arrive in one day. Easy Peasy. I'll let you know what he found for me. Read a book with your mother's name in the title or is written by an author with your mother's name Read a book with mother, mom, mama, mater, or other variation in the title. Read a book about a mom. Read a book about becoming a mother. From stalkers to saints, moms run the gamut in kids' books. We read Horton Hatches the Egg and the Runaway Bunny so many times over the years. Another favorite not listed is Lisa McCourt's I love You Stinky Face about unconditional love which we enjoyed reading so much, I had to duct tape the cover together to keep it from falling apart. 11 Memoirs That Shine the Spotlight on Mothers The Best Books for Every Type of Mom Books that keep it real for Mother’s Day Women's Prize for Literature Shortlist showcases global talent And for our letter and word of the week - U and unconditional. “When you look into your mother’s eyes, you know that is the purest love you can find on this earth.” ~~ Mitch Albom, For One More Day Happy Mother's Day! ************************** Link to book week 18 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges.

Waving hi from my corner of the world. I'm currently at the shop and it's quiet. We were all hit with colds last weekend. Technicians hung on for a couple days before they took to their beds. I only got a couple days to be miserable. John felt worse than me, so guess who got to hold the fort down at the shop for the past couple days. Guess moms are more durable. Thank goodness for Dristan. James started coming down with cold last night. Spent most of my down time reading and finished Sanderson's The Way of Kings and Tasha Alexander's And Only to Deceive. Love Lady Emily. Will probably read more of her stories. Currently reading Genevieve Cogman's final installment (as far as we know) in the Invisible Library series with Untold Story

Since we're saying goodbye to April, it's time for a reading wrap up. I finished eight books in April; all of which were dusty books except for The Bone Shard Daughter. I cheated once, and broke my buying ban in February for Bone Shards Daughter, which was so worth it. However, I've been good since then and haven't added any new books to my stacks. My wish list though is growing ever longer. One more month.... maybe. Bone Shard Daughter - Andrea Stewart (Historical Fantasy) Ice Hunt - James Rollins (Thriller, reread) Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro (Dystopian Fiction) Library of the Unwritten (#1 Hell's Library) - A.J.Hackwith (Fantasy, e) A Cold Day for Murder (#1 Kate Shugak) - Dana Stabenow (Mystery, e) The Round House - Louise Erdrich (Native American mystery) City of Dark Magic (#1 Dark Magic) - Magnus Flyte (Fantasy, Prague, e) Reliquary (#2 Pendergast) - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Thriller, e) Stats wise: 4 physical books with 1782 pages and 4 ebooks with 1506 virtual pages for a total of 3288 pages. I noticed that although it hasn't been my intention, I read the same number of ebooks as the number of the month. Interesting. We'll see what next month brings. Genre wise, three fantasies and one dystopian fiction, along with two thrillers, and two mysteries. I seem be to be sticking with fantasy, sci fi, and mystery genres. Six are new to me authors. I'm still sipping on George Eliot's Middlemarch, one chapter at a time in the mornings with breakfast. My current chunkster is Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings which is really good. I'm currently on page 732 out of 1200+ pages but enjoying the heck out of it. I'm taking a mini break at the moment for our May historical mysteries reading month to read dusty book And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander which has been on my virtual shelves since 2014.

Week 18 is live

Welcome to May! It's time to join Sandy and Amy in reading some tantalizing and tempting historical mysteries. The genre of Historical Mysteries is fairly recent with our dear Agatha credited with writing the first historical mystery novel in the 1940s (Death Comes at the End set in Ancient Egypt.) The genre remained stagnant until the 1970s when Elizabeth Peter’s (Amerlia Peabody series) and Ellis Peter’s (Brother Cadfael) cause the genre to become legitimate and then the late 1990’s when it grew wildly. Common historical mystery era: Tudor: CJ Sansom (Matthew Shardlake), Fiona Buckley (Ursula Blanchard), Kathy Lynn Emerson (Lady Appleton) Georgian: Anna Lee Huber (Lady Darby) Regency: Kate Moss (Julian Kestrel) & CS Harris (Sebastian St Cyr) Victorian: Tasha Alexander (Lady Emily), Deanna Raybourne (Lady Julia Grey), Christine Trent (Lady of Ashes) WWI: Anna Lee Huber (Verity Kent), Charles Todd (Inspector Ian Rutledge & Bess Crawford) WWII: Jacqueline Winspear (Masie Dobbs) Challenge: Harken back to a simpler time before we had to worry about DNA evidence or even fingerprints and swipe a historical mystery to read. Thank you, ladies. Which brings us to our letter and word of the week - T and Twist Have fun diving into these tantalizing mysteries. Link to book week 17 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges.

Has he read anything by Kim Stanley Robinson? He's definitely science fiction. And Robert Charles Wilson Spin series is really good as well.

It's definitely an epic fantasy.

I'm so sorry and feel for your daughter, and her boyfriend's family. Hugs and prayers winging your way.

I’m still in the midst of two long reads: Middlemarch and The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Taking a break to read Reliquary, the 2nd book in the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. James and I are halfway through our audiobook of Godzilla versus Kong. Debating whether I want to reread Ringworld or Mote in God’s Eye. Choices, choices. 😊 We watched The Batman with Robert Pattinson. Three hour movie full of twists and turns and drama. So very good. And I thought he couldn't act. Because, you know, Twilight. I was wrong.

Week 17 is live. 🙂

Happy Sunday! In honor of science fiction author, Larry Niven, who is celebrating his 84th birthday on April 30th, read one of his books. He's written over 400 stories since he published his first book in 1964, alone and in collaboration with Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes, and Gregory Benford. I discovered Niven back in the 70's and enjoyed reading His Ringworld series, along with many of his other books, including The Mote in God's Eye. He is currently working with Jerry Pournelle on Burning Mountain, the sequel to Burning City and Burning Tower. Larry Niven Wiki/fandom Fifty years of Larry Niven's Ringworld Amazon’s Ringworld Moves Forward with Game of Thrones Director 21 Books That Changed Science Fiction And Fantasy Forever The 17 Most Influential Science-Fiction Books of All Time “They do not use lasers, they do not use radio, they do not use hyperwave. What are they using for communication? Telepathy? Written messages? Big mirrors?" "Parrots," Louis suggested. He got up to join them at the door to the control room. "Huge parrots, specially bred for their oversized lungs. They're too big to fly. They just sit on hilltops and scream at each other.” ― Larry Niven, Ringworld Which brings us to our A to Z and Back again - Our letter and word of the week are S and Space Link to book week 16 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges.

In my web wanderings today, A literary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign featuring 70 titles for the Big Jubilee Read. An intriguing list of reads to make our way through. NYPL is making banned books available as ebook for all to read beginning with Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender , Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Educators Weigh In on Summer Reading Lists in SLJ/NCTE Survey and have changed the Summer Reading list for students. And since it's Poetry Month, She Reads has 37 Poetry Collections to Read in 2022.

I'm 12 chapters in on Middlemarch and it's a slow read as the writing takes some getting used to but enjoying it. Also about a 6th of the way in on Sanderson's Way of Kings which is so very different from Wheel of Time but has a whole slew of characters I'm getting used to and enjoying it so far. Both are chunky books so going to take me a while. Took a reading break to watch Tick Tick Boom which is amazing. Damn, Andrew Garfield (Yes, the amazing spiderman) can sing. Neither of my guys like musicals so watched by myself. Jonathan Larson is the songwriter who wrote the Broadway play Rent and died from an aortic aneurism right before it was released. The movie starts 5 years before he died and takes place in New York during the height of the aids epidemic so friends are dying, others are becoming more successful, while Larson struggles to make a name for himself. The movie is deep, and funny, dramatic, and heartwarming and will make you laugh, make you cry, make you sing. All the singers were amazing. I need to get the soundtrack or watch the movie several dozen times. It was that good.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate! I’m sipping Middlemarch in the mornings and set the science fiction tale of Red Mars aside for the moment in favor of the dusty fantasy novel – The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I’m enjoying it way more than other. “Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter. It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them…”

Week 16 is live

“Revel in your freedom. Live wholeheartedly, laugh loud, love much, spread joy, be truthful, and give yourself to everything. You, who are already whole, can lose nothing. Your ego may fall from time to time, but you will not. Live big!” ~~Robert Holden Happy Easter, my friends. Our letter of the week is R and the word, the theme this week is renewal, rebirth, recharge, or restore. “Poetry is the renewal of words, setting them free, and that’s what a poet is doing: loosening the words.” ~~Robert Frost Or how about: resurrection, rejoice, renaissance, revival, or rejuvenation. “It is not easy to convey a sense of wonder, let alone resurrection wonder, to another. It’s the very nature of wonder to catch us off guard, to circumvent expectations and assumptions. Wonder can’t be packaged, and it can’t be worked up. It requires some sense of being there and some sense of engagement.” ~~Eugene H. Peterson Revel in whatever Re- word you chose this week, because, you guessed it; it's all related to reading or rereading our favorite books. “A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” ~~ Robertson Davies ************************ Link to book week 15 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges.

I seem to be stuck on M -- Finished ebook City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte which was a weird combination of music art history and magical realism. Liked this quote in particular “Sarah, I may not see him with my eyes, but every time I pick up my violin or sit down at the piano and play Beethoven, he’s sitting there with me. I can feel him there. I guess I assumed everyone else did, too.” She was not bullshitting, Sarah could tell. “You literally feel his energy? Like he’s there with you?” “Sure. Mozart, too. All the composers, really. That’s what music is, it’s immortality.” And something Merphy Napier a book blogger had mentioned that once you hear about it, will see it in all your books, mostly used wrong. The word undulating "As she turned the key the ground beneath her hands and knees began vibrating, almost undulating." Dipped my toes into two dusty books: George Eliot's Middlemarch and enjoying it. Started out as a sip read at breakfast and found myself reading at lunch as well. Plus started Kim Stanley Robinson Red Mars in the evening and there's lots of rebellion amidst the different cultures.

I finished four books this week and I think my books are in rebellion because they were all rather intense and none of them ended on a happy note. It's hard to say I enjoyed them as they all left me with a sense of loss and wishing better things for the characters. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, narrated by Klara, a robot. She is an artificial friend, is made stronger by the sun and very observant. She is picked to be the companion to Josie, an ailing child, and goes to live with her and the mom. Klara sees the Sun as some sort of God and comes to believe that if she manages to destroy a "Cootings" machine (I think it's an asphalt paver) which spreads dark foggy pollution and blocks the sun, the Sun will save Josie's life. Filtered through the eyes of Robot it doesn't seem like an emotional story, but more philosophical. The humans around her aren't sure of some of the things she does, but go along, hoping she will make things better. I really didn't like the ending because when she was no longer useful, the humans in her life, treated her like an appliance. (Dystopian Fiction, New to me author, 320) The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith was an interesting read. The narrators are Claire who is a librarian for unwritten books in Hell. Ramiel, a fallen angel a watcher relegated to processing the departed at Heaven's gates. Leto, half demon, half man who finds himself with no memory, and Brevity, a muse helping Claire. While they are trying to return a runaway character to his book, enemies and allies are thrown together in a quest to find and destroy the devil's bible in order to prevent a war between Heaven and Hell. In the meantime God evidently has disappeared and Uriel, an archangel is in charge in Heaven. She's not a nice angel and wants to destroy Claire and all those involved with finding the dark bible. It's an intriguing concept, but quite a dark story with bits of humor thrown in. I didn't dislike the story, but again I didn't love it an I found it hard to root for any of the characters. (Dusty, Fantasy, e) A Cold Dark Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow is quite good and I look forward to reading more of the series. Our heroine is Kate Shugak, an Alaskan Aleut, a retired investigator who lives alone in the Alaska National Park, but near her family in the tiny village of Niniltna. She's asked to find two men who have disappeared and during the course of her investigation, she is drawn back into the life and problems of family and friends. The theme of man against nature and man against man with plenty of action with murder, angst, betrayal, grief, as well as humor throughout the story. I liked Kate, her byplay with different characters and hope she finds her happily ever after. (Dusty, mystery, new to me author, 173, e) The Round House by Louise Erdrich is told from the viewpoint of thirteen year old Joe, with some asides from when he was an adult, and it is easy to forget his age as he is put through the ringer with the assault on his mother and trying to figure out who the culprit was and do something about it. The characters live on the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota and provide the reader with an enriching background of Native American culture, history, myths and laws. The story goes from dark to light to dark again. It's a story rooted in taking care of family, grief, loss, hope, betrayal, strength, and the consequences of action. Once you get used to Erdrich's lack of punctuation for the dialogue, the story will capture and hold you to the page. (Native American Fiction, Literary, 368) I'm debating on what I'll read next. Maybe something light to clear my reading palate. We watched Death on the Nile which was very good. My one and only complaint is the camera panning around the characters in circles drove me crazy. And they all did a good job of keeping 6 feet between each person for the majority of the time.

Week 15 is live

Happy Sunday! Years ago, when I introduced my son to Star Wars, never did I realize there was a difference between legend, canon and non canon. Since then, we've watched quite a few you tube vloggers discuss and theorize over the movies, the books and tv shows, even video games and how they contribute to the world of Star Wars, the Force, the battle between good and evil, and the rebellion. Which brings us to our next 52 Books Bingo category: Rebellion. As defined by Dictionary.com, it is "open, organized, and armed resistance to one's government or ruler," or "resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition." Literary Rebellion comes in many shapes and sizes, the characters fighting for or against something; refusing to bow to authority, their parents, their friends; questioning, resisting, searching for change. Literary Rebellion by twelve Nobel Prize Laureates 11 Women in Classic Novels Who Rebelled Against Their Time Periods 21 YA Books About Rebellion 100 Must Read Books about Revolutions, Rebellions, and Uprisings. Your guide to books in the 'Star Wars' canon Dissident Rebel Literature Who is your favorite rebellious character? Which bring me to our Letter and Word of the Week: O and Obstruct Link to book week 14 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges.