Welcome to May and our Dragon of the Month - Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback - from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. When Charlie Weasley, Ron's brother took him to the dragon sanctuary in Romania where he worked, it was later discovered Norbert was actually a Norberta. But he, erm She wasn't the only dragon in the wizarding world.
May is also Mystery Month, Gifts from the Garden Month, Date your Mate Month, plus Bike Month and Barbecue Month. Just think of the books we could read this month. I'll be revisiting Harry Potter and will probably be reading some mystery and foodie books and living vicariously through books in which the characters love flowers. Achoo!
“Smell the sea and feel the sky, Let your soul and spirit fly.” – Van Morrison
Happy New Year, my lovelies! I'm excited this year since our armchair travels are taking us around, over, and across the world again as we fly above the seven seas, through clear blue skies on the good ship Pumdeg Dau o Lyfrau airship, for another round of read 52 books in 52 weeks. We'll be taking advantage of Hermione Granger's Time Turner, Well's Time machine as well as Doctor Who's Tardis, all without upsetting the space time continuum of course, in our travels to go hither, thither, and yon.
The goal is simple. Read 52 books and how you get there is entirely up to you. You can even set your own goal if you like. Read what you want, explore and dive into those longer books, engage your mind and soul and don't worry. Do your best, challenge yourself and you may be surprised to discover how many books you end up reading.
Our Fictional Librarians as well as the Daughters of Mnemosyne will be our guides this year, mixing fact and fiction, the old with the new, the magical with the technological, and the arts with the sciences. If you are joining us for the first time, we have a number of challenges to entice you, including 52 Books Bingo with 20 bonus squares and side trips roaming the old Roman roads of England, exploring the Nobel prize winners of Literature, diving into the greats with Susan Wise Bauer's Well Educated Mind, or take a Mind Voyage through fantasy and science Fiction. Plus the Dame Agatha Christie would like your assistance in solving a murder or two.
All our annual and perpetual challenges as well as weekly or seasonal mini challenges are optional and meant to tickle your reading taste buds. Which generally results in having fun, getting lost (in a good way) following rabbit trails and an ever expanding list of books to read.
We're going to dive right in and begin our adventure with Librarian Madam Irma Pince who will help you jump into the magical world of Harry Potter, created by J.K. Rowling.
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
Our first book week will run through Saturday, January 9th.
Grab your backpacks, scarves and goggles, a good pair of walking shoes and climb aboard and settle in for the ride. Please share your reading plans for 2021 and/or your reading wrap up for 2020 or tell us the books you are currently reading. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and sharing our reading journey!
~Cheers to a wonderful new reading year!
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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.
In 1990 the imaginary world of Harry Potter began while J.K. Rowling traveled on a train from Manchester to King's Cross. J.K. Rowling was twenty five at the time and over a five year period, mapped out the seven books in the series. The first book was published on June 26, 1997 by Bloomsbury Children's books, titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. A year later, the book was published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This month Bloomsbury is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and has released four new editions, in both hardback and paperback of The Philosopher's Stone, each with the crest of the family houses on the cover. The books are also available on Amazon.uk and I've ordered the whole set. Beginning October 2017, the British Library will launch an exposition, inspired by and including Harry Potter and the history of magic. The story caused quite a turmoil within many religious communities leading to debates over the the use of witchcraft and magic and how it would influence children. The controversy stirred my curiosity so I read the book and fell in love with Harry Potter's world and went on to read the whole series. When my son was old enough to read the series, we read them together and currently listening to the series in audio book. We're just finished Harry Potter and the Half Book Prince. If you haven't had the opportunity to listen to the books yet, they are available on Audible. Jim Dale is an awesome narrator, capturing all the character's voices, bringing the story alive, pulling you into their world. Join me this month is reading Harry Potter!
Please link to your specific post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us what you have been reading. Every week I will put up Mr. Linky which will close at the end of each book week. No matter what book you are reading or reviewing at the time, whether it be # 1 or # 5 or so on, link to the current week's post.
Adieu fair May, bonjour sweet Fantasy June. June is turning into a very busy reading month. We are celebrating all things fantasy including the 20th anniversary of the publication of J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. We are also celebrating Father's Day and well as the June Solstice which ushers in Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and Winter in the Southern Hemisphere. With the beginning of Summer, we will be also diving into a summer read-along of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace starting on June 18th. We have three birthstones to choose from the the June Birthstone Bookology reading challenge - Pearl, Moonstone or Alexandrite. You may choose to spell out the word, reading one book per letter or read a book with the name or the colors of the stone in the title. Or perhaps find an author whose name is Pearl, Moonstone, or Alexandrite. You may decide to find a book set in the time period where the birthstone was discovered or surrounding the myth and lore or set in countries where the birthstone is currently found. The first recorded mention of natural pearls was in 2206BC by a Chinese historian. Cultured pearls (those grown on pearl farms) were produced by the Japanese and Chinese sometime in the 20th century. Moonstones were discovered back in ancient times and Pliny wrote of how the stone's appearance shifted with the moon phases. The discovery of Alexandrite dates back to imperial Russia where it was found in the emerald mines in the Ural mountains. We'll be exploring both Fantasy and Science Fiction over the next two months. Our armchair travels this month are taking us into the world of Fantasy as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, as well as the imagery worlds that exist outside of ordinary life, time and/or space. More on the world of Harry Potter next week. The fantasy genre encompasses a wide range of subgenres from fairy tales and myth to alternative history to magical realism to alternative histories to romance fantasy, just to name a few. There are a plethora of fantasy sites with plenty of books and articles including: Unbound Worlds Tor Literary Escapism Fantasy-Fiction, Best Fantasy Books SFSignal
Plenty of rabbit trails to follow and opportunities to fill your shelves with intriguing and entertain and/or fun beach reads. Happy Reading!
Please link to your specific post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us what you have been reading. Every week I will put up Mr. Linky which will close at the end of each book week. No matter what book you are reading or reviewing at the time, whether it be # 1 or # 5 or so on, link to the current week's post.
