Sunday, October 22, 2023

BW43: Robert Bridges - The Evening Darkens Over

 




The Evening Darkens Over

by

Robert Bridges

October 23, 1844 - April 21, 1930


The evening darkens over

After a day so bright

The windcapt waves discover

That wild will be the night.

There’s sound of distant thunder.


The latest sea-birds hover

Along the cliff’s sheer height;

As in the memory wander

Last flutterings of delight,

White wings lost on the white.


There’s not a ship in sight;

And as the sun goes under

Thick clouds conspire to cover

The moon that should rise yonder.

Thou art alone, fond lover.


Our post is sponsored this week by the letter J for just, judicious, and joy



Sunday, October 15, 2023

BW42: 52 Books Bingo - Rogues

 


Happy Sunday! Our next 52 Books Bingo category is Rogue which matches up with our spooktactular theme.  From science fiction and fantasy to romance and regency novels, there are plenty of stories which include Rogues. 

Rogues come in all shapes and sizes: scoundrels, con artists, outlaws, or villains, lords, reformed bad guys, spies, detectives, and thieves such as Robin Hood.

Even assassin's such as Gin Bianco in Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series or Fitz in Robin Hobb's Far Seer Trilogy. 

Romance Novels with Rogue in the Title

Space Rogues: A series by John Wilker

Best Science Fiction Heist Books

Goodread's Assassins Thieves and Rogues books


Happy Reading!

Our post is brought to you by the letter K which stands for kingpins, keelhaul, and kilts. 





Sunday, October 8, 2023

BW41: October Author of the month - Neil Peart

 



Happy Sunday!   Our October author of the month is Neil Peart.  Peart is best known as the drummer for the band Rush, but he was also a writer. 

He published several nonfiction books about his motorcycle explorations while healing from his wife and daughter's deaths, his physical and spiritual journeys through Africa, his musical inspirations, and travels off the beaten path travels while on tour.

The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa (1996), 

Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road (2002), 

Traveling Music: The Soundtrack to My Life and Times (2004), 

Roadshow: Landscape With Drums, A Concert Tour by Motorcycle (2006).

Far and Away: A Prize Every Time (2011), 

Far and Near: On Days Like These (2014), 

Far and Wide: Bring that Horizon to Me! (2016)

 As a prolific reader, he also started Bubba's Book Club.  The book club ran from  2004 through 2011 in which he read, reviewed, and recommended books from Vikrim's Seth's An Equal Music to Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna. 

He also collaborated with Kevin J. Anderson to write a steampunk fantasy trilogy based on Rush's album Clockwork Angels. 

Peart died from brain cancel on January 09, 2020. 

Join me in exploring with Neil Peart. 






Sunday, October 1, 2023

BW40: October Spooktacular


 

Happy Sunday!  The first of October means it's time for our October Spooktacular! Once again, I have the Adam's Family theme song along with their snapping fingers, running through my mind while I write this. 

Everyone's definition of what is spooky is different. Some people can handle higher levels of outright horror to those who can barely handle the kid friendly ghost stories.  From all out horror to horror lite, from psychological thrillers to gothic, from the paranormal to the supernatural, there are stories for every level of spookiness. 

If you're like me, I can't stand horror books filled with blood and guts.  I prefer psychological thrillers, tales with nail biting, spine chilling suspense, creepy settings, and characters you certainly wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.  

I've grown to love psychological thrillers, scary supernatural fiction, and more, and have a library full of Dean Koontz, Ted Dekker, Bram and Dacre Stoker, Charles De Lint, Frank Peretti, and more.  

Currently on my nightstand for October are House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski,  The Last Man by Mary Shelley, Graham Moore's The Sherlockian, as well as several Dean Koontz's books including 77 Shadow Street, The House at the End of the World, and Fear Nothing.  No, I won't get to them all this month, but love having the choice. 

If you dig through the classic to the modern authors such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Neil Gaiman,  Edgar Allan Poe, or Shirley Jackson's Bibliographies, to name a few, you'll find gems that are more psychological thriller or just plain scary, rather than outright blood and guts horror.  

If you haven't read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Bram Stoker's Dracula, now may be the time to dip your toes in. Put away all your preconceived notions and be prepared to be surprised, because the books are very different from the movies.  

Part of the fun is in the search and a quest for a scrumptious scary read, so leaving out the links. 

What is one of the spookiest or most thrilling book you have read?


This post is brought to you by the letter M and macabre, mad, mayhem and mundane. 







Sunday, September 24, 2023

BW39: Autumn by John Clare

 



Autumn

by 

John Clare


I love the fitful gust that shakes

  The casement all the day,

And from the glossy elm tree takes

  The faded leaves away,

Twirling them by the window pane

With thousand others down the lane.


I love to see the shaking twig

  Dance till the shut of eve,

The sparrow on the cottage rig,

  Whose chirp would make believe

That Spring was just now flirting by

In Summer's lap with flowers to lie.


I love to see the cottage smoke

  Curl upwards through the trees,

The pigeons nestled round the cote

  On November days like these;

The cock upon the dunghill crowing,

The mill sails on the heath a-going.


The feather from the raven's breast

  Falls on the stubble lea,

The acorns near the old crow's nest

  Drop pattering down the tree;

The grunting pigs, that wait for all,

Scramble and hurry where they fall.


Our post sponsored by the letter N which stands for Nature, noble, nimble, and nerdy. 


Y'all know what to do. Leave a link or comment below!


Sunday, September 17, 2023

BW38: September Equinox

 


Happy Sunday! Autumn is upon us in Northern Hemisphere which means the beginning of Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Whether the season is Autumn or Spring, nature's palette is painting our world with leaves turning burnt orange and yellow and purple or flower blossoms blooming,   The sights and sounds of leaves and bonfires crackling, or lavender and rose perfuming the air, are just right for curling up with a good book. From new releases to the old tried and true, it's time for our Fall Reading Mini Challenge. Substitute Spring if you're on the opposite side of the world. 

 The PERFECT Autumn Vibes Reading List For 2023  - Good ideas for our October Spooktacular.

The Best of Cozy Books for Fall

Curl Up this Fall with a Great Book: 12 Best Reads for Autumn

10 Most Exciting Fall 2023 Fantasy & Science Fiction Books

Cozy Fall Romance Novels


This post sponsored by O and observant, open, officious, and oblique. 

Y'all know what to do. Leave a link or comment below!



Sunday, September 10, 2023

BW37: 52 Books Bingo - Western


 

Happy Sunday! Our next 52 Books Bingo category is Western which means our reading journey is taking us West.  But where in the West?  

Read a book set in the western world which includes most countries of the European Union as well as the U.K., Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand.  

Read a book set in the western united states encompassing  Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Turn towards the West and read a book from whichever town, city, state, or country is in that direction.  Find a a book with West in the title or a character, or even a dog named West. Ask a family member to blindly pick a point on the map located in the West and read a book by an author closest to that point.

Read 50 Books of the West 

Read a book about Western Culture 

Read a book set in Western Europe

Read a book set in the West Indies

Read Great Books of the Western World

How you interpret it is up to you.  Enjoy! 


This post is brought to you by the letter P for positivity, ponder, poetry, and peace. 


Y'all know what to do. Leave a link or comment below!


Sunday, September 3, 2023

BW36: September Author of the Month - Dame Hilary Mary Mantel

 



Happy Sunday!  September is upon us which means Fall is on the way. This week we celebrate the anniversary of Emma M Nutt, the first woman telephone operator, International Bacon Day, Skyscraper Day, Labor Day, Be Late for Something Day, Read a Book Day, Neither Rain or Snow Day which was the day the first post office opened in 1914, and International Literacy Day.  

Plus our author of the month is historical fiction writer, Dame Hilary Mary Mantel who passed away at the age of 70 September 22, 2022.  Mantel has written numerous books and essays and is best known for the Thomas Cromwell series - Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, and Mirror and the Light.  She won the Man Booker Prize twice, and the Hawthornden Prize for Literature in 1996. 


Hilary Mantel reading list: a guide to her Booker nominated titles and other best works

Hilary Mantel: her 10 greatest books

Hilary Mantel Thinks the Last Book Is Her Best

Hilary Mantel, The Art of Fiction


Our post is brought to you by the letter Q for quintessential, quiet, and queen. 


Y'all know what to do. Leave a link or comment below!




Sunday, August 27, 2023

BW35: Isn't it Romantic

 


Happy Sunday! I was getting ahead of myself, thinking the month was about to end last week. So guess what? We get a bonus week for our Romance Awareness month. Which brings us to our next 52 Books Category -   Isn't It Romantic.  

85 Best New Romance Novels That'll Make You Swoon

Best Romantic Suspense (August 2023) - Rated by CherryPicks' Experts

Favorite Historical Romances for the First Half of 2023

August 2023 Paranormal Romance Titles

14 Best Fall Romance Books With Cozy Autumn Love


This post is sponsored by the letter R for romance, Romeo, roaming, risk and reflection.


Y'all know what to do. Leave a link or comment below!


Sunday, August 20, 2023

BW34: Reluctance by Robert Frost

 




Happy Sunday!  We're coming to the end of our romance month and while meandering through the interweb came across Robert Frost's Reluctance. Frost is a favorite of mine and the poem may be better served for the fall or winter, but I liked the themes of nature and human will and not letting love go. 

Then it got me to thinking about romance stories in which one or more of the characters are reluctant to change, to explore, to live, to love which make for some interesting stories. So your mission this week is to look for stories about reluctant heroes or heroines.  



Reluctance

by 

Robert Frost 

Out through the fields and the woods

   And over the walls I have wended;

I have climbed the hills of view

   And looked at the world, and descended;

I have come by the highway home,

   And lo, it is ended.

 

The leaves are all dead on the ground,

   Save those that the oak is keeping

To ravel them one by one

   And let them go scraping and creeping

Out over the crusted snow,

   When others are sleeping.

 

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,

   No longer blown hither and thither;

The last lone aster is gone;

   The flowers of the witch hazel wither;

The heart is still aching to seek,

   But the feet question ‘Whither?’

 

Ah, when to the heart of man

   Was it ever less than a treason

To go with the drift of things,

   To yield with a grace to reason,

And bow and accept the end

   Of a love or a season?


This post is sponsored by the letter S for soft, sentimental, sweet, and sexy. 


Y'all know what to do. Leave a link or comment below!





Sunday, August 13, 2023

BW33: The Funny and the Weird

 

Happy Sunday! I'm in the mood for something funny, something weird, something romantic.  Our Romance Awareness Month continues with the wild and wacky happily ever afters. My TBR pile grew exponentially after reading through these lists. 

35 Hilarious Romcom Books That Will Have You Laughing Out Loud 

19 Best Romantic Comedy Books That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud

28 Best Rom Com Books, Smart & Funny Romance Novels

Quirky Romance Books 

And because August 18 is bad poetry day, I've been playing with Oulipo's. The constraint:  Book must have a J in the title.  Not very original, but let's see how it works out. 

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side
A Jerk, A Jihad and a Virus
Just One Damned Thing After Another
Just So Happen


Just Listen
Journey from the Land of No
Just a Little Lie
Jealousy

A Kind of Justice
Just Between Us
Just One Golden Kiss
Just Say Yes

Is it Just me. 
Just Friends
Just a Cowboy
Just my Type

Just Like That 
Juliet Immortal 
Jumping Through Fire 
Journey to the Center of the Earth 

Jump the Cracks
Jeweled Fire 
Joy of Life
Jewels of the Sun

Just One Look
Just Like  A Man
Just Me in the Tube
Just Take My Heart

And this week's post is sponsor by the letter T for tangents, tempting, therapeutic, and  tantalizing.

Y'all know what to do. Leave a link or comment below!



Sunday, August 6, 2023

BW32: Time to revisit Flufferton Abbey

 



Happy Sunday!  Since this is romance awareness month, it's a good time to revisit Flufferton Abbey, 

Flufferton Abbey is a term coined by Amy (Aggieamy) several years ago and described as "not a genre so much as a writing style.  A few genres lend themselves well to being Fluffeton books such as cozy mysteries, comedy of manners, romance, and historical fiction.  Everyone has their own specific thing they look for when they pick up a book and plan to spend time at Flufferton Abbey but there are a number of things that are expected:

Happy Ending – If you are crying at the end of the book it does NOT qualify.  A Flufferton book has the couple getting together, the mystery solved, the situation put right tidily.  If anyone has died during the course of the book they had better have deserved it.

Setting – A lot of the charm in these books is being able to sneak away to someplace wonderful for a visit.  It’s easy to imagine that the cuppa tea we’re having isn’t really in our living room but the morning room of our manor house.  Gritty?  Realistic?  Downtown Detroit in the 1960’s?  Nope.  Not Flufferton appropriate. 

Characters – We love these characters.  They have charm.  They make us smile.  We wish we knew them in real life.   

Humor – A mandatory ingredient.  Some books have us laughing out loud in ways that make our family worry about our mental stability.  Some books have just an occasional chuckle.  All books have at least some. 

Re-readability - Absolutely.  These are the books that we've read so many times that there are sections we've memorized."

 I've been enjoying Lucy Score's Blue Moon, Knockemout, and Riley Thorne series which are laugh out loud funny which charming characters and interesting situations. Everyone's idea of Flufferton is different so I'll let you enjoy following your own rabbit trails leading to Flufferton Abbey.


Our post is brought to you by the letter U for unbelievable, unique, unconventional, and unusual. 


Y'all know what to do. Leave a link or comment below!