Literary Exploration Society to Expand Reading (Formerly 52 Books)

Sunday, July 26, 2020

BW30: Miscellaneous Book Musings

A cup of tea and thee,

on a gadabout, a roundabout adventure.

Let's walk and talk and muse,

About the day, the past, the future.

With a miscellany of essays,

Fictional and fun.

Cheers to Flufferton,

Frissons of delight and

Fantastical creatures.

No telling what we'll find,

To fill our minds

When we roam, ramble, and read

whatever comes to light.

Today we celebrate the birth of George Bernard Shaw, Aldous Huxley, Andre Maurois, Anwar Chairil, Ana María Matute Ausejo, and Lawrence Watt Evans.

Literary Musings

On Jane Austen’s Politics of Walking

An Illustrated Love Letter to Gardening

How literary censorship inspired creativity in Victorian writers

Why are we so interested in Historians?

T. S. Eliot, The Art of Poetry No. 1

The Rise of Science Fiction from Pulp Mags to Cyberpunk

What is your literary Waterloo?

How to Judge a Book by it's cover.

Have fun following rabbit trails!

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Please share your book reviews and link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have a social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. The link widget closes at the end of each book week.

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Sunday, July 19, 2020

BW29: A Girl's Garden

A Girl's Garden

Robert Frost

A neighbor of mine in the village

Likes to tell how one spring

When she was a girl on the farm, she did

A childlike thing.

One day she asked her father

To give her a garden plot

To plant and tend and reap herself,

And he said, “Why not?”

In casting about for a corner

He thought of an idle bit

Of walled-off ground where a shop had stood,

And he said, “Just it.”

And he said, “That ought to make you

An ideal one-girl farm,

And give you a chance to put some strength

On your slim-jim arm.”

It was not enough of a garden,

Her father said, to plough;

So she had to work it all by hand,

But she don’t mind now.

She wheeled the dung in the wheelbarrow

Along a stretch of road;

But she always ran away and left

Her not-nice load.

And hid from anyone passing.

And then she begged the seed.

She says she thinks she planted one

Of all things but weed.

A hill each of potatoes,

Radishes, lettuce, peas,

Tomatoes, beets, beans, pumpkins, corn,

And even fruit trees

And yes, she has long mistrusted

That a cider apple tree

In bearing there to-day is hers,

Or at least may be.

Her crop was a miscellany

When all was said and done,

A little bit of everything,

A great deal of none.

Now when she sees in the village

How village things go,

Just when it seems to come in right,

She says, “I know!

It’s as when I was a farmer——”

Oh, never by way of advice!

And she never sins by telling the tale

To the same person twice.

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Sunday, July 12, 2020

BW28: Ode to Socks!

I’m in the mood to play. Who thought reading about socks could be so much fun? Shoes, Socks, Slippers, and Sandals, oh my! Read a book with socks on the cover, inside your wardrobe, or get creative with 35 Best Socks Books of All Time. Even read a book about feet under the covers. Wink, wink! Challenge yourself and read aloud the tongue twister Fox in Sock by Dr. Seuss. I guarantee a barrel of giggles throughout.

Ode to My Socks

Pablo Neruda

Maru Mori brought me

a pair

of socks

which she knitted herself

with her sheepherder’s hands,

two socks as soft

as rabbits.

I slipped my feet

into them

as though into

two

cases

knitted

with threads of

twilight

and goatskin.

Violent socks,

my feet were

two fish made

of wool,

two long sharks

sea-blue, shot

through

by one golden thread,

two immense blackbirds,

two cannons:

my feet

were honored

in this way

these

heavenly

socks.

They were

so handsome

for the first time

my feet seemed to me

unacceptable

like two decrepit

firemen, firemen

unworthy

of that woven

fire,

of those glowing

socks.

Nevertheless

I resisted

the sharp temptation

to save them somewhere

as schoolboys

keep

fireflies,

as learned men

collect

sacred texts,

I resisted

the mad impulse

to put them

into a golden

cage

and each day give them

birdseed

and pieces of pink melon.

Like explorers

in the jungle who hand

over the very rare

green deer

to the spit

and eat it

with remorse,

I stretched out

my feet

and pulled on

the magnificent

socks

and then my shoes.

The moral

of my ode is this:

beauty is twice

beauty

and what is good is doubly

good

when it is a matter of two socks

made of wool

in winter.

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Sunday, July 5, 2020

BW27: 52 Books Bingo - Whodunit Potpourri!

I was looking over our 52 books bingo categories and realized I built in quite a few crossover categories, Some of which are quite apropos to the present as well as the past. So I decided to send you all on a scavenger hunt, from the top of the mountains, to the bottom of the sea. You can go off the grid, look for some enlightenment or something more elemental. Be predictable or dance in the rain to the rhythm and blues. Explore the universe with Captain Kirk, or learn the ways of the force with Luke Skywalker.

Choose a locked room mystery with a twenty something, or get a reality check from a femme fatale, who's really groovy, baby. Or maybe get involved with a computer hacker in a case of mistaken identity. Pick a number and dive into the world of the unpredictable.

But wait! Include an outlaw, cowboy, lawmen or a soldier, from any different time period, from the past to the future for a whodunit potpourri. Oh, the drama of it all.

Pick an author's name and plug it into the Literature Map (used Nora Roberts as an example) and choose a different author to explore. Type their name into What Should I Read Next or explore books from their popular subjects lists. Pick a book at random from your own shelves or use the Random Books for Everyone generator.

Have fun!

Please share your book reviews and link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have a social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. The link widget closes at the end of each book week.

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.

Sunday, June 28, 2020

BW26: Ladies of Fiction - M.M. Kaye

July is upon the horizon. Can you believe we're halfway through the year already? I think everyone's excited as we've been hearing lots of fireworks in our area. Are you making progress, whittling down your books, reading from your own shelves or adding more to your stacks? My virtual and physical TBR pile seems to be growing. Are you expanding your reading range, diving into new genres and cultures or enjoying revisiting old friends.

I've been unable to settle down with new reads and have been diving back into comfort reads. Do any of you remember the old Mervyn's commercial with the woman waiting in front of the closed store, with her nose pressed to the window, chanting open, open, open? New books are sitting on the shelf, waiting impatiently, whispering in my ear, read me, read me, read me.

I'm excited about this month's Ladies of Fiction Bookology author and artist, M.M. Kaye, who was born and raised in Shimla, India and wrote a wide variety of historical fiction, suspense novels, children's stories (written and illustrated) as well as radio plays.

There are a number of ways to complete the bookology challenge, including but not limited to:

Spell out the author's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.
Read one or more books written by the author.
Read a book written in the country or time period of the author.

I'm looking forward to reading The Far Pavilions:

"A magnificent romantic/historical/adventure novel set in India at the time of mutiny. The Far Pavilions is a story of 19th Century India, when the thin patina of English rule held down dangerously turbulent undercurrents. It is a story about and English man - Ashton Pelham-Martyn - brought up as a Hindu and his passionate, but dangerous love for an Indian princess. It's a story of divided loyalties, of tender camaraderie, of greedy imperialism and of the clash between east and west."

Learn more about M.M. Kaye through New York Times Behind the Best Sellers, Summer of the Child of Raj, and A tribute to MM Kaye, Shimla-born British writer.

“What could be more entrancing than a carefree nomadic existence

camping, moving, exploring strange places and the ruins of

forgotten empires, sleeping under canvas or the open sky, and giving no

thought to the conventions and restriction of the modern world?”

Far Pavilions - M.M. Kaye

Happy reading!

Please share your book reviews and link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have a social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. The link widget closes at the end of each book week.

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Sunday, June 21, 2020

BW25: Happy Father's Day

Exhibit of Bil Keane in the McCormick-Stillman Railroad park in Scottsdale, Az

My Dad

Vicky Frye

If I could write a story,

It would be the greatest ever told.

I’d write about my daddy,

For he had a heart of gold.

My dad, he was no hero

Known around this world.

He was everything to me,

For I was his baby girl.

I’d write about the lessons.

He taught me right from wrong.

He instilled in me the values

That one day I’d be strong.

He taught me to face my fears,

Take each day as it comes,

For there are things that we can’t change.

He would say what’s done is done.

He would say hold your head up high,

Carry yourself with pride.

Thanks to him, I am somebody,

I will never run and hide.

If I could write a story,

It would be the greatest ever told.

I’d write about my daddy,

For he had a heart of gold.

History of Father's Day , Lesser-known ways dads improve children’s lives, Fatherly Advice Given From Famous Dads in Literature, 30 most memorable literary fathers, and 20 Father’s Day Books That Cover All of Your Dad’s Interests

Happy Father's Day to all our dads.

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Sunday, June 14, 2020

BW24: June Solstice

The June Solstice is upon us as of the 20th and we are beginning either summertime or winter, depending on your location. Today is also Flag day, the start of National Flag Week, so please take a moment to pause for the Pledge and how the underappreciated flag provides messages of Unity and those who risked it all for old glory.

Books to broaden your horizons, by Hilary Mantel, Simon Schama, Lisa Taddeo and more

Books Like Us: Introducing a New Own Voices Video Series

9 Books We’re Reading to Educate Ourselves on Anti-Racism

Civil Unrest, Civil War, Fantasy, Fiction | What We're Reading and Watching

Using a book as a bridge to bring people together

9 Books that Will Give You Hope in Uncertain Times

31 Books That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity

The 25 Best Beach Reads to Add to Your Summer Reading List

The 17 Must-Read Books of Winter 2020

“Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all.”

― Emily Dickinson

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Sunday, June 7, 2020

BW23: 52 Books Bingo - Steampunk and Technology

Our next two 52 Books Bingo categories are steampunk and technology. Within the world of science fiction, alternative histories, and dystopian worlds, we not only have steampunk, but also cyberpunk, nanopunk, dieselpunk, and biopunk. Where as steampunk is set in 19th century victorian times, cyberpunk is set in a futuristic, high tech world. Nanopunk is closely related to cyberpunk but focuses on nanotechnology, dieselpunk embraces diesel technology, and biopunk focuses on the dark side of genetic engineering.

9 novels that defined steampunk

The best steampunk books

Steampunk 101: From Sci-Fi Sub-genre to Cultural Phenomenon

Essential cyberpunk reading list

io9 Talks to Kathleen Ann Goonan About Nanopunk and Jazz

Delve into the world of fictional or non fiction technology with 7 Books About the Interplay of Technology and Humanity, 10 books with a tech twist: Summer reads for leaders, and 20 Must-Read Dystopian Novels That Are Set In A Futuristic World.

Have fun following rabbit trails of thought while exploring steampunk and technology.

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Sunday, May 31, 2020

BW22: Ladies of Fiction - N.K. Jemisin

Welcome to June, the Rose month and National Gay Pride month, National Accordion Awareness month, National Adopt a Cat month and National Fresh Fruits and Vegetables month. This month we honor DDay, the flag on Flag day, and celebrate the beginning of summer with the summer solstice.

This month we also celebrate our Ladies of Fiction with N.K. Jemisin, who lives in New York and is the author of numerous science fiction, fantasy, speculative, and mainstream novels and shorts stories including the Broken Earth, Dreamblood, Hundred Thousand Kingdoms series.

There are a number of ways to complete the bookology challenge, including but not limited to:

Spell out the author's name - one book per letter from the title on the cover.
Read one or more books written by the author.
Read a book written in the country or time period of the author or novel.

Learn more about Jemisin through New Yorker's Dream Worlds, her interview with the Guardian, and on creating new worlds and playing with imagination. Coincidently Tor is have a readalong of The Fifth Season for the next six weeks and discussing on twitter under hashtag #tordotreads.

Happy reading!

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Sunday, May 24, 2020

BW21: Lamplight by May Wedderburn Cannan

Lamplight

May Wedderburn Cannan

Source: Penguin Book of First World War Poetry

We planned to shake the world together, you and I

Being young and very wise;

Now in the light of the green shaded lamp

Almost I see your eyes

Light with the old gay laughter; you and I

Dreamed greatly of an Empire in those days,

Setting our feet upon laborious ways,

And all you asked of fame

Was crossed swords in the Army List.

We planned a great Empire together, you and I,

Bound only by the sea;

Now in the quiet of a chill Winter's night

Your voice comes hushed to me

Full of forgotten memories; you and I

Dreamed great dreams of our future in those days,

And all I asked of fame

A scarlet cross on my breast, my Dear,

for the swords by your name.

We shall never shake the world together, you and I,

For you gave your life away;

and I think my heart was broken by the war,

Since on a Summer day

You took the road we never spoke of, you and I

Dreamed greatly of an Empire in those days;

You set your feet upon the Western ways

And have no need of fame ---

There's a scarlet cross on my breast, my Dear,

And a torn cross with your name.

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Sunday, May 17, 2020

BW20: 52 Books Bingo - Renaissance

Our next 52 Books Bingo category is taking us back in time to the Renaissance which took place between the 14th to 17th centuries and began in Italy with a humanism revolution bringing changes to art, literature, music, philosophy, religion and more.

Famous writers during that period includes William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, Niccolo Machiavelli, Francesco Petrarch, Dante Alighieri, and Geoffrey Chaucer to name a few. Now would be a perfect time to continue my Dante's Divine Comedy read as I still haven't read Purgatorio yet and it's been glaring at me from my shelves. *grin*

Let's not forget the ladies with Shakespeare’s Sisters: A Celebration of Renaissance Women Writers

Renaissance writers who shaped the modern world

Biographies and history books on the Renaissance

Reading the Renaissance: the guilty pleasures of historical fiction

Sarah Dunant's top 10 books on the Renaissance

Popular 14th Century Novels, 15th Century, and 16th Century and popular Renaissance books.

While we are time traveling, try moving forward in time to the 1920's and the Renaissance Women: 12 Female Writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

I currently have several Renaissance books in my shelves including Dante's Purgatorio, Machiavelli's The Prince as well as historical fiction authors Sarah Dunant's Sacred Hearts as well as Stephanie Storey's Oil and Marble in my book shelves which I'm looking forward to reading soon.

Have fun armchair traveling through the Renaissance.

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Sunday, May 10, 2020

BW19: Happy Mother's Day

Willow Tree - Tenderness

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and

sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity;

when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us,

still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts

and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and

cause peace to return to our hearts.” ― Washington Irving

This week is dedicated to all mom's everywhere including our angel moms. She who goes by many names including ma, mama, mum, mother, mumsy, mamman, mutter, mathair, mor, madra, majka, maji, mater and my favorite, she who rules the roost. Yes I made that last one up but it's true isn't it! My mother ruled the roost with love and schedules when I was growing up, keeping me and my four siblings in line. Which is probably why we are all so organized to this day with our day planners and white boards and charts. *grin*

Your mission this week is to read a book about moms or with mom characters or with mother in the title. Or spell out mother or ma or use one of the many variations, reading one book per letter in the title.

19 Badass Literary Moms Who Need To Be Celebrated

Our favourite mothers in literature

11 of the Best Moms in Children’s Literature

Mothers in literature: the best books about the closest bond

Psst, Moms! 6 Enticing Books for When You Need a Break

A Mother's Love: 30 Books Celebrating Mighty Moms & Daughters

Nine more great books about motherhood to add to your TBR pile

Who is your favorite literary mom? Two of my favorite moms are Molly Weasley from Harry Potter and Charlotte Mira in J.D. Robb's In Death series who later in the series becomes like a surrogate mom to Eve. So very sweet yet tough.

Happy Mother's Day, my lovelies.

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