ADVENT
5 Days to Christmas!
Friday, December 20, 2024
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Monday, December 16, 2024
Sunday, December 15, 2024
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Saturday, December 14, 2024
Friday, December 13, 2024
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Exploring Wine Regions: México by Michael Higgins -- BOOK BEGINNINGS
BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
Exploring Wine Regions: México by Michael Higgins
MY BOOK BEGINNING
In my quest to find knowledgeable and interesting pioneers to enlighten us on the history of viticulture in México, to set-the-stage for the value of this book, and to open our eyes to the wonderful things going on with Mexican wines in the wine regions of México... I was introduced to Doctora Marisa Ramos by Guanajuato's wine pioneer Ricardo Vega (we will hear more from him later).-- from Exploring Wine Regions: México: Exploring México's Quality Wines and Phenomenal Cuisine by Michael Higgins (ellipses in original).This México book is the fourth and latest in Michael Higgins's wonderful Exploring Wine Regions series. Like the earlier books, this one is meticulously researched and offers an insider account of wineries and vineyards, as well as travel tips for the food, special lodging, sights, and history of the region.
See my review of the earlier guides to Bordeaux and Argentina here and my review of the California book here.
The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from Exploring Wine Regions: México:
YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS
Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
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THE FRIDAY 56
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from Exploring Wine Regions: México:
The majority of wineries in Valle de Guadalupe are located on this north side of the valley. They are primarily up into the hills of the valley with a south-facing sun exposure for the vines.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
This is the fourth book in this award-winning series, now exploring the México Wine Regions. Does México make wine? Yes. Any good? Very good. While México is famous for producing Tequila, this book opens our eyes to high-quality Mexican wines. And the phenomenal cuisine and extraordinary tourism. This book takes you on a journey to discover these amazing wines; combining wine education, an insider travel guide and spectacular photography. Higgins again dazzles his audience with another informative and beautiful book.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Bookish Retail Therapy -- BOOK THOUGHTS
BOOK THOUGHTS
Bookish Retail Therapy
Work has been crazy the last couple of months. When I am under the gun, my retail therapy choice is online book shopping. I did some stress-induced shopping from Blackwell's Books the other day and the books just got here. I like a Blackwell's binge every now and again because they have books that are hard to find here in the US, or in editions we don’t have.I keep a comprehensive wish list of books I want to read. Most of the books on the big list are from the book lists I'm working on -- certain prize winners, must reads, and books by favorite authors. Others are books that caught my eye, often from the Slightly Foxed quarterly or recommendations from friends. The books in this picture have all been on my wish list for a while. That means they are not available as an audiobook from my library or on Spotify, because I always look for those free audiobooks first.
Here's what's in that stack:
The Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai came to my attention because it is on Erica Jong’s list of Top 100 20th Century Novels by Women, one of the lists I'm working on. It’s a great list and I've found several new-to-me authors on it, like Joy Kogawa and Lore Segal.
Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett won the 1923 James Tate Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. Based at the University of Scotland in Edinburgh, the James Tait Black Prize is one of the oldest and most prestigious book prizes, awarded since 1919 for literature written in the English language. Overall, I think I prefer these prize winners over the Booker winners.
The Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai came to my attention because it is on Erica Jong’s list of Top 100 20th Century Novels by Women, one of the lists I'm working on. It’s a great list and I've found several new-to-me authors on it, like Joy Kogawa and Lore Segal.
Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett won the 1923 James Tate Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. Based at the University of Scotland in Edinburgh, the James Tait Black Prize is one of the oldest and most prestigious book prizes, awarded since 1919 for literature written in the English language. Overall, I think I prefer these prize winners over the Booker winners.
An Unofficial Rose by Iris Murdoch is one of the few Murdoch books not already on my shelves. I’m a Murdoch completist, so this buy made me particularly happy.
Highland River by Neil M. Gunn won the James Tait Black prize in 1937. It is about a young man on an introspective journey to the source of the river he grew up with.
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is for a buddy read in January some of my bookstagram friends. I could have bought this classic from an American store, but, oddly, I couldn’t find the Penguin Classic edition.
Inside the Wave by Helen Dunmore is her last book of poetry. It won the Costa Book of the Year Award, yet another list I’m working on.
It’s true, I can’t resist a list! Do you have any book lists you are working on? Maybe we share a few. Or I can tackle a new one!
Highland River by Neil M. Gunn won the James Tait Black prize in 1937. It is about a young man on an introspective journey to the source of the river he grew up with.
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is for a buddy read in January some of my bookstagram friends. I could have bought this classic from an American store, but, oddly, I couldn’t find the Penguin Classic edition.
Inside the Wave by Helen Dunmore is her last book of poetry. It won the Costa Book of the Year Award, yet another list I’m working on.
It’s true, I can’t resist a list! Do you have any book lists you are working on? Maybe we share a few. Or I can tackle a new one!
Monday, December 9, 2024
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Friday, December 6, 2024
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Christmas in London by Anita Hughes -- BOOK BEGINNINGS
BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
Christmas in London by Anita Hughes
Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.
MY BOOK BEGINNING
Louisa nudged open the industrial-sized oven And thought nothing smelled as wonderful as cinnamon and nutmeg nine days before Christmas.-- from Christmas in London by Anita Hughes.
I am trying to read only Christmas-themed books this month. I think about this every year, and this is the year I am finally going to try. I have a stack of Christmas books to read with my eyes. My difficulty is finding audio books.
I ended up downloading several from the library and am going through them, hit or miss. I mostly found romance books and cozy mysteries. I have nothing against those genres, but they are not the first I pick when looking for something to read. I've sent a few back after the first few minutes of listening because the story was too sappy or the narrator's voice grated on my nerves.
Christmas in London seems to have a bit more going for it. It's still a romcom, but there is a story to it, however implausible. Louisa is a baker in New York and gets the entirely implausible opportunity to go to London to fill in for America's most famous female chef on the most popular cooking program in London. So she gets a whirlwind, all-expense-paid trip to London, with a makeover and romance thrown in.
For sure I need a double dose of the usual willing suspension of disbelief. But I'm thinking these books are the reading equivalent of eggnog -- a Christmas-only treat too sweet for the rest of the year,
The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from Christmas in London:
YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS
Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
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THE FRIDAY 56
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from Christmas in London:
Louisa pulled her eyes from a display of Christmas crackers and followed him to the middle of the store. The Christmas tree was five stories tall and seemed as wide as an ocean liner.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
Set during London's most festive time of year and filled with delicious food Anita Hughes' Christmas in London is about love and friendship, and the season's most important lesson: learning how to ask for and give forgiveness.
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Christmas Reading -- BOOK THOUGHTS
BOOK THOUGHTS
Christmas Reading
Every year, I aspire to read only Christmas-themed books in December. I love Christmas and want to immerse myself in holiday books, movies, food, drinks, parties, decorations – all of it. Then December rolls around and I always have other books I want to read before the end of the year, so I abandon the Christmas book plan.Not this year! I finished all my TBR 24 in '24 books before November. I’m caught up on my IRL book club books. I don’t have any Instagram buddy reads until January. So this year I am all in on Christmas reading.
Here’s my stack of Christmas book possibilities. I hope to get to as many of these as I can, although I suspect I’ll have a few left over for next year.
🎄 There Came Both Mist and Snow by Michael Innes. I love vintage mysteries and a winter setting makes it all the better.
🎄 Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas by Maya Angelou. I haven't read any of her books and I love the title of this one. It's a collection of essays and, maybe, poems. I haven't looked through it yet.
🎄 Christmas Stories by Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol is in here, but so are the other Christmas stories he wrote to publish each December. I've read these all before, so this would be a reread for me, if I get to it.
🎄 The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson. I love the British Library Crime Classics series and know they have several with a Christmas theme. Unfortunately, they are not easy to find in the US. I have a few, but this is the only Christmas one.
🎄 Christmas by Elizabeth David. I read a book of David's food writing earlier this year. I like the idea of a collection of Christmas food essays.
🎄 A Redbird Christmas by Fanny Flagg. I see this one around a lot and loved her Fried Green Tomatoes book, so am looking forward to this one.
🎄 The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart. OK, so this is not exactly on point. It isn't a Christmas books. But I'm always looking for festive holiday cocktails and the book looked great in the stack.
🎄 Christmas Holiday by W. Somerset Maugham. I'm reading this one now and it's a good story. It is about a young man living in London who goes to Paris over Christmas and meets a Russian prostitute married to a murderer. That's quite a yarn! It's more engaging than many a Maugham read.
🎄 A Christmas Treasury of Yuletide Stories & Poems, edited by James Charlton and Barbara Gilson. This might be really sappy, but I'll give it a go.
🎄 Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas by Anja Dunk. This Christmas cookbook looks gorgeous. I plan to read it cover to cover, like a book.
🎄 The St. Nicholas Anthology, edited by Henry Steele Commager. This is another collection of Christmas bits and bobs. It might be really sappy because it was published in 1948.
🎄 The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook by Regula Ysewijn and Julian Fellowes. O couldn't resist this one because it is full of Downton pictures and old-fashioned recipes. Another cookbook I will read straight through.
I also have several Christmas books lined up on my library app to read with my ears because I read a lot of audiobooks, especially while I putter around decorating the house and tree, baking treats, and wrapping presents. The audiobooks I picked are not by authors I’ve read before and they are almost all cozy mysteries or romcoms. I have nothing against either genre, but they aren’t my usual picks.
We’ll see how this part goes. I've tried a couple that were too sticky sweet for me and I returned them after a few minutes of listening. I listened to a cozy mystery with a rare book dealer as the amateur sleuth and it had some plot holes big enough for Santa's sleigh.
Do you have any suggestions for Christmas reads not in my stack already? I'm planning ahead for next year already.
Do you have any suggestions for Christmas reads not in my stack already? I'm planning ahead for next year already.
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Monday, December 2, 2024
Sunday, December 1, 2024
Advent -- A Countdown to Christmas Tradition! 24 Days to Christmas
ADVENT: COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS
To see more vintage cards, click on the "Advent" or "vintage postcard" tags at the bottom of these posts (or bottom of the page) to find hundreds of images from past years. You will find Santas, Christmas trees, nativity scenes, elves, cats, birds, dogs, deer, ornaments, gifts, candles, bells, and lots more!
THIS YEAR'S THEME
Some years I have a theme, some years it's catch as catch can. This year I'm going for a wreath theme. I've never done wreaths before and I'm really into wreaths at my house right now.
Next task will be to tackle my real Christmas cards. Do you send them? I enjoy seeing all the new-fashioned cards with pictures, so I can see my friends and family. But I always end up sending a traditional boxed card, usually with a snapshot or sticker picture of me and my husband.
DECEMBER BLOGGING
I always plan to do holiday-themed blog posts every year, but never seem to get around to it. There's a lot going on in December! But I hope to do a little something more thematic this yea. I read Nigel Slater's The Christmas Chronicles in November to get me in the mood. Expect a review this month.
Also, I have a stack of Christmas-themed books on my nightstand and Christmas audiobooks downloaded from the library. Every year I say I am going to read only seasonal books in December, but every year I get distracted by other books. This is my year! I have everything from holiday cookbooks to winter mysteries. I'm excited!
It is also the time of year to plan next year's reading challenges. I am hosting the European Reading Challenge again in 2025 and a TBR 25 in '25 challenge. I will get those posts before the end of the year, I promise!
What are your blogging plans for December? Do they include planning or posting any 2025 reading challenges?
Please join me tomorrow when the Rose City Reader advent calendar continues!
It is also the time of year to plan next year's reading challenges. I am hosting the European Reading Challenge again in 2025 and a TBR 25 in '25 challenge. I will get those posts before the end of the year, I promise!
What are your blogging plans for December? Do they include planning or posting any 2025 reading challenges?
Please join me tomorrow when the Rose City Reader advent calendar continues!
Thursday, November 28, 2024
The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan -- BOOK BEGINNINGS
BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan
MY BOOK BEGINNING
"Maple Sugar Inn, how may I help you?"-- from The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan.
I've never read any books by Sarah Morgan, but I saw this one at a library friends store the other day and it looks perfect for this holiday weekend. I'm ready to curl up with a cozy read!
The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from The Book Club Hotel:
YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS
Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
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THE FRIDAY 56
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from The Book Club Hotel:
She almost wished she hadn't had twins. If there had been a gap between her children at least then she could have let go of them one at a time and gradually eased herself into a child-free life, instead of losing both at the same time.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, the Maple Sugar Inn is considered the ultimate vacation destination. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel with being a dedicated single mom, Hattie Coleman dreams only of making it through each day.
When Erica, Claudia and Anna—lifelong friends who seem to have it all—check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life's ups and downs. But Hattie can see they're also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs.
Happy Thanksgiving!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Wishing you a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope you have time to enjoy some good books this holiday weekend.
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Thankfulness -- BOOK NOTES
BOOK NOTES
A Thankfulness Stack
It’s Thanksgiving week, so I’ve put together a thankfulness stack to remind me to focus on my blessings, be content, give thanks, and show gratitude. I love Thanksgiving and the entire Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It's is a time of reflection for me, and filled with nostalgia. Thanksgiving is also the gateway to Christmas, which I really love.
🦃 The Blessing by Nancy Mitford🦃 A Little Book of Japanese Contentments by Erin Niimi Longhurst
🦃 Thank You for Smoking* by Christopher Buckley
🦃 Gratitude: Reflections on What We Owe to Our Country by William F. Buckley
I haven't read The Blessing yet. I picked this one for the title. I love Nancy Mitford, though, so I look forward to this one, which is described as her most autobiographical novel.
A Little Book of Japanese Contentments is one I really enjoyed. The author looks to Japanese traditions like "forest bathing" and wabi-sabi to gently advise on how to be more grounded and live in the present. The modernist, Japanese-style illustrations make the book beautiful and a good gift idea.
Thank You for Smoking may seem like dark satire for a post about thankfulness, but it’s actually right on point. My husband, also a lawyer, spent a big chunk of his career litigating cases for Philip Morris. Around our house, there’s more truth to that title than we care to acknowledge.
The William Buckley book, Gratitude, is still on my TBR shelf but one I'd very much like to read. I think I might read it over Thanksgiving weekend.
For my fellow Thanksgiving celebrants, what are your plans? My husband and I are on our own this year and plan to have a very laidback holiday. We certainly are not cooking a turkey dinner for the two of us! We are going to get lobsters from the tank at the Chinese grocery store. And I will be avoiding Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and all the rest of it, like I do every year.
Also, as is the tradition around our house, I'll go to the tree lot and get our Christmas tree on Saturday or Sunday. I no longer make my husband crawl around in the Oregon mud to cut our own tree, but I still insist on a fresh tree.
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Death and Croissants by Ian Moore -- BOOK BEGINNINGS
BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
Death and Croissants by Ian Moore
Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.
MY BOOK BEGINNING
Is there anything in this world quite as joyless a muesli?-- from Death and Croissants by Ian Moore. Good question! I'd answer no. For reasons lost in time, the word muesli makes my sister and I laugh every time we hear it. So this opening sentence grabbed me immediately.
Death and Croissants is the first book in a series of cozy and funny mysteries set in the Loire Valley of France. The protagonist is an Englishman running a B&B outside a French village who gets caught up in a potential murder investigation. His sidekick is a beautiful woman with an overdeveloped sense of adventure. Just what Richard needs to take his mind off his failing marriage and absent wife.
I turned to this one because I am so enjoying Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police series, also set in a remote French village. While I wait for my library hold to come in on the next Bruno book, I turned to Ian Moore. I just finished the audiobook -- read by the author -- and loved it.
The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from Death and Croissants:
YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS
Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
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THE FRIDAY 56
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from Death and Croissants:
Her reply came dismissively in English, like a haughty Parisian waiter, bringing both annoyance and relief in equal measure. But with it came a friendly shrug, too, and all in an accent that in just one sentence veered from parody to femme fatale and back again.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
Meet Richard Ainsworth: an almost divorced part time B&B owner, part time film historian, full time self-deprecator. Hoping to continue running his B&B in the quiet Val de Follet, he has no idea of its hidden intrigue, from the mafia to swingers, to the peddling of (il)legal grape seeds. His quiet has flown the coop on a fateful afternoon with a bloody handprint, a missing guest, and one dead Ava Gardner (beloved hen).
Death and Croissants is an unputdownable, hilarious mystery perfect for fans of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Unconditional Surrender by Evelyn Waugh -- BOOK BEGINNINGS
BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
Unconditional Surrender by Evelyn Waugh
Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.
MY BOOK BEGINNING
When Guy Crouchback returned to his regiment in the autumn of 1941 his position was in many ways anomalous.-- from Unconditional Surrender by Evelyn Waugh.
Unconditional Surrender is the third novel in Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy, an fictional examination of WWII inspired by Waugh's own wartime experiences. Guy Crouchback is the often-humorous protagonist. I'm reading the trilogy with a group on Instagram, as we work our way through all of Waugh's books.
YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS
Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
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THE FRIDAY 56
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from Unconditional Surrender:
Jumbo Trotter would have devised a dozen perfectly regular means of absenting himself. He would, if all else failed, have posted himself to a senior officers' "refresher" course.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
By 1941, after serving in North Africa and Crete, Guy Crouchback has lost his Halberdier idealism. A desk job in London gives him the chance of reconciliation with his former wife. Then, in Yugoslavia, as a liaison officer with the partisans, Crouch becomes finally and fully aware of the futility of a war he once saw in terms of honor.
Unconditional Surrender is the third novel in Waugh's brilliant Sword of Honor trilogy recording the tumultuous wartime adventures of Guy Crouchback ("the finest work of fiction in English to emerge from World War II"-Atlantic Monthly), which also comprises Men at Arms and Officers and Gentlemen.
Friday, November 8, 2024
The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope -- BOOK BEGINNINGS
BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope
MY BOOK BEGINNING
No one, probably, ever felt himself to be more alone in the world than our old friend, the Duke of Omnium, when the Duchess died.-- from The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope.The Duke's Children is the sixth and final novel in Trollope's Palliser series, also known as the Parliamentary Novels. I've been reading the series all year with a readalong group on Instagram. I love them, although maybe not quite so much as I enjoyed the Barchester Chronicles.
See the Publisher's Description below for more details.
The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from The Duke's Children:
YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS
Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
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THE FRIDAY 56
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from The Duke's Children:
But all this was now at an end. He told himself that he did not care how the elections might go;—that he did not care much how anything might go.
That seems like an appropriate teaser for this election week.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
After the sudden death of his wife, two years after he has left office as Prime Minister, the Duke of Omnium must become deeply involved with his children for the first time. They vex him enormously: with school expulsions, vast gambling debts, and what he considers to be calamitous romantic attachments. He tries to compel them to do what he wants, but they are not so easy to manage.
Even when his eldest child and heir, Lord Silverbridge, makes him proud by embarking upon a political career, the Duke grapples with heartache. For Silverbridge becomes a Conservative rather than a Liberal, flouting the family tradition. The relationship between father and son is drawn with remarkable subtlety, and the book as a whole becomes a piercing, yet often humorous, exploration of change: how both the young and the old resist, tolerate, or embrace it.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson -- BOOK BEGINNINGS
BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson
Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.
MY BOOK BEGINNING
As requested, they had all assembled in the Library before dinner.-- from Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson.I love this opening sentence because it echoes so many Golden Age mysteries. Kate Atkinson is one of my favorite authors and her Jackson Brodie mystery series is a huge favorite of mine. I wait impatiently for a new one to come out, even while enjoying the literary novels she puts out between mysteries.
See the Publisher's Description below for more details. If you like smart, clever mysteries, this one is for you!
The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from The Sign of the Rook:
YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS
Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
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THE FRIDAY 56
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from The Sign of the Rook:
He had seen a lot of dead people and he wouldn't call them peaceful. He would call them dead.
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
Welcome to Rook Hall. The stage is set. The players are ready. By night’s end, a murderer will be revealed.
In his sleepy Yorkshire town, ex-detective Jackson Brodie is staving off boredom and malaise. His only case is the seemingly tedious matter of a stolen painting. But Jackson soon uncovers a string of unsolved art thefts that lead him down a dizzying spiral of disguise and deceit to Burton Makepeace, a formerly magnificent estate now partially converted into a hotel hosting Murder Mystery weekends.
As paying guests, impecunious aristocrats and old friends collide, we are treated to Atkinson’s most charming and fiendishly clever mystery yet, one that pays homage to the masters of the genre—from Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers to the modern era of Knives Out and Only Murders in the Building.
Thursday, October 24, 2024
The Resistance Man by Martin Walker -- BOOK BEGINNINGS
BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
The Resistance Man by Martin Walker
Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.
MY BOOK BEGINNING
It was shortly after dawn on a day in late spring that carried all the promise of summer to come.-- from The Resistance Man by Martin Walker.Martin Walker's "Bruno, Chief of Police" series is my current favorite mystery series. Bruno is the Chief of Police in the French village of St. Denis. He loves to cook, juggles a couple of women who are both reluctant to commit, enjoys his rural lifestyle, and solves crimes. The books are cozy, but not super cozy. I love them and am working my way steadily through the whole series. This one is book 6 of 18.
See the Publisher's Description below for more details.
The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from The Resistance Man:
YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS
Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.
THE FRIDAY 56
Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.
MY FRIDAY 56
-- from The Resistance Man:
“So that’s the second mystery, apart from the murder,” Bruno said over the smoked salmon. “What happened to the furniture?”
FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
It's summer in St. Denis for chief of police Bruno Courrèges, and that means a new season of cases. This time there are three weighing on his mind. First, there’s the evidence that a veteran of the French Resistance is connected to a notorious train robbery; then, the burglary of a former British spymaster's estate; and, finally, the murder of an antiques dealer whose lover is conveniently on the lam.
As Bruno investigates, it becomes clear that they are connected--however, figuring out how will take every skill he possesses. Add in juggling the complex affections of two powerful women, maneuvering village politics, and managing his irrepressible puppy, Balzac, and Bruno has his hands full once again.
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Possible Reading Challenge -- BOOK THOUGHTS
BOOK THOUGHTS
Possible Reading Challenge
How do you pick the books you are going to read?
I am not a “mood” reader. I don’t pick my next read on whim. If I did, I’d read mostly mysteries, with a few ex-pat memoirs and novels "by women, for women" thrown in. Classics, heavy fiction, history, chunky biographies, and short stories don't jump out at me. I love reading long books, serious books, genres outside my comfort zone, and even short stories when I read them. But I'm not typically in the mood to read them. I need some kind of structure to my reading plan to tackle those books. My two IRL book clubs, Instagram buddy reads, and blog challenges give me that kind of structure.
Today I had a crazy idea of organizing my reading based on the names of each month. (I didn’t say I need formality to find structure!) I occasionally see Instagram posts of stacks of books that spell the name of the month with the first letters of each title. Clever. Now I’m obsessed with the idea of reading a spelling stack of books each month for a year.
There are a total of 74 letters in the names of the twelve months. May is the shortest, with three letters. September and December are the longest, with nine letters each. A total of 74 books in a year is doable. I usually read close to twice that many, so I would have plenty of flexibility to work in other books.
I could come up with a whole new challenge based on this wild hare. It would need a clever name and I'm not good at that. I'd probably end up calling it the Spell the Month Challenge. Not very catchy. On the other hand, instead of a new challenge, I could use the idea as a theme for my TBR 25 in '25 Challenge and the Mt. TBR Challenge hosted each year by Bev at My Reader's Block. I signed up with Bev this year to read a total of 60 books off my TBR shelves. I could probably stretch it to 74.
I could come up with a whole new challenge based on this wild hare. It would need a clever name and I'm not good at that. I'd probably end up calling it the Spell the Month Challenge. Not very catchy. On the other hand, instead of a new challenge, I could use the idea as a theme for my TBR 25 in '25 Challenge and the Mt. TBR Challenge hosted each year by Bev at My Reader's Block. I signed up with Bev this year to read a total of 60 books off my TBR shelves. I could probably stretch it to 74.
Or the whole idea could fade away. But for now, here’s a stack of books spelling October. I picked mysteries because I’m already looking to game my own system and bring in the mystery books.
Overture to Death by Ngaio MarshCome Away Death by Gladys MitchellTelling of Murder by Douglas RutherfordOn the Danger Line by SimenonBullets for the Bridegroom by David DodgeExcellent Intentions by Richard HullRed Threads by Rex Stout
Happy reading, however you pick your next book!
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Spin Number 39 -- CLASSICS CLUB
CLASSICS CLUB SPIN
Spin Number 39
UPDATE: THE SPIN NUMBER IS 3, A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong
The Classics Club is an online "Community of Classics Lovers" started in 2012 to “unite those of us who like to blog about classic literature, as well as to inspire people to make the classics an integral part of life.” To join, you create your own list of 50 "classics" (loosely defined) and read them in five years. Details are on the Classics Club website.
Every now and again, the Classics Club organizes a CC Spin. The idea is to pick books from your CC list and on a certain date, the organizers pick a random number and you read that books by a specific date.
You can find more details here, but these are the basics:
- Pick twenty books from your Classics Club list that you still want to read.
- Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog before Sunday, 20th October.
- Classics Club will randomly pick a number and announce it on their website on October 20.
- Read that book by the 18th of December and share your review (if you write one) on the Classics Club website.
- The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens, Booker Prize
- Beat Not the Bones by Charlotte Jay, Edgar Award
- A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong, Edgar Award
- The Secret City by Hugh Walpole, James Tait Black
- Without My Cloak by Kate O'Brien, James Tait Black
- England, Their England by A. G. Macdonell, James Tait Black
- Unconditional Surrender by Evelyn Waugh
- The Devil's Advocate by Morris West, James Tait Black
- The Ice Saints by Frank Tuohy, James Tait Black
- Langrishe, Go Down by Aidan Higgins, James Tait Black
- Eva Trout by Elizabeth Bowen, James Tait Black
- The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch, James Tait Black
- Laughing Boy by Oliver Lafarge, Pulitzer Prize
- The Aerodrome by Rex Warner, Burgess Top 99
- Indian Summer by William Dean Howells, Burgess Top 99
- The Fox in the Attic by Richard Hughes, Burgess Top 99
- The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, The College Board
- The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling, Easton Press Greatest
- Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, Easton Press Greatest
- The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, Easton Press Greatest
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