Summer Games 2021
So, I’ve finally come up with a summer reading theme: Seeing as both the Olympic Games and the European Football (Soccer) Championship have been pushed back to this year from 2020 due to the pandemic (and 3 of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments are also set while it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere), I […]
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The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael
The Novels The Prequel: A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael (published in September 1988, set in 1120) The first Chronicle: A Morbid Taste for Bones (published in August 1977, set in 1137) The second Chronicle: One Corpse Too Many (published in July 1979, set in August 1138) The third Chronicle: Monk’s Hood (published […]
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Appointment With Agatha: The Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration
This is my master update post for a group project to read all of Agatha Christie’s full-length novels in the order of their publication, beginning in October 2020, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the publication of her first mystery novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which introduced the world to Hercule Poirot and […]
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An Alphabet of Likes and Dislikes
This project is based on a very similar series of blog posts that I saw in BeetleyPete‘s blog and liked so much that I decided I’ll have a go at it, too — not least because it may also serve as an introduction to those of you who haven’t been following me for a long […]
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The (Mostly) Dead Writers Society Reading Projects: Birthday Challenge & Authors in Residence
(Dead) Author Birthdays This is a reading challenge associated with the (Mostly) Dead Writers Society on Goodreads; I decided to join it because it is as much an invitation to reconnect with the classics as it is one to walk down literary paths less traveled; so it ties in nicely with my own 2021 reading […]
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Central America South America – Gabriel García Márquez: El coronel no tiene que escriba / Nobody Writes to the Colonel, and Other Stories Caribbean – Various Authors: Trinidad Noir (Akashic Noir series) North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Dear Ijeawele Eastern Europe – Olivia Manning: The Spoilt City Central Asia Middle East […]
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2020 Summer Sojourn
As current events make actual travel — at least, leisure travel — either undesirable, unwise or flat-out impossible, I decided to devote my 2020 summer reading to literary armchair travel, and to call it the 2020 Summer Sojourn. Then the BookLikes meltdown happened and I had to start sprucing up my WordPress blog … as […]
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Around the World in 80 Books – Mostly by Female Authors
[World map created with Mapchart.net] The aim: To diversify my reading and read as many books as possible (not necessarily 80) set in, and by authors from, countries all over the world. Female authors preferred. If a book is set in a location other than that of the author’s nationality, it can apply to either […]
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The Flat Book Society
The Flat Book Society on BookLikes The Flat Book Society was a science and popular science book club, active on BookLikes from July 2017 to December 2019. BookLikes Book Club Page BookLikes Discussion Group The Reading Lists Suggested Books Nominated Books Books Read 2017-07-07 – 2017-08-31 – Andrea Wulf: The […]
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Freedom and Future Library
Introduction (2018) You’d have to be living under a rock buried somewhere halfway down to the center of the earth in order not to be aware that in recent years our beautiful world has been shaken up by a number of crises the likes of which I, at least, have not experienced in my entire […]
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Kill Your Darlings
Aaaand … that’s a wrap. My Kill Your Darling Books. Green Round: Team MbD – Lillelara – TA Round 1 Suspect Own guess / card played: Madeleine L’Engle – wrong – 5 points Correct guess: None Victims Own guess / card played: Katniss Everdeen – 5 points Correct guess: None Crime Scenes Own guess […]
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12 Festive Tasks
Snow Globes: Reads Bells: Activities Task the First: The Winter Wonderland: – Read a book that is set in a snowy place. => Dylan Thomas: A Child’s Christmas in Wales – If you are lucky enough to live in a snowy place, or even if you aren’t, take a walk outside and post a […]
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On Page and Screen
Bringing together great literature and its equally great screen adaptations. Note: Authors are included here if I own a screen adaptation of at least one of their works and have either reviewed / blogged about that screen adaptation or about any one of the author’s literary works. At the same time, however, for each of […]
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221B Baker Street
The World of London’s Only Consulting Detective Arthur Conan Doyle Author page: biographical sketch, bibliography, quotes, links (Auto-) Biographies and Nonfiction about Arthur Conan Doyle: Hesketh Pearson: Conan Doyle: His Life and Art (1943) Daniel Stashower: Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle (1999) (Ed.): Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters […]
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Little Grey Cells: St. Mary Mead & Elsewhere
Agatha Christie’s Detectives and Their World The Queen of Crime Author page: biographical sketch, bibliography, quotes, links Nonfiction Books by and about Agatha Christie and Her Works Book review: Agatha Christie & Mathew Prichard: The Grand Tour – Letters and Photographs from the British Empire Expedition Book review / reading progress updates: Martin Edwards: […]
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Beyond the 100th Meridian
Introduction When I was not even four years old, a new branch of my family inserted themselves into my life: my aunt, uncle, and cousins, recently returned from El Paso, TX, where my uncle, who was with the military, had spent one of the multiple, several-year-long stints at Fort Bliss that were spread throughout his […]
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