Hispanic World & Literature
Q1 / 2022 Reading Recap
Well, as it turned out 2022 began as 2021 had ended — all work and no play, albeit with the addition of a hospital detour to boot. (Nothing serious, just way more painful and, all told, protracted, than it had any right to be.) So I’m back to posting one summary post for the first […]
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Margaret Millar: Ask for Me Tomorrow
Blurb: Tom Aragon, a young Hispanic lawyer, is hired by Gilda Decker to find her husband who disappeared in Mexico after reportedly amassing a fortune. Aragon travels to Mexico to unravel the past, which he finds shrouded in mystery. But as he starts getting close to his quarry, witnesses start dying. The first of Millar’s […]
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Holiday Spirituality
Festive Tasks Master Update Post HERE Task 1: Are there any places or events that are particularly spiritually meaningful to you this time of year? Share a picture or description with us. There are, and it’s put a damper on my Christmas not to be able to go there this and last year. Neither my […]
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February and March 2021: Reading Recap
Well, go figure. The first quarter of 2021 is already behind us, never mind that I’m still having to remind myself on occasion to write “2021” instead of “2020” … (and we’re even a week into April already, but let that go). Anyway, since I never got around to doing a “February in review” post, […]
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Gabriel García Márquez: El coronel no tiene quien le escriba (No One Writes to the Colonel, and Other Stories)
García Márquez’s writing, by and large, works better for me in his novels than in his short stories, and that turned out to be true in connection with this particular collection, too; even though its titular first entry is almost of novella-length: But this is a story where little moves — quite literally — and […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “M”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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Isabel Allende: Cuentos de Eva Luna (The Stories of Eva Luna)
24 Festive Tasks: Door 13 – International Day for Tolerance, Task 2: Name a redeeming trait of a book that you DNF’d this year. This is an easy one for me this year: One of the relatively few books I DNF’d in 2020 was Isabel Allende’s Stories of Eva Luna. And there’s nothing […]
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2020 Mid-Year Reading Review and Statistics
What with the pandemic still very much ongoing, BL acting up again, MR’s and Char’s resulting posts re: BookLikes, the BL experience, and moving back to Goodreads, this feels like a somewhat odd moment to post my half-yearly reading stats. I hope it won’t be the last time on this site, but I fear that […]
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BL-opoly, Pandemic Edition – Second Roll
… and of course: (1) like last year, when rolling shortly before midnight my time, there’s no such thing as “a quick roll” but I’m blessed with a double, and (2) no sooner did I DNF a book set in South America that roll #2-a roll sends me straight to the Patagonia Express. Sigh. I’m […]
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Isabel Allende: The Stories of Eva Luna
DNF @ just over 40%. Meh. There’s nothing inherently wrong with these stories, but I’m interminably bored — I just may be over Allende at this point. So, I’m just going to cash in on the 40% I’ve listened to and roll for BookLikes-opoly again. Original post: ThemisAthena.booklikes.com/post/2609139/dnf-just-over-40
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BL-opoly, Pandemic Edition – First Roll
Another pandemic month, another game, thanks to Moonlight Reader! I’m glad we’re making this a low-key version, and I don’t know how often I’ll want to roll, but anyway … here we go. Like last year, I’ll have my two little helpers by my side helping me pick my books — and in keeping with […]
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Please pick my final Snakes & Ladders book! — UPDATED: Decision time.
Looks like we have a winner! So, Val McDermid’s fifth Karen Pirie book it is … I am really glad that every book I listed collected votes, though (and it was a close race between the two top contenders for quite a while) — needless to say, I intend to get to all of […]
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Please pick my final Snakes & Ladders book!
NOTE: Clicking on the image will take you to the actual poll. To avoid double counting, please use only the polling site to vote (i.e., don’t also tell me in your comments which books you’re voting for). Thank you! To see the results, click HERE. Original post: ThemisAthena.booklikes.com/post/2321902/please-pick-my-final-snakes-ladders-book
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Favorite Dragons from Fiction and Mythology
24 Festive Tasks: Door 5 – Bon Om Touk, Task 3: Dragons and dragon-like serpents (imugi) are important to Korean mythology (as they are to that of other Asian peoples). So – which are your favorite literary dragons (fictional, mythological, whatever)? First things first: shout-out to the resident Fierce and Friendly Dragon! And speaking […]
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Chili con Carne & Fresh Pineapple
24 Festive Tasks: Door 1 – Día de los Muertos / All Saints’ Day, Task 2 & Door 13 – Advent, Task 3: If you like Mexican food, treat yourself to a favorite dish – and / or make yourself a margarita – and share a photo. AND: Prepare an apple cider wassail bowl or […]
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An “Out of My Reach” Book Wishlist to St. Nick
24 Festive Tasks: Door 14 – St. Nicholas’ Day / Sinterklaas, Task 1: Write a book wish list to St. Nick / Santa Claus for books that you’ve been eyeing but can’t justify the expense of purchasing. (E.g., art books? Collector’s editions? Boxed sets?) Dear Saint Nick, it would be really nice if one […]
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Books Published Under Two or More Different Titles
24 Festive Tasks: Door 14 – St. Nicholas’ Day / Sinterklaas, Task 3 St. Nicholas is a man of many names in English alone – Santa Claus, Saint Nick, Father Christmas … although in the English speaking world he only comes once (at Christmas, not also on December 6 – whereas in Germany and the […]
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Machu Picchu
24 Festive Tasks: Door 7 – International Day for Tolerance, Task 4: If you were offered an all-expenses-paid trip to one (one only!) of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, which one would you pick (and why)? I’ve been lucky enough to have been able to visit a fair number of World Heritage Sites already — […]
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Books With Antonyms in Their Titles
24 Festive Tasks: Door 5 – Bon Om Touk, Task 4: The South Korean flag features images of ying / yang (the blue and red circle in the center) and four sets of three black lines each representing heaven, sun, moon and earth and, in turn, the virtues humanity, justice, intelligence and courtesy. Compile a […]
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A Memory: Mexico and Guatemala with my BFF, my Mom and a Cousin
24 Festive Tasks: Door 1 – Día de los Muertos / All Saints’ Day, Task 4: Task: Do you have any traditions or mementos of happy memories of a loved one that you feel like sharing? OK — I decided to keep it topical for this task and talk about a trip to Mexico […]
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