BW15: Sunday's Book Babble - The Cloistered Life

Saint Guilhem Cloister

It's week 15 in our 52 Books Quest and this week's 52 Books Bingo category is The Cloistered Life. 

Years and years ago when I was a teenager...  Why does it sound like the opening crawl to Star Wars?   "In a galaxy far far away...."   *grin* 

No, I did not wish to become a nun when I was younger, but was always fascinated by the idea. Our high school religious class took a field trip to a cloistered convent and it was an interesting experience to say the least.  We were allowed to talk to the sisters through a screen in which they could only see us from the waist up, a privacy screen raised in case any outside visitor was inappropriately dressed. They were a giggly group of ladies who enjoyed their simple life of prayer and work inside the convent walls.  

The experience stuck with me which is probably why I enjoy stories about hermits and anchorites, monks and nuns, abbeys and monasteries, and lives lived in solitude.  Books such as historical fiction The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader, biographical stories such as And Then There Were Nuns by Jane Christmas and  Thomas Merton's Seven Storey Mountain, and fictional books such as Dean Koontz's suspense story  Innocence in which a young man lives beneath a city in solitude and Louise Penny's The Beautiful Mystery in which Armand Gamache tries to solve a murder within a cloistered monastery. 

I finished Genevieve Cogman's The Lost Plot #4 in the Invisible Library series  which was very very good and our spy librarian Irene was put to the test in trying to complete her mission while on the run from the fae, dragons, mobsters and gun molls, and the human police.  Continuing the Invisible Library series saga with #5 The Mortal Word.

 "Peace talks are always tricky, especially when a key diplomat gets stabbed. This rudely interrupts a top-secret summit between the warring dragons and Fae. As a neutral party, Librarian-spy Irene is summoned to investigate. She must head to a version of 1890s Paris, with her assistant Kai and her detective friend Vale, where these talks are fracturing. Here, she must get to the bottom of the attack – before either the peace negotiations or the city go up in flames.

Suspicions fly thick and fast and Irene soon finds herself in the seedy depths of the Parisian underworld. She’s on the trail of a notoriously warlike Fae, the Blood Countess. However, the evidence against the Countess is circumstantial. Could the killer be a member of the Library itself?"

This week's 52 Books theme fits right in with my 10 x 10 Get thee to a Nunnery category and I have a number of books on my shelves to choose from. 

Next up, Kathleen Norris's The Cloister Walk

BW14: Sunday's Book Babble - Fictional librarian of the month is Irene Winters

 It's week 14 in our 52 Books Quest and this month's fictional librarian is Irene Winters from Genevieve Cogman's Invisible Library series. 

I'm in a flufferton state of mind and thoroughly enamored with Julia Quinn's  Bridgertons.  I currently on #6 When He Was Wicked. 

I haven't been able to get into my space opera Ancestral Night so will set it aside until I'm, Ahem, in a sci fi state of mind.  * Grin * 

The poor Count is also idle but I hope to get back to him soon.   Meanwhile he has the Abbe to keep him company.  

I have The Plot Hole, # 4 in the Invisible Library series waiting in the wings and #5 Mortal Word on my shelves as well.  Irene is a wonderful character and enjoyed the first three books. 

BW13: Sunday's Book Babble - Clio, Daughter of Mnemosyne

Clio, Muse of History

It's book week 13 in our 52 Books quest and this week is all about the daughter of Mnemosyne, Clio, the muse of history. 

I finished reading Thea Harrison's Elder Races series, (except for the novella's) which I thoroughly enjoyed and want to read again.  The setting reminds me of the Guild Hunter series in which the main setting is New York and they live in a high tower, but there aren't any angels involved.  Dragons, Gryphons, Elves, and Vampyres sets it apart. 

1. Dragon Bound 
2. Storm's Heart
3. Serpents Kiss 
4. Oracle's Moon
5. Lord's Fall
6. The Wicked
7. Kinked
8. Night's Honour 
9. Midnight's Kiss 
10. Shadow's End 

For my historical fiction read this week, I dove into The Duke and I, the first Bridgerton story and thoroughly enjoying it. Will probably continue to read the series. Also watched the first episode of Bridgerton on Netflix which is equally good. 

Took a break from Monte Cristo and will get back into this week. 

BW12: Sunday's Book Babble - A prayer in Spring by Robert Frost

Butterfly Princess by Josephine Walls

 It's book week 12 in our 52 Books Quest and Today is World Poetry Day.  One of my favorite poets is Robert Frost. 

A Prayer In Spring

 By

Robert Frost

(March 26, 1874)

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

 Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

 For this is love and nothing else is love,

To which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends he will,

But which it only needs that we fulfill.

*********

Books in progress are Count of Monte Cristo, continuing Thea Harrison's Elder series and currently on Night's Honor, and started a sci fi space opera Ancestral Night (#1 White space) by Elizabeth Bear.  

BW11: Sunday's Book Babble - Darn clock jumped forward

 

It's week 11 in our 52 Books Quest and those darn clocks jumped ahead again leaving me feeling a bit forlorn and bedraggled with the loss of that extra hour. However, there's plenty to look forward to with Tea for Two Tuesday, the wearing of the green on St. Patrick's day, and the beautiful blossoming blooms of Spring arriving on the March Equinox.

Last week I  finished The Peculiar Pink Toes of Lady Flora by Jayne Fresina, a historical with a little bit of supernatural thrown in. It's as unique as Lady Flora, heartwarming, as well as amusing, and will leave one guessing in the end whether there will be a HEA.  

Last night I  finished the 2nd book in Thea Harrison's Elder Races series, Storm Heart which was quite good and made me want to go back and read the first book again.

"During the rule of her murderous Dark Fae uncle, Thistle "Tricks" Periwinkle found sanctuary among the Wyr in New York. Her ethereal beauty and sparkling personality won the hearts of the public, but after her uncle's death, there are those who don't want to see her ascend to the throne.

Able to wield thunder and lightning, Wyr sentinel Tiago Black Eagle has ruled the skies for centuries. His massive build and thunderous power make him one of the Wyr's best weapons. And he's sent to protect Tricks when she's almost assassinated in Chicago.

Soon, both Tiago and Tricks will fall prey to the stormy hunger that engulfs them—a passion that will shake the very foundation of all the worlds"

Continuing with # 3 Serpent's Kiss

BW10: Sunday's Book Babble's - 52 Books Bingo Cunning Capers

 

It's week 10 in our 52 Books Quest and the next category in 52 Bingo is Cunning Capers.  In the mood for a sting, a heist, a hold up, perhaps a little breaking and entering and a five fingered discount? Perhaps a cozy mystery that is clever and adventurous, maybe humorous or audacious. 

There seems to be a number of ways to go - with an ensemble cast, a bungling burglar, a devious dog or even a rat, or cat, or two.  Throw in a bank heists, train robberies, book swindling, or perhaps a supernatural, magical or real life event and settle in for the ride.  Oh the drama of it all.  *grin*

 My cunning caper read just coincidently turned out to be the book I just finished - Nora Roberts Three Fates which was supposed to be a reread but I think it was a used book I bought that got lost in the shelves and forgotten and I thought I had read it because I didn't remember a thing about it.  Hee hee!  With the sinking of the Lusitania, a thief, lose, grief, connections, and of course love, Roberts spins an Interesting story with twist and turns about the three silver statues the three fates and how they were stolen, lost, then stolen again. 

Also finished Tea with the Black Dragon which was somewhat convoluted and things that seemed simple were not.

"Martha Macnamara is called west to San Francisco by a message from her daughter Elizabeth, a computer programmer. When she arrives, however, Elizabeth has disappeared. Mayland Long, an Asian gentleman who is skilled in both human and computer languages — and who may be a transformed 2,000-year-old Chinese dragon —aids Martha in her search for her daughter. As they search for clues to Elizabeth's disappearance, they discover hints that Elizabeth is involved in a dangerous crime."

Bookish notes - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

 

I'm completely enamoured with V.E. Scwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.  Having a hard time putting it down.  Started reading it yesterday and for the first time in a long while, took the book to bed until 1:30 or so.   😁  Good thing I have the day off.  Back to reading this morning all the way through lunch time. Taking a break to get things done.  

"France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name."

 Finished Pratchett's The Colour of Magic which was really good and weird to say the least. The blurb was right. Where ever Rincewind went, chaos followed. How often can you say the character of Death is amusing.