#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: The Plague Diairies (+Giveaway!)

For Book Beginnings:

Fate is a line free will twists into a spiral.
- p. 3

For Friday 56:
"If ever there's a drop left in this box , or the King's, Miss," he replied.
"It tasted of smoke and cherries," I said.
He tilted the bottle to read the label."And rain. One of his favorites this one."
- p. 56

About The Plague Diaries by Ronlyn Domingue*: The astounding, epic conclusion to the Keeper of Tales Trilogy brings together the cryptic prophecy in The Mapmaker's War and the troubling mysteries in The Chronicle of Secret Riven--leading to an unforgettable reckoning between lies and truth. We are all born made of gold. Secret Riven--the mystically gifted heroine who now represses her uncanny telepathic power--works for the mysterious magnate Fewmany as an archivist in his private library. There, she stumbles upon the arcane manuscript that had vanished following her mother's untimely death. She suspects the manuscript contains a profound secret, and she is yet unaware of its link to a thousand-year-old war and her own family's legacy. The tasks before her are clear: Secret must finally learn what Fewmany wants from her as well as the meaning of a strange symbol she's dreamed of since childhood. At last, she must confront the questions haunting her and depart on a quest to find the truth about herself, her dead mother, and her fate--to unleash a Plague of Silences meant to destroy, and transform, the world as all have known it. A dazzling, genre-bending masterwork, The Plague Diaries illuminates the power of our choices, the scars they leave, and the wounds they heal. 

***

That first line is a gem. And the page 56 snippet is intriguing - words that draw me in, intrigue me, and eventually push me to read.

I've been a little quiet lately on the blog as life has taken some twists and turns. But I am well and I hope you all are too! It's uncanny that I got an email recently from the author of today's feature book, Ronlyn Domingue, who I "met" through the first book in this trilogy. I loved that first book that the second made its way to me ... and now, four years later, the third and final book is now here!

Ronlyn has a guest post (involves lots of paper and pens) and a GIVEAWAY. So please, join !

Links:

• My review of The Mapmaker's War (Book 1)
• My review of The Chronicle of Secret Riven (Book 2)
• Ronlyn Domingue's Guest Post: The Catastrophe and Wrinkle that Influenced my Work

GIVEAWAY!

1 paper copy The Plague Diaries by Ronlyn Domingue

Open US

Leave a meaningful comment or question for Ronlyn in the comments below.
Tweet about this giveaway (leave link in comments).
Share on Facebook (leave link in comments). 

Get extra entries on Instagram:

Giveaway time! . . Do you love a good fantasy and magical story? I have read both of @ronlyndomingue's books in The Keeper of Tales Trilogy and now, book 3 The Plague Diaries is finally out! Don't worry, all books are standalone and can be read individually. Watch for her guest post on my blog soon (I'll post the link in my bio). . . To enter for a chance to win your own copy, all you have to do is follow the steps below. This giveaway is open US and ends on September 20th. The winner will be announced shortly after. 😃 This prize is kindly provided by the publisher. . . . To enter all you have to do is: ✅FOLLOW @guiltlessreader ✅LIKE this post ✅TAG two friends (or more) ✅For an extra entry, repost this pic with the hashtag #guiltlessreading ✅For an extra entry, leave a comment or question for Ronlyn on her guest post GIVEAWAY FACTS: -This giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram or sponsored. Book prize was provided courtesy of the publisher - Giveaway is open US only - Giveaway ends 20 September 2017 - Giveaway accounts are automatically disqualified

A post shared by guiltlessreader (@guiltlessreader) on Sep 6, 2017 at 5:10am PDT

#Friday56 &BookBeginnings: White Teeth

For Book Beginnings:

Early in the morning, late in the century, Cricklewood Broadway. At 06.27 hours on 1 January 195, Alfred Archibald Jones was dressed in corduroy and sat in a fume-filled Cavalier Musketeer Estate face down on the steering wheel, hoping the judgement would not be too heavy upon him.
- p. 3

For Friday 56:
Both women were momentarily embarrassed at what they were wearing, but, looking at each other gained confidence.
- p. 56

About White Teeth by Zadie Smith*:  On New Year's morning, 1975, Archie Jones sits in his car on a London road and waits for the exhaust fumes to fill his Cavalier Musketeer station wagon. Archie—working-class, ordinary, a failed marriage under his belt—is calling it quits, the deciding factor being the flip of a 20-pence coin. When the owner of a nearby halal butcher shop (annoyed that Archie's car is blocking his delivery area) comes out and bangs on the window, he gives Archie another chance at life and sets in motion this richly imagined, uproariously funny novel.

Epic and intimate, hilarious and poignant, White Teeth is the story of two North London families—one headed by Archie, the other by Archie's best friend, a Muslim Bengali named Samad Iqbal. Pals since they served together in World War II, Archie and Samad are a decidedly unlikely pair. Plodding Archie is typical in every way until he marries Clara, a beautiful, toothless Jamaican woman half his age, and the couple have a daughter named Irie (the Jamaican word for "no problem"). Samad —devoutly Muslim, hopelessly "foreign"— weds the feisty and always suspicious Alsana in a prearranged union. They have twin sons named Millat and Magid, one a pot-smoking punk-cum-militant Muslim and the other an insufferable science nerd. The riotous and tortured histories of the Joneses and the Iqbals are fundamentally intertwined, capturing an empire's worth of cultural identity, history, and hope.

Zadie Smith's dazzling first novel plays out its bounding, vibrant course in a Jamaican hair salon in North London, an Indian restaurant in Leicester Square, an Irish poolroom turned immigrant café, a liberal public school, a sleek science institute. A winning debut in every respect, White Teeth marks the arrival of a wondrously talented writer who takes on the big themes —faith, race, gender, history, and culture— and triumphs.

*** 

I'm a Zadie Smith noob. I've seen her books around and heard raves and of course, now I want in on the fun!

Have you read any Zadie Smith? Any book recommendations for me?

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: JRR Tolkien's Smith of Wootton Major

For Book Beginnings:

There was a village once, not very long ago for those with long memories, nor very far away for those with very long legs. Wootton Major it was called because it was larger than Wootton Minor, a few miles away deep in the trees; but it was not very large, though it was at the time prosperous, and a fair number of folk lived in it, good, bad, and mixed, as is usual.
- p. 7

For Friday 56:
"Yes Master. But do you really know what the star was made of? Don't trouble your mind about it. Someone swallowed it, I assure you."
- p. 56

About Smith of Wootton Major by J.R.R. Tolkien*:  A charming new pocket edition of one of Tolkien's major pieces of short fiction, and his only finished work dating from after publication of The Lord of the Rings. What began as a preface to The Golden Key by George MacDonald eventually grew into this charming short story, so named by Tolkien to suggest an early work by P.G. Wodehouse.

Composed almost a decade after The Lord of the Rings, and when his lifelong occupation with the `Silmarillion' was winding down, Smith of Wootton Major was the product of ripened experience and reflection. It was published in 1967 as a small hardback, complete with charming black and white illustrations by Pauline Baynes, and would be the last work of fiction to be published in Tolkien's own lifetime.

Now, almost 50 years on, this enchanting tale of a wanderer who finds his way into the perilous realm of Faery is being published once again as a pocket hardback. Contained here are many intriguing links to the world of Middle-earth, as well as to Tolkien's other tales, and this new edition is enhanced with a facsimile of the illustrated first edition, a manuscript of Tolkien's early draft of the story, notes and an alternate ending, and a lengthy essay on the nature of Faery.

*** 

So was at the thrift store agin (yes again!) and look what the daughter found! I saw the author -- JRR Tolkien -- and without hesitation said "Take it." Being a huge Tolkien fan, I was surprised not to have even heard of this title or even thought he would make an illustrated book. Did you know, this is his last published work after Lord of the Rings? This is a 1975 copy and I love the illustrations in this edition.

Are you familiar with this book by Tolkien?

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: The Bone Clocks

For Book Beginnings:

I fling open my bedroom curtains, and there's the thirsty sky and the wide river full of ships and boats and stuff [...]
- p. 3

For Friday 56:
Being born's a hell of a lottery.
- p. 56

About The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell*:  Following a scalding row with her mother, fifteen-year-old Holly Sykes slams the door on her old life. But Holly is no typical teenage runaway: a sensitive child once contacted by voices she knew only as “the radio people,” Holly is a lightning rod for psychic phenomena. Now, as she wanders deeper into the English countryside, visions and coincidences reorder her reality until they assume the aura of a nightmare brought to life.

For Holly has caught the attention of a cabal of dangerous mystics—and their enemies. But her lost weekend is merely the prelude to a shocking disappearance that leaves her family irrevocably scarred. This unsolved mystery will echo through every decade of Holly’s life, affecting all the people Holly loves—even the ones who are not yet born.

A Cambridge scholarship boy grooming himself for wealth and influence, a conflicted father who feels alive only while reporting from occupied Iraq, a middle-aged writer mourning his exile from the bestseller list—all have a part to play in this surreal, invisible war on the margins of our world. From the medieval Swiss Alps to the nineteenth-century Australian bush, from a hotel in Shanghai to a Manhattan townhouse in the near future, their stories come together in moments of everyday grace and extraordinary wonder.

*** 

I seem to be having a really good run in our local thrift store lately. Problem is I can't seem to keep up! I have a pile of books begging to be read and here I am, still reading (and loving) Neil Gaiman's The View from the Cheap Seats. Talk about a reading slump!

Anyway, I was wondering, especially for those who have read and loved David Mitchell:

Which should I read first - The Bone Clocks or Cloud Atlas?

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: Revolutionary Road

For Book Beginnings:

The final dying sounds of their dress rehearsal left the Laurel Players with nothing to do but stand there, silent and helpless, blinking out over the footlights of an empty auditorium.
- p. 7

For Friday 56:
Then from the safety of her new position, she displayed her long teeth in an elaborate smile.
- p. 56

About Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates*:  From the moment of its publication in 1961, Revolutionary Road was hailed as a masterpiece of realistic fiction and as the most evocative portrayal of the opulent desolation of the American suburbs. It's the story of Frank and April Wheeler, a bright, beautiful, and talented couple who have lived on the assumption that greatness is only just around the corner. With heartbreaking compassion and remorseless clarity, Richard Yates shows how Frank and April mortgage their spiritual birthright, betraying not only each other, but their best selves.

***

I watched the movie many, many years ago and it made quite an impression on me. This is one of those less "noisy" films but it speaks loads. I decided then that I would make a point to get a hold a book and now I have this thrifted copy. I am zooming through the beginning and all I can remember is that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I start seeing two amazing characters "out for each other."

Are there movies that made an impression on you that you had to read? 

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: Poirot investigates

For Book Beginnings:

 I had been called away from town for a few days, and on my return found Poirot in the act of strapping up his small valise.
- p. 7

For Friday 56:
"But yes, Hastings. I believe in these things. You must not underrate the force of superstition.- p. 56

About Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie*:  The very first collection of superb short stories featuring Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings...First there was the mystery of the film star and the diamond! then came the 'suicide' that was murder! the mystery of the absurdly chaep flat! a suspicious death in a locked gun-room! a million dollar bond robbery! the curse of a pharoah's tomb! a jewel robbery by the sea! the abduction of a Prime Minister! the disappearance of a banker! a phone call from a dying man! and, finally, the mystery of the missing willl. What links these fascinating cases? Only the brilliant deductive powers of Hercule Poirot!

***

If you follow me on Instagram,  you know this photo is old. I totally spaced and forgot to put it on the blog, so here it is:

I've been a huge Agatha Christie fan since high school and anything she writes, I will read. When I went to the thrift store, a whole bunch of vintage Christies were there and I had a hard time not snapping them all all (there were over a dozen!). I decided to take home this copy though, and feel a little antsy abut actually reading it because the pages are starting to fall out.

Meanwhile, I know the blog is silent. I'm still reading Neil Gaiman's The View from the Cheap Seats.* I'm taking a break of sorts. When I'm back, I'm back.

Is there a specific author you can't resist when in a bookstore? 

Book Depository*
(I couldn't find the exact cover anywhere. I don't even know what year my edition is!)

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: The view from the cheap seats

For Book Beginnings:

I fled, or I at least, backed awkwardly away from journalism because I wanted the freedom to make things up. I did not want to be nailed to the truth; or to be more accurate,  I wanted to be able to tell the truth without ever needing to worry about the facts.
- p. xvii

For Friday 56:
Myths are obliging.
- p. 56

About The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Non-Fiction by Neil Gaiman*: An enthralling collection of nonfiction essays on myriad topics—from art and artists to dreams, myths, and memories—observed in Neil Gaiman’s probing, amusing, and distinctive style.

An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator, and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his bestselling fiction. Now, The View from the Cheap Seats brings together for the first time ever more than sixty pieces of his outstanding nonfiction. Analytical yet playful, erudite yet accessible, this cornucopia explores a broad range of interests and topics, including (but not limited to): authors past and present; music; storytelling; comics; bookshops; travel; fairy tales; America; inspiration; libraries; ghosts; and the title piece, at turns touching and self-deprecating, which recounts the author’s experiences at the 2010 Academy Awards in Hollywood.

Insightful, incisive, witty, and wise, The View from the Cheap Seats explores the issues and subjects that matter most to Neil Gaiman—offering a glimpse into the head and heart of one of the most acclaimed, beloved, and influential artists of our time.

***

Gaiman. I drool. I went on huge Neil Gaiman reading binge when I discovered him and I honestly cannot get enough. This is the first time I am reading his non-fiction though ... so I am pumped!

Have you read any of Neil Gaiman's work? Would you read his essays?

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: Murder in Three Acts

For Book Beginnings:

Mr. Satterthwaite sat on the terrace of Crow's Nest and watched his host, Mr. Cartwright, climbing up from the path from the sea.
- p. 11

For Friday 56:
"Aha!" Poirot put immense meaning in the exclamation.
- p. 56

About Murder in Three Acts by Agatha Christie* (also entitled Three Act Tragedy):A cocktail party ends in murder, but who did it? Why? And for that matter, how? No real cause of death has been established. It's a real baffler and it's prompting Hercule Poirot to ask another question...who's next?

***

Did you join last Friday's giveaway of Michael Bernhart's How Existentialism Almost Killed Me? If you did, please make sure to check your email because Michael very generously decided to give all those who entered an ebook! So make sure to check your email.

I just love old books and have been coming across them in thrift stores quite a bit. In fact this Agatha Christie was found with these others. I couldn't resist snapping them up!

A post shared by guiltlessreader (@guiltlessreader) on May 25, 2017 at 4:34pm PDT

Do you like Agatha Christie? Which of her books is your fave?

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Friday56 & Book Beginnings (#Giveaway - open WW): How Existentialism Almost Killed Me

For Book Beginnings:

Do you read spy novels? For my money, John le Carré is the one author who gets it right. Maybe he’s a little heavy on the Heavy-Handedness of the State, but I can tell you from recent experience, the life of a spy is as le Carré depicts it. The agent is mired in a constantly shifting farrago of confusion, self-doubt, anxiety and boredom. The personal qualities of decisiveness, clarity, and resolve are found only in the secret agents who populate Hollywood epics and mass-market novels.

- p. 11

For Friday 56:
"I have an uneasy feeling your inquiries are going to attract the wrong kind of attention.”
- p. 56

About How Existentialism Almost Killed Me: Kierkegaard Was Right by Michael Bernhart*: This is the final novel in a series that examines the nature of evil. Remnants of the Khmers Rouges provide the face of evil, and they do a fine job. The plot revolves around drug counterfeiting, which was a daily challenge when the author ran a healthcare project in Cambodia. This by way of saying that the context and problem are faithfully rendered.

The protagonists, Max and Sally Brown, are looking at middle-age, an empty nest, and wondering if their lives of ease and privilege add up to much. They are herded into a trivial assignment for the CIA which morphs into a dangerous job which pits them against the KR. Woefully inept, they leave a trail of corpses until they get up to speed. The battle is joined on elephant back, in a Thai brothel, in Cambodian minefields, and Khmer Rouge strongholds.

The genre is nominally cozy thriller, with a brush with chick-lit, and philosophy.

Giveaway (open international!)

Michael is giving away 2 e-books (.mobi or pdf) of his book How Existentialism Almost Killed Me: Kierkegaard Was Right

To enter:
Leave Michael a question about his guest post or his book in the comments section of this post.

#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

For Book Beginnings:

Mrs. Ferrars died on the night of the 16th-17th September -- a Thursday. I was sent for at eight o'clock on the morning of the 17th. There was nothing to be done. She was dead for some hours. 

- p. 11

For Friday 56:
I did so to the best of my abiity.
- p. 56

About The Murder of Roger Ackroyed by Agatha Christie*: In the village of King's Abbot, a widow's sudden suicide sparks rumors that she murdered her first husband, was being blackmailed, and was carrying on a secret affair with the wealthy Roger Ackroyd. The following evening, Ackroyd is murdered in his locked study--but not before receiving a letter identifying the widow's blackmailer. King's Abbot is crawling with suspects, including a nervous butler, Ackroyd's wayward stepson, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, who has taken up residence in the victim's home. It's now up to the famous detective Hercule Poirot, who has retired to King's Abbot to garden, to solve the case of who killed Roger Ackroyd--a task in which he is aided by the village doctor and narrator, James Sheppard, and by Sheppard's ingenious sister, Caroline.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the book that made Agatha Christie a household name and launched her career as a perennial bestseller. Originally published in 1926, it is a landmark in the mystery genre. It was in the vanguard of a new class of popular detective fiction that ushered in the modern era of mystery novels.

***

(Oops, so I posted this last week on Instagram and obviously scheduled the post on the wrong date so I decided to just bump over to this week). 

This is another thrift store find! I'm going slightly nuts with the volume of new old books I am acquiring so I have to be extra careful. There is something extra special about finding an old favourite - I'm pretty sure I read this Agatha Christie (among many others), when I was in high school.

Have you found any great books in the thrift store lately? Do share!

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: The Return of the King #LOTR

For Book Beginnings:

Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak. He wondered if he was awake or still sleeping, still in the swift-moving dream in which he had been wrapped so long since the great ride began.

- p. 19

For Friday 56:
And Aragorn said: 'Now I know what your bear. Bear it still for me for a while!'
- p. 56

About The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings #3)*: The Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventures as the quest continues. Aragorn, revealed as the hidden heir of the ancient Kings of the West, joined with the Riders of Rohan against the forces of Isengard, and took part in the desperate victory of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by Orcs, escaped into Fangorn Forest and there encountered the Ents. Gandalf returned, miraculously, and defeated the evil wizard, Saruman. Meanwhile, Sam and Frodo progressed towards Mordor to destroy the Ring, accompanied by SmEagol--Gollum, still obsessed by his 'precious'. After a battle with the giant spider, Shelob, Sam left his master for dead; but Frodo is still alive--in the hands of the Orcs. And all the time the armies of the Dark Lord are massing. J.R.R. Tolkien's great work of imaginative fiction has been labeled both a heroic romance and a classic fantasy fiction. By turns comic and homely, epic and diabolic, the narrative moves through countless changes of scene and character in an imaginary world which is totally convincing in its detail.

***

I am always a day late, it seems, posting on the blog. If you want to see my Friday post on a Friday, check it me out on Instagram @guiltlessreader. 

Yes, I know that this is book 3 of The Lord of the Rings. I picked up this 99 cent copy at the thrift store the other day because the artwork just called out to me. It's a 1965 Ballantine mass market paperback and the pages are yellowed and brittle. But I love it so. For classics like this, I love a good old copy! Now, to dig up books 1 and 2!

Do you like old books?

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: The Wide Window #ASOUE

For Book Beginnings:

If you didn't know much about the Baudelaire orphans, and you saw them sitting on their suitcases on Damocles docks,  you might think they were bound for an exciting adventure.

- p. 1

For Friday 56:
"I've had enough of this nonsense," Aunt Josephine said. "[..] I can't believe you're disagreeing with a man who has eye problems."
"I have eye problems," Klaus said,  pointing to his glasses"and you're disagreeing with me."
- p. 56

About The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 3):

Dear Reader,

If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted; but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all. If you haven't got the stomach for a story that includes a hurricane, a signalling device, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain, and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this book will probably fill you with despair. I will continue to record these tragic tales, for that is what I do. You, however, should decide for yourself whether you can possibly endure this miserable story.

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

***

I've been revisiting my The Series of Unfortunate Events books in the midst of other serious reading. I read this right after a Garcia Marquez for my April reading challenge Where in the world will your Nobel take you? which combines Nobels, travel, and reading!

This is a children's series and it's a respite from thick tomes. And like the others in the series, I can only snicker at the Friday 56.  This series is full of little tongue-in-cheek moments like this. My mom would have a fit - not unlike Aunt Josephine - if I responded to her like Klaus did.

I have heard mixed reviews of this series. I am more the "relax, don't take it so seriously folks" kind.

What do you think of this type of humor? 

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: Love in the Time of Cholera #TTWIB @ReadNobels

For Book Beginnings:

It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love. Dr. Juvenal Urbino noticed it as soon as he entered the still darkened house where he had hurried on an urgent call to attend a case that for him had lost all urgency many years before. The Antillean refugee Jeremiah de Saint-Amour, disabled war veteran, photographer of children, and his most sympathetic opponent in chess, had escaped the torments of memory with the aromatic fumes of gold cyanide.

- p. 1

For Friday 56:
It was in this innocent way that Florentino Ariza began his secret life as a solitary hunter.
- p. 56

About Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez*: In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs--yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.

***

No surprise that I'm featuring a book you've already seen on the blog and by an author I have mentioned many times. I wanted to share with you the amazing writing that resides within. The first line is easily recognizable ... and so intriguing! The first paragraph meanwhile just makes me want to keep going; there's so much packed in there.

For the Friday 56, the line I chose showcases Garcia Marquez's wonderful way with words. 

I am reading this book as part of my April reading challenge Where in the world will your Nobel take you? which combines Nobels, travel, and reading! You can join in any time during the month!

Have you read anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Tell me which book is your fave!

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: Too Much Happiness

For Book Beginnings:
Doree had to take three buses—one to Kincardine, where she waited for the one to London, where she waited again for the city bus out to the facility.
- p. 1, from the short story "Dimensions"

For Friday 56:
“I think there is another proper name for them, but I like to call them chocolate lilies. It sounds so delicious [..]"
- p. 56

About Too Much Happiness: Stories by Alice Munro*: Ten superb new stories by one of our most beloved and admired writers—the winner of the 2009 Man Booker International Prize.

In the first story a young wife and mother receives release from the unbearable pain of losing her three children from a most surprising source. In another, a young woman, in the aftermath of an unusual and humiliating seduction, reacts in a clever if less-than-admirable fashion. Other stories uncover the “deep-holes” in a marriage, the unsuspected cruelty of children, and how a boy’s disfigured face provides both the good things in his life and the bad. And in the long title story, we accompany Sophia Kovalevsky—a late-nineteenth-century Russian émigré and mathematician—on a winter journey that takes her from the Riviera, where she visits her lover, to Paris, Germany, and, Denmark, where she has a fateful meeting with a local doctor, and finally to Sweden, where she teaches at the only university in Europe willing to employ a female mathematician.

With clarity and ease, Alice Munro once again renders complex, difficult events and emotions into stories that shed light on the unpredictable ways in which men and women accommodate and often transcend what happens in their lives.

***

This April, I am hosting Where in the world will your Nobel take you? which combines Nobels, travel, and reading! Hope you check it out!

I'll be featuring Nobel-winning literature in April. I thought it was high time I shared this collection of short stories by Alice Munro, 2013 Nobel Prize Prize Laureate. I've had this on my shelf for about 6 years now and it's been years since I read it. I look forward to rereading because I honestly remember only bits and pieces.

Hint: the title is so ironic for a book that is most certainly not about happiness.

Are you an Alice Munro fan? Tell me about your faves!

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: Passione

For Book Beginnings:
I enjoyed the sort of unrestricted, free-range childhood that few children today can even dream of. The mountains were my back garden. The warm turquoise sea was a perfect paddling pool just yards away from the house where I was born. The tiny village of Minori on the beautiful Amalfi coast of southern Italy was my heaven.
- p. 6

For Friday 56:
(see the recipe below for polenta concia)

About Passione: The Italian Cookbook by Gennaro Contaldo*: Full of colourful and modern recipes that evoke Italian life at its most enticing, this is the first cookbook from Gennaro Contaldo. Gennaro's passion for fresh, seasonal ingredients and his love of simple food is shared here with the energy for which he is famous. With evocative stories from his childhood - free-diving for oysters, foraging for wild mushrooms and bunking off school to go fishing - it is also illustrated with photographs from his childhood as well as modern food photography. This book reveals the secrets of Gennaro's own basic recipes as well as some of the best-loved dishes from his restaurant - "fillet of seabream with honey and vinegar", "lamb cutlets with mixed herbs and prosciutto" and "limoncello and strawberry ice cream".

***

This cookbook is one of our first ever Italian cookbooks which I picked up in the sale bin. The cover really called out to me and once I started flipping through the pages and getting snippets of Contaldo's charmed life, I knew I had to make this book mine. And so it has, traveling over the oceans and it has been in our collection for over a decade. We especially love his recipe for octopus!

Does he sound familiar? If you know Jamie Oliver, you may likely have heard Contaldo's name -- Gennaro Contaldo is Jamie Oliver's mentor. (At the time, I actually didn't know who Jamie Oliver was!)

Do you have any favourite cookbooks? Do share!

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#Friday56 and #BookBeginnings: The Reptile Room by #LemonySnicket

For Book Beginnings:

The stretch of road that leads out of the city, past Hazy Harbor and into the town of Tedia, is perhaps the most unpleasant in the world. It is called Lousy Lane. 
- p. 1

For Friday 56:

And Sunny tried to bite rope, but she had a cold chill of fear running through her teeth and she soon gave up. She didn't even feel like playing with the Incredibly Deadly Viper.- p. 56

About The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 2)*: 
Dear Reader,

If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple and cheery tale, I'm afraid you have picked up the wrong book altogether. The story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don't be fooled. If you know anything at all about the unlucky Baudelaire children, you already know that even pleasant events lead down the same road to misery.

In fact, within the pages you now hold in your hands, the three siblings endure a car accident, a terrible odor, a deadly serpent, a long knife, a large brass reading lamp, and the appearance of a person they'd hoped never to see again.

I am bound to record these tragic events, but you are free to put this book back on the shelf and seek something lighter.

With all due respect,

Lemony Snicket

***

No secret that I'm rereading A Series of Unfortunate Events (I've had a bit of a breather and stuck at book 4). In the meantime, here's book 2 which features all things snakes and Uncle Monty. I think The Incredibly Deadly Viper is adorbs.

I also really like Uncle Monty and fully believe that he's a nod to Monty Python's Flying Circus. Yeah?

Who's your fave character in this book?

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#Friday56 and #BookBeginnings: The Witches

For Book Beginnings:

In fairy-tales, witches always wear silly black hats and black cloaks, and they ride on broomsticks.  But this is not a fairy-tale. This is about REAL WITCHES.
- opening line

For Friday 56:

(see image on Instagram - click HERE)

- p. 56

About The Witches by Roald Dahl*: This is not a fairy-tale. This is about REAL WITCHES. Real witches don't ride around on broomsticks. They don't even wear black cloaks and hats. They are vile, cunning, detestable creatures who disguise themselves as nice, ordinary ladies. So how can you tell when you're face to face with one? Well, if you don't know yet you'd better find out quickly-because there's nothing a witch loathes quite as much as children and she'll wield all kinds of terrifying powers to get rid of them. Ronald Dahl has done it again! Winner of the 1983 Whitbread Award, the judges' decision was unanimous: "funny, wise, deliciously disgusting, a real book for children. From the first paragraph to the last, we felt we were in the hands of a master".

***

I totally spaced out last week and never linked up. So here's my catch up post; an old childhood favourite. I have so many Roald Dahl faves ... it's really hard to choose. All his books are so imaginative and this one has a extra dose of creepiness to it!

Which of Dahl's books is your fave?

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: Sabine's Notebook

For Book Beginnings:

CONFIDENTIAL.
For Sabine Strohem in the event of her arriving at --
41 Yeats Ave., London NW3
- p. 1

For Friday 56:

(see image - full spread with envelope and letter)

- random page as this book doesn't have a page 56

About Sabine's Notebook by Nick Bantock (Griffin and Sabine #2)* : 

Griffin 

Foolish man. You cannot turn me into a phantom because you are frightened. You do not dismiss a muse at a whim. If you will not join me--then I will come to you. 

Sabine 

Sabine was supposed to be imaginary, a friend and lover that Griffin had created to soothe his loneliness. But she threatens to become embodied--to appear on his doorstep, in fact. So he runs. Faced with the terrifying prospect of meeting his own fictional character, Griffin runs. His journey begins conventionally--tracing a course through Europe and the Mediterranean--but slowly Griffin begins to realize that he is traveling backward in time, drifting through layers of dead civilizations and his own soul. His precarious link to reality is the possibly unreal Sabine, who is living in his house in London and keeping a notebook of his letters and her responses.

Once again, the story is told in strangely beautiful postcards and richly decorated letters that must actually be removed from their envelopes to be read. But Sabine's Notebook is also a sketchbook and a diary, filled with her delicately macabre drawings and notations, adding yet another layer to the visual intrigue that haunted readers of Griffin & Sabine and welcoming new readers to an even more complex and mysterious world.

***

This trilogy is all sorts of gorgeous. I am pretty sure that Nick Bantock was one of the pioneers of the interactive book - with its beautiful artwork and envelope-letter tandem. And oh the romance of it! I actually have two copies of book number 2 because I couldn't help myself from buying it again when I saw it in the thrift store. I guess I will eventually gift it when opportunity knocks.

Ever encountered Bantock's work? Your thoughts?

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: 1984

For Book Beginnings:

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
- p. 1

For Friday 56:

The whole literature of the past will have destroyed. Chaucer, Milton, Byron -- they'll exist only in Newspeak versions, not merely changed into something different, but actually changed into something contradictory of what they used to be.

- p. 56

About 1984 by George Orwell*: The year 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell's prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of "negative utopia" -a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny the novel's hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions -a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.

***

I've finally gotten around to reading 1984. I'm hooked. It's scary as hell.  This classic has made a comeback and is flying off the shelves, warranting a massive reprint. A timeless message indeed.

Have you read 1984? Thoughts?

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#Friday56 & #BookBeginnings: A Bad Beginning, indeed.

For Book Beginnings:

If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.
- p. 1

For Friday 56:

Unless you have been very, very lucky, you have undoubtedly experienced events in your life that have made you cry.  So unless you have been very, very lucky, you know that a good, long session of weeping can often make you feel better, even if your circumstances haven't changed a bit.

- p. 55 (p. 56 is blank!)

About The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1) *:
Dear Reader, I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune. In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast. It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket

***

I'm on a reread and am at book 3 of the series now. But I couldn't believe I hadn't done a Friday post for the very first book!

I'm nostalgic about this series because the daughter grew up on it. She loved every single book in the series, picked up on quite a few of the literary references over time, and just enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek dark humour. Now, I sort of clap my hands in glee because I know she has such fond memories of the series.

Are you an ASOUE fan? If yes, what do you like about this series?

[And if not ... what the heck is the matter with you? ;) ]

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