Here are some of the cards I‘m making while listening to the tagged book, which is so good

We‘ve had a very gloomy Thanksgiving holiday and I‘ve been quite under the weather myself. Today the sun is shining beautifully and I‘m waiting to see if my breakfast is going to sit well. So the cat and I are enjoying the glowing morning while I read about the making of a pirate. #Algeria #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

When a young wife doesn‘t get pregnant, her mother-in-law forces a second wife into the marriage. This starts the narrative in which secrets are peeled back like an onion. In a culture where women‘s sole role is to bear babies, and the young wife wants to be independent (& the only wife) sad and disastrous things can happen. This is a dark book about sex and its dysfunction. #Nigeria #readingafrica2022

This is the description of the subject of the book, apparently a gentleman who becomes a pirate particularly around #Algeria. I‘m not sure I‘d want to cross his path. #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

My next ebook. #Algeria #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

In the next chapter of the tagged book I‘m meeting the British Consul to be posted to #SaoTomeandPrincipe. He rose to illustrious heights in civil service in #India, which I‘m now reading all about. So I‘m reading another appropriate book in the few remaining days left in November for #foodandlit. What a lovely coincidence. #readingafrica2022

I‘m sad to say I‘ve spent most of Thanksgiving feeling poorly. I did have a little bit of turkey and sides but that just turned my stomach almost immediately. On the good side, when not sleeping or nauseous, I‘ve made progress with this book and I love it. The “dandy” is now governor of #SaoTomeandPrincipe with the mission to ensure slavery no longer exists in this Portuguese colony at the turn of the 20th century. It‘s beautifully written. ⬇️

My son‘s been reading this one so I thought I‘d try the audio. 52 hours of audio. #chunksterchallenge @Amiable

Well this was terrible. To think this is a kid‘s series, to end like this is just tragic. No spoilers but suffice it to say I didn‘t like it. Patrick Stewart, almost always a great narrator, was quite poor doing the animals‘ and Jill‘s voices. Fortunately it was short. #chunksterchallenge2022 33 hours finished! @Amiable

I‘m reading this ebook for #Nigeria #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

Eustace and Jill are sent on a mission to find King Caspian‘s long lost son and sole heir to Narnia‘s throne. I didn‘t enjoy this book as much as the rest. I think I‘m just not as invested in Eustace and Jill, and Aslan was a bit too vague for what seemed inadequate reasons. I feel like Lewis is starting to lose his magic with this book.

Reminder to nominate countries for #foodandlit in 2023! Nominations are open through November 27.

If you haven‘t already nominated countries (as many as you like), or if you want to nominate more countries, please comment below or repost and tag @Catsandbooks and @Texreader We are very excited to be your hosts again next year!

A LOT of #litsylove is going in the mail today. @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Target had a sale on books yesterday. I bought the tagged book to get ready for #readingamericas2022 #Ecuador @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#wondrouswednesday Thanks @Eggs & @TheSpineView for the tag!

1) Jodi Taylor—I ❤️ how her books take a most hilarious jaunt through history. I think she‘d be a ton of fun
2) Litsy mainly, but also BookBub‘s notifications of discount books, and Amazon kindle unlimited and free Audible prime books
3) Not an unpredictable twist but I was shocked to learn how the tagged book set up The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was a wonderful surprise!

This is a short memoir about a boy‘s following rumors to a better life in the “Land of the Whites,” and his journey from #Ghana to Spain. He doesn‘t know his actual age but when he undertook the trip he was probably between 13-17. Among 46 people abandoned in the Sahara by smugglers, he was 1 of 6 who survived walking 3 weeks out of the desert. He spent the most time in #Libya trying to make enough money to make it to Europe, which he finally ⬇️

The author is learning about life in Spain

#Ghana #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

A short book, we are already leaving #Ghana for #Togo, #BurkinaFaso, and #Niger. #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

I started this ebook yesterday in my attempt to reread some countries for #readingafrica2022. I didn‘t feel like I learned much about #Ghana from my the first book I read for that country, although both that book and this one are about leaving the country. This book also appears to cover a number of west African countries so that‘s a bonus.

#twofortuesday Thanks for the tag @Eggs

1) In 7th grade I decided to read Romeo and Juliet. Then I memorized the balcony scene. I‘ve quoted it ever since. When you‘ve memorized something so young and repeated it for so long, it‘s quite hard to forget in its entirety…”what‘s in a name…a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…” I was a weird child

2) Midnight would complain that I don‘t spend nearly enough time cuddling her or feeding her

King Caspian sets out on a voyage to try to find the great lords banished from Narnia by his uncle and has the unexpected pleasure of the company of King Edmund, Queen Lucy, and their most irritating cousin Eustace. And off they go on the Dawn Treader to the edge of the world where Eustace has a chance to learn manners and the heroic mouse Reepicheep to prove the depth of his courage. Another enjoyable tour of the lands of Narnia and Aslan.

I‘m not far at all but here‘s the fascinating premise: a Portuguese playboy who has dabbled a bit in politics by writing a couple of articles for the newspaper has come to the attention of King Carlos who wants to appoint him as governor of #SaoTomeandPrincipe. The new governor is to convince the nosy British that the cocoa productions there are not using Angolan slave labor. What a task for an apparent ne‘er-do-well! #readingafrica2022

I‘m so happy only a year has passed since Prince Caspian‘s tale rather than a thousand or more years that passed between The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. So we get Reepicheep the mouse in all his heroic glory! But oh how Eustace gets on my nerves. I‘m enjoying this one almost as much as the former books—I‘m waiting for Eustace to improve his behavior before I cast final judgment on this book in the series.

When a prince learns he may no longer be the heir to the crown of Narnia he goes on an adventure to learn if the ancient tales about a peaceful land with talking animals are true. Some of our favorite characters from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe return for a wonderful encore. Narrated lovingly by Lynn Redgrave. Moving on to Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

These handful of fables set in #CapeVerde are good, not great. An introduction describing whether they are based on actual fables or the author‘s imagination, and if actual, who was the target audience and how long have the stories existed (at least one is quite modern) would go far in elevating the book. One fable, as told by the narrator to a boy, with a somewhat descriptive sexual act made me wonder! The last one was the best about girl ⬇️

I also made this very complex birthday card for my dad yesterday (Mom @Doll8455 don‘t tell him!) yesterday during my day off, and making progress with the tagged book. It took about an hour-&-a-half to make this card. The Thanksgiving cards took the rest of the day. Some cards are just very detailed, which is a perfect project to take my mind off work.

I took off work yesterday and finished my Thanksgiving cards and made significant headway through the tagged book.

I‘m listening to the tagged book with my curious cat.

I‘m loving the Chronicles!

#wondrouswednesday Thanks @TheSpineView for the tag!

1) I normally am reading at least 3 books at a time: 1 IRL, 1 ebook (sometimes 2 if one is depressing), & 1 audiobook

2) I‘ve read many good books this year and this post is no promise it will be my final best book. But it was one of my first favorites of the year

I panned the Last Will and Testament…a book I read for Cape Verde and I bailed on The Big Killing, both for #readingafrica2022

Having watched the movie a few times, which I really like, I‘m glad I‘ve finally read the book. I was impressed with how closely the movie followed the book. I think though I would have liked the book more if I hadn‘t seen the movie. It lacked the novelty of the first book, The Magician‘s Nephew (& I may have missed Kenneth Branaugh‘s brilliant narration from the Magician). But of course it was still excellent and I look forward to the next book.

I rarely enjoy short stories; if it‘s going to be a good story then make it a novel! Or I get bored and they aren‘t very good. Not true for this book. All of the stories are compelling, readable, and I looked forward to picking it back up. No wonder it won the Pulitzer Prize. The stories dug deep into the Indian immigrant experience, and each one stood very well on its own. Anything more wouldn‘t have worked as well. Excellent! #foodandlit #India

Update: Part 1 of books read for #readingAfrica2022

Update: Part 2 of books read for #readingAfrica2022

In the category of you-learn-something-new-everyday:

Grogu isn‘t just my favorite Star Wars character, it‘s also an alcoholic drink in #CapeVerde

#readingafrica2022

I‘ve started this ebook. I wasn‘t very fond of the book I read for #CapeVerde for #readingafrica2022 so I decided to read this one as well. It‘s short so I should finish it tonight

I‘ve had a number of countries in Africa for which I‘ve read two or more books so I may just keep on going for the rest of the year 😉

The tagged book is my next audiobook.

It‘s been forever since I‘ve posted my progress map and here it is. The last country is the island off the west coast #SaoTomeandPrincipe

I‘m 16 pages into the tagged book. It‘s long but appears to be well written and translated. It sounds very interesting so I hope I can get through it. I‘d hate to drag it into the new year!

#two4tuesday @TheSpineView

1) music
2) audiobooks; right now I‘m listening to the entire Narnia series—33 hours!

I‘m starting the book for my final country for #readingafrica2022, #saotomeeprincipe.

At the time Gbowee wrote this autobiography, she apparently didn‘t know she was being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and won it in 2011. I didn‘t know it until I finished the book and googled her to see what she has done since. Talk about a woman who pulled herself up by the bootstraps—she is it. She grew up in a fairly stable #Liberia until she turned 17, when the first of its civil wars began. She married young to a fierce abuser ⬇️

SAA published a microstory here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkoSvGmgUbz/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Free ebook for the next day or so. It looks good!

I‘ve started these complete works in audio (33 hours worth) and just finished the first book, The Magician‘s Nephew. I‘d only seen a few of the movies, so it was a complete delight to learn how Narnia came about, and the witch, and the wardrobe! Kenneth Branaugh read the first book and may I say, he did all the different animal voices spectacularly!! I‘m loving it so much so far!! #chunksterchallenge2022 @Amiable

This book is my pick for #India #foodandlit2022 @Catsandbooks @Butterfinger

Speaking about refugees from war-torn Sierra Leone:

“Even if you‘re poor and struggling, you don‘t kick out someone who comes to your house in need.”

#Liberia #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#wondrouswednesday

1) Nowhere Bookstore—it‘s become my go-to store for the most part since it‘s in my neighborhood
2) “Monsen Mega Book and Craft Store”
3) Tagged

#thoughtfulthursday @MoonWitch94 Tough one today.

I lost two very close friends during the pandemic, Janice Williams (cause unknown but possibly Covid) and Dawn Finlayson (complications from cancer). I also lost my accountant and friend of 20+ years, John Miller, to Covid. Janice and Dawn both meant the world to me and losing them within about a year of each other hurt more than I can say and it‘s still painful. Janice was a reader and crafter ⬇️

October funnies! #scarathlon #teamslaughter @Clwojick @StayCurious

October funnies! #scarathlon #teamslaughter @Clwojick @StayCurious

October funnies! #scarathlon #teamslaughter @Clwojick @StayCurious