Rosemarie, I Have a Question?

[Jazzy]

I've got this book
The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well - Meik Wiking
I love it, and recommend it. Maybe you can find it in the library Lesle.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Thank you Jazzy! Interesting you have that on your bookshelf! Totally fits the linked that was shared.

[Tr1sha]

Jazzy wrote: "I've got this book
The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well - Meik Wiking
I love it, and recommend it. Maybe you can find it in the library Lesle.

"

If you enjoyed that book, you may also like The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country by Helen Russell. It’s a long time since I read it but I remember it as an interesting insight into a different way of life.

[Jazzy]

You're very welcome Lesle! if you can find one to buy it is a little hardcover book and has some nice pictures.

[Jazzy]

Ta, Trisha I'll have to look for that one too!

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

I know my library system has some books on hygge. I’ll look them up later and post some titles here.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

In addition to the book Jazzy has, my library has:

Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness

Scandinavian Comfort Food: Embracing the Art of Hygge

How to Hygge: The Nordic Secrets to a Happy Life

[Tr1sha]

Samantha wrote: "In addition to the book Jazzy has, my library has:

Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness

Scandinavian Comfort Food: Embracing the Art of Hygge

[book:How to Hygge: Th..."

Thank you, Samantha.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Samantha wrote: "In addition to the book Jazzy has, my library has: Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness
Scandinavian Comfort Food: Embracing the Art of Hygge [book:How to Hygge: Th..."

Thank you Samantha!

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Y’all are welcome! The concept sounds good, but I haven’t checked out any of the books.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

Samantha are you aloud to flip through a book at work? or is that seen as goofing off! I would have a hard time not peeking at a number of books.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Lesle, we are not allowed to actually read a book while on the clock, but we can absolutely flip through a book we might be interested in or read a book jacket / back of the book. That happens OFTEN, and most of our TBR lists are growing exponentially. We are also encouraged to find newly published books for the library to purchase… which means looks at new book descriptions and reviews online. These are some fun parts of my job!

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

That sounds like fun and I think I would be fired before my first week was out!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

All those books are so tempting!

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

I had no idea my TBR shelf would blow up the way it did, when I started the job. I should’ve known better.

[Tr1sha]

Samantha, it’s fascinating to learn about your job. I’m glad you enjoy it so much. It’s lovely that you can do something you love & share your expertise.

[Jacquie]

Rosemary, i have a question 🤔 - i do not read poetry, but since it is on Rafael's challenge this year, i'd like to try it. Could you recommend a few for starter poetry readers?

thank you!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Jacquie, I recommend Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.
It's aimed at children of all ages-and really a lot of fun.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Jacquie, Robert Frost has a lot of poetry that is simple to understand for many readers. Emily Dickinson is one I’ve always liked. I have a whole book of hers I need to read. I believe Walt Whitman is also good. These poets are often used in middle school and high school where I am. If you like darker stuff, Edgar Allan Poe is great but can get deep.

[Jacquie]

Rosemarie wrote: "Jacquie, I recommend Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.
It's aimed at children of all ages-and really a lot of fun."

Rosemary, this is perfect as I have all his books. They were my son's favorites in high school.

Thank you!

[Jacquie]

Samantha wrote: "Jacquie, Robert Frost has a lot of poetry that is simple to understand for many readers. Emily Dickinson is one I’ve always liked. I have a whole book of hers I need to read. I believe Walt Whitman..."

I actually love Poe and forget to think of him as a poet. I'll have to get one of his books out . Thanks!

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Glad you like our suggestions!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I love Poe's poetry too, Samantha.

[Bernard]

Jacquie, I suggest also John Masefield, Ted Hughes and John Keats.

[Jazzy]

I love Ted Hughes, his books sit next to Sylvia Plath's on my shelf.

Jacquie, why don't you read poetry? There are all sorts of poems by all sorts of people - love poems, dog poems, cat poems, sad poems, happy poems, funny poems.

Perhaps you would enjoy some funny ones. I will recommend

Ogden Nash

here's a taster


'The Cow'
The cow is of the bovine ilk;
One end is moo, the other, milk


'Reflections on Ice-Breaking'
Candy
Is Dandy
But liquor
Is quicker.

'The Duck'
Behold the duck.
It does not cluck.
A cluck it lacks.
It quacks.
It is specially fond
Of a puddle or pond.
When it dines or sups,
It bottoms ups.

'The Fly'
God in his wisdom made the fly
And then forgot to tell us why.

'The Octopus'
Tell me, O Octopus, I begs
Is those things arms, or is they legs?
I marvel at thee, Octopus;
If I were thou, I'd call me Us.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Personally, I like poetry but don’t often read it. I like reading stories more.

[Jacquie]

Bernard wrote: "Jacquie, I suggest also John Masefield, Ted Hughes and John Keats."

Thank you Bernard, I will try these as well. Appreciate the suggestions!

[Jacquie]

Jazzy wrote: "I love Ted Hughes, his books sit next to Sylvia Plath's on my shelf.

Jacquie, why don't you read poetry? There are all sorts of poems by all sorts of people - love poems, dog poems, cat poems, sa..."

Thank you Jazzy, I will check out Ted Hughes, the poem you shared was so cute! 🙂

My favorite genre is non-fiction. I absolutely love learning facts. My son and I can sit for hours talking about something like a biography or the Civil War or music. His wife will say, you need some mom time, when he has too many fun facts for her 😃

[Bernard]

Ogden Nash is a master of the witty poem. Try also Spike Milligan.

[Jazzy]

Jacquie wrote: "Jazzy wrote: "I love Ted Hughes, his books sit next to Sylvia Plath's on my shelf.

Jacquie, why don't you read poetry? There are all sorts of poems by all sorts of people - love poems, dog poems,..."

My favourite non-fiction poems are mostly Soviet Russian poetry. There is a most excellent book of Russian poetry that is wonderful...

The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry

[Jazzy]

also a lot of the poems of Thomas Hardy were from his own life. This book is on sale for the kindle right now.

Poems of Thomas Hardy, A New Selection

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Thanks for the info, Jazzy.

[John]

Hi Rosemarie,

Apologies if I'm just missing it - but are there any 2021 Poetry challenges?

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

We don’t have any poetry challenges this year.

[Jazzy]

Unless of course John wants to read some of the poets from the Nobel Laureates challenge :)

[John]

Sounds like an idea - Thanks Jazzy, I'll have a look at that list.

[John]

I've had a look through your lists Jazzy - what an incredible resource, and a great piece of work.

I'd never looked at such a list before - and one of the things that jumped out at me was the names that weren't on the list - like Kafka, Proust, Joyce, and Tolstoy.

But there are certainly enough poets there to be getting on with. I don't think I'll tackle it this year as I've already got a long TBR list for a piece of research I'm doing. But before the end of 2021 I'll draw up my list of 12 Nobel prize winning poets that I'll read in 2022.

So thanks for the suggestion - and thanks again for the list.

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

John wrote: "I'll draw up my list of 12 Nobel prize winning poets that I'll read in 2022...."

John that sounds like a great idea and a perfect challenge!
If you do not mind we could make it one of our challenges for next year. Once you get the list prepared it could be "John's" challenge and you could pick the title along with the plan.

If you like the idea please remind me or Rosemarie around September/October so we will add it in for 2022!

Thank you to you and Jazzy for the thought!

[John]

Thanks Lesle - I've put an entry in my calendar for that.

I'd actually been thinking of a different personal challenge inspired by Jazzy's list (although it may be one you've already run).

I plan to read 12 works by authors who "could've, should've, didn't" win Nobel prizes. We could probably argue all day about who should be in that list, but my twelve would probably be -

Leo Tolstoy
Vladimir Nabokov
Marcel Proust
James Joyce
Anton Chekhov
Mark Twain
Graham Greene
Franz Kafka
Garcia Lorca
Rainer Maria Rilke
Emile Zola
Joseph Conrad

But I bow to your knowledge of the prizewinners Jazzy, and I'd be very happy if you wanted to run the challenge or suggest a different list.

[Jazzy]

Thanks John, but some of the ones who didn't win Nobel Prizes were probably just born too soon.

The first one wasn't given out until 1901 and it was awarded to Sully Prudhomme . An eye disease forced Sully Prudhomme to discontinue his engineering studies and direct his life into literature and poetry writing instead. His works showed a “rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect”, and earned him the first Literature Prize.

Leo Tolstoy received nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909.

In the history of the Nobel Prize in Literature, many literary achievements were overlooked. The literary historian Kjell Espmark admitted that "as to the early prizes, the censure of bad choices and blatant omissions is often justified. Tolstoy, Ibsen, and Henry James should have been rewarded instead of, for instance, Sully Prudhomme, Eucken, and Heyse". There are omissions which are beyond the control of the Nobel Committee such as the early death of an author as was the case with Marcel Proust, Italo Calvino, and Roberto Bolaño.

Nominations are kept secret for fifty years until they are publicly available at The Nomination Database for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Currently, only nominations submitted between 1901 and 1966 are available for public viewing.
Vladimir Nabokov, Pablo Neruda and Jorge Luis Borges were all in the running for the 1965 Nobel prize for literature, newly opened archives have revealed, but the judges that year went instead for the controversial choice of Mikhail Sholokhov.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

[Lesle, Appalachain Bibliophile]

That is very interesting Jazzy. Thank you for sharing.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Wow. That is a lot of cool information I wasn’t aware of about the Nobel Prize in Literature. Thanks for sharing, Jazzy. I am curious — can the Nobel Prize in Literature be awarded posthumously like we now have the retro Hugo Awards?

[John]

Jazzy wrote: "Thanks John, but some of the ones who didn't win Nobel Prizes were probably just born too soon.

The first one wasn't given out until 1901 and it was awarded to Sully Prudhomme . An eye disease fo..."

Thanks for that excellent information, Jazzy - Zola and Chekhov have to come off my list straight away, and - reluctantly - Kafka. I think I'll probably keep Proust and Rilke on the list, on the basis that they'd published enough by the time of their deaths to deserve recognition. I might have to rename my challenge "Better that the Nobel Prize Winners"!

[Jazzy]

I think you had to be alive at the time of the nomination but not sure! I wouldn't say they're BETTER than Nobel Laureates, but different.

[Anne]

Samantha wrote: "In addition to the book Jazzy has, my library has:

Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness

Scandinavian Comfort Food: Embracing the Art of Hygge

[book:How to Hygge: Th..."

I live very Danishly, as I'm a Dane, living in Denmark 😉
That said, I haven't read these books and therefore can't comment on their accuracy. But HYGGE is indeed a foundation in Danish life.

[Tr1sha]

I finished reading Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson. Do you know if it is set in a specific state or just in a fictional region of the country?

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

The book is set in the Great Plains region of the U.S. (Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma) which was severly affected by the drought in the 30s. Sometimes the area is called the Dust Bowl.
Canada was affected the same way, especially Saskatchewan.

[Tr1sha]

Rosemarie wrote: "The book is set in the Great Plains region of the U.S. (Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma) which was severly affected by the drought in the 30s. Sometimes the area is called the Dust Bowl.
Canada was affe..."

Thank you, Rosemarie. I hadn’t realised Canada was affected too. I’m learning so much here!

[Jay]

There is something I am curious about. 1984 is a very well-known dystopian novel. George Orwell has confessed that he drew his inspiration from We. Even Brave New World was accused of using "We" as an inspiration, this was, however, denied by Huxley.

But for something considered as the predecessor, I don't see "We" being talked about much at all. I have read the book and think it's genius. I was wondering if it's just from my perspective or perhaps there is a very logical reason as to why the book is more of a hidden gem.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

This book was very hard to find until recently. It somehow got overlooked. The science fiction group I belong to is reading We this month. If you check on my profile, you can easily see which group it is.
One of the members is Russian, so he has lots of info on that author.