Introducing Snowywinds Bookblog!

I love books. I love the way they feel, their smell, the cover art, and the stories.  I have certain books that are my favorites that I will not let go of; they travel with me with each move.  Countless books have been donated to local libraries for book sales.  Certain series favorites have been bought and sold by me on eBay.  And then there are the used book sales, rows and rows of books on rows and rows of tables.  Did you say fill a bag for a buck?

This past March, Pennsylvania was put on a stay-at-home restriction due to the pandemic.  My job changed drastically and many hours when spent transferring my lesson plans to an online format.  To help reduce my anxiety, I turned to my books; those stories that can take the reader away to another place and time.  During those last few months of school, I read 12 books.  You can see more about these books and my ratings on Goodreads.  Click on each book cover to go to its Goodreads overview.

Classic - I completed two classics during this time, one of which was Emma by Jane Austin.  Emma was read on my iPhone using the Books app.  I chose this book for two reasons, 1) the new movie, and 2) I read a modern take on the story written by Alexander McCall Smith.  I rated the book 5 stars.  This is the second Jane Austin novel I have read, and I really enjoyed it.

 

This romantic comedy is about a young genteel woman

in Georgian-Regency England trying to play matchmaker

while claiming that she herself will never marry. 

Mystery - I read two books in the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series by Sue Grafton; F is for Fugitive and P is for Peril.  I don’t usually read them out of order, but with the library closed I read what was available.  Though I rated both books 3 stars, this is still a good series and I recommend it.  I have since read G is for Gumshoe and rated that one 4 stars.  Kinsey is a strong female character and I hold her to high standards.  

Kinsey Millhone is a private-investigator hired

to solve difficult cases in Santa Theresa, California. 

She drives a VW Bug, eats Big Macs, and often

wears black turtlenecks (it was the 1980s.)

Fantasy - One of my favorite series of all time is The Lord of the Rings, and I did a second reread of The Fellowship of the Ring during this time.  The last time I read the series was in the early 2000s when the movie series came out.  As good as the movies are, the books are still WAY better.  Tolkien's writing is very poetic and flowing.  No surprise, this book received 5 stars.  

The first book in this series begins with Bilbo Baggins’

111th birthday.  Meanwhile Gandalf the Grey has

figured out the true meaning of Bilbo’s ‘Ring.’ As a

result, Bilbo’s nephew Frodo finds himself on an

adventure (along with 3 friends, a Ranger, an elf, a

dwarf, and a human) to return the ‘Ring’ to Mount

Doom. The book also includes an encounter with

Tom Bombadil, an ancient & enigmatic figure, sadly

left out of the movie.