July RandomKit: Favorites

The July topic for RandomKit is “Favorites.”

“Favorite/favourite” as a noun can be thought of as a person or thing that is especially popular or well-liked by someone, or conversely a record/bookmark of a website address to enable quick access.

Here are some suggestions to get you started thinking about your own “favorites.”
• Revisit a memorable story from childhood.
• Re-read a well-liked novel.
• Choose a book by an admired author.
• Read a story or book that features your “favorite” food, color, animal, location, holiday, character, music, or any number of other favorites.
• Select something you “bookmarked,” added to your TBR pile, or acquired as a BB from another LibraryThing reader.

I included the graphic above because it reminds me of one of my favorite lanes in the historic downtown area of our small town. Each of the lanes has a name (such as Veteran's Walk), and each has colorful hanging displays overhead that sway in the breeze, such as paper lanterns, flags, or the umbrellas shown in the graphic.

Remember to update the wiki!

This is perfect for completing the Bingo square "reread a favorite". I'm planning to re-read She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb.

Oh, what a beautiful idea this is! I have so many ideas and will decide when the time has come.

>3 MissBrangwen: Thanks! I thought we might like something easy and fun for summertime reading.

I plan to read something from my "To Read" list at the library. I have 23 to choose from. A friend has recommended the Maggie D'Arcy series and I may choose the first title, The Mountains Wild.

Such a fun topic! I am going to aim for a few books by some of my favorite authors:

All That's Dead by Stuart MacBride
Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Phantom Lady by Cornel Woolrich

I think I will read An Awkward Lie by Michael Innes, one of my favourite authors as a teen.

>6 DeltaQueen50: My RL book club read The Island of Sea Women a couple of months ago. I loved it, as did most of the members of the club. I definitely recommend it.

That's a lovely theme! I think I'll go for a favourite location, such as Paris or Venice...

What a great prompt! I will be reading something by either George Eliot or Lisa See.

As it's Jane Austen July, this fits in with re-reads of my favorite author and nonfiction about her. I plan to re-read Sense and Sensibility and if my library hold comes through in time Jane Austen's Wardrobe by Hilary Davidson, about fashion in JA's time.

After enjoying June's 'initials' theme reading Kathleen Jamie's prose, for this July theme I'm going to read a book of her poetry.

>8 atozgrl: Thanks. 😊 I am looking forward to The Island of Sea Women.

Lois McMaster Bujold is planning to publish a new Penric & Desdemona novella next month. Since both author and series are high on my list of favorites, I expect that's what I'll be reading.

Thanks for all the positive comments thus far. I hope all participants in this challenge can find something they love for July.

I would love to see all the lanes in your town - how beautiful.

I am still undecided as I have so many possibilities! Maybe continue with my reread of Narnia? Maybe start a reread of Tolkien? Sense and Sensibility? So many choices!

Christopher Buehlman has become one of my favorite horror authors, and I've been meaning to re-read the book that I discovered him through for ages, so I'll be picking up The Necromancer's House this month.

I ended up reading The Great Witches Baking Show by Nancy Warren, as well as the next two in the series. I have happy memories of baking when I was a child, although I do not bake so much now. I am also a big fan of the UK, where these novels are set. If I was to live in a different country from my own, I would choose the UK.

I haven't been doing any of the RandomKit challenges so far this year because I'm doing so many other LT challenges. However, I have been planning to do a re-read of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe at some point this year. Since it's one of my favorites, it fits perfectly with this month's challenge here, so I'll be reading it this month.

Great topic. An excellent excuse for a good bout of re-read!
I am on vacation right now, but this topic is actually making me look forward to coming home.
I might be re-reading my fave Diana Wynne Jones, like Dark Lord of Derkholm, Howls moving castle or Archers goon, or Dragonhaven, The Hero and the Crown or Spindles end by Robin McKinley, or maybe some really old Charles De Lint, like Greenmantle or Moonheart.

ETA: this months list is very on the nose as well; https://www.librarything.com/list/45644/Books-We-Love-to-Reread

I finished The Unknown Ajax which i last read in 2016. Loved it again.
Picked it for last month's Randomkit as Georgette Heyer & I share an initial, but didn't quite finish in time.

I read Penric and the Bandit, latest entry in a favorite series by a favorite author.

I read Night of Shadows by Frances and Richard Lockridge, written in 1962. I bought a stack of their books at a library booksale in 2019 and this is one of them. I was a student volunteering at the library when the Lockridge books were very popular and they have been fun to read again.

>23 clue: How was that one? I know some of these held up better than others over the years.

I've read Thunder and Rain by Charles Martin, currently my favorite author.

>24 thornton37814: It was more thriller than mystery but I liked it, I rated it 3. There were times when I was biting my fingernails though!

Finished Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi. Excellent. Funny as heck yet poignant at times. First Contact done right. One of my favorite authors.

I read Meet the Benedettos by Katie Cotugno. It's a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, which is my favorite book of all time!

I didn't see a link to the wiki on this thread, so I'm posting it here.

JULY RANDOMKIT WIKI: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2024_RandomKIT#July:_Topic:_Favorites

I just completed Phantom Lady by one of my favorite authors, Cornell Woolrich.

>29 christina_reads: Thank you! I like the way we help each other on LT.

I have finished my read of one of my favorite childhood books, The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. It was good to revisit after so many years.

Although Lisa See remains a favorite author of mine, The Island of Sea Women was not one of my favorites of hers.

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
This was my “book of the year” in 2020 when I read it in print. This time I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed it in a different way. I must admit, I prefer reading print.

I have finished La conquête de Plassans, written during my favourite literary century, the 19th.
And also finished is Das Mangobaumwunder written by one of my favourite authors, Leo Perutz.

August RandomKIT is up.

Finished an old favorite, Dark Lord of Derkholm, and started the sequel (which I think is even better) Year of the Griffin

Easiest for me was to choose a favourite author. Stephen King was my favourite author back in high school.

Cell / Stephen King
3.5 stars

Clay is in Boston from Maine when, on the street, people start going crazy and violent! Someone rips off a dog’s ear and people start attacking (and killing) one another. Initially not sure what is happening, after a bit, Clay realizes those who went “crazy” were all on their cell phones just before it happened. Clay doesn’t have a cell phone. He meets up with Tom, who seems ok, and 15(?) year old Alice, who ran after her mom was affected. Initially they hide out in Clay’s hotel lobby with one of the staff. But Clay wants to get home to Maine to check on his (estranged? ex?) wife and son, Johnny. Sharon doesn’t have a phone, but little Johnny does, though he doesn’t use it often… but sometimes Sharon uses it.

I thought this was good. A bit slow-moving, but good. I really liked the climax of the book, but the actual end itself… I’m not too sure. It was pretty open-ended.

I went with my favorite animal, cat, and read Starter Villain by John Scalzi which was such a fun read!

I read a memoir You Never Know by one of my favorite actors, Tom Selleck. I never missed Magnum, PI (I am even enjoying the reruns) or Blue Bloods.

I just finished Frederica by Georgette Heyer, one of my absolute favorite authors. A very enjoyable reread!

Just completed a reread of The Reluctant Heiress by Eva Ibbotson. Ibbotson is one of my all-time favorite "comfort read" authors; her books are the literary equivalent of a hug.

I read the Stations of the Heart series by Isabella Hargreaves: Lord Muck and Lady Alice, Love and Other Addictions and Love at Lost Lagoons. These are set in Australia, one of my very favourite countries, and what is more, in Queensland, which is very special to me because I used to work and study there.

What a wonderful prompt this is! I really enjoyed reading this thread and seeing everyone's picks. Just a lot of heart-warming and positive energy.

I finished a second book for this prompt: Leonard : my fifty-year friendship with a remarkable man by William Shatner. I was a huge fan of the original Star Trek series when I was a child, so this was a fun read for me.

I have re-read a childhood favourite in honour of the 50th anniversary of the author's death: Das doppelte Lottchen. It has lost none of its charm.

And for one of my favourite cities: Le carrefour des Écrasés set in Paris.

I sneaked in one more "favorite" for July, Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I adored it when I first read it in 2015, and I loved it just as much this time around. It's one of those books that feels like it was written especially for me.

It was mostly Austen for me:
Sense and Sensibility
Lady Susan, on audiobook
Pride and Prejudice on audiobook
Jane Austen's Wardrobe, Hilary Davidson (non-fiction about Regency era clothing and customs)

I also listened to Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and then read the annotations in Little Women: An Annotated Edition, edited by Daniel Shealy, which added greatly to my re-read of this classic from my childhood.