Thursday, December 18, 2025

Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies -- BOOK BEGINNINGS


BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING
"It's going to be a great nuisance for both of us," said Freddy. "Couldn't you make a fuss about it, Tom?"
-- fromm Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies.

Tempest-Tost is the first novel in Robertson Davies' Salterton Trilogy set in a fictional Canadian university town. This first book, published in 1951, is a comedy of manners focusing on an amateur production of Shakespeare's The Tempest

I loved Davies's Deptford and Cornish Trilogies so much that I've put off reading the Salterton books because then I will have no more to look forward to. That may sound silly but makes sense in book world!

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from Tempest-Tost:
She did not seek to thrust herself upon her goddess; she wished only to love and serve Mrs. Caesar Augustus Conquergood, to support and if such a thing were possible, increase her grandeur. If Mrs. Caesar Augustus Conquergood's name might appear, alone, at the top of an otherwise double column of patrons of the Salterton Little Theatre then, in Nellie's judgment, the drama had justified its existence, Thespis had not rolled his car in vain, and Shakespeare was accorded a posthumous honor which he barely deserved.

This elaborate writing tyle might not be to everyone's taste, but it make me laugh so I like it. I love a good, shaggy novel with lots of humor and lots of plot.  

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
Weaving a tapestry of wonderfully developed characters, smoldering rivalries, and witty satire, Robertson Davies introduces the first book in the Salterton Trilogy.

An amateur production of
The Tempest provides a colorful backdrop for a hilarious look at unrequited love. Mathematics teacher Hector Mackilwraith, stirred and troubled by Shakespeare’s play, falls in love with the beautiful heiress Griselda Webster. When Griselda shows she has plans of her own, Hector despairs on the play’s opening night.


7 Days to Christmas!


 ADVENT

7 Days to Christmas!


 



Wednesday, December 17, 2025

The 2026 European Reading Challenge -- WRAP UP PAGE


THE 2026 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

WRAP UP PAGE


THIS IS THE PAGE FOR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE, OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE


LINK YOUR POST

When you complete the 2026 European Reading Challenge at whatever level you signed up for, please do a wrap up post and enter a link to your post here. Please link to your wrap up post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media profile.

A wrap up post can be very simple. You can do a separate post on your blog or social media platform. Or, if you participate in the challenge on your blog and just update your original post without doing a separate wrap up post, that's OK too. Just post a link to your updated post here. If you participate on social media, please do some kind of wrap up post listing the books you read and link it here.


OR LEAVE A COMMENT

If you want, you can also simply leave a comment below listing the books you read. Please include your name, the names of the books, the authors of the books, and the countries of the books.


WANT THE PRIZE? WRAP IT UP!

Without some kind of wrap up post, I don't have any way to know if you finished the challenge. I like to know so I can visit everyone. But it is more important if you are competing for the Jet Setter Prize. If you want to compete for the prize, you have to leave a wrap up post or I will have no way to know if you visited more countries than the other people competing with you. This is also why you need to identify the country of your book. I don't want to guess and I don't want to research.

When I announce the prize winner, Honorable Mention will go to the participants who visited the most countries (but not as many as the winner), with links to their wrap up posts. If you don't link a wrap up post, I won't be able to find you.

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NOTE ABOUT DATES

You have until December 31, 2026, to finish reading the books. You have until January 31, 2027, to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner as soon as possible after January 31, 2027.

The 2026 European Reading Challenge -- REVIEW PAGE


 
THE 2026 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

REVIEW PAGE


THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE, OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please add links to your review posts in the Linky box below. Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle, the name of the book you reviewed, and the country of the book or author. For example: Gilion at Rose City Reader, War and Peace, Russia.

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When you review a book for the 2026 European Reading Challenge, please add it to this list using the Linky widget above. Please link to your review post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media account.

You do not need a blog to participate. If you review books on Instagram, Facebook, goodreads, or some other platform that generates a URL, you can add link to the review in the Linky box above the same as a link to a blog post. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment to ask me, email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com, or DM me on Instagram @gilioncdumas. Please follow me on Instagram before you DM me or your message will be hidden and I probably won't see it. 


REVIEWS

You do not have to review books to complete the European Reading Challenge. You can complete the challenge simply by reading one to five books (or more), each set in a different European country or written by an author from a different European country. But if you do review books, please link your reviews here so other people can find them.

Also, if you want to win the Jet Setter Prize, you have to review the books. Only books reviewed count for the prize. If you are competing for the prize, definitely link your reviews here. You can link all your reviews, but only one book per country counts towards the prize.


WRAP UP

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post -- you just update your original post -- that's fine! But please, please, please link to the updated post after you finish the challenge. It is too hard for me to count all your reviews to figure out if you finished the challenge or not. If you are going for the prize, you have to leave a wrap up link so I know you are in the running.


NOTE ABOUT DATES

You have to finish reading all books by December 31, 2026. You have until January 31, 2027, to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner(s) as soon as possible after January 31, 2027.

8 Days to Christmas!


 ADVENT

8 Days to Christmas!


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