Author Archives: lydias

About lydias

I'm a sci-fi writer who loves lifting weights and hates eating Brussels sprouts.

November 26, 2025 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Genre I Wish Were More Popular

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

Four red advent pillar candles. Two are lit and two have never been lit yet. Oh, this week’s topic is easy.

I wish Christmas ghost stories were popular today.

In Victorian England in the 1800s, telling ghost stories was a widespread Christmas tradition. There were new entries in this genre published every year for families to enjoy, and some of them became classics that are still well-known today.

I try to keep that tradition going in my own small way by seeking out and hopefully also reviewing ghost stories every December, but I’d love it if they were easier to find and if more people saw the value in reading something just a little scary at this time of the year.

Since Christmas isn’t always an easy holiday for me to enjoy for reasons beyond the scope of this post, having something to look forward to during it makes a world of difference for me. I think it’s so emotionally healthy to give people a wide variety of ways to interact with holidays they struggle with. Not everything has to be cheerful and sugary sweet all of the time in order to be meaningful.

Oh, and one of the tags on this post is Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories because I actually reviewed quite a few classic ghost stories from the late 1800s and early 1900s on my blog a few years ago. Click on that tag to read my reviews if you wish to.

Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes About Gratitude

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I have mixed feelings about Thanksgiving in general, but one of the things I appreciate about it is how it gives me a chance to reflect on the many good things in my life. This is something that North American culture often needs more experience doing in my opinion, so I’m going to reframe the Thanksgiving freebie post a little this week.

Here are ten quotes about gratitude and the importance of feeling grateful for what you do have.

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
― Epicurus

Eight little wooden blocks that look like Scrabble titles have been arranged to spell out the phrase “Thank you.” “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
― Maya Angelou

“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”
― James Herriot , All Creatures Great and Small

“…for love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride.”
― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

“My religion is nature. That’s what arouses those feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me.”
― Oliver Sacks

“It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.”
― Germany Kent

“I marveled at the beauty of all life and savored the power and possibilities of my imagination. In these rare moments, I prayed, I danced, and I analyzed. I saw that life was good and bad, beautiful and ugly. I understood that I had to dwell on the good and beautiful in order to keep my imagination, sensitivity, and gratitude intact. I knew it would not be easy to maintain this perspective. I knew I would often twist and turn, bend and crack a little, but I also knew that…I would never completely break.”
― Maria Nhambu, Africa’s Child

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh

If you’re celebrating this week, may you be able to eat all of your favourite foods and perhaps think of a few things you’re grateful for, too!

32 Comments

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Tagged as Gratitude, Quotes, Thanksgiving, Top Ten Tuesday

November 20, 2025 · 1:00 am

A Review of Hearth Stories, Winter Solstice 2023

Title: Hearth Stories, Winter Solstice 2023

Author: Sarah Jackson, Adriana C. Grigore, Em Harriett, Alicia Adams, Catherine Yeates, Akis Linardos, Jennifer Shelby, Katherine B. Randall, Emily Yu, & A.P. Howell

Publisher: Hearth Stories

Publication Date: December 21, 2023

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, LGBTQ+, Historical, Contemporary

Length: 128 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the publisher.

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

Hearth Stories is a speculative fiction magazine focused on cozy fantasy stories. Each issue features a letter from the editor, author bios and interviews, and wonderful stories focused on family, home life, connection, and the natural world.

Content Warning: Brief references to domestic violence, broken bones (not from domestic violence), blood, loss of bladder function, climate change, and mild household injuries.

Review:

Nature is for everyone.

“Dandelion” was a heartwarming tale about a tiny, human-like creature who helped an injured duck. The kind and brave protagonist, Dandy, made me smile. I also appreciated how much this felt like a traditional fable with its straightforward descriptions of the setting and characters and gentle tone. As much as I’d like to go into greater detail here, it’s better for other readers to get to know Dandy for themselves and be surprised by the wholesome plot twists along the way.

Magic wasn’t something everyone was capable of doing, so the fact that Naomi could do it was meaningful. “Primeval” followed her as she adjusted to yet another school and tried to figure out how to cast spells. The world building in this entire collection was well done, but this piece in particular stood out to me due to how many layers of meaning the author was able to squeeze into a short story. Honestly, this felt like it could be the first chapter of a novel or the first instalment of a long series due to how much I learned about Naomi as well as how many future conflicts and moments of pure joy were just barely hinted at.

While I didn’t necessarily connect with every tale in this collection on a personal level, this is my own shortcoming as all of them were well written. Style is such a subjective topic that I can’t possibly take off any stars due to this, but I did want to mention it in case other readers have similar experiences. Yes, the themes remained the same from beginning to end as far as the magic of forests and the importance of looking after nature goes, but the writing styles varied so much that in my opinion there should be something here for many different types of readers.

There was kindness woven into every moment of Ginny’s life in “The Second Form of Ginny Elder.” She was a senior citizen living with a few physical disabilities who looked after every sick or injured animal who showed up in her garden. Her sweet personality made me adore her immediately, especially once the narrator shared a little bit about her tragic backstory, and my feelings for her only grew warmer and deeper as I saw how careful she was to look after all of her charges. There was a beautiful twist to this tale that I didn’t see coming but that fit Ginny’s personality and history perfectly. Do keep an eye out for it as you read!

Hearth Stories, Winter Solstice 2023 made me yearn for cozy winter days spent tucked into warm blankets while reading.

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Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2020s, A.P. Howell, Adriana C. Grigore, Akis Linardos, Alicia Adams, Anthology, Book Reviews, Catherine Yeates, Contemporary, Em Harriett, Emily Yu, Fantasy, Hearth Stories, Historical, Jennifer Shelby, Katherine B. Randall, LGBT, Novella, Paranormal, Sarah Jackson, Winter Solstice

November 19, 2025 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books That Influenced My Life

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

About a dozen lightbulbs are scattered on a white surface in a dark room. Despite not being screwed into anything, one of the lightbulbs is emitting light and therefore allowing the viewer to see what is in this space.

This is a bit of a slippery topic for me because of how my idea of an influential book has evolved over time.

A title that meant the world to me as a kid or a teenager may not have the same effect on me as an adult, for example. This doesn’t detract from how much I loved it at those life stages, but not everything is going to feel the same for a reader depending on when they pick it up and what circumstances they’re currently going through.

Change is a normal part of life, after all.

Here are some books that meant the world to me the first time I read them.

The Giver (The Giver, #1) by Lois Lowry

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Ishmael (Ishmael, #1) by Daniel Quinn

A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present by Howard Zinn

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou’s Autobiography, #1) by Maya Angelou

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan

Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Would I feel the same way about them today? It’s hard to tell, but maybe!

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November 18, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Modern Books You Think Will Be Classics In The Future

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Thank you to Veros @ Dark Shelf of Wonders for submitting this topic. It’s something I think about regularly and can’t wait to see how everyone else responds to.

Two pink gerbera flowers are lying on an antique hardcover book that’s also been wrapped in a white lace ribbon. It’s hard to tell which books will become classics. Not every bestseller is actually well written or will continue to affect readers in twenty or fifty years. Likewise, I have no doubt there are some true gems out there that may have had middling to poor sales but will eventually be rediscovered and taught in classrooms all across the world.

Here are some books I think might pass the test of time…but we’ll have to wait to see if I’m right!

1. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

2. My Brilliant Friend (Neapolitan Novels, #1) by Elena Ferrante

3. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

4. The Deep by Rivers Solomon

5. Everfair (Everfair, #1) by Nisi Shawl

6. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

I was not able to come up with a full ten answers this week. Here’s hoping you all were able to do that.

36 Comments

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Tagged as Books, Classic Novels, Modern Classics, Top Ten Tuesday

November 13, 2025 · 1:00 am

A Review of The Ghosts of Christmases Past

Title: Ghosts of Christmases Past

Author: Leigh Kimmel

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 25, 2024

Genres: Science Fiction, Holiday

Length: 34 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

These are troubled times. The Flannigan Administration’s hostility to clones has reached a boiling point, resulting in the Expulsions. All of NASA’s astronaut clones have been sent to lunar exile in Shepardsport. Christmas is approaching, and Brenda Redmond is helping put on a musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol. But the three ghosts who visit Scrooge in the classic Charles Dickens story aren’t the only ghosts haunting the corridors of Shepardsport. Even as Brenda is trying to get her young players ready, she must also track down the source of the strange visions that are coming unbidden to the settlement’s inhabitants. A novelette of the Grissom Timeline.

Content Warning: Pregnancy and military (Air Force). I will not discuss these topics in my review.

Review:

There’s nothing quite like celebrating the holidays far from home…especially when far from home means living on a distant moon!

I enjoyed the way this short story explored how the characters honored old family traditions while also creating new ones that took note of where they currently lived. Finding that balance is something immigrants and refugees must do during their adjustment phase, and it makes for some pretty interesting reading for those of us who have experience moving from one country to another one.

It would have been helpful to have stronger plot development in this piece, especially towards the end. As much as I enjoyed seeing how the conflicts were set up in the beginning and middle, they were resolved a little too quickly for my tastes later on. There was space here for additional scenes that explained each character’s point of view and how they came to a resolution, and I would have chosen a full five-star rating if this had been allowed to occur.

The science fiction elements of the storyline were well written and kept my interest levels high. Some aspects of them were explained in detail while others were left up to the reader’s imagination. This meant that while some of my questions were answered fairly early on there were still plenty of things to wonder about as I continued along. While I was satisfied with the number of answers I received, I do suspect that people who are already familiar with these characters will glean even more from this tale than I did.

This is part of a series but works perfectly well as a standalone work.

Ghosts of Christmases Past has piqued my curiosity.

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Things I’m Thankful For

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

I love this topic!

A little white heart that has the phrase “I am grateful” printed onto it. There is a tiny red heart next to the phrase and a piece of twine attached to the heart, probably so it can be hung somewhere. This year I am grateful for…

Modern Medicine

A world without vaccines, antibiotics, antivirals, radiation and chemotherapy, contraception, anesthesia and painkillers in general, surgery, and other treatments for what ails us would include so much unnecessary suffering. History books are filled with stories about what happened before we had accesses to these things, and they are anything but easy to read.

People Who Do “Dirty” Jobs

That is to say, the people who pick vegetables, prepare meat, clean toilets, unclog pipes, monitor sewage, gather up garbage, scrub everything, empty bedpans, dress wounds, and do the other thousand and one jobs that keep the rest of us living in safe, clean places.

Books

With all of the difficult things going on in the world today, books provide such a welcomed respite from bad news.

Loved Ones

I am lucky to have such good relationships with my spouse, parents, siblings, sister-in-law, nephews, and other relatives.

Noise-Cancelling Earphones

Yes, really! Last summer was hot, humid, and didn’t always have good air quality, so I unfortunately had more migraines than I typically would. There’s nothing like the relief of noise-cancelling earphones when you’re in sensory overload and even the smallest sounds feel painfully loud.

Jokes

It makes me so happy when people who are talented at cracking jokes share their gift with the world. Laughter can be like medicine for one’s soul.

All of You

You make the Internet and the WWBC a better place!

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Tagged as Gratitude, Thanksgiving, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

November 11, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books About World War I

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Given that today is Remembrance Day, which commemorates the end of World War I and is also known is Armistice Day or Veterans Day depending on which country you live in, I will be sharing ten books about this war in my post. I tried to pick books about this subject that aren’t as well known.

Three grey and roughly hewn stone crosses in a German military cemetery from World War I. The sky is blue and the grass is green. It’s a peaceful scene. War isn’t something I like to read about, so this still fits the original “books outside of my comfort zone” theme as well!

1. The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War by Chad L. Williams

2. The First World War in Posters, from the Imperial War Museum, London by Joseph Darracott

3. Chronicle of Youth: The War Diary, 1913-1917 by Vera Brittain

4. Falsehood in Wartime: Propaganda Lies of the First World War by Arthur Ponsonby

5. The Forbidden Zone: A Nurse’s Impressions of the First World War by Mary Borden

6. The Poems of Wilfred Owen by Jon Stallworthy

7. Love Letters of the Great War by Mandy Kirkby

8. 1915: The Death Of Innocence by Lyn Macdonald

9. Bill the Bastard: The Story Of Australia’s Greatest War Horse by Roland Perry

10. Sword and Blossom: A British Officer’s Enduring Love for a Japanese Woman by Peter Pagnamenta

May we someday live in a world where war is nothing but a distant memory.

46 Comments

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Tagged as Top Ten Tuesday, War, World War I

November 6, 2025 · 1:00 am

A Review of For the Rest of Us

Title: For the Rest of Us – 13 Festive Holiday Stories to Celebrate All Seasons

Author: Dahlia Adler

Publisher: Quill Tree Books

Publication Date: September 2, 2025

Genres: Young Adult, LGBTQ+, Contemporary

Length: 327 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Fourteen acclaimed authors showcase the beautiful and diverse ways holidays are observed in this festive anthology. Keep the celebrations going all year long with this captivating and joyful read!

From Lunar New Year to Solstice, Día de Los Muertos to Juneteenth, and all the incredible days in between, it’s clear that Americans don’t just have one holiday. Edited by the esteemed Dahlia Adler and authored by creators who have lived these festive experiences firsthand, this joyful collection of stories shows that there isn’t one way to experience a holiday.

With stories

Dahlia Adler, Sydney Taylor Honor winner of Going Bicoastal

Candace Buford, author of Good as Gold

A. R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy, authors of the Once & Future series

Preeti Chhibber, author of Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot

Natasha Díaz, award-winning author of Color Me In

Kelly Loy Gilbert, Stonewall Book Award winning author of Picture Us in the Light

Kosoko Jackson, USA Today bestselling author of The Forest Demands Its Due

Aditi Khorana, award-winning author of Mirror in the Sky

Katherine Locke, award-winning author of This Rebel Heart

Abdi Nazemian, Stonewall Book Award–winning author of Only This Beautiful Moment

Laura Pohl, New York Times bestselling author of The Grimrose Girls

Sonora Reyes, Pura Belpré Honor winner of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School

Karuna Riazi, contributor to The Grimoire of Grim Fates

Content Warning: A few celebrations are set during the Covid era. Racism. Grief.

Review:

Traditions give the year meaning.

I was intrigued to explore Valentine’s Day through the perspective of an aromantic character in “PS. I (DON”T) LOVE YOU.” That was a clever choice that gave Elis plenty of opportunities to figure himself out and form opinions about this holiday. Getting to know him was rewarding, and I thought he was a well-written character. It’s difficult to go into detail here without sharing spoilers, so all I will say is that this tale had a satisfying ending that wrapped up the major conflicts while still leaving room for a possible sequel if the author ever chooses to write one.

In general, I found myself wishing for more character development in these tales. This criticism wasn’t limited to one or two instalments but instead was a thought that came to mind over and over again as I read. It’s easy to look up the meanings of words but not as simple to figure out why characters behave the way they do if the text doesn’t provide enough hints about what’s going on with them. As much as I wanted to give this collection a higher rating, this was something that prevented me from diving as deeply into it as I was hoping to.

Cora brought her friend and possible boyfriend Matty home to meet her family for Juneteenth in “Hill Country Heartbeat.” I enjoyed the nuances of their relationship as they atttempted to figure out if they were friends, romantic partners, or something else entirely. The subplots, which I can’t really go into here without sharing spoilers, also added depth to the characters and plot. It was interesting to see how Cora responded to things that she would normally oppose loudly.

For the Rest of Us – 13 Festive Holiday Stories to Celebrate All Seasons was a good read for anyone who celebrates anything other than Christmas or Thanksgiving or who would like to learn more about other cultures.

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Strange or Useless Talent I Have

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

This time I am linking back to my previous answer to this question.

A grey, white, and black striped kitty is lying on a wooden surface outdoors, possibly a patio, and gazing at the viewer. Other than regularly looking away from tv shows and films just before something important happens, I am every cat’s best friend. They would like nothing more than to follow me around and go on feline-friendly adventures while I would like nothing more than for them to pick a new human to bond with.

No, I do not hate cats. In fact, I’d happily share my home with a few of them if it were possible.

This is an utterly useless talent because I am terribly allergic to cats and can’t even stand near them without coughing and wheezing, much less give them the affection they desire.

I suspect that they love me so much because I do my best to ignore them. While other people might squeal and rush after kitty, I keep a respectful distance.

According to cat logic, of course, this means that I am a well-mannered human and should be rewarded with a cuddle.

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Tagged as Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

Author Archives: lydias

About lydias

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Genre I Wish Were More Popular

Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes About Gratitude

A Review of Hearth Stories, Winter Solstice 2023

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books That Influenced My Life

Top Ten Tuesday: Modern Books You Think Will Be Classics In The Future

A Review of The Ghosts of Christmases Past

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Things I’m Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday: Books About World War I

A Review of For the Rest of Us

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Strange or Useless Talent I Have

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