Author Archives: lydias

About lydias

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

November 12, 2025 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Things I’m Thankful For

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.

33 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.

14 Comments

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Tagged as Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

November 4, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A little red squirrel sitting up and staring at the photographer. This photo was taken outdoors and the leaves are turning yellow for the autumn. The grass is still green.

Not my photo. I simply love squirrels and autumn.

I am not sure how to write for the introduction to this post this week. Just like all of you, I assume, my TBR list is a long one. Eventually, I hope to read all of these titles.

As usual, this includes a variety of genres. I admire those of you who can stick to one genre all of the time, but I find it more enjoyable to bounce around from one to the next.

1. My Friends by Fredrik Backman

2. Recitatif: A Story by Toni Morrison

3. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

4. Cemetery Boys (Cemetery Boys, #1) by Aiden Thomas

5. White Light: The Elemental Role of Phosphorus-in Our Cells, in Our Food, and in Our World by Jack Lohmann

6. The Antidote by Karen Russell

7. The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, Jesse Kirkwood (Translator)

8. When the Earth Was Green: Plants, Animals, and Evolution’s Greatest Romance by Riley Black

9. Children of Time (Children of Time, #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

10. Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1) by Seanan McGuire

51 Comments

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Tagged as Top Ten Tuesday

October 30, 2025 · 1:00 am

A Review of I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib

Title: I Found the Boogeyman under My Brother’s Crib

Author: Ben Farthing

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: September 24, 2024

Genres: Horror, Contemporary

Length: 112 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library.

Rating: 2 Stars

Blurb:

How do you protect your family from an urban legend?

Rachel hears a stranger laugh in her baby brother’s nursery.

She races in to see a dark figure slip beneath the crib, disappearing into an eerie reflection of her brother’s room.

Mom and Dad don’t believe her. They accuse Rachel of making excuses for breaking their strict rules about healthy sleep.

But Rachel knows what she saw.

The Boogeyman wants her baby brother.

The Boogeyman wants to drag him away into his eerie realm beneath the crib.

Rachel’s not going to let that happen.

I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib is a tale of urban legends, liminal spaces, and things that go bump in the night, from Ben Farthing, the “King of Creepy” (MJ Mars, author of The Suffering).

Content Warning: Kidnapping and child abuse.

Review:

Nobody can get away with being naughty forever.

The narrator captured the frustration of being a sixteen-year-old who doesn’t always feel like adults are listening to her well. While my parents were thankfully nothing like Rachel’s, just about every teenager at least occasionally has a conversation with their parents that doesn’t make sense. Sometimes you grow up and understand the adult perspective better, but not all parents make the sorts of decisions that are in their children’s best interests and that can be seen from another perspective in five, ten, or twenty years.

This novella would have benefited from more character and plot development. The premise was strong in the beginning but later scenes didn’t build on it in the ways I hoped they would. It petered out instead of explaining why the characters behaved the way they did and what the boogeyman was truly capable of which was disappointing to me. I had been anticipating this novella all autumn due to how much I enjoy this series in general and expected to give it a much higher rating than I ultimately did.

With that being said, I thought the ideas in this tale were interesting ones and could see how they may have been meant to fit together. It was interesting to learn the historical context of the boogeyman in this universe and what people hoped would happen when they talked about him. There was a twist involving this antagonist that was fun and would have encouraged me to go for a higher rating if it had been given more time to develop.

This is part of the I Found series that can be read in any order.

I Found the Boogeyman under My Brother’s Crib had a creative premise.

2 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2020s, Ben Farthing, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Horror, Novella, Self-Published

October 29, 2025 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Scary Books I’ve Recommended and Why

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.

Black and white sketch of a ghost who is floating through the air with their arms outstretched. They look like a cartoon ghost covered in a white sheet with two eye holes cut into the sheet. Very cute. I feel like I recommend a lot of the same books here over and over again.

In an attempt to break out of that pattern, here are some scary and I’d argue also Halloween-friendly books I think anyone who likes that sort of stuff should read them.

So far as I recall, I have only occasionally talked about (most of?) them on my blog in the past.

1. The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl

Why: If you’ve ever picked up a book about a teenage girl who is seduced by a 100+-year-old vampire and wondered what their lives would actually be like a few decades after they met, you might really like this twist on that trope. Let’s just say it’s not exactly Twilight. 😂

2. Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) by Toni Morrison

Why: The most terrifying moments in this story have nothing at all to do with the paranormal. To me, that realism and willingness to dive deeply into real-life issues makes a tale ten times scarier!

3. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Why: The twist ending is fantastic. If you haven’t seen the Will Smith film based on this story, it was also really well done and is definitely worth watching.

4. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Why: It’s a deeply satisfying ghost story that feels more realistic and tragic to me than many other corners of this genre due to the Woman in Black’s reason for not finding peace after death.

5. The Last of What I Am: A Novel by Abigail Cutter

Why:The character development was excellent. Don’t allow the idea of reading about a Confederate soldier turn you off from picking this tale up. This was in no way a defence of racism, slavery, or anything abhorrent like that. Tom was a well-rounded and interesting person who was tangled up in something much bigger than himself and who had grown in all sorts of incredible ways since his death.

8 Comments

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Tagged as Halloween, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

October 28, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Non-Gory Halloween Movies

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A grey background filled with drawings of dozens of pieces of candy corn that are more or less spread out equally. Here are the Halloween posts I’ve written for Top Ten Tuesday in previous years: Free Horror Stories, My Favourite Halloween Treats, Halloween Picture Books, Halloween Things I’ve Never Done, Things I Love About Halloween, and LGBTQ+ Horror Novels, and The Best Ghost Stories I’ve Read.

I love this holiday! Happy (almost) Halloween to everyone who will also be celebrating it in a few days.

As I’m really not a big fan of blood or gore, most but certainly not all of the Halloween movies I watch are marketed to younger audiences. I love the fact that there’s such a wide range of options for this holiday. Not everything Halloween-related has to be terrifying, after all.

These were all great films. Some are better for teens and adults while others can be enjoyed by all ages. So much depends on the specific ages and interests of everyone involved.

1. The Nightmare Before Christmas

2. Hocus Pocus

3. A House With a Clock on Its Walls

4. Coco

5. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

6. Monsters, Inc.

7. Beetlejuice

8. Edward Scissorhands

9. The Sixth Sense

10. I Am Legend

11. The Others

12. Get Out

13. The Babadook

14. The Addams Family

15. The Witch

62 Comments

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Tagged as Halloween, Movies, Top Ten Tuesday

October 23, 2025 · 1:00 am

A Review of I Found a Lost Hallway in a Dying Mall

Title: I Found a Lost Hallway in a Dying Mall

Author: Ben Farthing

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: June 18, 2024

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary

Length: 162 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Somewhere among the shuttered stores…

Lisa hears a call for help.

She finds her senile old coworker, Saswin, lost in an abandoned hallway. He’s talking to a circle of mannequins, their limbs twisted and fused in unnatural ways.

When Lisa looks away, she swears the mannequins have moved…

And that this abandoned hallway has grown longer.

After Saswin disappears down the impossible hallway, Lisa goes to find him, but she’s unprepared for the horrors that await her in the mall’s forgotten depths.

I Found a Lost Hallway in a Dying Mall has been compared to creepypastas like NoSleep stories or SCP entries. It’s a chilling tale of identity, liminal spaces, and the horror of leaving the past behind, from Ben Farthing, “The King of Creepy” (MJ Mars, author of The Suffering).

Each book in the I Found Horror series is a STANDALONE. They can be read in any order.

Content Warning: Disability from a stroke. Dementia. Emotional abuse. Mannequins.

Review:

Everything declines eventually.

This was a good example of how the horror genre doesn’t have to include a single drop of blood in it in order to scare its audience. Dying malls are eerie enough on their own if you ask me, and adding in mannequins that are anything but the inanimate objects they’re supposed to be only added an additional layer of dread to the setting. The explanation for why such innocuous things could suddenly become terrifying was well done, too, and made me wish for a prequel or a sequel as there was still plenty of space to explore how this dying mall transformed into something so unlike its formerly cheerful self.

Lisa’s illogical decisions were the only thing holding me back from giving this book a higher rating. My first impression of her was of an intelligent woman who used her wisdom to try to make the world a better place if or when she had the opportunity to nudge it in that direction, so it was confusing for me later on when she began making choices that put her and those around her in danger. This didn’t seem to match the dependable Lisa I’d already met and grown to like, and there was never quite enough character development for me to reconcile these different aspects of her personality.

With that being said, I loved the exploration of disability and aging in this piece. Lisa and Hank had reached a point in life where their physical health was beginning to slow them down in ways they could no longer explain away as a bad day. Adjusting to that wasn’t easy for them, especially when they began to face the small moments in life that would have been effortless a few years ago but not required some planning and energy management in order to accomplish.

I Found a Lost Hallway in a Dying Mall was thought provoking and makes me hope that Mr. Farthing will release some more stories soon.

4 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2020s, Ben Farthing, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Horror, Mannequin, Paranormal, Psychological Horror, Self-Published

October 22, 2025 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Things That Scare Me

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.

We’ve done this topic before, but I’m once again not looking at my old answers. I think it’s more fun to mix things up and maybe give some responses I didn’t share previously. (Or maybe they’ll all be the same? Someday I may go back and check, but today won’t be that day.)

There are plenty of serious things in real life that scare me, of course, but I’m trying to focus on lighthearted Halloween-themed answers today so that everyone will feel comfortable responding.

Please don’t take this post as a sign that I’m ignoring the troubles of the world because I’m not. I’m just trying to avoid topics that will spark unwanted debates on hot topics in my comment section. Ha!

The Woods

There’s no one around to help and no street signs to guide you if you get lost. You’re on your own.

Awakening Angry Spirits

No, movie characters, you do NOT need to steal that trinket from the graveyard or ignore the locals’ warnings about staying out of the woods. You will have a much better time in life if you mind your own business and assume that strangers who tell you something is dangerous are doing so for a very good reason.

Time Travel

Visiting the past doesn’t seem that fun to me. I’d rather stay here where we have antibiotics, the Internet, and air conditioning.

Sexy Monsters

I don’t care if they’re vampires, zombies, werewolves, Sasquatch, ghosts, or something similar. The fact that they’re trying to lure humans closer to them is more than enough reason for me to run away.

It’s sort of like anglerfish who emit light from their antennas in order to attract prey. If they’re irresistibly alluring but clearly not human, this could be a sign that you’re about to be turned into dinner!

(But no offence intended to those of you who like these sorts of stories, of course. I just get danger vibes from this type of character).

Curses

You can eventually outrun or outsmart most other foes, but you – or a book character – can’t possibly fool a curse. It will follow you no matter where you go.

10 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as Halloween, Things That Scare Me, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

Author Archives: lydias

About lydias

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

Top Ten Tuesday: The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf

A Review of I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Scary Books I’ve Recommended and Why

Top Ten Tuesday: Non-Gory Halloween Movies

A Review of I Found a Lost Hallway in a Dying Mall

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Things That Scare Me

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