Category Archives: Blog Hops

May 10, 2023 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Story About My First Crush

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

I have only occasionally developed crushes throughout my life, so I had to dig deeply for this post.

My first crush was a boy named Jonathan, and I think I was somewhere between the ages of three and five when it happened.

He was probably someone I went to church with as I had a stay-at-home mom who was just beginning to (or maybe would soon begin to?) homeschool me. Therefore, there was no daycare or public school for me to meet new people at during this stage in life.

The only memory I have about Jonathan or my crush on him involves my parents scolding me for calling him my boyfriend and telling me I was too young for such things as I stared up at the bare tree branches and chilly, grey sky overhead, inwardly sighed in exasperation at my parents who I thought were being really silly about the whole thing, and outwardly obeyed them. (Or at least I think I obeyed them?)

If only I remembered more about it. I assure you that the rest of my childhood was far less dramatic than that brief moment of parent-child conflict, so maybe that’s why it stuck around in my memory so firmly?

As far as crushes I fully remember goes, that honour goes to two characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

I thought that Deanna Troi:

Photo of Marina Sirtis playing Deanna Troi on Star Trek:Deep Space Nine. She is wearing a teal Star Trek uniform and looking ahead of her seriously.

Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12543302

and

Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12048284

Geordi La Forge

were both good-looking, kind, and interesting people, and I wanted to follow them around all day and ask them dozens of questions about themselves and life in the twenty-fourth century as they performed their duties on such a fancy spaceship.

I’ve been attracted to all sorts of different types of people, and I don’t really have a type. Having a good character and a pleasant personality are such important factors in attraction, too.

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Tagged as Childhood Stories, Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

May 9, 2023 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’ve Recently Recommended to Others

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Drawing of two hedgehogs standing on their hand legs. One of them is holding one red, one green, and one blue balloon with it’s right paw as both hedgehogs look at the balloons with content expressions on their faces. This week’s prompt was “Books I Recommend to Others the Most.”

As I don’t recommend books to other people very often, this is going to be a pretty short list.

I would normally pick a typical stock photo of a stack of books for this sort of topic, but this drawing of two hedgehogs admiring some balloons made me smile.

A great book recommendation is a gift that you can enjoy over and over again.

Yes, I’ve blogged about some of these books before on my site. Like I said earlier, I really don’t recommend books very often, so there were bound to be repeats here today.

Book cover for Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Image on cover shows a drawing of a little town that is getting blanketed in a heavy snowstorm. The background of the cover is green and the town and snow can be seen because they are all white.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Why I recommended it: What a beautiful novella this was, especially considering the ugly subjects it dealt with like the terrible stigma single mothers faced in Ireland in previous generations. Some of my favourite scenes were the ones that explored how certain characters pushed back against the assumption that women who had babies out of wedlock were damaged goods or that their children were inferior to children whose parents were married.

Book cover for The Mysteries by Bill Watterson. Image on cover is a black and white drawing of a person wearing a cloak as they stand outside of a cottage in a dark winter forest. The person has a frightened expression on their face.

The Mysteries by Bill Watterson

Why I recommended it: This book doesn’t come out until October. While I haven’t read it yet, I know so many people who loved the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that I’ve been telling them all about Mr. Watterson’ new project so they can decide whether they want to read it.

Book cover for The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction by Pat Shipman. Image o cover shows two people walking on a grassy plane next to two wolf dogs. The people are carrying wooden spears, dressed in heavy animal fur cloaks, and have long, shaggy brown hair and pale skin.

The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction by Pat Shipman

Why I recommended it: I can’t say for sure if Ms. Shipman’s theory is correct, but I liked hearing all of her evidence for a much earlier domestication of dogs and how that may have affected both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

The Story of Tutankhamun: An intimate Life of the Boy Who Became King by Garry J. Shaw

Why I recommended it: I wasn’t aware of how many new details about King Tut’s life have recently been uncovered. The writing style was plain-spoken and engaging, too, so I felt comfortable recommending this to the people in my life who would have run screaming from anything that even remotely resembled a textbook or other scholarly work.

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May 3, 2023 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Thoughts on Small Talk

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

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

Two blue tits sitting on the edge of a birdbath that is sitting next to a large tree. The birdbath is filled with water and is nearly perfectly still. The bird on the right is looking at the bird on the left and opening its beak as if it’s about to chirp. Its right leg is lifted up as well. The bird on the left looks a little disgruntled but keeps both legs firmly clasping to the edge of the bird bath.

Is this what avian small talk looks like?

I have mixed feelings about small talk.

Typical small talk conversations are unlikely to offend anyone or to stir up difficult emotions for the majority of people.

Then again, you never know what someone might find hard to talk about. Asking someone about their job might be a painful conversational segue for someone who was recently laid off or who is in an awful work environment, for example. I used to think asking about family, food, and pets were fairly innocuous, too, but that’s not necessarily the case for everyone.

Occasionally, people try to discuss sports, fashion, celebrity news, or makeup with me. I know so little about all of them that I won’t have much to add to those conversations which I think is a small risk of anything you might bring up with someone you’ve just met or who you’re trying to keep things light and fluffy with. We don’t all share the same interests, after all, but plenty of other folks may leap at the chance to guess which sports-ball team will win this year or when celebrity X and celebrity Y are going to get married after they announced their engagement.

(I’m being a little silly there and mean no offence to anyone who loves sports or fluffy, harmless celebrity news. To each their own!)

Some of the safer topics I’ve discovered are the weather, music, books, that cool bird* I spotted while birdwatching a while back, tv shows, and weekend plans. They probably won’t step on anyone’s toes, and it’s easier for someone to steer the conversation into other directions if one of those things does touch on a sensitive issue for them for whatever reason.

*It was some sort of hawk, and it was glorious. I only wish it had flown close enough for me to better identify it!

The conversations they tend to generate can feel a little repetitive to me, but I also recognize the value of sticking to lighthearted and safe material with people you don’t know well yet or who you’d rather not discuss certain things with for whatever reason.

So I will happily participate in small talk for as long as is necessary. Sometimes that may be a permanent decision depending on who I’m interacting with and what our relationship is like, but I’m also secretly glad when I meet people who also share my interests and want to discuss anything from horror films to that great new dairy-free restaurant to much deeper and more personal stuff.

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May 2, 2023 · 1:00 am

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

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Black and white photo of a hardcover book that is opening. All of it’s white pages are gently fanning out as the cover slowly moves down towards the the surface the book is lying on. Here is an assortment of library books I’ve borrowed recently and what I thought of them.

This list is random in the sense that I tried to pick a wide variety of genres and topics from the usual assortment of books that I borrow from my local library.

I also included tales that spanned the range from DNF to things I genuinely liked and would recommend to likeminded readers.

Book cover for The Boy on the Bridge (The Girl With All the Gifts, #2) by M.R. Carey. Image on cover shows a drawing of the back side of a teenage boy who is wearing baggy pants and a hoodie. He is slightly slouched over and has his back turned to the audience.

1. The Boy on the Bridge (The Girl With All the Gifts, #2) by M.R. Carey

Genre: Science Fiction, Horror (It was a cordyceps zombie story, to be specific)

What I Thought Of It: What a wild ride! It was especially interesting to see how the various crew members got along while on their dangerous mission since there was quite the clash of personalities sometimes. This is a series that needs to be read in order, by the way, unless you enjoy being totally confused by everything that’s going on. Hehe.

Book cover for Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser. Image on cover is a painting of a dingy white 1800s train travelling down a lonely stretch of train tracks on the prairie as a large fire burns in the background.

2. Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser

Genre: Nonfiction

What I Thought Of It: This was a well-written deep-dive into Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life. It included sometimes tragic stories about her childhood that she left out of the Little House books for a variety of reasons. I’d recommend it to hardcore fans of the Little House books who want to know more about this era. The writing was a little dense and academic at times, but it was worth it if you fit into this niche.

Book cover for Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah. image on cover shows a painting of five little black birds sitting on telephone pole wires on a sunny day. There are only a few puffy white clouds in the otherwise blue sky.

3. Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah

Genre: Literary Fiction

What I Thought Of It: I was looking forward to this one, but sadly couldn’t get into the writing style or the slow pacing. It was a DNF for me.

Book cover for The Secret Midwife by Katy Weitz. Image on cover shows a photograph of a young white woman wearing scrubs. She is standing away from the audience. We cannot see her face, but she seems to be in the hallway of a busy hospital, and there is another white woman in scrubs getting something off of a shelf in front of her.

4. The Secret Midwife by Katy Weitz

Genre: Memoir

What I Thought Of It: The stories themselves were quite interesting, but I was disturbed by the paternalism and sexism in the labour and delivery ward. For example, pregnant women were denied pain medicine even after asking for it repeatedly because the midwives didn’t think they really needed it. Shouldn’t the person giving birth be the one making that call? This was another DNF for me.

Book cover for The Power by Naomi Alderman. Image on cover shows a drawing of a red handprint that has grey nerve endings drawing on top of all five fingers and around the palm.

5. The Power by Naomi Alderman

Genre: Science Fiction

What I Thought Of It: I was not a fan of the writing style or character development. While I’m enjoying the show based on it, this was a DNF for me.

Book cover for he Last Cold Place: a Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica Naira de Gracia. Image on cover shows three penguins walking close to the viewer on a snowy Antarctic day. The sky above is cloudy with small blue patches of sky visible above the clouds. There are hundreds of other penguins in the distance behind the ones we can see up close on the ground.

6. The Last Cold Place: a Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica Naira de Gracia

Genre: Science (Zoology)

What I Thought Of It: What a delightful read. It felt like having a conversation with the author in the best possible sense of that metaphor. Penguins are such interesting animals, and her passion for studying them shone through perfectly.

7. Destination Prairie by Cathie Bartlett

Genre: Literary Fiction, Romance

What I Thought Of It: The main character was a sensible, kind woman who worked hard and dreamed of better days. If she were real and lived in 2023, I would happily be her friend. I only wish the author had made this a longer work so that we could dive more deeply into all of the interesting plot twists as they sometimes felt rushed to me.

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April 26, 2023 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Films to Watch When You’re Having a Bad Day

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

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

If you like eating snacks while watching movies, go put your favourite snacks on your shopping list.

I generally don’t eat while watching films, but I might be tempted by this cola and popcorn!

I need lighthearted stories when I’m trying to get my brain to stop rehashing whatever happened earlier, so you won’t find anything serious or scary on today’s list.

Here are five films I’d rewatch when I’m having a bad day.

Definitely, Maybe (2008)

What It’s About: A father telling his ten-year-old daughter a story about the three women he dated 11+ years before while she tries to guess which woman he described was her mother. Sometimes he must make humorous detours to avoid sharing inappropriate details of his dating life with his kid. There are a few light mystery elements, but this is mostly about their warm father-daughter relationship and what the dad wishes he’d done differently in life.

Why I Recommend It: The storyline is sweet and funny. I liked seeing what happens to characters after they broke up and how they successfully coparented their child. You don’t see amicable breakups often in this genre, but it was handled gently and with a lot of humour. This otherwise followed most romantic comedy tropes, so that predictability was helpful as well.

Film poster for Just Wright. Image on poster shows Queen Latifah and Common playing their respective characters. She’s attempting to dribble a basketball while. He lovingly wraps his arms around her and tries to take the ball away. They are both grinning throughout this. She’s wearing a soft, dark blue sweater and jeans and he is wearing the same uniform he’d wear to play professional basketball.

Just Wright (2010)

What It’s About: A no-nonsense physical therapist who is hired to help a basketball player recover from a career-threatening injury.

Why I Recommend It: I loved how opposite the two main characters were when we first meet them. I can’t say much about their personalities without giving away spoilers, but it made discovering the similarities between them more interesting in the later scenes. This more or less followed the typical plot for a romance which another reason why I liked it. Sometimes it’s nice to just relax and watch a storyline unfold without needing to solve any mysteries or trying to guess in advance how it will end.

Film poster for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. In it you see Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan standing in a swamp in a jungle that covers them up to their chins. They are all looking suspiciously around at the jungle to see what might sneak up on them.

By https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2283362/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54174459

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

What It’s About: Four teenagers who are accidentally sucked into a video game, become the characters in it, and must find a way to win the game before they run out of lives and get stuck there forever.

Why I Recommend It: The characters are ridiculous and delightful. I loved the way the storyline poked fun (in a friendly way) at all sorts of video game tropes. This does not require any sort of analysis. It simply exists to entertain, and there’s something to be said for that some days!

Film poster for the Pixar film Coco. It shows a drawing of a large white guitar surrounded by several of the main characters of the film, including Miguel, his abuela, and three skeletons who are ancestors of Miguel’s family. They are standing in front of the Land of the Dead, and there is a small image of Miguel walking with his dog at the bottom of the image.

Coco (2017)

What It’s About: A 12-year-old boy named Miguel who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead and must find his way home again before morning.

Why I Recommend It: Miguel was such a sweet, kind, and brave kid. I also loved the subplots of this film that were related to Dia de los Muertos and Miguel’s relationships with various family members. There are a few minor mysteries to be solved if you want to, but it’s also completely possible to ignore the clues, focus on the main storyline, and still have a wonderful time.

Honestly, I highly recommend Pixar films in general. All of the ones I’ve seen so far have been well-written, creative, funny, and otherwise excellent distractions from a bad day whether you’re five years old or many decades older than that. They’re somehow written for people from every age group simultaneously which is quite the accomplishment.

Spirited (2022)

What It’s About: A modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This time, the selfish rich protagonist is someone who is aware of A Christmas Carol and has zero interest in listening to the spirits of past, present, and future or changing his ways.

Why I Recommend It: It was wickedly funny and an amazing homage to the original. I loved seeing how everything was updated for our era where everyone has a smartphone and does not take kindly to paranormal strangers breaking into their apartments in the middle of the night.

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Tagged as Films, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

April 25, 2023 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Audiobook Narrators I’d Love to Listen To

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A white pair of headphones that have had their two ear pieces placed on either side of a blue hardback book. The plug in the headphones has been tucked between the book’s pages as if to magically absorb their words and turn them into an audiobook. It made me chuckle. I can’t say that I think about audiobook narrators too much when I’m listening to stories. So long as I can understand what they’re saying and they inflect appropriate emotions into a scene, I can adjust to just about any reading style.

It’s sort of like listening to someone tell a story. The way they tell it might be a little (or even very) different from how I’d do it, but that’s a good thing.

These discussions are often better when people do have strong opinions on the matter, so my fingers are crossed that some of you are much more opinionated on the matter.

Here are a few audiobook narrators I think it would be cool to listen to.

1) The Author Themself

They know exactly how that scene unfolded in their mind, so that might give the author an advantage when it comes to reading the audiobook and emphasizing (or not emphasizing) certain words.

2) Morgan Freeman

He has such a distinctive and recognizable voice!

3) Robin Williams (may he Rest in Peace)

What a great narrator he would have been for a children’s picture book or a comedic story.

4) Bilingual or Multilingual People

People who can speak two or more languages can sometimes have such memorable insight into the idiosyncrasies of a language. I love listening to their thoughts on idioms or how best to translate something when the literal translation doesn’t quite work for whatever reason.

5) Patrick Stewart

I could listen to him speak for hours.

6) James Earl Jones

I find his voice so soothing.

I wasn’t expecting this list to have so many men on it. Who are your favourite famous women out there who have amazing speaking voices?

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April 19, 2023 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Piece of Advice I’ll Always Remember

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

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

Closeup photo of about a dozen peaches that are sitting in a wicker basket. Warm sunlight is trickling through the holes in the basket and onto the warm, soft fruit. Normally, I have anecdotes, short or otherwise, to share in these posts to fill out some space and make them last longer. This time I do not.

I read this a few years ago and thought it was as accurate as it is funny:

“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, but there will always be someone who hates peaches.” – Dita von Teese.

It’s so very true. Not all personalities will necessarily mix well in this world.

All I need to do is to be kind and polite to everyone and let the people who like peaches know that I’m around.

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April 18, 2023 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favourite Things

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I look forward to getting to know all of you a little better and seeing what we may have in common! Here are ten of my favourite things.

Sunlight streaming through the trees in a forest that is lightly covered in green leaves. It looks like early to mid spring there, and the ground is still covered in brown leaves or dead grass from last year. 1. Nature

There’s nothing like taking a long, peaceful walk through the woods. I’d do it every day if the weather cooperated and if it were always safe for women to go tromping through the woods alone. (Some urban forests here are perfectly safe, of course, but others can be a little sketchy at certain times of the day or year when few people use them).

2. Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate

I don’t see it very often here in Toronto, so I buy it whenever I find a brand that’s safe for me. Luckily, a relative recently surprised me with a lot of dairy-free hot chocolate that will probably last a very long time.

3. Time Alone

I am deeply introverted. My spouse and I live in a small apartment and both work from home, so getting enough alone time has been a bit of a struggle since 2020. I relish all of the alone time I manage to get.

4. Rabbits

While I can’t have a rabbit of my own due to allergies, I love looking at photos, gifs, and videos of them online.

Four busts in a museum. Three are men and one is a woman. Three have curly hair and the woman has her straight hair in a pony tail. Each bust is facing a different way, so only the faces of one man and one woman can be seen. 5. Museums

Whether it’s about science, history, or art, I love learning new things at all of them.

6. The Anonymity of City Life

I was a preacher’s kid who lived in a small town when I was growing up. There are benefits to both of those things, of course, but the combination of small town culture, church culture, and my quiet, reserved personality made it a relief for me to move away somewhere and no longer be the centre of attention so often. Ha!

7. Food Festivals

One of the other cool things about living in a big city is how many food festivals exist here. I’ve had a lot of luck finding delicious food that’s safe for my milk allergy at certain ones.

8. Small Groups

My favourite type of socialization happens in small groups. There’s something magical about getting together with a few other people and going out to dinner or something. I like being able to hear everything that’s said and have a chance to jump into the conversation, too.

A closeup of a dumbbell sitting on a grey flat floor. Sunlight is streaming into the room and just barely reaching the end of the dumbbell. 9. Weightlifting

It makes me feel so strong and capable!

10. Love Songs

This might come as a little bit of a surprise since I don’t read or watch many romances, but I adore the optimism and joy that comes from songs about love. Any genre is cool, although I do tend to gravitate towards R&B and Adult Contemporary since it’s easier to find songs about this topic there.

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April 12, 2023 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Best Home Remedy for the Common Cold

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

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

Edited to add that I’m once again having trouble leaving comments on Blogspot blogs. It worked this morning and now it doesn’t. If I don’t comment on your post now or in the future, this is the reason why.

The small hand of a Caucasian adult is holding a blue and white bottle of Life Brand Sterile Saline Nasal Mist. My best home remedy for the common cold is something I first discovered a year or two ago that’s called a nasal saline spray or a sterile saline nasal mist.

It’s a gentle purified solution of salt and water that is not habit forming. There are no drugs or preservatives in it, therefore I’m hoping that most of you will be able to give it a try if you’re interested.

Here’s a photo of my current bottle. Its ingredients are identical to the name brand version so far as I can tell, so don’t waste your money on the fancy stuff unless you really want to. It all works exactly the same. You can even make it at home if you prefer that option.

When I have a cold, it feels like 90% of my body is comprised of mucous. My cheeks, sinuses, and nose become sore and uncomfortable, and that can trigger a nasty headache and other painful reactions in nearby body parts as well.

Squirting nasal saline spray into my nostrils helps to clear them out and reduce the pain and inflammation that can be part of the common cold. This makes it easier for me to fall asleep and stay asleep.

It works better and lasts longer than inhaling warm, moist air from, say, running the shower and sitting in the bathroom. That was the trick I used for many years before I discovered this product, and it’s still a great option to use in conjunction with this or instead of it if you can’t use saline solutions. Close-up photo of a digital thermometer, an analogue thermometer, and about ten little pills sitting on a white table. The pills are of various sizes and colours, from blue to pink to yellow to orange. A few are large, a few are small, and most are average sized.

I’ll use my spray a few times a day when I’m sick depending on how much my sinuses are hurting and how congested I am. It’s especially nice to do right before bed as I can then breathe through my nose more easily as I fall asleep.

Common colds are never going to be fun, but nasal saline spray makes them a lot easier to deal with.

I look forward to reading everyone else’s responses to this prompt and will be taking notes for the next time I get sick.

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Tagged as Common Cold, Home Remedies, Illness, Nasal Saline Spray, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

April 11, 2023 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Titles with Aquatic Animals In Them

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I Dozens of orange, black, and black and white tropical fish swimming next to a coral reef. decided to narrow down this week’s prompt to aquatic animals.

They don’t seem to be featured in titles and book covers as often as cats or dogs are, so I thought this would provide an interesting spin to the topic.

I also love seeing how aquatic animals interact with their environments. Whether you’re looking at a goldfish, a shark, or something in-between them in size, they’re all fascinating if you ask me!

Oh, and I’m still having trouble leaving comments on Blogger sites. Here’s hoping it will work better today.

Book cover for Capyboppy by Bill Peet. Image on cover shows a drawing of a capybara sitting on an inner tube on a patch of grass.

1. Capyboppy by Bill Peet

Book cover for Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution by Richard Fortey. Image on cover shows a trilobite swimming against a blue background.

2. Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution by Richard Fortey

Book cover for Liō: Happiness is a Squishy Cephalopod by Mark Tatulli. Image on cover shows a drawing of a purple cephalopod looking at a mirror as a child peeks in the window in their room to see what they’re doing.

3. Liō: Happiness is a Squishy Cephalopod by Mark Tatulli

Book cover for The White Seal by Rudyard Kipling. Image on the cover is a drwaing of a black seal cradling a baby h white seal on his or her back as they lie on a grey beach next to a grassy field.

4. The White Seal by Rudyard Kipling

Book cover for Dolphin in the Deep by Lucy Daniels and Ben M. Baglio. Image on cover is a photorealistic painting of a dolphin poking it’s head out of the ocean.

5. Dolphin in the Deep by Lucy Daniels and Ben M. Baglio

Book cover for Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart. Image on cover shows a drawing of Plato next to a drawing of a platypus. The rest of the cover has a green binding and a dark orange front.

6. Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart

Book cover for Turtle Tears: A Play in Two Acts by J. Suthern Hicks. Image on cover shows a naked and very pale white adult curled in a fetal position and holding their head while they sit in a small round mirror. Four blue butterflies fly around the mirror.

7. Turtle Tears: A Play in Two Acts by J. Suthern Hicks

Book cover for One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. Image on cover shows two green fish, one red fish, and one yellow fish swimming against a yellow background. All fish have been drawn in an exaggerated and whimsical style.

8. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

book cover for So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #4) by Douglas Adams. Image on cover shows a drawing of a children’s dollhouse from the perspective of a set of binoculars. Each piece of the binocular shows about half of the image, but they don’t intersect and there does appear to be a little piece missing in the centre of the house.