Category Archives: Blog Hops

December 14, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Crafty Goal for 2023

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.

A person wearing a white sweater who is beginning to knit something with dark red yarn. The original topic for this week was “your favourite crafty thing to do.”

I am not a crafty person at all, so I’m tweaking it a little bit to be “a crafty goal for 2023.”

Many years ago, I tried to teach myself how to knit by buying a book on the topic. I was never successful at it. Spatial tasks like these are not my strong suit, so I think I need to take a different approach this time around.

One of my goals for 2023 is to find some sort of knitting class, or very detailed YouTube series, or maybe make a cool new knitting friend who will patiently walk me through all of the steps of learning how to knit.

I think an in-person experience would be easier (if Covid allows for it) while I’m trying to figure out where the needles go and how to do everything properly.

But I am very open to other options, so feel free to share them if you know of any.

My goal for learning how to knit is simple and practical. I have a great-aunt who knits the coolest little dish cloths that are fantastic for all sorts of cleaning and other tasks around the house. (The Internet is not her strong suit, or I’d be asking her this question!)  It would be neat to continue that family tradition and knit my own dish cloths.

I look forward to resuming WWBC with everyone in January! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.

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December 13, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Winter 2022-2023 To-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader GirlI 

A foolish woman reading a book outside in the winter while wearing a skirt, keeping her winter coat opened, and not bothering to wear gloves, a hat, or a scarf. This stock photo is making me giggle, so I must share it with you all. I don’t want to make assumptions about the climates you all live in, but nobody in Ontario walks around outside in the dead of winter without being bundled up warmly unless you want to risk developing frostbite or hypothermia. It can happen quickly, too, if the windchill and temperatures are both very low and you’re not dressed properly for the weather.

Yes, her outfit is scholarly and all of that, but it’s also totally impractical for this season. It’s funny to me to compare the aesthetic that some photographers use to capture their idealized versions of winter versus the reality of actually living in a cold climate …and there are much chillier places to spend the winter than Toronto!

Anyway, I have once again returned to my regular habit of not having many books to share for my seasonal to-read lists. It was quite unusual for me to have nine of them last autumn.

Winter is a time when I often read or reread classic novels. Last winter I reread Jane Eyre and the Chronicles of Narnia, so the likelihood of me rereading other classics this winter is high. As far as contemporary books that are set to be published over the next few months go, here is a short list of what’s caught my eye so far.

 

 

How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix book cover. Image on cover shows a suburban house at night. The front door is open and warm, golden light is spilling out of it onto the sidewalk and front yard.

How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Publication Date: January 17

Why I Want to Read It: I’ve read many books about haunted houses, but very few about the trials of attempting to sell one. What a fun spin on the topic.

 

After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of various Greek women sitting around a table reading, talking, and resting.

After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz

Publication Date: January 24

Why I Want to Read It: I enjoy stories about women breaking through societal expectations of them to forge their own paths in life.

 

This Is Not My Home by Vivienne Chang book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a young Chinese girl wearing a yellow blouse. She’s standing on a balcony and you can see other apartment buildings in the background. Her mouth is open, and inside of her mouth is the title of the book in yellow letters.

This Is Not My Home by Vivienne Chang

Publication Date: January 24

Why I Want to Read It: My first reason for wanting to read it is that picture books are a nice refresher after reading a long, serious adult novel. My second reading for wanting to read it is because my family moved multiple times when I was a kid and I remember how hard it can be to say goodbye to old friends and adjust to a new life somewhere far away.

 

Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen book cover. Image on cover shows a black and white drawing of a Chinese woman with short, choppy hair standing by a window that overlooks the city.

Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen

Release Date: January 31

Why I Want to Read It: It’s not every day you hear of a vampire novel about a middle-aged person living in the Covid era who is trying to hold on to some semblance of their pre-vampire life. It’s such a unique twist to the genre that I will be quite curious to see how it all pans out.

 

How many of you also reread old favourites in the winter? And what is winter like where you live?

 

 

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December 7, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Best Fictional Siblings 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.

Silhouettes of Aslan the lion, the four Pevensie children, a talking beaver, and the faun Lucy met in the woods on her first visit to Narnia. It was while typing up this blog post that I realized how many of the books I’ve read recently were about only children. I wonder if more authors are writing about only children these days or if I’ve just happened to hit a streak of stories on that topic?

The Pevensies from C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series get my vote for best fictional siblings because of how realistically their relationships were written. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy didn’t always like each other. They sometimes quarrelled and occasionally played unkind tricks on each other as all siblings have done since the beginning of time.

It can be hard for some kids to grow up with siblings and always have to compete with them for time, attention, and special favours, especially during the 1940s when so many of those things were in short supply due to World War II and the aftermath of it.

What really endeared me to these siblings, though, was their undying love for each other.

Yes, they irritated the stuffing out of one another at times, but they were also fiercely loyal to and protective of their family. Just because they teased their siblings mercilessly about certain subjects didn’t mean anyone else was allowed to mess with them!

That really rang true to my experience growing up with my siblings. Silly little squabbles may come and go as you all figure out how to become grownups, but family is forever.

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December 6, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: What Books Should Actually Be About Based on Their Titles

 


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

An Asian woman sitting upright in a white bed. The walls are painted to look like a semi-cloudy blue sky, and there’s a big, dark cloud right in front of her. She’s holding a glowing white orb in her hands. All credit for this idea goes to Line at First Line Readers. I adored her take on it last summer and decided to do my own for today’s freebie post.

Sometimes my interpretation of what a book title means isn’t exactly how the author interpreted it. Here are some book titles, what I think they should be about, and what they’re actually about.

If any of you also decide to borrow this theme for a future freebie post, I’ll add a link to your post here if you let me know about it.

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell

What It Should Be About: A cozy children’s picture book about a farm for abandoned pets and livestock.

What It’s Actually About: A satirical fable about corruption, greed, and Stalinist Russia.

 

2. There Is No Darkness by Joe Haldeman

What It Should Be About: The 80+ days of uninterrupted daylight in Alaska (or other northern places) during the summer and how people enjoy (or don’t enjoy) them.

What It’s Actually About: A military science fiction novel about a poor kid who joins the military to explore other planets and earn some much-needed cash.

 

3. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

What It Should Be About: A mermaid who grew up believing humans were a myth only to suddenly discover a few in a shipwreck after a massive storm. Maybe the cerulean sea could be a mermaid term for the Pacific Ocean, and the people they rescued were oceanographers?

What It’s Actually About: A group home for dangerous magical children and the man who was hired to determine whether they’d bring about the end of days for humanity.

 

4. Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

What It Should Be About: The first group of people to tame wolves and how they slowly changed an apex predator into man’s best friend over many generations of selective breeding.

What It’s Actually About: A beautiful friendship that began soon after one of the main characters lost her uncle and plunged into terrible grief.

 

5. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

What It Should Be About: After cheating a witch out of her rightfully-earned wages, Jacob de Zoet is cursed to live a thousand years. He finds the inability to die a blessing a first, but soon changes his tune when he realizes just how long a thousand years actually is and how unforgiving witches are when you cross them.

What It’s Actually About: A clerk who moves to Japan for five years in order to earn the money he needs to marry his sweetheart. While working there, however, he falls in love with the daughter of a powerful magistrate and must decide who to give his heart to.

 

6. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

What It Should Be About: A mischevious pet shrew who is intelligent enough to learn tricks but refuses to cooperate even with copious amounts of treats.

What It’s Actually About: Two young men who meet two sisters. The older sister must be married off before the younger one can be, and one of the young men decides to marry her against her will in order to gain access to her large dowry.

 

7. To Say Nothing of the Dog (Oxford Time Travel, #2) by Connie Willis

What It Should Be About: A romance novel about a couple who meet at a speed dating event. One of them has a dog who appears once in an early scene and then never mentioned again. (The dog is not harmed, just conveniently missing from all other scenes).

What It’s Actually About: A time travel romance set in the 1800s. The main character doesn’t know as much about that era as they think they do, and hijinks commence.

 

8. The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

What It Should Be About: Someone who has the uncanny knack of always picking overripe, sour, never ripened, mouldy, or otherwise inedible produce at the grocery store. They soon meet an opinionated chef who can always pick out perfect produce but often buys expired box and canned goods because they don’t check for expiration dates. Neither of them trusts the other one’s opinions or can admit when they’re wrong, yet they decide to date anyways.

What It’s Actually About: A young American woman who moves to Paris in the late 1950s and has all sorts of romantic and comedic adventures.

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November 30, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Share Your Morning (or Bedtime) Rituals

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.

A white bowl filled with oatmeal and blueberries. My morning ritual is a stable one.

First, I make some oatmeal with almond butter and chia seeds ( or some other healthy source of protein and fat depending on recent grocery store sales), almond milk, and frozen fruit.  I microwave the fruit to warm it up and I weigh myself while everything cooks

While I’m eating breakfast, I log into Duolingo and practice Spanish for about five minutes.

Once breakfast is finished, I do half an hour of some sort of exercise.

Depending on the day, it might be strength training, yoga, dancing, or jogging/ walking in place inside. It’s dark outside in the morning now, and the streets are often slick with snow or ice as well.

I strongly prefer morning workouts because they get my blood pumping and wake up my mind for the day. It’s also nice to check that box off of your to-do list. With sunset happening so early at this time of the year and the cold, slippery conditions popping up outside as autumn turns into winter, it can be really hard to convince myself to exercise after dark when I’m sleepy. So this way I don’t have to exercise again at night if I don’t want to.

Barbells lined up together. A shower is generally necessary after my workout, so that happens along with brushing my teeth, changing clothes, etc.

And then I turn on my light therapy lamp and begin my workday, so what happens after that depends on my schedule for that particular day.

 

 

 

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November 29, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Cozy Reads


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Person wearing red mittens and a a red and white striped shirt holding a red mug filled with hot cocoa and a white star cookie sprinkled with red sprinkles that is sitting in the cocoa. Here’s a confession for you all: I don’t quite understand the difference between comfort reads, which we all discussed last May, and the cozy reads we’re supposed to talk about today.

These are terms for what is essentially the same experience in my opinion. Both comfort and cozy reads describe books that feel like the literary version of a warm hug or a kind word from someone who loves you. I’d say that they both describe books where characters might get into embarrassing situations sometimes but where the reader knows that nothing terrible will happen to them and that everything will turn out well for them by the final scene.

If you interpreted these terms in other ways, please let me know.

Since I discussed specific books in my comfort reads prompt, I’ll focus on types of literature and storytelling in this post.

To me, a cozy read might be:

1. A Reread

For example, I’ve reread C.S. Lewis‘ The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe every winter for the past few years. I experience seasonal depression due to the lower levels of light in Ontario over the winter, so it makes me happy to read about a world where winter ended so abruptly and beautifully.

 

2. Something Humorous

There’s nothing like reading something uproariously funny when you least expect it. I have been known to wander into genres I don’t normally visit like romance novels simply based on how humorous other people have said they are.

 

3. A Cozy Mystery

I enjoy the lighthearted writing style and often pun-filled titles that occur in this genre.

 

4. Something Exciting and Genre-Bending

Look, I’ve been an avid reader since I was a small child. It takes a lot for an author to surprise me, but that only makes it only more delightful when they steer their story in a direction I’d never expect from that genre.

 

5. A Poem

I loved poetry as a kid and teenager but wandered away from the genre in college. A well-written poem can be such a wonderful gift when you need a quick read.

 

6. Something Hopeful 

Yes, I read and review plenty of stories with dark themes, but I’m always on the lookout for hopeful speculative fiction, too. That is a big part of the reason why I spent so much time chatting about Becky Chambers’ last couple of books here earlier this year, and i still think the Monk and Robot series is one of the coziest things I’ve ever read.

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November 23, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Overused Character Stereotypes

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.

While there are authors out there who can take the most well-worn character stereotypes and making something new and fresh with them, I still think these stereotypes should be given a long period of rest before being used again.

 

Two Brown wooden bunny figurines. One adult and one child. Dead Parents 

This is something I’ve seen most often in the Young Adult genre. Why must so many young protagonists have dead or dying parents?

It made more sense a century or two ago when it was more common for kids to lose one or both parents to diseases, illnesses, or accidents that modern medicine can now easily treat. These days, it is rare for a parent to die before their child reaches adulthood.

I would love to see more Young Adult books about kids whose parents are still alive and well.

 

A row of yellow smiley face people. There is one grey person among them who isn’t smiling, and the magnifying glass is focused on that person. Not Like Other Girls 

Once again, this is something I see a lot of in the Young Adult genre.  but it can be found in many other places, too. A character might say something like, “I’m not like other girls…I like sports!” or “I’m not like other girls…I hate makeup and fashion!”

I deeply dislike the idea that certain hobbies and interests are inherently better than other ones. It’s also ridiculous to me to perpetuate the idea that being a girl (or a member of any other group) means you must automatically enjoy X and be uninterested in Y.

Why not just let characters enjoy whatever appeals to them?

 

Sweaty female boxer looking ahead at the camera with annoyance as one hand is on her hip. The Dumb Athlete

I am an intelligent person who loves reading, learning about science and history, and visiting as many museums as I can find.

I am also an athletic person who loves lifting weights, going swimming, doing yoga, and taking long, brisk walks.

It irks me to see (some) writers assume someone must belong to just one of these groups or that there must always be animosity between them.

Let your football players also love math or poetry and your scientists run marathons in their free time without anyone batting at eye at it.

Characters should be just as well-rounded as any given person walking down the street in my opinion, and real people generally can’t be sorted into such constrictive little boxes about what they should or shouldn’t enjoy doing.

 

Two people wearing hoodies and facing a brown wall. One person has a black hoodie and one has a white hoodie. Ugly or Deformed Villains

I wish that villains were identified by their behaviour instead of by things like congenital defects or simply not being born beautiful. Some of the people I care about have health conditions that negatively affect their physical appearance. It bothers me to see how often disability and birth defects are used as shorthand for someone the audience should automatically mistrust.

No, this doesn’t mean I want every villain to start being described as the most beautiful or handsome person in the room either.

One’s physical appearance has nothing to do with their character or personality. Let’s stop relying on looks as an indicator of anything.

 

Community Spokesperson 

A prairie dog wearing a hat and holding a microphone. Okay, so this one might take a little bit of explaining.

I find it wearisome when a character who is black, gay, disabled, Buddhist, a woman, or <insert any other minority group here> is assumed to be the spokesperson for their entire community.

Just because I believe hiking is one of the best ways to pass an afternoon if you want to improve your emotional and physical health doesn’t mean that every other woman in the entire world feels the same way or wants me to speak for all 3.99 billion of us.

I like stories that allow their characters to have opinions on everything from the merits of Hawaiian pizza* to much more serious issues without requiring any of them to officially speak for whatever communities they are part of.

*It is delicious, for the record. 😉

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November 22, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Reasons I’m Thankful for Books


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A white plate covered with a grey napkin that has a sprig of red and brown berries and a card that says “thankful.”Credit for this Thankful freebie blogging idea goes to Rain City Reads who blogged about it in 2019.  It was a great idea for a post, and I’m grateful to use it today.

I will be mentioning the Covid-19 pandemic briefly in this post.

1) Meeting Likeminded Folks

Life can feel isolating and lonesome sometimes. There is nothing like getting to know a character, author, or fellow reader who shares your identity, or your diagnosis, or any other number of labels and realizing that you are not alone. Other people have been through X, too, understand even the parts of it that can be difficult to explain to those who haven’t had those same experiences.

 

2) Answering Common Questions about Group X

I’m the sort of person who is shy about asking people questions about the differences between us because I don’t want to be the tenth person to ask them that question this week or to make them feel uncomfortable. I’d much rather read a variety of perspectives about that topic so that I’ll at least have a framework of what is and isn’t appropriate to ask someone who may be from a completely different religion or culture (or what have you) than mine.

 

3) Providing an Education 

No one is ever too old or too young to learn new things. I think books are an excellent way to learn about so many different topics, from dark matter to math to the stories that I never learned in history class. In 2020, I found comfort in reading about the 1918 Flu of all things. Seeing how people dealt with that pandemic helped me figure out some good coping skills for this one.

 

4) Making Me Laugh

I know I talk about my love of humorous books a lot here, but I’ll say it again. Humour is an important part of life, and I think there’s value in seeking it out as often as you reasonably can.

 

5) Distracting Readers

This is related to #4, but we all need distractions from the troubles of this world after we’ve done what we can to reduce suffering and push things in a fairer and more peaceful direction. Reading something spectacular is one of the tools in my toolbox when I need to rest.

 

6) Showing a Better Future

Not to sound like a Pollyanna, but I think there’s something to be said for dreaming of the way things could be changed for the better in the future. People need hope, and stories can be a wonderful place to replenish that feeling if we read the right sorts of books.

 

7) Meeting Folks Who Are Nothing Like Me 

Whether they’re found in biographies or fiction, I think there’s a lot of merit to purposefully seeking out stories about people who might appear to have nothing in common with you at all at first glance. You can learn all sorts of interesting and useful things about them if you quietly listen to what they have to say.

 

Closeup of pages fanning up and out from an opened book. 8) Finding Good Quotes

I have not always been that reliable at writing down meaningful quotes from books, but I’m striving to be better at it. Quotes come in handy for all sorts of things, from reminding you about key moments in a story to providing motivation in difficult times and more.

 

9) Having Something Interesting to Talk About

This pandemic has made every day bleed into the last for me because of how repetitive so much of it has been as I dodged germs and avoided in-person socialization for most of it. There are only so many conversations I can have about the weather before I feel the urge to talk about something else, and books are a great place to start if the other person is at all bookish or interested in fiction.

 

10) Enjoying Some Non Screen Time

No, I’m not going to be putting down television, smart phones, or the film industry here. I think it’s silly to pit them against books as if one is better than the others.

Sometimes I watch TV or films. I surf the Internet a lot, too.  At other times, reading appeals to me more. I’m grateful for all of these forms of entertainment and how they’ve gotten us all through the past few years.

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November 16, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favourite Social Media Platform 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.

Man looking up at a glowing red heart that has the number 0 next to it. Instagram is my favourite social media platform for the following reasons:

1) My Instagram account is private and cozy.  (I am totally open to accepting new friend requests there! I simply like having one place on the Internet where I can do stuff like share photos of my family or talk about trips I’ve taken without sharing too much information with total strangers).

2) It’s quieter. Most of the folks I follow there do not share daily updates, so I can scroll through everything in just a few moments while still keeping up with the lives of family and friends.

3) I love seeing how creatively people share visual snapshots of their lives, especially moments that can be tricky to capture like living with a chronic illness, showing gratitude, taking care of all of the regular stuff we all must do each week, or anticipating something exciting that’s yet to happen.

4) It’s cheerful.  This is probably due in part to all of the wonderful people I follow there, but most of their updates make me smile. I like using a social media platform that boosts my mood.

5) I like seeing photos of other people’s meals, pets, kids, hobbies, and other ordinary but meaningful moments in their lives. It helps me feel connected to folks that live far away, and it gives me some easy conversation starters for when we see each other again.

 

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November 15, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite “Aww” Moments In Books


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A drawing of a little white rabbit standing on it’s hind legs in a garden or meadow. The rabbit is standing on it’s hind legs and holding a red heart. About a dozen little pink hearts are rising up from the bunny and into the yellow background. I don’t read many books with mushy, sweet, or cute moments in them, so let’s see what I can come up with.

Please note there are spoilers in this post and that some of these books discuss difficult topics like what life was like in British workhouses in the 1800s. Even sometimes painful stories can include happy moments or end on a blissful note, though!

1. A young girl in “Farewell to the East End” by Jennifer Worth  was terribly abused and neglected while she spent her entire childhood in a British workhouse. After she grew up, she was sort of unofffically adopted by the nuns of St. Nonnatus. They made sure she always had a job and a welcoming place to spend Christmas and other holidays. What really warmed my heart, though, was what happened when she fell in love with a wonderful man who gave her the happily ever after she’d dreamed of since she was a little girl.

2.Roderick Ayers was dealing with chronic pain, stiffness, and weakness in his leg as a result of a World War II injury in “The Little Stranger” by Sarah Waters. Seeing Dr. Faraday take his injury seriously and try a brand new therapy for it gave me an aww moment because sometimes modern doctors don’t do a good job of treating these sorts of things. Even though this is fiction and set about 80 years ago, it still made me smile to see a doctor listen and do his best to help. Compassion is so important.

3. There was a hilarious and adorable scene in “A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot Series Book 2)” by Becky Chambers that showed the robot hemming and hawing over whether it would be acceptable to replace a broken part of his body that was necessary for him to function. He worried he would break robot law by accepting it and tried to convince the humans to make that part out of something biodegradable so it would feel more natural. This illuminated an entirely new portion of his personality and made me love him even more.

 

4. The first page of “To Walk About in Freedom: The Long Emancipation of Priscilla Joyner” by Carole Emberton described how Mrs. Joyner reacted when two strangers from the Federal Writers’ Project approached her in the 1930s to record her biography as the biracial daughter of a southern white woman in the 1850s. Mrs. Joyner said, “That’s nice. Would you like to see my garden?” and proceeded to show them her garden before telling them anything about her unique childhood. Wasn’t that a sweet answer?

Those are my answers. I look forward to seeing what you all came up with.

 

 

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