Category Archives: Blog Hops

June 28, 2022 · 1:00 am

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


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A book lying opened on the grass. A green leaf is being used as a bookmark. Summer is an excellent time to read in Toronto, especially once the temperatures and humidity soar in July and it becomes uncomfortable to spend a lot of time outdoors during the heat of the day.

Okay, to be fair, some people love the heat. I wish them the best with their adventures in the heat but will be staying indoors myself during the hottest times of the day if I can at all help it. (Hot summer days can include a few migraine triggers for me, so I have to be mindful of how I spend them).

What I actually end up reading depends on my mood and which books I can find at the Toronto Public Library, but here are a few new releases I’m quite excited about. I’m sure this list will grow longer over the summer.

 

Life Ceremony: Stories  by Sayaka Murata book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of Japanese food in a black bowl.

Life Ceremony: Stories  by Sayaka Murata

Release Date: July 5
Why I’m Interested: I enjoy short story collections and have not read many from Japan yet. It will be fun to see what this collection is like!

 

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk and Robot #2) by Becky Chambers book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a forest and a wagon travelling on a road through it.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk and Robot #2) by Becky Chambers

Release Date: July 12
Why I’m Interested: I adored the first novella in this series and can’t wait to see what happens to the characters next. (Yes, I know I’ve mentioned this book several times in previous posts this year…but my excitement for it has only deepened as the release date grows nearer).

 

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean book cover. Image on cover shows cutouts of a mother and child from the pages of a book. These silhouettes are walking up to a building made from the page of a print book and looking at a lit window in it as the mom points at it.

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Release Date: August 2
Why I’m Interested: The unique premise grabbed my attention immediately. Those of us who are bookish sometimes metaphorically talk about devouring books, but imagine what it would be like to literally rely on them for sustenance!

 

Empty Smiles (Small Spaces, #4)  by Katherine Arden Book cover. Image on cover shows a scary clown glaring at the audience as two children run by.

Empty Smiles (Small Spaces, #4)  by Katherine Arden

Release Date:August 9
Why I’m Interested: I’ve also adored the Small Spaces series so far and can’t wait to see how it ends. (Yes, I’ve mentioned this book multiple times before as well. I am a creature of habit!)

 

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June 22, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Your List of Auto-Buy Authors

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.

Two white gift bags with black and white tissue paper sticking out of them. What a fun topic!

Let’s talk about my definition of the term auto-buy author. I know there are some readers out there who would buy literally anything their favourite authors write. That’s amazing, but it’s not quite how my brain works.

There are many authors whose work I generally adore but who occasionally publish books that I don’t find appealing for any number of reasons. I may skip that particular tale, but I will still remain just as excited to see what they come up with next.

I think these authors should count as auto-buy authors because of how thrilled I am to keep tabs on what they’re working on. It’s totally okay that our tastes don’t match up 100%. There are very few humans on this planet who could find that level of agreement about anything, much less something as personal as what to read.

With that being said, here are the contemporary authors whose work I am always eager to hear about:

  • Margaret Atwood
  • Katherine Arden
  • Becky Chambers
  • Rivers Solomon
  • Nnedi Okorafor
  • Neil Gaiman
  • Sarah Waters
  • Andy Weir
  • Emma Donoghue
  • Patrick Ness
  • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Tiffany D. Jackson
  • Paul Offit

If all of these authors ever release books in the same month, none of you should expect to hear much from me at all until I’ve tried every last book on that list. Ha!

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June 21, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Wishes


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A drawing of mist coming out of a genie’s lamp. Just like I did last year, I’m tweaking the bookish wishes prompt again because my TBR pile is still as large as ever. (Are they secretly magical? Why do they never seem to shrink much at all no matter how much you read?)

Instead of asking any of you to buy books for me, I’m asking for recommendations instead if you know of any titles that might match up to my bookish wishes below.

 

Wish #1: Humorous Stories of Any Length 

I don’t know about all of you, but I still have a strong desire to read lighthearted material that will hopefully make me laugh.

Responses to this wish can be from any genre or era.

Here are some examples of humorous stories that I’ve loved:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, #1) by Douglas Adams

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury by Bill Watterson

I Am America by Stephen Colbert

The sorts of short humorous stories about everyday life that writers like Mark Twain have written.

 

 

Wish #2: Stories About or From Where You Live 

If you’re uncomfortable sharing the precise city you live in for privacy reasons, no worries. I will be just as happy to read stories about your region, state, province, territory, country, or continent depending on how specific you feel comfortable being.

I think reading stories set in real places is a wonderful way to get a feel for that area. Since I won’t be travelling anywhere special this summer, why not read about some of the spectacular places in our world instead?

I would prefer recommendations from the science fiction, fantasy, mystery, or young adult genres, but other genres are cool as well if you loved their writing style and think they’re a great representation of your culture or region.

 

Wish #3: Literary Ghost Stories 

I love well-written, literary (or literary-ish) ghost stories. Send all of them to me. Ha!

Here are a few examples of what I mean:

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

 

Wish #4: Nonfiction About Topics Other Than War, Pandemics, or Royalty 

Those of you who have been reading my Top Ten Tuesday or other posts for a while might remember how much I love the nonfiction genre.

I am not interested in nonfiction about war, pandemics, or royalty. I am rarely into nonfiction about politics or religion. (Brief mentions of any of these topics are totally okay…just not entire books about them).

Anything else is fair game! Biographies, autobiographies, history, medicine, education, animals, science, social movements, food, social customs, and similar topics always pique my interest. I love learning about the pieces of life that often aren’t taught in school.

 

A conch shell sitting on a beach as the tide goes out slowly. Wish #5: Beach Reads 

I know the definition of the term beach read can differ depending on the reader.

When I use it, I’m referring to light, fluffy books that can help you pass the time while you’re at the beach and that do not require deep levels of thought in order to keep track of the plot and characters. My brain needs a little literary junk food this summer.

You’ll get bonus points if your suggestion also happens to be set on a beach, but this is definitely not a requirement. Any genre is fine for this one.

 

Wish #6: Anything Else You Think I Might LIke

Okay, I know this one is a bit of a tall order. If anyone reading this feels like they know my reading preferences well enough to give an unsolicited recommendation, by all means feel free to do so!

 

 

 

 

 

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June 15, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Best Father in a Book, Movie, or TV Show

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.

Benjamin and Jake Sisko from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. They are smiling and posing together in their Star Trek uniforms.

Benjamin Sisko and his son Jake.
This image is copyrighted, but used here under Fair Use guidelines. It is owned by Paramount Global (was ViacomCBS and/or Paramount Pictures and/or CBS Broadcasting, Inc.)

My all-time favourite father in a TV show is Benjamin Sisko from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

After his wife died in a tragic accident, he raised his son, Jake, as a single parent while simultaneously taking over command of the Deep Space Nine and helping Bajor’s recovery from the recently concluded Cardassian occupation.

(Cardassians and Bajorans were enemies at this point in the Star Trek timeline. They had recently called for a truce after a bloody war, but tensions were still running high to say the least).

If you are not a fellow Star Trek fan, don’t worry. Those are all of the details you need to know about this character’s occupation.

What I loved about Commander Sisko was how well he balanced every portion of his life. You might see him broker a peace deal between species that deeply mistrust each other or welcome refugees in one scene only to go play baseball or do some other father-son bonding activity with Jake in the next one.

He had a lot on his plate, but he was always a warm and loving father. If you watch this series through until the end, you’ll also see Jake grow up. I thought it was fascinating to see how he evolved as a character and what lessons he learned from watching his father juggle single parenting, dealing with grief, running a starbase, and even finding some time for dating in there as well.

Now that I’ve finished this post, I have the urge to rewatch a few classic Deep Space Nine episodes featuring this wonderful family. Maybe I’ll do just that this weekend!

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June 14, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Should Have Been Epilogues


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Three leaf clover in a little glass jar with a cork stopper. The jar is sitting in the crease of an opened book. The original topic for this week was books I wish had an epilogue, but I’m going to tweak it a little bit since epilogues are rare in the sorts of contemporary books I generally read.

In my experience, many contemporary books are spun off into series when an epilogue would have more than sufficed. I intend no offence to these authors or to anyone who enjoyed these particular series. It is simply my opinion that their writing would have been stronger if the author had taken the last few books in their series and written a concise epilogue about them at the end of an earlier instalment instead.

I’d rather be left wanting more than read a series that was stretched out past the point where the original premise and conflicts should have been able to be resolved. With that being said, I do still recommend checking out these series if their premises interest you.

 

Prey (Shifters, #4) by Rachel Vincent Book cover. Image on cover shows torso of woman who has cat scratches on her thigh. Her lower jaw is visible but not the rest of her head. (Yes, she is alive).

Prey (Shifters, #4) by Rachel Vincent

This was an interesting urban fantasy series about werecat shapeshifters. I wish it had been a trilogy instead of getting stretched out into seven books, though. The later instalments repeated so many plot twists from earlier stories that the new material in them could have easily been an epilogue instead. I wish I didn’t have to say this as the first couple of books were wonderful beach reads.

 

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee book cover. Image on chover shows a drawing of a train travelling down an empty track at dusk. There is a tree filled with golden leaves near the track.

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

I spent years wishing for a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. When one finally did arrive, I thought the contents of it would have been much better suited as a bonus chapter in the original. Once again, there simply wasn’t enough new material here to make for a compelling standalone story in my opinion.

 

The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children #5) by Jean M. Auel book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a deer running. it is sketched onto a cave wall.

The Shelters of Stone (Earth’s Children #5) by Jean M. Auel

This is something I’ve discussed on my blog before, but the quality of the Earth’s Children series deteriorated with each new instalment. The first one was excellent and the second one was almost as good as the first. I’d recommend the third and fourth instalments to anyone who adored the beginning, but I was quite disappointed by how the foreshadowing, plot development, and character development were almost totally ignored by the final two books in this series.

 

Anne of Ingleside (Anne of Green Gables, #6) by L.M. Montgomery book cover. Image on cover shows Anne standing in her garden with her twin daughters as the girls pick flowers.

Anne of Ingleside (Anne of Green Gables, #6) by L.M. Montgomery

I adored the first several Anne of Green Gables books, but Anne sadly didn’t seem like herself in the last few at all. If only more time had been spent exploring her wonderful imagination and zest for life. Her tendency to interfere in the lives of others came across quite differently without those qualities.

 

Do not feel obligated to take my word for any of this, though! By all means go and read these books for yourself if they interest you. They might not have worked for me, but other readers may have very different opinions on the matter.

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June 8, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Design Your Perfect Wedding

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.

Everyone reading this might chuckle at my answer.

A four-tier white wedding cake with orange flowers on the top of it. You see, I am not a particularly romantic person.

If I were to get married again, I’d be perfectly happy to once again do it at the local courthouse wearing a simple white dress I bought on sale that was not actually marketed as a wedding dress just like I did the first time.

This time around, I’d invite more people if I could. The wedding to my current spouse only had about 25 attendees due to the fact that I moved out of the United States before getting married, but in retrospect I wish more friends and relatives could have attended.

There is something wonderful about being surrounded by so much love on that day.

I wouldn’t have bridesmaids or pick a theme. I wouldn’t care one bit if guests showed up in formal attire or more comfortable but still dressy clothing like I’d wear.

Only two things would truly matter to me enough to splurge on them.

One: I’d hire a photographer and pick the priciest photo package I could afford. I do wish we had more photos of my first wedding.

Two: I would go all out on the food, especially the wedding cake!

My spouse and I were are poor as church mice when we got married, so we didn’t have a cake at all and ended up eating at an upscale buffet for our wedding dinner. The food was decent, but I would definitely spend the money on a fancy, traditional wedding cake and higher quality of food if I could redo that day.

I’d choose a tiered cake that had traditional white frosting and some lovely flowers on it because this is the only wedding thing I’m at all sentimental about.

The flavour of the cake itself could be something a little more daring like devil’s food, or maybe each layer could be a different flavour so every guest would have a choice between a few different options.

My friends and family run the gamut from vegan to something similar to the Atkins diet, so I’d offer several different entrees that would work whether you include a lot of vegetables or very few of them at all in your diet.

What would really matter is that we were together celebrating with delicious food and crisp, clear photos of such a special day.

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June 7, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Book With a Unit of Time in the Title


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Green plants surrounding an analogue clock. An hour was the unit of time I chose for this week’s prompt. Let’s see which book titles fit this theme.

1. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller

2. The Silent Hour (Lincoln Perry, #4) by Michael Koryta

3. The Shadow Hour (The Girl at Midnight, #2) by Melissa Grey

4. The Golden Hour (Time-Travel Series, #1) by Maiya Williams

6. Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar
8. The Mirk and Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson
10. Visiting Hours by Shane L. Koyczan
I normally try to respond to Top Ten Tuesday posts with books that I’ve read, but this time I could only find examples of books that fit this theme that I have not read yet.
If you’ve read anything on this list, I’d love to hear your opinion of it!

 

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June 1, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Book, Movie, or TV Show Set In or Near Your Town

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.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel book cover. Image on cover shows tents with lights shining in them. The tents have been placed on a grassy field. It’s midnight and dark out. There have been quite a few books set in Toronto over the years!

One of the recent ones was Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I read it when it first came out in 2014 and do remember enjoying it.

Since my brain has decided to only retain vague memories of what I liked about it and why, here is the official blurb :

Set in the days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time—from the actor’s early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor’s first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.

If you like books that are half science fiction and half literary fiction, you might enjoy this one!

Someday I’ll try to read it again and see if I can dislodge any old memories of it. Isn’t it irritating when you read a book but can’t remember much about it at all? 🙂

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May 31, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Comfort Reads


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

These are all cozy stories from a variety of genres that I’d recommend to anyone looking for a comfort read.

My definition of a comfort read is a story that is compelling but gentle. That is to say, you can read it without worrying about anything horrible happening to the main character. They might break an ankle or temporarily get lost in a swamp, but everything will always end on a happy note and most of the scenes will be ones filled with conflicts that are lower stakes. Death or serious bodily harm are rarely a genuine threat for these characters. They are far more likely to be facing something like social embarrassment from saying the wrong thing or having a comical adventure instead.

A rainbow hammock hanging between two trees over a lush blanket of thick green grass. 1. The Rosie Project (Don Tillman, #1) by Graeme Simsion

2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

3. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

4. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

5. Heidi by Johanna Spyri

6. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

7. Little House in the Big Woods (Little House, #1) by Laura Ingalls Wilder

8. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett

9. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

10. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

What is your definition of a comfort read? am so curious to see how our understandings of that term might line up.

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May 25, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favourite Quote from a Book

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.

Dozens of small candles lighting up a room together. I’m good-naturedly shaking my fist at the person who came up with these prompts!

How on earth are we supposed to pick only one quote? Can’t I pick twenty instead?

(Yes, I’m being a little silly there. It was hard to narrow it down, though!)

The imagery in the quote below makes me smile.

Individually, our efforts to change the world might not look like much, but they can add up to more than the sum of their parts if we work together and do what we can.

 

 

“Each person held aloft a single lit candle—the city’s traditional way to express its appreciation for that year’s peace prize winner. It was a magical sight, as if a pool of stars had descended from the sky; and as Michelle and I leaned out to wave, the night air brisk on our cheeks, the crowd cheering wildly, I couldn’t help but think about the daily fighting that continued to consume Iraq and Afghanistan and all the cruelty and suffering and injustice that my administration had barely even begun to deal with. The idea that I, or any one person, could bring order to such chaos seemed laughable; on some level, the crowds below were cheering an illusion. And yet, in the flickering of those candles, I saw something else. I saw an expression of the spirit of millions of people around the world: the U.S. soldier manning a post in Kandahar, the mother in Iran teaching her daughter to read, the Russian pro-democracy activist mustering his courage for an upcoming demonstration—all those who refused to give up on the idea that life could be better, and that whatever the risks and hardships, they had a role to play.

Whatever you do won’t be enough, I heard their voices say.

Try anyway.”

― President Barack Obama, A Promised Land 

If you haven’t already read the memoirs that President and Mrs. Obama have written, I recommend picking them up. They are both excellent storytellers.

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