Category Archives: Blog Hops

April 13, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: What’s On Your TBR List

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.

Purple and white tulips lying on an opened book. If this prompt had been scheduled for the winter or summer, I would have had a very different answer to it!

You see, this is one of the best times of the year for enjoying the outdoors due to the mild weather.

My reading rates drop off when the sky is sunny and the temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold to make it uncomfortable to stay outdoors for several hours.

With that being said, here are a few books that bridge the gap between my love of reading and my love of the outdoors.

Ontario Birds: 125 Common Birds by Chris Fisher

Why I’m Interested: I’ve been casually interested in birdwatching for years but started doing it more intensely in 2020 when many other forms of entertainment were unavailable. It’s thrilling to catch sight of a bird you haven’t seen in your area before! I think red-tailed hawks are my favourite species so far.

 

Trees of Ontario: Including Tall Shrubs   by Linda Kershaw and Plants of Southern Ontario by Richard Dickinson and France Royer

Why I’m Interested: Identifying local trees and other plants is a brand new interest of mine. Someday I’d love to walk through the forest and be able to identify everything I see!

 

I’ve mentioned these books in previous posts, including a Wednesday Weekly Blogging post from the winter, but I am still looking forward to reading A Prayer for the Crown Shy (Monk & Robot #2) by Becky Chambers and Empty Smiles (Small Spaces #4) by Katherine Arden as well.

Why I’m Interested: I enjoyed the previous book(s) in both series quite a bit and am looking forward to catching up with the characters’ latest adventures.

I hope to review Chambers and Arden’s books on my blog this summer or autumn, but I am not planning to review the bird or foliage books. Speaking of which, I wonder how people do review books like that? It seems like that would be a little tricky since the authors are experts on the topic and many readers would not be.

Anyway, those are the books I’m most looking forward to reading in the near future.

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April 12, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Haven’t Read But Want To


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I originally thought this week’s prompt was going to be a hard one, but I ended up finding the full ten answers for it!

 

Coffee, tulips, and an opened hardback book lying on a white bedsheet. Author: Min Jin Lee

What I Want to Read From Them: Pachinko 

 

Author: Agatha Christie

What I Want to Read From Them: I don’t know yet.

 

Author: Yaa Gyasi

What I Want to Read From Them: Homegoing 

 

Author: Noelle Stevenson

What I Want to Read From Them: Nimona 

 

Author: Rita Dove

What I Want to Read From Them: I don’t know yet.

 

Author: Allyson Hobbs

What I Want to Read From Them: A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in America

 

Author: Nelson Mandela

What I Want to Read From Them: Long Walk to Freedom 

 

Author: Dee Brown

What I Want to Read From Them: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – An Indian History of the American West 

 

Author: Art Spiegelman

What I Want to Read From Them: Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History (Maus, #1)

 

Author: Nomi Eve

What I Want to Read From Them: Henna House

 

If you’ve read any of these authors and have other suggestions of good books from them, I’d love to hear about it!

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April 6, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Unique Talent You 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.

A sketch of a heart in an otherwise blank notebook Not everything in our world is poetic or beautiful by any means, but my unique talent is finding the poetry and beauty in situations that at first glance do not seem to have a silver lining in them at all.

I’ll give you all a few examples of what I mean.

Years ago, I needed to go through some medical tests for a potentially life-threatening health condition that I was ultimately found not to have. While the technician was performing the ultrasound and taking notes of what she was finding, I quietly came up with pleasant thoughts about how the thump of my heart on the monitor sounded like something you’d expect to hear in a submarine as it dove deep into the calm, blue sea.

When my spouse and I went through financial trouble many years ago and had no money to spare for frivolities of any sort, I made taking long walks my chief form of entertainment and imagined that all of the trees were whispering delicious forest secrets to each other as the humans passed by unobtrusively below. It was honestly just was much fun as going to the movies or buying junk food and other things we couldn’t afford!

More recently, there were some protests here in Toronto earlier this year that clogged up some of our most important streets in the hospital district of the city. I imagined the sound of their angry voices on megaphones and the incessant beeping of their vehicles passing down the street while on their way to their destination were a warning from some future version of Toronto where such things were now commonplace.

This isn’t to say that i ignore the very real troubles we all go through or expect other people to think about scary life events the same way I do by any means. I simply find it easier to deal with them if I can make up whimsical stories about them in my head once I’ve done everything I can to change the situation.

Why worry excessively if there’s truly nothing else you can do in the moment? I think it’s better to look for the good in those moments if you can.

 

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April 5, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: 5 Reasons to Take a Reading Break


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A few years ago, I blogged about the general benefits of taking a reading break. Today I wanted to take a different approach to the topic and discuss some of the specific reasons why it can be a good idea to stop reading or to read less often for a while.

Reason #4 will mention grief and Covid-19, so feel free to skip that one if needed.

A beautiful park filled with large, healthy trees that are brimming with green leaves. 1. Enjoying Good Weather 

Southern Ontario is a humid and often stormy place. That humidity translates into chilly winters and stifling summers, so one quickly learns to take advantage of mild temperatures and clear skies when they occur.

To me, reading is an activity that makes more sense when it’s -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) or 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) outside and it’s medically dangerous to be out there for long periods of time. If you’re lucky enough to have a balmy day in the15-20 Celsius (59-68 Fahrenheit) range, you’d better enjoy it while it lasts and go take a hike or enjoy a picnic or something.

2. Pursuing Other Interests 

I love my bookish and often nerdy interests, but that is not all that I am! It’s refreshing to switch between hobbies and interact with different social circles. Sometimes I also discover that there is more overlap between my various interests than I originally thought which is always cool to find.

3. Being More Physically Active

Yes, I know that some people listen to audiobooks while exercising, but that only works for me when I’m doing something like taking a brisk walk. I prefer to give my undivided attention to activities like weightlifting so that I can keep an eye on my form and stay focused on what I’m doing.

4. Resting My Mind 

This was especially true about eighteen months ago when a relative of mine caught Covid-19 and did not fully recover from it. (That is to say, they are still with us but have Long Covid now). Books can be a healthy distraction, but they can also be a little overstimulating when you’re waiting for news of even the smallest signs of improvement and do not necessarily get them.

5. Rediscovering the Excitment of Reading 

Nearly anything can begin to feel repetitive if I do it too often! As much as I love reading, taking breaks from it enables me to rediscover how exciting it is to crack open a book and once again anticipate what it will be like to discover all of its secrets.

 

 

 

 

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March 30, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: What Mythological Animal You’d Want as a Pet

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.

My first response to this prompt was, “none at all!”

I think I’ve read too many speculative stories about people who try to capture faeries or other magical creatures only to discover just how dangerous and foolish it is to mess with forces you don’t understand. For the sake of playing along, though, I’ll assume that any animal or creature I choose would be docile enough to make a half-decent companion, could look after itself, and wouldn’t mind if a human wanted to be near it sometimes.

An Ogopogo statue in British Columbia. It is green and grey and has parts of its body poking up from a blue stream.

An Ogopogo statue in British Columbia. Photo credit: Hamedog at the English-language Wikipedia

An Ogopogo (which is something like Canada’s version of the Loch Ness Monster) seems like a good match for these criteria.

Yes, I’d need to move to Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, but I can only assume that the Powers That Be ™ would somehow ensure that all of the details for that move would taken care of and that my new magical friend would be made aware of it. (Calling it my pet somehow doesn’t seem quite right).

Ogopogos generally leave humans alone, especially in contemporary stories about them. Mostly, they just swim around and occasionally startle tourists who weren’t expecting to see such an enormous and ancient creature calmly existing near them.

The only exception to this rule involves people who intend to harm the Ogopogo and/or the valley it protects. I would post signs warning visitors about the possibility of an Ogopogo attack if they had dishonourable intentions, but anyone who simply wanted to have a picnic or something by the lake with me shouldn’t have any trouble at all with them.

Honestly, I like the idea of a protective entity.

That’s something that many lakes and other natural places need nowadays, so I’d leave my Ogopogo do it’s sacred duty without any interruptions. If it wanted to swim up and say hello while I was enjoying the shore, so be it.

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March 29, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: 21st Century Books I Think Will Become Classics


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A little yellow flower sticking out between the pages of an antique hardcover book. If you ask me, this is one of the best topics that was ever submitted to Top Ten Tuesday!

Bravo to Lisa of Hopewell for coming up with it. You have a wonderful mind, and I’m so glad Jana chose your idea.

It is about time that books from the 21st century begin to be sorted into various classics lists. I used the plural form because I don’t know that there should ever be one single list that everyone reads or even agrees is the best of the best.

What I find emotionally engaging and appealing might not be necessarily the same list of books that someone else picks for a wide variety of reasons. We all have different tastes and previous life experiences that influence which books leave a lasting impact on it.

Honestly, there are certain books from the lists of classics from earlier centuries that I have never been able to get into, but of course not everyone agrees with my opinions of those books.

With all of that being said, here are some books from this century that I think will be remembered fondly for many years to come.

1.Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Why: It was an immersive story that followed the same group of characters for decades as they matured. The plot itself was also quite interesting, and I could see it being taught in schools.

 

2. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Why: Neil Gaiman is an amazingly nuanced storyteller who sneaks all sorts of deep themes into his works that you might otherwise expect to be simple entertainment.

 

3. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

Why: To be honest, it’s been so long since I read this book that I’ve forgotten many of the plot twists. What I do remember is being astonished by how many layers the author fit into the short life of his main character. That takes skill, and it makes this something I should reread again soon.

 

4. Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1) by Margaret Atwood

Why: This almost read like it was half of a conversation with an unseen companion who had strong opinions about the world that the author only partially agreed with. Ms. Atwood also had some astute observations to make about 21st century life that I think will appeal to future generations quite a bit.

 

5. Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Why: It had such a sympathetic portrayal of someone who had Alzheimer’s Disease and no hope for a cure. I’ve read other books on similar topics from previous centuries. You can learn so much about a society by looking at how people with incurable illnesses are treated as well as how they react to the news that they’ve reached the end of what medicine and science can offer to them.

 

Five hardcover books standing up and arranged in a circle on a wooden table. 6. Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Why: The gorgeous writing makes this a modern classic in my opinion! Do not spoil the storyline for yourself by looking up spoilers in advance. The less you know about it beforehand, the better in my opinion.

 

7. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Why: This was a challenging read for sure given the many references to war and political upheaval, but it was well worth sticking it out with the characters to see what became of them.

 

I look forward to see which books everyone else picked! I wonder how much crossover there will be on our lists?

 

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March 23, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Your Favourite Podcast 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.

A pink neon sign that says “On Air.” To be honest with all of you, I rarely listen to podcasts.

Books are such a huge source of entertainment to me that I simply don’t have a lot of time left over for other things, but I am open to changing that under the right circumstances.

One of the few exceptions to this rule is Tell Me About Your Pain. It’s a podcast about living with chronic pain and the latest evidence-based information on how best to treat it and to live with it.

(For anyone who might be new to the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge or to my site in general, I have episodic migraines).

I’m still quite new to this show, but I appreciate the fact that the people who run this podcast are so conscientious about only recommending treatments that have a strong scientific basis for their claims.

One of the things I’ve learned from my illness is that most of us will do anything to find relief and a very small percentage of humans out there will take advantage of that desperation to sell “treatments” that are ineffective or, even worse, might actually cause other health problems or exacerbate your current ones.

Due to this, I’m cautious about who I listen to when I seek out complementary treatments for my migraines that might work well with the new treatment regiment my family doctor put me on a few months ago. I don’t want to upset the delicate balance that can happen when you finally find a routine that helps.

This podcast is an excellent one if you also happen to have a chronic illness that causes pain or if you simply want to get a peek at how some of your friends and loved ones deal with this sort of thing.

if anyone reading this knows a lot about podcasts and would like to make some recommendations, I’d love to hear about anything that’s related to science, books, art, or history! It’s wonderful to learn more about the world.

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March 22, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books With an Adjective In the Title


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

The following words are written on a green background: adjectives, verbs, prepositions, nouns, tenses, activate, study, adverbs, learning grammar. Here’s a quick and humorous story about adjectives before I dive into this week’s prompt.

When I was in elementary school, our teacher had us write poems that needed to have a specific number of adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and other parts of speech in certain portions of the poem.

I was a little unsure about what made an adjective different from the other parts of speech, so I opened a nearby dictionary and selected words based in large part on what the dictionary said about which part of speech each one belonged to.

This is probably not exactly what my teacher was hoping we’d do, but I finished the project and technically followed all of the rules for it.

1. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

2. The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Edward Albee

4. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

5. The Case of the Perfect Maid – a Miss Marple Short Story by Agatha Christie

6. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

7. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald

8. The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho

9. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

10. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

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March 16, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Something “Lucky” That Happened to You

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.

Toronto Ferry at Toronto island. The CN tower and the city landscape are in the backrground. It is a semi-cloudy summer day and the lake water is nice and placid.

Toronto Island and the Toronto Ferry with the city of Toronto in the distance.

About eight years ago, my spouse and I spent the day at Toronto Island with some relatives who were visiting from out of town.

If you’ve never been to Toronto Island, know that it’s a large public park  that also has other amenities like a petting zoo, beaches, restaurants, bike and boat rentals, and a small amusement park.

It’s the quintessential place to spend a day with your entire family when the weather is nice. There is something to do there for everyone no matter your age or interests.

After spending several happy hours exploring the island, we hopped on the ferry to back to the mainland. There were between 50 and 100 other people on the ferry, including infants, disabled people, and senior citizens.

The ferries here move quickly on the water to save time, and they only slow down right before they approach the dock.

For reasons I’ve never been able to ascertain, this ferry didn’t slow down. It slammed into the dock instead, sending multiple people crashing to the floor because they were either standing up at the time or weren’t physically strong enough to remain seated. One of the people who fell was my own father!

My mother, who was a nurse back then, immediately leapt up to see if anyone needed medical assistance. We feared the worst given how hard and abruptly the ferry slammed into the pier and how many people were onboard who could be at higher risk of being seriously hurt by falling.

Miraculously, no one needed first aid. A few people who fell might have woken up with a bruise or two the next morning, but that would have been the absolutely worst of it to the best of my knowledge. No one needed my mother’s help after all.

I was very lucky that day, and so was everyone else onboard.

(Yes, I have taken the ferry once or twice since then. Don’t let this story scare you off if you haven’t tried this form of transportation yet. It’s usually perfectly safe, and you get a marvellous view of the city during the ride as well).

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March 15, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Spring 2022 TBR


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Spring is an uncertain time of year here in Ontario as I’m sure it is in many other places, too.

The wildly shifting weather usually starts in late February or early March. That is to say, one day might be relatively warm and sunny for that time of year, but the next one could coat our corner of the world in another thick layer of snow and ice.

Once the weather warms up enough in May that we probably won’t see snow again, thunderstorms are still a risk. They can be violent, heavy, and not always easy for our meteorologists to predict in advance.

That is to say, always pack an umbrella and don’t trust those bright blue skies too much at this time of the year!

How does this affect my reading habits, you might be wondering? Well, it is not a good idea to plan any outdoor activities more than a few hours in advance in the spring here. You might have a beautifully mild day that beckons everyone outside to enjoy it, or you might have a sudden storm that makes reading indoors a much safer and more appealing option.

I’m glad to have so many books to look forward to this spring. Along with seeing what the Toronto Public Library has available in their New Books section, the weather will also affect how quickly I read these books.

I’d love to hear about what spring is like in your part of the world and how it affects your reading habits when you comment!

Lakelore has already been published, so that’s why I didn’t include a publication date for it.

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore Book cover. Image on the cover shows drawing of two teens standing in a lake with leaves on their heads.

1. Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore

Why I’m Looking Forward to It: I love stories about magical worlds in lakes or other bodies of water.
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi Book cover. Image on cover shows the title and author of the book written on a blood-covered tag that’ surrounded by green leaves.

2.The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Publication Date: Today!
Why I’m Looking Forward to It: Mr. Scalzi is on my must-read list of authors. I can’t wait to see what he does with the concept of massive endangered animals from other planets who need human assistance to thrive.
The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller Book cover. Image on cover shows a the bones of a human hand that are surrounded by flowers.

3. The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller

Publication Date: March 22
Why I’m Looking Forward to It: While I’m not 100% sure I’m ready to dive into the non-paranormal horror genre again, this sure does look like a unique and creative story.
The Trayvon Generation by Elizabeth Alexander Book cover. Image on cover shows a photo of a black child staring into the camera with a neutral expression on his face.

4. The Trayvon Generation by Elizabeth Alexander

Publication Date: April 5
Why I’m Looking Forward to It: This collection of essays grabbed my attention immediately. I look forward to reading it and quietly absorbing the thoughts of the people who wrote them.
City of Refugees: The Story of Three Newcomers Who Breathed Life Into a Dying American Town by Susan Hartman Book cover. image on cover is a drawing of buildings in a town.

5. City of Refugees: The Story of Three Newcomers Who Breathed Life Into a Dying American Town by Susan Hartman

Publication Date: May 10
Why I’m Looking Forward to It: The premise sounds amazing. I’ve seen how refugees enriched life for everyone in Canada and am excited to see how similar patterns have played out in the United States.
 Buried: An Alternative History of the First Millennium in Britain by Alice Roberts Book cover. Image on cover shows a photo of a real human skull.

6.  Buried: An Alternative History of the First Millennium in Britain by Alice Roberts

Publication Date: May 26
Why I’m Looking Forward to It: I think you all know how much I love reading about history, so this book was an automatic yes for me.

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