Category Archives: Blog Hops

December 17, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Winter TBR

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Ostrich looking over the shoulder of a man reading the newspaperHere are ten books that will be published during the winter of 2020 that I hope my local library gets copies of soon.

As always, my TBR list is heavily influenced by which books my library orders and how long the wait lists are for them.

The photo in today’s post was included mostly because it made me chuckle. To the best of my knowledge, there are no ostriches  in Toronto who expect winter bedtime stories.

1. Born in the Wrong Time: Female Husbands and the Transgender Past by Jen Manion

Publication Date: January (no book cover photo or precise publication date currently available.)

Why I Want to Read It: I know very little about this topic and would like to learn more.

Cold Fusion Presents: New Thinking: From Einstein to Artificial Intelligence, the Science and Technology that Transformed Our World by Dagogo Altraide book cover. There is an abstract picture of circles connected by lines as the image on the book cover.

2. Cold Fusion Presents: New Thinking: From Einstein to Artificial Intelligence, the Science and Technology that Transformed Our World by Dagogo Altraide

Publication Date: January 15

Why I Want to Read It: Cold fusion is a fascinating topic that I do not understand well enough to discuss in this post. With that being said, I like reading about science and technology in general.

The Seep by Chana Porter book cover. There is a bouquet of flowers on the cover.

3. The Seep by Chana Porter

Publication Date: January 21

Why I Want to Read It: It’s been too long since I read anything about alien invasions. The fact that the protagonist is a middle-aged woman only entices me more. Will she have more common sense than the typical teen hero in these tales? I hope so!

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi book cover. Cover image is of a woman's face.

4. Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

Publication Date: January 21

Why I Want to Read It: There’s nothing like the bond between siblings. The characters in this book sound like they’re going to go through a lot of hard times together. I want to see them come out triumphant at the end.

Remembrance by Rita Woods book cover. Image is of the profile of a woman's bowed head. her eyes are closed.

5. Remembrance by Rita Woods

Publication Date: January 21

Why I Want to Read It: There’s something I really like about books that jump between the past and present, especially when the timelines seem like they might somehow intersect.

Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental Bond by Lydia Denworth book cover. The only images on the cover are of stylized DNA strands lying on their sides at the top and bottom. They are behind green or blue backgrounds.

6. Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond by Lydia Denworth

Publication Date: January 28

Why I Want to Read It: Friendship is a fascinating topic.

Olympic Pride, American Prejudice: The Untold Story of 18 African Americans Who Defied Jim Crow and Adolf Hitler to Compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Deborah Riley Draper book cover. Image on the cover is of eight of the athletes who defied Adolf Hitler.

7. Olympic Pride, American Prejudice: The Untold Story of 18 African Americans Who Defied Jim Crow and Adolf Hitler to Compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Deborah Riley Draper

Publication Date: February 4

Why I Want to Read It: I know only a few scraps of information about the 1936 Olympic Games and would like to read more about it.

Everywhere You Don't Belong by Gabriel Bump book cover. Image on cover is of a young person wearing a hoodie whose face is obscured by an orange dot.

8. Everywhere You Don’t Belong by Gabriel Bump

Publication Date: February 4
Why I Want to Read It: I’ve never thought of terms “funny” and “riot” in the same thought before. Only time will tell how this author finds the humour in such a serious topic.

9. Common Bonds: An Aromantic Speculative Anthology by Claudie Arseneault

Publication Date: February (no cover photo or precise publication date currently available.)

Why I Want to Read It: I’m demisexual and curious to compare my experiences to theirs.

Finna by Nino Cipri book cover. Cover image is of bent tubes and screws scattered around.

10. Finna by Nino Cipri

Publication Date: February 25

Why I Want to Read It: Of course there would be a portal to a different dimension that just so happened to open up in a retail store. If anyone deserves an adventure, it’s two people who work for minimum wage! We honestly need many more books about characters like these.

74 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

December 11, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Earliest Memory

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

apple growing on an apple treeMy earliest memory involves an apple tree.

My family lived in a farmhouse on the edge of a small town in Ohio for the first four or five years of my life. An apple tree was growing in our front yard.

As soon as the apples on it grew large enough for me to recognize them, I decided I wanted to taste them.

The problem was, I wasn’t strong enough to pick the apple first no matter how much I tugged on it. (In retrospect, I wonder if the apple also wasn’t fully ripe yet).

After accepting the fact that the apple wasn’t going into the house with me after all, I decided to have a bite right then and there. I don’t remember what happened after that, but years later my parents told me they found that apple with a tiny little bite in it and laughed.

And, yes, I still love apples to this day

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question. The image below is the list of upcoming prompts for this blog hop.

25 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

December 10, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Cookbooks for Winter Holiday Feasts

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Gingerbread people lying on a table. My Brain: Okay, it’s time to write this week’s Top Ten Tuesday entry now. What should we talk about in our freebie post?

My Stomach: Food!

Brain: Well, it’s supposed to be a bookish topic and, ideally, at least tangentially related to winter or the holiday season in general.

Stomach: We will be surrounded by more delicious food than usual until at least the first week of January. It’s the only thing I want to talk about, so there must be a way to blog about it while still technically following Jana’s rules.

Brain: What if we decide to use this prompt to discuss cookbooks? Will that work for you?

Stomach: Yes, I’ll agree to that deal.

Now that you all know how I came up with today’s topic, let’s talk about cookbooks. All of the winter holidays I’m aware of share one delicious and important thing in common: special dishes and meals. Every culture has them, and this is a very common time of the year for people from all walks of life to start making that famous family recipe that everyone expects during the holidays.

If my apartment were large enough for me to host holiday get-togethers, I’d want to browse through these books to plan the perfect meals for all of my guests.

Book cover for Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Winter Food to Warm the Soul by Diana Henry.

1. Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Winter Food to Warm the Soul by Diana Henry

Book cover for Husbands That Cook: More Than 120 Irresistible Vegetarian Recipes and Tales from Our Tiny Kitchen by Ryan Alvarez

2. Husbands That Cook: More Than 120 Irresistible Vegetarian Recipes and Tales from Our Tiny Kitchen by Ryan Alvarez

Book cover for Nadiya's Kitchen by Nadiya Hussain

3. Nadiya’s Kitchen by Nadiya Hussain

Book cover for Bread (River Cottage Handbook) by Daniel Stevens

4. Bread (River Cottage Handbook) by Daniel Stevens

Book cover for The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories and 100 Essential Recipes for Midwinter by Nigel Slater

5. The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories and 100 Essential Recipes for Midwinter by Nigel Slater

Book cover for The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize It! Foolproof Methods for Transforming Any Dish into a Delicious New Vegan Favorite by Celine Steen

6. The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize It! Foolproof Methods for Transforming Any Dish into a Delicious New Vegan Favorite by Celine Steen

Book cover for How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson

7. How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson

Book cover for Diabetic Living The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook by Diabetic Living Editors

8. Diabetic Living The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook by Diabetic Living Editors

And for dessert…

Book cover for Wintersweet: Seasonal Desserts to Warm the Home by Tammy Donroe Inman

9. Wintersweet: Seasonal Desserts to Warm the Home by Tammy Donroe Inman

Book cover for The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

10. The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Which cookbooks do you love? What are a few of your favourite things to eat during the winter holidays?

82 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

December 4, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Book Boyfriends or Girlfriends

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Clouds photoshopped to create an outline of a heart in the skySince I’m bisexual, I’m going to be talking about book boyfriends and book girlfriends today.

Allie Nelson from Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook. 

I didn’t like Noah (the male love interest) at all in this story because of how unwilling he was to respect Allie’s boundaries when they first met, but I thought she was a sweet and lovely person. She deserved a partner who listened to her the first time she spoke her mind.

Westley from William Goldman’s The Princess Bride.

Westley was so earnest and kind. I loved him from the very first time he appeared in this plot.

Henry and Clare from Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Travellers Wife.

I would have dated either of these characters in a heartbeat if they were real people! Clare’s artistic occupation would have given us a lot to talk about on dates. Henry seemed like the sort of person who would have tons of interesting stories on date night…assuming he didn’t zap back to a different timeline in the middle of it.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question. The image below is the list of upcoming prompts for this blog hop.

22 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as

December 3, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Holiday Reads

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Ornaments, snow-covered pine cone, tinsel, and a wrapped present.While I don’t really celebrate any winter holidays with anything other than a nice meal, I still enjoy reading books about or set in this part of the year.

1. Yuletide Tales A Festive Collective by Peter John

I’ve never seen such a diverse assortment of stories related to Christmas. The references to the horror genre in the blurb are particularly interesting.

2. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

One of my favourite Language Arts teachers assigned this story to us when I was a teenager. I’ve loved it ever since.

3. The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (Pine Cove, #3) by Christopher Moore

How can anyone read this title and not want to find out what happens next?

4. A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

How did I just now find out that this is a novel as well as a classic Christmas movie?

5. Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth by Dorothy Morrison

There’s something fascinating to me about learning where the various winter holiday traditions started.

6. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

I was obsessed with Mr. Andersen’s stories when I was a child. He was the person who introduced me to many of my favourite classic fairytales and legends!

7. The Cat Who Ate Christmas by Lil Chase

This is another one of those titles that is completely irresistible to me.

86 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as ,

November 27, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books That Influenced My Life

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

owl sitting next to a stack of books. reading glasses have been photoshopped onto the owl's face.Doesn’t this photo feel like it came from a scene in a fantasy novel? I will be talking about a fantasy series today so it does fit the theme of this post.

The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom by Corrie ten Boom.

I don’t know if this is the right Corrie ten Boom book, but my parents owned a book written by her that talked about her childhood, experiences in concentration camps, and journey to forgiveness after the end of World War II. It was a heartbreaking read at times, but her stories about surviving those years made me a more empathetic person.

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

I was a few years older than the target age group for Harry Potter, but I loved them anyways. They were a wonderful distraction and a much-needed source of hope from a long struggle with childhood depression I dealt with shortly before the first book came out.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and it’s all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life by Richard Carlson.

Reading this book helped me begin to sort out my thoughts when I worried about stuff that was either out of my control or not as serious as my brain was making it out to be.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King.

This is the most helpful book on writing I’ve ever come across. It’s still something I return to every few years.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question. The image below is the list of upcoming prompts for this blog hop.

30 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

November 26, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Native American Reads

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Opened books lying down on a flat surface. Every inch of the surface is covered in books. This week’s prompt was a Thanksgiving freebie. Since I’ve already written a few different posts about the Canadian and American Thanksgivings over the last month, I decided to use this prompt to share books written by Native American and First Nations authors that I’ve already read or am I’m hoping to read soon.

If I’ve read it, I’ll share a sentence or two about why I liked it.

1. Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis

Generally, survival and adventure stories are a tad too intense for my tastes. This one began when two old women were abandoned by their village during a terrible winter famine. Where the plot went from there is why this has become one of my all-time things to read when I do want to read about adventure and survival.

2. Born with a Tooth by Joseph Boyden

3. Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese

4. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Mr. Alexie has a fantastic sense of humour. I can’t count the number of times I laughed while reading this book.

5. Gardens in the Dunes
by Leslie Marmon Silko

6. Solar Storms by Linda Hogan

7. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

8. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

This was my first introduction to Mr. Wagamese’s work. I’ve been a fan of his writing style and storytelling ever since. He has a way of making every scene come alive no matter what is happening in it. That is, his ordinary scenes are just as unforgettable as the heartbreaking ones.

What books can you all recommend adding to this list?

87 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as ,

November 20, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Things I’m Thankful For

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

There are so many things I’m thankful for. For the sake of brevity, these are just a few of them.

A Soft Bed

My husband and I bought a new bed about a year ago. Before then, we slept on a mattress that was lumpy, sagging, and filled with springs that had started wandering around a little. Sometimes I’d wake up with a sore hip or back because of how a spring had poked into me. It was such a relief to have a more comfortable place to sleep again.

Tomatoes, green peppers, carrots, cauliflower, and other vegetables sitting on a tableA Kitchen Filled with Food

Too many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I consider myself very lucky to always have something to eat.

Clean Clothes 

Not everyone has access to this either. I’m grateful for the opportunity to change my clothes regularly and always have enough money to wash them when they get dirty.

Internet Access

I use the Internet to keep in touch with family and friends, volunteer, update my blog, borrow library books, stay current on world events, and so much more.

The WWBC Community 

You’re all wonderful.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question. The image below is the list of upcoming prompts for this blog hop.

22 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as ,

November 19, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Changes in My Reading Life

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

While I was coming up with this list, I tried to make everything fit the same sentence structure. It bothered me just a little bit that I had to break that pattern for one of my answers.

There are five genres I read less of these days and five I’ve started to spend much more time exploring.

I Read Less Poetry

I Read Less Horror

I Read Less Fantasy

I Read Less Romance

I Read Fewer Series and Long Works

 

I Read More Biographies

I Read More Hard Science Fiction

I Read More History

I Read More Hopeful Fiction, Scifi or Otherwise

I Read More Science

In general, I find that I’m becoming more interested in books that talk about real-life issues (even if the plots themselves are fictional) and have a faster-paced structure than what I read when I was in school. It’s also nice to find authors who take a hopeful but realistic approach to their topic, whatever that topic may be.

This isn’t to say that I dislike poetic passages or metaphors. A few of them sprinkled into a book are nice, but I’m not as thrilled about reading an entire novel’s worth of that sort of thing as I used to be.

90 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops, Personal Life

Tagged as

November 13, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Strange or Useless Talent I Have

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Two orange cats standing and sitting on pavement surrounded by fallen leavesMy strangest talent by far is how attracted cats are to me.

Why is this strange? Well, I’m horribly allergic to them. Even hugging someone who has cat dander on their clothing will make me start wheezing and coughing. The more time I spend inhaling that dander, the worse my breathing becomes.

Therefore, I do everything I possibly can do to stay away from cats.

Yet I’ve had multiple experiences with cats who avoid the people who actually want to interact with them and move towards the one person who wants to stay as far away from them as possible.

I’ve actually started staring at cats on purpose on the rare occasion I meet them to see if a little eye contact will gently encourage them to pick someone else as their new best friend.

They’re beautiful creatures, and I’d pet them if I could. But being able to breathe is more important to me for reasons I’m sure you all can understand.

If only there were a way to somehow cash in on this strange superpower of mine!

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question. The image below is the list of upcoming prompts for this blog hop.

29 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,