Category Archives: Blog Hops

November 12, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Unconventional Bookmarks

I’m modifying this week’s prompt a little bit because I’m the sort of reader who gleefully makes bookmarks out of all sorts of unconventional things when I read physical books. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I bought or used a traditional bookmark!

No, this post isn’t going to be about me using oreos and milk or a soft taco as bookmarks. None of the things I’m about to mention have damaged books in any way. They’re just a little off the beaten path.

1. Toilet Paper

It may be unnecessary to specify that this is clean, unused toilet paper, but I’ll do it anyway. Sometimes it’s the best available bookmark when you’re in the washroom reading, need to get up, and don’t have any other way to mark your page.

2. Receipts

They’re bookmark shaped, right? Why not put them to use once you’ve bought your products.

3. Leaves

Like the toilet paper, I only ever used clean, dry leaves. The bigger they were, the better.

4. Greeting Cards

They’re generally taller and wider than traditional bookmarks, but they seem to have about the same thickness. This is a good thing in my opinion. They won’t tear easily, but they also won’t damage the spine of a paperback.

5. Tissue Paper

I was desperate, and it did not work well due to how easily tissue paper tears.

6. Playing Cards

My family always had extra packs of playing cards lying around when I was growing up. Sometimes I’d grab a card as an impromptu bookmark.

How about all of you? What unconventional bookmarks have you used?

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November 6, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books I’ve Recommended & Why

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

man peering at statue of other man who is reading a newspaper. As I mentioned in an earlier response to a Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge, I’m hesitant to give or take book recommendations unless I’m sure that they’re actually tailored to the person who is receiving them.

That is, I think recommending a book is sort of like setting a friend or loved one up on a blind date. I wouldn’t tell them to go out for a cup of coffee with so-and-so just because both people are single, like the same genre of music, and have compatible sexual orientations. You need to dig deeper into what someone is looking for before telling them to read a certain book or date a specific person.

Due to that, this list will be short and sweet.

Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss.

Dr. Seuss was one of those children’s authors who knew how to talk to adults just as well as he did preschoolers.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.

No one is ever too old for lighthearted poetry.

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff.

I adored Winnie the Pooh’s stories when I was a kid. It made me really happy read an adult interpretation of his adventures.

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.

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November 5, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Give Off Autumn Vibes

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This is one of those topics that I’m guessing a lot of us will choose the same answers for. Only time will tell if I’m right about that.

Most of these tales are set in the autumn, so that’s by far my biggest reason for choosing them.

I’ve written a similar post to this one recently. Due to that, I’m going to keep this list short and sweet to avoid duplicates.

1. Dead Poets Society by N.H. Kleinbaum

Why: If you haven’t seen the 1980s adaptation of this book, go find a copy of it. It was incredibly well done, especially later on in the plot once one of the main characters who was depressed feels like all hope is lost. My own struggles with depression were often the worst around the time that autumn turned to winter, so this character’s experiences at the same time of the year make this something I’ll always associate with autumn.

2. The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings #1) byJ.R.R. Tolkien

Why: The Lord of the Rings series also had a lot of themes related to death and the endings of various eras or kingdoms. There’s something about watching the natural world die for the season or go into hibernation that makes me ponder these topics, too.

3. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Why: Most of the events of this tale were not set during the autumn, but the themes in it were heavily related to death, loss, change, and other things I associate with this season.There was also a twist at the end that oddly reminded me of spring! Saying anything else would give away spoilers, though.

4. Autumn Days: Let’s Look at the Seasons by Ann Schweninger

Why: This picture book about autumn is self-explanatory, I think.

5. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot

Why: It was autumn the first time I read this poem. The subject matter of it has a lot of autumn themes related to things ending, so that only cements it further as something that belongs to this season.

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October 31, 2019 · 2:34 pm

My Trick or Treat Goodies for Halloween

Banner for Trick-or-Treat Book Blog Hop banner. It features a bat and a full moon.

Today is the Trick-or-Treat Reads Halloween Book Event! This event was created by Patricia Lynne and is designed to give readers free books on Halloween. Click here to see what the rest of the participants will be giving away this year. There are a lot of goodies on that list!

I’m giving away copies of two of my books.

Tumble is a short story about a girl named Elle who is being raised in the middle of nowhere by an over-protective single parent. Now that she’s turned eighteen, she’s ready to start making her own decisions in life. But her father only grows more protective of her the further she pulls away from him. What secrets might he be hiding?

Waiting for Earl to Die and Other Stories is an anthology of short science fiction and horror stories. Every character in this collection has a story hidden deeply inside themselves, but not everyone realizes exactly what that story might be.

Both of these books are free on Kobo. Enjoy!

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October 30, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Things That Scare Me

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

What an open-ended prompt this week! Was it supposed to be used for for lighthearted, Halloween-friendly fears or more serious topics? I’m assuming it’s the former, but I’ll include one darker fear in case that is what Long and Short Reviews was actually hoping we’d do.

Only time will tell if everyone else interpreted it the same way. Here are some of the things that make me shudder.

Looking in the Mirror in a Dark Room

I blame the Bloody Mary game and all of the spooky ghost stories I’ve read for this one. During the day, I’m a logical person who knows there’s nothing inside of a mirror that could ever hurt me. This is much less true in the middle of the night when I stumble into the washroom half-asleep and can only see the dimmest reflection of what is in the mirror.

Antique Dolls

I chose the least creepy photo of an antique doll I could find online. The ones that have chipped or broken faces frighten me even more, especially if their eyes look lifelike.

Unexplained Noises, Especially at Night

Yes, many buildings will sometimes creak or make other little noises at night. Knowing the scientific explanation for why this happens doesn’t make it less eerie when it happens at midnight and you’re supposed to be alone in your house.

Absolute Silence

For example, I suffer from insomnia if I try to fall asleep in a perfectly silent room. I need the sound of a fan blowing or, even better, someone breathing gently next to me in order to sleep well.

Perfectly silent outdoor places are scary, too. If I don’t hear bugs buzzing, birds chirping, or some other friendly little noise in a forest, I get too creeped out to stay. It just doesn’t feel right to me at all. As an aside, has anyone else noticed fewer bugs in the summer these days? I could have sworn there were more of them flying and crawling around even a few years ago.

Foggy Days

I love sitting inside my warm, dry apartment and looking at the fog roll in. I do not like going out into the fog, especially in the morning or evening when there isn’t much light out there. There’s something a little scary about not being able to see as far into the distance as you normally can.

The clammy feeling in the air on foggy days is also unnerving to me. It almost feel like being touch by someone’s else wet hands without being able to see who that person is. Scary!

Phone Calls

This last one might need a little explaining. Texting and email are how I’ve kept in touch with my loved ones for many years now. Phone calls are reserved for horrible, urgent news like someone dying or being sent to the hospital with a life-threatening illness. This makes me nervous when my phone does ring and there’s anyone other than my dentist or family doctor on call display because I know that chances are high I’m about to hear heartbreaking news.

Do phone calls mean the same thing to you? How many fears do we share in common?

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.

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October 29, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Free Horror Stories

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Happy (almost) Halloween to everyone in the Top Ten Tuesday community!

This is my favourite holiday of the year by far, so the end of October always has a few posts on this topic on my site.

If you feel the same way about this season, here are some free horror stories you can read online to get into the spirit of Halloween.

1. “The Bongcheon-Dong Ghost” by Studio Horang

This is a comic strip about a ghost looking for her baby.

2. “Candle Cove” by Kris Straub

Everyone has a favourite childhood show, but not all of them are as unique as Candle Cove.

3. “The Bog Girl” by Karen Russell

Is anyone else in the TTT community fascinated with bog bodies? I read as many non-fiction articles and books about them as I can find, but fictionalized accounts of them are interesting, too.

4. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates

There are some disturbing themes in this tale, so click carefully if you hate violence (implied or actual). But I loved the character development in it, especially once the protagonist realizes just how few choices she’s been left with.

Potion in the foreground. Skull and lit candle sitting on a book in the background. 5. “Redcap” by Carrie Vaughn.

If you like dark fairy tales, definitely give this one a try.

6. “Hello Moto” by Nnedi Okoafor

Anything in life can be turned into something frightening if it’s described in the right way. In this case, it’s wigs!

7. “Shiva, Open Your Eye” by Laird Barron

The writing in this short story was simply beautiful. I also enjoyed who the author chose to be the protagonist. Let’s just say it might not be who you’re expecting.

8. “Glashaus” by Madeline Gobbo and Miles Klee

There’s nothing scarier than an old-fashioned haunted house.

9. “A Guilty Conscience” by Nicholas Gordon

If you get scared easily, this is the best thing on my list to read. It’s much less intense than everything else I recommended.

10. “eyes i dare not meet in dreams” by Sunny Moraine

Finally, this tale should only be read by people who don’t get scared easily. And, yes, the title was not capitalized on purpose. That’s how it’s supposed to be written.

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October 23, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books I Read on Someone’s Recommendation

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Three people sitting at a booth and laughing. The topics for this week’s post and the one on November 6 are going to be a little tricky for me because I don’t request or give out a ton of personalized book recommendations.

Taste is such a subjective thing that I feel a bit shy about these sorts of conversations unless I’m 100% sure the other person will love that book (or that what I’ve been recommended is actually my sort of read).

So I’m going to be reaching way back into my reading history to answer this prompt.

C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series.

My uncle gave me all seven books of this series as a gift when I was a kid. I quickly became a huge fan of that universe and read them over and over again.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series.

That same uncle also gave me copies of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy a couple of years later. The former was a fun right read away, and I pushed myself to become ready for the sequels a year or so later.

Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth

Someone I used to babysit for recommended this series to me when I was in my late high school or early college years. The books in it were long, but they told such engrossing stories about life in the middle ages and what it was like to build Gothic cathedral without any of the high-tech tools we’d have for such a project today.

Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time series.

I no longer recall who recommended this to me, but I’m glad they did. The narrator’s descriptions of what it feels like to have autism were so detailed. The mystery was great, too.

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.

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October 22, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Give Different Titles To

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I struggled with this week’s prompt, so my list is going to be shorter than usual. Coming up with snappy titles is something I have to work hard on, but I did come up with a few interesting ideas.

I’d change Jean M. Auel’s The Land of Painted Caves to What Ayla Knew.

Why: The final book in the Earth’s Children series turned out to be heavily centred on the main character’s transition into a powerful member of her society once she arrived at the place she intended to spend the rest of her life. I wish the title had better reflected what actually happened to her.

I’d change F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby to Rich People’s Problems.

Why: Since that what this book was about, why not be honest about it so you attract the right readers? *shrugs*

I’d Change Richard Adams’ Watership Down to The Rabbit Chronicles

Why: This is something I put off reading for years. If I knew it was an adventure novel starring rabbits, I would have checked it out much sooner!

I’d Change Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book to Raised by the Dead.

Why: The word play makes me smile. Normally, the dead are the ones being raised, and in a totally different context than a baby growing up in a cemetery.

I’d change J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion to Tales from the First Age

Why: The original title didn’t capture my attention at all. I had no idea who or what a silmarillion was. It sounded like something math related, and I was totally uninterested in reading that sort of thing. At least my revised title gives hints about when these stories take place in the Lord of the Rings timeline.

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October 16, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Famous Books I Don’t Plan to Read

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

The pages of a book have been bent into a circle. A person's face is staring at you from the other end of that circle. The assumption I made this week was that most participants would be talking about books they are not interested in reading that were published in the last twenty years or so.

It will be interesting to see if everyone else answered this from the same perspective.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) by Stieg Larsson

Why: I do enjoy the occasional mystery, but I’ve heard this is more of an action/adventure novel. Generally, I’m not interested in mixing those two genres together.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Why: This book includes some disturbing content that I refuse to read about.

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Why: After finishing The Road, I decided not to read anything else from this author. He’s a talented writer, but his imagination is too dark for my tastes.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Why: I’m burned out on World War II novels, especially if they’re about all of the inhumane things that happened in concentration camps. Of course it’s important that we never forget what happened to the victims of the Holocaust, but this reader needs a long break from stories set in that time and place.

Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) by Ernest Cline

Why: I’ve read too many books similar to it. If that wasn’t the case, this would be the sort of thing that would grab my attention.

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)
by Sarah J. Maas

Why: Romance is a genre I’m generally not that interested in. While there are definitely aspects of this story that appeal to me, I’d much rather read fantasy that doesn’t include plots about falling into or out of love.

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.

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October 15, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Extraordinary Book Titles

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I’m going to assume that this week’s prompt is asking us to make a list of book titles that are unique and attention grabbing. Everything on my list is something that grabbed my attention so thoroughly I had to pick it up and read the blurb as soon as I spotted its title. Since most of them are still on my TBR, I won’t go into detail about them this time.

1. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, #1) by Seth Grahame-Smith

2. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin

3. Fairy Tales Written by Rabbits by Mary A. Parker

4. Never Slow Dance with a Zombie by E. Van Lowe

5. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Two story library with a painted vault ceiling