Category Archives: Blog Hops

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I honestly don’t have much to say in the introduction to this post this week, so let’s jump straight into my list.

Title and Author: Networking for People who Hate Networking: A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed, and the Underconnected by Devora Jack
What It’s About: The title says it all.
Why I’m Avoiding It: Most of the reason why I haven’t read this book yet is because there’s a long list for it at the library. I’m also a little worried about it being one of those “just pretend like you’re not an introvert and magically don’t get nervous!” sort of books.

Title and Author: Tell It to the Bees by Fiona Shaw
What It’s About: Two women falling in love in the 1950s in a rural British town.
Why I’m Avoiding It: I had major issues with certain plot twists in the film. I don’t know if the book followed the same path, so I’m a little hesitant to give it a try.

Title and Author: The Ministry of Truth: the Biography of George Orwell’s 1984 by Dorian Lynskey
What It’s About: Why George Orwell wrote the famous novel, 1984.
Why I’m Avoiding It: I’m trying to take a long break from the dystopian genre as a whole. I know I’m going to enjoy this book once I’m in the right frame of mind for it. Right now, I need lighter, fluffier tales.

Title and Author: Haben: The DeafBlind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
What It’s About: The title explains it all.
Why I’m Avoiding It: As I said earlier, these days I’m more into short, fluffy reads. I’m saving this book for when I’m ready for something serious and thought-provoking again.

Title and Author: Suzanna by Irene I. Blea
What It’s About: Child marriage, desperate loneliness, and what I think may turn out to be an emotionally abusive relationship.
Why I’m Avoiding It: This book sounds like a powerful read, but I don’t think I can handle such heavy themes at the moment.

Title and Author: Wilder Girls by Rory Power
What It’s About: A F/F romance, a deadly disease raging through an isolated school, and the mystery of what might lie beyond the fence the students have been forbidden from walking past.
Why I’m Avoiding It: Just about everyone loves it. I’m simultaneously excited to read it and worried that it won’t live up to the hype for me.

If you’ve read any of these books, please do share your thoughts on them.

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I had some trouble coming up with all ten answers for this week’s prompt. Generally, I don’t bother finishing books that are truly outside of my comfort zone. These titles were were exceptions to that rule, and they make for an eclectic, if also shorter than usual, list.

1. Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Why it was outside of my comfort zone:

While I love science fiction in general, the process of Unwinding really freaked me out. That is a term I’m purposefully not explaining because of how graphic and disturbing it is. Feel free to google it at your own risk.  I’m glad I finished this tale, but I don’t know I could ever watch a film based on it.

2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Why it was outside of my comfort zone: 

Romance is a genre I don’t read much in general because, despite being married for a decent amount of time now, I am a rather unromantic person at heart. (Well, unless we’re talking about chocolate covered cherries because who doesn’t like chocolate-covered treats!?) The romance in this book happened between two selfish and emotionally unhealthy characters, so that pushed it even further outside of my comfort zone even though the plot itself was well done.

3. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Why it was outside of my comfort zone: 

Some of the allegories in it make my brain hurt. I simultaneously love the poetic nature of it and desperately wish for a straightforward translation of what it’s trying to say.

4. The Crossover by Kwame Alexandre

Why it was outside of my comfort zone: 

I know nothing about sports and have no interest in learning about them. Despite that, this book of poetry about a kid who was obsessed with basketball and worried about his father’s poor health was incredibly well done.

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My list is a short one this week. There simply aren’t that many books out there that I’d reread often enough to want to have in my personal library.

1. Old Reference Books

I discussed my love of reading dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias here before. These books can be a tantalizing glimpse into the past. Some of the words they use are no longer common, and others have seen their meanings change dramatically. I really like comparing the way things were back then to what is (and isn’t) acceptable to write about today. 

2. Any First Edition Copy of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

I actually had a first edition of this book and one of the sequels in the series in my personal library when I was a kid. I don’t know what happened to them, but someday it would be cool to touch them again. 

3. Beowulf.

This is one of my all-time favourite legends. When I first read it, our professor did an excellent job of explaining what we knew about the culture that created it as well as making note of all of the references that have been lost to the mists of time. 

4. Everything N.K. Jemison Writes

I discovered her work much later than most people, and I still have a long ways to go in catching up on her stories. So far I’m loving them and would gladly add all of her books to my personal library. 

5. Spanish Children’s Books

Studying Spanish is one of my hobbies. I’ve really come to enjoy attempting to read Spanish children’s books as I try to apply all of the words I’ve memorized to something more practical than translating short sentences how many apples someone ate on Duolingo. Ha!

6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

When I was in high school, I reread this book multiple times a year. It’s been a long time since I reread it, and I’m thinking that’s something I should do again soon. 

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I had such a good time putting this list together. How many of these tropes do all of you also enjoy?

1. Unseen Antagonist

This trope tends to be most common in the horror genre. The main characters either never meet the antagonist or have encounters with him or her that the audience only gets a partial viewing of. Sometimes it’s scarier to imagine what the bad guy looks like than to have that character described in full detail. 

2. Don’t Go Into the Woods

My family lived in all sorts of places when I was growing up: on farms, in the suburbs, in a bigger city, and in small towns. Sometimes we lived right next to a forest, and sometimes we had to drive for a while to find one. Either way, I was so comfortable in nature growing up that I’m now fascinated by the thought of the woods being a dangerous place.

Yes, in some plots it absolutely is something to be avoided. This trope is just so different from my personal experiences that I can’t stop reading about it. 

3. The Old Beggar Test

Do you remember how many fairy tales include a scene where the main character comes across an old beggar who asks for help but who can give you nothing in return for your kindness? I love seeing character react with empathy and kindness to these interactions. 

4. Helpful Aliens

This isn’t a plot twist that happens as often as I’d like it to, but I always enjoy reading about aliens who want to help humanity in some way. 

5. Spooky Paintings

Going to the art museum is my idea of a good time, especially when it comes to the anything from the Romantic era. There’s something about Victorian paintings in particular that I really like. This is even more true when an author describes them in spooky ways. 

6. Unsympathetic Victims

Occasionally, I like to read short murder mystery stories. The most interesting ones to me involve victims that were honestly pretty terrible individuals when they were alive. Anyone can have sympathy for a victim who was pleasant and helpful. I appreciate the much greater effort it takes for a writer to create sympathy for a victim who had trouble getting along with others. 

7. Historical Fiction that Explains Our Past

For example, I truly enjoy reading stories about how humans built Stonehenge, domesticated dogs, or invented ships. Fiction can be a great way to explore why and how they did these things since not everything they knew about these topics was passed down through history. 

8. Feminist Retellings

I love fairy tales…even the ones that can have some problematic elements. So it’s always cool when authors retell those old classics in ways that remain true to the original message while at the same time changing the parts of the plot that are understood in a totally different light now than they would have been many generations ago. 

9. Humorous Twists in Serious Moments

I’ve discussed my general loss of interest in the horror genre on this blog before. One of the reasons why I still do read it on occasion is that some authors are really good at mixing humour with horror. The gory stuff still doesn’t appeal to me, but I do like laughing and feeling a little fear at the same time. 

10. Drool-Worthy Fictional Food

The butter beer and many different types of magical candy in Harry Potter is a classic example of this. Basically, I like reading about types of food or drink that didn’t exist in our universe when that book was first printed. Often, the really delicious-sounding stuff eventually becomes as real as it can be in our universe either through companies mass-producing it or through fans coming up with recipes that make it taste as close to the descriptions in the book as possible.