Category Archives: Blog Hops

July 9, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I Wish Existed

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I rarely if ever meet characters like the ones I’m about to describe to you, but I dream about reading about them someday. If you know of books in any genre featuring characters who match these descriptions, please do speak up!

A Hero Who Doesn’t Succeed

No, I’m not saying the antagonist absolutely must win. Maybe he or she could win! Or maybe someone else in the storyline defeats them instead. Either way, I’d be quite interested in meeting the Chosen One, investing in their journey, and then seeing what happens after their best shot at winning doesn’t work.

A Genuinely Unlikeable Protagonist

Think of someone who is not only an antihero but who just doesn’t seem like they’d be a pleasant person to spend time with in general. Perhaps they regularly meddle in other people’s affairs, have low emotional intelligence, or regularly offend people by never thinking before they speak. I don’t know why I’m so interested in reading about such unpleasant characters at the moment, but I am.

A Non-Canine Animal Protagonist

I’ve read several amazing books like The Art of Racing in the Rain that show the world through a dog’s eyes so convincingly that it almost felt as though actual dogs had been consulted during the writing of it. I wonder if there are any books out there written as though a cat or some other creature was telling the story?

A Magical World Based on Science

Okay, so obviously there is no scientific basis for magic in our world. I’d still love to read a fantasy, sci-fi, or similar book about a world where magic has a scientific explanation that is explained to the audience and that logically works with the particular physics/chemistry/biology of whatever planet it is set on.

Magic is an incredible thing to read about….I just wish the mechanics of it were explained better. To tie this better into this week’s prompt, maybe the main character could be a scientist who also performed magic?

Ideas, anyone?

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July 3, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books That Should Be Made into a Movie and Why

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

I have several answers to this week’s prompt! It’s always nice when that happens. To the best of my knowledge, none of these books have or are currently scheduled to be made into films. If any of you have heard differently, I’d sure like to know.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Why: Racism is one of those topics that is always relevant and timely. I’d love to see how this book’s descriptions of what it feels like to be a black man living in a society that discriminates against him would be updated for life in 2019.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Why: Neil Gaiman is a talented writer who has had other books of his made into amazing films and series. I think The Graveyard Book would be a wonderful thing for children to see at Halloween because of how unusual it would be for ghosts to raise a baby in a graveyard. The comedic possibilities there are endless!

Unwind (Unwind, #1)  by Neal Shusterman

Why: Between the forced childbirth and the forced organ/issue donation (among many other human rights violations), this is the scariest dystopian novel I’ve ever read. It would make a terrifying movie that I’d be both excited and a little nervous to see.

The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia, #7)  by C.S. Lewis 

Why: The first few Chronicles of Narnia have been made into films often. Every time Hollywood decides to retell the first few books, I cross my fingers that audiences will be interested enough to keep the series going until the end. The Last Battle is filled with action-packed battles and other scenes about the end of Narnia that I think would look amazing on the big screen.

I’d especially love to see the scenes in this book when everything on Narnia withers away or blinks out of existence, including the plants, animals, and stars. It was a very interesting thing to read about for reasons I can’t discuss here without giving away spoilers. Maybe someday we will get to see the film version of this, though!

Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1)  by Susan Beth Pfeffer 

Why: This is going to give away my age, but I was young enough to be worried about the world as we knew it shutting down for a long time – and maybe even forever – when the Y2K bug was hyped up in the late 1990s.

My mom and I had a few reassuring chats back then about how she and dad would take us to go live on my grandparents’ farm if all of the computers in the world shut down and we had to go back to a low or no-technology existence. Farming is a lot of work, but we always would have had food to eat and a safe place to live in that scenario.

The cool thing about the Last Survivors series was how much detail it went into about how people would band together to survive after a natural disaster that severely affected the balance of life on Earth. Their problems were different than the ones I worried about back in the day, but I loved seeing a fairly realistic and peaceful “end of the world” type of novel.

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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June 26, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Humorous Book Titles

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

This is one of those topics I could discuss all day without growing tired of it. Here are just a few of the humorous book titles I’ve seen lately. Have any of you ever read them? I’ve only read the first one so far. It was such an interesting look at neurology and some of the various ways the human brain can adapt to a serious illness or injury.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

Unspun Socks From A Chicken’s Laundry  by Spike Milligan

I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats by Francesco Marciuliano

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

Paranormal Dentistry for the Fanged and Friendly  by Jackie Nacht

Bread Sculpture: The Edible Art by Ann Sayre Wiseman

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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June 25, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer 2019 TBR

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

As I mentioned in last week’s Top Ten Tuesday post, my TBR list depends a lot on when I reach the top of the request list for the various library books I’m in queue for.

Based on the ratio of requests to library copies of these books, I believe they will all become available for me over the next two to three months. There is a lot of nonfiction coming my way this summer if all goes as planned. I’m excited about that.

You’ll notice that a few of these titles won’t be available until September. I decided to count anything that I expect to have my hands on before the official end of summer at the autumn equinox since southern Ontario typically remains quite hot, humid, and summer-like until late September or early October.

Title: They Were Her Property: White Women and the Economy of American Slavery by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

I hope to have it: Any day now.

Why I want to read it: I don’t know much about the role wealthy white women played in slavery in the American south. I’m incredibly curious to learn more about that.

 

Title: 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do by Amy Morin

I hope to have it: In the first week of July

Why I want to read it: I’m intrigued by the feminist spin to this self-help book and would like to see what connection she makes between the #MeToo movement and taking charge of your own destiny. Those aren’t topics that I’d necessarily ever think to join together.

 

Title: On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

I hope to have it: In the second week of July.

Why I want to read it: I loved her first book, The Hate U Give, and after mentioning this one on several Top Ten Tuesday posts I’m quite excited to finally see if On the Come Up will be as thought-provoking. It’s been such a long wait that I can hardly believe I’m finally almost at the top of the library queue for it.

 

Title: Once a Wolf: The Science Behind Our Dogs’ Astonishing Genetic Evolution by Bryan Sykes

I hope to have it: In the second week of July

Why I want to read it: Sometimes when I see someone walking around with a tiny little dog here in Toronto I like to imagine how a wolf would react to being stuffed into a purse or dressed in a tutu.  On a more serious note, I love dogs and have often wondered how humans took something as gigantic and fearsome as a wolf and gradually bred that gene pool into toy poodles and chihuahuas. Learning more about this is going to be a great way to spend part of my summer.

 

Title: Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller

I hope to have it: In the first week of August.

Why I want to read it: Psychology fascinates me in general. I studied attachment theory in a few of my college courses, and I’m curious to see if there’s any new research on the various types of attachment and how they affect you in adulthood.

 

Title: Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez

I hope to have it: In the second week of August

Why I want to read it: As a short and petite woman, I’ve had some struggles adjusting to stuff that is designed for “average” people that are much taller and bigger than me. For example, some chairs are too big and high off the ground for me to sit in while also touching my feet to the floor. I’ve had issues with seatbelts not quite fitting me properly, too, which could be really dangerous in a crash. It’s going to be super interesting to find out why so many designers make cisgender men the standard instead of taking a wider variety of body sizes and shapes into account.

 

 

Title: Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths—And How We Can Stop! by Bill Eddy

I hope to have it: In the third week of August.

Why I want to read it: With a federal election coming up here in Canada this autumn and another federal election coming up the United States, my birth country, next year, I’m quite interested in why voters in many different countries can become so enamoured with Narcissistic politicians.

 

Title: Charlotte: A Novel by David Foenkinos and Sam Taylor

I hope to have it: In the first week of September

Why I want to read it: World War II was such a horrific war. This book of poetry was written about one of the many innocent people who died in a concentration camp during the course of it. I’d never heard of this painter before, and I’d like to know who she was before her life ended far too soon.

 

Title: The Ghost Garden: Inside the Lives of Schizophrenia’s Feared and Forgotten by Susan Doherty

I hope to have it: In the second week of September

Why I want to read it: While they don’t have this specific diagnosis, there are a few people in my life who live with serious mental illnesses that have very negative impacts on their daily lives. I’m always on the lookout for books that talk about this topic, especially if they explore the lives of people who are not high functioning.

This is a sensitive and difficult issue, but I think there needs to be much more awareness of the many different ways mental illness can impact someone’s life. Some people absolutely can and do cope well with their illnesses. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for everyone.

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June 19, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favorite Things to Do in the Summer

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

I’ve been looking forward to this prompt for ages! I can’t wait to get to know all of you a little better.

While spring is my favourite season in Toronto, the wonderful thing about summer here is how many different types of events are scheduled during it. I’m frugal and minimalistic, so everything I’ll mention in this post is either free or inexpensive.

Concerts. Pop and R&B have been my favourite types of music since childhood, but I can find something likeable about many other genres, too. Toronto has many free or low-cost concerts every summer that I enjoy checking out. There is nothing like listening to a singer or band perform on a warm day. You might even catch me dancing a little bit if no one is glancing in my direction!

Parks. As you’ve all heard in previous Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge posts, I enjoy the outdoors. Walking, trying to identify plants, playing badminton, snapping photographs, and visiting the zoo are some of the many things I’d enjoy at the park. If my husband agrees, maybe we’ll even have a picnic in the park before it gets too hot outside.

Beaches. I need to be mindful of how much sunlight I’m exposed to for medical reasons, but I still love going to the beach on occasion.  There’s nothing like building a sandcastle, going swimming, or even simply strolling down a boardwalk and doing some friendly people watching there.

Parades and Festivals. This is the time of year when Toronto has a parade or festival for almost anything you can imagine: race/ethnicity/cultural celebrations from every corner of the globe, jazz (among many other types of music), eco-friendly lifestyles, the LGBT+ community, the vegan/vegetarian community, and more. I don’t necessarily attend the same events every summer, but I do like to pick a few different things to check out depending on the weather and how much time I’ve spent in the sun lately. It’s delightful to be surrounded by so many happy people who share some sort of common experience or label.

Museums. Call me Hermione Granger, but learning is always my idea of a good time. Whether it’s art, science, history, or another topic entirely, there is definitely something to be said for spending a few hours in a nice, air-conditioned museum on a muggy day.

Volunteering. I recently began volunteering at a few new places, and I’m thrilled to help those organizations out. Summer seems like a great time of year to do this in general since so many volunteers tend to go on vacations then. Taking breaks is important and necessary, but it also means that many non-profit groups are looking for more folks to fill in the gaps in their schedules now.

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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June 18, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Releases of the Second Half of 2019

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Here are the books scheduled to be released in the second half of 2019 that I’m anticipating the most. Since the vast majority of what I read comes from my local library, I probably won’t get around to many of these titles until months after they are released.

If my library turns out to have lots of copies of all of them, I’m going to have to spend the month of September doing nothing but reading in my free time. Honestly, that sounds like a nice way to spend those weeks. I don’t know about the weather where you all live, but here in Toronto we still have plenty of hot, humid days in September. Sometimes “summer” lasts well into October, too!

Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler

Expected publication date: July 30

Why I want to read it: Historical novels appeal to me, especially when they’re about groups of people who are rarely if ever discussed in traditional history classes. Two of the characters in this tale were young women who were pregnant out of wedlock a century ago when that was an incredibly shameful thing to do. I’m interested in seeing what happened to them.

When the Plums Are Ripe by Patrice Nganang, Amy Baram Reid (Translation)

Expected publication date: August 13

Why I want to read it: I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I know almost nothing about the history of Cameroon. This book talks about this country in the World War II era, and I’m hoping it might lead me to other titles that discuss other time periods there as well.

This Tender Land by William Kent Kruege

Expected publication date: September 3

Why I want to read it: There is so much going on in this tale: The Great Depression, Native American children being stolen from their parents to be raised by the state, runaways, the (mis)treatment of orphans in the 1930s, the inclusion of a mute character, and more. I want to see how it all weaves together.

 

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Expected publication date: September 10

Why I want to read it: The main character of this book is a girl who befriends a monster after it emerges from one of her mother’s paintings. Given the countless hours I’ve spent staring at paintings and dreaming about what it would be like to step into them, I already adore her. She sounds like a true kindred spirit. The Goodread tags for it also indicated that either her or someone else in the storyline is part of the LGBT+ community which is very cool and yet another reason why I simply must read this at some point.

The Testaments (Handmaid’s Tale #2) by Margaret Atwood

Expected Publication Date: September 10

Why I want to read it: I’ve been a huge fan of The Handmaid’s Tale since high school and can’t wait to see this story continue on in novel form.  I will be reviewing it for this site after I read it and am virtually guaranteed to talk everyone’s ears off about this book on Twitter and in future Top Ten Tuesday posts. Consider yourselves warned.

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus

Expected publication date: September 17

Why I want to read it: My immigration process was a much calmer affair than what it sounds like this character is going to go through, but I’m still curious to compare notes. Moving to a new country always bring all sorts of surprises with it no matter who you are or where you’re moving to.

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Expected publication date: September 24

Why I want to read it: I’ve never read a fantasy book about someone who was a slave before, much less a character living in the southern U.S. in what I assume will be the early 1800s. This sounds like it will be a wonderful read.

Marley: A Novel by Jon Clinch

Expected publication date: October 8

Why I want to read it: I’m always interested in stories that retell or branch off of the various subplots of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This happens to be a prequel that shows what Marley and Scrooge’s lives were like when they were young boys. I’m quite curious to find out more.

I’m a Gay Wizard by V.S. Santoni

Expected publication date: October 29

Why I want to read it: This sounds like it might be the 2019 version of a gay Harry Potter-esque novel, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about that!

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

Expected publication date: October 29

Why I want to read it: I remember a time when all books about AIDS were about it being an automatic death sentence because that was the reality for people with this illness back then. In fact, I know someone whose life was saved by the newer and more effective drugs to treat AIDS in the mid-1990s. Now that medical care for this disease has greatly improved, I’m quite curious to see how a character who has HIV will live her life in 2019.

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June 12, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favorite Books Covers & Why

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Interestingly enough, I have not read any of these books. I chose them for this week’s prompt based on their beautiful covers alone.

My Blood Approves (My Blood Approves #1) by Amanda Hocking

What I like about it:

  • Blue is such an eye-catching colour.
  • The gravestone and bird are making my imagination flutter at the thought of what they might mean.
  • As you’re about to discover, I love seeing plants, animals, and other nature-related stuff on book covers.

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

What I like about it:

  • Wow, this model is beautifully dressed.
  • Not seeing her face means we all get to imagine it for ourselves. I appreciate that.
  • Purple is my favourite colour, and her dress looks like it has lovely purple hues.

Vex (Celestra #5) by Addison Moore

What I like about it:

  • Butterflies are gorgeous creatures.
  • The metallic hue to these wings give this book a nice sci-fi flair.

Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

What I like about it:

  • Purple!
  • Not only is it purple, it’s a whimsical purple flower!!
  • I am a creature of habit.

Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies

What I like about it:

  • This shade of blue is so beautiful. It reminds me of  how refreshing that first day of cool autumn weather is after a long, hot summer.
  • I have many relatives who were or are hunters. The deer on the cover reminds me of their hunting trips during what could be chilly, foggy weather as well as the delicious taste of fresh venison when they were successful.

Fate (My Blood Approves #2) by Amanda Hocking

What I like about it:

  • There’s something otherworldly about a sky that doesn’t have a usual colour.
  • At the risk of repeating myself, purple covers always grab my attention.
  • Now I want to know what happened to the bird and gravestone in the first book in this series.

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

What I like about it:

  • I’m fascinated by the fact that the image on the front is both a set of human lungs and tree branches.
  • It leaves a lot to the imagination. In general, I prefer covers that hint at what they’re about and let the audience discover for ourselves what those hints mean.
  • Apparently, I am only capable of adoring covers that are some shade of purple or blue.

I never would have guessed my cover preferences were so specific. This was such an interesting post to put together.

Have any of you read any of these stories? Do our cover preferences match in any way?

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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June 5, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books That Need a Sequel

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

I struggled with this week’s prompt because I’ve seen so many examples of genuinely great story ideas that were stretched out into more books than their premise actually required in my opinion. If they’d stopped after the first or third or fifth book they would have been much better.

This isn’t to say that I dislike sequels in general. Some of my all-time favourite stories were written in this format! There simply needs to be enough conflict and character development to actually warrant two or more books in any universe if I’m going to keep reading them.

Due to this, my list is going to be shorter and quirkier than usual.

Christy by Catherine Marshall

This is one of the very few inspirational novels I’ve ever read, and it’s been many years since I read it. The plot was loosely based on the real life experiences of the author’s mother when she was a schoolteacher in a rural Appalachian community in the early 1900s. Christy, the main character, had been quite sheltered growing up, so she was horrified by the poverty, dysfunction, and terrible living conditions of her new home when she accepted this teaching job.

As smart and energetic as Christy was, I didn’t like how judgemental she was of the families of her students or of how quick she was to meddle in their lives. She seemed to have good intentions, but I would have been pretty offended by her attitude and how much she thought she should have control over what other adults did if we’d lived in the same area.

There was still a lot of room left for her personal development by the final scene. It sure would be nice to revisit this character later on in life to see if she’d overcome these flaws.  Part of the problem was that she was a very young teacher when she accepted this assignment. With some more life experience, I think she would have reacted to this culture quite differently.

Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer

This book was written by one of Canada’s best science fiction authors, and it’s about a Royal Ontario Museum palaeontologist who meets a friendly sentient alien.

They strike up a friendship and begin to share information about their cultures, histories, and physiologies. There are far more similarities between Earth and the alien’s planet than should be possible.

Both the main character and his alien friend have their own opinions about why their planets have so much in common. I can’t give away what those theories are without sharing spoilers, but I really liked seeing how they debated the evidence and came to their own conclusions. (No, this is not an inspirational book despite what the title may hint at. It’s far more science and philosophy based).

Oh, and The R.O.M. is a real museum here in Toronto. I highly recommend checking it out if you’re ever in the area. They have everything from Egyptian mummies to rare gems to dinosaur fossils there. If you do visit, I can even tell you how to get in for free no matter how big your group is if you have some flexibility as far as the date and time of your visit goes.

Well, this was a short list this week. I hope all of you were able to come up with lots of books to talk about on yours.

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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June 4, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Ghost Stories

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

My favourite genre is science fiction and fantasy. Since that’s an impossibly broad answer to this week’s prompt, Books From My Favorite Genre, I decided to narrow it down to something specific: ghost stories.

I adore ghost stories, especially the ones that rely on psychological horror instead of jump scares or anything gory! They’re one of the micro-genres under the speculative fiction umbrella that will always grab my attention.

The interesting thing about this list is how many classics it contains. I hadn’t realized that so many top-notch authors have written about ghosts, but they have.

1. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

This is one of my all-time favourite ghost stories because the spirit had a completely valid reason for haunting and hating the living. I won’t give it away to those of you who haven’t read it. Just know that you might end up sympathizing with the ghost more than you do with her victims. I sure did.

2. A Sincere Warning About the Entity In Your Home by Jason Arnopp

Since this is a short story, I can’t tell you much about the plot other than it was written in the form of a letter from a former tenant to the current tenant of a very dangerous home. It’s delightfully scary and quite well done, though.

3. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

We need to talk about the fact that season two of the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House is going to be based on this story. I’m sure they’ll make as many changes to the plot as they did with Shirley Jackon’s novel, but I’m super excited to see how the screenwriters interpret something that wasn’t as blatantly paranormal as The Haunting of Hill House.

My best guess is that they’re going to amp up the hauntings by a thousand to make it work for the small screen.

4. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Someday I need to write full reviews of the other Sarah Waters’ novels that have enough speculative fiction content to fit into my Science Fiction & Fantasy tag on this site. Here is my review of the amazing film version of The Little Stranger, so all I’ll say about it in this post is that it’s about a crumbling mansion that may be haunted by the angry spirit of a child who once lived there. Both the book and the film were deliciously spooky, and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

5. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

No, this has no connection to the first book on this list, although it would be quite interesting to see what the Woman in White would think of the Woman in Black. One of them is a ghost, and the identity and corporealness of the other one can’t be shared here without giving away spoilers. (If corporealness wasn’t an official word before, it is now!)

6. Beloved by Toni Morrison

My mom was so freaked out by the film version of this book that she almost walked out of the theatre. I wasn’t with her for that viewing, but I loved seeing this tale about an ex-slave named Sethe who was haunted by what might have been the spirit of her dead child twenty years after she purposefully killed that child to prevent her from being taken back into slavery.

The best ghost stories in my opinion are the ones that explore parts of a culture that many people try to forget or downplay. The multi-generational horrors of slavery were laid bare in this tale, and that made it one of the most genuinely frightening things I’ve ever read.

7. The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James

This is a library book I’m currently reading, so I won’t say much about it other than the fact that it’s about a ghost hunter who ended up being targeted by one of the spirits she was supposed to be vanquishing.

How spooky is that? It’s definitely not the kind of attention I’d ever want.

8. The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

I wish Edgar Allen Poe’s work was talked about more than it currently is. (Maybe I should start reviewing it?) He wrote some incredibly frightening poems and stories that are as relevant now as they were in the 1800s when he first came up with them. I especially love “The Raven” because of how many different ways it can be interpreted. Was the speaker really being haunted, or was he imagining the interference of the raven and other strange occurrences as a way to deal with his guilt over murdering someone?

9. The Mist in the Mirror by Susan Hill

While I don’t normally mention the same author twice in the same Top Ten Tuesday post, Susan Hill deserves a second mention. She really has the haunted house formula perfected. All of her books that I’ve read are perfectly frightening without being gory. The Mist in the Mirror is an especially good one to pick up after The Woman in Black because of how gothic it was.

There’s something about the gothic style of ghost story, crumbling mansion and all, that I find quite appealing.

10. The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

All of the other options on this list are serious and frightening, so I thought I’d top it off with a classic parody of this genre.

Oscar Wilde is one of those famous authors that I’ve always been sorry I couldn’t meet. He had a wonderful sense of humour that somehow feels just as fresh in 2019 as it did in the 1880s and 1890s.

His take on ghosts and haunted houses really should be read by anyone who enjoys these topics. I believe in finding the humorous side of whatever genre(s) you enjoy. There is definitely something to be said for being able to poke fun at what you like, and this is a fabulous example of how to do exactly that.

Also, it’s satirical! I’ll leave it up to you to figure out who or what Mr. Wilde was talking about here, but I found his insights to be pretty darn accurate.

How many of these books have all of you read? Who else in the Top Ten Tuesday community loves ghost stories? I’ll happily accept your recommendations of similar tales if anyone has any!

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May 29, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Lessons I Learned from a Book Character

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

I’m not really sure what to write for the introduction to this post, so I’ll keep it short and simple. The lessons I’ve learned from book characters are in bold.

Don’t Judge a Book By It’s Cover

Learned from: many different books over the years. I’ve read some dull things that had gorgeous covers and unforgettable stories whose covers were as plain as could be.

If You Trust Their Judgement, Listen to Their Warnings

Lesson learned from: Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House.

As much as I liked the TV show based on this book, I wish the characters had been more willing to listen to good advice. There were so many times when people they should have trusted warned them against visiting this house.

Act as Soon as You Sense Something’s Wrong

Lesson learned from: Louise O’Neill’s Only Ever Yours.

The characters in this book grew up in a place that was a lot like a boarding school except for the fact that none of the students ever had any contact with their parents. It blew my mind that they spent so little time analyzing the clues they had about something being terribly wrong about the place they were raised.

Everyone Has a Reason for Behaving the Way They Do

Lesson learned from: Sarah McCoy’s Marilla of Green Gables.

This is not meant in any way to be an excuse for people who are abusive or violent, by the way. I’m only talking about people who seem grumpy, negative, sad, or unfriendly when you first meet them. What I loved about this story was how it explained why Marilla was such a rigid and unhappy person when Anne Shirley first came into her life.

Marilla had excellent reasons for seeing the world the way she did. I try to remember this prequel when I interact with people who behave like her.

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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