Category Archives: Blog Hops

February 5, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Upcoming Releases I’m On the Fence About

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I’m going to be very honest with all of you today about my mixed feelings on the mystery genre. What I’m about to say is not a judgement on anyone else’s reading habits in any way. Theoretically, I do like the idea of reading or watching something that requires the audience to pay close attention to the clues in order to figure out who the murderer was before the main character does.

What I don’t like about the mystery genre is its fixation on what can often be pretty gruesome crimes, especially since  they seem to happen to young women in so many tales. I don’t have much interest in gory stuff in general, and I really don’t like reading about all of the horrible ways innocent people can be killed.

So I really don’t know what to think about these titles. I’ve added links to their interesting blurbs for anyone who would like to check them out, but I don’t know if I actually should read any of them. What do you all think? Are you planning to read any of these books? If you read mysteries in general, can you recommend any stories that break this pattern?

1. The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick

2. The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

3. If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser

4. Fake Plastic Girl by Zara Lisbon

5. Call Me Evie by JP Pomare

6. Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

7. The Blameless Dead by Gary Haynes

8. American Heroin by Melissa Scrivner Love

9. The Promise by Teresa Driscoll

10. House on Fire by Bonnie Kistler

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January 30, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Characters I’d Name a Baby After

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Here’s a link to this week’s prompt. I’ve never named a baby, and, barring unforeseen circumstances, I never will. If I did have the opportunity to do so, though, I’d pick one of these characters both because they have beautiful, classic names and because their names would work just as well for babies as they would for children, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens.

There’s something to be said for picking a name that grows with a person like that!

Cameron from the TV show Modern Family

Cameron has a fantastic backstory. He’s a gay man who grew up on a farm in a very rural part of the United States. As an adult, he moved far away from home, but he’s never forgotten his roots. There have been many references on Modern Family over the years to all of the things this character misses about rural life, from football games to the joy of having pet pigs. I love the fact that he honours his heritage while at the same time living in a place that has more opportunities for his husband and daughter.

THIS IS US — “The Right Thing to Do” Episode 111 — Pictured: Sterling K. Brown as Randall Pearson — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Randall from the TV show This Is Us

Randall was transracially adopted by a white family when he was a baby. As an adult, he’s a dedicated husband and father who – spoiler alert – decided to become a foster parent in order to help the next generation and pass on all of the positive things he learned from his family. I love seeing the flashbacks to his childhood just as much as I do watching him navigate adult responsibilities and conflicts in the present day. He’s such a nerdy, funny, and genuinely kind person. All of those traits are things I find quite appealing. (Yes, it’s possible that I have a little bit of a crush on this character).

Celie and Sofia from Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple

Ideally, Celie and Sofia would be twins, but they could be non-twin siblings, too. I loved the relationship between these sisters in this story, especially after their lives grew difficult and they couldn’t see a way out of their troubles for years at a time. My hope would be that any children named after them would have the same resourcefulness…and happy ending!

Calvin from Bill Watterson’s comic strip Calvin and Hobbes

Yes, Calvin was a mischievous character. Sometimes he was downright naughty, but he was also incredibly intelligent, imaginative, and resourceful. I always admired those parts of him. He definitely gave his parents a few grey hairs growing up, but I’d bet all of his positive qualities would make him turn out to be a wonderful adult.

Fern from the children’s novel Charlotte’s Web

Fern was such an empathetic girl that I wouldn’t hesitate to name a baby after her. What a good role model she’d be for any child who was learning about death and hardship for the first time.  Although Charlotte is a nice name, too. (Also, I didn’t realize until today that I like so many names that begin with the letter C. Ha! )

Who would you name a baby after?

 

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January 23, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favourite Things to Do in the Winter

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Part of the reason why I’m so intrigued by this week’s prompt is that winter is my least favourite season of them all. Y’all, I have to admit that I do get a little grumpy by the end of it when it feels like we’re never going to have a warm, sunny day again, and this is coming from someone who actually lives in one of the less snowy parts of Canada!

I can’t imagine what it would be like to live somewhere like the Yukon Territories where “winter” weather essentially begins in late September and lasts until May or June.

Luckily, there are fun things to do when the weather outside is frightful. This is what i’ll be keeping myself busy with over the next few months until the temperatures rise again in April.

Filling Out Adult Coloring Books. There’s something so meditative about them.

Watching Netflix. See also: documentaries (especially if they’re about NASA or nature), goofy comedies like Fuller House, and ghost stories.

Catching Up on My To-Read List. There are so many books out there I’ve been meaning to read. Let’s see how many of them I can actually finish before the weather warms up.

Studying Spanish. Enough said there. Learning a new language is so good for your brain, and it gives you a lot of sympathy for people who are learning English as their second language, too!

Braving the Cold. I do occasionally enjoy going out in the cold and watching the snow fall for a little while. It makes me grateful for the warm, indoor places where I spend most of my time.

How about all of you?

 

 

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January 22, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant to Read in 2018 But Didn’t Get To

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Does something count as a TBR list if it’s simply a list of library books you haven’t gotten around to requesting yet? If so, today’s post is going to be a simple one! I’ve been meaning to read all of these books, but I haven’t actually requested them from my local library yet due to the incredibly long wait times for them.

Hopefully, those times will be reduced in 2019. This is a real grab-bag of genres, styles, and topics because that’s exactly what my reading habits are like in general.

1) Heart–A History by Sandeep Jauhar

If you ask me, the history of how humans slowly figured out more and more effective medical treatments for various ailments is a fascinating one. This book spends a lot of time showing how doctors came to understand the heart well enough to perform serious operations like heart transplants.

2) Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul by Nikita Gill

Possibly feminist (or at least more modern) retellings of what were originally pretty stereotypical fairy tales? Sign me up!

3) The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias by Dolly Chugh

This book is so relevant to our current age it’s not even funny. I can’t wait to read it.

4) Anger Is a Gift: A Novel by Mark Oshiro

People are almost certainly going to compare this to Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, but I’m going to do my best to avoid that. It sounds like it will have a unique spin on the topics of racism and police brutality.

5) The Cowkeeper’s Wish: A Genealogical Journey by Tracy Kasaboski

Genealogy is such an interesting topic. My family knows a decent amount about who our ancestors were and what they were doing over the last couple hundred years. I love seeing other families get that same opportunity, too. There’s something really cool about knowing basic things like what a great-great-great grandparent’s occupations was, how many children they had, and where they were born.

6) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I absolutely loved the Netflix series based on this book! It’s going to be a lot of fun to see how the original differed from it. My fingers are crossed that more time will be spent explaining the backstories of the various ghosts since many of them weren’t given much screen time in season one of this show.

7) This Is the Way the World Ends: How Droughts and Die-offs, Heat Waves and Hurricanes Are Converging on America by Jeff Nesbit

Obviously, I hope our collective future is much brighter and more hopeful than this. It’s still good to know what the less optimistic predictions are as well.

8) Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited by Elyse Schein

Oh, this is heartbreaking. I can’t imagine separating twins on purpose simply to see how similar or dissimilar they might be if they were raised by different adoptive families and had no knowledge of each other. The best way to learn from the past is to study what happened, though.

9)  The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

So many of you lovely Top Ten Tuesday bloggers have mentioned this book that I simply must read it for myself.

10) The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner

Once again, a lot of Top Ten Tuesday bloggers have talked about this story. If everyone is gushing about it, it just might be amazing! Either way, I must find out for myself once the wait list for it is less than eighty years. (I’m joking….mostly. It is pretty long, though).

How many of these books have you read or do you hope to read?

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January 16, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: What I Would Do With a Million Dollars

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Welcome to all of my new readers! There have been a lot of you lately. If you’d like to join in with the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge, the link above will give you the list of topics for the rest of this year.

My response to this week’s prompt is going to be much shorter than it was last week.

What would I do with a million dollars? I’d immediately invest it in mutual funds, bonds, or some other type of investment that was reasonably certain to pay off.

Becoming wealthy wouldn’t be a goal.  Rather, I’d want to cultivate as much free time as possible. With a steady and modest source of income, I could then spend my days doing projects that truly interested me without thinking about how to pay for them.

First, I’d return to university and take some courses. Don’t ask me what my major would be. I don’t know yet! It would be wonderful to explore various avenues and find out what most interests me, though.

While attending school, I’d try to work or volunteer in something related to my major a few hours a week. It would be really interesting to combine my love of literature with some sort of volunteer or paid work after that, although I’d be very open to other possibilities, too.

The nice  thing about studying when you have a guaranteed, lifelong source of income is that you don’t have to have it all figured out right away. You can take your time and build something truly incredible.

Once I was mostly* finished studying, I’d want to begin teaching other people the stuff I’d learned in individual or small group settings. Since I would already have a steady income to rely on, I could charge them based on their income and give away plenty of free lessons to people who truly couldn’t afford to pay anything. There’s something really interesting to me about figuring out the best way to show someone how to master a new task, and I love socializing one-on-one or in small groups. Those are both things I could do for many years without growing bored of them.

* I won’t completely stop studying new things for as long as I’m alive. I love learning new stuff!

How about all of you?

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January 15, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2018

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

To be honest with all of you, at first I wasn’t sure if I should participate in this week’s prompt. I spend so much time reading new titles from authors I discovered years ago that I wasn’t positive I’d be able to come up with enough people to fill out all ten spots on this list.

Then I remember all of the short stories I read in the average year. My favourite genre has always been science fiction, and my favourite kind of sci-fi  to read is the short stuff. There’s something immensely satisfying about seeing how much world- and charcter-building an author can squeeze into a few dozen pages…or less!

Not only will you get to read my thoughts on today’s list as usual, you’ll also be able to check out the stories that first introduced me to these authors for free if any of them grab your attention. How cool is that?

1. Author: Sara Norja

What I Read from Them: Birch Daughter 

Why I Loved It: The main character’s mother was turned into a tree before the first scene began. If that’s not the makings of a must-read, I don’t know what is!

2. Author: A.C. Buchanan

What I Read from Them: Girls Who Do Not Drown 

Why I Loved It: So many stories are written about young women dying in ghastly ways. I adored the fact that this steadfastly refused to be one of them.

3. Author: Shiv Ramdas

What I Read from Them: Guardian

Why I Loved It: For something that took only a couple of minutes to read, this sure did pack an emotional punch at the end. That’s all I can say without giving you all spoilers.

4. Author: Adam R. Shannon

What I Read from Them: On the Day You Spend Forever With Your Dog

Why I Loved It: So many of us have outlived beloved pets. Imagine what it would be like to be reunited with them again in this lifetime…or maybe even forever. If the death of animals is a trigger for you, you might want to skip this even though it’s not really meant to be a tearjerker.

5. Author: Kathryn Kania

What I Read from Them: Tablecloth

Why I Loved It: In the very first scene, a mischievous (and possibly magical) cat shows up in the main character’s life and refuses to leave. That was such a cat-like thing to do that I couldn’t help but to keep reading.

6. Author: Chesya Burke

What I Read from Them: For Sale: Fantasy Coffins (Ababuo Need Not Apply)

Why I Loved It: The unique title was what grabbed my attention at first. I stuck around because of how kind the main character was despite – or maybe because of? –  the fact that people feared her.

7. Author: Beth Goder

What I Read from Them: How to Identify an Alien Shark

Why I Loved It: Now I know exactly how to identify an alien shark. Ha! Also, I love the idea of an alien invasion happening in our oceans because the invaders were an aquatic species.

8. Author: Alexandra Rowland

What I Read from Them: Love in Every Stitch

Why I Loved It: Sewing isn’t as easy as it might first appear to be, and even the most ornate handmade articles are rarely respected enough to be thought of as art. It’s nice to see stitches get the attention they deserve even if they aren’t quite the same sort of stitch you’d use to patch up a hole in a jacket or sew on a button.

9. Author:  Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali

What I Read from Them: Talking to Cancer 

Why I Loved It: I know I’ve wished I could talk to cancer before. It’s a truly awful disease that has prematurely ended far too many lives. The thought of actually convincing it to go away like the main character did in the first scene is too good to be true.

10. Author: Kristi DeMeester

What I Read from Them: With Lips Sewn Shut 

Why I Loved It: The metaphor in it was outstanding. Oh, there’s so much more I want to say about it, but everything I can think of will give you unforgivable spoilers for why lips are sewn shut in this universe.

Who else loves short stories? I’m hoping at least a few Top Ten Tuesday bloggers will say yes to this question!

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January 9, 2019 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books That Need a Prequel

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Welcome to the very first Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge! Today’s topic is books that need a prequel. I hope my readers will click the link above and see how everyone else responded to this prompt, too.

Lately, I’ve been discovering prequels to all sorts of books that I spent ages wishing would have such a thing, so this post won’t be as long as it would be if I’d written it a year or two ago. For example, I recently read Sarah McCoy’s “Marilla of Green Gables,”  a prequel to L.M. Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables.” Last year I read “Caroline: Little House, Revisited” by Sarah Miller and saw Laura Ingalls Wilder’s early childhood from her mother’s point of view. (If you liked those series and haven’t already read the prequels to them, I highly recommend checking them out. They were both excellent reads).

Those experiences give me hope that everything I discuss today has a chance of actually having a prequel written for it someday. My fingers are crossed that this will happen.

Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary.”

For anyone who doesn’t already know the premise of this book, it was about a young family who unknowingly moved next door to a cemetery that brought anyone who was buried in it back to life. The trouble was, the people and animals who were reanimated in it weren’t their usual selves after that experience. They came back violent…or worse.

There were so many unanswered questions about this graveyard and the folks who had used it. Admittedly, I’m probably way more cautious about unexplained phenomenon than many people, but when I read this I really wondered why the people who knew about how dangerous it was didn’t work harder to warn newcomers and, I don’t know, prevent anything from being buried there. Did the cemetery somehow negatively influence your critical thinking and survival skills, too? I want answers!

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series

What I’d love to see J.K. Rowling do is go back to when ancient wizards and witches first realized that they had special powers. Wouldn’t it be cool to see how wizarding society was first formed back when the general human population was much smaller than it currently is today?

Maybe it would be set in Africa tens of thousands of years ago when all of our ancestors still lived there. Then again, maybe magical characters in that universe didn’t actually have the resources to live separately from muggles until we invented agriculture and cities and could support much larger populations. What do you all think?

Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead” graphic novels

I haven’t been keeping up with the latest issues of these graphic novels, but from what I’ve read the creator has no interest in explaining how the walkers (what we would call zombies) in this universe came to be or how they took over the world so quickly while Rick Grimes, the main character, was in a coma for a few weeks after an accident.

This is something I’ve thought about a lot over the years, so not having answers for it vexes me. It sure seems like more people would have realized early on that walker bites would turn you into a walker, too.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I’d sure like to know what Mr and Mrs. March’s childhoods were like, how they met, and what it was like for them to have four daughters in five years. That many babies in such a short period of time is a lot of work! I have a relative who had a similar age spread for their children, but they raised their brood with all of the benefits of modern society like disposable diapers, antibiotics, and kid-friendly TV programs for when one of the parents needed a few minutes to relax.

Room by Emma Donoghue 

 I’d sure love to read a prequel to this book told from the perspective of someone who knew why the antagonist kidnapped and imprisoned the main character’s mother for so many years in the first place. This wasn’t something that was addressed in Room since the narrator was a young, innocent kid who didn’t realize how bizarre his life was, but it is something I’ve wondered about ever since I finished reading it.

How about you? Which books do you want prequels for?

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January 8, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Non-Fiction Releases for the First Half of 2019

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

When I’m not reading the science fiction and fantasy genres, non-fiction is something I love diving headfirst into. Thus far, it looks like 2019 is going to be an amazing year for all sorts of non-fiction titles, from biographies to sociology and so much more!

1. Influenza: The Quest to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History by Jeremy Brown

Release Date: Today

2. Womanish: A Grown Black Woman Speaks on Love and Life by Kim McLarin

Release Date: January 15

3. What We Talk About When We Talk about Rape by Sohaila Abdulali

Release Date: January 26

4. No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History by Dane Huckelbridge

Release Date: February 5

5. Becoming Emily: The Life of Emily Dickinson by Krystyna Poray Goddu

Release Date: February 5

6. Louisa on the Front Lines: Louisa May Alcott in the Civil War by Samantha Seiple

Release Date: February 26

7. Bats: An Illustrated Guide to All Species by Marianne Taylor

Release Date: April 9

8. Beyond Words: What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel by Carl Safina

Release Date: April 23

9. The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas.

Release Date: May 21

10. Dissenter on the Bench: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Life and Work by Victoria Ortiz

Release  Date: June 4

Are you planning to read any of these books? What books are all of you looking forward to over the next six months or so?

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January 5, 2019 · 1:00 am

Blog Hops I’ll Be Participating In

A blog hop is a weekly prompt in which group of bloggers all write posts about the same, pre-determined subject. The person or site that came up with that topic provides a space for everyone to share links to their own responses and read what others had to say about it as well . This gives everyone a chance to attract new readers, find out how other people responded to the same subject, and discover blogs that might be right up their alley.

Blog hops are sometimes called link parties or link-up parties.

However you refer to them, I’ll be participating in two of these things in 2019. Today I wanted to tell you about them in advance so my readers know what is happening when these posts begin popping up here in the next week or so.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010. In January of 2018, it moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. As per That Artsy Reader Girl, “it was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.”

This is what Top Ten Tuesday participants will be talking about over the next two months. New topics are generally announced  1-3 months in advance for this blog hop, so be sure to check That Artsy Reader Girl in the future to find out what the rest of her prompts will be for this year if you’re hoping to join in or wondering what I might be discussing here.

January 8: Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019
January 15: New-to-Me Authors I Read In 2018
January 22: Books I Meant to Read In 2018 but Didn’t Get To
January 29: The Ten Most Recent Additions to My To-Read List
February 5: Upcoming Releases I’m On the Fence About (these are the books you need help deciding if they’re worth adding to your TBR or not.)
February 12: Favorite Couples In Books
February 19: Books I LOVED with Fewer than 2,000 Ratings on Goodreads
February 26: Places Mentioned In Books That I’d Like to Visit (submitted by Georgia @justreadthemm)
March 5: Characters I’d Like To Switch Places With (submitted by Sara @ A Gingerly Review)
March 12: Standalone Books That Need a Sequel
March 19: Books On My Spring 2019 TBR
March 26: Audiobook Freebie

This probably isn’t something you’ll see me writing about every single Tuesday. My goal is to write about the prompts that speak to me in any particular month, whether that is none, some, or all of them.

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge was created by Long and Short Reviews in January of 2019. Their first blog hop will happen on January 8.

This is what they will be discussing in 2019. Unlike Top Ten Tuesday, they’ve released all of the topics for this year simultaneously. I find that really helpful from the perspective of someone who likes planning ahead!

January 9: Books That Need a Prequel
January 16: What I Would Do with a Million Dollars
January 23: Favorite Things to Do in the Winter
January 30: Characters I’d Name a Baby After
February 6: Favorite Movies of All Time and Why
February 13: Most Romantic Memory
February 20: What to Read To Learn About X
February 27: Fictional Worlds I’d Rather Not Visit
March 6:  Favorite Hobby and Why
March 13: A Day in My Life
March 20: Characters I Want to Meet
March 27: Favorite Websites/Podcasts/Blogs
April 3: Favorite Comfort Foods & Why (& Recipes)
April 10: Characters I Never Want to Meet
April 17: 10 Unusual Things About Me
April 24: Books I Discovered on Social Media
May 1: X Things I Wish More Books Talked About
May 8: Books I Want Youth to Discover
May 15: Favorite TV Shows and Why
May 22: Books I Love That Became Films or TV Shows
May 29: Lessons I Learned from a Book Character
June 5: Books That Need a Sequel
June 12: Favorite Books Covers & Why
June 19: Favorite Things to Do in the Summer
June 26: Humorous Book Titles
July 3: Books That Should Be Made into a Movie and Why
July 10: Favorite Authors in X Genre
July 17: Fictional Worlds I’d Love to Visit
July 24: My Favorite Quotes from Books
July 31: Favorie Food and How I Use (+ Recipe)
August 7: Books I Loved But Never Wrote Reviews For
August 14: Books I Had to Read in School and Didn’t Like
August 21: What I Read When I’m Not Feeling Well
August 28: Books I Had to Read in School and Liked
September 4: Books That Deal Well with Tough Topics
September 11: Books I Keep Meaning to Read (But Haven’t)
September 18: What Is My Superpower?
September 25: Authors I Wish More People Knew About
October 2: What I’d Want on a Deserted Island
October 9: Books That Did a Great Job of Explaining X
October 16: Popular/Famous Books I Don’t Plan to Read
October 23: Books I Read on Someone’s Recommendation
October 30: Things That Scare Me
November 6: Books I’ve Recommended & Why
November 13: A Strange or Useless Talent I Have
November 20: Things I’m Thankful For
November 27: Books That Influenced My Life
December 4: Book Boyfriends or Girlfriends
December 11: My Earliest Memory
December 18: 10 Gifts for People Who Love X

My goal for this one is to participate every single week. Some of their prompts aren’t things I’d normally blog about, so you’ll be learning stuff about me that you otherwise wouldn’t know.

If any of my readers are also  interested in joining these blog hops, I’d love to read your responses!

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December 29, 2018 · 1:00 am

Suggestion Saturday: December 29, 2018

Here is this week’s list of essays, short stories, and other links from my favourite corners of the web. This will be the last Suggestion Saturday post from me, at least for the time being. As I mentioned earlier this month, I’ll be experimenting with other types of posts here in 2019. Stay tuned!

New Year Candy. What a creative idea.

Celebrate New Year’s Eve the Latino Way via StephyOrtez. The effigy portion of these celebrations really appeals to me.

Don’t Set Goals for the New Year; Set Goals for Life via JamesPackWriter. Ooh, I like this advice.

The  New Years Day Reflections of John Quincy Adams via shannonselin. Some of you might chuckle at this, but I’ve never really thought about what people thought about New Years Day in the past. Have you?

How to Prepare for a New Year of Blogging. There was a lot of excellent advice here. This is the perfect time of year to, take inventory of what is or isn’t working, make any necessary changes, and possibly even revamp your blog in general.

Five Reasons Your New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Stick, and How to Make This Year Different via DrJanaScrivani. I especially liked point #2.

From New Year:

The old Year is going. I am yet in the old year. I don’t want to let her go.

“Hi Buddies. I am going. Stop loving me. A new year is coming for you. She will take care of you.”

“I want you. You are very lovely. I flourished to so much in this year. I don’t know, how the New Year will be for me. I want you to stay.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

From The New Year Is the Oldest Thing – Inside Philadelphia’s Mummer Parade :

The parade occupies a weird position,” one of the Vaudevillains’ captains, Adam Leeds, told me afterward. “On one hand it’s a citywide parade, and it’s on New Year’s Day, which is an important day, but on the other hand, it’s also the parade of a specific set of neighborhoods and a specific set of ethnicities in South Philly, and those neighborhoods are continually changing. It needs to change. It needs to include more kinds of Philadelphians.”

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