August 17, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Where Would You Spend One Day in the Past?

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

A painting of a Neanderthal family enjoying a fire on a prehistoric plain as a mammoth walks by. Anyone who has participated in the Wednesday Weekly Blog Challenge or who has followed this blog for a few years will probably not be surprised by this answer at all.

If I could visit the past for one day, I’d want to spend it with a Neanderthal family. Ideally, we’d get to see some mammoths and other now-extinct species walking past us in the distance, too!

I’ve been fascinated by prehistory and Neanderthals in particular since I was a kid. You can learn a lot about someone by studying their skeletons and the artifacts they leave behind, but there are many facts that can never be preserved that way.

I’d want to know so many things about them: what language(s) they spoke, what names they gave to their children and why, which forms of entertainment they enjoyed in their free time, how any myths they had might be similar to or different from today’s myths, why they thought their ancestors moved to Europe and some parts of Asia from Africa, what religious and cultural beliefs they might have had that were different from ours, why they died out, and so much more.

(Yes, I am assuming that I’d have a universal translator or something that would facilitate communication between us. Even if they somehow spoke the same languages that Homo sapiens did, it surely would still need to be translated as nobody knows what those languages might have sounded like!)

It would be a dream come true to get to know them better for a day.

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August 16, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Love That Were Written Over Ten Years Ago


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A circular assortment of books on shelves. Sometimes I’ve had to expand Top Ten Tuesday topics a little in order to come up with decent answers for them. Today I’m going to contract my options down to books written between the years of 2000 and 2012.

You see, this is one of those topics that I could start an entirely new blog about and instantly have years worth of material to choose from. I regularly read books that were written last week as well as ones that were written a few hundred years ago.

Memorable stories come in all shapes and sizes and can be found in any period of time in my experience.

So let’s look at some books that were written in this century that I enjoyed!

he Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold book cover. Image on cover shows a charm bracelet with only one charm on it. The charm is in the shape of a house.

1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

 

w Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See book cover. Image on cover shows a young woman holding a closed fan in front of her lips as if to make a shushing motion.

2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

 

omics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt book cover. Image on cover shows an apple that has one slice missing. The slice shows that the inside of the apple is actually an orange.

3. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt

 

and Crake (MaddAddam, #1) by Margaret Atwood book cover. Image on cover shows flowers and leaves superimposed over the head of a young woman who looks a little frightened.

4. Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1) by Margaret Atwood

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon book cover. Image on cover shows a black upside down dog against a red backdrop.

5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

 

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan book cover. Image on cover shows grapes, an egg, and a few old pieces of pottery sitting together.

6. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

 

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver book cover. Image on cover shows a photo of a woman from the top of her head. Her eyes and nose are in view but her mouth is not. She looks pensive.

7. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

 

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein book cover. Image on cover shows a golden retriever looking off into the distance calmly.

8. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

 

oraline by Neil Gaiman book cover. The title is in a flowery silver script against a black background. There are no images on the cover, only a blurb about how scary it is.

9. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

 

ver Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro book cover. Image on cover shows a close-up of the face of a woman who is looking up with a concerned expression on her face.

10. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

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August 15, 2022 · 1:00 am

A Photo Essay In Memoriam of a Tree

A tree with a damaged trunk. It’s branches are straight and covered with green leaves. From February of 2020 to January of 2021, I published a series of posts showing what one of Toronto’s parks looked like in every month of the year. Click on February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December and January to read those posts.

Two of the trees in that park had been badly damaged in an ice storm in late 2019 or early 2020, and I chronicled their response to losing branches and having their trunks damaged in my early posts. In May of 2021, I shared an update on them. One seemed to recover pretty nicely while the other was deteriorating.

I am both sorry and relieved to tell you all that as of the end of July 2022, the tree that never recovered was cut down by the city.

Here is a photo of that tree in June of 2020. Even from some distance away you can see the massive wound on it’s trunk from where at least one large branch was torn away. I am not a botanist or an arborist, but it otherwise looked good in 2020. It still had most of its branches, and they stood up straight and firm.

For the sake of comparison, here is a photo from May of 2020 that shows many branches it lost. I’d guess it was about a third of them.

A large tree that has a massive branch lying on the ground. It’s probably about a third of the size of the tree’s other branches.

In retrospect, I wonder if the tree was sick before this storm. You often see small branches torn off during storms, but generally not such large ones in healthy specimens.

A large tree that has huge cracks in it’s damaged trunk.

In August of 2020, a large crack began to form in the trunk.

A tree with a large hole in its trunk. The branches have begun to bend downwards. it looks very unhealthy.

 

A month later, the remaining branches began to bend. I no longer felt safe walking underneath it and took all of my future photos by zooming in from a safe distance. Many of those branches were big enough to kill you if they fell on you.

A tree that has a large, dangerous hole in the trunk and drooping branches. the leaves have begun to change colour for the autumn.

 

It’s hard to see in this photo, but by October of 2020 the damaged portion of the trunk began to look wet and like something stringy was growing in it. Maybe it was some sort of mould or moss? I quietly observed from a distance, but things were not looking good.

Zoomed-in photo of a deeply cracked and mossy trunk.

Here’s a zoomed-in photo of it from 2021. It’s hard to see, but it looked pretty bad in person.

The  deterioration continued from there slowly but steadily each month.

A sickly, large tree with many drooping branches.

The tree did sprout new leaves in 2021, but they were noticeably more sparse than they had been in previous years. The branches began drooping more heavily as well.

An arm-sized branch that has fallen from a tree.

2021 was the year when branches began falling from the tree over and over again. I’d held out hope that it would recover in 2020, but by last year I was seeing more and more signs that it may not.

A tree stump covered in sawdust.

As of late last month, a stump and some sawdust is all that remains of that beautiful tree.

Yes, this was a good decision. The danger it posed to visitors to the park was growing stronger with each passing month, especially for anyone walking near it on a windy day.

With that being said, I will still miss hearing the wind rustle its branches and the shade it provided on hot days. When it was healthy, its branches were so large they even provided shade for the picnic table you can see in the distance of one of the above photos which is kind of amazing when you consider how small trees are at the beginning of their lives.

I wish it could have survived. May it Rest In Peace.

 

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August 11, 2022 · 1:00 am

Hidden in Plain Sight: A Review of A Terrifying Fact About Ants

A Terrifying Fact About Ants - Science Fiction Short Story by Adam Leon book cover. Image on cover shows a colony of ants crawling on each other and on some red soil. Title: A Terrifying Fact About Ants – Science Fiction Short Story

Author: Adam Leon

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: March 11, 2022

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Horror, Contemporary

Length: 24 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Review:

“I discovered a strange relation between ants and another fascinating insect; spiders. Specifically, the Myrmarachne formicaria; the spider that looks exactly like an ant that was discovered by researchers back in 2001.

How strange it must have been to be the researcher suddenly noticing their colony of ants becoming cannibalistic. The Myrmarachne formicaria’s evolutionary convergence had the primary purpose of mimicking their prey to allow the creature to invade anthills without being attacked, allowing the creature to burrow deep into their homes and devour the larvae of their undeveloped children, and then walking away as if nothing ever happened. Terrifying, yet unbelievably fascinating.

Not only would the spider have to evolve to look exactly like the ant, but the species would also have to understand the simple psychology of ants, matching pheromones, behaviors, antennae communication etc. just to pull off this horrifying heist. How could random evolution be responsible for such deliberate manipulative complex action?

Of course, in recent years, it’s been understood that the Myrmarachne formicaria is not alone in its formation, countless other spider species have mimicked ants so well that researchers were only able to recently discover their existence through the use of DNA testing.

I started to wonder if a similar case could be applicable to human beings. Are there people among us who are not people? Are there psychological manipulators camouflaged as their prey so expertly, for the sole purpose of devouring our young and bleeding the public dry as if we were nothing more than livestock? And I’m not just talking about politicians here.

Be careful who you trust.

I have two quick notes to share about this short story before I jump into my review. First, be sure to read the introduction. It contains some important information that readers will need in order to understand what’s happening. Second, I also wanted to mention that the original Spanish version of this story is happily included in this version, too, for readers who understand that language.

Antonio, the protagonist, and John, the gringo who had recently moved to the area, had a relationship that made me chuckle. Both of these individuals made assumptions about each other that may not have been as accurate as they assumed. I was also amused by how Antonio’s gentle and trusting personality was matched by John’s fierce independence and unwillingness to trust anyone with even the smallest scraps of information about his life until he’d known them for a long time.

The implications of what John had to say about why he left the Anglo world for such a remote Hispanic community were chilling, but I found myself wishing he’d shared more details about what his life had been like before the events that drove him so far away from his original home. I’m saying this as someone who loves analogies and solving the riddles authors sometimes share in their works. It simply would have been easier for me to emotionally connect with John if I knew some basic details about his past like the names of his loved ones or the precise location of English-speaking country he’d left behind.

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that explored the cultural differences between Antonio and John. For example, John thought he should pay for help by the hour while Antonio thought it made more sense to pay by the task so that workers would finish the job as soon as they could. These sorts of cultural misunderstandings can lead to all sorts of amusing miscommunications that work so well in otherwise serious works like this one. The fact that their personalities were also so different from each other as I mentioned earlier only made this aspect of it even more memorable. They had so little in common, and yet I loved seeing how both of them worked together as John built up the courage to share a small sliver of his past.

A Terrifying Fact About Ants made me shudder.

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August 10, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Thoughts on Fan Fiction

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

A woman dressed in chainmail, leather, and wool. She’s holding a funky wooden staff and appears to be dressed as a fantasy character. When I was a teenager, I wrote a little bit of fan fiction for a couple of my favourite worlds (Narnia and the prehistoric world set in Jean M. Auel’s Earth’s Children series that I’ve talked about here so often, if you’re curious).  I never finished any of it and it doesn’t exist anymore so far as I know, but I had a wonderful time playing around with characters and settings I knew so well.

I’ve read far more fan fiction than I’ve written. The quality of it varied depending on the skill of the person writing it, of course, but that’s true for any form of storytelling. I’m interested in experiencing fabulous stories no matter where they come from: fan fiction, self-published books, hybrid-published books, traditionally-published books, tv shows, films, music, or spooky stories told around a campfire.

To me, fan fiction is a hobby that may sharpen your writing, communication, and critical thinking skills if you write and/or read high quality material. I’d compare it to cosplay or role playing a character for Dungeons and Dragons in that you get what you put into it and there are so many different ways to enjoy it.

Some people adore it and do it regularly. Other folks are like me and have dabbled in it. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who have zero interest in this stuff, and that’s perfectly okay, too.

Hobbies make life more enjoyable. Of course I encourage everyone to follow their interests no matter how young or old you are. Life is too short to be serious all of the time or to worry what others think about what makes you happy.  For some folks, chasing happiness includes doing things like dressing up in fun costumes or making up stories about your favourite characters. I say more power to them!

 

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August 9, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Hilarious Book Titles


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Two women laughing while reading books. One has a book on top of her head. This is one of those topics I could talk about forever! Isn’t it wonderful to chuckle when you read the title of a book?

I like to collect hilarious book titles as I search for new books to read.

There are some quite clever ones out there. The more you find, the easier it is to discover even more of them in my experience.

Here are just a few of the ones I’ve discovered. Yes, I’m sure a couple of them are probably repeats from previous TTT topics, but why not giggle at them again?

The only one I’ve read so far is How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming. It was an informative, interesting, and sometimes funny read.

1. How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain

2. Everything I Needed to Know about Women I Learned by Reading Twilight: A Vampire’s Guide to Eternal Love by Jim Lee

3. You Don’t Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps (J. W. Wells & Co., #4) by Tom Holt

4. This book cover and title have nothing to do with this book. by Jarod Kintz

5. How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown

6. Hello Kitty Must Die by Angela S. Choi

7. Nibbled to Death by Ducks by Robert Wright Campbell

8. My Ass Is Haunted By The Gay Unicorn Colonel by Chuck Tingle

9. How to Defeat Your Own Clone and Other Tips for Surviving the Biotech Revolution by Kyle Kurpinski

10. Surviving Your Stupid Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School by Adam Ruben

 

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August 4, 2022 · 1:00 am

In the Deep Depths of the Ocean: A Review of Aegan and the Sunken City

Aegan and the Sunken City by D.G. Redd book cover. Image on cover shows an anchor falling through the ocean and about to touch the ocean floor. Title: Aegan and the Sunken City

Author: D.G. Redd

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 26, 2021

Genres: Science Fiction, Futuristic

Length: 17 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

The Cartographers have announced that the Triton will drift over an old city. Aegan finds himself lucky enough to be ready to drop in his deep-dive submersible, the Argo, and scavenge for riches. If he can collect enough salvage, he can buy his way into the upper-decks, to the levels of peace and quiet. For now though, he’ll need to make do with the solitude of his boat as he slowly descends to the sunken city.

Review:

Content Warning: sea monster. I will discuss it in this review.

The ocean is only as trustworthy as who or what is swimming around in it.

Morally ambiguous characters are so interesting to read about, especially when they’re as personable as Aegan was. Would I trust him with my credit card? No, but I would love to sit down to dinner with him and hear some of the stories he could tell about the slippery and sometimes downright illegal things he’s done in order to survive. There is no doubt in my mind that he’d have a few acts of heroism to throw in there as well. He excelled at bending and even breaking the law, but he never struck me as a cruel man. He was simply someone who was trying to game an unfair system in order to make his own life easier.

I would have liked to see more time spent describing the sea monster and it’s intentions. Yes, Aegan was used to such distractions, but this reader was not! It was hard for me to picture what it looked like or why it was so interested in Aegean’s vessel in the first scene. I was also surprised by how the plot veered away after that moment, so having a more detailed description of why the author went in that direction would have been helpful as well. This is a minor criticism of something I otherwise enjoyed quite a bit.

The world building was nicely handled. While the author didn’t have a great deal of time to go into detail, he shared enough information about how global warming changed the sea levels and human society to keep me interested and eager to find out what else had changed between our present and this nebulous time in the future. This is the sort of thing I’m happy to wait around for so long as I have a basic understanding of how e everything works, and that was definitely provided here.

This is part of a series but works perfectly well as a standalone work.

Aegan and the Sunken City piqued my curiosity for more.

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August 3, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Weirdest Food You Love

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

About a dozen kohlrabi’s sitting on top of each other. They are whole and unwashed. I’m bending the rules this week and giving two answers to the prompt because I know we’ve had at least one vegetarian participate in the past. I don’t want to make them read about something that might bother them.

My Vegetarian Answer: Kohlrabi. Sometimes it’s also known as a German Turnip. The flesh of this vegetable is white and looks and feels like a lot like a radish. The taste is quite mild and delicious, though. My grandmother grows them in her garden and serves them as a snack on their own or sometimes sliced and then put on a piece of buttered bread just like you would with radish slices.

My Non-Vegetarian Answer: Frog legs. I grew up in a rural part of North America where people ate such things at home as well as in local restaurants! It’s definitely an acquired and gamey taste, but I sure liked it when I was a kid.

I do not think my answers are actually that unusual, but we’ll see what the rest of you have to say in your posts!

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August 2, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in a Place I’d Love to Visit


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A brown suitcase covered in stamps and stickers from various tourist destinations like Hawaii and Los Angeles. Prince Edward Island and Hawaii are two places I’d love to visit. I discussed the former last month, so this post will be dedicated to the latter.

Why did I pick Hawaii? Well, it’s climate is much warmer and sunnier than the places I’ve lived in my life (at least during the winter).

When Ontario is in the depths of January and the clouds haven’t parted in weeks, I dream of going somewhere that has a bright blue sky and is not covered in ice and snow.

I’d also love to learn more about the cultures of the people who originally inhabited the Hawaiian islands. I know so little about them at the moment. Do speak up if you know if any other good books on this topic.

Moloka'i (Moloka'i, #1) by Alan Brennert book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a Hawaiian woman’s face covered partially by flowers.

1. Moloka’i (Moloka’i, #1) by Alan Brennert

 

Blu's Hanging by Lois-Ann Yamanaka book cover. Image on cover shows a painting of a black cat sitting underneath laundry drying on a laundry cord outside at dusk.

2. Blu’s Hanging by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

 

ild Meat and the Bully Burgers by Lois-Ann Yamanaka Book oover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a stylized spotted leopard-like creature surrounded by celestial bodies like the sun.

3. Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

 

The Aloha Spirit by Linda Ulleseit book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a ship releasing black smoke by an Hawaiian island covered in palm trees and ferns.

4. The Aloha Spirit by Linda Ulleseit

 

nfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell book cover. Image on cover shows painting of Hawaiians sitting underneath tree as white man stands looking down upon them.

5. Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

 

This Is Paradise: Stories by Kristiana Kahakauwila Book cover. Image on cover shows silhoutte of plastic dancing Hawaiian girl on a car’s dashboard as it drives on a glowing red city street at night.

6. This Is Paradise: Stories by Kristiana Kahakauwila

 

he Legends and Myths of Hawai'i by David Kalākaua Book cover. Image on cover shows a painting of a Hawaiian man in English military gear. He looks high ranking?!

7. The Legends and Myths of Hawai’i by David Kalākaua

 

 

No Footprints in the Sand: A Memoir of Kalaupapa by Henry Nalaielua book cover. Image on cover shows photo of young boy in white hospital uniform crossing his arms at a leprosy hospital. Upper photo shows him as a healthy senior citizen.

8. No Footprints in the Sand: A Memoir of Kalaupapa by Henry Nalaielua

 

Story by Hawaii's Queen by Liliuokalani book cover. Image on cover shows photo of Hawaiian queen and the English building where she lived.

9. Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen by Liliuokalani

 

Hawaii by James A. Michener book cover. Image on cover shows six Hawaiians paddling together in the same boat in the ocean at sunset.

10. Hawaii by James A. Michener

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July 28, 2022 · 1:00 am

Mending Fences: A Review of A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers book cover. Image on cover is a close-up painting of a covered wagon travelling through a forest. Title: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Author: Becky Chambers

Publisher: Tor Books

Publication Date: July 12, 2022

Genres: Science Fiction, Utopia

Length: 160 pages

Source: I borrowed it from my local library.

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home.

They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers’s new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

Review:

Content Warning: Theology and religion, but they share little in common with any theologies or religions of our world. I will discuss these topics in my review.

What could be more cozy or wholesome than a Tea Monk and a robot going on a road trip in a utopian world?

I am once again going to need to tread carefully in my review in order to avoid spoilers, but I did want to talk about the theological discussions and religious practices in this universe. Ms. Chambers created such a gentle framework for those beliefs that I was quickly able to relax and follow the characters’ thought processes as they compared beliefs and asked intelligent questions of those who disagreed with them. You should know that Sibling Dex loves and accepts everyone. Their beliefs are sacred to them, but they would never use them against those who have other beliefs or no beliefs at all. Don’t be nervous about reading this if you’re like me and generally avoid stories about religion or theology based on previous negative experiences with those topics in our world. It was important part of the plot for sure, but there wasn’t a single ounce of unkindness in Sibling Dex’s worldview.

My review of A Psalm for the Wild-Built gently criticized the loose plot structure of that book. I’m happy to report that the plot was thicker in this one. Yes, it retained it’s meandering philosophical and religious discussions that are so important to Sibling Dex and Mosscap’s character development, but they faced more conflicts and obstacles to their goals this time around as well. It was fascinating to me to see how they handled abrupt changes to their travelling plans and interactions with other living things that didn’t always go as predicted. This was exactly what they both needed to in order to show the audience how they’d changed as a result as their earlier adventures.

It was exciting to see how the world building was expanded. I finally learned more about how the villages and cities in this world are connected to each other and what their relationships with one another are like. Yes, I wanted to dive even deeper into this topic, but it made sense to stop where we did. I mean, it’s not like I welcome friends to Canada by going on a long monologue about my country’s history, culture, or social customs before asking if they want to try poutine. The important parts are shared as they come up in conversation, so it made total sense for the author to do the same here.

The character development was once again handled beautifully. Sibling Dex and Mosscap changed in all sorts of interesting ways as a result of their journey and their friendship. I chuckled as their assumptions about what humans or robots should be like occasionally bumped up against realities that bore little resemblance to what either of these individuals thought was going to happen. While I did find myself wishing the last scene had been given a little more time to flourish, I’m betting that it was written that way on purpose in order to set up whatever comes next.

This is the second instalment in the Monk & Robot series. I strongly recommend reading it all in order as there were several important scenes in A Psalm for the Wild-Built that are critical to understanding the character development.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy made me yearn for more.

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