February 23, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Something New You Learned Last Year

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Salted almonds in a white bowlClick here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

Last year I learned some new tricks that helped me avoid fainting after receiving vaccinations. My body has never liked needles, so I have a long history of swooning like an nineteenth-century heiress whenever I need a blood test or an injection.

Honestly, swooning is only amusing in historical romance novels. In real life, it’s a little frightening and embarrassing, especially when you feel like it’s out of your control.

Here are the steps I took to avoid that fate this time around.

I can’t guarantee they will work for you or that they will work every time, but they’re certainly worth a shot (so to speak) if you’re also a fainter:

  • Have a snack and something to drink beforehand. If caffeine is something you imbibe, this will work even better. If you can’t or don’t drink caffeinated beverages, consider picking something a little sugary or salty if you can eat those things.
  • Ignore any embarrassment you might feel and talk openly about your history of fainting with the medical professional. They might have additional suggestions!
  • Lie down if at all possible. If you must sit, try to have a kind friend or relative standing nearby to catch you.
  • Relax all of the muscles in your arm (or whenever you’re about to feel the poke) to help reduce the pain.
  • Breathe slowly and deeply.
  • Focus your gaze on something in the opposite direction of the needle.
  • Clench your stomach muscles as the needle enters your arm.
  • Have another snack or drink as soon as you can after the procedure.

Basically, you want to be well-hydrated, relaxed, and distracted. The snack can help keep your blood sugar and blood pressure at steady, acceptable levels.  I suspect the stomach clenching idea works because it provides yet another distraction.

There’s something about the combination of all of these things that makes it easier to avoid passing out.

 

 

 

 

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February 22, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Dynamic Duos

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Two identical windows in the side of a building. Each window is comprised of eight small panes. The bottom left pane of glass on the right window is opened. All others are closed. This week’s prompt made me pause and think for a little while. My first reaction to it was that I don’t read many books with dynamic duos, but I think that impression wasn’t entirely correct now that I’ve had a chance to ponder it further and dig deeply into my bookish past.

Here are some of my favourite duos in fiction.

1. Sam and Frodo in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. Travis and Old Yeller in Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

3. George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

4.   Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

There weren’t many of them, and oddly enough they were all about white men (or hobbits). I’ll be eagerly reading all of your answers to diversify my list as I hadn’t realized I had this blind spot!

Honestly, I think being able to pick each other’s minds like that and expand all of our horizons is one of the best parts of Top Ten Tuesday.

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February 17, 2022 · 1:00 am

Big Dreams to Achieve: A Review of Oli the Old Owl

Oli the Old Owl by Lee Keene book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a young boy standing in a forest behind two houses. He’s looking at an owl that’s sitting in a tree whose leaves are gone. It’s winter and snow covers the ground. Title: Oli the Old Owl

Author: Lee Keene

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: October 29, 2021

Genres: Children’s, Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: 10 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

A story of loneliness and fantasy.

Imagination transmogrifying into Reality!

A secret memory that only the little boy will know!

A quaint memory that will stay with the little Sanford.

The Winter of 1998.

December.

Manchester, Tennessee.

7-year old Sanford ambles about….

An active imagination that takes him far and wide!

Questions for which physically, he will probably never get answers to……probably.

Could Sanford encounter a woeful creature with thoughts and abilities to share?

His imagination leads him amongst the bucolic grounds of Coffee County…..

Stories of the Old Owl, who woefully wasted his life, while wishing and thinking.

This Old Owl named Oli.

Oli hides high amongst the trees.

His fears have bedeviled him, and crushed his vim and vigor.

Oli wanted something that very few will achieve, but refused to change.

His insecurity enwreathed him mentally, and would not leave him!

How long can Oli hide?

If Sanford and Oli were to meet, what thoughts might transmogrify?

Review:

Winter is the perfect time to reflect on the past.

I admired the author’s willingness to experiment with children’s fiction. Just about every other book I’ve ever seen that was written for this age groups was a picture book, but this one contained no pictures at all other than the one illustrating the cover. It was also fascinating to meet a character who had not achieved the goal he set so many years before. Stories written for this age groups usually show characters succeeding at whatever they put their minds to do even if they have to fail a few times in the process. These were only two of the ways in which the author purposefully broke the rules, and I found his choices intriguing and refreshing. There is definitely something to be said for modelling emotionally healthy ways to fail to such a young audience.

There wasn’t a great deal of plot development or conflict in this tale. Sanford and Oli spent a great deal of time talking about their feelings and comparing Sanford’s plans for his life with Oli’s disappointment at how things had turned out in his own life. As much as I appreciated seeing male characters talk about their feelings so openly and freely, I did find myself feeling restless with how slowly everything was turning out. It would have been helpful if these two characters had faced an obstacle either together or separately that reinforced their earlier conversations. When combined with the lack of pictures, the slow pace would make me reluctant to read this to young children who haven’t recently dealt with a failure of some kind.

The fantasy elements of the plot were subtle and gentle. They made it all feel like a fable at times, although it didn’t actually seem to be based on any pre-existing fables or legends so far as I could tell. This pattern repeated itself with the handful of Christmas references that were thrown into the storyline but never expounded upon. While this wasn’t a Christmas story per se, it also reminded me of the many different types of tales that are told during and about that season. There is definitely something to be said for leaving so much room up for interpretation as this was something I could see myself recommending to people who don’t celebrate Christmas or generally read the fantasy genre. The little hints of those elements were enough to appeal to those of us who enjoy reading about such topics  but not so much as to dissuade other audiences from giving it a try in my opinion.

Oli the Old Owl was a thought-provoking read.

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February 16, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favourite Book Genre and Why

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 stack of about a dozen books sitting next to a white wall. All of the book’s spines are facing away from the viewer so we don’t know their topics or authors. The best I could do was to narrow my answer to this week’s prompt down to two different answers.

I’ve loved the speculative fiction genre since I was a little kid. Whether it was paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, or something similar to one of these categories, I adore stories about things that aren’t actually possible in our world.

Some of the oldest speculative fiction stories out there have predicted things like travelling to the moon or cell phones that were the stuff of dreams during their eras but are now perfectly possible and even ordinary in certain cases.

On the other side of the spectrum, I’ve grown to love nonfiction as an adult.

Biographies and memoirs give us intimate glimpses into the lives of others and often include insight into how they surmounted even the most difficult circumstances.

History class was often a little boring when I was a kid, so it was thrilling to grow up and learn about the many historical figures and events that my teachers either never talked about at all or only went into scantest details about before moving on to yet another war or royal dynasty. (Kudos to those of you who enjoy reading about royalty and/or war, of course! They’re simply not my cup of tea).

I try to keep Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge posts brief, so I’ll only mention one other type of nonfiction that excites me. It’s marvellous to learn about new scientific discoveries and advancements in any number of fields as well.

Sometimes books are written about archeological discoveries, medical advancements, or distant celestial bodies that we’re still gathering information about. Occasionally, a scientist might write an entire book about a species like eels or earthworms that we’ve recently discovered a whole bunch of fascinating information about.

I devour all of these these books with gusto. The real world can be just as filled with wonder and excitement as any imaginary one in a faraway magical land  if you pay close attention!

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February 15, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Too Good to Review Properly

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

 

A dog wearing glasses and looking happy while lying on a white bed next to an opened book.

This isn’t my dog, but don’t they look happy?

My comments on certain blogs do not seem to be going through for reasons I haven’t been able to ascertain. If you don’t see reciprocal comments on your site, that is why. I am doing my best each week to say hello to everyone! 

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, it’s rare for me to love a book so much that I can’t review it properly.

I’ve been reviewing books for so many years now that I can write my way out of nearly any dilemma, from figuring out diplomatic ways to word constructive criticisms to gushing about a story for paragraphs on end without giving away any important plot twists.

There are a myriad of ways to discuss most books with kindness and without spoilers.

With that being said, there has been one recent exception to this rule.

It’s a novella I’ve wholeheartedly recommended to everyone I know who has ever so much as glanced in the direction of speculative fiction.

The storytelling was so tightly woven that I didn’t even mind the fact that it seems to be the beginning of a serial.

Normally, I strictly avoid tales that drop off at exciting moments and make you wait for the next instalment to see what happens next.

This one figured out how to pack so much world building and character development into the first instalment that I don’t mind waiting for the sequel, especially since it has had such a hopeful vision of what humanity’s future might look like.

“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers couldn’t have been better.

“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers Book cover. Image on cover shows a robot and some machines in a drawing of a winding road.

I adored the protagonist, a non-binary tea monk who was so restless and dissatisfied with their life they decided to leave the safe zone where humans had lived for generations to see what they might find in the wild forests that covered all of the places humanity had abandoned.

The world they lived in was such a safe, harmonious place. There was no more war or environmental destruction. Everyone lived simply and no one went without what they needed to survive.

I spent the entire novella wondering what the main character would find on their journey. I yearned for it to be something wonderful that they could bring back to show everyone.

There are so many other things I wish I could say about this novella, but I really do have to be careful about giving away thrilling plot twists to anyone who hasn’t read it yet.

Maybe someday soon I’ll figure out a way to discuss this short work in greater detail and properly review it before the sequel comes out this summer!

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February 10, 2022 · 1:00 am

Small Town Secrets: A Review of Haunted Love

Book cover for “Haunted Love” by Cynthia Leitich Smith. Image on cover shows a ticket with the words “Admit One” printed on it. The ticket is bathed in blood-red light. Title: Haunted Love

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publication Date: December 13, 2011

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: 33 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Spirit, Texas, is a town of secrets, and as the new owner of the local haunted movie theater, Cody Stryker is juggling more than his fair share. When a mysterious new girl comes to town and runs afoul of the ghost that lives in his theater, Cody’s caught in the middle and needs to figure out exactly who he can trust. HAUNTED LOVE is a short story by New York Times Bestseller Cynthia Leitich Smith— set in the same dark universe as her novels TANTALIZE, ETERNAL, and BLESSED. This story includes a sneak preview of Cynthia Leitich Smith’s latest novel, DIABOLICAL, which unites characters from the previous three novels in the Tantalize Series along with a fascinating cast of all-new characters for a suspenseful, action-packed clash between the forces of heaven and hell.

Review:

Content Warning: Child abuse and murder. I will not be discussing these topics in my review.

Honestly, who wouldn’t want a beautiful old movie theatre to be revived by a new owner?

This tale was filled with creative plot twists. One of the things I liked the most about it was seeing how the author played around with the audience’s expectations as well as the tropes of paranormal vampiric romances. She was clearly well-versed in this genre and knew exactly how to acknowledge the reader’s expectations without necessarily giving us what we were expecting. That’s definitely something to take note of as I haven’t found a lot of authors who are willing to bend things quite as far as she does. Her flexibility made me curious to see what else she has up her sleeves.

There was very little character development in this story. Not only would I struggle to describe how the protagonist changed as a result of his experiences, it would also be difficult for me to talk about what his personality was like in general. I couldn’t even say if he were a shy or outgoing guy, much less anything deeper about who he was or what made him tick. This made it hard to connect with him and even more difficult to get to know the secondary characters who had even fewer opportunities to display their personalities and interests. Figuring these things out was crucial for understanding certain surprises later on, so this truly was a missed opportunity to help the audience bond with the characters and notice when certain individuals didn’t seem like themselves.

I was intrigued by the world building. Spirit, Texas was described as a place that seemed to have a lot of secrets. It was fascinating to begin to piece together who was aware of which secret, and there was still so much work left to be done here by the time I finished the final scene. Still, I was satisfied with what I’d learned about this little town while also intrigued by all of the hints that had been dropped but never pieced together in a way that made sense for all of them.

Haunted Love was an inventive pick for anyone who doesn’t mind a little spookiness in their romance.

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February 9, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Ways to Show Someone You Love Them

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

A red heart that’s been affixed to the other side of a windowpane that’s foggy and covered with rain. 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.

My comments on certain blogs do not seem to be going through for reasons I haven’t been able to ascertain. If you don’t see reciprocal comments on your site, that is why. I am doing my best each week to say hello to everyone! 

There are so many different ways to show someone you love them!

Here are a a few of my personal favourites. All of them are assuming that the person in question actually enjoys these things, so do tweak them as needed if, say, the people in your life prefer going to a basketball game to taking a hike or would be embarrassed if you praised them in front of other people!

 

  • Stop and truly listen to what they’re saying.
  • Cook or bake something you know they love.
  • Fix their broken cell phone (or leaky faucet, or squeaky door, or anything else you might know how to fix).
  • Change the oil in their vehicle for them.
  • Take them on a nature walk and picnic.
  • Compliment them on something you generally don’t think to mention.
  • Give them a big, warm hug.
  • Send them a funny Internet meme, article, or video about a topic they love.
  • Surprise them with a few uninterrupted hours of your time, and let them decide how you’ll spend those hours together.
  • Tell a heartwarming story about something wonderful they said or did.
  • Invite them out for coffee and a donut.

As an added bonus, most of these ideas are either very inexpensive or won’t cost you a single penny.

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February 8, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Helpful Nonfiction Books About Relationships

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

 

Rose petals being shot through the air in the shape of a few different hearts. This is happening in a desert area. Happy early Valentine’s Day to everyone to celebrates it!

I do not celebrate Valentine’s Day, but I do have a short list of helpful nonfiction books about creating better relationships, whether they’re with friends, romantic partners, family members, or other people you know.

Yes, some of the information in some of them is specifically written for certain types of relationships like a romance or dealing with a pushy mother-in-law, but the principles in them can be applied to many other situations as well.

Some of these books were written for specific groups like Christians or people who are polyamorous. I encourage you to check them all out even if those specific labels don’t apply to you. Just like with the different types of relationships, there are far more similarities between these groups than you might originally think. We’re all human, after all!

I mean, every relationship should include things like clear communication, setting boundaries, compromising, kindly handling conflict, and giving/receiving emotional support no matter who you are, how you identify, or whether the person you’d like to get along with better is your spouse, best friend, mother-in-law, or coworker.

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman book cover. Image on cover shows a couple embracing on a beach as the sun sets behind them.

1. The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman

What I Like About It: Not everyone values the same methods of showing affection. I think there’s something to be said for figuring out what makes people feel appreciated and doing those things as much as you can.

 

Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud book cover. Image on cover shows a red pencil drawing a line on a plain white sheet of paper.

2. Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud

What I Like About It: Setting boundaries can be tricky for me sometimes, but it’s important for every type of relationship. This book is filled with examples of how to figure out what you can offer someone and how to say no to the rest. It was also cool to see what specific phrases they recommended for people who have trouble saying no.

 

The Polyamory Breakup Book: Causes, Prevention, and Survival by Kathy Labriola, Dossie Easton book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of a gold leaf on a blue plant.

3. The Polyamory Breakup Book: Causes, Prevention, and Survival by Kathy Labriola, Dossie Easton

What I Like About It: I believe that we should all be methodical about who we invite into our inner circles and move slowly when dating, making new friends, or even deciding where we’d like to work (if possible).  This book goes beyond picking out red flags for more obvious things like abuse and encourages the audience to figure out exactly what we want out of all of our relationships and who we are (and aren’t) compatible with.

You can prevent a lot of heartache if you move slowly in the beginning of any sort of relationship and pay close attention to how you are (or aren’t) matching up with your potential romantic parter or friend.

I also loved what it had to say about gracefully ending relationships that aren’t working for whatever reason. There’s no need to demonize anyone if you find that you’re not actually compatible with them. Some relationships simply weren’t meant to last, and that’s okay.

 

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love by Amir Levine book cover. Image on cover shows two magnets being drawn to each other.

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

What I Like About It: While attachment styles can be changed with time and hard work, they are part of figuring out compatibility for many different types of relationships and learning how to communicate better.

For example, I tend to have a bit of an anxious attachment style, so I know that people with avoidant attachment styles are not a good fit for me at all. (Although I do wish them the best!)

 

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman book cover. There is no image on this cover. It’s just blue and red background.

 

5. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman

What I Like About It: Emotional intelligence matters in every sort of relationship we have as human beings. There are ways to approach difficult subjects that can make it much easier to discuss and hopefully resolve. A harsh phrasing of the same sentiment might lead to nothing but an argument that goes nowhere.

Which books would all of you add to this list?

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February 3, 2022 · 1:00 am

You’d Better Run Faster – A Review of Small Spaces

Book cover for Small Spaces by Katherine Arden. Image on cover shows a silhouette of a scarecrow and a sign that says “Small Spaces” in front of a yellow school bus that’s parked at dusk. Title: Small Spaces

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher:  Puffin Books

Publication Date: July 9, 2019

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Horror, Contemporary

Length: 256 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie who only finds solace in books discovers a chilling ghost story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man”—a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.
     Captivated by the tale, Ollie begins to wonder if the smiling man might be real when she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about on a school trip to a nearby farm. Then, later, when her school bus breaks down on the ride home, the strange bus driver tells Ollie and her classmates: “Best get moving. At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.” Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie’s previously broken digital wristwatch begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.
     Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed these warnings. As the trio head out into the woods—bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them—the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.”
     And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

Review:

Content Warning: Bullying, grief, depression, and death of a parent. I will briefly mention mental health and the death of a parent in my review.

It’s never too late to try again.

One of my favourite things about this tale was how it played around with certain stereotypes about gender roles and race. All of the characters were well-rounded people whose interests were not necessarily constrained by what others assumed someone of their sex or race would be into. Even characters who seemed to fit the mould at first glance were filled with wonderful surprises once I got to know them better. What made this even better was how natural it felt for them and their storylines. They simply were who they were without pretence. That’s exactly the sort of stuff I want to read about!

I would have liked to see more attention paid to the ending. The author was working with so many different plot points that she unfortunately didn’t seem to have quite enough time to wrap everything up satisfactorily for this reader. I know this is the beginning of a series, so I’m hoping that the sequels will dive much more deeply into the sudden death of Ollie’s mother and how Ollie’s mental health has fared since that tragedy. Her grief was explored thoroughly. If everything else had been given the same treatment, I would have gone with a five star rating as I deeply enjoyed it in general.

The storyline was filled with twists and turns that made me smile. I especially appreciated how the author included the horror genre without making anything gory or gross. The mere thought of being chased by scarecrows for reasons still unknown to the audience until much later in the plot was enough to make me shudder! This is the sort of psychological horror I’m irresistibly drawn to,  and it’s a fantastic introduction to the genre for anyone who might not have given it a try before.

Small Spaces was a delightfully spooky book to read on a dark, chilly night.

 

 

 

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February 2, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Your Theme Song for This Year

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 stereo audio equalizer showing a rainbow visualization of a beat. My theme song for 2022 is a song that was released a few years ago.

It was written by one of my favourite modern musicians, Ed Sheeran, and the title of it is “Beautiful People.”

Here is a link to the lyrics for anyone who would like to read them before listening to the song.

What I love about this piece of music is how it encourages everyone to embrace their true selves, flaws and all. That’s such a positive and helpful message to share with the world! It’s something I need to hear sometimes, too.

Here is the official music video for the song: Beautiful People by Ed Sheeran ft. Khalid 

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