September 14, 2021 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Numbers In the Title

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

All of these books share three things in common: they have numbers in their titles, I’ve read them, and I’d recommend them to anyone who finds their blurbs interesting.

1. The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2) by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. 1984 by George Orwell

3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

4. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

5. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

6. The First Four Years (Little House, #9) by Laura Ingalls Wilder

7. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

8. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

9. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

10. Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis

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September 9, 2021 · 1:00 am

The Loyal Companion: A Review of The Origins of Constantine


Book cover for The Origins of Constantine by D.C. Gomez. Image on cover is of a cat hovering above a pyramid. Title: The Origins of Constantine

Author: D.C. Gomez

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: February 27, 2019

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary

Length: 87 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

When the god Anubis needed a friend, the universe sent him the most unlikely companion: a feisty little cat.

Discover how the infamous five-thousand-year-old talking cat, Constantine of the Intern Diaries, became a permanent fixture in the life of Death.

This fast-paced, action-packed Novella will have you turning the page and falling in love with the most unlikely of duos.

Review:

Content Warning: Tuberculosis and the death of a pet. I will not be discussing these things in my review.

Even Death himself can get lonely sometimes.

The character development was handled nicely for everyone from the protagonist to the kind friends he relied on as he adjusted to being the right hand cat of Death himself. I enjoyed peeling back all of the layers of the characters I met. My first impressions of many of them were quickly adjusted as I learned new things about them that I wouldn’t have necessarily guessed in advance. Other characters were more forthcoming with their personalities, but I still had a wonderful time finding additional examples of their kindness, courage, and other positive traits as time went on.

I would have liked to see a little more time spent on the world building. The author provided tantalizing hints about this version of ancient Egypt that I kept hoping would be explored in greater depth than they were. It did make me wonder if the full-length novels in this series had the space to dive further into this time and place, though, and it was a minor criticism of a novella I otherwise really liked. Based on my first taste of this world, I’m definitely curious to learn more about it!

Ms. Gomez had a playful sense of humour that worked perfectly for this setting and these characters. There were multiple times when the dialogue made me chuckle out loud, especially when Constantine made another one of his wry comments. Her characters knew exactly how to gently goad each other into doing the right thing even if it wasn’t always necessarily for the right reason. The juxtaposition of their occasionally mixed motivations and their often surprisingly wholesome life choices was delightful. I love meeting nuanced characters like these who can find the funny side of even the most serious topics.

This is part of a series, but you don’t have to be familiar with the previous works to enjoy it. I had no trouble jumping straight into this world as a brand new reader.

I’d recommend The Origins of Constantine to any teen or adult who likes alternate history.

 

 

What a great sense of humour this book has.

 

CHARACTERS

Constantine – the cat. Five-thousand-years old and right hand man of Death (Anubis or Anpu, although he hates the latter name). Also the guardian/trainer of all the Interns that worked for Death.

Bob – his human in present day

Isis Black – Bob’s friend who saved him from being sacrificed by volatile witches. Can see the dead.

 

Camaro – aka the bumblebee.

 

Constantine grew up in Memphis, the first capital of the United Kingdom of Egypt in 3100BC. It was the pride of Menes, the king who united Upper and Lower Egypt.

 

3140 B.C. Is exactly when this tale is set.

 

Cats were worshipped in the Hiku-Ptah or the Inbu-Hedj (city where Constantine lived).

Ammon – head of the house. Took in kitten Constantine saved.

Saqqara – the necropolis of the Inbu-Hedj.Where Constantine went to escape the roaming gangs of cats looking for him.

 

Bastet – another god.

Moses – kitten Ammon took in and saved.

Pilis – Ammon‘s best friend. An orphan. Spends most of his days with Ammon and his sister and mom.

 

Taweret – god of healing.

 

”You are too obsessed with this god of death thing. We need to work on your identity.”

 

 

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September 8, 2021 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: What I Do to Recharge

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.

While I’m not quite as deeply introverted as I was as a child, I still relish time alone to do quiet activities. Here are some of the things I do to recharge.

A shady dirt path in a forest. It is surrounded by vibrant green trees.

Nature Walks

There’s something incredibly soothing about walking in all sorts of natural settings, from forests to beaches to mountains and more.

This is something I can do with certain people as long as they’re not too talkative during the walk. Occasional bits of conversation are fine when necessary, but I find nature walks best when we can mostly walk in companionable silence and listen to the beautiful sounds of nature.

Time Alone

Other than the many usual sources of stress we all went through during the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the toughest parts of the past eighteen months has been how little time alone I’ve had.

This was especially true during the winter when Toronto was under a strict Stay at Home order and it was too cold to take a long walk outside. I love my spouse dearly, but I also desperately needed alone time during those long months spent at home!

Jigsaw and Sudoku Puzzles

Close-up photo of a ballpoint pen lying on a sheet of Sudoku puzzlesI’ll dabble in other sorts of puzzles, too, but these two are my favourite kinds of puzzles.

It’s nice to sit quietly and think about something that is guaranteed to have an answer.

The satisfaction of figuring it out makes me quite happy.

Reading

This last answer is sort of obvious for us bookish folks, but some books are wonderful for recharging after I’ve done a lot of socializing.

Rereading old favourite stories is a particularly good way for me to recharge, especially if they have lighthearted subject matter.

 

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September 7, 2021 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Guaranteed to Put a Smile On Your Face

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Jolly Jammers (biscuits) lying on a white surface. This week’s prompt was a little ambiguous.

Should I be mentioning lighthearted stories in general even if they touch on sad topics at times?

What about collections of true humorous stories?

Will some people share joke books?

How will everyone else interpret it?

Will Canada ever sell Jolly Jammers and, if so, would they be dairy-free and would I like them? I didn’t even know such a thing existed until I went searching for stock photos of happy faces. These cookies definitely do have happy little faces for sure.

I wish we could all have a quick meeting to see what everyone’s responses would be like. Since that isn’t possible, I went with a mixture of books that I found uplifting and amusing.

1. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

2. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett

3. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh

4. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

5. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

6. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

7.Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)  by Mindy Kaling

8. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

9. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

10. The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

I will be blogging a review of The Canterville Ghost in January for Vintage Science Fiction Month, so stay tuned!

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September 2, 2021 · 1:00 am

A Hard Day’s Work: A Review of Bounty Hunter Stex

Every Thursday I share a list of free spectulative fiction books on Twitter. Last April, My friend Berthold Gambrel reviewed one of the books I mentioned, and now I’m reviewing it as well! Thank you for reviewing this book and nudging it closer to the top of my to-read list, Berthold! 

Book cover for Bounty Hunter Stex by Vesa Turpeinen. Image on cover shows a gunslinger and cowboy pointing a pistol while standing in front of a space ship on a dusty plain. Title: Bounty Hunter Stex

Author: Vesa Turpeinen

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: April 1, 2021

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 23 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Bounty Hunter Stex crashes his small plane hundreds of miles away from civilization while transporting a prisoner.

Stex and his prisoner end up face to face with an ancient evil as they look for shelter from a godforsaken ghost town in the middle of a desert.

This story is written by the award-winning author of the Amazon best-selling Pilot Career Series, Vesa Turpeinen. While he is widely recognized in the non-fiction world, this is his first attempt at writing fiction ”” and it won’t leave you cold!

The story combines science fiction, western, and magic, plus a little bit of Stephen King-style horror. It’s only about a 10-minute read and distributed for free. Enjoy!

Review:

Content Warning: Blood and murder. I will not be discussing these things in my review.

The less you know about this tale in advance, the better!

I adored the creative plot twists. As mentioned above, this is one of those stories that works best if you avoid all spoilers for it ahead of time. That’s going to make it a little tricky to discuss and critique here, but I’m always up for  a challenge. The coolest things about these plot twists were how often they happened and how many different genres they invited into the storyline in order to make everything tie together. I was surprised on a few different occasions, but everything was tied up beautifully together in the end.

This would have benefitted from another round of editing. The typos and punctuation errors happened often enough for me to give this a much lower rating than I otherwise would have chosen. It was distracting to pause and read those sections again to make sure I understood what the narrator was trying to communicate. With that being said, the plot itself was excellent. I am hoping to read more from this author in the future as his writing style was otherwise delightful.

The dialogue was nicely written. None of the characters were the sorts of folks who stand around shooting the breeze. I quickly learned that all of them had a strong preference to get to the point and then immediately figure out what to do next, so it made perfect sense that they’d keep their conversations to a minimum and plainly say what they were thinking when they did decide to speak up. Writing it that was a sensible decision, and I honestly wouldn’t have wanted those parts of their personalities to be communicated in any other way.

Bounty Hunter Stex was a wild romp through multiple genres. Do give it a shot if you love westerns, science fiction, or simply being surprised by clever storytelling.

 

Stex Freeman – MC. Bounty Hunter.

Lucas the Slayer – bad guy he just captured and is taking in.

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September 1, 2021 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: The Best Dish I Cook (and Recipe)

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 plate filled with pasta, shrimp, and cooked tomatoes.The best dish I cook is Lemon Shrimp Scampi.

This is a stock photo of a similar shrimp pasta dish. I included it because it features cooked tomatoes as well which can be a nice addition to this meal if you need more vegetables in your diet.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound uncooked shrimp (26-30 per pound)
  • 8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta (I use whole wheat, but white works just as well)
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 4 minced garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
  • Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
  • Small tomatoes, washed and cut in pieces (optional)

Instructions:

 

  • Begin to boil water and cook pasta. Cook and drain it as necessary while you work on the other steps.
  • If needed, peel and devein the shrimp. Remove their tails and cut them in half lengthwise. I generally buy deveined shrimp to simplify this step.
  • Heat butter and oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add shrimp, green onions and garlic. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes until shrimp turn pink. Add the tomatoes in at this point, too, if you want them. Remove the shrimp from pan with a slotted spoon. The tomatoes can stay in to finish cooking.
  • Add broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, pepper, salt and red pepper flakes to that same pan. Bring it to a gentle boil and cook until liquid is slightly reduced. This should take about 1 minute. Return the shrimp to the pan and remove from heat.
  • Drain pasta and divide it among 4 bowls. Top with shrimp mixture; sprinkle with parsley and, if desired, the cheese.

Serves 4.

This is an especially nice thing to make on a warm day when regular pasta might feel too heavy.

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August 31, 2021 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes About Crushes

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

The original theme for this was was “Fictional Crushes.” Since I’ve never developed a crush on a fictional character, I tweaked it a little to be quotes on the topic of crushes instead.

 

“It’s just that I don’t want to be somebody’s crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it too.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

 

“It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone… but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.”
― Kahlil Gibran

 

“Do you know what it’s like to like someone so much you can’t stand it and know that they’ll never feel the same way?”
― Jenny Han, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

 

“Luke used to give me butterflies. Noah spawned mutant pterodactyls.”
― Katie McGarry, Pushing the Limits

 

“It’s like I’m thirteen again and he’s my crush. All I’m aware of in this entire roomful of people is him. Where he is, what he’s doing, who he’s talking to.”
― Sophie Kinsella, Remember Me?

 

 

“She definitely has a crush on you. It’s about the size of Jupiter.”
― Marissa Meyer, Winter

 

“You’re falling now. You’re swimming. This is not
harmless. You are not
breathing.”
― Richard Siken, Crush

 

“I wondered if this was the way old crushes died, with a whimper, slowly, and then, just like that—gone.”
― Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty

 

“I don’t entirely understand how anyone gets a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. It just seems like the most impossible odds. You have to have a crush on the exact right person at the exact right moment. And they have to like you back. A perfect alignment of feelings and circumstances. It’s almost unfathomable that it happens as often as it does.”
― Becky Albertalli, The Upside of Unrequited

 

“She blushed and so did he. She greeted him in a faltering voice, and he spoke to her without knowing what he was saying.”
― Candide, Candide

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August 26, 2021 · 1:00 am

Overdue Consequences: A Review of The Swell

The Swell by Adam Vine book cover. Image on cover shows reflection of child standing on a pier and looking into a mostly-still body of water. There are a few ripples of water around the wooden columns holding the pier up. Title: The Swell

Author: Adam Vine

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: March 1, 2021

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Contemporary

Length: 11 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 2 Stars

Blurb:

Ana Barrington’s son is missing – and so is everyone else’s child. Every kid in Santa Cruz has vanished, leaving no trace but a single, cryptic message directing their parents to the sea…

Review:

Content warning: Death of children. I will not discuss this in my otherwise spoiler-free review.

Even the brightest day at the beach can hide some dark secrets.

One of the most interesting scenes happened in the beginning when Ana first realized her son Dana was missing. She briefly argued with her next-door neighbours about which of their missing children was a worse influence on the other one. I thought that moment was a great chance to get to know her better and a realistic look at the sorts of things a worried parent would bicker about while frantically looking for their child.

The narrator discovered hints here and there, but the brief explanations for how those things were connected only made my confusion about this storyline stronger. This is something I’m saying as a reader who prefers stories that expect their audiences to put work into figuring out a tricky mystery or subtle plot development. I have no problem with open-ended final scenes or not having all of my questions answered, but I really struggled to figure this one out or connect to it despite my strong interest in the beginning.

I enjoyed the way the message of this story was shared with the audience. Normally, I’m not a big fan of tales that are written as a warning for their readers, but I thought this one struck a good balance between pushing the plot forward and making its point. It was short and matter-of-fact on the issue it wanted to bring our attention which is always a good thing in my opinion.

If you love dark fantasy, The Swell might be right up your alley.

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August 25, 2021 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Book I Wish They’d Make Into a Movie or TV Series

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Book with opened pages sitting on a windowsill.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.

There are some books like the Neanderthal Parallex trilogy by Robert J. Sawyer that immediately pop into my mind every time one of the blog hops I participates in asks this question.

With that being said, I do try not to repeat myself with these prompts if I can at all help it.

Let’s see if I can answer it with a different response this time!

I’ll bet I can think of something…

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor book cover. Image on cover shows a tree superimposed over the head of a young african woman.

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor is a science fiction and fantasy novella about a young girl named Sankofa who gained unusual powers when a seed fell from the sky into her village. (My review of it is here).

This is one of those books that develops the world and characters enough to draw an audience in while still leaving a lot of room for sequels…or, in this case, a TV show! I’d love to see Sankofa be able to deeply explore her abilities and where they came from.

The cool thing about telling her tale in a TV show is that it would give the writers plenty of opportunities to show things that this character doesn’t have knowledge of. Most of the scenes in the book were of things she either directly observed or was later informed of by people who experienced them.

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August 24, 2021 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Woman standing on a beach at sunset reading a book. There is a beautiful pink sky behind her.

No, that isn’t me in the photo, but it does evoke all sorts of beautiful memories of reading outside on warm summer days.

This is one of those topics I could talk about all day. My list is a wonderful mishmash of genres and eras. I couldn’t be confined to just one small slice of the bookish world today.

Some stories are so amazing that I wish I could experience them again for the first time.

There’s nothing like the thrill of getting to know a well-rounded, beloved character or being delightfully surprised by a plot twist.

Rereading is lovely, but it’s never quite the same as experiencing those moments the first time.

1. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Why: The ending was spectacular. I spent years pondering it before the sequel was released and the television show explored what happened to Offred after that pivotal moment.

 

2. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Why: There are so many parallels between this futuristic version of Earth that was written in the 1990s and what we’re actually experiencing with climate change and political unrest today. It would have been fascinating to experience it for the first time as versions of so many of her predictions came true.

 

3. Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer

Why: The author’s depictions of aliens was astounding. They were nothing at all like any sentient creature found on Earth. That’s difficult for any writer to do, and I adored “meeting” characters who felt so otherworldly.

 

4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Why: It’s my favourite classic novel. It’s filled with the sort of sturdy hope that can withstand the hardest times. I’ve returned to it through some of the most difficult portions of my own life, and it’s given me the courage to keep going when I need emotional support and encouragement.

 

Shot of blue and white umbrella against a blue and white sky. 5. The Deep by Rivers Solomon (My review)

Why: This is one of my favourite books of the twenty-first century so far. I know I discuss it regularly here, but it’s one of those stories that only becomes more meaningful over time. I keep going back to beautiful little details from the storyline that tied all of the plot twists together in ways I didn’t necessarily think twice about at the time.

 

6. The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence

Why: Hagar was a fiercely unlikeable protagonist. If I were to meet her in real life, I’d be unflappably kind and polite to her while also feeling utter relief when she was no longer in my presence. With that being said, her character development was so excellent that she felt like a real person to me. There were good reasons for her cruel, vindictive, and emotionally abusive behaviour that I’ll leave for other readers to discover for themselves. That isn’t to excuse any form of abuse for any reason, only to say that sometimes people take their pain and fear out on others.  I think it’s a sign of amazing writing when one genuinely wants to learn more about someone as awful as this character.

 

7.  The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Why: While the last few books in this series weren’t really my cup of tea, the first instalment had fabulous character and plot development. I’ve literally had dreams about living 30,000 years ago and doing all of the hunting, gathering, and other tasks necessary for survival that were explained in such exquisite detail here.

 

8.  Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (My review)

Why: The ending couldn’t have been better or more satisfying. I pictured every incredible moment of it in my mind as I was reading. It would be delightful to experience it again while we wait for the film version that is currently in the works.

 

9. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

Why: It was written for an adult audience who sympathized with Valancy as she endured emotional abuse and mistreatment with little hope for rescue when we first meet her. As much as I loved Montgomery’s lighter works that were written for children like Anne of Green Gables, her stories for adults were where she truly shined. She didn’t sugarcoat Valancy’s predicament in the least, and yet she still found a multitude of ways to show her audience how to survive when it seems like one’s difficult circumstances have no hope of improvement.

 

10. Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor (My review)

Why: The ending was incredible. It left me yearning for more, and I still wonder what might have happened to the main character as she became an adult. I will continue hoping for a sequel that explores her world in greater depth.

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