April 20, 2021 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Colourful Book Covers

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Multicolored paint dripping down a white backgroundI narrowed this week’s prompt down a little bit. The original theme was so broad that I wasn’t sure where to begin.

You could interpret it to be about rainbow covers, or brightly-coloured covers, or books that include as many different colours in them as possible.

Honestly, even those interpretations are only barely scratching the surface of possibilities!

Therefore, my amended response to the prompt is of colourful book covers that are also artistic and beautiful.

 

Half-Blood (Covenant, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout book cover. Image on cover is of a glowing purple flower.

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

Swift (Swift, #1) by R.J. Anderson book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of a blue fairy flying.

2. Swift (Swift, #1) by R.J. Anderson

Haunting Grace (Beyond Time, #1) by Elizabeth Marshall book cover. Image on cover is of fire in the shape of heart. A small piece of the flame is also shaped like a butterfly.

3. Haunting Grace (Beyond Time, #1) by Elizabeth Marshall

The Crowfield Curse (Crowfield Abbey, #1) by Pat Walsh book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of a child running through a snowy winter woods towards a castle in the distance.

4. The Crowfield Curse (Crowfield Abbey, #1) by Pat Walsh

Seraphina (Seraphina, #1) by Rachel Hartman book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of a green dragon flying over a medieval city at night.

5. Seraphina (Seraphina, #1) by Rachel Hartman

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan book cover. Image on cover is of a woman in yellow dress and holding a red rose floating above fields and mountains.

6. Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a gold boat holding a baby floating on a body of water.

7. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1) by Susan Beth Pfeffer book cover. Image on cover is of a large full moon looming over a house at the edge of a lake at night.

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

Who Fears Death (Who Fears Death, #1) by Nnedi Okorafor book cover. Image on cover shows a woman wearing dreadlocks and walking in the desert. There is a pair of wings superimposed on her body.

9. Who Fears Death (Who Fears Death, #1) by Nnedi Okorafor

The Seahawk's Sanctuary by Lynne Marie book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of a ship sailing near the shore.

10. The Seahawk’s Sanctuary by Lynne Marie

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April 15, 2021 · 1:00 am

The Last Minute Decision: A Review of Clocking Time

Clocking Time A Time Travel Short Story by Mark McClure book cover. Image on cover is a stylized drawing of planets and outer space. Title: Clocking Time

Author: Mark McClure 

Publisher: JFR Publishers 

Publication Date: October 31, 2020

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult 

Length: 31 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

Two teenagers share a secret superpower: clock jumping.

Confined to his house by the authorities, remote viewer Briann enters into the life and times of a Japanese girl, Nina.

But as Briann’s feelings for Nina grow, he must overcome his fear of this unpredictable power and make one final jump before his time runs out forever.

A time travel short story about first love and tough choices.

Review:

Special powers were meant to be used, right? 

Briann and Nina’s growing relationship made me smile. I’m not generally someone who gravitates towards romantic science fiction plots, but these two made a great couple. I liked the fact that they’d already decided they wanted to be together by the time I met them. That was a refreshing take on the romance angle of it all! They also understood each other in ways that most other people did not, and their unfailing support of one another made me hope they’d get their happy ending. 

There were times when I found the world building a little confusing, especially when it came to Briann’s society. Everything people did there was tightly controlled, from what they ate to who they socialized with, to what forms of entertainment they used. I was intrigued by the many rules that had been created about how lower-class families like his were allowed to behave and wished the plot had gone into greater detail about that. If this portion of the storyline had been written as tightly as the rest of it, I would have felt comfortable giving it the full five star rating. 

Briann and Nina’s abilities themselves were explained well. The first scene went into plenty of detail about the precise steps they took to travel to see each other. It even went so far as to describe the breathing pattern Briann adopted just before the jump happened. This isn’t something that’s always explained well in some time travel stories, so it makes me happy when authors do get specific about how it all works. 

Anyone who loves time travel tales should check out Clocking Time.

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April 14, 2021 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: If I Won a Large Lottery Jackpot, I Would….

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.

This is going to be an eclectic list.

Get All of My Dental Work Done at Once. It’s non-urgent and is being done slowly and as necessary. If I had a windfall of cash, I’d bite the bullet (metaphorically speaking) and get everything checked off the to-do list as soon as possible.

Woman holding a gift wrapped in gold paper and a gold ribbon Buy Ethical, Local, and Eco-Friendly Stuff. I’d buy as much food, clothing, shoes, electronics, and other various household items from local merchants and farmers as is possible here in southern Ontario.   Buying local can be more ecologically friendly in general, so I’d keep an eye out for businesses that were cognizant of that as well. There’s something to be said for supporting small businesses and your local economy if you have the extra money to do so.

Donate Anonymously. For example, homeless shelters and food banks have always needed donations, and the demand for their services is sadly higher than ever. They should focus on the fact that they suddenly had more resources to help people going through tough times and not worry about giving me credit for anything. I’m too bashful to pose for photo-ops. LOL!

Hire A Housekeeper. I would pay them handsomely to come over for a couple of days a week to clean, shop for groceries, and do laundry. It would be wonderful to have the time I currently invest in that stuff freed up for other pursuits, although I do feel a little selfish to even mention this. It would be such a big splurge.

Buy an Annual Membership to My Local Art Museum. I used to go there occasionally before this darn pandemic began. I’d love to have the freedom to go as often as I pleased and during quiet times of the day when there aren’t any lines to see any of the paintings.

Treat My Family to a Vacation. That is to say, I’d take my spouse, parents, siblings, nephews, and sister-in-law on whatever sort of trip everyone agreed upon. I’d pay all expenses and try to convince them to accept some spending cash, too. Money is only as good as the memories it makes and the joy it brings to others.

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April 13, 2021 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Literature-Themed Colouring Books

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Close-up photo of colored pencils Technically, this week’s topic was “Book Titles That Sound Like They Could Be Crayola Crayon Colors.”

My apologies to Jana, but I couldn’t find a single title that fit this description no matter how hard I searched.

Due to this, I tweaked the topic to be literature themed colouring books. That is to say, colouring books that are inspired by actual novels. Get your coloured pencils ready!

1. Tolkien’s World: A Fantasy Coloring Book by Allan Curless

2. The World of the Hunger Games: The Official Coloring Book by Scholastic Inc.

3. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Coloring Book by Terry Pratchett

4. Hansel and Gretel: An Amazing Colouring Book by Fabiana Attanasio

5. The Alice in Wonderland Colouring Book by Rachel Cloyne

6. The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Colouring Book by Nicolette Caven

7. The Walking Dead: Rick Grimes Adult Coloring Book by Robert Kirkman

8. A Court of Thorns and Roses Colouring Book by Sarah J. Maas

9. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Coloring Book by Terry Pratchett

10. The Official Eragon Coloring Book by Christopher Paolini

 

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April 8, 2021 · 1:00 am

A Review of Apeiorn – Tales of an Argonaut 1

Apeiron - Tales of an Argonaut 1 by M.P. Cosmos book cover. Image on cover shows person reading a book in a blue bubble in outer space next to the milky wayTitle: Apeiron – Tales of an Argonaut 1

Author: M.P. Cosmos

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: November 28, 2020

Genres: Science Fiction 

Length: 25 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author. 

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Blurb:

“It’s the 20th millennium.

Humankind has extended throughout the galaxy fighting against alien species to earn its place.

Millennium after millennium, humans managed to conquer almost all the Milky Way.

Much time has passed since the golden age of humanity; even though some colonies retain their splendour, most live in isolation.

Backward and unaware of having others like them through a galaxy that they once possessed.

I’ve been wandering from planet to planet since the beginning of time;

observing the magnificence and the horrors of this galaxy.

Watching over humanity until the time of action is upon me.”

This is a collection of 4 ten minutes stories.

Review:

Does human nature change? That is the eternal question. 

I’ll briefly review all four of the stories in this collection. The same narrator was present in all of them which provided a nice link between worlds and characters that would otherwise never have reason to be mentioned in the same place. 

In “The Price of Regret,” a scientist name Scaf and his wife worked for years to design robotic bodies for themselves that would never age or grow sick. As soon as Scaf figured out how to get his idea to work, he transferred his consciousness over to his artificial form without delay. This tale was interesting, but the ending puzzled me. I never quite did figure out what was happening with it, much less what the fates of the characters might have been. It would have been helpful to have a clearer understanding of what was going on there. 

The planet Koinon had transitioned into a state of global winter after a global war in “The Rise of the Machines.” As a result, all of the living things that survived that conflict now lived deep underground. The society humans built on this badly damaged planet was a fascinating one, especially when it came to how people handled the practicalities of doing everything they needed to not only survive but thrive so many miles below the surface. This could have easily been expanded into a full-length novel. It certainly had enough conflict for one, and the basic facts I learned about evolution of human society over time in this world only made me yearn for more information about it. 

“The Barrier” took place on a planet called Xatanvi where a man named Andrew had to decide whether to continue donating part of his meagre wages to help update a planet-wide barrier that not every human agreed was cost-effective or even necessary anymore. Humans can be good at minimizing the risks of things they haven’t personally experienced, so I was curious to see what he’d decide to do and how his personal decision might affect the lives of everyone around him. 

Last but not least, “The Thing Lurking” was about a man named Clotho lived on a feudal planet called Zoi. He was a simple farmer who dreamed of a more exciting life. When a mysterious stranger offered him a deal too good to be true, he decided to take it without a second thought. While I did find the plot twists in this one to be pretty predictable, I still enjoyed finding out what happened to Clotho. 

If you’ve ever wondered what humanity’s distant future might look like, Apeiorn – Tales of an Argonaut 1 could be right up your alley. 

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April 7, 2021 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books I Chose Based on Their Titles

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.

Cover designs can vary so much from one round of printing to the next that I decided to focus on titles this week. I included links to descriptions of the plots of these stories for anyone who needs them, and I also added a sentence or two about why each one grabbed my attention.

A pile of opened books drenched in sunlight The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

I loved stuffed animals and dolls when I was a kid, so the idea of a velveteen rabbit appealed to me immediately.

 

The Kind of Girl I Am by Julia Watts

This title didn’t make sense to me at all when I first saw it, so I had to figure out what it was actually saying!

 

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride

Isn’t that an attention-grabbing title? I sure thought it was good. Originally, I’d assumed he was adopted and wanted to see if my guess was correct there.

 

The Bigger Book of Lydia by Margaret Willey

This was one of the first times I ever remember seeing my name in a book title, and it made this a must-read for me. Luckily, it’s become a little more common to find characters who share my name these days.

 

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April 6, 2021 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Gladly Throw Into the Ocean

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Aerial shot of blue ocean waves Content warning: abusive relationships. Scroll past my first answer if you’d rather not read about that topic for any reason.

I’m a patient and forgiving reader in general. There are very few books out there that I have no patience for and will not provide links to here.

The Books: The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer

Why I’d Toss It: I was in an abusive relationship when I was a teenager, and it was really painful. There were so many red flags in Bella and Edward’s relationship that I couldn’t keep reading and can’t recommend this series to anyone.

 

The Book: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Why I’d Toss It: Look,I completely agree that having a positive and optimistic attitude is a good thing in general. Anyone who follows me on Twitter will see how perky I usually am! Unfortunately, I’ve observed a lot of ugly victim blaming coming from the idea that terrible things happen to people because they entertained the wrong thoughts. Not every tragedy in life can be prevented. I believe in loving and supporting people when they’re at their lowest points instead of coming up with reasons why they deserved it.

 

The Book: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Why I’d Toss It: All of the characters were awful human beings. They all had the time and money to become better people and yet refused to do so. I do not have the patience to read about folks like that, but I won’t judge anyone who does. This was simply a case of my moral code clashing so strongly with theirs that I couldn’t get into the plot at all.

 

The Book: Anything written by Donald J. Trump

Why I’d Toss It: He’s Trump.

 

The Book: The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel

Why I’d Toss It: I loved the Earth’s Children series, but the final book in it was nonsensical at best. It destroyed character arcs, ignored thousands of pages of foreshadowing and plot development, and refused to answer the majority of the questions the audience had been carrying around for years.

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April 1, 2021 · 1:00 am

Lost but Not Alone: A Review of Boo and the Boy 

Boo and the Boy - A Ghost Story by Wayne Barrett book cover. Image on cover shows drawing of a large bison skull with a fairy perched on top of it. Inside of the skull is the silhoutte of a young person walking in the desert by a cactus.Title: Boo and the Boy – A Ghost Story

Author: Wayne Barrett

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: October 23, 2020

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

Length: 24 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author. 

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

In the heart of the Mojave Desert, a little boy wanders, lost and frightened. Coming upon a giant bison skull, he makes a discovery that turns his fear into a night of magic. 

A ghost, fairies, and a talking rattlesnake bring an atmosphere of fantasy to this haunting tale. Boo and the Boy is a ghost story, but it is one that will not only tug at your heartstrings, but will bring a smile to your face as well. 

Join Boo and the Boy at their haunted home, a skull that, in ages past, belonged to the granddaddy of all bison’s.

Review:

Every haunting exists for a reason even if that reason isn’t immediately revealed. 

As soon as I met Boo, I was instantly endeared to him. Since he didn’t remember anything about his life before began haunting the giant bison skull, everything I learned about him was based on his kind, curious personality. He truly cared about others, and he showed his feelings in gestures both grand and small. There was no limit to what he’d do to help someone who seemed to be in trouble even though his powers were limited as a ghost who was firmly bound to such a small area of land. 

The world building was lovely. At first I thought we’d get a better understanding of what the fairies were hoping to accomplish. While some of their motives were eventually explained, I ended up really liking the fact that there were unanswered questions there as well. I had enough hints to form my own hypothesis, and the rest I could chalk up to the unpredictable nature of fairies in general. This struck me as something quite true to their species, especially since they honestly did seem to have good intentions in the end. 

I also appreciated the friendships between Boo, the boy, and Alfred. While I can’t go into much detail about the identities of those last two characters for spoiler reasons, I can say that their personalities complemented each other nicely. They had much more in common than I would have originally guessed. Discovering what those things were was delightful. 

Don’t be frightened by the horror tag if it’s not a genre you typically read. Yes, there is an underbelly to this tale that will gradually be revealed, but nothing about it was gory or gross. In fact, there was something surprisingly sweet about this portion of the storyline in the end. 

Boo and the Boy was a hauntingly beautiful ghost story that I heartily recommend to adult and young adult readers alike. 

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March 31, 2021 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: TV Shows I Binge Watch(ed)

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.

Generally, I prefer not to binge-watch shows. It’s easier for me to enjoy them when I take at least a few days between episodes, especially for shows that can be repetitive at times.

These are the exceptions to this preference of mine. Two are shows I finished ages ago, and the final one is something I recently started watching.

Logo for Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Show Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Why I Binge-Watched It: Just because vampires (or monsters, or teenage girls) behave a certain way in other universes doesn’t mean they’ll follow those rules in this universe. I loved the risks Joss Whedon took with the plots twists in this series.

Logo for 30 Rock

 

Show: 30 Rock

Why I Binge-Watched It: The zany ensemble cast was hilarious. This show was set backstage on a fictional version of Saturday Night Life. It featured everyone from celebrities (both real and fictional) to the various long-suffering employees there who try to appease all sorts of ridiculous requests from their guests and sometimes coworkers as well.  I loved all of the funny references to previous storylines and guest stars they included later on.

 

Logo for The Simpsons.

Show Title: The Simpsons

Why I Binge-Watch It: A little while ago, I started watching The Simpsons from the beginning since I only ever saw random episodes of it when I was growing up. It’s 90% brain candy and 10% astute observations about western society. That’s the perfect combination of factors to make me want to see more than one episode a day.  The early seasons have held up well, too, if any of you are curious about watching or rewatching them!

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March 30, 2021 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Places in Books I’d Love to Live

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I adore living in Toronto, but there are parts of all of these places that intrigue me. It would be cool to see them in person someday if it were safe and affordable to do so.

A red passport tucked into the handle of a blue wheeled suitcase If I didn’t mention a specific thing I wanted to do for the numbers on the list below, that means I’d want to talk to the locals to get their recommendations on the best restaurants, museums, parks, etc. before adding my own wish list to the agenda.

You can learn so much about other cities, countries, and cultures by listening to the people who live there and taking their advice on where to go and what to do.

If any of you ever visit Toronto once travelling for fun is possible again, I’d be happy to give you some suggestions of what to do here!

1. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou’s Autobiography, #1) by Maya Angelou

Location: Stamps, Arkansas

What I’d Do There: Soak up every ray of sunshine I can. I get the winter blues each year, so this would make a big impact on my life.

 

Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, Japan2. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Location: Japan (various cities)

What I’d Do There: Among many other destinations, I’d visit Rabbit Island.

 

3. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Location: Calcutta, India

 

4. Dubliners by James Joyce

Location: Dublin, Ireland

What I’d Do There: Visit whichever castle Irish people think is the nicest one there.

 

5. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

Location: Manchuria, China

What I’d Do There: See the Great Wall of China.

 

Person going kayacking in Nigeria. 6. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Location: Nigeria

 

7. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Location: Dominican Republic (various cities)

What I’d Do There: Visit the schools and other places that a relative of mine helped to build! He has a lot of experience with this kind of stuff and used to visit every year to help with various projects.

 

8. Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

Location: Egypt (various cities)

What I’d Do There: See the pyramids, of course!

 

Ama Dablam in the Himalayan mountains 9. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Location: Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal

What I’d Do There: Quietly enjoy the majestic mountains for a day or two before asking about specific places there to visit.

 

10. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Location: Mexico

 

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