Lydia Schoch

April 7, 2021 · 1:00 am

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, Japan 2. 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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March 25, 2021 · 1:00 am

Murky Moments: A Review of Fragments

Title: Fragments – A Collection of Short Stories

Author: Jachrys Abel

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: November 21, 2020

Genres: Literary Fiction, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical, Futuristic

Length: 40 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Blurb:

Fragments explores various facets of humanity through eight short stories—each of different subject matter, but with a shared undercurrent of what can best be described as honest humanness.

There’s a gravedigger’s uptake of a small favor for his brother, a young boy teaching his friend how to survive in a haunted house, and a valiant king’s attempt to escape the clutches of death. There’s also the arduous endeavor of a nameless boy to prove his existence, and a young girl’s tortured wait for her partner’s return home. The daughter of a scientist uncovers why exactly the ocean waves, while a defunct human does penance for calculated murder. The collection then ends off with a rework of the author’s first ever published short which first appeared in literary magazine, Catch The Moment: a tale of how an invalid flees when his home is sieged, dragging along with him the village leader and her trusted advisor.

Fragments is Jachrys’ first self-published collection of short stories. His other works have appeared in numerous literary publications, of which include A Philosopher’s Stone; Humanity Dawns; Catch The Moment; The Writing Cooperative; The Ascent; The Bad Influence; Storymaker; and Literally Literary.

Review:

Content warning: abuse and murder. I will not be discussing these things in my review.

Sometimes a single moment in time is all a character needs to reveal their true selves.

I will briefly discuss a few of the pieces of this collection in my review. If any of them are interesting to you, do check out this book in its entirety.

The title of “A Gravedigger’s Tale” tells the readers most of what we need to know about it right away. The gravedigger in question had been doing this job for a decade and knew all of the tricks to avoid rousing the dead when digging a new grave or taking care of the grounds. Simple things like name and gender identity were never made clear, and yet I felt like I knew them well because of how much time they spent explaining their life’s work to the audience and giving hints about the latest grave they were digging and why it was such an important one.

There were a couple of stories in this collection that I thought could use a bit more development. Yes, they were fragments of fiction and therefore not meant to be as well fleshed out as, say, a novella or longer short story, but I would have enjoyed them more if their narrators had gone into a little more description about their plots and meanings. “The King’s Escape from Death” was a good example of this. After the king received word of something terrible that was to happen to him at a specific time, he ran away from home for the evening to avoid it. I was intrigued by his plan and sure would have liked to see him explain how he thought it ought to work in greater detail, especially since the warning he received was such a vague one.

“Why the Ocean Waves” made me smile. It followed a conversation between a young girl named Aleandra and her father about why waves exist. After hearing his scientific explanation for it and finding it unsatisfying, she shared her own theories about why waves exist and what they mean for humans. It was heartwarming to see how he paid attention to her as she thought through her answer carefully .

Fragments gently drifted between literary and speculative fiction. It should be read by anyone who appreciated the numerous grey areas between genres.

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: What My Last Meal Would Be

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 week’s prompt was an easy one. I’m going with my favourite foods.

Lasagna on black plate with a sprig of a green plant on the food. Lasagna (dairy-free, of course!)

Breadsticks

Chocolate almond milk

Lemon meringue pie

Dairy-free mint chocolate chip ice cream

Since it’s the last meal I’m going to eat, you’d better believe I’ll be picking two of my favourite sweets as dessert!

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March 23, 2021 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Funny Book Titles

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

All of these titles make me giggle! I have not read any of them yet, so let me know if you’ve read and liked any of them.

1. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin

2. Annie Gomez and the Gigantic Foot of Doom by Jay Cutts

3. It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita by Heather B. Armstrong

4. Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris

5. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (Origami Yoda #1) by Tom Angleberger

black and white photo of an elderly man who is laughing.

6. How You Can Bowl Better Using Self-Hypnosis by Jack Heise

7. The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill

8. How To Tell Your Cat About Trump by Breaking Burgh

9. The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck

10. How to Make Your Cat an Internet Celebrity: A Guide to Financial Freedom by Patricia Carlin

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March 18, 2021 · 7:00 am

Risky Wanderings: A Review of Leprechaun Luck

Title: Leprechaun Luck – A Witch of Mintwood Short Story

Author:Addison Creek

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: March 1, 2021

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Contemporary

Length: 48 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

It’s St. Patrick’s Day and Lemmi, Charlie, and Liam are determined to have some fun before going to watch the guys play baseball. What happens next is unexpected, to say the least, but Lemmi and Charlie are determined not to miss the baseball game. Now if only the leprechaun would tell them where Liam is . . .

Review:

It’s always a smart idea to beware of deals that seem too good to be true.

Lemmi had wonderful conflict resolution skills. It was refreshing to see how she responded to challenging moments and how hard she worked to find solutions that were agreeable to everyone. This is something I’m always pleased to find in stories, especially mysteries. We need more characters like her around to set good examples of how to solve problems that can quickly escalate if they’re not handled swiftly.

There were some things about the character development in this story that never quite made sense to me. Lemmi and her friends were described as people who appeared to have a good deal of experience with magic and the supernatural world. It came as a surprise to me to see how trusting they were in unfamiliar situations that clearly had magical or supernatural origins. While they did mention the danger they might face briefly, they didn’t seem to take them seriously or think critically about the decisions they were about to make. I really wish more time had been spent exploring why this was the case as it didn’t make sense to me.

The dialogue made me chuckle. Not only did all of the main characters have great senses of humour, they were also skilled at using a comment a friend made as a jumping-off point for more jokes. It’s always delightful to see that level of banter among a group of characters who clearly appear to know each other well and genuinely enjoy everyone’s company.

This short story was part of a series, but I had no problem at all jumping into it as someone who wasn’t at all familiar with this universe. All of the necessary backstories were provided for us new readers.

Leprechaun Luck is a good pick for a lighthearted St. Patrick’s Day read.

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Tagged as 2020s, Addison Creek, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Fantasy, Leprechaun, Mystery, Paranormal, Self-Published, Short Stories, St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2021 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Theme Song

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.

I believe that hope is the most important ingredient of a theme song.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland.

Musicals generally aren’t my cup of tea, but Judy Garland did an excellent job with Somewhere Over the Rainbow. There is so much hope embedded in it even though Dorothy had no idea what twists and turns were coming in her life at this point, much less how she’d get through them.

I listen to this song when I’m having a bad day or am worried about something out of my control. It’s been my experience that things often work out in the end even if you can’t currently see how everything will be resolved.

Holding onto hope in the meantime is so important!

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

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

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

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

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

Murky Moments: A Review of Fragments

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: What My Last Meal Would Be

Top Ten Tuesday: Funny Book Titles

Risky Wanderings: A Review of Leprechaun Luck

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: My Theme Song

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