Tag Archives: Books

December 30, 2024 · 1:00 am

What I Read in 2024

A photo of a white bunny with a grey ear who is wearing a gold-coloured pair of human glasses on its face. The glasses are comically large on such a small animal.The rabbit is lying next to an opened book. One can imagine that it is using reading glasses to read that book.

Happy New Year, readers!

In January of 2013, I began blogging about everything I’d read that previous year.  This tradition began when my dad asked me how many books I’ve read in my entire lifetime.

I couldn’t begin to give him an answer to that question, but it did make me decide to start keeping track from that moment forward. The previous posts in this series are as follows: 2023, 2022,  2021, 2020, 2019, 2018,  2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

2024 was a year of not finishing novels as often as usual and I do not include DNF titles or short stories in these roundup posts. Those things can help to explain why this list is shorter than it typically would be.

There has been some hard stuff over the past year and a half in my personal life that have affected my reading habits. Sometimes these things can make it hard to concentrate, read books about certain sad topics,  or have as much time for reading in general as one would prefer.

My hope is that 2025 is full of nothing but cheerful, healing surprises for all of us.

(Yes, I know I’ve shared this photo of a rabbit who appears to be reading a book here before. The repetition is intentional because I need more excuses for laughter in my life).

I only read one young adult book in the past year. I think I’m leaving that genre to the age group it was intended for.

The theology section is a new addition and probably not one I’ll repeat in 2025.

Other than that, this is mostly the same mixture of genres I always read.

Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs

 

A photo of a grey squirrel sitting in a patch of ferns eating something as daylight streams down around him or her.

“The Lady in the Van” by Alan Bennett

“Always Pack a Candle: A Nurse in the Cariboo-Chilcotin” by Marion McKinnon Crook

“Last to Eat, Last to Learn: My Life in Afghanistan Fighting to Educate Women” by Pashtana Durrani

“Shepherd’s Sight: A Farming Life” by Barbara McLean

“Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” by Joy-Anne Reid

(The internet gave me this squirrel photo as one of the top results when I searched for biography-themed photos that can be used by anyone. Perhaps squirrels write adorable little autobiographies now, and who I am to question that possibility? 😉 )

Fiction

 

A brown-skinned woman with gorgeous, curly, black hair is cuddling her yellow Labrador retriever as she reads a book. The dog looks interested in the book. “Clan of the Cave Bear” (Earth’s Children #1) by Jean M. Auel

“The Mammoth Hunters” (Earth’s Children #3)  by Jean M. Auel

“The Valley of Horses” (Earth’s Children #2)  by Jean M. Auel

“The Sacred Mountain” by Andy Black (this is a fan fiction book that was written to finally tie up the most important loose ends Jean M. Auel left in the Earth’s Children series).

“What Does It Feel Like?” By Sophie Kinsella

“The Field” by Robert Seethaler

 

History

“Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum” by Antonia Hylton

 

Horror

 

A photo of two little white figurines wearing jeans and two different shades of green shirts who look comically scared. Their facial features and body language are seriously over-exaggerated. “Why Didn’t You Just Leave” edited by Julia Rios and Nadia Bulkin 

“I Found A Circus Tent In the Woods Behind My House” by Ben Farthing 

“I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls” by Ben Farthing 

“The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion” by Margaret Killjoy 

 

Poetry

“The Home Child” By Liz Berry

“Let the Light Pour In” by Lemn Sissay

 

Mystery

“The Small Museum” by Jody Cooksley

 

Psychology and Sociology

“Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood” by Gretchen Sisson

 

Science Fiction and Fantasy

A photo of a tree that has lost all of its leaves. It’s growing either next to a field or to a grassy area that’s recently been mowed. Superimposed onto the tree are a pair of purple human eyes. This looks like photoshop to me.

“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

“Midwinter Magic and Mayhem” edited by Frances Evelyn

“Cryptid Bits” by Jess Simms

“Tucker Vs. The Apocalypse” by Jay Allan Storey

“Christmas Inc.” by Tim Vee 

 

 

Science, Health, and Medicine

An out-of-focus photo of a young Hispanic doctor or researcher swirling a blue liquid around in one beaker while his other hand holds another beaker filled with blue liquid still. “Insulin: A Hundred-Year History” by Stuart Bradwel

“Raising Hare” by Chloe Dalton

“Cloudspotting for Beginners” by William Grill

“James Herriot’s Treasury for Children:  Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small” by James Herriot

“Dreams” by Melanie Gillespie Rosen

 

Theology

“The Lambing Season: Stories of Life on an Irish Family Farm” by John Connell

“Bible Truths You Won’t Hear in Church” by Drew Costen

 

Young Adult

“Gay the Pray Away” by Natalie Naudus

 

 

Tomorrow’s Top Ten Tuesday topic asks us to share our favourite reads of 2024, so come back then to see which books I loved the most!

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September 18, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books That Should Have Ended a Different Way

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

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

 

Photo of a person wearing a hoodie and hunching over a little as they read a book. They are in a room that is only partially illuminated with light, so you can see a weak yellow-orange light behind them but it is not strong enough to show us this person’s age, race, sex, or any other identifying characteristics. So all you see is their silhouette as they read.

Just like last week, I’m digging deep and picking books from a wide variety of genres that I have rarely if ever discussed here before. (So there will be no ranting about the Earth’s Children series today. Ha!)

These were all books I otherwise enjoyed, by the way. I simply wish their endings had been different for reasons I will share below. Beware of spoilers in this post, although I did try to minimize them as much as possible.

Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan

What Should Have Happened: Either most species should have gone extinct or the characters should have figured out what killed off everyone with a Y chromosome and fixed it.

 

Tyrell by Coe Booth

What Should Have Happened: Tyrell was smart person who was working so hard to get out of poverty. I liked him and hated how ambiguously things ended. In my imagination, everything worked out well for him and he’s living a quiet, happy life. I choose to believe he now has a good job,  a few adorable kids with his wife, and was recently convinced to adopt a dog from the local shelter that he pretends to find annoying but also sneaks treats to when no one is looking.

 

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

What Should Have Happened: Ideally, new evidence would have come forward to exonerate Mary, but I would have accepted any other possible ending as well other than the one we received.  I was annoyed when I read the last few pages of this book even though the rest of it was great.

 

The Golden Road by L.M. Montgomery

What Should Have Happened: A time machine and proper medical treatment so that a certain beloved character can live a long, healthy, and happy life. (Yes, I know that’s unrealistic for this era, but it still broke my heart to realize what happened to them).

 

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Henry

What Should Have Happened: Once again, we need a time machine so that one of the characters in this book could received the medical care they needed to live to a ripe old age in good health even though I know people with their diagnosis did not live very long back then. It feels deeply unfair that this was their fate, though, and those deaths caused so much pain.

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September 11, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books With Fantastic Endings

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

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

Five hardcover books with bright red covers have been stood up on a white background. They are arranged so their pages are fanned out and their spines are facing each other in a circular pattern. My first impulse for this week’s prompt was to discuss books with fantastic endings that I’ve talked about here before, but I’m going to try to stretch myself and choose titles I have rarely or maybe even never discussed on my blog instead.

Now let’s see if I can briefly describe why I loved these endings without giving away too many spoilers about them.

I will be jumping around among various genres a lot in this post as that’s what my reading habits have always been like.

 

My Real Children by Jo Walton

Why the Ending Was Fantastic: It was open-ended. Given how serious Patricia’s memory loss was, a definitive answer would have felt a little odd to me.

 

Westlake Soul by Rio Youers

Why the Ending Was Fantastic: Westlake performed marvellously in it!

 

Angelica: A Novel by Arthur Phillips

Why the Ending Was Fantastic: As a heads up for those of you who need it, one of the storylines in this book revolved around whether a child was being abused or if her strange behavior could be explained by paranormal means instead. I thought this book did an excellent job of resolving that question while still remaining true to the time period when it was written and when child abuse was rarely if ever discussed in polite company.

 

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Why the Ending Was Fantastic: There was a lot of character growth by the final stanza. (This was a story told in the form of poems).

 

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

Why the Ending Was Fantastic: This entire book took place over a few days in  a maternity ward in an Irish hospital during an outbreak of the 1918 flu. While there were still things about it that felt rushed to me, the ending went a long way in explaining why everything moved so quickly.

 

My Antonia by Willa Cather

Why the Ending Was Fantastic: It was happy. Given what happened earlier in the storyline and how often those things turned out tragically back then, that is not at all what I was expecting. It was pleasantly surprising to say goodbye to these characters with the assurance that they were going to be okay.

 

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Why the Ending Was Fantastic: I loved how much room it left for a sequel while still tying up nearly all of the important conflicts in the storyline. The fact that romance was not part of this storyline was also refreshing to me. We need more books that focus on non-romantic relationships in my opinion.

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August 21, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Book I Wish Were More Popular

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

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

A gorgeous black woman dressed in a mermaid costume and sitting on the sand at the beach as the waves roll in. Her bra is metallic purple, her fin is light green, and her hair has been braided with red extensions. She’s lovely and looks very happy to be there.

It was so tempting for me to list five or six stories today, but I did follow the rules by narrowing down my choices to books that have been published in the last five years that I think should have been far more popular than they were.

My answer for this week’s theme?

The Deep by Rivers Solomon. That link will take you to the Goodreads page for it, and this one will show you my review of it from 2020.

What is it about? Without giving away spoilers, it’s about black mermaids who bear little to no resemblance to Disney’s bubblegum representation of mermaids. Their meaning is much deeper and thought provoking than that.

What I love about this novella are all of the layers readers get to unwrap as they discover more information about Yetu and her people. My impression of her changed several times as I read this book, and I keep hoping someone will finally turn it into a film or TV show.

Other themes in the storyline include intergenerational trauma, the lingering effects of racism, figuring out how to heal from the past, accepting love (both romantic and platonic), and, interestingly enough,  the many differences between aquatic and land-based organisms.

Obviously, humans in their current form cannot live in the ocean. It takes a lot of alterations to make such a thing possible and some of them created opportunities for amusing misunderstandings, so keep an eye out for those moments as they appear.

The world-building leaves a lot of space for readers to come up with our own ideas of how certain things worked or what happened in the time periods Yetu does not have knowledge of as well. This is yet another reason why we need more readers for this book and for an on-screen adaptation to happen.

I need more folks around who would like to discuss the possibilities of this world and what might happen next to the characters!

 

 

 

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June 5, 2024 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books That Are Tearjerkers

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

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

Photo of a biracial woman dabbing away tears from her cheek as she cries. She is wearing a white, longsleeved blouse and has a lovely Afro. I enjoyed tearjerkers a lot more when I was a kid than I do now as an adult. Or maybe my tastes in this genre have simply evolved over time?

If a book advertises itself as a tearjerker, I am generally less interested in reading it than I would have been at 8 or 10. (Perhaps this is why so many of the stories on my list are written for roughly that age group give or take a few years?)

But if a well-written story happens to have a few scenes that make me cry, I don’t mind it one bit.

Here are some tearjerkers I’ve enjoyed at various ages. As I haven’t reread most of them recently, I can’t say whether my opinion of them remains the same! Hopefully, they’re just as good as I recall, though.

1. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

2. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

3. Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan

4. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

5. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

6. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans, #4) by Mildred D. Taylor

7. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

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

9. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

10. Still Alice by Lisa Genova

11. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (Whistle Stop #1) by Fannie Flagg

12. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

This last book is my one exception to the rule. I reread it last year and it was even better than it was the first time around. If you can handle something that talks about infertility, child loss, and grief in a 1920s-era but still fairytale-like format, I highly recommend it.

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January 1, 2024 · 1:00 am

What I Read in 2023

The words “wishing you a prosperous new year” have been printed on a white sheet of paper and glued to an off-white wall. There are evergreen boughs surrounding this cheerful message. Happy New Year, readers!

In January of 2013, I began blogging about everything I’d read that previous year.  This tradition began when my dad asked me how many books I’ve read in my entire lifetime.

I couldn’t begin to give him an answer to that question, but it did make me decide to start keeping track from that moment forward. The previous posts in this series are as follows: 2022,  2021, 2020, 2019, 2018,  2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

I read 55 books this year not counting the ones I review pseudonymously for other sites. That number is a little lower than usual, but I also tended to read longer books this year than I did in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

2023 was a year of me diving more deeply in the biography genre and less deeply into the history genre than usual. My brain is can handle a little horror now if I stick to the psychological or paranormal flavours of it that avoid the gory stuff. Before 2020, I read much more about zombies and pandemics and such, but these past few years have changed my preferences.

I’m enjoying the gentler sides of fiction and nonfictions these days.

Here are the books I’ve read (or reread) over the past year. I’ll wait for Top Ten Tuesday tomorrow to share my favourite stories of the year, so stay tuned.

Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs

Closeup photo of an opened handwritten letter, a bundle of handwritten letters that have been folded in thirds and tied with a rough brown string, and a few faded photos tucked underneath the open letter. “After the Annex: Anne Frank, Auschwitz, and Beyond” by Bas  von Brenda-Beckmann

“Never Give Up: A Prairie Family’s Story” by Tom Brokaw

“Don’t Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Rase Massacre in Her Own Words” by Viola Ford Fletcher

“Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder” by Caroline Fraser

“Kukum” by Michel Jean

“Quiet Street: On American Privilege” by Nick McDonell

“The Story of Tutankhamun: An intimate Life of the Boy Who Became King” by Garry J. Shaw

“Waswanipi” by  Jean-Yves Soucy

“Peace by Chocolate: The Hadhad Family’s Remarkable Journey from Syria to Canada” by Jon Tattrie

“Little House in the Big Woods” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Little House on the Prairie” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

“On the Banks of Plum Creek” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Farmer Boy” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

“By the Shores of Silver Lake” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

“The Long Winter” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Little Town on the Prairie” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

“These Happy Golden Years” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

“The First Four Years” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

Fiction

A photo of a black woman lying on a bed and petting her dog with her right hand as her left hand holds open a book. She is wearing jeans and a white button-down shirt and looks as if she just came home from work to spend time with her beloved pup and read a good book in her well-lit, comfortable bedroom. Light is streaming onto the bed from a nearby window, and you can see a few potted plants on the white dressers behind her and in front of her. “Destination Prairie” by Cathie Bartlett

“Don’t Cry for Me” by Daniel Black

“Yes, Miss Thompson” by Amy Boyes

“Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan

“Foster” by Claire Keegan

“Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe

“Looking for Jane” by Heather Marshall

 

History

“Ghosts of the Orphanage: A Story of Mysterious Deaths, a Conspiracy of Silence, and a Search for Justice “ by Christine Kenneally

 

Psychology and Sociology

A group of young Asian people are laughing and talking as they sit on a large couch together. One of them is reading something on his cellphone. They all look happy and relaxed. “50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food” by Susan Albers

“CBT for Social Anxiety: Simple Skills for Overcoming Fear and Enjoying People” by Stefan G. Hofmann

“NPR Funniest Driveway Moments” by NPR

“NPR Laughter Therapy: A Comedy Collection for the Chronically Serious” by NPR

“Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream” by Alissa Quart

 

Science Fiction and Fantasy

A young red headed girl is reading a book and attempting to cast a spell with a wooden wand. She’s holding the wand above her head and looking expectedly for some sign it’s working! “The Girl With All the Gifts” by M.R. Carey

“The Boy on the Bridge” by M.R. Carey

“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers

“A Prayer for the Crown-Shy” by Becky Chambers

“The Last of What I Am” by Abigail Cutter

“Bloom” by Delilah S. Dawson

“A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Walter M. Miller

“Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland” by Lisa Schneidau 

“The Necessity of Stars” by E. Catherine Tobler

“War Bunny” by Christopher St. John

 

Science, Health, and Medicine

Mysterious blue liquid in a beaker, a pipette, and a series of glass test tubes that are lined up neatly in a row. “Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins” by Lee Berger and John Hawks

“Ravenous: How to Get Ourselves and Our Planet Into Shape” by Henry Dimbleby

“The Last Cold Place: A Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica” by Naira de Garcia

“Into the Forest: The Secret Language of Trees” by Susan Tyler Hitchcock

“The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction” by Pat Shipman

“Homo Sapiens Rediscovered: The Scientific Revolution Rewriting Our Origins” by Paul Pettitt

“The Autumn Ghost: How the Battle Against a Polio Epidemic Revolutionized Modern Medical Care” by Hannah Wunsch

 

Young Adult

An olive-skinned father reading a bedtime story to his son as the child lays in bed. The book is spread out over the child’s lap. “Still Stace” by Stacey Chomiak

“The Other Pandemic” by Lynn Curlee

“Sarah, Plain and Tall” (#1 in series) by Patricia MacLachlan

“Skylark (#2 in series)” by Patricia MacLachlan

“Caleb’s Story” (#3 in series) by Patricia MacLachlan (Middle Grade)

“More Perfect Than the Moon” (#4 in series) by Patricia MacLachlan

“Grandfather’s Dance” (#5 in series) by Patricia MacLachlan

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June 7, 2023 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Older Books More People Should Read

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 black woman with a large Afro is sitting on the ledge of a window in a dark room. Light is pouring into the room around her as she holds up a hardback book to the light and reads. My questions for this week’s prompt are how far back are people going to go when selecting older books and how many of us will have already read what other folks recommend?

I wish I could peek at everyone’s answers ahead of time to see what you’re all picking and when they were published.

Here are two books I’d add to this list. Their publication years are in parentheses.

Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy (1976)

Why: You don’t often seen both dystopian and utopian futures described in the same novel. I like the ambiguity of the main character’s connection to these futures as well as the idea that nothing is set in stone.

 

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields (1993)

Why: Other Canadians may have already heard of this book, but it doesn’t seem to be as well known elsewhere. This is a literary fiction novel about Daisy, a bitter woman who was born in 1905 and lived a long, hard life. You are not always going to like her (or at least I sure didn’t), but her journey was well written and explained why she was so angry with the world when she grew old. There’s something to be said for books that explore the lives of unlikeable characters and show why they behave the way they do.

 

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January 2, 2023 · 1:00 am

What I Read in 2022

A drawing of 11 cardinals sitting in a forest filled with trees as snow falls all around them. The text says, “Happy New Year’ in a swirly white font. Happy New Year, readers!

In January of 2013, I began blogging once a year about everything I’d read that previous year.  This tradition began when my dad asked me how many books I’ve read in my entire lifetime.

I couldn’t begin to give him an answer to that question, but it did make me decide to start keeping track from that moment forward. The previous posts in this series are as follows: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018,  2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

2022 was a year of me glancing at old reading habits and thinking about if I’m ready for them again. In 2020 and 2021, my interest in topics like horror, medicine, and anything too dark or serious crashed. I craved light, fluffy stories where everyone lived happily ever after. While I still have a strong preference for those sorts of reads, my brain seems better equipped now to handle a little more scary stuff, too, even while I’m still doing a lot of rereads and hanging out in the young adult genre.

Here are the books I’ve read (or reread) over the past year.

 

Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs

Michelle Obama smiling and posing for a photo while wearing a black dress and a string of pearls. “The Child Who Never Grew” by Pearl S. Buck

“Vintage Christmas: Holiday Stories from Rural PEI” by Marlene Campbell

“Happening” by Annie Ernaux

“To Walk About in Freedom: The Long Emancipation of Priscilla Joyner” by Carole Emberton

“This Boy We Made: A Memoir of Motherhood, Genetics, and Facing the Unknown” by Taylor Harris

“The Girls in the Wild Fig Tree” by Nice Leng’ete

“The Annals of a Country Doctor” by Carl Matlock, MD
“Dreams From My Father’ by Barack Obama
“The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times” by Michelle Obama
“The Adoption Machine: The Dark History of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes and the Inside Story of How ‘Taum 800’ Became a Global Scandal” by Paul Judd Redmond
“Three More Words“ by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
“Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings” by Mary Henley Rubio
“Listen, World!: How the Intrepid Elsie Robinson Became America’s Most-Read Woman” by  Julia Scheeres
“Been There, Ate That: A Candy-Coated Childhood” by Jules Torti
“Farewell to the East End” by Jennifer Worth
Fiction
White woman wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking studious as she reads a hardback book. “Little Women” by  Louisa May Alcott
“Forever” by Kris Bryant
“The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck
“Once Upon a Wardrobe” by Patti Callahan
“My Antonia” by Willa Cather
A Christmas Memory” by Richard Paul Evans
“The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey
“Foster” by Claire Keegan
“Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier
“Marmee: A Novel of Little Women” by Sarah Miller
“Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery
“Anne of Avonlea” by L.M. Montgomery
“Anne of the Island” by L.M. Montgomery
“Anne’s House of Dreams” by L.M. Montgomery
“Rilla of Ingleside” by L.M. Montgomery
“The Story Girl” by L.M. Montgomery
“The Golden Road” by L.M. Montgomery
“The Blue Castle” by L.M. Montgomery
“The Only Child” by Kate Nunn
“The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” by Deesha Philyaw
“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith
“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
“The Little Stranger” by Sarah Waters
“Miss Jane” by Brad Watson
“Cold: Three Winters at the South Pole” by Wayne L. White

History

Two sheep looking curiously to their left hand side and straight at the viewer. “A Short History of the World According to Sheep” by Sally Coulthard

“The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe vs. Wade” by Ann Fessler

“Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World” by Danielle Friedman
“Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey” by Lillian Schlissel

Psychology and Sociology

The white portion of the image looks like side profiles of two people looking at each other. The black portion of the image looks like a vase. You decide which one you think it should be!“You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion and Why It Matters” by Vanessa Bohns

“Big Panda and Tiny Dragon” by James Norbury
“Winning with Underdogs: How Hiring the Least Likely Candidates Can Spark Creativity, Improve Service, and Boost Profits for Your Business” by Gil Winch

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Pluto and Venus hanging quite largely in the sky over a desolate stretch of highway at night. The planets look like they’re about to crash into Earth!“World War Z” by Max Brooks

“Ghost Stories for Christmas” by Shane Brown (My Review) 

“Semiosis” by Sue Burke

“A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot Series Book 2)” by Becky Chambers (My Review)

“Brave New World” by Aldoux Huxley

“The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James

“Veiled Threats” by Melissa Erin Jackson

”The Cybernetic Tea Shop” by Meredith Katz (Review coming February 9)

“Nettle & Bone” by T. Kingfisher (My Review)

“In a Glass Darkly” by Sheridan Le Fanu (Review coming January 12)

“Animal Farm” by George Orwell

“On Sundays She Picked Flowers” by Yah Yah Scholfield (My Review)

“Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel

“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien

“Annihilation” by Jeff VanderMeer

“The World More Full of Weeping” by Robert J. Weirseam

“The Future Is Female” edited by Lisa Yaszek (Review coming January 19)

“The Future Is Female Volume 2, The 1970s” edited by Lisa Yaszek (Review coming January 26)

Science and Medicine

Two doctors looking at a chart in a hospital hallway. “The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World” by Riley Black

“Tiny Humans, Big Lessons: How the NICU Taught Me to Live With Energy, Intention, and Purpose” by Sue Ludwig

“Vaccinated: From Cowpox to mRNA, the Remarkable Story of Vaccines”  by Paul A. Offit, M.D.

“The Heart of Caring:  A Life in Pediatrics” by Mark Vonnegut

Young Adult

A dad reading a book to his daughter. “Empty Smiles (Small Spaces #4)” by Katherine Arden

“Beezus and Ramona” by Beverly Cleary

“Ramona the Pest” by Beverly Cleary

“Ramona the Brave” by Beverly Cleary

“Ramona and Her Father” by Beverly Cleary

“Ramona and Her Mother” by Beverly Cleary

“Ramona Quimby, Age 8” by Beverly Cleary

“Ramona Forever” by Beverly Cleary

“Ramona’s World” by Beverly Cleary

“Secrets of the Under Market” by Kristen Harlow

“The Lost Girls” by Sonia Hartl

“The Giver” by Lois Lowry

“A Chair for My Mother” by Vera B. Williams

 

Have we read any of the same books? How was your reading year in 2022?

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April 5, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: 5 Reasons to Take a Reading Break


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A few years ago, I blogged about the general benefits of taking a reading break. Today I wanted to take a different approach to the topic and discuss some of the specific reasons why it can be a good idea to stop reading or to read less often for a while.

Reason #4 will mention grief and Covid-19, so feel free to skip that one if needed.

A beautiful park filled with large, healthy trees that are brimming with green leaves. 1. Enjoying Good Weather 

Southern Ontario is a humid and often stormy place. That humidity translates into chilly winters and stifling summers, so one quickly learns to take advantage of mild temperatures and clear skies when they occur.

To me, reading is an activity that makes more sense when it’s -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) or 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) outside and it’s medically dangerous to be out there for long periods of time. If you’re lucky enough to have a balmy day in the15-20 Celsius (59-68 Fahrenheit) range, you’d better enjoy it while it lasts and go take a hike or enjoy a picnic or something.

2. Pursuing Other Interests 

I love my bookish and often nerdy interests, but that is not all that I am! It’s refreshing to switch between hobbies and interact with different social circles. Sometimes I also discover that there is more overlap between my various interests than I originally thought which is always cool to find.

3. Being More Physically Active

Yes, I know that some people listen to audiobooks while exercising, but that only works for me when I’m doing something like taking a brisk walk. I prefer to give my undivided attention to activities like weightlifting so that I can keep an eye on my form and stay focused on what I’m doing.

4. Resting My Mind 

This was especially true about eighteen months ago when a relative of mine caught Covid-19 and did not fully recover from it. (That is to say, they are still with us but have Long Covid now). Books can be a healthy distraction, but they can also be a little overstimulating when you’re waiting for news of even the smallest signs of improvement and do not necessarily get them.

5. Rediscovering the Excitment of Reading 

Nearly anything can begin to feel repetitive if I do it too often! As much as I love reading, taking breaks from it enables me to rediscover how exciting it is to crack open a book and once again anticipate what it will be like to discover all of its secrets.

 

 

 

 

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January 3, 2022 · 1:00 am

What I Read in 2021

In JA cup of coffee, a tealight candle, and an opened book on a mirrored platter that’s lying in the snow. anuary of 2013, I began blogging once a year about everything I’d read that previous year.  This tradition began when my dad asked me how many books I’ve read in my entire lifetime.

I couldn’t begin to give him an answer to that question, but it did make me decide to start keeping track from that moment forward. The previous posts in this series are as follows: 2020, 2019, 2018,  2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

The pandemic has continued to change my reading patterns. I finished more books in 2021 than I did during the few years before it. Now more than ever, I crave happy endings and lighthearted storylines over the more serious themes I used to enjoy.

I’ve nearly stopped reading horror entirely. The only type of it I can handle these days involves haunted houses or other places whose spirits resort to psychological horror instead of anything that spills blood.

Yes, i know that’s super specific. I have no idea why my mind can handle those sorts of frights but no other.

As always, I’ve included links to the books on this list that I’ve reviewed here or will be blogging a review of in early 2022.

Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs

Senior citizen gently touching a memory book. “American Bastard” by Jan Beatty

“No Cure for Being Human” by Kate Bowler

“Waves” by Ingrid Chabbert

“Fauci: Expect the Unexpected: Ten Lessons on Truth, Service, and the Way Forward” by Anthony Fauci

“A Womb in the Shape of a Heart” by Joanne Gallant

“American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption” by Gabrielle Glaser

“One Pound, Twelve Ounces: A Preemie Mother’s Story of Loss, Hope, and Triumph” by Melissa Harris

“Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah” by Kathy Iandoli

“Natural Killer: a Memoir” by Harriet Alida Lye

“The Plague and I” by Betty MacDonald

“Broken Spaces and Outer Places” by Nnedi Okorafor

“Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister’s Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love” by Rob Schenck

”Call the Midwife” by Jennifer Worth

“Shadow of the Workhouse” by Jennifer Worth

 

Fiction

Drawing of dark-haired woman reading a book. An evening sky scene streams from the open book onto the white surface behind her.

“Searching for Sam” by Sophie Bienvenu

“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë

“Between Before and After” by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

“A Funny Kind of Paradise” by Jo Owens

“Gratitude” by Delphine de Vigan

”A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

“Once Upon a Wardrobe” by Patti Callahan

 

History

An abandoned stone castle on a hill. “White Unwed Mothers: The Adoption Mandate in Postwar Canada” by Valerie Andrews

“The Toronto Book of Love” by Adam Bunch

“The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live ” by Danielle Dreilinger

“A Short History of Humanity – A New History of Old Europe” by Johannes Krause and Thomas Trappe

“How to Survive in Medieval England” by Toni Mount

“Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age” by Annalee Newitz

“The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine” by Janice P. Nimura
“Ancestors: A Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials” by Alice Roberts
“The Secret History of Food: Strange but True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat” by Matt Siegel

Poetry

“A Thousand Mornings” by Mary Oliver

“Blue Horses” by Mary Oliver

“Dog Songs” by Mary Oliver

 

Science Fiction and Fantasy

A space ship taking off from a planet that has a large moon hanging in its sky. “The Children of Green Knowe” by Lucy M. Boston

“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers

“Remote Control” by Nnedi Okorafor

“In the Company of Men” by Véronique Tadjo

“Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir

 

Science, Health, and Medicine

Close-up of a glowing strand of DNA.“Why Smart People Make Bad Food Choices: The Invisible Influences That Guide Our Thinking” by  Jack Bobo

“Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World” by Elinor Cleghort

“The Book of the Earthworm” by Sally Coulthard

“People Count: Contact-Tracing Apps and Public Health” by Susan Landau

“Rituals & Myths in Nursing: A Social History” by Claire Laurent

“Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding” by Dan Lieberman

“A Story of Us: A New Look at Human Evolution” by Lesley Newson

“You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccination, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation” by Paul A Offit

“Beyond Soap: The Real Truth about What You Are Doin to Your Skin and How to Fix It for a Beautiful, Healthy Glow” by Sandy Skotnicki

“Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health” by Dr. Leana Wen

“American Contagions: Epidemics and the Law from Smallpox to Covid-19” by John Fabian Witt

 

Sociology and Psychology 

Silhoutte of a counsellor talking to a client. “The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town” by Brian Alexander

“The Comfort Book” by Matt Haig

“May We Suggest: Restaurant Menus and the Art of Persuasion” by Alice Pearlman

“The Lost Art of Doing Nothing: How the Dutch Unwind with Niksen” by Maartje Willems

“Veils of Distortion: How the News Media Warps Our Minds” by John Zada

 

Young Adult

Teenager who has placed a book on top of her head so that the spine is pointing towards the ceiling and the book is opened. “Dark Waters” by Katherine Arden (Review coming in 2022)

“Dead Voices” by Katherine Arden (Review coming in 2022)

“Small Spaces” by Katherine Arden (Review coming in 2022)

“The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot” by Marianne Cronin

“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis

”Prince Caspian” by C.S. Lewis

”The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” by C.S. Lewis

”The Silver Chair” by C.S. Lewis

”The Horse and His Boy” by C.S. Lewis

”The Magician’s Nephew” by C.S. Lewis

”The Last Battle” by C.S. Lewis

 

How did all of your reading habits change over 2021? Did you read any of these books?

 

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