Tag Archives: TBR

March 18, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

The first book on this list is one has already been released, and I’ve included publication dates for the rest.

Book cover for They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran. Image on cover shows a realistic drawing of a young Asian woman with long black hair submerged in water and staring at the audience with a frightened expression on her face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

Why I’m Interested: Water is an underused trope in the horror genre. Frightening things can happen in it if you’re unlucky or not careful!

 

Book cover for  Terrestrial History by Joe Mungo Reed. Image on cover shows a large orange moon or planet hanging low in the sky over a grassy field and some foothills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Terrestrial History by Joe Mungo Reed

Release Date: April 8

Why I’m Interested: While I’d never want to live on Mars personally, I love reading books about how humanity might be able to survive there one day.

 

Book cover for One Way Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. Image on cover shows drawing of a young black woman whose torso has a yellow galaxy superimposed onto it. It’s hard to say where the stars end and the woman begins. There is also a mirror effect going on here, so you can see another copy of her head and the galaxy as an upside down image on the bottom half of the book cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. One Way Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Release Date: April 29

Why I’m Interested: Ms. Okorafor is on my short list of authors whose new works I always check out (eventually), but I do need to read the first book of this series before diving into this one.

 

Book cover for The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig. Image on cover shows a large spiral staircase in a dark woods. The staircase illuminated by a bright yellow light and you can see the small figure of a person - possibly a child - walking up the staircase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig

Release Date: April 29

Why I’m Interested: Today I’d like to confess to the  Top Ten Tuesday community that I have started reading all of Wendig’s old books but always stopped reading them at some point because they were too scary for me. Will this book be the one of his I actually finish? Only time will tell. He’s a great storyteller from the bits I have read.

 

Book cover for  The Road to Tender Hearts  by Annie Hartnett. Image on cover is a simple, 1970s-style drawing of a person wearing a teal sweatshirt and brown shorts who is standing behind a station wagon and pushing the back of it as someone in the vehicle is driving. They must be stuck! They appear to be in the desert somewhere as there are cacti and a small, red mountain or large hill in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  The Road to Tender Hearts  by Annie Hartnett

Release Date: April 29

Why I’m Interested: Road trips are so much fun to read about.

 

Book cover for  The Road to Tender Hearts  by Annie Hartnett. Image on cover is an underwater drawing of three young white people who are swimming in a pool while facing each other. Their bodies almost form a circle, and I can imagine them chatting as they gently swim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Release Date:  May 6

Why I’m Interested: Mr. Backman is one of those authors I keep meaning to read. His stories always sound so interesting, but none of them have made it off my TBR list yet. Maybe this one will?

64 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

March 5, 2025 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Book I’m Nervous to Read (and Why)

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 wooden fence with barbed wire strung at the top of the fence. The sign on the fence reads, “private no public right of way.” On the other side of the fence you can see a large grassy area and, in the distance, a grove of trees separating this grazing area from the next one. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman is my answer for this week’s prompt.

Why am I nervous to read it?

While I’m usually pretty good at ignoring short-tempered curmudgeons in real life, I developed that skill by emotionally distancing myself from them, setting firm boundaries, and accepting that they are (probably) never going to change.

From what I understand about the plot, Ove does eventually change and become a (slightly? moderately? dramatically? ) more tolerable person to spend time with.

I’ve avoided reading this book so far because I’m worried about being annoyed by how unrealistic the character development will be and how much the narrator will expect the kind characters I’m assuming the protagonist meets to bend over backwards to accommodate his surliness.

I am courteous to people like Ove and help them if I can do so without harming myself in real life, but I also don’t think the onus should be on those of us who are easy going to absorb other people’s anger. It reminds me of when teachers would sit me next to the class troublemakers because I was one of the quiet and  studious kids in the classroom. (Yes, I know teachers in some districts have limited options when dealing with disruptive students, but expecting their good students to be the first line of defence against kids who can’t or won’t follow simple classroom instructions is a terrible strategy!)

People like Ove are presumably competent adults who are choosing to behave badly while many of us are quietly dealing with all sorts of problems without ever taking our pain and frustration out on others. A one-time or rare outburst can easily be forgiven, of course, but I avoid people who turn such behaviour into a habit or make excuses for it.

Frankly, I have my own troubles to deal with and simply don’t have the time or energy to try to “fix” the Oves of the world. I wish them well and genuinely hope things improve for them while also believing that it’s ultimately up to them to decide whether or not they will choose to behave in a way that makes others enjoy their company.

Yes, this can be harder for some people than it is for others for a variety of reasons, but part of being an adult is developing these coping skills and taking accountability if you hurt someone else just like you’d work on any other fault. I don’t expect perfection, just effort.

Maybe someday I will have the time and energy to read this book and see if my assumptions about it are valid, though!

14 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , , ,

February 4, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Photo of a white woman sitting on a bench on a cold wintry night after dark. She is wearing a winter hat and warm coat and staring up at a streetlamp next to the bench. The light from the lamp illuminates the surroundings just enough for the viewer to see some snow gently falling down to the ground. This is a cold scene due to the weather, but the woman looks contemplative as she gazes upon the street lamp. I’d sit by her. Those of you who have read my blog for a while might notice that I don’t post reviews for a lot of the books I put on my seasonal TBR posts, and part of that is due to how long it takes me to read them in some cases due to factors that are sometimes within and sometimes out of my control.

Since I rely on my local library for most of what I read, I can’t predict which books they will buy soon after the release date versus which ones might show up in the new book section a few months from now or maybe not at all.

If they happen to buy a specific title and i love it, I will almost certainly review it here! In the meantime, I wait patiently to see what shows up each week on the lists of new books and feel gratitude for all of the hard work librarians put into making sure we have lots of new titles to browse through.

Here are ten books published in 2024 that I have not actually read yet even though I was – and still am – excited for them. Maybe 2025 will be the year I read them?

 

Book cover for Escaping Mr. Rochester  by L.L. McKinney. Image on cover shows a drawing of Jane Eyre wearing a red, 1800s style dress and the first Mrs. Rochester wearing an off-white 1800s style dress. They are both young black woman who have determined expressions on their faces.

1. Escaping Mr. Rochester  by L.L. McKinney

 

 

Book cover for My Side of the River by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez. Image on cover is a drawing of wheat or some other type of grassy plant bending and swaying gently in the breeze.

2. My Side of the River: A Memoir by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez

 

 

Book cover for Who's Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler. There is no image on the cover. Just black text against a cream background that has one yellow stripe on the left and one purple stripe on the right side of the cover.

3. Who’s Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler

 

Book cover for The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon. There is no image on the cover really. It starts off as lime green at the top of the cover and gradually shift colour to a sea green at the bottom. The title and author are written in a white font whose style is reminiscent of chalk on a chalkboard.

4. The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon

(My local library does have a few copies of this title now, though, so hopefully I’ll make it to the top of the waitlist soon!)

Book cover for The Afterlife of Mal Caldera by Nadi Reed Perez. Image on cover shows a series of seven images that look like stained glass windows. They show a skeleton doing things like dancing, singing, playing a trombone, and, at the top image, talking to someone who is still alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. The Afterlife of Mal Caldera by Nadi Reed Perez

 

Book cover for querade by O.O. Sangoyomi. Image on cover is a comic-style drawing of a little orange cat who has a speech bubble above her head with the title written in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Woe: A Housecat’s Story of Despair (Library Binding) by Lucy Knisley

 

 

Book cover for We Carry the Sea in Our Hands by Janie Kim. Image on cover shows a stylized, oceanic-themed drawing of a pair of blue hands attempting to clasp a liquid swirl of gold and blue matter as it drains and disappears from view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. We Carry the Sea in Our Hands by Janie Kim

 

 

Book cover for  Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch by Andrea Freeman. Image on cover shows a close-up photo of two ears of corn that have black kernels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.  Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch by Andrea Freeman

 

 

Book cover for Sally's Lament (A Twisted Tale) by Mari Mancusi. Image on cover shows a drawing of a young girl standing in a forest. She is bathed in shadow and only a dim outline of her body can be seen. At the bottom of the image you can see a small drawing from The Nightmare Before Christmas where the ground slowly unfurled as the protagonist walked on it. It was an iconic scene in that film that happened during one of the songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Sally’s Lament (A Twisted Tale) by Mari Mancusi

 

 

Book cover for The City in Glass by Nghi Vo. Image on cover is a drawing of a city on fire just after dusk. We are looking at the flames from far away while standing under two carved stone pillars that are still connected by a piece of stone placed on top of them. There are female figures carved into the pillars. They look a little like Greek goddesses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. The City in Glass by Nghi Vo

 

 

Book cover for The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen. Image on cover shows a tabled filled with autumn fruits like apples, some of which are rotten, and a human skull placed on the side of the table. This is an unsettling scene that made me shiver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen

 

 

Book cover for Masquerade by Mike Fu. Image on cover is a drawing of a chrysanthemum-like flower blooming under a full moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. Masquerade by Mike Fu

 

 

Book cover for We Are All Ghosts in the Forest by Lorraine Wilson. Image on cover is a drawing of two people, one adult and one child, walking together in a forest that has a thick layer of fog in it that obscures most other details about the scene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13. We Are All Ghosts in the Forest by Lorraine Wilson

 

 

Book cover for The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso. Image on cover is a drwaing of three different clocks. One is a normal analogue clock like you’d see anywhere on Earth. The second one has far too many hours noted on it. Instead of 12, there are more like 24. The third clock has interesting symbols by each hour marked on it. They look like they might be Chinese symbols.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14. The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

 

Yes, I know I went a little over the 10 book maximum today, but I couldn’t figure out which books to trim out. I want to read them all once I can.

66 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

January 7, 2025 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2025


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

You all might remember that I struggle with these seasonal TBR posts because I’m a mood reader who relies on my local library for most of what I read. Therefore, there’s not a whole lot of planning ahead for me unless we’re talking about my all-time favourite authors or something.

So guess who came up with seven answers for this prompt? Maybe next time I’ll be able to come up with the full ten!

Book cover for All the Water in the World by Eiran Caffell. Image on cover shows skyscrapers poking out of the water in a city that’s been flooded by rising oceans in a warming world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the Water in the World by Eiran Caffell

Publication Date: Today!

Why I’m Interested: I loved Station Eleven and hope this is just as poignant and hopeful.

 

Book cover for The Other March Sisters by Linda Epstein. There’s a going on with this cover. The background is dandelion yellow. There is a sea blue silhouette of someone’s head over it. There are three smaller black silhouettes of people - presumably women - wearing 1800s style dresses around the head. Inside of the head you see the winding branches of some sort of ivy or fern as well as various types of flowers in all of the usual flower colours: pink, blue, yellow, red, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Other March Sisters by Linda Epstein

Publication Date: February 25

Why I’m Interested: Little Women is such a classic, but I wondered how certain scenes would have looked from perspectives other than Jo’s as well as what was going on the other sisters’ lives that maybe she didn’t know about. Now we’ll get to find out.

 

Book cover for Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey. Image on cover shows black stylized swords and crosses and swirly lines against a blood-red background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey

Publication Date: March 4

Why I’m Interested: Carey is on my short list of must-read authors. At first I thought the protagonist was a vampire, but he may be something else instead. Either way, count me in.

 

Book cover for Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Image on cover is a drawing of a flame that has a blue centre, a white middle, and then various shades of red and orange as one moves closer to the edges of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Publication Date: March 4

Why I’m Interested: Ngozi Adichie is also on my short list of must-read authors! I’m excited to read something new from her as I don’t think she’s written much fiction (if any?) before.

 

Book cover for Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green. Image on cover is a stylized drawing of tuberculosis germs swimming around on a slide that’s under the microscope. What’s interesting about this image is that you see the slide front and centre in all of it’s pink and yellow glory but the microscope is drawn so simply it’s easy to misunderstand it as something else entirely like just an abstract triangle. So the focus is on the disease here, not the doctor or scientist studying it or curing it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green

Publication Date: March 18

Why I’m Interested: Tuberculosis is a sad but intriguing subject. I like learning more about it, especially since it remains a threat to human health to this day. May we someday have much better medications to treat it.

 

Book cover for When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi. Image on cover shows an astronaut standing on the moon which, upon closer inspection, is made of yellow cheese instead of, you know, rocks and dust instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

Publication Date: March 25

Why I’m Interested: Scalzi has such creative ideas. Sometimes I love his work and other times they’re not quite what I’m looking for, but I do give him another shot with every new book either way.

 

Book cover for Don't Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo. Image on cover shows a drawing of a gigantic heart - possibly human? - floating over an equally white city below. Everything looks like it’s had the life drained out of it, and I feel sad when I see this image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo

Publication Date: April 8

Why I’m Interested: This is a bit of a risky pick for me because I loathed The Great Gatsby when it was assigned to us to read in a high school English class and have refused to read anything else from Fitzgerald in the years since then. Can a retelling change my mind, or will this be a rapid DNF? Only time will tell..

 

72 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

January 1, 2025 · 8:07 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: New Books I Want to Read this Month/Year

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.

Top Ten Tuesday had a similar topic last month and another one coming out later on this month, so there will be some repetition in my answers.

Book cover for Isaac's Song by Daniel Black. Image on cover shows a drawing of a young black man whose facial features are just barely included. You can see his eyebrows and the ridge of his nose. He’s standing in front a city filled with skyscrapers as an orange bird flies in the air behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My #1 answer is  Isaac’s Song by Daniel Black

Publication Date: January 14

I gushed about the first book in this series, Don’t Cry for Me, last year. It was written from the perspective of a (black) man who grew up in the south during the segregation era. He had a harsh childhood and passed on those impossible and sometimes abusive expectations to his son, Isaac, who cut contact with the protagonist as a young adult.

That was not an easy read by any means due to the themes of racism, homophobia, and generational abuse, but it was beautifully written. I can’t wait to view this world through Isaac’s eyes and hopefully see some sort of reconciliation or other form of healing by the end of it.

 

 

My #2 answer is speculative in nature and I don’t know if it will happen this year. I want a new book from Becky Chambers who is one of my favourite modern science fiction and fantasy writers. She has written some wonderfully gentle, cozy stories, and I need another one of them from her if possible.  (Especially after I read #1 on this list, I think!)

 

 

Book cover for Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Image on cover is a drawing of a flame that has a blue centre, a white middle, and then various shades of red and orange as one moves closer to the edges of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My #3 answer is Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Publication Date: March 4

Why I’m Interested: A little literary fiction in the spring sounds nice. I’ve really enjoyed the previous work from her that I’ve read, too.

 

 

My #4 answer is another wish for a book that may or may not exist yet. Sarah Waters hasn’t released anything new in years, and I’d love for that to change this year.

6 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

September 24, 2024 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Photo of a light brown mug and an opened book lying in a bed of red and yellow autumn leaves on the forest floor. When I first began working on this post, I couldn’t find anything that appealed to me.

There is a lot of gory horror as well as Christmas stories that are generally released in the autumn.

No offense to anyone who loves either of those genres, but I needed to look elsewhere to build my list this week.

Sometimes it pays off to dig deeper and keeps going. Here are some of the upcoming autumn books that have caught my eye.

I’m too much of a mood reader to commit to a specific reading schedule in most cases, but all of these do look interesting.

Thank you to Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits for doing this topic a week early and giving me two more titles to add to my list!

 

Book cover for The City in Glass by Nghi Vo. Image on cover is a drawing of a city on fire just after dusk. We are looking at the flames from far away while standing under two carved stone pillars that are still connected by a piece of stone placed on top of them. There are female figures carved into the pillars. They look a little like Greek goddesses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The City in Glass by Nghi Vo

Publication Date: October 1

Why I Want to Read It: This novella looks like a nice mixture of several different themes: adventure, romance, and fantasy.

 

Book cover for The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen. Image on cover shows a tabled filled with autumn fruits like apples, some of which are rotten, and a human skull placed on the side of the table. This is an unsettling scene that made me shiver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen

Publication Date: October 8

Why I Want to Read It: The story looks scary but hopefully won’t be gory. Maybe it would be a good Halloween read?

 

Book cover for What Does It Feel Like by Sophie Kinsella. Image on cover is a drwaing of a white woman with long, straight light brown hair who is wearing a fluffy turquoise gown that has a low-cut back and walking away from the audience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella

Publication Date: October 8

Why I Want to Read It: I’ve never read her work before. After hearing about her life-threatening cancer diagnosis earlier this year, I’m wondering if I should give her work a try.

 

Book cover for Masquerade by Mike Fu. Image on cover is a drawing of a chrysanthemum-like flower blooming under a full moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Masquerade by Mike Fu

Publication Date: October 29

Why I Want to Read It: My reading pile has been low on mysteries this year, and this one sounds interesting.

 

 

Book cover for The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong. Image on cover is a possibly computer-generated painting of a woman sitting on the back ledge of a covered n wagon and looking out at some homes in the distance. It’s just past dusk and quickly growing dark outside. You can see a fe stars in the sky as well as a lamp hanging over the backside of the wagon and illuminating her and a small black cat who is sitting next to her. It’s a peaceful scene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Publication Date: November 5

Why I Want to Read It: I’m very into cozy reads at the moment.

 

Book cover for We Are All Ghosts in the Forest by Lorraine Wilson. Image on cover is a drawing of two people, one adult and one child, walking together in a forest that has a thick layer of fog in it that obscures most other details about the scene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Are All Ghosts in the Forest by Lorraine Wilson

 

Publication Date: November 7

Why I Want to Read It: 2020 sharply reduced my interest in post-apocalyptic stories, but I am slowly coming around to enjoying them again so long as there is no disease component to the plot. A world without the Internet would be so different.

 

Book cover for The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso. Image on cover is a drwaing of three different clocks. One is a normal analogue clock like you’d see anywhere on Earth. The second one has far too many hours noted on it. Instead of 12, there are more like 24. The third clock has interesting symbols by each hour marked on it. They look like they might be Chinese symbols.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

Publication Date: November 19

Why I Want to Read It: The time travel and reality bending aspects of it sound cool. I also like the fact that the protagonist has a young child but is still able to go on adventures. Good for her!

 

 

76 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

June 25, 2024 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Closeup photo of a pale-skinned woman with long, black, straight hair reading a book. She’s sitting outdoors next to grass that is partially green and partially brown and dry. It looks like grass that has gone dormant in the summer heat!It looks like this week’s list will be shorter than last week’s list was.

Here are some books I’m looking forward to that are coming out in the second half of this year.

While researching this post, I noticed that there didn’t seem to be as many books to choose from as usual.

Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe there will be some real treasures popping up in a month or two that just haven’t quite been announced yet.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

 

Book cover for Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks by Yuval Noah Harari. Image on cover shows a drawing of a pigeon-like bird standing still and facing to the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari

Publication Date: September 10
Why I’m Interested: I love reading about how information spreads around as well as how it can change over time depending on the medium involved.

Book cover for The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister. Image on cover shows a drawing of the face, neck, and trunk of a young, pale, white woman who has a small pile of dirt on her neck. She does not look dead, just very pale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister

 

Publication Date: October 1
Why I’m Interested: Occasionally, well-preserved bodies from a few thousand years ago will be found in the bogs in Europe. I find it so interesting to read about the things scientists have discovered about these societies and am interested in reading a fictional account of something that seems sort of related to this phenomena.

 

Book cover for Sally's Lament (A Twisted Tale) by Mari Mancusi. Image on cover shows a drawing of a young girl standing in a forest. She is bathed in shadow and only a dim outline of her body can be seen. At the bottom of the image you can see a small drawing from The Nightmare Before Christmas where the ground slowly unfurled as the protagonist walked on it. It was an iconic scene in that film that happened during one of the songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sally’s Lament (A Twisted Tale) by Mari Mancusi

Publication Date: October 8
Why I’m Interested: I liked The Nightmare Before Christmas when I was a kid and am curious to see what this retelling of it is like.

66 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

June 18, 2024 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer 2024 To-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A adorable little figurine of a yellow rubber ducky who is sitting in a beach chair and reading a book. This figurine has been placed on a beach, and you can see a wave gently reaching the shore in the distance on this calm and sunny day. Look how many answers I came up with for this seasonal TBR post!

I often struggle with them due to being a mood reader and relying on my local library for the majority of what I read, so I was thrilled to see how long my list was this time.

Last summer was very smoky here in Ontario due to the massive wildfires burning across our country, and there were quite a few days when we were strongly encouraged to remain indoors due to the poor air quality. It’s been better so far this year, but thank goodness for books on days that are smoky!

I’m writing this post in advance while hoping that this June will have much cleaner air. Fingers crossed.

Book cover for The Afterlife of Mal Caldera by Nadi Reed Perez. Image on cover shows a series of seven images that look like stained glass windows. They show a skeleton doing things like dancing, singing, playing a trombone, and, at the top image, talking to someone who is still alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The Afterlife of Mal Caldera by Nadi Reed Perez

Why I’m Interested: I love ghost stories in general and enjoy them even more when they’re written from the perspective of the ghost herself.

Book cover for querade by O.O. Sangoyomi. Image on cover shows a drawing of a gorgeous African woman wearing a red dress and red headdress. She’s surrounded by large golden flowers. There is an elephant behind her, and its trunk is lightly hugging her legs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi

Publication Date: July 2

Why I’m Interested: A retelling of Persephone set in Africa in the fifteenth century sounds amazing to me.

Book cover for querade by O.O. Sangoyomi. Image on cover is a comic-style drawing of a little orange cat who has a speech bubble above her head with the title written in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Woe: A Housecat’s Story of Despair (Library Binding) by Lucy Knisley

Publication Date: July 2
Why I’m Interested: Cats are fascinating to me. I can never be around them due to how terribly allergic I am to them, so books about them must suffice.

Book cover for We Carry the Sea in Our Hands by Janie Kim. Image on cover shows a stylized, oceanic-themed drawing of a pair of blue hands attempting to clasp a liquid swirl of gold and blue matter as it drains and disappears from view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. We Carry the Sea in Our Hands by Janie Kim

Publication Date: July 9

Why I’m Interested: I’m interested in books about foster care, adoption, and race. This book covers all three topics.

Book cover for  Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch by Andrea Freeman. Image on cover shows a close-up photo of two ears of corn that have black kernels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch by Andrea Freeman

Publication Date: July 16

Why I’m Interested: It sounds fascinating.

Book cover for The Bluestockings: A History of the First Women's Movement by Susannah Gibson. Image on cover shows part of an old painting of a wealthy white woman who is wearing a flowing blue gown and holding a book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Bluestockings: A History of the First Women’s Movement by Susannah Gibson

Publication Date: July 23

Why I’m Interested: This is a slice of history I don’t know much about.

Book cover for She Who Knows: Firespitter by Nnedi Okorafor. Image on cover shows a drawing of an African woman who is wearing an animal skull and vertebrae as a hat. Golden light is shining on her face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.  She Who Knows: Firespitter by Nnedi Okorafor

Publication Date: August 20

Why I’m Interested: Ms. Okorafor has written some incredible stories, so I always check out her new stuff.

82 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , ,

May 28, 2024 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Surreal painting of a little pale-skinned person sitting on the edge of a pond with their legs hanging over the water while the sky above is dark but there is a pale blue light over the horizon. The light in the sky is brighter than the moon but dimmer than the sun. You can see a reflection of it in the pond, although it is partially distorted by ripples in the water. The pond is set on a hill, and you can see two more hills behind it. Is this set at dusk or dawn? Why is the person wearing a hat but not a jacket? Why are they alone so close to the water and at such a lonely time of day? I own ebook copies of all of these titles, but there are so many incredible books out there that I have not yet managed to read anything from this list yet.

Part of the problem is that my attention span isn’t as long as it was when I was a kid.

I tend to gravitate towards short stories, novellas, and short novels these days instead of mostly reading regular to long novels like I did back then.

Maybe Toronto will have a lot of thunderstorms this summer?

I find I’m more interested in digging into something full length if the weather outside isn’t conducive to doing something active there instead.

It’s hard to remain cooped up inside on a pleasant, sunny day.

At least half of these recommendations came from my friend Berthold Gambrel, so I’ll tip my cap to him for recommending them. If you love talking about indie books or older films, he’s a great person to follow. Just tell him that Lydia sent you over to say hello. 🙂 

 

 

Book cover for Vander’s Magic Carpet by Patrick Prescott. Image on cover is a photograph of train tracks taken at night. You can see what might be the light of an oncoming train at the very edge of the cover. Then again, maybe it’s moonlight instead!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.Vander’s Magic Carpet by Patrick Prescott

Why I’m Interested: Patrick is an Internet friend of mine, and I’ve been curious about this story of revenge and magic carpets for a long time.

Book cover for The Devil and the Wolf by Richard Pastore. Image on cover shows a sketch of two people, one in a blue suit and one in a red suit whose colour fades to grey at the shoulders, walking down a grey path and towards the head of an enormous blue-grey wolf that looks like it is about to devour them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Devil and the Wolf by Richard L. Pastore

Why I’m Interested: This sounds hilarious. Richard is another Internet friend of mine I’ve gotten to know well over the years.

 

An Assortment of Rejected Futures by Noah Goats. Image on cover is a photo of the branches of a leafless tree against a starry night sky. It appears to be dusk or dawn as the sky is purple instead of plain black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. An Assortment of Rejected Futures by Noah Goats

Why I’m Interested: I love both reading and writing short stories. They can be so entertaining and memorable.

 

Book cover for The Left Hand of Dog - an Extremely Silly Tale of Alien Abduction by Si Clarke. Image on cover shows the silhoutte of a person and a medium-sized leashed dog standing on a hill and admiring the night sky. Curiously enough, there is a gigantic purple, blue, and pink teapot in the sky that is pouring some extra light into the sky through its spout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The Left Hand of Dog – an Extremely Silly Tale of Alien Abduction by Si Clarke

Why I’m Interested: Silly science fiction about aliens? Sign me up!

 

 

Book cover for Born of the Sun: A novel of human ancestors by Peter Munford. Image on cover shows a drawing of a large leg bone lying on cracked and dried red soil. The sun is setting over this desert scene, but it still feels unbearably hot and dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.Born of the Sun: A novel of human ancestors by Peter Munford

 

Why I’m Interested: I love reading about prehistory and the various hominids that have lived on Earth. This is set about 2 million years ago, so it could be quite interesting to compare how people are now to how pre-human species were back then.

 

Book cover for A Reconciliation With Death by Cody Ray George. Image on cover shows a drawing of a short-haired person sitting on a couch and looking wistfully through the blinds at the world outside. Have they finally decided to try to heal from their trauma, maybe?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. A Reconciliation With Death by Cody Ray George

Why I’m Interested: So many post-apocalyptic books end before their characters have any chance at all to begin recovering from what they’ve endured. I relish the thought of reading something that acknowledges that a terrible plague happened but then speeds forward to see how the characters recover from it. Healing is vastly underrated in speculative fiction in my opinion.  We need more hope in the world.

 

Book cover for Little House on the Wasteland by Laura Ingalls-Wei, Amanda Platsis (Illustrator), Christopher McElwain (Translator). Image on cover is a drawing of the characters from Little House on the Prairie but in a futuristic postapocalyptic setting. They are walking down an abandoned road and keeping an eye out for trouble. This scene is framed by a torn and decaying white and red gingham curtain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Little House on the Wasteland by Laura Ingalls-Wei, Amanda Platsis (Illustrator), Christopher McElwain (Translator)

Why I’m Interested: Horror and Laura Ingalls Wilder are two things I’d never think to blend together, but the people I know who read this book really loved it. I need to find out for myself how such wildly different styles of writing can improve each other.

 

Book cover for American Chimera by H.R.R Gorman. Image on cover shows a gold scarab beetle against a gold and brown background. The beetle looks like it’s a toy or a pin instead of a real beetle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. American Chimera by H.R.R Gorman

Why I’m Interested: Chimeras are fascinating.

Book cover for Roach by Liz Boysha. Image on cover is a drawing of a red, winged, six-legged insect. It is nothing like any roach I’ve ever seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.  Roach by Liz Boysha

Why I’m Interested: People turning into bugs in stories is one thing…but a roach turning into a person? This could be really good.

 

Book cover for Born in a Treacherous time (Dawn of Humanity #1) by Jacqui Murray. image on cover shows a drawing of a long-haired person holding a spear and a wolf striding confidently towards the viewer. Behind them is a mammoth who has been superimposed onto the scene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Born in a Treacherous time (Dawn of Humanity #1) by Jacqui Murray

Why I’m Interested: As mentioned earlier, I love reading stories set in prehistory. This one is set 1.8 million years ago, a time period I have not read as much about as I have other time periods. Here’s hoping it’s an exciting and educational read.

46 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , , ,

April 23, 2024 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Four shelves of library books that are stacked neatly but with their spines facing away from the viewer. The shelves are labelled from 3B at the top left all the way down to 7C to the bottom right, although I do not know what those numbers and letters signify. This is going to be one of those weeks when I give more than ten answers. It will help to make up for the weeks when I fall far short of that goal.

As I’ve mentioned here before, most of the books I read come from my local library for practical, environmental, and frugal reasons.

Depending on how many ebooks my library has ordered, this could mean that I might immediately be able to download a book from them, be one of the first people on the waitlist for the next available copy, or, in some cases, have a few weeks or months to go until one is available for me.

I don’t mind waiting for books. It increases my anticipation for my next great read and helps the librarians show just how popular certain titles are. They are often able to order more copies if the waitlists stretch out so long that the people at the bottom of them can expect to wait for several months to years at the current pace.

Usually, the most popular titles either already have plenty of copies of them circulating or will soon see a huge increase in how many of them are available to borrow that will reduce my wait time from several years to a few months or several months to a couple of weeks.

Here are the books on my hold shelf that have long waitlists.

Book cover for Antarctica by Claire Keegan. Image on cover shows a photograph a white woman with long, wavy hair wearing a light summer dress with spaghetti straps on it. She’s crouching down and touching the water below her gently. There is a blue filter on this photo that makes everything look cold and possibly even icy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Antarctica by Claire Keegan

Waiting Since: February 20

Why I’m Interested: She’s on my must-read list. I love her descriptive writing style and realistic storylines.

 

Book cover for The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe. Image on cover shows a red sleeveless dress and two white sheets hanging to dry on an outdoor clothesline. There is a wicker clothes basket partially hidden by the dress and sheets, but with the wind blowing everything around we get a glimpse of it. The grass below is growing tall, and there is a thick forest behind this scene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe

Waiting Since: March 5

Why I’m Interested: Canadian fiction often isn’t as well-advertised as all of the books published down south in the U.S., so I make a concerted effort to seek out non-American authors and stories as much as possible. This seems like a nice slice-of-life read.

 

Book cover for Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport. Image on cover shows a painting of a pine forest with a river running through it. The land has been tinted pink by the setting sun filtering through the puffy white clouds in the sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport

Waiting Since: March 20

Why I’m Interested: This is something I struggle with and hope to improve within myself.

 

Book cover for The Lost Sounds by Chris Watson. Image on cover shows a drawing of a brown bird that has a white chest. Its head is lifted up as if it has begun or soon will begin to sing. You can see a full moon in the background against the night sky. Why aren’t you sleeping, little bird?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The Lost Sounds by Chris Watson

Waiting Since: March 26

Why I’m Interested: Birds are such fascinating creatures. I’m waiting for the audiobook version of this book so I can hear all sorts of beautiful bird songs from the U.K. that (I’m assuming?) we probably don’t get to enjoy very often here in Canada.

 

Book cover for To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flower. Image on cover shows a painting of a white woman wearing a 1900s-style white blouse and floor length green skirt. She is pushing a bicycle on a dusty country road as her brown satchel hangs from the handle bars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flower

Waiting Since: April 3

Why I’m Interested: Did you know that Orville and Wilbur Wright had a sister named Katherine? I did not, but now I’m curious to read this cozy mystery about her. Is it at all historically accurate? Will there be airplanes in it? I have no idea, but trying new things is worth it in my opinion.

 

Book cover for Lewis Carroll’s Guide for Insomniacs by Lewis Carroll. Image on cover shows a drawing of a rabbit wearing striped pyjamas and standing up with a puzzled expression on his face as he holds a pocket watch as far away from his legs as he possibly can. He appears to be the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Lewis Carroll’s Guide for Insomniacs by Lewis Carroll

Waiting Since: April 9

Why I’m Interested: I sometimes have trouble falling back asleep at night and I love Caroll’s work.

 

Book cover for The Wisdom of Nurses: Stories of Grit From the Front Lines by Amie Archibald-Varley, Sara Fung. Image on cover is a photo of a blue stethoscope lying on a white surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. The Wisdom of Nurses: Stories of Grit From the Front Lines by Amie Archibald-Varley, Sara Fung

Waiting Since: April 9

Why I’m Interested: Some of my relatives work in the healthcare field. I have a great deal of respect for anyone in that profession and love dipping into memoirs and similar sorts of books about their experiences.

 

Book cover for The Laundryman’s Boy: A Novel by Edward Y.C. Lee. Image on cover shows a drawing of a black shirt hanging on a clotheslines in front of a red sky filled with yellow stars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.The Laundryman’s Boy: A Novel by Edward Y.C. Lee

Waiting Since: April 17

Why I’m Interested: Mr. Lee is another Canadian author I’ve added to my TBR. The writing in the short preview I read was gorgeous, and I’m quite curious to learn more about the protagonist, a young Chinese immigrant who dreams of leaving his exploitative job and continuing his education.

 

Book cover for The Minotaur at Calle Lanza by Zito Madu. Image on the cover is a drawing of a Minotaur on the left hand of the figure and a human head on the right. The human’s face is shown in silhoutte, but the Minotaur’s face looked like a maze instead of having any discernible features.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. The Minotaur at Calle Lanza by Zito Madu

Waiting Since: April 17

Why I’m Interested: This travel memoir set in Italy in 2020 sounds like such a poignant read.

 

Book cover for A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland. Image on cover shows a closeup of a person’s chest. The person has long, straight brown hair that is covering much of their chest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

Waiting Since: April 17

Why I’m Interested: This is a title I mentioned in the Spring 2024 TBR List post back in March. The Selkie Wife is a wonderful folk tale, so I’m thrilled that I’m a little closer to (finally!) being able to read this retelling of it now.

 

Book cover for Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal. Image on cover is a drwaing of two Native people. One is holding a fan made from bird feathers and the other one has a bird feather in their hair and is pointing at the sun above them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal

Waiting Since: April 17

Why I’m Interested: When I was in school, I learned very little about Native American history before the arrival of people from Europe and other continents. I’m hoping this book will help to change that and fill in some gaps in my historical knowledge.

 

Book cover for Health for All: A Doctor's Prescription for a Healthier Canada by Jane Philpott. Image on cover shows a drawing of hundreds of people who have been arranged into an image that looks like two hands that are about to shake each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada by Jane Philpott

Waiting Since: April 17

Why I’m Interested: Canada has Universal Health Care, but our system isn’t funded as much as it should be given our growing and aging population. I am so curious to read this doctor’s perspective on the best ways to ensure that everyone gets the healthcare they need and that healthcare workers are treated fairly and given the tools to succeed as well.

 

Book cover for Microskills: Small Actions, Big Imact by Adaira Landry, Resa E. Lewiss. There is no image on the cover. Microskills is in a large white font and the rest of the title is in a smaller yellow font. There is a blue background, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13. MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact by Adaira Landry, Resa E. Lewiss

Waiting Since: April 19

Why I’m Interested: I have seen some evidence of this working in my life with topics like setting fitness goals, but I want to learn more about it.

 

Wish me luck as I wait my turn for these titles! I’d love to hear your thoughts on them if you’ve already read them, too.

If you have a local library that you use, how long are the waitlists there for new and popular books?

62 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as , , ,