Tag Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Cookbooks for Winter Holiday Feasts

In: Blog Hops

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Gingerbread people lying on a table. My Brain: Okay, it’s time to write this week’s Top Ten Tuesday entry now. What should we talk about in our freebie post?

My Stomach: Food!

Brain: Well, it’s supposed to be a bookish topic and, ideally, at least tangentially related to winter or the holiday season in general.

Stomach: We will be surrounded by more delicious food than usual until at least the first week of January. It’s the only thing I want to talk about, so there must be a way to blog about it while still technically following Jana’s rules.

Brain: What if we decide to use this prompt to discuss cookbooks? Will that work for you?

Stomach: Yes, I’ll agree to that deal.

Now that you all know how I came up with today’s topic, let’s talk about cookbooks. All of the winter holidays I’m aware of share one delicious and important thing in common: special dishes and meals. Every culture has them, and this is a very common time of the year for people from all walks of life to start making that famous family recipe that everyone expects during the holidays.

If my apartment were large enough for me to host holiday get-togethers, I’d want to browse through these books to plan the perfect meals for all of my guests.

Book cover for Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Winter Food to Warm the Soul by Diana Henry.

1. Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Winter Food to Warm the Soul by Diana Henry

Book cover for Husbands That Cook: More Than 120 Irresistible Vegetarian Recipes and Tales from Our Tiny Kitchen by Ryan Alvarez

2. Husbands That Cook: More Than 120 Irresistible Vegetarian Recipes and Tales from Our Tiny Kitchen by Ryan Alvarez

Book cover for Nadiya's Kitchen by Nadiya Hussain

3. Nadiya’s Kitchen by Nadiya Hussain

Book cover for Bread (River Cottage Handbook) by Daniel Stevens

4. Bread (River Cottage Handbook) by Daniel Stevens

Book cover for The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories and 100 Essential Recipes for Midwinter by Nigel Slater

5. The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories and 100 Essential Recipes for Midwinter by Nigel Slater

Book cover for The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize It! Foolproof Methods for Transforming Any Dish into a Delicious New Vegan Favorite by Celine Steen

6. The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize It! Foolproof Methods for Transforming Any Dish into a Delicious New Vegan Favorite by Celine Steen

Book cover for How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson

7. How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson

Book cover for Diabetic Living The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook by Diabetic Living Editors

8. Diabetic Living The Ultimate Diabetes Cookbook by Diabetic Living Editors

And for dessert…

Book cover for Wintersweet: Seasonal Desserts to Warm the Home by Tammy Donroe Inman

9. Wintersweet: Seasonal Desserts to Warm the Home by Tammy Donroe Inman

Book cover for The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks' Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

10. The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Which cookbooks do you love? What are a few of your favourite things to eat during the winter holidays?

Top Ten Tuesday: Holiday Reads

In: Blog Hops

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Ornaments, snow-covered pine cone, tinsel, and a wrapped present.While I don’t really celebrate any winter holidays with anything other than a nice meal, I still enjoy reading books about or set in this part of the year.

1. Yuletide Tales A Festive Collective by Peter John

I’ve never seen such a diverse assortment of stories related to Christmas. The references to the horror genre in the blurb are particularly interesting.

2. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

One of my favourite Language Arts teachers assigned this story to us when I was a teenager. I’ve loved it ever since.

3. The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (Pine Cove, #3) by Christopher Moore

How can anyone read this title and not want to find out what happens next?

4. A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

How did I just now find out that this is a novel as well as a classic Christmas movie?

5. Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth by Dorothy Morrison

There’s something fascinating to me about learning where the various winter holiday traditions started.

6. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

I was obsessed with Mr. Andersen’s stories when I was a child. He was the person who introduced me to many of my favourite classic fairytales and legends!

7. The Cat Who Ate Christmas by Lil Chase

This is another one of those titles that is completely irresistible to me.

Top Ten Tuesday: Native American Reads

In: Blog Hops

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Opened books lying down on a flat surface. Every inch of the surface is covered in books. This week’s prompt was a Thanksgiving freebie. Since I’ve already written a few different posts about the Canadian and American Thanksgivings over the last month, I decided to use this prompt to share books written by Native American and First Nations authors that I’ve already read or am I’m hoping to read soon.

If I’ve read it, I’ll share a sentence or two about why I liked it.

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

Generally, survival and adventure stories are a tad too intense for my tastes. This one began when two old women were abandoned by their village during a terrible winter famine. Where the plot went from there is why this has become one of my all-time things to read when I do want to read about adventure and survival.

2. Born with a Tooth by Joseph Boyden

3. Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese

4. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Mr. Alexie has a fantastic sense of humour. I can’t count the number of times I laughed while reading this book.

5. Gardens in the Dunes
by Leslie Marmon Silko

6. Solar Storms by Linda Hogan

7. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

8. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

This was my first introduction to Mr. Wagamese’s work. I’ve been a fan of his writing style and storytelling ever since. He has a way of making every scene come alive no matter what is happening in it. That is, his ordinary scenes are just as unforgettable as the heartbreaking ones.

What books can you all recommend adding to this list?

Top Ten Tuesday: Changes in My Reading Life

In: Blog Hops, Personal Life

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

While I was coming up with this list, I tried to make everything fit the same sentence structure. It bothered me just a little bit that I had to break that pattern for one of my answers.

There are five genres I read less of these days and five I’ve started to spend much more time exploring.

I Read Less Poetry

I Read Less Horror

I Read Less Fantasy

I Read Less Romance

I Read Fewer Series and Long Works

 

I Read More Biographies

I Read More Hard Science Fiction

I Read More History

I Read More Hopeful Fiction, Scifi or Otherwise

I Read More Science

In general, I find that I’m becoming more interested in books that talk about real-life issues (even if the plots themselves are fictional) and have a faster-paced structure than what I read when I was in school. It’s also nice to find authors who take a hopeful but realistic approach to their topic, whatever that topic may be.

This isn’t to say that I dislike poetic passages or metaphors. A few of them sprinkled into a book are nice, but I’m not as thrilled about reading an entire novel’s worth of that sort of thing as I used to be.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Unconventional Bookmarks

In: Blog Hops

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I’m modifying this week’s prompt a little bit because I’m the sort of reader who gleefully makes bookmarks out of all sorts of unconventional things when I read physical books. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I bought or used a traditional bookmark!

No, this post isn’t going to be about me using oreos and milk or a soft taco as bookmarks. None of the things I’m about to mention have damaged books in any way. They’re just a little off the beaten path.

1. Toilet Paper

It may be unnecessary to specify that this is clean, unused toilet paper, but I’ll do it anyway. Sometimes it’s the best available bookmark when you’re in the washroom reading, need to get up, and don’t have any other way to mark your page.

red maple leaf lying on a wooden floor2. Receipts

They’re bookmark shaped, right? Why not put them to use once you’ve bought your products.

3. Leaves 

Like the toilet paper, I only ever used clean, dry leaves. The bigger they were, the better.

4. Greeting Cards

They’re generally taller and wider than traditional bookmarks, but they seem to have about the same thickness. This is a good thing in my opinion. They won’t tear easily, but they also won’t damage the spine of a paperback.

5. Tissue Paper

I was desperate, and it did not work well due to how easily tissue paper tears.

6. Playing Cards

My family always had extra packs of playing cards lying around when I was growing up. Sometimes I’d grab a card as an impromptu bookmark.

How about all of you? What unconventional bookmarks have you used?