Showing posts with label Bookish Blog Hop. Show all posts

It's april! That means it's time for another Bookish Blog Hop!  Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the b...



It's april! That means it's time for another Bookish Blog Hop! 


Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they are reading. 
Yesterday, we were over at the Upstream Writer Blog hosted by Leslie Conzatti where we talked about books set in the past.

Today's prompt is:

 A Book you haven't read yet by an author you love!


It's weird to talk about it in April but I love Christmas horror. Every year I look forward to watching Krampus, A Christmas Horror Story, and Rare Exports. I know, it's kinda strange. While others are watching A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Miracle on 34th Street, I'm watching murderous elves and sinister santas. I'm always looking for holiday horror in story form to give me that same feeling so that's how i ran across Snowball by Gregory Bastianelli. 

In Snowball, a group of motorists on their way home for Christmas get stuck on the highway in a freak blizzard. They end up in one of the  couple's motorhome where they all start telling stories of their worst winter memory because that is TOTALLY what you do when trapped in a preternatural blizzard. A few of the stranded motorists set out to try to find help and end up in a worse position than they started. The book was so much fun and exactly what I was looking for: totally irreverent Christmas spirit! 
(If you want, you can read my review of Snowball here.)

I was very excited when I saw that Gregory Bastianelli released another novel just last week; this time one that appears to be ecohorror leaning. In Shadow Flicker, an investigator is sent after strange events start happening in a town living in the shadow of wind turbines. I have the ebook in hand and hopefully will be able to start it soon!


From Goodreads, here's the blurb:

An old man nearly chokes to death after stuffing dandelion heads into his mouth. A pregnant cow repeatedly runs headlong into a fence post. Oscar Basaran investigates a series of strange events on the Kidney Island.

Investigator Oscar Basaran travels to Kidney Island off the coast of Maine to document the negative effects of shadow flicker from wind turbines on residents living near the windmills, but is unprepared for what he encounters from the islanders.
Oscar’s research shows that sleep deprivation, light deficiency and ringing headaches brought on by the noise and constant strobe-like effect of the sun filtered through the spinning blades of the turbines brings on hallucinatory episodes for the closest neighbors to the machines.

Melody Larson’s elderly father nearly chokes to death after stuffing dandelion heads into his mouth. The Granberrys' pregnant cow repeatedly runs headlong into a fence post. Tatum Gallagher mourns her young son who vanished more than a year ago, presumed swept out to sea by a wave while fishing on the rocky shore, but several people claim to see him appear only in the glimmer of the shadow flicker.

Aerosource, the energy corporation that owns the turbines, hired Oscar to investigate the neighbors’ claims, but the insurance agent shows no allegiance to the conglomerate, especially after learning a previous employee sent to the island a year before has disappeared without a trace.

When Oscar meets former island school science teacher Norris Squires, fired for teaching his students about the harmful effects of shadow flicker, he learns a theory regarding Aerosource that sounds too preposterous to believe.

While it seems the shadow flicker effect has driven some of the island’s animals crazy, is it possible it’s caused an even worse mental breakdown among the human inhabitants? Or is something more nefarious at work on the island?

As Oscar’s investigation deepens, he discovers the turbines create an unexpected phenomena kept secret by a select group of people on Kidney Island who have made a scientific breakthrough and attempt to harness its dark power.


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Here's what the others had to say:



In the Tall Grass by Stephen King

I have read A LOT of Stephen King books and haven’t found many that I didn’t enjoy (the only one I didn’t enjoy was Cell, which took too long to get to the point). To read all of them would take years, so I am slowly trying to get through the collection. He is the most influential and iconic thriller and horror fiction writer whose novels have made several feature films, including The Shining, IT, Carrie and The Mist, to name a few.

I enjoyed reading the classics in the past, and I’ve recently read The Institute and The Outsider, but for some reason I skipped In The Tall Grass. I saw the movie for this novel recently, and thought the storyline was a bit weak and could have been summed up in a few sentences: It follows the story of a pregnant college student called Becky who is traveling to her aunts with her twin brother Cal. Along the way, they pass a field of tall grass where they hear a boy called Tobin calling for help. They venture into the tall grass to help Tobin, only to find they cannot get out. Eventually, a bunch of weird stuff happens and it is clear that there is some enchantment on the tall grass that stops people from being able to leave.
Because I found the movie boring, I haven’t been able to pick up the book yet, even though I know that I will love it. This is the problem with watching the movie instead of reading the book - it puts you off.
Leslie Conzatti www.upstreamwriter.blogspot.com
Okay, I have to hype this up, because I’m so unbelievably excited!! There’s an indie author I have followed ever since he had just one self-published book with a bad blurb and a terrible cover–but an UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME story, and that is R. R. Virdi, author of The Grave Report novels, the first of which was that book I mentioned.
This was back in 2014, and this book, as terribly-presented as it was, easily earned a place among the Top 5 Books I read for that year! I loved it, and I couldn’t rave about it enough! He kept writing, and every successive book in that series just got better and better. He improved the covers and improved the blurbs–the series was even nominated a couple times for a Dragon Award, and he was actually a finalist, although they didn’t win at the time. He started out another series, and I absolutely loved that one, too. I confess, I haven’t yet read his monster-hunter/LitRPG series, but The Grave Reports stands out as pretty much the best thing he’s written, in my estimation.
Which brings me to the book being released this year, produced by a legit publishing house, Tor Books. It’s called The First Binding, and it’s being compared to The Name of The Wind and The Lies of Locke Lamora–it’s a thousand-plus-page epic fantasy, and I’m so flipping excited!! Definitely I would recommend this to any fantasy lovers!


Kriti
@ Armed with A Book

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Marie Benedict is one of my favorite authors! The first book I read of hers was The Other Einstein and since then, I have dived into The Mystery of Mrs. Christie and Her Hidden Genius. I also had the chance to interview Marie on The Nerd Daily and honestly, all her future books are on my TBR. The one I want to highlight today is The Personal Librarian. As an avid reader and book collector, I am drawn to books about librarians and manuscripts. Below is the excerpt of the book:

The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian—who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray. In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.
The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.


I am going to go with a list here instead of just one book. A few of these books are also on similar top ten lists on my blog here and here. It is going to be a short list of five though this can become a list of too-many!!

  • Jane Austen’s Persuasion

  • Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed (His Kite Runner is one of our favorites)

  • Kim Michele Richardson’s The Unbreakable Child (I loved The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek)

  • Shel Silverstein’s  Everything on It

  • Colson Whitehead: Any book other than Underground Railroad (read this already) 



Be sure to check out the other days of the hop!!

a book by or about a political figure
a book you haven't read yet by an author you love











I'm excited to be joining in another Bookish Blog Hop!  Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they ar...


I'm excited to be joining in another Bookish Blog Hop! 


Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they are reading. 
Yesterday, we were over at the Upstream Writer Blog hosted by Leslie Conzatti where we talked about books we own but haven't read yet. 


Today's prompt is:

 A Book With A Body Positive Theme!



Horror is frequently misogynistic, filled with scantily clad women who are voted most likely to die first by the hands of the killer. These highly sexualized women tend to be blond and thin—shallow "bimbo" types—who are the epitome of what the male viewer is supposed to idolize.  Horror movies have long portrayed female characters as either the "whore", who is essentially punished for her sexuality, or the "virgin", the remarkably less-attractive modest female who often gets to be the "final girl", as if that behavior makes her the only one deserving of surviving.

For years, horror fiction followed that same formula, but we have recently seen a reversal of this line of thinking (and writing). Horror has become progressively more feminist. We have gotten much stronger female protagonists who are clever and much more than their physical appearance, catapulting us (and rightfully so) beyond the bimbos of horror. Even with this new found more progressive view, there's honestly not a whole lot of body positive horror novels out there with fat protagonists. By this I mean, stories where the characters are more than their size, where fat just happens to be what they are without affecting WHO they are. Because of this, I'm very excited about a new anthology releasing soon called Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology, edited by Nico Bell and Sonora Taylor.


From the submission site, the description reads:
It’s time to reclaim the “f” word. Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology is dedicated to empowering fat characters within the horror community. Give us your rage over weigh-ins, your detest over detox cleanses, your rebellion against diet culture. Give us bad-ass characters who own their size and never apologize for taking up space. This is a horror anthology, so be sure to have your character in some kind of horror story--but, we are open to what that story is! We welcome haunted houses, ghost stories, creature features, splatterpunk, serial killers, witches, monsters, you name it. Just make sure your story features at least one fat protagonist. Fat people are often degraded in literature, especially in horror. It’s disheartening to see someone’s natural body be portrayed as disgusting and inherently bad. Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology aims to give that trope the heartiest “fuck you” that our big selves can muster. So go on, send us what you’ve got!


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Here's what the others had to say:


Leslie Conzatti -- www.upstreamwriter.blogspot.com


I don’t really actively seek out body-positive books, but I do appreciate when the theme crops up in the narrative of any book I’m reading! 


However, one book in particular that I can think of to fit this theme is The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake. It’s important to me because it was given to me by a fifth-grade student who knew how much I love books and writing, and she loved the book herself because of how much she related to the main character. 

The theme of body positivity in this book pertains to the matters of race, and skin color. The main character, Maleeka, is taunted at school because she looks different… until a teacher arrives at the school who has a very obvious blemish on her face, but she doesn’t seem bothered by it. The teacher shows Maleeka how to love the skin she’s in, no matter what it looks like. It’s a very sweet and impactful little book!




Jo Linsdell -

 www.JoLinsdell.com

A book that fits this theme that I’ve been meaning to read since I watched the film adaptation of it is Dumplin‘ by Julie Murphy.

About the book:

Now a popular Netflix feature film, starring Jennifer Aniston, Danielle Macdonald, and Dove Cameron, as well as a soundtrack from Dolly Parton!

The #1 New York Times bestseller and feel-good YA of the year—about Willowdean Dixon, the fearless, funny, and totally unforgettable heroine who takes on her small town’s beauty pageant.

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body.

With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any girl does.

Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

Vidya Tiru -

LadyInReadWrites (Instagram | Twitter | Facebook )

While I don’t specifically go looking for books with any theme in mind, including today’s theme of body positivity, I am glad when I read books that address these tough issues. We need reads like this, for they help throw light on the issue itself while addressing how we can make things better.

I read quite a few books that dealt with the subject of body image in the past year. A couple of my favorite reads among those include Fat Chance, Charlie Vega and How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe. Both these YA reads tackle many issues along with the theme of body positivity; and each one does it beautifully without overplaying anything. I am sure you will love Charlie and Moon just as much as I did.

Another book I want to recommend here is a nonfiction read for younger readers, and aptly and simply titled Love Your Body.

Book description for each listed book (excerpted from Goodreads):

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega: A sensitive, funny, and painful coming-of-age story with a wry voice and tons of chisme, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega tackles our relationships to our parents, our bodies, our cultures, and ourselves.

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe: A romance starring a Mexican American teen who discovers love and profound truths about the universe when she spends her summer on a road trip across the country.

Love Your Body: This book introduces the language of self-love and self-care to help build resilience, while representing and celebrating diverse bodies, encouraging girls to appreciate their uniqueness




Be sure to check out the other days of the hop!!










I'm excited to be joining in another Bookish Blog Hop!  Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books the...


I'm excited to be joining in another Bookish Blog Hop! 


Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they are reading. 


Today's question is: How Many Books is Too Many Books in a Book Series?

I'm excited to be joining in again on the Bookish Blog Hop!  Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the ...


I'm excited to be joining in again on the Bookish Blog Hop! 


Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they are reading. 

Today's prompt is A Book with a One Word Title!


I'm excited to be sharing yet another stop on the Bookish Blog Hop! Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the b...


I'm excited to be sharing yet another stop on the Bookish Blog Hop!

Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they are reading.

I'm excited to be sharing another stop on the Bookish Blog Hop! Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the bo...

I'm excited to be sharing another stop on the Bookish Blog Hop!

Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they are reading.

Today's question is: 

Do you keep your TBR stack on a separate shelf from your already read books or are they mixed?

I'm excited to be joining in on the Bookish Blog Hop!  Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they a...



I'm excited to be joining in on the Bookish Blog Hop! 

Each day, bloggers answer questions about themselves and the books they are reading. 


Today's question is: Do you take part in reading challenges?