Top 10 Lists

Book Tropes: I’m DEFINITELY Not Seducing You.

Isn’t it the best when those mischievous feelings sneak up and, WHAM, catch our protagonist upside the head? It’s the literary equivalent to the ‘suddenly; squirrel!’ humor trick and I can’t get enough of watching it play out. Our characters are happily spatting [this is a theme I really like so I read a lot of enemies to lovers, get used to that trope showing up everywhere in my rec posts ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ] all while one of them is insistent…

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The Insecure Writer’s Group and the Epoch of Belief

It must be the first Wednesday of the month, because here I am writing with insecurity, from a place of simultaneous doubt and confidence. If you like to write with similar contradictions, and want to come out the other side of the post feeling obscurely reassured by complete strangers on the internet, this is definitely the group for you. Come join! Speaking of complete strangers floating gently around the interwebs doing kind deeds, this month our IWSG co-hosts are Kim…

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Bookish Worlds I Would Live In Tomorrow, and A Few I Wish to Avoid

Today I’m making a half-and-half list. Five bookish worlds I would move to in one second, no questions asked, YES my bags are already packed; and five bookish worlds where I’d last long enough for one good Hollywood scream. First, the top five worlds I would disappear to in an instant if it were somehow possible: 1. Narnia If you tell me you never wanted to live in a world where the animals could wish you ‘good morning’, I will…

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Hidden Book Gems You Need in Your Life

I have a suuuper soft spot for these six lovelies. Some of them are older and therefore mostly forgotten, what with all the shiny new stuff coming out every year. A few are newer, but might not have had the best marketing. Whatever the reason, they’re the underdog and we all know I’m a complete sucker for the underdog. (Book descriptions come from Goodreads and let’s face it; I’m totally trying to suck you into reading them) Beauty Robin McKinley –Of…

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Top Ten Please Just Stop the Series

Slightly cheating for this week’s top ten, but I hope you’ll forgive me. Waaay back in October, 2017 I wrote a post for Books Rock My World that has a lot to do with the chosen topic for this week. If you didn’t know I write for that site, now you do know. [Unless you hated one of my articles, in which case haha, NO, that’s totally another SE White. It’s a very common name. Don’t flame me.] Anyway. Leaving a series…

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10 Books That Have All the Sensory Feels

This is all about the trip down memory lane. It sounds strange at first to think a book, dead leaves stuffed full of inky imprints of soul, could come with a strong sensory memory attached to anything other than your eyes. But if you think about it, a lot of different things combine to be part of the reading experience. Where you were, what you were going through at the time, your environment, even what you were eating. Most of…

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Top Ten Awful Books I’m Glad I Read

To preface this list: I try hard to stay away from bashing bad books. In the first place, I wouldn’t like it done to my books. That shit hurts. Second, I might meet the actual author some day, and that would be awkward AF. Can you picture it at a convention? Me: “Oh, hi, you’re [author]? You must be the one who wrote [this book, which I totally trashed in a review].” Poor Author: “Yep, that’s me. So you’ve read…

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Brings the February Feels

This month’s group is being co-hosted by Joylene Nowell Butler, Jacqui Murray, Sandra Cox, and Lee Lowery! As always, we are grateful for the gift of their time. The IWSG is all about connections, so stop by, skip from blog to blog, and leave a trail of comments behind you. Like Hansel & Gretel, with less murdery confectionary and more digital breadcrumbs. February’s optional question goes: is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn’t around anymore? Anyone you miss? At first I…

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The Great Reading Wrap-Up of 2021

In the grand tradition of December, let’s do some wrapping up. Wrap some presents. Wrap-up your post-holiday shopping. Write lots of wrap-up lists. Wrap-up small, misbehaving children Krampus style to mail to . . . haha . . . ooops. Don’t do that. Got carried away there. Number Of Books I Read: A very respectable 174 I kept my goal of 200, despite knowing that was stupidly unrealistic with me going back to work full time. And indeed, my reading…

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The Great Blogging Wrap-Up of 2021

Alright, friends. Let’s get to some numbery-maths for the year. I’m still at the point where I genuinely enjoy blogging (LET IT NEVER END) and I have a lot of fun breaking my year down in stats. If you’re interested the 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 breakdowns are linked. Just as a note: I’ve spent zero pennies on marketing of any kind since I started this blog in November 2016. Instead, I’ve focused on blog-hops and building relationships. That means super slow growth and…

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