Waiting on Wednesday: Harriet’s Daughter by M. NourbeSe Philip

I remember reading this novel in school, though I cannot recall which class it was for. The book had an impact on me, and not just because it made me notice how insular my usual reading choices were. It made me realize I needed to expand to other genres and authors, because there were a lot of voices in the world whose experiences needed to be heard. With all the terrible things that are happening right now, that have been happening for years but often go unnoticed or ignored,

Guest Post: Book Review – The Only Woman in the Room by Mary Benedict

Guest Writer: Hill is a coffee aficionado from Canada. She enjoys reading everything from fiction to non-fiction, comic books to Shakespeare, Jane Austen to Lucy Maud Montgomery to Gregory Maguire. She loves attending sporting events, watching Marvel films, and frequenting the theatre. One day she hopes to see every play written by Shakespeare performed live (only a couple more to go!). In her spare time, she reads and spends time with her dogs. 

Synopsis: Hedy Kiesler is the beautiful star of a controversial film and married to a powerful Austrian arms dealer. Her connections and notoriety allow her to escape Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent; she overhears the Third Reich’s plans and grows more and more desperate to escape her controlling husband and the Nazi regime.  She disguises herself and flees…

But Hedy Kiesler’s story doesn’t end there. She ends up in Hollywood where she takes the name history would know her by – Hedy Lamarr. She is remembered as a star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, but few know she was a noted scientist whose contributions to science continue to influence our daily lives.

Teaser Tuesday: It’s Getting Hot in Heir by Jenny Gardiner

It’s Getting Hot in Heir by Jenny Gardiner

“Like my nonna always said to me, follow your heart and your dreams will come true.”
“Your nonna sounds like she works for Walt Disney.”

“Maybe I nee your nonna as a life coach.”
“Maybe you just need to believe in yourself.”

Book Review: Save The Date by Morgan Matson

Synopsis: Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend, and Charlie can’t wait for all four of her older siblings to be under one roof for the first time in years. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend before the house is sold and everything changes. The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster… and the wedding planner’s nephew is unexpectedly, distractedly cute. Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.

W.W.W. Wednesday

1.  What did you recently finish reading?
2. What are you currently reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

I have finished reading City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare.

I am currently reading City of Glass by Cassandra Clare.

I will next be reading City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare.

Paranormal YA Novels: Half-Blood, Hush Hush, Personal Demons, The Summoning

Around the Blogosphere: New Look

For any of you OG followers, you may have noticed a rather discernible change from how my blog used to look when I first entered the book-blogging community. And for any newbies who are curious, check out anything in the archive from my first year of posting as I left those old school! (And while you’re there, leave some likes and comments too.)

As you know, one of my resolutions is to get back to blogging more consistently again. I want to make more time for it now that I am not overseas living the life of a backpacker. Something I had been needing to do for years is a complete overhaul to fix all those things that were driving me crazy, but felt too overwhelming and time-consuming to actually do. Because we’re all self-isolating right now it seemed like the perfect time for me to finally get things done.

The first fix was pictures. Every post now has these pretty little graphics to let you know exactly what you’re going to get if you keep reading my post of that day. I can’t take credit for the photos though, so thank you Unsplash for the public domain snaps! With a wee bit of editing they now suit my purpose and look perfectly lovely, if I do say so myself.

The second step was formatting. I don’t know why, but I simply did not think about consistency when writing and it showed. Sometimes I justified my margins, sometimes I didn’t. Titles were hit and miss, use of italics and bolding was random at best, and you get the idea. I think I managed to correct at least 97% of my posts, so if you find any that need fixing (not from the first year) please let me know!

Then comes categorizing. I have added a few things so all my posts will be better organized and make it easier for you to find more of what you want. I have done an initial go-through trying to quickly gauge what topic each post falls under, but I will actually have to go through and re-read a lot of my old posts to ensure they have been classified accurately. That will take some time…

Particularly as I think I need to get some good hashtags added to my posts too. Not only do some posts not have any at all, but other ones have tags I am not sure even exist. I need to find out what you guys are using and following so more lovely people can find the fabulousness that is this blog! (Or, y’know, might be once I actually finish fixing everything).

Speaking of organizing, I gave my menu pages a bit of a shuffle. I have added a new one called “Directory” that gives you a breakdown of what each of my topics will consist of. There are also two new pages under the Editing tab. Not only will I be sharing with you tips and tricks for writing and editing, but offering my services as a freelance editor. And, last but not least, I have reorganized the book review links to be alphabetical rather than by date. It should make things a little easier to search for a particular book and author now.

I have yet to decide which phase will come next, either adding links to my posts so you can quickly have more similar to whatever you just finished reading or sorting through and typing up the stack of hand-written book reviews overflowing my inbox. Sometimes I prefer putting pen to paper to start and other times I am just too lazy to turn on my computer, something I am currently deeply regretting.

And finally, something that will be ongoing I think, is figuring out how to get blogging back into my every day life again. I am no longer a student with a ton of free time on my hands (when we are not in quarantine that is), so I need to carve out a schedule that both gives you more of this goodness without me becoming a sleep-deprived zombie. Having all of this time right now will mean –hopefully– getting gads of posts prepped so I can stay ahead of things.

Depending on how things are in the world, we may or may not still be self-isolating when this post is published. If we’re not * hooray * and you will have realized this post was written a couple weeks prior. If we are still in quarantine, please pretend you never saw this last paragraph.

Book Review: The Fabulous Girl’s Guide to Decorum by Kim Izzo and Ceri Marsh

Synopsis: No longer the old-fashioned advice for pearl-clutching ladies, this book takes etiquette into the modern age. With women in the workforce and on the social scene, there is a whole new set of “rules” to be followed… or broken. Not to mention how to behave in your friendships, family, romance, and life in general.

Authors: Kim Izzo is a features editor and Ceri Marsh is a fashion director, and both write a weekly etiquette column called “Urban Decorum”. After years of socially inept encounters and inconsiderate people, they decided to try their hand at a book.

Cover: The artwork is what drew me to this book with its hand-drawn depiction of a city girl who bears a striking resemblance to Holly Golightly, and a whole lot of pinks and purples. Needless to say, it spoke to my girly little heart.

Top 7 Ontario Authors

I am a proud Canadian. Though I loved living in the UK and Ireland and would happily move back (for a time), I think my country is wonderful. I have now been back living in Ontario for nearly ten months now and thought I might share with you my favourite authors who also live in Ontario!

Waiting On Wednesday: The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

 

A little while ago, a friend of mine tagged me in a bookstagram giveaway. It was for a paperback version of a novel that came out around five years ago, and I had borrowed from the library to read some years back. I can’t quite recall if it was before moving to overseas or during my time home between England and Ireland, but that is rather irrelevant unless you want to track down my instagram post about it. (If you find it, leave me a comment on the pic!)

While Marie and I were discussing the novel, how she had not yet read it but wanted to, she mentioned there was a sequel coming out this year. Imagine my surprise as I had not heard of it! I was so excited I immediately went looking to find out more about it so I could share it with you now.

Too Busy To Be Bored

Good Morrow, my lovelies

About a month ago I was told that we may be stuck indoors until at least the end of summer and possibly even up to two years from now! I cannot imagine what additional chaos would occur if the latter actually proves true. But for now, we just do not know what will happen next…

Or at least I don’t yet since I am actually writing this at the beginning of April and adjusted my posting schedule a little so it wouldn’t be too out of date. If things do not change between my time of writing and now, I will have been “under house arrest for fifty-seven days. I have asthma so that means if I catch coronavirus it could prove fatal, particularly since I have also had pneumonia before and never quite returned to my previous health.

My friends keep asking how I haven’t gone insane by now, and truth be told I have more than enough things to do! And even if I got a little bit bored at times, my imagination then comes up with something crazy to do. Because of all the inquiries of how I spend my time, I have decided to share with you a list of a few things that might keep you occupied during these trying times too.