10 Bookish (& Not-Bookish Thoughts) No.6: When life throws you a heap of lemons, you best find a large pitcher to store the lemonade!

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10 Bookish Not Bookish Thoughts banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Week of Thursday, 26st of September through 1st of October, 2015 | Hostess List

I’ve honestly wanted to start participating in this weekly meme in 2014, however, I would always seem to get distracted during the hours leading up to Thursdays OR completely forget to compose my thoughts for this meme until into the weekend; at which point, the time had come and gone. I like the fact we can exchange thoughts percolating in our minds that run the gambit of the bookish world, creative outlets, or thoughts we want to share that might show a bit more about who we are behind the bookish blog we maintain. I am going to attempt to thread the journal of my 10 Bookish / Not Bookish Thoughts by order of the entries arrival into my life rather than a preference of 1-10.

BE SURE to visit my FIRST ENTRY: Bookish Not Bookish No.1

No, your eyes did not lie to you, this is No. 6, No. 2-5 will be released this Autumn.

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No. 1 |  Corvidae + Scarecrow | Anthologies by World Weaver Press

As you might have recalled I happily devoured the stories in Rhonda Parrish’s first anthological series debut FAE, wherein I found myself quite delighted to find stories of the fae represented in such a uniquely clever collection of inspiration and craft of story-telling. After concluding my review on behalf of FAE, I wasn’t quite sure what I should request next via World Weaver Press, when happily their publicist Ms Wagner suggested I follow FAE with the next two anthologies in sequence:

CORVIDAE banner by World Weaver Press

What is so wicked awesome about these two anthologies is there is a serial short between them, which outside of pulp fiction and the classical serials found in zines decades inside the early 20th Century, I haven’t come across serial shorts inside anthologies! I’m quite a newbie to anthologies of the 21st Century, and thereby, each time I make a discovery I am wicked excited by the possibilities of what I am about to read!

I am now piqued with keen interest to read Sanctuary and Judge & Jury! I had agreed knowingly with the reviewer – sometimes you come across a short so profoundly moving, if you never found another you loved dearly as much, the collection was worth it’s weight in gold! This happened to me once in another anthology where I found a writer so tapped into the human condition and the emphatic heart we all have within us, I was forever moved! Shorts despite their length are powerful in what they convey! The four I focused on myself from FAE are still with me, even now.

I must confess, this fellow book blogger out here in the book blogosphere is as keenly passionate about these anthologies as I am, as it’s his reviews on behalf of these two anthologies that encouraged me to take the plunge into reading them myself!

I must admit – reading the reviews on Tangent in combination with reading the Press Kits helped make my decision because Tangent has bloggers who knit out the heart of each story and give me ‘just enough’ to whet a thirst of interest.

Do visit his reviews, ahead of my own which will be arriving in October!

Tangent’s review of Corvidae by Eric Kimminau

Tangent’s review of Scarecrow by Eric Kimminau

And, dear hearts guess what!? Parrish isn’t yet done with her Magical Menagerie! She’s putting together a new collection entitled: SIRENS! Eek. Can you just imagine!? Watery stories of EPIC MYTHOLOGICAL loveliness?!  I’m not sure about you, but World Weaver Press has bewitched me!

Scarecrow banner by World Weaver Press

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No. 2 |  Being a part of DAW’s blog tour for This Gulf of Time and Stars by Julie E. Czerneda

I initially thought my path had crossed with Ms Czerneda during Sci Fi November 2014, until I ran a search for our tweet convos and realised it was a bit earlier in 2014 during the Sci Fi Writer’s chat! Who knew!? I used to duck inside the #sffwrtcht on a regular basis, as I have a healthy appetite for SFF whilst getting the opportunity to talk to writers who are enveloping us in worlds that are a jolt outside our own realities to the brink of epic intraspace proportions! As we do not just jettison ourselves off of Earth or into the orbit surrounding Earth, we sometimes traverse the divides of time itself whilst visiting territorial systems beyond our line of sight. Then, there is the hidden joy of writers who write an arbitrage of stories contained on Earth herself but within the light years of time ahead of our own living futures, taking us both on land and sea to explore new frontiers and the plausiblilties of life therein.

To read through a sampling of our interactions, please view this small archive of chattering on Twitter.

I initially wanted to spend most of 2015 caught inside the writings of Czerneda leading up into my review of This Gulf of Time and Space except to say, the year took me away in her tides and I’ve lost the ability to accomplish this original goal. The titles I was originally going to attempt to read as a cursory introduction to her breadth of collective works were recommended to me by the author herself:

Ms Czerneda’s Top Five to cover a hearty spectrum of her worlds:

  • A Thousand Words for Stranger
  • Beholder’s Eye
  • In the Company of Others
  • Species Imperative
  • A Turn of Light

Therefore, I’m switching gears a bit to sort out which books in the Clan Chronicles I need to read ahead of the final trilogy’s debut – I like to read series in order as best as I can, even though, at times due to time constraints and life’s interesting way of ebbing us out of line with our plans,… I do readily attempt to read the first book in a series even if the sequence of books thereafter are unable to be read in time for a blog tour or scheduled review of a new release.

In this particular case, I’ve sorted out the following:

Original Trilogy: The Trade Pact

A Thousand Words for Stranger, Ties of Power, and To Trade the Star

Prequel Trilogy: Stratification

Reap the Wild Wind, Riders of the Storm and Rift in the Sky

Finale Trilogy: Reunification

This Gulf of Time and Stars, The Gate to Futures Past, and TBA Title

Returning for a moment to the original list of titles the author pointed out to me being a keen way to become familiar with her collective works – I should mention, I caught sight of a nearly unread hardback edition of Survival which is Series Imperative No.1 at a local thrift store in Spring 2015. I readily purchased it remembering the cover art moreso than the series name as being of importance towards my journey through Czerneda’s works. It was a catalyst of another memory: I have known of her stories longer than I realise because it’s the cover art on Survival which triggered a memory from my days as a member of the SFBC (Science Fiction Book Club; a mail-order book club where you can get hardback editions of SFF!) — Survival was a part of the Club before I exited it! Small world, eh? IF you think picking my ChocLit selections is difficult – I could barely choose the books necessary to keep my SFBC membership active! Too many lovely worlds to read!

I would go on to find a few more SFF titles by other authors at local thrift stores but I will save those discoveries for #RRSciFiMonth and the Sci Fi Experience to reveal!

I have also been requesting and receiving A Turn of Light via ILL (inter-library loan) by my local library approx. 4x now as each time the book would happily arrive from it’s host library, something quite unavoidable would eclipse my time to read the book by the time the due date would arrive!! This happens occasionally when I ILL materials, and blessedly, my local library understands how this can happen without limiting how many times I make a request for a single title or dvd serial during a year! I’m full of hope this fourth attempt to read it will prove fruitful as even if I cannot finish it during the three week stay it will have with me, I want to re-request a fifth time in November so I can finish the story whilst fully involved with #RRSciFiMonth.

My walk inside the Clan Chronicles is about to begin and surely in a near-future installment of #BookishNotBookish, more clues and details of what I’m doing to prepare for the blog tour will be revealled! I have unearthed that in order to follow the blog tour and series on Twitter, you are best to use these tags: #whoaretheclan + #julieczerneda! This is my first tour hosted by DAW and my first SFF major trade blog tour!

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No. 3 |  Catching up with #SRC2015 + YA SRC2015 (#ReadingIsBeautiful)

It would appear I completely dropped out of the Summer Reading Challenges hosted by BookSparks, except to say my perpetual absences from tweeting my readings of the books and the missing book reviews were not an indication of a book blogger who flaked or forgot outright which books she was committed to reading for review, but rather, the direct aftereffect of a Summer which foiled the book blogger in question intent on keeping her schedules! (please drop down to No. 10 for further information!) The angst and anxiety of dealing with this Summer’s woes was a bit more than I could filter out of my head – I’ve had many start/stops in my readings for both the main challenge (#SRC2015) and the YA edition (#ReadingISBeautiful) that I’m simply ‘picking up anew’ in October!

Yes, you read that correctly – I am going to be reading all my lovely SUMMER READS the first month where my bones start to celebrate the rejuvenation of AUTUMN; as October is a gift after a fiery wrath of heat, humidity and the insanity of lightning storms which only seek to kill your electronics (dare I admit how much I lost?) and grieve you with a forced vacation from a blog you writ your heart into since it’s conception!

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Let’s Re-Cap my upcoming lovelies:

via #SRC2015

#SRC2015 BookSparks Blog Tour Banner provided for the tour hosts and used with permission.

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No. 3 (picking up from whence I left off directly!) : Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

No. 4 : Worthy by Catherine Ryan Hyde

No. 5 : It’s You by Jane Porter

No. 6 : Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

No. 7 : The Road Home by Kathleen Shoop

No. 8 : The Witch of Bourbon Street by Suzanne Palmieri

No. 9 : Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica

No. 10 Satisfaction by Andee Reilly

+ 1 : Fire Season by Hollye Dexter

+ 1 : Vote for Remi by Leanna Lehman

+ 1 : Surface by Stacy Robinson

NOTE: Two of these I am borrowing direct from my library who answered my purchase request earlier in May and June by purchasing 9 out of 10 of my #SRC2015 challenge books! I have borrowed them whilst attempting to read them ahead of the books coming in by post; only to realise, the reason I was meant to request them originally was not just to keep myself inside the challenge directly but to inspire new readers! I’ve exchanged enough conversations with my librarians (one of whom never read a Catherine Ryan Hyde novel until she saw WORTHY come back!) to denote how beautiful it was to see how one girl’s yearning desire to participate in a reading challenge held within in hidden layers of inspiration towards helping readers find new authors!

I also borrowed the previous two novels ahead of THE WITCH OF BOURBON STREET at least 3x prior to September, wherein the 4th request became the one I read! My ILL services come in handy especially when time is limited and/or your in need of finding out how a series begins without the benefit of prior reads! I had also ILL’d THE LAST LETTER in order to understand where THE ROAD HOME might take me, however, I lost my window to re-request it at the end of Summer. I have ached to dive inside these stories – I am on pins awaiting them now!

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via the #YASRC2015 choices:

#ReadingISBeautiful Summer YA Reading Challenge by BookSparks

No. 1 : Summer by Summer by Heather Burch

No. 2 : Beautiful Girl by Fleur Phillips

No. 3 : The Red Sun by Alane Adams

+ 1 : Blonde Eskimo by Kristen Hunt*

*sidenote: I’m marked to post my review on 13th November, thus the only one that will not be posting in October!

I’m a big appreciator of well-written young adult novels for either traditional YA or Upper YA audiences, with the cross-over appeal for adult readers like me who enjoy reading the stories inasmuch as the target audience would as well. In the past two years, I’ve taken on blog tours and reviews for a wide variety of YA novels, as I started my approach back into YA a few years before I blogged. (i.e. 2009!) I’ve noticed for quite a long while my wanderings in YA do not always align with the popularity of what is making YA such a strong presence right now as a genre of choice.

Generally speaking, the books which speak to me to read fall a bit short of where most readers take their readerly pursuits, however, eventually either the stories of YA I am reading gain traction and/or the readers who loved them like I did were found lateron as I roamed the book blogosphere or randomly scoped out who was tweeting about ‘this book or that author’. I even was overjoyed at finding out my dearly loved Calpurnia Tate has a sequel this Summer – a book I ran to my library catalogue to place on hold only to realise sadly shortly after it came in I wouldn’t be able to read it (time issues)! Quite sad! It’s currently one of my earmark reads for Autumn/Winter. I’m slowly building a list of 20 Must Read Now Books I’ll be sharing with you, dear hearts, lateron this month.

When the YA challenge popped up in my Inbox from BookSparks, I knew this was the time for me to tackle reading *slated!* YA books to gain readers attention during a particular period of release. I wanted to ride the waves of hand-selected YA books chosen by whomever compiled the list (I was originally thinking of asking our YA Librarian or seeking out a list by a publisher of YA) and see if perhaps, by stepping outside my chosen ‘comfort zone’ of YA, I too, might find a wider net of options!

It’s not that I’m worried about what I might find inside the books (as despite appearances, I’m more tolerant of strong language today than I was two years ago! even though, I still adhere to reasoning, if strong language is present in YA, it best be included in an Upper YA novel or I’m going to vent!) or anything even remotely close to visual or dialogue particulars – it’s the tone and undertone of the stories I was most concerned with as a whole. I not only seek to find well-written adult fiction, but fiction for younger audiences that seeks to teach, guide, uplift and encourage their readers to chew on what they’ve read and find something outside of that reading that enlightens their life for having read the story.

I talk about tone quite a heap on my blog, and if the novel turns too ‘darkly lit to where all elements of light are snuffed out of sight’ the story isn’t going to accomplish anything but wrinkle out my nose a bit! The same can be said for a novel for YA readers that is too realistically bent towards the darker side of life and of the world. It’s one thing to write realistic fiction (as there is a place for all stories) but it’s another if the telling of the story yields to feelings of jaded thoughts against the light that is still lit in the world.

This is why I’m quite a particular picky YA reader! And, why this Summer challenge extension from #SRC2015 held me at ‘Hallo!’ I felt, why not make selections off this singular list and see what is out there for me to find that might not be of the regular faire I’d pick up myself, but might entice me to follow #newtomeauthors and re-discover portions of a genre I am already quite happily residing inside!

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No. 4 | The return of #ChocLitSaturdays + #ChocLitSaturday

Much to my heart’s delight, on 26th of September I was FINALLY able to host #ChocLitSaturday after an absence of more weeks than are worth mentioning! Due to the technical turmoil (remember, jump down to No. 10 for details!) of my Summer spinning out of control worst than a tropical storm, I had to recognise I was not in the position to carry-on the chats whilst everything else was happening. Therefore, despite my attempts to post a sticky note of an update on my main Twitter account as my time was crucially limited to even attempt to get online — I fell short on two fronts: hosting my beloved chat on Saturday mornings / afternoons in the UK and continuing my reviews for ChocLitUK!

I have two ChocLit reads coming up the next two Saturdays: The Untied Kingdom by Kate Johnson which happily fits in well with my intentions to pick *4!* books to read during PERIL (see No. 6!) whilst I take a happy step back inside the historical worlds of Zana Bell by reading last October’s release Fool’s Gold of which I have been itching to read since I first found it’s announcement! Moving forward after these reviews, I have books from Christina Courtenay I want to start digging inside, as she has two epic historical series in play right now: Kinross Trilogy and Kumashiro series.

I have the entire Kinross Trilogy whilst I am looking forward to seeking out The Scarlet Kimono to begin Kumashiro. These were both earmarked when I first discovered ChocLitUK as I have a soft spot for historicals and both of these whet a thirst of keen interest to read! Although, I don’t believe they are linked by a serial name the following three novels are a collection of sorts in their own rights: The Silent Touch of Shadows (review), The Secret Kiss of Darkness (on my shelf!) and The Soft Whispers of Dreams (not yet requested). I happen to fancy certain variants of PNR and these definitely satisfy based on what I found in the first story!

#ChocLitSaturdays | My next ChocLit readings will be:

The Wedding Cake Tree by Melanie HudsonThe Silver Locket by Margaret JamesEvie Undercover by Liz HarrisThe Scarlet Kimono by Christina Courtenay

The Wedding Cake Tree by Melanie Hudson Evie Undercover by Liz Harris The Scarlet Kimono by Christina Courtenay The Silver Locket by Margaret James I have been trying to pick two new releases and two backlist titles, in order to have a nice rounding of ChocLit novels to read. I do have to await the paperback releases as ChocLit does release digital first titles, however, the wait for me is a joy because whilst a new release is finding readers on e-readers, I’m able to consume the novels I never knew existed prior to when I first started reviewing for ChocLit!

It’s a win-win to me, but this is also why I’m a bit behind the new release dates — in regards to Melanie Hudson’s novel, I jumped the gun a bit by requesting it too early (as it hadn’t yet arrived in the states!) and with Evie Undercover, this was an example of what I meant by awaiting a paperback! Harris is a must-read for me, no matter what she writes because she swooned me with A Bargain Struck (review) whilst endearingly giving me an unforgettable Asian historical in The Road Back (review). I keep trying to remind myself to read Contemporary stories, as for each one I find to my bookish delight, I could say with certainty I found 20+ historicals! lol Courtenay is a must-read for me as well and as foresaid, I want to read her serials as quick as I’m able too.

Serial fiction gives me a long-standing joy because I don’t have to break ties to key characters as I do with stand-alones. I prefer both equally, but serial fiction is a special treat indeed! James’ Charton Minster series set during the war era was one of the first ChocLit serials that fetched my eye! Sorting out when to request it was most difficult because when it comes to ChocLit, this girl needs to fill a mason jar and randomly pull out titles as her heart is betwixt knowing which novel to request next in queue! (kid you not, I’m sorting out this jar theory this Autumn!) Autumn for Jorie is not only delishly cooler by temperature, it’s golden knowing I can re-soak myself back inside ChocLit novels whilst hosting a chat which celebrates the publisher, the authors and the joy Rom gives all of us who seek out the beauty of what relationship-based romantic fiction can contain!

Due join us if your a reader OR writer of Romance – everyone is welcome, as the chat was inspired by my readings of ChocLit and have come to include everyone who celebrates the genre! Saturdays @ nurph.com/choclitsaturday | 11am NYC / 4pm UK A healthy appreciation for chocolate, tea and sisterhood conversations, a must! Blokes are encouraged to join us, as we have a regular chatter whose in seek of publishing his first novel.

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No. 5 | Reading selections in non-fiction

In retrospect, 2015 was a dearly difficult year for Jorie, of whom decided to take chances on selections in reading non-fiction since early-on in those early months where all of 2015 felt optimistically hopeful and free of vexing challenges. (i.e. time delays, health difficulties, extreme weather patterns, tech issues OR outright failures, etc) Except to say, if I fell behind on one book, I fell behind on several more as the months marched forward whilst the books remained on my shelf awaiting my hands and my heart.

Going back to the two original choices I made as 2015 was getting underway, you would have realised my passion for war dramas transcends fiction as I requested Those Who Remain: Remembrance and Reunion after War by Ruth W. Crocker. There was something quite powerful about the premise of this biographical work where the front of war comes home in a way that not only grabs you by the potency of how one woman can effectively take hold of the past and find a way to heal, but how deep her courage and her faith were to take on the experience. I cannot wait to pick up this book once again, and begin it once more to where I can finish it in one sitting before sharing my reflections and how the story moved my soul. It will become one of my first non-fiction shares during Non-Fiction Fridays hosted by Katie @ Doing Dewey, the book blogger friend who is inspiring me to not only read more non-fiction but to pursue reading ‘Creative Non-Fiction’. (see tweet)

I’m also taking part in her #NFBookClub where a selection of Creative Non-Fiction is happily read together with other readers seeking non-fiction that has depth of heart and emotion. Next in line was a wicked sweet find: I positively love Indie musicians – especially singer-songwriters whose artistry and strength of vocals shines ever so brightly through their music!

When I had the opportunity to select Recipes and Road Stories to review about the sisterly duo of HanaLena you can well imagine my happy surprise in not only getting to discover a new folk-bluegrass band, but I was finding that having a foodie heart is happily celebrated by other artists, not simply writers! I love how they combined the joy of their travels on the road with their passion for food – a delight I will be soon sharing with my readers!

From here, I picked up the chances to request direct via publishers selections that perked an interest on different levels as The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World by Christina Cook and published by a Canadian Indie Publisher: New Society Publishers was quite the find indeed! It was a topic that is actively dissected in my own family and a book I knew that I might creatively find a way to review over more than one post due to the nature of how reading the book was ferreting out more ideas to explore on my blog than one post could be expected to hold!

Fire Season by Hollye Dexter came to me by complete surprise from BookSparks – it arrived at a point in time I was not quite prepared to go emotionally ‘all-in’ to the memoir – as Summer was a bit above and beyond — focusing on this memoir simply did not come easily – I read the first chapter or was it the entire Prologue? I’m unsure – clearly I will be -reading- this one start to finish – or perhaps, soon after the fire itself, as those pages of urgent emergency action have NEVER left my mind. How can they? Dexter purged all her memories onto the pages, leaving not even a trace of where your imagination could fill in the blanks as she quite honestly gives you everything you need to feel her pain and her guttingly raw emotions whilst trapped between smoke and flame.

Dancing Through Life by Candace Cameron Bure was another threading of twitterverse karma – I interacted with the publisher on Twitter, and was given the greenlight to request this memoir closer to the time it would be releasing. All went well – then my power grid terminated itself, my router fried worst than an egg on pavement in July, and connectivity as I once knew it was no more. This was towards the end of August, at which point in time I threw in the towel to re-schedule my review as I had more techs trying to work on my connectivity than I had patience to know which date to even suggest the review might post. It was numbing by far. The key reason I was interested in reading Bure’s latest installment of her collection of memoirs is due to the fact whilst I watched her on Dancing with the Stars I instinctively knew there was more to her story. There was a story behind the scenes of her performances and there was much more to become revealled of how her experience on the competition show would affect and transform her afterwards. I simply had to read the story which was itching at me to know!

Travelling the Two Lane by Marilyn Berman is the kind of autobiographical memoir you look forward to reading because of it’s central heart at understanding self-identity, the pursuit of self-esteem and a well of promise for what the future can hold if you can cut the ties to the emotional and psychological heartache of the past. It’s a memoir about a woman who braved the backroads in search of herself and in search of (North) America. Being a road traveller myself, the idea instinctively appealed to me and the depth of her journey endeared me to her forevermore. I know I will be selecting more non-fiction to read – not only for review or blog tours (as technically I am reading Reef Libre by Robert Wintner for November!) or even Non-Fiction Fridays or the #NFBookClub, but simply for my own inclinations in being able to balance fiction with non-fiction for the first time in my reading life.

I’ve been delightfully and genuinely aware of the non-fiction releases that cause me to stir around the premise of their stories but as far as getting to the point where I can fully absorb a non-fiction work as readily (or as timely) as a fictional story? This is yet to evolve inside my hours — perhaps this is the right moment for me? If you ever wondered why I read so much ‘Biographical Historical Fiction’ it’s because I love getting into the soul of the living persons who lived whilst becoming emotionally attached to their journey through the fullness of how a novel tells a story as compared to their non-fiction counterparts. You only have to look at my most recent review of this kind (The Beautiful American) and see why I am so dearly passionate about it!

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No. 6 | Planning my reading list for PERIL

The Estella Society RIP/PERIL X. Artwork Credit: Abigail Larson. Used with permission of the artist.
Artwork Credit: Abigail Larson Image used with permission for event participants.

I want to select *four!* books to read during PERIL – as I haven’t been able to focus on Cosy Horror, Psychological Suspense, Mystery or Ghost Stories with the attention of a reader who honestly loves the stories found within these sections of literature! I am not yet certain which books I will be reading, to be honest, but the first one will be: The Haunting of Springett Hall by E.B. Wheeler which was a blog tour I missed in June due to health issues. It’s a Victorian ghost story, and the very first pages I drunk inside my mind’s eye back at the start of June have left me in hearty suspense of the circumstances that turnt the girl into a ghost! PERIL (info page) is usually hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings, but this year, is being hosted by The Estella Society. (Full details on this year’s event)

By selecting four books, I am doing PERIL the First. The key categories the stories must fall inside are as follows: Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. Dark Fantasy. Gothic. Horror. Supernatural. Now if you go back to September’s limited postings I was able to complete, I already read 1 of the 4 without realising it! For Dark Fantasy isn’t generally a gravitation of mine, and BEARSKIN by far took me unawares of what this kind of story can provide me! I loved the complexity of the combined fables and lore, against the breadth of the character’s arc bending through and out of dark magic! If I’ve made you curious, you will surely want to read my review! Stay tuned!

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No. 7 | Setting my sights on #SciFiMonth | Sci Fi November

Sci Fi November 2015 hosted by Rinn Reads. Badge created by Rinn Reads.

I have anticipated the arrival of *November!* for three years now with a glow of joy surrounding me, as I get the opportunity to celebrate my beloved science fiction wanderings, musings, and passions! I love science fiction as it’s been there since I wasn’t much taller than a grasshopper and it’s been a pure bliss of the unexpected ever since! I recently switched ISPs and was given the chance to become acquainted with the beauty of #ondemand programming – where I found Series 8 of Doctor Who and Series 9 awaiting me to find them in the queue!

Then, rather unexpectedly, I remembered Rinn had mentioned this new Doctor felt darker to her and then, I questioned my original idea to watch the series? Should I tempt fate and watch the first episode of Series 8 before opting to go back through my selected episodes of the previous Doctors, a project I began during Sci Fi November 2013? Such are the thoughts that swirl around my head! I have a better grip on what I’ll be consuming, as I have already celebrated my happiness in being a part of DAW’s blog tour for This Gulf of Time and Stars! Coming up alongside my readings of Czerneda’s Clan Chronicles are the following choices I am contemplating this year:

I want to pick at least two from this list, as the rest will carry over into the Sci Fi Experience (December-January). I was attempting to dig into the Lunar Chronicles in anticipation of WINTER, however, I am unsure if I will get through all the books before it’s release. It’s still a project I want to begin working on during the event. I might even find more titles at thrift stores, as I picked up one of them already! I was encouraged seeing how nice the books are turnt in by their owners as if they were barely read at all! Which ones should I pick? To join visit the 3rd Year’s Announcement @ Rinn Reads!

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No. 8 |  Stepping inside #FRC2015 hosted by BookSparks

#FRC2015 Fall Reading Challenge hosted by BookSparks, official participant badge.

It goes without saying, I fell behind on nearly *ALL!* my BookSparks readings, save the few I could post *before!* July, oyy vie. There were three blog tours I was tickled sweet pink to become a part of as the synopsis for each of the novels were as varied as you could hope to find! I like mixing up my reading life as eclectic as a mixologist can mix a cocktail – however, as well mentioned now on this post (and at the tailend of most of my latest reviews/guest features) I can attest, there wasn’t a way despite my will of wanting to post my thoughts to bring my reviews to my blog any sooner than October.

When I signed up for this new reading challenge (as suggested to me by a very patient publicist), I decided to keep the tradition flowing with these challenges and set a determined self-challenge to pick not only stories I’d pick up on any other given day, but stories I might tempt myself to try even if on a one-off to continue my steps outside my comfort zones.

BookSparks University | #FRC2015 Banner by BookSparks. My #FRC2015 Selections:

No. 1 : Just the Facts by Ellen Sherman – 3 Nov

No. 2 : The Black Velvet Coat by Jill G Hall – 13 Nov

No. 3 : Pretending to Dance by Diane Chamberlain – 23 Nov<— arrived!

No. 4 : Postcards from the Sky by Erin Siedemann – 3 Dec

No. 5 : All in Her Head by Sunny Mera – 13 Dec

+ 1 : The Legacy of Us by Kristin Contino – during Oct

+ 1 : Sleeping with the Enemy by Tracy Solheim – 12th Oct

+ 1 : Rooville by Julie Long – 26th Oct

My plus 1 choices this time around are NOT additional titles in regards to the regular way in which you get an additional book to review during the BookSparks reading challenges. No, mine are being added to my original five choices because these were the blog tours I *missed!* over the Summer! I even ILL’d a copy of Game On the first novel in the Out of Bounds series by Solheim as I was worried I might need a refresher course in how she set-up a series that now has four titles! I hadn’t realised it was a series when I signed up for the blog tour which is again another reason ILL services are so handy! I was trying to post my review of The Legacy of Us by the 28th of September as it’s marked on the #FRC2015 badge as the date of the hour, but sadly, I was just returning online!

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The two I took a pass on to join whilst the sign-ups were being encouraged are the following:

Cosy Reads Blog Tour via BookSparks. Girls Best Friend Blog Tour via BookSparks.

I opted-out for the most obvious of reasons, but also, too, I wanted to keep my Autumn and Winter schedule a bit more open than I’ve allowed myself to keep it during the Spring and Summer. When you transition through health, storm, and technical difficulties – you tend to want to take a falling back to a slower pace and a pace which allows you the most freedom to relax back into reading. I might even pick up one or more of these titles from my library sometime down the road, but for now, although I generally am one of the first to read her ‘BookSparks Alert Emails’, this is one time I paused and said ‘no’, I’m good!

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No. 9 | Discovering Light Messages Publishing via a Twitter chat!

Back in July, I attended a Twitter chat for Indie Publishers and Press, one of the guests during the chat was Light Messages Publishing! When I visited their website, I started to fall in love with their titles and the stories they were publishing – not only heart and soul centered, but had a quality about them I welcomed. Through talks with their publicist, I came to realise I could request books for review, which gave me the interesting puzzle of what to select first and which story would talk to me first.

Here were my first reactions to the ones I picked:

“The Particular Appeal of Gillian Pugsley” by Susan Ornbratt

After playing the book trailer whilst reading the synopsis of this novel, I knew in my heart I’d found my next “Letters from Skye” novel (review) which I’ve been seeking ever since I put Brockmole’s novel down! Her pace of narrative and the unique way in which it was delivered through letters and correspondences held my breath – yet this new novel, evokes such a longing sense of knowing of a truth that is not yet ready to shine itself into the light of day is hidden amongst verse inside a collection of poems. Letters, poems, lyrics to songs, etc each hold their own appeal and a bit of magic for the finder to discover them. I love writers who take their readers on an introspective journey and give us something hearty to chew on as we’re reading their stories.

“Tea and Crumples” by Summer Kinard This one felt like ‘coming home’ and settling into a comfy chair at my local coffeehouse or teahouse (if I had the joy in having one of those!) — I love the initial reaction of feeling ‘awakened’ into a story where the character I’m about to meet could be a real-life dear friend set in a small towne (at least it felt like a small towne world?) where people champion your heartaches as much as your sunshine blissitudes! I love fiction that draws people together through adversity and strengthens through the community bond of togetherness mixed with faith. I cannot wait to start reading and share my thoughts! Their catalogue of choices runs across genres (including a healthy section with SFF!) and each writer they publish has their own distinctive style. I applaud their willingness to work with book bloggers and their joyful spirit in helping a reader understand the stories they are publishing.

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No. 10 | The end of my tech woes and lightning storm angst!

Some of you might consider this to be a #1 shout-out on this edition of my 10 Bookish, Not Bookish journal entries, but let’s face it – how many times can one girl talk about the insanity of severe electrical storms without sounding like a broken record? Also, it was such an intense nightmare of technical malfunctions and difficulties surrounding my switchover from one provider to another that a short paragraph to say how thrilled I am it’s finally *resolved!* is all that needs to be said!

The connectivity that I’m experiencing now trumps the issues I’ve had throughout the Summer, as this was the main cause of why I lost track of #SRC2015 (the lovely reading challenge hosted by BookSparks of whom I featured in my first foray into 10 Bookish, Not Bookish!), the YA edition of SRC2015 and everything that followed suit. I’ve found a way to fold in my missing reviews from BookSparks blog tours into the new #FRC2015 (Fall Reading Challenge) as happily some of the books I was meant to review on tours over the Summer are now being re-featured during the Fall Reading Challenge. I’m thankful I can take part in new books for the Fall Challenge ontop of these which were held back due to my crazy Summer storms!

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A few things to follow-up on from #BookishNotBookish No.1 !!

I will be following up each week I write a new edition of this feature on the last published edition.   After having requested Foyle’s War Series 8 and having watched the first two episodes on the three episode collection, it was decided I am not in the proper state to continue with this series; thus, not only was this taken back before having finished the second half of episode three, I also returnt Series 5 of Downton Abbey unseen as I had a feeling I’d feel the same way!

Mum turnt in a purchase request for Series 3 of Last Tango in Halifax and it has finally arrived in to where we are quite anxious to start seeing what has become of everyone since we last saw them! The curious thing to note about this series over the former two, is despite the absurdity of the dramatics and level of intense emotional angst involved in the story-lines, this series is an uplift not a deflating misery to watch! It’s well-written and the acting is beyond superb!

Wicked awesome I’m bookended with World Weaver Press readings! My review of Blue Spirit by E. Chris Garrison was a true delight to write because I became so very attached to the style of story-telling and the curiously wicked humour Ms Chis inserts into her stories! I am a devouted reader now of hers and I cannot wait to read the next in the series! I completely and unequivocally regret I missed reviewing On the Edge!

Having #ondemand for my tv viewing pleasure is wicked fantastic! Not only do I have the chance to watch multiple series in-progress during the week (as who would break-up with Castle to watch Blindspot?) but I have the joy in having at my disposal for the VERY FIRST TIME: Hallmark Movies & Mysteries! I’ll be blogging about this next week – as it’s an incredible gift of joy!

I’ve addressed where I stand with my ChocLit reads! (winks!)

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Favourite Tweets: As I was tweeting in limited capacity most of these will be of my own.

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Comment Box Banner made by Jorie in Canva.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on everything I’ve shared!
Especially if we share a common interest!

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{SOURCES: The banner for 10 Bookish & Not So Bookish Thoughts was made by Jorie in Canva. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. The book trailer for “The Particular Appeal of Gillian Pugsley”  had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share more about this novel and the author who penned it. Comment Box Banner made by Jorie in Canva. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded due to the codes provided by Twitter. Corvidae and Scarecrow banners provided by World Weaver Press and used with permission. Booksparks Summer Reading Challenge, Reading is Beautiful, BookSparks U Student Card, Cosy Reads Blog Tour, Girls Best Friend Blog Tour, and the Fall Reading Challenge banners were provided by BookSparks and are used with permission. Book Covers of “The Wedding Cake Tree”, “Evie Undercover”, “The Scarlet Kimono” and “The Silver Locket” were provided by ChocLitUK and used with permission. Sci Fi Month banner created by Rinn Reads and used with permission. RIP/PERIL badge provided by The Estella Society. Artwork Credit: Abigail Larson and used with permission.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2015.

About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Thursday, 1 October, 2015 by jorielov in 10 Bookish (& Not-So-Bookish Thoughts), Blogosphere Events & Happenings




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4 responses to “10 Bookish (& Not-Bookish Thoughts) No.6: When life throws you a heap of lemons, you best find a large pitcher to store the lemonade!

    • Thank you for your sweet compliment!

      I *love!* writing these #BookishNotBookish posts! It’s a meme that suits me quite well and even I was quite wicked excited about all the things that are coming down the line this Autumn! Thank you for your visit and for giving me such a happy note! Dear me though – dot points are not shameful! Don’t be so hard on yourself! I took a quick look at your post (as my weekly chat #ChocLitSaturday is nearly here!), and you have nothing to worry about! We all compile our thoughts differently, and you added a lot of visual cues amongst your journal points! Smashing job! I’ll be popping back lateron! Til then, thank you for enjoying my stop along the route!

  1. Do do do watch series 8 and 9 with the 12th Doctor! Compared to the 11th Doctor his story is a bit darker/more serious, but Peter Capaldi has been fantastic as the Doctor–funny and eclectic at times, but serious when he needs to be–and I love all of the throwbacks to classic Doctors. Plus, the storylines were a lot more solid and entertaining IMO than in series 6 and 7 (/unpopular opinion :3 ) Ideally though I could say watch chronologically (at least for new Who? I still have yet to watch more from classic Who myself), but yes, I recommend the recent series with the new Doctor ;)

    Have you popped into my previous Doctor Who posts, at least for series 8? I don’t remember–too many posts scheduled these days, I lose track! Have a lovely weekend Jorie :D

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