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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I didn’t think Autumn would ever arrive this year! :(
I had an inkling of hope Autumn was arriving when I caught a whisper of cooler winds and crisper weather was starting to become the new normal! It is such a blessing from the harsher wrath of Summer and for me, truly, when the Autumnal tides start to turn into my hours – I find myself blessedly happier for a season that invigorates my soul! It is such a calmer time of year.
In regards to my life behind the blog:
I will admit, the past several months turnt out to be on the harder side of the ledger for myself and my family. Between bouts of illness and injuries to a hard-won Summer all the way round – to a resurgence of my migraines and some dreadful weather occurrences – it feels more like I’ve run into Autumn without realising what became of Summer! Oyy.
My Dad had some rough patches himself – and that was a difficult moment of time for Mum and I, too. I’ve had some good visits with him which gave me glimpses of the Dad I know is still with us even though more times than not it is hard to see that side of him. He’s gone through so many changes these past two years he’s been in long term care. That’s still an adjustment I feel because even though we’ve become accustomed to where we are in life with him right now, it still is so very different than it was before and sometimes that seems harder somehow. Mostly I try to put those thoughts aside and just enjoy the moments I am with him. I am sure other families who have gone through this know what I’m referring too.
As a special treat to ourselves, we resumed NetFlix and started to settle into watching “Young Sheldon” which was one of the last series I watched with my Dad. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel revisiting it again as I haven’t watched it since he entered the hospital all those months ago now. It was a bit like how I wasn’t sure if I would ever finish the Jurassic Park franchise until a new friend encouraged me to do that and now I’m glad I had. It was emotional for me going through the Jurassic World films without Dad and even, seeing the finale where everything concluded – but in some respects, I felt he was still there with me seeing it all himself, too. It was one of those quirky film series we got into as a daugher and her father – seeing that conclude this year was one bittersweet memory for me.
And, how that I’ve gone through Series 1-6 of Sheldon, I have the same reaction as I had with Jurassic. Time shifts forward but sometimes the mind and heart shifts backwards. I’m glad Mum took a liking to Sheldon – we both can’t follow him into the main series it was spun-off of as neither of us likes the humour of the ‘other’ show but prefer this one instead. Uniquely Series 7 isn’t yet available to be seen on NetFlix (or anywhere else without paying for the season itself) so part of me questioned why I didn’t research that before we started watching the show. We’re on this cliffhanger of sorts right after the tornado took out MeMaw’s house and like Mum, I would love to know how the series concludes although spoiler alert, I already knew George Sr. would pass on. I’ve become attached to George Sr. and part of me isn’t quite ready to let him go.
Between both my jobs and the weather, the months seem to be passing me by a bit too much lately. It is hard to find stillness when time keeps moving forward at such a fast pace. I try to carve out small moments of downtime and enjoy the days off I receive because I do work two jobs five days a week which sometimes can take its toll too. I’ve wanted to focus on my knitting but have barely touched it since earlier in Spring or late Winter; hard to tell when I last worked on it really! I also wanted to start travelling again with Mum – small day trips which we tried to get underway between Spring and Summer but alas, all the time just seemed to evaporate, and we only made it twice to have time ‘away’.
Despite the chaos of the recent storms and weather patterns, we have been blessed with a return to Autumnal temperatures which is lifting my own spirits quite a heap! I can start to wear my long-sleeved shirts and I’m about to dive into bringing out my sweaters and pullovers, too! Won’t that be grand? It has taken forever for Summer to conclude this year and I’m personally thankful the clingy humidity might soon be a thing of the past. I’ve already started drinking more lattes but I need to resume drinking more hot tea especially to curb getting anymore seasonal illnesses.
In regards to my blog and readerly life:
You will note a few things derailed as soon as I announced them, too, such as #MyYASummer wherein I picked a select few stories to read this year and felt for sure I still had enough time to soak into those stories – until, as said, bouts of illness and migraines disrupted those hours to read the stories as the hours simply evaporated into the ether. I still want to read those stories but when I’ll feature them is to be decided.
I was also trying to read more Anna J. Stewart novels – in particular the Honour Bound series which I don’t remember if I announced or not, but those were meant to be read in conjunction with the Myrtle Beach Mysteries and the DJ Williams Thrillers. So far, I’ve read one more Myrtle Beach Mystery and the first novel of Chase Hardeman. They just happened to be separated by two months. After #SpooktasticReads which I’m viewing as a readathon vacation for myself – I intend to dig back into all three series and carry on with my readings. I have a lovely stack awaiting me and I can’t wait. I’ve also earmarked which stories I’m going to be focusing on for #SciFiMonth which begins right after #SpooktasticReads concludes on the 1st of November. This is partially when October is one of my favourite months of the year – it generally brings me the kind of climate that is kinder to my soul and two of my favourite reading events which always gives me wicked good reads to chase after!
I’ve been working on my #bookstagram feeds, too, this Summer and I have a bit of a knack for knowing how and when I want to share content there, too. I’ve been enjoying the creative process of creating the graphics and sorting out what I want to share on my posts, too. I’m still getting involved with that community which thankfully is partially connected to the one I remember from my years tweeting my readerly life. There are a lot of people who have either moved over like I have or had Insta long before I decided to get it myself. Either way, it is a lovely space I am enjoying developing my presence. Likewise, I am attempting to be more mindful of sorting out my space on BlueSky.
Whilst I’ve been sorting out the stories I want to be reading right now, I’ve continued to receive offers to review novels directly through my blog, too. I’m reaching out to those authors and working with them to receive their novels – which has been a nice segue of focus after work, too as I’m not online as much as I used to be either. I wasn’t sure how that would all work out as I don’t host as many blog tours anymore – save the one exception, wherein I reconnected with Dave recently @ The Write Reads and am gainfully hosting tours for him quite regularly now.
(*) Looking for Lucie blog tour
(*) Flightless Falcon blog tour
I’ve joined a few more blog tours which will be coming up this November I am looking forward to hosting, too! I even submitted an interview which should be interesting, too. Speaking of interviews, I have a few I’m still working on to give to writers I’ve recently reviewed and hope to bring that content to my blog as Autumn gets underway. I’ve had to find my own way moving forward as a lot of the touring companies I used to work with are no longer hosting blog tours. I was thankful Dave is still at the helm of TWR and I love working with him, too. He has incredible dedication to his tours and to his bloggers – he’s a great host and supporting him is wicked good fun for me, too, as I get to find new and interesting stories to read and/or spotlight ahead of reading.
This is why working with authors who are contacting me directly is such a blessing, too, this year. I can read and blog at a bit of a slower pace and find my way into genres and stories which are speaking to me to be read. I’ve always done that with the stories I select to host, review or feature but this year in particular I’ve been even more selective which gives me more time with the stories and less deadlines which makes me even happier. If you’ve missed anything I’ve hosted recently be sure to visit my Bookish Events to get caught up!
Shared via: #bookstagram on @joriestory3 | @wyrdandwonder
I decided to re-subscribe to Everand (ie. formerly known as Scribd) and Audible whilst despite being a subscriber to Spotify for nearly a full year now I’ve never had the chance to seek out the audiobooks which are part of my subscription to their services. A shame really as we get the ability to listen to at least one full audiobook or a sampling amount of several. I can’t remember the limits, but I think its 15 hours. The reason I wanted to get my subscriptions back is because I’ve noticed sometimes, I notice I’d rather just soak into an audiobook and give my eyes a break. I know working full-time has taken a toll on me over the last years – especially the last year and nearly a half I’ve been working two jobs in tandem and stacked together most days – to where unwinding into an audioread is a bit more bliss than always reading print.
Just ahead of sorting out my #SpooktasticReads TBR – I decided to start colouring again as I listen to audiobooks and the amount of relaxation that provided me was incredible! I’ve missed doing that, but I’ve gotten so used to just having ‘just’ this much time to read or listen, I had forgotten to carve out a bit more longer patches of time to absorb myself into an audiobook and let the colours and the colouring drift me into that audio narrative world. To help re-anchour me into this solitude of audio bliss I ordered a Halloween themed colouring book to accompany my Spooktastic Reads, too!
As I am featured during the prompt challenge this year – more of my TBR will become known throughout the month – however, for the very first day, all of us hosts behind the event get the chance to reveal what we’re starting out hopeful to read or listen to as the next 13 days unfold. For me, I wanted to focus on a few different points of interest – from the audiobooks I purchased for myself via Audible, to the stories I found available on Spotify to a beloved series I have been absent from continuing (again!) to the story which bewitched my funnybone during #WyrdAndWonder this past May! (ie. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking)
A #SpooktasticReads TBR:
The Language of Ghosts by Heather Fawcett
A Comb of Wishes by Lisa Stringfellow
Weird Wedding at Wonky Inn (Wonky Inn, Book Three) by Jeannie Wycherley
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
& The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Hallow
I am sure it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that the first book I selected to read for #SpooktasticReads was “A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking” – especially if you read my #25MinutePreview of the story which I featured on Wednesday this week. There is something wicked happy about the narrative – I am always full of giggles and smirks and laughter listening to the passages and chapters – a true feel-good start to #SpooktasticReads that’s for sure!
I never had the pleasure to read the Emily Wilde novels – which is interesting to point out, as when I purchased a copy of “The Language of Ghosts” by Fawcett I didn’t quite connect the dots to who the author was and what she was previously known for in respect to other stories and novels. I knew I wanted to purchase some audioreads this year via Audible, as that was partially why I resumed my script to their services. I wanted to be more intentional in my purchases and be more mindful of purchasing books and listening to them in a closer timeframe than I have previously. It is quite easy to get swept away with adding Plus Catalogue titles to your Library and then, making purchases and getting lost in the sea of choices to listen too. I’m trying to pull back the curtain a bit on that trend and sort out what to listen during each ‘season’ I’m listening to audioreads. So, for this lovely event I struck out to find new voices and stories in Fantasy which befit the moods of our event this Autumn.
I’ll be sharing other purchases as the event progresses as they are tucked into prompt responses however today I wanted to say what drew me into wanting to listen to “The Language of Ghosts” was the premise: it is a moving island which me thinking about why I want to finish listening to “Howl’s Moving Castle” and is a tale about two siblings. Anytime I find a story about light trying to win over the dark is a good choice for me to read. There was something interesting about this one and I felt I’d give it a go to listen to during #SpooktasticReads.
Meanwhile, when it came to choosing to purchase “A Comb of Wishes” – it pulled me back into the world of mermaids as it isn’t oft I find a story set with that kind of premise. I’ve been invested in reading more stories of Mythology ever since Louise created @Mythothon (though sadly I missed it again this year due to life, illness and storms!) – this particular one explores Caribbean Mythos and that is one area I haven’t yet explored myself. I felt this might be a smashing fit for #SpooktasticReads as I believe the story might involve a wish to bring someone back from the dead after a heartbreaking loss.
If you’ve been following me via Twitter over the last years and/or have seen my #bookstagram posts on our @WyrdAndWonder feeds over the last few years – you’ll know how much I love championing the writing styling of Jeannie Wycherley for both of her series which have left me spellbound and glued to their characters: Wonky Inn and the Wonderland Detective Agency. I haven’t been the best at consistently listening and reviewing those stories over the years either – as I get muddled down with life, work and other bits that arise out of the hours I try to focus on reading. However, my affinity for these stories remains resolute. I purchased the fourth and fifth novels a bit ago now and I am eagerly on pins to dive into them! Which is why I’m nudging myself to curl up inside the third novel this #SpooktasticReads. I also purchased a story which is also part of this series – the one print book I’ll be reading this year which I will reveal on another day!
The last two titles on my TBR were recommended to me by various bookish friends online who gave me firm nudges to seek out these stories. I have attempted to read “The Once and Future Witches” in print so many times from my library that I gave up the ship and decided I ought to just seek it out in audio and make it easier on me to get on with the story! Laughs. Similarly, I knew I wanted to listen to “The Secret Society of Irregular Witches” moreso than I wanted to seek it out in print as I sampled the audio and let’s just say the narrator instantly bewitched me with her voice and narration! I couldn’t stop listening to her narrate the story and I knew right then, this was a story to listen to rather than to read myself. Thankfully this will also mark the first time I’ll be using my Spotify script to listen to audioreads and I couldn’t be happier! Except to say, given the time limits on that script, I am more than likely only going to get ‘so far’ with these books and will have to finish them in November.
And, so it begins! This is where I am right now with my #SpooktasticReads and it feels really exciting this year to be in a better position to focus on the stories and the event. Last year, I barely felt I could acknowledge the event and could only partially participate and never really felt as if I was part of it. I’m eager to find out what everyone else is reading and seeing which stories we all feel wicked happy for reading or listening too.
A bit of back-history on SPOOKTASTIC READS:
In Autumn [2017], I conceived of this idea to re-start my readings into the spooktacular worlds of chilling Thrillers, Suspense, Mysteries and the Paranormal (with just a dash of love for Cosy Horror!) – wherein I conceived of spending a fortnight reading such lovelies and enjoying a personal readathon leading into Halloween! I fell a bit short of my goals in [2017], even though I took it as a success – as not only did I read some rather spookified tales but I found myself wholly intrigued by the stories I was selecting to read!
By [2018] whilst helping develop and co-host @WyrdAndWonder, I put forth the idea to name our first mini-event for #WyrdAndWonder – wherein I was hoping to let this small idea I had in [2017] take flight, reach a bigger audience and find readers who might find their own definition of #SpooktasticReads befitting their own readerly life! Which of course meant – re-defining it to include what it celebrates now as a mainstay: Cosy Horror, Paranormal Fantasy, Witchy Reads, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy and even Gothic Romance or other such tales. I still have the tendency to read Cosy Crime, Suspense and Thrillers throughout Autumn and into Winter as well.
Some of the stories of course play the theme up quite a bit for the spookier side of the genres, some of which may or may not directly (or indirectly) relate to Fantasy per se but this is one of those readathons which is open to both interpretation and the joy of having free reign to enjoy the readathon in a way each reader wants to approach it. The truer beauty of Wyrd And Wonder and SpooktasticReads is the ability for each participant to find their own readerly path and find what gives them JOY to celebrate the events we’re hosting through social and the book blogosphere.
and, now dear hearts,
I shall leave you with an invitation
to Kindly visit my co-hosts:
You’ll have to let me know if you’re participating this year with us
during #SpooktasticReads in the comments below this post!
Join the fantastical convo via Discord channel: Other Worlds!
And, happily visit with us via @WyrdAndWonder on Insta, too.
The beauty of #SpooktasticReads itself- is being able to escape into the realms of Fantasy and seek out the fantastical – however which way that might personally appeal to the reader and the seeker! This is our mini-event every Autumn wherein we chase after the spookier side of Fantasy – seeking out ghosts, witches and the paranormal as much as we dive into Dark Fantasy reads! We each have our own interpretation of what Spooktastically Spooky means to us and thereby, withholds our group’s mainstay focus of everyone finding their own fantastical adventure as a community. I hope some of the authors I’ve read and reviewed over the years have sparked a curiosity in you to seek out yourself and likewise, I know I’ve been wicked inspired throughout the years to seek out new authors myself. (Visit Jorie’s #WyrdAndWonder archives)(Visit Jorie’s #SpooktasticReads archives)
Whether this is your sixth year or your first, we welcome you to #SpooktasticReads! Join us as we dip our bookish hearts into this region of Speculative Fiction which gets us wickedly giddy with expectations and imaginative blissitudes!
These link to their individual announcements!
Lisa + Imyril + Annemieke + Ariana
via Insta: @deargeekplace + @signourney + @booknookreview
AND celebrating my first full year on #bookstagram: @joriestory3
Be sure to keep a watchful eye on our @WyrdAndWonder feeds for the content we’ll be sharing – across social channels & our blogs. We are happily ready to start visiting blogs & start the Fantastical conversations which we know will be enjoyed by all who LOVE Fantasy! Join us for our 6th Year and let it be fantastically engaging for everyone who joins us on this adventure.
Although this is more of a life update than a readerly one,
Kindly read through my archives for #TheSundayPost
REMEMBER: If you have any spooky reads you think I might enjoy this Autumn, kindly leave your recommendations in the comments below. I’d love to visit your blog if you’ve reviewed the story or stories to gain more information about them, too.
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I don’t generally read scary books, so I don’t have a lot of spooky book recommendations, but I can recommend T. Kingfisher’s A Sorceress Comes to Call! It was the right blend of fantasy and creepy for me, and I think it would great for anyone who wants to read a spooky-but-not-horror book. (It’s a bit darker and more adult than A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, but has the same kind of humor.)
Sorry to hear you had a rough few months. Hopefully things calm down for you soon. I like listening to audiobooks as well as reading books, some books or moments just lend itself better to listening. I hope you’ll enjoy the Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches if you get to it, I listened to that one and think the audio version is really good. Good luck with your readathon!
I enjoyed Irregular Witches and am looking forward to her next one. I’m working my way through Kingfisher’s backlist but haven’t got to Defensive Baking yet, but it sounds charming.
OOh! How wonderful you’ve read Irregular Witches! I’ve heard only good things about this one as a fellow book blogger told me she thought I’d love it – whilst Defensive Baking is my introduction to Kingfisher. I’ve been rollicking in laughter for most of the story – however, it is taken a more serious tone now as there are a lot of things going on in the background of Mona’s life. I especially am enjoying how Kingfisher talks about those who have magic (ie. magickers) and the dangers of the world at large therein. I believe it will be the first book I finish this weekend, too. Very charming and a wicked good read due to the narrator’s instincts and ability to perform this lovely story to life. I hope you’ll enjoy it once you get to it.