Category: Banned Books

Blog Book Tour | “Unlocking Worlds: a reading companion for book lovers” by Sally Allen

Posted Friday, 18 December, 2015 by jorielov , , 2 Comments

Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin.

Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a part of the blog tour for “Unlocking Worlds” hosted by iRead Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of “Unlocking Worlds” direct from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why this particular non-fiction topical book on reading appealed to me:

If I were to be earnest, I’d say I have had a curiosity about ‘metafiction’ and non-fiction works for quite a bit of time – those curious delights inter-related to the craft of writing and the tomes of stories writers give us on an annual basis. Metafiction by definition is a collective work about how fiction becomes writ and how it’s story is technically put together. For me, I like the broader term to encompass any work that seeks to enlighten the reader about the benefits of reading and how reading is singularly a unique visitation with worlds writ through the eyes of writers we may never have the pleasure of knowing personally but whose worlds have given us such a breadth of joy as to give us this awe-inspiring moment of clarity.

I haven’t picked up the habit of selecting non-fiction works to read each year, as my non-fiction selections are such a random allotment of subjects, topics and near fanciful treats of unexpected delights, I simply do not make it an organised effort to consume more of this literary scope as well I should. What drew me into this particular release is how it was spoken about prior to seeing the book arrive by Post. It lent the impression that this was not only meant for ‘readers’ but for those who are passionately addicted to reading – to give themselves over to the stories and to allow the stories to give them back a piece of their memories for having spent a moment settled in thought and mirth of exploration of that world.

Blog Book Tour | “Unlocking Worlds: a reading companion for book lovers” by Sally AllenUnlocking Worlds
Subtitle: a reading companion for book lovers

Award-winning writer and teacher Sally Allen knows that good books don’t just draw us in; they talk to us, shape us, and transport us to times, places, and minds different from our own.

In Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers, Allen deftly weaves personal stories with fifteen thematized, annotated, and illustrated reading lists for what to read next. By sharing some of the treasures in her library and the secret lives they reveal, she gives us permission to embrace the shameless book lover inside each of us. Unlocking Worlds is a testament to how reading passionately — and compassionately — can unlock the world beyond our back yard. Celebrating books and those who read them, Allen shows how the solitary act of reading can be a powerful thread that creates community and connection.

Thought-provoking and eloquent, Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers is a must-have for anyone who can’t leave the house without a book in hand.


Places to find the book:

ISBN: 9780983644613

Published by Griffins Wharf Productions

on 2nd September 2015

Pages: 248

Available Formats: Paperback

About Sally Allen

Sally Allen

Award winning writer and teacher Sally Allen holds a Ph.D. from New York University in English Education, with an emphasis in writing and rhetoric, and a M.A. in English Language and Literature. She teaches writing, literature, and communications, leads book group discussions, and is the founder and editor of Books, Ink at HamletHub.

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Posted Friday, 18 December, 2015 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, Anthology Collection of Stories, Banned Books, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, Classical Literature, Debut Author, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Journal, Literary Fiction, Metafiction, Non-Fiction, Short Stories or Essays, The Writers Life, Writing Style & Voice

#ArmChairBEA (2014) : Jorie’s attending her *first!* #bookblogger extension of the Book Expo America! Thus, this is her Introduction!

Posted Monday, 26 May, 2014 by jorielov 26 Comments

ArmChairBEA 2014
Design Credit: by Amber of Shelf Notes

Jorie’s first #ArmChairBEA,

can you sense the excitement!?

As this wicked sweet badge will imply, I am not merely participating! in my very first #ArmchairBEA, but I am an officially a member of the C H E E R L E A D E R team (#4! Captain: Shannon @ The Most Happy Reader) as a C H E E R R E A D E R! Perfect fit, if you ask me! As I was inspired to create the hashtag “#bookcheerleader after conversing with Tif ahead of the event itself! Since then, I was inspired to create a new ‘twitterverse’ identity via creating my own badge via Canva off the inspiring collective which makes up #StoryDam! (one of the weekly Twitter chats I like to duck-in on! all of them are threaded through the List I curate on Twitter except my own #ChocLitSaturdays – the tag is in my Profile & the archived chats are alighting on my blog!) Leading into the event, I happily celebrated my parents 40th Anniversary, which was filled with surprises on both sides, as I was the one who knew that each of my parents was conspiring to surprise the other in a way that they did not want the other to discover! Laughs. It was a pure blast for me, except a bit tricky at times as they would each come to me to check on something within mere seconds or minutes of the other leaving! I was tickled to peaches seeing how the end result turnt out to be one of the best Anniversaries! Not a bad way to begin the #ArmChairBEA than in a sea of lovely joy! Likewise, the ‘Monday’ this wicked event kicks-off is Memorial Day stateside, which means right after I post this lovely Intro Note I’m off for hot dogs & ice cream! Not a bad way to start the week, eh!? I wonder how everyone else is starting Monday!?

When I return I will be blogging up a storm, digging into my duties as a #CheerReader, as well as donning my cape of bubbliness as I gather the routes through the book blogosphere and alight on each of the lovely bloggers who are adding their links to the linky! I cannot wait to start meeting everyone and getting settled into spreading the joy of blogging whilst we celebrate the book during #ArmChairBEA! I can only imagine how wicked lovely it will be for those who can attend the BEA in person this year! I am most esteemed to find all the lovely bookish souls I’ve interacted with or crossed paths with since I started my blog are also taking an active role this year:

 An Introduction : of Jorie

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from?

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.

You can read more about on under “My Bookish Life”. I am a Creative Dyslexic Writer who created Jorie Loves A Story on 31.March.2013 (blogoversary!), launched to the public on 6.August.2013 (blog birthday!), and sync’d to Twitter on 13.November.2013! As I curate Jorie Loves A Story as a labour of love, I elected to become active on two fronts: the book blogosphere (carrying on the joy I had found prior to creating my book blog!) AND the twitterverse! For this reason, I am exclusively only active in these social media portals! I do not cross-post my reviews either, as I feel that the main reason I wanted to create my blog was to have a place to write a heap of breadth and depth about the books I am choosing to read & share with my readership. I am not a traditional book reviewer in that sense! For more information on what I am hinting at please read: Jorie Loves A Story : an Introduction.

I am blogging from America, in the Southeast corner of the United States. I am a Southern Book Blogger who longs to relocate where blissful Wintry snow greets you after Autumn and Summer’s wrath does not include fierce tornadoes and hurricanes! I’d like to breathe in the joy of grey overcast skies which linger far longer than the ones I have now, and where being outside is a blissful treat year round rather than a ‘blink of an eye’ hiatus between Summer & Summer!

A great re-cap of my first thirty days as a book blogger was written with the idea of it being a monthly feature! I was not able to keep that promise to myself, but I am in the process of resuming where I left off, as I love looking back on what I have accomplished as much as seeing how everything came together!

Describe your blog in just one sentence. Then, list your social details — Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. — so we can connect more online.

My blog is comprehensive, joyful, and full of heart with honest in-depth reviews which I hope resonate my observations as I read each book.

The best way to stay in touch with me is to click-over to my About.Me page* (linked to my Twitter profile & top of my blog’s sidebar), as I curate the links which allow you to stay in touch with me, on top of the latest posts for Jorie Loves A Story, as well as knowing how to find me on Twitter.

(*) a few years later I developed a landing page: Jorie Loves Bookish Blogs to replace my ‘About Me’ page.

What was your favorite book read last year? What’s your favorite book so far this year?

I will simplify this to what was the ‘best book’ I’ve read within the last few days!? As I have the tendency to appreciate a heap of books I read per year, and I am never able to quite narrow down the books to a list of 10, much less narrow it down to a selection of one! Therefore, over the past week I was introduced to two wickedly dynamic story-telling styles: the first was a genre-bender where you were placed inside the world of ‘comic-fantasy’ where superheroes of the age I adore were jettisoned into a sweet new (epic level!) fantasy! Giving us “Awesome Jones“! The author stopped by to give the impression of how her genre-bender was writ as well! I will be sharing an antidote of an experience whilst I was out and about towne when I broached the subject to my parents and had an unexpected conversation with a fellow superhero appreciator! Likewise, on the complete opposite spectrum of literature in the historical fiction branch, I soaked so vividly into the time of Hatshepsut I nearly had trouble re-adjusting back into our time continuum! And, as you will find this is the precise reason I am passionate about reading and book blogging! I love discovering authors and their stories which take us to whole new worlds of realistic thought and observation! Awesome Jones gave me a reason to vie for a cape and Hatshepsut (Daughter of the Gods) instilled an awareness of how she inspired Cleopatra & Elizabeth I to know they could rule as women! And, to me that is why we all should read! We read to give us an understanding of what we can only imagine, and endear us towards empathy for everything that deserves a deeper scope of thought! We give our hearts to the page, and the inked spilt words give us the joy of transporting to different timescapes and realities as we drink through the words left behind by their writers! There is such a beautiful circle between the writer who creates the story and the reader who consumes the words and carries the characters off the page!

What is your favorite blogging resource?

First and foremost, I cannot empathsis enough how much I love! being a WordPress blogger! As far as blogging on WP.com NOT through WP.org / self-hosted blog platforms! I have looked into self-hosting and realised that WP.com will happily be able to take care of my needs a book blogger for a very long time yet to come! I love the ease of maintaining my blog and the few bits of ‘extra help’ I would like to give a shout-out of gratitude to the following:

  • Ravven – is the lovely artistic soul who created my blog’s identity through the creation of my blog’s badge & banner!
  • Squeesome Designs – created the lovely badges which bespeak of coffee, libraries, & reading! As well as the “green banners” in my sidebar!
  • Parajunkee Designs – created the blog headers per post, such as “Book Review”, “Author Interview”, etc. As well as post lovelies like those on this post!
  • Fun Stuff for Your Blog by Pure Imaginationcreated the blog dividers which I simply adore!
  • Grab My Button – offers a way to place code on your blog for people to save your blog’s badge!
  • PicMonkey – my preference for creating collages & other badges when I am not using Canva! Originally I used FotoFlexer.
  • FeedPress – I used to pay a small fee for FeedBlitz, then gave it up. I just recently found FeedPress & love it more!
  • Book Blogging (Database)  – for networking with book bloggers!
  • Lianne @ Caffeinated Life & Hannah @ Once Upon a Time were mentors to me as a newbie blogger!

What book would you love to see as a movie?

Again, this is always a tricky question for me to answer but I think I will go with a Magical Realism choice and say, “The Golem and the Jinni“!!

The best bit to know about Jorie, is that she is a girl who loves to converse about the books she reads & discovers,… she truly does live up to these badges! And, you can follow her journeys inside her Story Vault!

Parajunkee DesignsParajunkee Designs

Music via #iheartradio (Chicago! 93.9FM) whilst Jorie composed this #ArmChairBEA post:

  • “Raging Fire” by Philip Phillips
  • “Dreams” by the Cranberries
  • “Happy” by Pharrell Williams
  • “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele
  • “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” by Train
  • “Story of my Life” by One Direction
  • “Home” by Daughtry
  • “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin
  • “Just Give Me A Reason”by Pink, feat. Nate Ruess
  • “Best Day of my Life” by American Authors
  • “Home” by Philip Phillips
  • “All of Me” by John Legend
  • “Wake Me Up” by Avicii
  • “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt

The very best part of #ArmChairBEA for me this year is to be cheering on the book bloggers & the readers who celebrate the joy of reading as much as I do with each book they pick up and consume! This is a convention for those who are bookish & geeky and proud of it! This is a way for us to get to know each other and champion the writers who give us such a hearty story to dissolve into throughout the year! Let us route our way through the book blogosphere and light up the twitterverse letting everyone know that even if we are not in person at the Book Expo America — they have our full support & attention!

{SOURCES: Blog News & “I Blog Books” badges provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. ArmChairBEA badge provided by ArmChairBEA for participants to help promote the virtual convention for BEA (Book Expo America).}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Monday, 26 May, 2014 by jorielov in #ArmChairBEA, Action & Adventure Fiction, After the Canon, Anthology Collection of Stories, Banned Books, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Blogs I Regularly Read, Bookish Discussions, Children's Literature, Classical Literature, Crime Fiction, Debut Novel, Fantasy Fiction, French Literature, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Jorie Loves A Story, Juvenile Fiction, Legal Drama, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, Literary Journals, Medical Fiction, Military Fiction, Modern British Literature, Musical Fiction | Non-Fiction, Native American Fiction, Nautical Fiction, Non-Fiction, Philosophy, Poetry, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Science, Science Fiction, Self-Published Author, Speculative Fiction, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event, Western Fiction, Women's Fiction, Young Adult Fiction

Banned Books Week Giveaway!

Posted Sunday, 22 September, 2013 by jorielov , 2 Comments

Hallo, dear hearts!

Each year, I have always wanted to participate in a Banned Book Week event, but once again, I am having to place my intentions on hold! I had unearthed a Banned Book celebration through Epic Reads, and the badge is still able to be seen on my *Rals & Challenges* page, in case your curious! My local library always makes Banned Book Week an excellent discussion time to converse about the freedom of reading + for choosing what we individually want to read, without censorship and without being told that we’re not allowed to read the books!

I wanted to re-blog this post from *Roof Beam Reader*, as I am a follower of his blog, as I found him shortly before *Austen in August*, and knew that I would want to keep tabs on the subjects and topics that he regularly posts about! This is my first ‘re-blogging’ post, and I am happy that it is to spread the word about such an event as this! I am thankful to the co-hosts of *Banned Books Week*: Bookhounds + I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, for joining the bookish blogosphere together for this awesome event that we can all rally behind and support!

The book I chose to win from his giveaway, is “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, as I have wanted to read this book since I first learnt of it, close to the time of publication. My interactions with the book were in Starbucks, whilst they did a promo event for the book, and I was most esteemed for the interactions and conversations that the event evoked by the readers who were gathered there!

There are *100!* bloggers taking part in this event! Be sure to click on the badge and make your rounds as I will be doing myself! :) :) Let’s rock the right to read!! Bookish girls and blokes: Unite! Read proudly! Gush about your latest finds! And, celebrate the liberty we enjoy by reading about our individualistic differences and our conjoined humanity!

Jorie @ Jorie Loves A Story

The Book Chat | Sweet Green Tangerine

I am linking this to the Book Chat’s linky for Thursday, 26th of September 2013, due to the fact, that although I support *Banned Book Week*, I am unable to participate this year in the universal reading of banned books! Therefore, I’d like to draw attention to events or features in the bookish blogosphere that are doing their part to celebrate our freedom of choice and our right to read!! Be sure to click over here to find other bookish bloggers who are linking their Banned Book Posts as well! Now then, if you came by my blog via this post, have you read “The Kite Runner”!? Did you watch the motion picture before OR after you read the book!? Which banned books are your favourites!? Which do you hope to read next!?

{SOURCES: Banned Book Week Badges were provided by Bookhounds + I Am A Reader, Not A Writer, for participants to show solidarity, and the badges came through on my blog when I re-blogged the entry. The Book Chat badge is provided for participants to show solidarity.}

Note: as of October 2014, the re-blogged content of this post are no longer visible which might have happened when I self-hosted in August 2014. However, it wasn’t brought to my attention until now due to searching through ‘broken links’ and attempting to fix the errors. I left this as a reminder of the event itself rather than to delete it completely.

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

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Posted Sunday, 22 September, 2013 by jorielov in Banned Book Week, Banned Books