Tag: Pretty Baby

#SpooktasticReads | Year II of our spooktastically lovely mini-#WyrdAndWonder event for Autumn! This year, #JorieReads with a main concentration on #WitchyReads + Ghost Stories!

Posted Friday, 18 October, 2019 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

#SpooktasticReads banner created by Lisa (@deargeekplace) Photo Credit: Kenai Fjords National Park, United States, by Daniel H. Tong on Unsplash (Creative Commons Zero) Used with permission.
#SpooktasticReads banner created by Lisa (@deargeekplace) Photo Credit: Kenai Fjords National Park, United States, by Daniel H. Tong on Unsplash (Creative Commons Zero) Used with permission.

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Welcome, Welcome to #SpooktasticReads Year II

 

Happily visit my lovely co-hosts:

Lisa @ Dear Geek Place

+ Imyril @ There’s Always Room for One More

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In Autumn [2017], you might remember 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], 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!

Last year [2018], I helped 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!

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!

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A Spooktastic reading binge for Psychological Suspense & Gothic Tales!

Autumn for me is a time in the year where I simply like to read a curated collection of stories which fall under different categories of mutual interest: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Gothic or Paranormally inclined and Cosy Horror.

This year [2019] as I co-host my own mini-event celebrating the 13 days leading into Halloween with #SpooktasticReads – I am going to be focusing on two equally dynamic concentrations: #WitchyReads & Ghost Stories! I noticed I have quite a gathering of both – they both parlay into the heart of #SpooktasticReads but also, the fact that when it comes to #SpookyReads in general – these are the two concentrations I have the tendency of seeking out the most! I have the added benefit and joy of being able to focus on narrators I love listening too whilst knocking off a few of my backlogue reviews!

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If other book bloggers or readers want to join us, please link to your blog, Twitter, LibraryThing List or other ‘space’ online where you are updating about what your reading – such as Instagram or Vlog (YouTube) in the Comments section below!

Use the tag: #SpooktasticReads & link back to this post – as I will happily be sharing what your doing for this lovely #WyrdAndWonder mini-event! Plus, I love hearing what others are reading in case something they discover would be a good fit for me as well!

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Posted Friday, 18 October, 2019 by jorielov in Bookish Discussions, Cosy Historical Mystery, Crime Fiction, Ghosts & the Supernatural, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller Suspense, Parapsychological Gifts, Supernatural Fiction, Suspense

#FraterfestRAT | Year II Concludes – find out what Jorie read and which stories are coming next to #JLASblog!

Posted Wednesday, 16 October, 2019 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

#FraterFestRAT banner created by Jorie via Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Marko Blažević

DETAILS: Read or Listen Between Midnight 10th October and ending at 11:59 pm 15th October read or listen to thrillers, mysteries, paranormal, horror, supernatural, witchy, ghostly, fantasy, or serial killer novels and novellas. (to clarify..these can be cozies and include romance. No need to sleep with the lights on if you don’t fancy a good scare!) Share your progress on Twitter or Instagram using #FraterfestRAT

Hosted by: Caffeinated Book Reviewer | @kimbacaffeinate

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What Jorie Read for #FraterfestRat [2019]:

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Death on the River by Clare Chase
(Contemporary Thriller)(audiobook)

A Nest of Vipers by Richard Storry
(Historical Fantasy Thriller)(audiobook)

Kill Shot by Susan Sleeman (Contemporary Thriller)

Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica (Contemporary Thriller)

Forget My Name by J.S. Monroe (Contemporary Thriller)

As the Light Fades by Catherine West → blog tour review forthcoming!
(Contemporary Women’s Fiction & Suspense)

The Witch of Little Italy by Suzanne Palmieri
(Contemporary Witchy Romance)(audiobook)

A last minute *extra!* addition: An Abiding Fire by M.J. Logue
as this is my 12th October @SatBookChat featured guest author!
I previously hosted an author interview about this novel & the series it kicked-off!

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Why I decided to participate in #FraterfestRAT this year:

I love #SpookyReads alongside the next person – give me ghosts and romance OR ghosts on a mission – I’m quite the happy reader! I love Gothic settings & ambiance – whilst I happen to love reading certain kinds of Thrillers! In this particular instance, I’ve been wanting to *jump-start!* my #SpooktasticReads wherein I’ll be disclosing which kinds of fantastical reads I’ll be digging inside for @WyrdAndWonder‘s second year of hosting a mini-event the fortnight leading into Halloween! For now, I want to focus on the stories on this particular reading list which have been languishing a bit too long on my bookshelves – most of which are also on my backlogue of reviews!

If anyone has any suggestions for Paranormal Romances, Suspense & Thrillers of the paranormal variety (even without a romance element!) or other stories which are either: Southern Gothic, Victorian Gothic or might constitute being labelled “Cosy Horror” – as it owns to the origins of Psychological Suspense without being overtly graphic and horrific – kindly leave me notes on this post!

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Let us take a closer look at how successful I was this #FraterfestRAT Year II: Read More

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Posted Wednesday, 16 October, 2019 by jorielov in Blogosphere Events & Happenings, RALs | Thons via Blogs

#FraterfestRAT | A 5-day #readathon which is the spookiest way to lead-in to #SpooktasticReads!

Posted Thursday, 10 October, 2019 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

#FraterFestRAT banner created by Jorie via Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Marko Blažević

DETAILS: Read or Listen Between Midnight 10th October and ending at 11:59 pm 15th October read or listen to thrillers, mysteries, paranormal, horror, supernatural, witchy, ghostly, fantasy, or serial killer novels and novellas. (to clarify..these can be cozies and include romance. No need to sleep with the lights on if you don’t fancy a good scare!) Share your progress on Twitter or Instagram using #FraterfestRAT

Hosted by: Caffeinated Book Reviewer | @kimbacaffeinate

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

My Reading List for #FraterfestRat [2019]:

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Death on the River by Clare Chase
(Contemporary Thriller)(audiobook)

A Nest of Vipers by Richard Storry
(Historical Fantasy Thriller)(audiobook)

Kill Shot by Susan Sleeman (Contemporary Thriller)

Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica (Contemporary Thriller)

Forget My Name by J.S. Monroe (Contemporary Thriller)

As the Light Fades by Catherine West → blog tour review forthcoming!
(Contemporary Women’s Fiction & Suspense)

The Witch of Little Italy by Suzanne Palmieri
(Contemporary Witchy Romance)(audiobook)

& if I can get through most of these lovelies, I’ll consider myself blessed!

Even if a book by Rachel Amphlett
(ie. #TeamKayHunter) has a new book available to be read at my local library: ”
The Friend Who Lied”,..

A last minute *extra!* addition: An Abiding Fire by M.J. Logue
as this is my 12th October @SatBookChat featured guest author!
I previously hosted an author interview about this novel & the series it kicked-off!

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*UPDATES

Finished “An Abiding Fire” by M.J. Logue – (first)
Finished “Forget My Name” by J.S. Monore – (second)
Finished TBA

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I love #SpookyReads alongside the next person – give me ghosts and romance OR ghosts on a mission – I’m quite the happy reader! I love Gothic settings & ambiance – whilst I happen to love reading certain kinds of Thrillers! In this particular instance, I’ve been wanting to *jump-start!* my #SpooktasticReads wherein I’ll be disclosing which kinds of fantastical reads I’ll be digging inside for @WyrdAndWonder‘s second year of hosting a mini-event the fortnight leading into Halloween! For now, I want to focus on the stories on this particular reading list which have been languishing a bit too long on my bookshelves – most of which are also on my backlogue of reviews!

If anyone has any suggestions for Paranormal Romances, Suspense & Thrillers of the paranormal variety (even without a romance element!) or other stories which are either: Southern Gothic, Victorian Gothic or might constitute being labelled “Cosy Horror” – as it owns to the origins of Psychological Suspense without being overtly graphic and horrific – kindly leave me notes on this post!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Let us take a closer look at why I’ve pulled these stories to be read: Read More

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Posted Thursday, 10 October, 2019 by jorielov in Blogosphere Events & Happenings, RALs | Thons via Blogs

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!

Posted Thursday, 1 October, 2015 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

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. Read More

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

10 Bookish (& Not-Bookish Thoughts) No.1: from the BBC to @ChocLitUK to Indie #SFF & a dash of #HistFic; this #bookblogger is celebrating quite a heap! Including a special note of gratitude to her #library in regards to the #SRC2015!

Posted Thursday, 14 May, 2015 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

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

Week of Thursday, 30th of April thru 7th 14th of May, 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.

NOTE: This list was originally meant to publish on the 7th of May, however, due to unforeseen reasons which delayed it’s posting, I had intended to share it on the 14th of May when I came down with a migraine, thus taking me away from finishing the edits as I found out a few things earlier in that second week I had not known originally on the 7th. I am back-posting this on the 14th (today) on the 19th of May, as that is the day it belongs hereafter to be seen. A new list will be generated for this upcoming Thursday, the 21st!

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No. 1 | Borrowing the BBC through my local library

One of my favourite joys of being a regular library patron is the access to the BBC through either direct  purchases made by my local library OR the ability to ILL serial dvd collections for mini-series, tv serials, or motion pictures! For the past two to three weeks, I’ve had the incredible joy of being able to catch up with one of my favourite BBC serials: Foyle’s War! I have a soft spot for war dramas and for mystery series because I truly grew up on murder mysteries on tv!

Michael Kitchen plays the title lead as Foyle, and it is such a convicting narrative of stories pulled out of research by the series creator and writer Anthony Horowitz. I knew of his works previously through Alex Rider, as I watched the motion picture hoping there would be more installments; however, this was a bit like hoping the latest Nancy Drew film would have sequels starring Emma Roberts. I cannot even express how much I celebrated there is a Series 7 and a Series 8, except to say, it equaled the joy I had in realising there is a Series 3 for Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries!

You’re taking back to the world wars of the early 20th Century going straight through to the start of the Cold War; the transition in Series 6 to 7 is impressive because Horowitz has amazing continuity by giving his audience the pleasure of staying with characters they are attached too and seeing them move forward with their lives. The only characters I regretted not seeing come forward were Foyle’s partner Paul Milner and of course, Foyle’s son Andrew. Andrew was portrayed by singer Julian Ovenden and his exit I believe was nearly predicted by the fact his career took off. I was thankful I could participate in a live chat with him via PBS last year, and he even answered one of my questions! This was not in reference of Foyle’s War but for his guest starring role on Downton Abbey.

To see Honeysuckle Weeks return as Sam and Foyle to be back as the moral backbone of MI5 is such a true delight of authenticity, I can only hope others are seeking out Foyle as much as I am! He has become such a delight to watch, my family hopes like I do that we have much more Foyle yet to come! It is definitely a series where fans are helping guide the series forward, as it was cancelled and revived!

After Foyle, I wanted to keep the joy of selecting to see new BBC serials, (either newly released or past releases still unknown) which is why I selected to watch Last Tango in Halifax. A drama about two families that are on the verge of coming together due to the fact their Mum and Dad have fallen in love with each other after reuniting after living 60 years apart! It’s such a tragic opening to the story, where a lost letter does not get delivered and they each went their separate ways!

They find each other on social media and as they meet-up for the first time after all these decades, learnt that they are still very much as important to each other as they were then. However, the drama of what ensues is both honest and representative of a families in transition and shifting in/out of difficulties that arise whilst life continues to carry on. The last episode of the 1st Series nearly put me under, because of what happens to Alan, but thankfully, we read up a bit about the series finding that as this is based on a real-life couple who found each other and wedded after a 60 year absence, the series is thriving on fans in the UK who love the show! Already in it’s 3rd Series and moving towards it’s 4th, I can say we devourted the 1st and are about to embark on the 2nd! Read More

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Posted Thursday, 14 May, 2015 by jorielov in #SRC2015 | BookSparks, 10 Bookish (& Not-So-Bookish Thoughts), Blogosphere Events & Happenings, CSI: Cyber, Foyle's War, Last Tango in Halifax, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, NCIS, When Calls the Heart