Tag: Wildwood Dancing

#WWWednesday No. XIX | Jorie’s Short Stack #WyrdAndWonder TBR and why she selected these stories to be read this May!

Posted Wednesday, 1 May, 2024 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

#WWWednesdays graphic created by Jorie in Canva.

I ♥ the premise of this meme {WWW Wednesdays} due to the dexterity it gives the reader! Smiles. Clearly subject to change on a weekly rotation, which may or may not lead to your ‘next’ read providing a bit of a paradoxical mystery to your readers!! Smiles. ♥ the brilliance of it’s concept!

This weekly meme was originally hosted by Should Be Reading who became A Daily Rhythm. Lovingly restored and continued by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Each week you participate, your keen to answer the following questions:

  • What are you currently reading!?
  • What did you recently finish reading!?
  • What do you think you’ll read next!?

After which, your meant to click over to THIS WEEK’s WWWWednesday to share your post’s link so that the rest of the bloggers who are participating can check out your lovely answers! Score! Perhaps even, find other bloggers who dig the same books as you do! I thought it would serve as a great self-check to know where I am and the progress I am hoping to have over the next week!

Join the Convo via: #WWWWednesday

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Wyrd And Wonder banner created by Imyril. IMAGE CREDITS: black dragon image by crosspixel on 123RF.com. Banner is used with permission.

the annual event which makes me wicked happy has returnt,
join me as I dive back into reading via #WyrdAndWonder!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

About: *Wyrd & Wonder*

Wyrd And Wonder badge created by Imyril. IMAGE CREDITS: black dragon image by crosspixel on 123RF.com. Badge is used with permission.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

This year, we’re all celebrating the Comforts of Reading Fantasy – whether the routes you take within Fantasy are your regular comforting zones of readerly blissitude or if you’re a wanderer of paths unknown and unlock your own fantastical adventure one story at a time without limiting where your path will take you. I’m still sorting out how I want to respond to our prompts which are meant to run on Sundays on our respective blogs – however, most of this month of May will be aligning a bit topsy turvy on Jorie Loves A Story – just consider me bending time and posting out of sequence with the rest of the book blogosphere! Laughs. Having said that – one of the beauties I decided to grant myself this seventh year is a bit of peace of mind!

Reason being?

I gave myself licence to post a short stack TBR and I couldn’t be happier! I don’t even have the goal of consuming ALL the books in their entirety this year – as let’s be frank, my downtime is short and my ability to devour stories as I had in the past isn’t quite working out very well for me over the score of the last year since I undertook a second job that is quite taxing and quite rewarding in other respects all the same. I just can’t lay claim to having a lot of personal time as a result of the hours I’m working week to week between all (three, cough!) of my jobs. Blessedly one is a moonlighting gig and the other two are the mainstays – evenso, a girl needs a bit of space to unwind and just ‘chill’ outside of work. For me, the comfort has always been STORIES and reading – when I’m not akin to following in love with a tv serial or film. Stories whether written, narrated by audio or set in motion (by film or serial) have been quite the affinity and mainstay of my life.

This lovely graphic describes the Sunday Five topics wherein everyone is encouraged to respond on Sundays (or any day which works best for the blogger) to carry-on the discussion of what makes Fantasy our zone of Comfort to read and explore. Those posts of mine are still in the WIP stage but they will be arriving at odd intervals throughout May all the same. I felt I should include them with this post as I’m announcing what I’ll be reading and thereby, also discussing as well.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

What Jorie is currently reading:

Jorie's Short Stack TBR for Wyrd And Wonder photo collage created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: jorielovesastory.com

It wasn’t hard to select my #shortstack of books this Wyrd And Wonder : Year 7 because there were a few stories on my shelves where I knew I might find myself drawn to read quite immediately. I had hoped to dive straight into these lovelies as soon as May began, but now 12 days into the event and still editing my drafted posts to run during our first fortnight, some might say puts me at a disadvantage but for me, this year is more about the journey I’m on that the end results. Most years, reading one story after another was quite fulfilling but when your work life feels overwhelmingly exclusive of your TIME, just to draft and write and blog again feels like a milestone of an accomplishment! Smiles.

The Lemorian Crest is actually the sequel to Uncovering Cobbogoth (see also Review) which I fell in love with years ago now. The author and I were in touch for a short bit, and I had meant to follow up with her afterwards as she was going to writing another installment of this series but then, I noticed as the years progressed forward – a new story didn’t emerge but other projects of hers did. I also noted that she re-released the original first story of Cobbogoth but under a new title and new publishing house which I understood as I knew she was leaving Cedar Fort. This series goes back to my 1st Year as a Book Blogger and so, it holds a special place in my bookish heart. I’ll be re-reading through the first novel – jogging my memory and re-settling into the storyline – as despite the fact there are echoes of memories from having read it the first time – 2014 and 2024 is a decade’s worth of living between readings!

I will be thrilled just to be on the FRINGE of reading the sequel by May’s end and continuing to finish it as Summer takes hold. Though by all the crazy wicked weather we’re having stateside, most would argue Summer is already here and deadly chaotic to which I would heartily agree!

For those who might not know anything about this series – here’s some parting thoughts from my first reading:

Uncovering Cobbogoth is an adventure you know you can handle, but it keeps you suspended between the pages as much as the living story within its chapters is a suspension of time. Science was always a ready interest of mine growing up, as I had half a step inside the worlds of art and science within my childhood hours. I was drawn into the dimensional theories of Quantum Physics as I grew and examined different quantum realms on my own by my early twenties, because of the curiosity they engaged my mind inside. The theory of super-strings, hidden dimensions, black holes, and galaxies hidden within a space of a seed were an exciting read for me! I need to re-take up where I left off as I only just brushed the surface of what I wanted to study, but within that pursuit, I have noticed that the science within science fiction that enlightens my mind the most contains elements and theories woven around the concept of space-time dimensions and/or the continuum. This is not the first foray I have ventured on this year to read a story with time travel or the bending of time (as we see it peripherally) as its core center of scientific thought. The Skin Map uses the theory of ley lines whereas Cobbogoth is using the theory of hoption holes. In each of their own ways, they are breaking down a theory of how humans of any age can travel through ‘portals’ within the space-time vortex of dimensional space. And, I personally find that exciting!

Clark has a deft hand for writing the most scientific principles of the novel in a way that is not only easy to digest, but gets you excited to learn more than what has already been provided! The curious illustrations her sister, Ms. Shakespear contributed to the story’s element of past and present gave a visual reference for the sub-stories that draw out the focus on Cobbogoth itself rather than the story set in and around Cobbogoth on a whole!

I would say that due to the nature of the high-octane adventure and action sequences, as well as the brief passages of violence which take place as Norah’s life is thwarted by more danger than you could blink through, I do believe the classification of this novel as ‘YA Fantasy’ is rather apt. It would be a great story for a teenager to sink their teeth into because it is on the verge of leaving the formative years behind and entering the world on your own merits. Lessons of courage and fortitude of spirit are organically woven into the texture of the story itself. If you watched the motion picture “The Dark is Rising: The Seeker” you will not have any trouble reading this novel! At some point, I’d like to read the novel the forementioned film is based upon!

-quoted from my book review of Uncovering Cobbogoth

Read More

Divider

Posted Wednesday, 1 May, 2024 by jorielov in #WyrdAndWonder, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Memes, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story, WWW Wednesdays

#ThanksgivingReadathon | Jorie’s #mustread List for #Mythothon (otherwise known as the STORIES Jorie didn’t want to stop reading after she reached page *25!*)

Posted Friday, 23 November, 2018 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

#ThanksgivingReadathon badge created by Jorie in Canva

This lovely readathon is hosted by Jackie @DeathbyTsundoku

You can find the Announcement Page on her lovely blog!

Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission.

For the past three days, I’ve been reading the FIRST *25!* pages of all my borrowed #Mythothon Reads via my local libraries! Yes, you read correct, multiple libraries were involved! I wasn’t able to tweet each of the days I was reading as since Wednesday night & early Thursday morning, I have been in *severe!* pain!

Funny story short – when your selecting a special priced *ham!* from a bin in the Meat Dept. be sure to PICK IT UP with both your hands and DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE how much it weights! I literally threw my back out and the severity of the pain made it IMPOSSIBLE To read / type in any kind of combination. I’ve popped on as I could to give small updates but blessedly, after rotating hot/cold compresses I’ve been able to resume a slightly more ‘normal’ groove – hence, if you start to see reviews & posts magically populating my blog’s archive, you’ll understand ‘why’… Laughs with a smirk.

This post is to re-acquaint  myself with the *thirteen!* stories which made my cut – the ones which I achingly had to put into the “Keepers Stack” in order to dig through the rest I borrowed to find the rest of the ‘gems’ I wanted to be reading for #Mythothon!

Ironically, I had originally envisioned spending 30! days on #Mythoton & #RRSciFiMonth – in the end, I’ve spent a fortnight so far reading my Sci Fi November selections (reviews are still forthcoming have no fear!) and I’ve only spent 72+ hours reading my #Mythothon selections! Thus, I’ve amended how those Mythos stories are going to be blogged! I’m starting off with this (post) to tuck into the 13 Stories which I knew in *25!* pages these writers were giving me something wicked lovely to contemplate and muse over as I read their #awesomesauce stories!

Next, I’ll be back-posting (Thursday)’s post which are the DNF selections – the stories which held either early promise OR repulsed me so quickly off the bat, there was simply no hope of return!! Those are the ones boomeranging back to the libraries so quickly I could have had whiplash! They might be ones who will resonate with other readers, but for me, as you will soon find out – there was *something!* not quite my cuppa within their pages!

Afterwards, I’ll be back-posting (Wednesday)’s post which is a continuation of gushing JOY over having discovered the magically lovely world-building within the Japanese set “A Mortal Song” which was truly absorbed & discovered the very day #ThanksgivingReadathon kicked off and entered my life! It will also serve as a journal about how a girl & her Mum can tuck into a diner late at night after a petrol accident (ever have a gas station have contaminated air?) to ‘clear’ their lungs — chattering about everything but specifically how this #Mythothon is giving me such a delightfully unexpected passage into a ‘hidden niche’ of literature I never knew existed! I also recapped the WHOLE twenty-five pages of “A Mortal Song” – so I’ll be trying to recapture that night – whilst discussing what we ate and drank; staying til nearly close and musefully enlightened with the joyfulness of Crewe’s artful story-telling!

Settle in with your favourite brew & cuppa in hand – soak in my ruminations over these enchanting twenty-five pages – per each novel of the stack of *13!* and find out why I, Jorie, wishes to DEVOUR the rest of the pages – maybe I’ll find beloved & cherished reads, maybe I’ll find myself pulled out of them at some unknown future page – all I know, is initially as I read these cleverly writ pages, I was fully absorbed through the vision each author had for their stories!

Come with me as we chase after #Mythos & #Mythologies – specifically attempting to focus on the Greeks with a few diversions along the way! Come share with me your own travelling routes in the comments & let’s rock out #Mythothon in the joyfulness of combined discoveries!!

Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission.

#ThanksgivingReadathon TBR List badge created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit jorielovesastory.com

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

#ThanksgivingReadathon TBR List created by Jorie in Canva

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

My #25PagePreview of my #Mythothon Reads

during the 2018 #ThanksgivingReadathon !!

ALL the stories featured today
were #borrowed via my local #library!

I do earmark which ones were ILL’d but overall, for the most part, I lucked out by pulling from the locals which had a rather IMPRESSIVE selection of Mythos in Fiction!!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

A Mortal Song by Megan Crewe

Site | @megancrewe | Pub’d by Another World Press
*Ill’d (inter-library loan)

Notation on Cover Art: I was truly taken by the artistry of the cover art design for ‘A Mortal Song’ as it held my eye, never letting turn away and told a story of its own! I love artwork like this which is custom made for the story – it gives you more dimension and a hugged in feeling as if the artist and the writer were in symmetry with each other! I had such high hopes for this one – I had no idea between the evoking artwork and the promise of the premise, I would literally find my first #Mythothon selection I wanted to hug + shout out about to the world!

A bit of a background – I personally have loved Japanese culture, tradition, customs and art ever since I was a young girl as my maternal grandparents were collectors of their art and music. I grew up knowing quite a bit about Japan as a result from a cultural perspective whilst as I grew into a teen, I started to correspond with Japanese friends through postal letters, enhancing my knowledge of their customs (such as the tea ceremony) and the contemporary living histories of my friends as we would exchange memories and traditions in our letters. As an adult book blogger, I learnt more through my readings of the Shinobi / Hiro Hattori novels by Ms Spann, as her stories are set in the 16th Century but illuminated as if we were time travelling straight back into that era and can alight as if we’re meant to live then rather than now! Thus, finding a story involving the ‘kami’ was another element of intrigue for me and one I wanted to readily explore.

Dear hearts, this novel was published in [2016] and I must confess, my copy of the novel appears to have been read either by readers who leave no trace like I do for having read their stories OR I’m the first bookish heart whose graced the pages with her imaginative heart. Either way, it felt super special dipping into this world and seeing the wonders which IMMEDIATELY started to unfold!

As I am composing a special post featuring A Mortal Song – comprising of the JOY of finding this story was breathed to life in such a unique way of giving me a fantastical quest and journey into not just the mind of Crewe but into this part of Japanese folklore and Mythology, I shall leave these short takeaways to entice you to wait for my further revelations of why this readerly girl and her Mum felt enchanted together for the symbolic beauty awaiting everyone who picks this story up for themselves to experience!

Verdict? (see also this tweet!) & (see also this tweet, too!)

How do you prepare yourself to extract yourself from a WORLD you’re so dearly captured by you literally can’t think of anything else but ‘turning’ the next pages, falling further into the story and sorting out the Mythos along the way? I dearly wanted to stay up through the night & simply DEVOUR this until every last word was breathed into my imagination – however, life has a strange way of working against you at times! My back pain & injury left me unable to devout the night to “A Mortal Song” but my mind & heart never fully left its world; the pull it had on me was FIERCE!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #ThanksgivingReadathon 2018
Divider

Posted Friday, 23 November, 2018 by jorielov in #25PagePreview, #ThanskgivingReadathon, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, RALs | Thons via Blogs