Top Ten Tuesday: Water

Water is such a potent symbol in writing: it is a setting that takes humanity literally out of its element, creating a vulnerability that we don't always feel on land; it remains largely unexplored and alien and home to utterly foreign and incomprehensible creatures; it is an image of chaos, calmed by the word of God in so many cultures and mythologies. What is one of the most iconic lines in film? "Release the kraken!" The ocean can be a metaphor of our minds and emotions and imaginations - look at the language we use for our interiority be it shallow or deep, turbulent or calm, we apply maritime language to it continually; it can be symbolic of female sexuality, birth and the creation of life. There are so many oceans to choose from that this is in no way an exhaustive list, nor could I limit it to ten!

Top Ten Tuesday: Forgotten Backlist Titles

This week's theme is an interesting one: Jana invites us to Spread love for books that people don’t talk about much anymore! I am not exactly sure what that means, but I will offer up books that I have loved in the past but which I have not really thought about and reconsidered and which have not received as much social media hype as they deserve... perhaps underrated books.

Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Me Instantly NOT Want to Read a Book

This week's topic is an interesting counterpart to last week's list of things that automatically make me want to read a book... It would be tempting simply to invert those notions - what would turn me off a book? Unconvincing characters, inauthentic relationships etc... and yes that would be true. But a little bit of a cheat perhaps! That said, my wife came home from work yesterday with conjunctivitis which she has merrily shared, so my vision is a little blurred right now... tonight, I am not averse to the concept of a short cut! My other issue is that I do read widely and whilst I will offer some of the themes and tropes that may discourage me from reading a book, none of these will necessarily stop me from reading it. They may, however, make it an uphill job for the author to grab my attention. I wonder what examples of these I can come up with that I did read...

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Geographical Terms in the Title

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Previous Top Ten Tuesday Topics 2nd August: Books Set In A Place… Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Geographical Terms in the Title

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read In One Sitting (or would have if I had the time)

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Previous Top Ten Tuesday Topics June 1: Freebie: The Last Ten Books… Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read In One Sitting (or would have if I had the time)

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Gladly Throw Into The Ocean…

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Previous Top Ten Tuesday Topics February 23: Books That Made Me Laugh… Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Gladly Throw Into The Ocean…

2020: A Year in Books

It has been a hell of a year, 2020! Nationally we have seen pandemics and lockdowns, panic buying and food shortages - not to mention Brexit - and we have grappled with tiers, bubbles and Zoom chic. On top of that, personally, I have said farewell to my grandmother and my stepson (barely) survived a… Continue reading 2020: A Year in Books

My Covid Reading

So, I am heading back into work this week and reading has been one of those things which have kept so many of us anchored and sane and managing in the lockdown. So I thought I would bring together and share my covid reading... and in the interests of new portmanteau words like covidiot, perhaps… Continue reading My Covid Reading

Top Five Saturday: Books Set On The Sea

The Top 5 series is back! Top Five Saturday is a meme hosted by Devouring Books to discover and share books that all have a common theme. Previously on the blog I have focused on witches, werewolves, thrillers, faeries, fairy tale re-tellings, high fantasy and many more. I am going to try and bring this series back for… Continue reading Top Five Saturday: Books Set On The Sea

Top Ten Tuesday: Opening Lines

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. PREVIOUS TOP TEN TUESDAY TOPICS: April 7: Books I Bought/Borrowed Because…April 14: Books I… Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: Opening Lines

Top Five Saturday: Books Under 300 Pages

The Top 5 series is back! Top Five Saturday is a meme hosted by Devouring Books to discover and share books that all have a common theme. Previously on the blog I have focused on witches, werewolves, thrillers, faeries, fairy tale re-tellings, high fantasy and many more. I am going to try and bring this series back for… Continue reading Top Five Saturday: Books Under 300 Pages