Hello bookish buddies. I'm back to celebrate year number 5(!) of the Bookish Jay and Reading Mermaid challenge with Julie from The Redolent Mermaid. Our collaboration has outlasted many a celebrity marriage, and I'd argue, possesses more substance than most. We look forward to generating these lists for you, and for us, every year. What... Continue Reading →
2021 Reading Challenge: Bookish Jay and the Reading Mermaid
Here it is...The Scented Library and The Redolent Mermaid's fourth annual reading challenge! We've almost made it to 2021, *small sigh of relief, hearts full of hope and fingers crossed. If you, like myself, didn't complete 2020's challenge, no judgement. It turns out I'm not a pandemic reader and I'm ok with that. We all... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday: 5 star book predictions
5-star ratings should be given few and far between. Not that I'm ironfisted or anything, it's just that I reserve the highest rating for those special books I consider to be nothing short of legendary. Books possessing that elusive combination of powerful story, enjoyability, plus top-quality writing garner my legendary status. The last two years... Continue Reading →
Reading Challenge Recap: Part 2…looking ahead
The year 2019 has come and gone but before I put it to rest, I decided to finish off my reading challenge reviews. Yes, I know we are nearly a week into halfway through January 2020 and I’ve started a brand new reading challenge. But, the ghosts of last year’s reads are haunting my brain, rattling... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday: 2020 releases
Surely, scores of lovely new titles will grace the shelves in 2020, but for the life of me, I struggled to find any I want to read. The top one is a must, while the others are possible contenders. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. Prequels are hit-or-miss, yet, I'm admittedly intrigued... Continue Reading →
Reading Challenge Recap Part 1- Looking back…
The year 2019 has come and gone but before I put it to rest, I decided to finish off my reading challenge reviews. Yes, I know we are nearly a week into 2020 and I've started a brand new reading challenge. But, the ghosts of last year's reads are haunting my brain, rattling around and... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday: Wintry reads
Cozy holiday novels could be popular titles for today's topic, but I don't read them. Depressing literary fiction is more in my wheelhouse, however, I chose to bridge the gap by listing books with wintry settings that I recommend. [Only a few qualify as bleak and literary]. The Snow Child by Eown Ivey. Bittersweet magical... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday: Character traits I value
The most important attribute for any character is multi-faceted behavior. Those who grow and learn, question and falter, are both heroes and failures become the most memorable to me. 10. Unreliable. My real-life friends and family are solid as rocks, but in fiction I prefer a character with skewed perception or less than forth-coming narration.... Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Nickel Boys
The Nickel Boys | Colson Whitehead (Bildungsroman reading challenge prompt) ★★★★☆ Audio narration | JD Jackson ★★★★★ "Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida."- Goodreads *note* I listened to the Penguin Random House audio and the narrator... Continue Reading →
Reading Challenge update part 2: from #bookstagram find to Out of My Comfort Zone
These 5 books could not be more different. A testament to both my eclectic reading style and to the variety of book prompts brought to you by the Bookish Jay and Reading Mermaid's Challenge, co-hosted by The Redolent Mermaid and yours truly. Whether you identify with historical reads, epic adventures or risque Victorian ghost tales,... Continue Reading →