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: Covers I love from the last decade
Not done with those Best of the Decade posts, quite yet. Specific to books which I've personally read. (I really wanted to do this as a topic last year) so here goes... 10. We Were Liars e. lockhart I had some issues with the plot, but love the way the cover evokes a state of... 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 →
Top Ten Tuesday: bookmark love!
I'm stoked for this week's topic because I GEEK bookmarks. I'm a collector with too damn many, and I have no shame. 7. Not today Lego Vader. I'm sitting on more books that I can currently handle. Printables are more fun than using your grocery store receipt or junk mail to hold your place. Check... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday: Books you Autumn know about
All puns aside, what labels a book as possessing autumnal vibes? Does it have to be set during fall? Contain a mysterious, bleak or brooding tone? Feature fall-ish cover art? The books I chose [almost all classics, I own nothing new which fit] contain at least one or a combination of the three elements within.... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish tropes: love em/leave em edition
This Tuesday we're dishing or dissin' book tropes. A trope is a commonly used theme or plot device. There are a few bookish themes that ring my chimes every time, while others make me cringe with each encounter. Declaring my bookish love it or leave it judgments below: 10. Breaking away from the plot to... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday: Beloved Children’s books
I truly love this week's prompt, but I'll be honest--I did no soul-searching to dig up my childhood favorites. Instead, I listed the first few that came to mind. I limited the list to legitimate childhood years-strictly below age thirteen. I recommend them all. The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes- by DuBose Heyward, Marjorie... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday: favorite (fill-in) *Eye-opening reads*
The topic this Tuesday is top 10 fill-in your favorite genre. Eye-opening books may not be my favorite (or even a genre) but it's the theme I felt compelled to write on this week. Influenced by the spirit of the truth-telling finale in the gut-wrenching HBO series, Chernobyl, I relate ten favorite eye-opening reads. I... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday: Page to Screen (The good, the better and the frightening)
Movies so good, they made me want to read the book: Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín. A sweet and relatable coming-of-age tale capturing the heart and resilience of immigrant life in the 1950s.Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I must admit I've yet to read Crichton, but I recently re-watched the original film and have two take-aways:... Continue Reading →