November 13th-November 19th, 2022
The Sunday Post
The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
#7 Skin Colors of the World
About last year or so, my mom, I and my son went to a local Wal-mart for school supplies and there I saw a crayon box titled Skin Colors of the World. (For context, my son is what can be called multiracial because I am Eastern European ethnic minority, and his father is from south China, from Hong Kong.) thus I didn't think it was that important to buy the skin color crayons. Fast forward more than a year later, his father visited us for about a week and we ended up going to Crayola Land. My son took a picture with his dad and picture was a color it in. My son picks up a brown crayon and begins coloring it in. My son isn't brown skinned, his skin color is a bit paler than Southeast Asian skin color, but its interesting that he saw himself as brown skinned, thus he ended up coloring himself and his dad in brown color. When I was helping him look for crayon that could match his skin color (neither yellow nor orange were correct shades,) I was saddened that Crayola Land didn't have appropriate skin colors for my son to express himself.
In boat race, they had four rounds. My son won two but lost two (I was pretty supportive) and both I and his grandfather told him we were proud of him. Last Sunday was the hike where we ended up learning a lot of fascinating facts about trees as well as animals. He was buddies with another little boy and I really had to run after him after we were done with main part and he and the boy ran to check out all the animatronic dinosaurs that were there. Overall a fun weekend.
Last Week On The Blog
N/A
This Week On The Blog: The Autodidacts By Thomas Kendall, The Bronze Drum By Phong Nguyen, notorious sorcerer by davinia evans
New Arrivals At Svetlana's Reads and Views
It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
(From The Book Date)
Top Ten Tuesday
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.
How it works:
I assign each Tuesday a topic and then post my top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join me and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.
You’ll find the schedule of upcoming TTT topics below so you can plan ahead. I’ll post a Linky here on the blog each week so you can link up your post (if you want). If you don’t have a blog, post your picks in the comment section below! Have tons of fun talking books and getting to know your fellow bloggers!
NOTE: If a weekly topic is listed as a “freebie”, you are invited to come up with your own topic. Sometimes I will give your topic a theme, such as “love”, a season, or an upcoming holiday. That just means that you can come up with any topic you want that fits under that umbrella.
You’re more than welcome to use the Top Ten Tuesday image I designed above (or any of my older/seasonal ones), or make your own that fits your site’s theme.
November 15: Favorite “Aww” Moments In Books (Share those sweet/cute moments in books that give you warm fuzzies.) WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS!
1. The Foreign Student by Susan Choi- Both Katherine and Chang "Chuck" are very prickly characters, beset with scars and pain. I think my favorite moment is towards the end, when Katherine and Chuck and Katherine's sick mother take a road trip and Katherine's mother asks Chuck if he's that kind of man, if he is willing to wait for Katherine. The time the two spent together, while fleeting, is something that ends up becoming embedded in my soul.
2. 'Till Morning Comes by Han Suyin- One of my favorite couples in all of the books I have read. Both love each other but then are willing to compromise and grow. I think my favorite moments was Dr. Jen Yong's attempts to impress Stephanie's father as well as letting and understanding Stephanie's needs, even though one feels she is being very unfair to Jen Yong. Possibly the favorite part when Jen Yong lets Stephanie travel to America simply because she is bone tired and weary of the constantly turbulent atmosphere that China has.
3. For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten- Redarys, as a second daughter has been give more restrictions than freedoms, and she has been heavily influenced and manipulated by her mother as well as her servants. One would expect for Wolf aka Eammon to fall into the same camp, but I have to give Eammon top props for not pushing or manipulating or being deceitful. My favorite moments are the fact that he allows Redarys have all the freedom she wants before she makes up her mind, and its a very rare thing to find that in a book.
4. For the Throne by Hannah Whitten- Neverah, Redarys's twin sister has her own journey to take, and the person she takes it with happens to be a rebel king named Solmir. My favorite moments is perhaps towards end, when we finally see Solmir become mature and give up the scheming against Neverah.
5. Vampire of the Mists by Christie Golden- I think I definitely loved Jander throughout the whole novel, my favorite parts being the ending and the beginning. Beginning is his infinite patience towards the mysterious Ana. The ending part is playing the flute, which nearly made me cry as I remember it.
6. The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause- I read it as a teenager, but I would guess my favorite part would be when Simon tells Zoe of his history and the two comfort each other as well as kiss one another. I think I also loved the part where he visits Zoe's mother and tells her the ugliness of vampirism.
7. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi- I think what I loved best was the necklace part. The story is when two sisters are separated and both have same necklaces. The sister that was forced to become slave in America loses her necklace, and its not until the last story that the necklace tale comes full circle, when one descendant gives another descendant the necklace.
8. The Hostage of Empire trilogy by S.C. Emmett- So yeah, I have a thing for when true lovers have to give up each other, which is what happens in these three books. Basically, a promising but a foundling General Zakkar Kai and a handmaiden, Yala Komor fall in love. But unfortunately the prickly Third Prince Takshin also falls in love with Yala, thus Zakkar Kai has to give up Yala to the man he sees as a brother.
9. Pavane for a dead princess by Park Min-Gyu- I think basically what I loved is the dialogue and critique on consumerism by the secondary character, Yohan. I found myself agreeing a lot to what he was saying. I also loved the tenderness the good looking narrator had towards the "ugly" woman, especially when she wanted to use beauty products and he encouraged her, not because he found her ugly, but because he wanted her to feel better about herself.
10. Journey under a Midnight sun by Keigo Higashino- So this will sound truly messed up, and I am sorry about that. Basically its the first act that Ryoji does, when he kills his father when he sees his father abusing Yukiho. (In drama its learnt at the start, in book its learned at the very end.) I think I also loved the parts that Ryoji and Yukiho shared such as reading and sharing books and the talent Ryoji has with scissors and cutting up paper.
Shelf Control
Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.
Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!
Title: Scandal in the night
Author: Elizabeth Essex
Published: 2013
Length: 340
What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):
When the Reckless Brides set their sights on England’s eligible bachelors, nothing can stop them. But when they are strangers in a strange land, anything can happen…
The Spy Who Loved Her
Assuming a false identity as a prim and proper governess, the bold and beautiful Cat Rowan thinks she has finally escaped the wild misadventures of her past—and the wickedly handsome spy who seduced her in India. Imagine her surprise when her employer introduces his brother: the very same cad who destroyed her heart!
The One Who Got Away
The Honorable Thomas Jellicoe cannot believe his eyes when he sees his beloved Cat—the Scottish beauty who nearly jeopardized his mission in India. Disguised as a horse trader from the bazaars of the Punjab, the British spy risked his life for one night of passion in her arms. But here and now—breaking all rules of decorum—one heated kiss ignites a flurry of gunfire. For their enemies have followed them home. And love is the greatest danger of all…
How and when I got it: I got it on February 28th, 2014, mainly to complete the collection I had of Reckless Brides Quartet. I got 2nd and 4th books at 15th of February, and I wanted to finish up the collection, so I got this one from thriftbooks I believe.
Why I want to read it: If I were to read the prequels, I would love to continue on to read this particular book as well as the next one.
What do you think? Would you read this book? And if you’ve read it, do you recommend it?
Please share your thoughts!
Books from Backlog
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread. If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.
If you would like to join in, please feel free to enter your link, link back to this post, and then spend some time visiting some of the other posts.
This week’s neglected book
Book Title: After the Scandal
Series: The Reckless Brides Quartet
Publisher: St Martin's Paperbacks
Genres: Historical romance, Regency, Mystery, dark past
Pages: 388
Format: Print
Source: This was an ARC given by an author at a romance writers event. I meant to read it, but other books got in the way. Am very sorry. I got it on February 15th, 2014.
Summary:
In English society, the rules of engagement have stood the test of time. Until a Reckless Bride falls deeply, scandalously in love…
CAN AN INDECENT PROPOSAL
When Lady Claire Jellicoe agreed to a walk in the moonlight, she never imagined her titled companion might have brutal motives. Nor could she have dreamed up such a brave rescue by the most unexpected savior of all: an inscrutable nobleman with a daring plan of escape—and a deliciously tempting embrace…
LEAD TO EVERLASTING LOVE?
Timothy Evans, the Duke of Fenmore, has palmed more treasures than he can count. Even for a man who grew up thieving in London’s stews, a stolen bride should be beyond the pale. But Fenmore won’t let scandal ruin the spirited beauty’s reputation. And now that she’s stolen his heart, how can he ever let her go…?
Why did I add After the Scandal to my bookshelf? I was given an ARC of this book and I think I want to finish up the quartet and see the characters get happily ever afters.
What are your thoughts? Have you read this book? Would you recommend it?
Let's Talk Bookish
November 18: Gatekeeping in the Book Community (Nicole @ Thoughts Stained With Ink)
Prompts: Are there times where you have noticed gatekeeping in the book blogging community?
Hm, so far its been a rare occurence if I discover a blog that has similar tastes to mine, or that reviews similar books to me. I also don't see a lot of non-Holocaust Jewish Joy novels which is probably the fault of industry. I also rarely see books that feature white women with minority men.
What about in the publishing industry as a whole?
Lack of Jewish Joy novels. There are a few, but not as much as I'd desire. For example, is there a Middle Grade novel that features someone like my son who lives with mother and grandparents instead of parents only? I also rarely see Jewish immigration novels, in particular from 1990s. I also would love to see more novels featuring male protagonists, in particular YA or fantasy.
What does this gatekeeping look like?
I imagine rejections or focusing narrowly on broad categories and refusing to look within the categories. I mean, if there isn't a lot of attention, then how do bloggers and readers know about it? I think I'd also love if there could be more bloggers that focus on literary or historical fiction.
How can we combat this?
Perhaps taking surveys or asking for what kind of stories people would love to see instead of assuming that we want to see this or that story. I also would love more Jewish inclusivity.
Stacking the Shelves
Book Titles I got this week: (if available)
Planned Reviews: (If available. Use pictures)
Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans
The Autodidacts by Thomas Kendall
Bronze Drum by Phong Nguyen
That is too bad that Crayola Land didn't have multiple skin color crayons. I remember growing up using the big box of 72 crayons and that one of them was called Skin. It was, of course, the color for a white person. I'm glad those boxes don't have just one color called Skin anymore and I wish a box of only skin colors, like the one you encountered, was much more readily available.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a good week!
My Post
Hi Jenni Elyse, sorry for such a late response. We were all sick, and I didn't have much energy to reply. I agree its not fair that Crayola Land didn't have more variety of skin colors because it isn't fair to any kids. I imagine a lot more than just Caucasian children go there, but no variety of skin colors to finally begin overdue conversation. Its honestly mind boggling how white skin color is named skin because, again, a lot of people have different skin colors than just white. If I go to Walmart, I am planning on seeking out a box of human skin colors and buying them for my son. I want him to feel represented.
DeleteHard to get skin color right with crayons. They should put out more variety as color varies so much.
ReplyDeleteHi Harvee, sorry for late response. Was pretty much sick the whole week. I agree, they should put more color variety in pencils because people have different shades of skin than just one plain color.
DeleteI was reading Jenni's comment above and I remember that too! "Skin" color and it was white.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see the Higashino book on your TT. I just saw another book by that writer on another sunday Post and I added it. A Japanese mystery :)
Hi Greg, sorry for late response, I hadn't been well last few days. I am honestly surprised that I list Journey Under the Midnight Sun so often in my TTT responses. In reality, I was a bit disappointed with the book because it was nothing like the Japanese drama I watched, yet it feels with every prompt I find myself thinking of it lol. I hope you'll enjoy it :)
DeleteA handful of books on your TTT I had never heard of before. More to add to my TBR.
ReplyDeleteHi Kel James, thanks for your response, and I"m sorry for my late one. I have been sick last few days. Happy to hear that I have some books you liked on TTT. If you have a chance to read them, I hope you'll enjoy them and you can let me know what you think of them!
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