October 16th- October 22nd, 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
#3 Why I Hate Watching Movies and TV Shows
Technically these days and ages should be a dream come true when it comes to movies and TV shows; diversity, inclusion, variety of storylines for every person imaginable, yet to this day I can't stand watching TV nor movies. If you partake of watching it, you are not worse nor better than I am. We are simply different than one another, and I don't see TV as pedestrian or opium for the masses or anything of the kind. (Am I dumb that I enjoy video games and have played RPG games in the past? Nope.) I grew up in the '90s, arriving as a religious ethnic minority from former Soviet Union. I am brown haired, dark eyed and a girl. Thus when I came here, all I ever saw as heroines were blue eyed blondes that were nothing like me, especially in movies. Oh yes, and bad guys? People from Russia. Imagine what this could do to a growing young girl who claims ancestry from Russia. I did try to watch movies and TV shows growing up, but I always ended up favoring cartoons over something like Grey's Anatomy or Supernatural. Eventually watching TV or movies became too overwhelming to me because I had no clue what to pay attention to, and eventually my son was born which made me value my reading time even more. I think I still have that mentality that someone like me isn't worthy to be on TV or that people will want to hear my story, which makes it difficult for me to appreciate. Also, TV and movies pretty much made me waste my life in misery when I was teenager because I don't share the origins they espouse.
This week included my son being sick, and me being sick. I also learned that my son might possibly qualify for Gifted and Talented Program (he is six, and has scored highly in Quantative section in Cogat test and he also reads at second grade level, when he is in first grade!)
Last Week On The Blog
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
This Week On The Blog
Possible Reviews: The Queen of Izmoroz by Jon/Kelley Skovron, The Autodidacts by Thomas Kendall, The Bronze Drum By Phong Nguyen; The Bone Flower By Charles Lambert; There Are No Happy Loves By Sergio Olguin.
New Arrivals At svetlana's reads and views
most likely next few weeks will be without books. it rains it pours. next weeks will be dry spell...
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.
October 18: Favorite Words (This isn’t so much bookish, but I thought it would be fun to share words we love! These could be words that are fun to say, sound funny, mean something great, or make you smile when you read/hear them.
1. Intercourse- So today the word refers to sex. In 1800s it means letter writing, which means a lot of awkwardness or hilarity if one comes upon a sentence " the intercourse between her and her brother was not acceptable..." and they had no idea that intercourse refers to letter writing/correspondence.
2. Mastication- The word means to chew food, but when I first learned of it, from my younger sister, we would often joke that we were having lovely mastication which sounds a lot like, well, masturbation.
3. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia- It means fear of long words. Boy I don't want to imagine someone trying to say that they suffer from fear of long words.
4. Nosferatu- To me it sounds a lot like a vampire having a cold. And the word does mean vampire.
5. Gizzard - I think it means something inside birds (Recently I read somewhere a reference to turkey gizzards, which makes me imagine something close to lungs.) But it just sounds funny.,
6. Hiney- I am not sure where my son first heard that word. (Maybe from one of us?) and he knows its another word that means butt. He and I are reading Captain Underpants and he finds it funny that, literally, butts can be fired.
7. Tochas- Yiddish word for butt. I actually like enjoy that particular word..
8. Beitzum- Yiddish word for penis. I first heard it from my mom when my son was born and there is a strange comfort in that word.
9. Baby Booty- A word from my younger sister which means little butt.
10. Napoleon- In Russia the word also means desert, a yummy but extremely difficult to make cake, along with the general. I at one point told my son a little bit about War and Peace and mentioned Napoleon. He thought I was talking about the cake not the general.
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: Just One Kiss
Author: Isabel Sharpe
Published: 2012
Length: 218
What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):
Nestled in the heart of Seattle, A Taste for All Pleasures is a warm hub of decadent baking delights. Sweet buttery cookies with melted chocolate, yummy cupcakes with creamy soft icing…and the owner, Angela Loukas, is about to meet a mouthwatering morsel of a man—one she can't resist!
Unfortunately, Daniel Flynn is officially celibate. No sex. No dating. It's criminal, really. But once he steps into Angela's shop, he remembers what temptation—in the form of chocolate icing and a mischievous set of chocolate-brown eyes—feels like.
Now he wants to have his cupcakes…and Angela, too!
How and when I got it: I remember I won either the second or third (or both) books in the trilogy, and there was something about the books where I wanted to get the first one (unfortunately I am a completionist, which means I have compulsion to complete series.) Therefore I bought this book either in half price books or ordered it from amazon? I got it on October 23rd, 2013.
Why I want to read it: I am not sure why I find the covers intriguing but I do, and considering the heavy literature I am reading, I might need something light hearted when the time is right.
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: Light Me Up
Series: Friends with Benefits
Publisher: Harlequin Blaze
Genres: Romance, New adult? Sex, Blaze, camera, photography
Pages: 217
Format: Mass paperback
Source: I won it from the publisher
Summary:
The moment he sees Melissa Weber, photographer Jack Shea knows he wants her—as a model. (And maybe a little more.) Stunning, serene and very, very sexy, she's perfect. But keeping his hands off Melissa is going to be way harder than he thought….
Once Melissa is in front of the camera, she comes to life, channeling a raw passion that the camera—and Jack—find irresistible. But each time she bares her body and soul, the intense sexual current between them grows stronger. And the more they give in to temptation, the more they both risk becoming exposed!
Why did I add Light Me Up to my bookshelf? Basically I like the cover and the summary sounds intriguing. I also have gotten it on September 17th, 2012. Yeah, more than ten years ago.
What are your thoughts? Have you read this book? Would you recommend it?
Let's Talk Bookish
October 21: Do book titles matter? (Hannah @ Hannah’s Library)
Prompts: How much do book titles matter?
I often think they matter a lot because a title has to succinctly capture the story, and one doesn't want to mislead the readers. For example, if a reader picks up a title that sounds like a christmas story, but instead the story is about vampires, I can't imagine they would be happy.
Have you ever read or not read a book based on the title alone?
To be honest, I don't recall rejecting books based on titles. I usually look at reviews, summary at genre and at the cover as well as how its classified. I might have read books based on certain titles or wanted to collect books based on titles (Month titles).
Do you like long or short book titles better?
Most likely short titles because I really don't want to remember something like: Her Majesty's Secret Service of Scallywags and Ragtags (Made up book title.) Short titles are easier to remember and to find, at least in my experience.
Do you think the title has to connect to the story in some way?
I think so yes, it has to connect in some way because the reader can expect one thing from the title, but it can be something else. (For example, Liz Benet and Mr. Darcy it can be a Jane Austen romance, but what if its a horror novel of vampires with a tragic romance?)
What are some of your favorite book titles?
Tale of Genji, Gone with the Wind are my favorites because they describe the stories perfectly.
Stacking the Shelves
Book Titles I got this week: (if available)
Planned Reviews: (If available. Use pictures)
I watch more TV than I probably should, although I am slowing down on how much I watch. So little of it is appealing to me these days.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark Baker! That's a bit surprising but understandable. But yeah, it often seems like repetition has always been the bad.
DeleteI can understand that about the shows. It does seem like Russians get scapegoated a lot as villains. Or the portrayals are just awful. I hope you and your son feel better soon. I've been curious about Dead Water.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about book titles. I guess it depends- I've seen short ones and long ones that were good, but not always... :)
Hi Greg! Yeah. Russia is a lot more than just where people have evil laughs or creepy Transylvanian accents. In school I also hoped for a more three dimensional presentation on Russia, but I think you can imagine how it went.
DeleteI don't there are right or wrong answers when it comes to book titles. Mainly just preferences.
Forgot to mention, but I wasn't a big fan of deep water by C.A Fletcher...
DeleteThat's good to know, I've seen another blogger not really care for it either so I'll probably skip it. Thank you!
DeleteI hope you and your son feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Sara! Tomorrow he will be going back to school. I will probably need a lot of patience and deep breaths tomorrow. ( when it comes to getting back to routine, he loves to make up complaints about how much he hates school and how he wishes I could home school him.) Need lots of hugs tomorrow.
DeleteI don't blame you at all for not liking tv or movies. Representation is so important! I hope you and your son fell better soon!
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday Post
Thanks so much Jenni Elyse! That's probably a big reason why I have diverse adult fiction on my blog. Positive representation is very important for a childs development, especially if they dont share the Western European or American-European origins and ancestry. In media as a child, all I desired was to see someone like me, but it never happened and it still isn't happening. If I had the will and the talent I could probably write stories where I am the heroine and feel seen.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch a lot of TV or movies, just lazy though there. But I do get your reason for not doing so very much. Just trying to work out where you are now. I need to go look around your blog. Perhaps Britain. I think countries demonise one another or take one aspect and blow it up. Oh for understanding of each other. Looks like you got a good lot of books coming in.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathryn! Wow I am a woman of mystery huh? I live in USA, right above Mexico in Texas. I actually haven't traveled physically anywhere ( do books still count?) Yeah a lot of countries do that, but then others follow their lead and don't question why :(
DeleteYou do all the weekly memes in one big post! Lovely. I wandered over here because of TTT, and your words are fun and memorable. Hiney! Ha!
ReplyDeleteHi Deb! I hope its not too overwhelming. Its kind of easier for me to do it that way rather than just do it day after day if it makes sense. LOL Hiney is a fun word I agree :)
DeleteWow, I had no idea that there was another meaning for the word intercourse!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2022/10/18/top-ten-tuesday-390/
Hi ilovehartlandX Yeah, at times when I read a story from 1800s, I have to remind myself very hard that intercourse does not mean sex but means letter writing and/or correspondence. Once word I forgot to put there is 'slut' which has another meaning, as I discovered few years ago. (Another meaning is a dirty, slovenly woman. This time it involved a novel and I had no idea why the women were calling each other sluts because there wasn't much sex there...and when I looked it up, it made sense.)
DeleteI hope you and your son feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI understand your frustration with tv shows. I don’t feel represented by them either (for different reasons).
And I had no idea that intercourse used to have a different meaning. So interesting.
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-words/
Hi Anonymous! Thanks for the well-wishes and thank you for understanding my frustration with TV shows. In the past I used to read novels from 1700s or 1800s, and quite often I'd see the word intercourse a lot. I am pretty sure it didn't mean sex and eventually learned that it meant letter writing. The word slut apparently also means a dirty slovenly woman, not just someone who has sex with lots of partners.
DeleteI don't watch much TV these days, so I can totally understand the avoidance. And #3 on your list of words made me laugh. I've seen that before and it's just funny that it's such a long word. Also, have The Ex-Talk on my holds at the library!
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Hi Aymee! only an evil person would come up with #3. I hope its something people don't really suffer from because I'd feel pretty sorry if they try to tell their psychologist or health care provider that they suffer from that, but won't be taken seriously. I hope The Ex Talk is a good book. I need some good Jewish representation :D
DeleteOh my gosh word #3- wow!!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Greg! Yeah, #3 is just wow. Its not very friendly to read or to pronounce either, at least in my opinion.
DeleteI love the words you chose for TTT. I especially love the humor in your descriptions. :D And, I'm really glad I don't have a fear of long words, lol.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Hi Jenni Elyse and thanks so much! I wanted the words to feel a bit personal or as if I'm sharing a joke lol. Honestly learning and using the words has brought me pleasure, especially teasing my mom and my sister with them haha.
Delete