Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic:
Top Ten Best Books I Read In 2015
I haven’t done a Top Ten Tuesday post in a while, but since this week’s topic is something I was planning to do at the end of the year, I thought it best to hop on the bandwagon and do it now. These aren’t listed in any particular order, neither did I give them all 5 stars on Goodreads, some were given 4 or 4.5 stars.
2015 is an awesome year. I received so many awards for my blog and I appreciate every one of them because it shows that my efforts to blog and interact more on here paid off.
In November, I was nominated for the Real Neat Blog Award by Olga at Reading Between Oceans and Amanda at The Literary Counsellor. Thank you both!! 😀
Thank you Magini for nominating me for the Starlight Blogger Award!! I really appreciate it. 😀
The rules for this award made me curious about it so I looked it up on Google to find the creator, which I did (Carolina at YesterdayAfter, if you’re curious too). I wanted to know why the award was created and as I read, I appreciated my nomination even more. Like some of the blog awards floating around, the Starlight Blogger Award celebrates creativity and inspiration. However, I did get confused about the original questions. They seem to have changed as the award passes from blogger to blogger. Since I’m in the mood to answer questions, I’ll answer the creator’s original questions as well.
But wait! I didn’t tell you the rules.
Exploring My Bookshelves is a weekly meme created by Victoria at Addlepates and Book Nerds and co-hosted with Shannon at For the Love of Words. Visit either blog for the list of topics.
A Pulitzer Prize winner
Continue reading “Exploring My Bookshelves: My Pulitzer Prize Winners”
Weekend Reads is a weekly discussion on a variety of topics. At the end of the post, I’ll include what I plan to read on the weekend.
This time, I’m doing a Wishes for My TBR Pile post, which is a monthly post where I list and sometimes discuss the books I’ve discovered and would like to get.
Beneath Claire’s House by Corey J. Popp (September 26, 2015)
From debut author Corey J. Popp comes a young adult, supernatural thriller that will keep readers guessing until its shocking conclusion.
Sixteen-year-old Claire Young is tormented by a recurring, prophetic nightmare and visitations from gruesome, mutilated ghosts. She’s convinced the apparitions intend to harm her widowed father, but there’s little she can do locked away in Saint Thomas Psychiatric Hospital. Her situation is hopeless until a mysterious priest delivers the name of a man who may be the only one willing to help. Claire launches a daring scheme that leads her and her best friend to a former paranormal investigator.
Continue reading “Weekend Reads #31: Wishes for My TBR Pile #11”
It’s another tag! I’m almost caught up, though. Nearly there. I was tagged for this last month by Victoria at Addlepates and Book Nerds. Thanks Victoria!
I wonder what book that is too. I don’t think there’s a particular book that I simply can’t live without but I would hate to part from my books so I guess my answer for this would be my entire collection of books.
Probably Eat, Pray, Love. It’s so hard to rank my favorite books.
I was at a low moment the week before I acquired this book. I felt as if I had failed. My finances were not what I wanted them to be and my relationships weren’t as strong as I wanted them to be. I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do and most of my time was spent berating myself about how much of a failure I am. So I was elated when I found this book on Emily’s blog (Books, the Universe, and Everything). I thought it was exactly what I needed and that it would provide some assurance that things would improve and point me in the right direction.
I bought it and quickly, desperately, read it. Within a few minutes, I was done and disappointed. It wasn’t the savior I’d sought and I became angry for having bought it. What a waste of time, I thought. I didn’t even grasp any of the lessons Chödrön tried to impart. The only feature of the book I liked was the cover design.
I forgot what it was that made me decide to reread it but about a month later, I did. On my second read, I was more patient and receptive. I wasn’t searching for a quick fix for my emotions. The change in attitude helped as I was able to catch some of Chödrön’s advice and begin to see the lesson she tries to impart.
Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better is a commencement speech given by Pema Chödrön, an American Buddhist nun, at her granddaughter’s graduation from the University of Boulder, Colorado back in 2014. The speech is followed by an interview with Chödrön that’s just as insightful if you’re open to the message. Chödrön’s message on embracing failure centers on a quote from the poet Samuel Beckett:
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Continue reading ““Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better” by Pema Chödrön”
Weekend Reads is a weekly discussion on a variety of topics. At the end of the post, I’ll include what I plan to read on the weekend.
Exploring My Bookshelves is a weekly meme created by Victoria at Addlepates and Book Nerds and co-hosted with Shannon at For the Love of Words. Visit either blog for the list of topics.
This weekend, I’ve decided to combine the two. I’ll include the topic for the Exploring My Bookshelves meme and discuss what I read and am currently reading this weekend.
A book that mentions final exams
Continue reading “Weekend Reads #30: Exploring My Bookshelves”
I’m back with another Writing Myths posts. Yay!! The prompt for this one is:
Write a myth to explain why tsunamis happen.
Long ago, there was a king who thought he was the mightiest being of all because he was so tall that his hair brushed the sky and was so strong that he could move the largest mountain. He was also brash and arrogant and often his arrogance clouded the little wisdom he had.
One day, his arrogance got the better of him and he boasted that he was greater than the Creator. The Creator heard him and decided to punish him for boasting such folly. But first, the Creator decided to be merciful so he asked the king to reflect on the folly of his words to receive forgiveness. The king refused to do such a thing and continued to boast. He even challenged the Creator to a wrestling match!
The Creator refused to belittle himself to engage in such actions with a mortal who He knew was not equal to him and so declined the challenge. But the king became enraged at being shunned and jumped on the Creator to wrestle him to the ground. Sensing the king’s intention, the Creator grabbed at the king’s arms, flipped him over, and flung him to the ground, where he tried to wrestle the king into submission. But the king continued to struggle and even started to insult the Creator so the Creator dragged him to the bottom of the deepest chasm in the sea and chained him there.
Though the king’s mortal body wasted away, his soul remains chained at the bottom of the sea. His soul is as mighty as his body was and every now and then it breaks free of the chains and tries to drag itself to land. For if his entire soul should ever reach land, he would gain a body from the earth and be able to challenge the Creator again. The Creator is always quick to subdue him when he starts to rise. The tsunamis we see are just a part of his soul — his hand stretching to grasp land.
Here I am doing a bookhaul post because I’m a great procrastinator and am avoiding the pile of book reviews I should write. I’ll get to them….eventually.
John Crow’s Devil by Marlon James
I had to get this copy of the book when I saw it in a Youtube video. I didn’t like the covers of the older editions, which is why it took forever for me to get this. Now I own all of Marlon James’s novels. 🙂 (I just need to read them all too.)
Continue reading “Book Haul #14: Classics, Comics, Fantastic”
Zezee with Books 