It’s that time of year again! The Women’s Prize for Fiction has released their longlist, and the bookish world is abuzz with excitement and predictions. I have not been doing a good job of keeping up with new releases over the past year, so for I think the first year ever, while I’ve heard READ MORE
Author: RAIN CITY READS
RAIN CITY RECOMMENDS | WE WILL GET PAST THIS BY SANDI TOKSVIG
As you may have read in my last Monday post, I’ve been having a bit of a tough time recently. I have a family member who is ill and not getting help very quickly, which is stressing me out. We also have a terminally ill cat who has been in our family since she READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | NON-FICTION BOOKS I’VE READ RECENTLY
I read a fair amount of non-fiction – I enjoy learning about social issues, people, experiences different from my own. I like reading about nature, books, social issues, racism, physical and mental illness and memoirs of people I find intriguing. So my recent non-fiction reads are a bit of a mishmash, as usual! READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | WEIRD OR FUNNY THINGS I’VE GOOGLED THANKS TO A BOOK
This is an interesting prompt, but man this is not an easy one. I can’t remember what I was thinking 5 seconds ago, so remembering ten things I Googled because of books is just… well, this will be tough. So instead I think I’m going to include some things I’ve actually Googled, and some READ MORE
LINK-UP | IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?
It has been a very rough week. I went from finishing five books last week to none this week. Which actually isn’t that much of a shock, because things are… a lot right now. A member of my family has been poorly for a few months now, and it seems that they finally know READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE SKYLARK’S WAR – HILARY MCKAY
I’ve read many books that deal with the second world war – it’s usually the only historical time period that I’ll actively seek to read about – but this book is set earlier, before and during the first world war. And yet, it felt familiar in the way that WWII narratives feel familiar, because READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | HOW I AMUSE MYSELF IN WAITING ROOMS
The obvious answer is, like, stupidly obvious. We are all here because we’re readers, right? So isn’t that the number one thing to do in any situation where there’s time to kill? I don’t tend to carry books around with me these days, but I have several ebook apps on my phone with access READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | COVERS AND TITLES WITH THINGS FOUND IN NATURE
I absolutely adore this prompt. I’m a huge fan of gardening, and though I don’t go out walking as much as I should, whenever I do spend time in nature I always feel better. I have grown up in a part of the world that’s a temperate rainforest, which means I’ve got green around READ MORE
LINK-UP | IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?
It’s been another surprisingly prolific reading week for me. I have zero control over my impulse to read – sometimes it dissipates completely, other times it’s insatiable. They tend to even out. Lately it’s been on the insatiable side, and this week I made it through five books, with mixed results. Just Shelved READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE LITTLEST LIBRARY – POPPY ALEXANDER
I don’t normally jive with romances, as you all know by now, but once in a while I do enjoy picking one up if it has other things that appeal to me about the story. Being an admitted bibliophile, any book that is about readers will automatically pique my interest, and if the story READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | PETS I WISH I COULD HAVE
I love animals. So if I had a huge amount of space and zero allergies, I’d basically just have an animal sanctuary. One thing is that I don’t like the idea of taking a perfectly healthy and capable wild animal out of their natural habitat just so I can have them as my pet. READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | BOOKISH SUPERPOWERS I WISH I HAD
Bookish superpowers? Hmmm. This is an interesting post, but also feels a bit odd because I’ve always felt like reading is a superpower. I’m excited to see what everyone comes up with this week – I think it’s going to be a prompt that brings out the creativity! Let’s see what I can come READ MORE
LINK-UP | IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?
I had a pretty good reading week, not just in terms of how many books I finished, but how much I enjoyed some of them. Most were ones that have been sitting on my TBR for ages and that I decided to try out on a whim, one is a new release that I READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | HOW HIGH WE GO IN THE DARK – SEQUOIA NAGAMATSU
Another BookTube Prize selection for 2023, this was not a book I even had on my radar, let alone my TBR. And it was not at all what I expected, based on the very little I read before picking it up. Rather than a true novel, this book takes the form of a series READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | WHAT’S NEW IN MY LIFE
Hmm. I don’t have a lot to report. I’m still trying to get over a nasty cough that seems to have been doing the rounds since December – apparently it’s being referred to as the hundred day cough, and I can see why. Not the funnest experience I’ve ever had, but luckily I seem READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | LOVE FREEBIE – BOOKS THAT MADE ME FEEL WARM AND FUZZY
I’m not much of a romance person, so this is one of the harder posts of the year for me (followed closely by Halloween, as I don’t do scary either!). So rather than looking at romantic themes, I’m going to find some books that made me feel love. Books that showed how beautiful relationships READ MORE
LINK-UP | IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?
I’ve had quite a good reading week so far, despite being sick, having a family member end up in hospital (just for a day and they’re fine, don’t worry), and trying to step up school work for my kid! Here’s what I’ve finished, what I’m reading, and what I *might* read next! Just READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | YOUNG MUNGO – DOUGLAS STUART
I read this for The BookTube Prize in the summer of 2023, though it wasn’t one I had planned to read otherwise. I read Shuggie Bain in 2021 for the same reason, and while I found it difficult going – of course – I was also glad I read it. It was dark, being READ MORE