It’s weird, because when I was a kid I loved stormy days. They were so cosy and we had a roaring fire and it felt like I was so snoodled and comfy. But as an adult, I now bear responsibility for dealing with any issues that arise due to said storm, and we live READ MORE
Author: RAIN CITY READS
TOP TEN TUESDAY | QUICK READS
It’s funny, unless a book is reeeeeally long, I don’t really notice the length that much. So I had to think a bit about which ones would actually qualify as being short reads. I decided that I’d include both short books and books that read very quickly, since the two feel so similar to READ MORE
LINK-UP | IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?
As usual at this time of year it’s been a couple of weeks. I’ve been sick – there’s a nasty cough going around that’s been dubbed the hundred day cough, and I’m on about day 27 at this point and it’s still going strong (even if I’m not)! But I did read a couple READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | SON OF ELSEWHERE – ELAMIN ABDELMAHMOUD
This was the first book I read in 2023. If I’m honest I’ve been putting off writing this review – not because I didn’t like it (I really, really did), but because I’m still not sure what I want to say about it. I don’t have a proper explanation for it, but this book READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | SERIES I WISH HAD JUST ONE MORE BOOK IN THEM
I don’t read that many series these days – I don’t have the time or attention span to really lose myself in that big of a commitment. The only exception is the Heartstopper series, which I absolutely adore. I haven’t read the fifth book as I’m saving it, and I’ve heard that the sixth READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | BEST NEW-TO-ME AUTHORS I DISCOVERED IN 2023
I had a great reading year in 2023. I didn’t read a huge number of books, but I read a bunch that were really enjoyable, that made me think, that taught me something (or something about myself) or that hit upon some universal truth that the author put into words brilliantly. There were a READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | LANGUAGES I’M LEARNING OR WANT TO LEARN
I find other languages fascinating, and I wish that at some point in my life I’d managed to live in another country for long enough to become truly fluent in another language. I didn’t, though, so I haven’t had the chance to learn another language to that level of proficiency. That said, I grew READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | BOOKS I MEANT TO READ IN 2023
HAHAHAHA… this is a joke right? No? Oh, well in that case, ALL OF THEM. There, that was easy. Not good enough? Man, there are so many. Let’s see if I can pick a few at random. READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | NEW WORDS I’VE LEARNED RECENTLY
This is a fun one. I actually have something for this, because I’ve found a few word-of-the-day memes recently that have actually taught me some new words. Here are some favourites: Morgenmuffel – someone who doesn’t like waking up in the morning and as a result is extremely grumpy (German) Spuddle – “to be READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | BOOKISH GOALS FOR 2024
This is always a tricky post for me, because I don’t see reading as something that I need to set goals for. I do it because I love learning, I love stepping out of my own mind for a while, I love learning about other lives and cultures, and I love the chance to READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | A THOUSAND WAYS TO PAY ATTENTION – REBECCA SCHILLER
Minds that work differently are seen as outliers – and that’s if they’re seen at all. Those of us who are neurodivergent (especially those of us who aren’t aware of that important piece of our identity) spend our lives being told we are – in various ways – not right. We don’t fit in, READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | A CELEBRITY I’D LIKE TO MEET
If I’m honest, I don’t really have much interest in celebrity culture. I kind of figure most celebrities either won’t live up to the idea you have of them in your mind, or won’t be half as interesting as they seem. So there are some I enjoy watching, some whose talent I admire, some READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS FOR JAN-JUNE 2024
If I’m honest, I haven’t got any idea about books coming out this year. So I’ve had to do some quick and dirty Googling to find some for this week’s prompt! Here’s what I came up with. No date announced yet: February March READ MORE
LINK-UP | IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?
So last time I wrote one of these posts I bemoaned the fact that it had been nearly a month. HA. It’s been more than two. So I should officially stop pretending to be surprised by these gaps in my reading and just get on with it. I always have a couple of down READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | KNITTING YARNS & KNITTING PEARLS – ANN HOOD
I’ve been knitting since I was a kid, and I come from a matriarchal line who also practiced the craft. My grandmother knitted complex patterns that she held entirely in her head, and did it at lightning speed while watching TV – barely ever looking at her hands. My mother learned to READ MORE
READING CHALLENGE | BOOK RIOT’S 2024 READ HARDER CHALLENGE
Book Riot’s annual Read Harder Challenge is an epic reading adventure that is presented to readers at the beginning of each new year. I love that their prompts are always varied, always interesting, and always inclusive. I have trouble sticking to any enforced reading list, so I don’t usually actually attempt to meet each of READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | HOBBIES I USED TO ENJOY
Well I guess we made it through another year – welcome to 2024, and happy new year if it means anything to you! We’re back with the first topic of the year – hobbies I used to enjoy. This could very well be quite a long post if I’m not selective – as you READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2023
I’ve had a pretty darn good reading year this year. I’ve got lots of new favourites, but interestingly they’ve mostly been non-fiction. A good chunk were memoirs – ones about interactions with nature, others about special interests, others about mental health or neurodiversity, and some were about more than one of these. But each READ MORE