Tag: bookish

Top Ten Tuesday | Portal Fantasy

Posted March 2, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 30 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Genre Freebie  

I decided to go with “portal fantasy” for today’s genre freebie. Portal fantasy is when people from the “real world” suddenly find themselves transported into an alternate reality, a fantasy world, via some sort of portal like a book or a wardrobe. Some of these are well-known and loved, and others less so, but I realized I enjoy portal fantasy a lot. What other books have you read and loved that fall into the portal fantasy genre? Please share them with me!

Top Ten Portal Fantasy Books

  1. Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan – The MC is sick and unwell in real life and finds herself transported into one of her favorite books as a villain. It was one of my favorite surprises; I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did but I’m obsessed and eagerly waiting the next one.
  2. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – This book probably doesn’t need an intro since I only read it because so many of you gushed about it! I’m so glad you did because I loved it and I kind of feel like rereading it now.
  3. Oz: The Complete Collection by L. Frank Baum – Dorothy goes from the real world into Oz via hurricane. Not really the portal I would choose to go through if I had a choice, but I love the Oz stories and was surprised that Dorothy is only a small part of the whole collection!
  4. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende – This is one of my favorite books (and I loved the movies too!) but it’s been a while since I read it. I’m mixing up a lot of the book details with the movie details so it makes sense that I should just go ahead and reread it and rewatch the movies soon!
  5. Fairy Tale by Stephen King – If King wrote it and it fits the prompt, it sits on the list! This is one of my favorite King books, but I love so many King books I don’t know if being my “favorite” King book carries weight anymore. This one is fantasy, not horror, has found family and a dog, and is just really good.
  6. The Astral Library by Kate Quinn – I’ve been wanting to read more of Kate Quinn and this is on my TBR. It’s probably the most recently released book on the list and I’m very excited about it, because it’s about a hidden library where you can go inside your favorite books and visit those worlds!
  7. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke – In the same vein, this one is also about being transported into a book world. Full disclosure, I’ve only watched the movie but I love the idea and I’ve been thinking that I should probably read the book.
  8. Her Majesty’s Wizard by Christopher Stasheff – I loved this book as a child. It’s a series of 8 books but I’ve only read up to book 4 because I didn’t know there were more at the time! In the first book, the “wizard” is just a normal guy from the real world who gets transported into a world with a rhyming magical system, and he becomes a powerful wizard in that world just because he’s good with rhymes. I love it and I’m going to reread it all over again!
  9. The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher – I love Kingfisher and I loved this book. I found it so creepy but in a good way, and I jumped at shadows for a while, but it was worth it!
  10. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis – I feel like this is another one that doesn’t need an intro because it’s probably one of the most popular portal fantasy and everyone knows about the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. However, I realized suddenly as I was writing this, that this is another one of those stories you think you know because it’s so popular, but I’ve only read the first book and not any of the others! I need to rectify this.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Favorite Book Quotes from Recent Reads

Posted February 23, 2026 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 26 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Quotes From/About Books

I don’t normally remember quotes, but I’ve been adding some favorite quotes that stand out to me every time I review a book so that I can at least keep a record and remember them when I come back to the reviews. The list below are some of my favorites from my most recent reads.

Top Ten Favorite Book Quotes from Recent Reads

  1. “The library belongs to everyone. The library, Janet used to say, is one of only a few places in the world that one doesn’t need to believe anything or buy anything to come inside.” – The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
  2. “There’s no bitch on earth like a mother frightened for her kids.” – Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
  3. “We all make mistakes. It’s how we deal with our mistakes that really define our character.” – Better Than Revenge by Kasie West
  4. “There is no happy ending, theres just. . . happily living. As best you can.” – The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
  5. “At the end of the day, at the end of the week, at the end of my life, I want to say I contributed more than I criticized.” – Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
  6. “They ask something small of you. A thing you would prefer not to do, but is not so terrible. You think you are working your way up, but in fact they are changing you. Moulding you into what they think you should be, one compromise at a time.” – The Will of the Many by James Islington
  7. “I lay it down as a general rule, Harriet, that if a woman doubts as to whether she should accept a man or not, she certainly ought to refuse him.” – Emma by Jane Austen
  8. “Nobody can take care of you the way you need to take care of yourself. It’s your job to take care of yourself like that.” – The Wedding People by Alison Espach
  9. “Don’t cheat your friendships. Don’t ask them to mean less to you than they do, or think they only have value if they’re a stop on the way to a real relationship. All relationships are real. Friendship can be as deep as the ocean. It’s all a kind of love, and love isn’t any one kind of thing.” – Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
  10. “There is a crazy-wild delight that comes over you when you discover something new, something extraordinary. If you try to share that and people look at you blankly, it’s crushing. But if there’s someone else there to say really?! and take fire with enthusiasm alongside you – well, that will keep you going for a long time.” – Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher

What are some of your favorite bookish quotes? Why do they resonate for you?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Bookish Things I’m Thankful For In 2024

Posted November 25, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 13 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Thankful/Thanksgiving Freebie

Canada’s Thanksgiving was last month, but I’m happy to play for bookish things I’m thankful for this year! Also, I’m having a couple of intense weeks and I haven’t been around much on the blog but I’m really thankful that you’re here and I’ll resume visiting blogs and replying comments as soon as I can!

Top Ten Bookish Things I’m Thankful For In 2024

  1. The Calgary Public Library – I honestly believe that my library is the best library in the world. So many book selections both physical and digital, so many books you can check out at any one time, so many free programs, so much support provided to the people of Calgary. I even had a friend from New York visit and even she said that my library is better than the one she has in New York! I am thankful every day for my library!
  2. My bookish friend visiting from New York – I met her through an online bookclub, and we bonded through the mutual love of books. Plus we did all the bookish things while she was here, and she gifted me a couple of gorgeous handmade book sleeves!
  3. Calgary Reads Big Book Sale – She happened to visit during the book sale, so we went and we got lots of books for cheap, and I went back on the final day when all the books were free!
  4. My in-person bookclub – I started the bookclub early this year and it’s been going really strong even though we started out with only a few members. We even went on a road trip to the Royal Tyrell museum together when we read our non-fiction dinosaur related book this summer! I look forward to seeing them every month and we always have a great time. So thankful for my bookclub family!
  5. My online bookclub – A different bookclub from the one I met my bookish friend in New York. I’m no longer in the first one, but a different friend introduced me to this other bookclub this year and I love it! It’s bigger and has so many more bookish activities – it’s a blessing and a curse, tbh, because I’m finding it hard to say no to all the fun activities and buddy reads!
  6. All the buddy reads – I realize some people are solitary readers – and I’m happy reading quietly on my own too sometimes – but I also absolutely love buddy reads and talking about the books with other readers! It enhances my reading experience, helps me remember the books better, and gives me so much perspective from other readers’ POVs. I just love buddy reads!
  7. An Audible membership – I treated myself to an Audible membership for my birthday this year, and I’m already loving it so much! I got it on a discount and I’ve already listened to so many amazing books this year, and discovering more! I still love reading books on text but some books are just better on audio, especially when you’ve got a great narrator on board!
  8. Discovering so many amazing new-to-me books this year – One of the best things about being a part of book communities is discovering all the books that I might not have picked up on my own, but because of other book bloggers and bookclub members raving about them, made me pick them up. I’ve read so many new favorite books this year I never expected to love!
  9. Meeting with another book blogger – So even though I’m active in a few online book spaces, I haven’t been to many in-person book events. However, I got lucky that one of the people I got to know from the bookblogging community lives relatively close to me and I got to meet her in real life! I met Susan from The Cue Card last month and had the best time hanging out with her!
  10. The bookblogging community – And last but not least, I am so grateful to be a part of this bookblogging community, and especially every one of you taking part in the Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by the wonderful Jana, every week. It’s one of the highlights of my week; coming up with ideas for top ten lists and seeing what everyone else has come up with! I am so thankful for every one of you!

What bookish things are you thankful for this year? Did you discover any new favorite books? Have you met any new bookish friends?

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Sunday Post | Cold, Cats, Cookies

Posted January 13, 2024 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 30 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. 

Cold, Cats, Cookies

I was in a funk this week. I didn’t have my usual energy this week and spent a couple of days being moody and just laying in bed reading (might be I was just using the moodiness as an excuse to stay in bed and read, but you have no proof).

To be fair, it was a really cold week, with temperatures going down to -36 Celcius, so it’s just much more comfy to hide under the covers than try to do anything else. Even the cats were so cold, all three cuddled up together, which they very rarely do! Also, to be clear, I didn’t have a cold. It was just really cold, and I had a mood.

I did bake some cookies though, which took a lot of time because I made 4x the recipe, but it was yummy and totally worth it! And we got some heat from the oven too, so win-win!

On the reading front, I finished The September House and The Librarian Spy, so yay! I also posted my notes and reactions for The September House that I wrote in my e-reader as I was reading. It’s password-protected and spoiler-filled, but if you’ve read it and are interested in my notes, password is “SPOILME0002”.

I also finally got Light Bringer by Pierce Brown on audiobook. It’s the sixth book in the Red Rising series, and I’ve been so anxious reading about characters that I’ve loved since the first book. Things haven’t been going their way for a while, and I’m just really afraid for them. If this was the final book, I would be expecting a good resolution, but there’s going to be a seventh book, so I’m not sure if we’re going to be left hanging again.

For nonfiction, I’ve started reading The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner and it’s really kicking my ass, to be honest. I’m reading it very slowly, and it’s bringing up a lot of difficult topics. I’m sure it’s good for me to work through them, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for it right now.

Last Week on The Blog

This Week

I’m pretty sure I can finish Light Bringer this week. I’m not so sure about The Dance of Anger, I’m contemplating if I want to leave it for another time, but even if I decide to continue, I will be going slow, so it’s going to take me a while.

I also just got The Switch by Beth O’ Leary on audiobook, and I got a physical copy of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries from the library, so they are on the list right after Light Bringer. I’m feeling pretty happy because I’m doing well with actually reading the books I listed on my Winter TBR a few weeks ago. Let’s hope I keep it up!

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Reasons I’m Happy to be Book Blogging Again

Posted December 5, 2023 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 32 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is a freebie and it’s my first one on this blog so I’m going with Top Ten Reasons I’m Happy to be Book Blogging Again!

  1. I love the book blogging community. I book blogged for many years before I stopped 10 years ago due to things getting hectic IRL, and while I continued to follow book lovers on other platforms, there’s really nothing quite like the book blogging community.
  2. One of the things I loved most about book blogging were the weekly memes! I actually did TTT more than 10 years ago before I stopped blogging.
  3. I love doing the memes, but I also loved seeing what everyone else was doing. I loved discovering new books, new ideas, and most of all, new friends.
  4. I also love the reading challenges, and following along with everyone else’s progress and achievements. I love that the challenges help me to expand my own reading.
  5. As you can see, I used the word “love” a lot when I talk about books and book blogging. That means I’m passionate about it, and you should always do what you love!
  6. I’ve still been reading a lot, but had no one to talk to about the books I’ve loved. Which makes me sad. Starting a book blog again means I can talk about books here, and that makes me happy!
  7. Sometimes I’ve hated the books I’ve read and want to complain about them but had no one to complain to. Which makes me frustrated. Now I can complain here, and that makes me happy too!
  8. I’ve got a really bad memory when it comes to books I’ve read and I desperately needed a place to write down my thoughts and organize my reading plans and challenges.
  9. I actually started a physical book journal in an effort to organize my reading, but I found it difficult to keep up with when I had to write everything by hand! Plus, it’s not very interactive. Unlike a book blog.
  10. Some of my best memories are of when I used to blog. I had so much fun and made so many reader friends. I hope to make new memories, and new friends, and maybe reconnect with some old friends.

That’s my first TTT post! I’m so happy to be book blogging again. What do you love about book blogging? Let me know!

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