Saturday Snippet: CATCHING UP

Back at it!

xx

*image not mine

Talkie Tuesday: The Yorkshire Vet

 

"It's the best job in the world, really." 

Hello everyone!

Tonight's blog post is a spotlight on a show that's become very near and dear to my heart, but ti's also a bit of a work-around, to be honest.

I ended up running out of time due to a situation in my family, so I couldn't really spend two or so hours watching a movie which I would then review here on the blog.

Things SHOULD be back to normal, or normal enough at this point, that next week, when February starts, movies should be making a come-back here on the blog. I have a nice line-up to go through and am definitely looking forward to sharing them!

Or catching up with them. Either way!

For tonight though, it's something different and something that's more educational than it is amusing - though there's enough amusement in it for everyone's taste as well.

I'm talking about The Yorkshire Vet.

Saturday Snippet: Transition

 

This is basically what's happening now ... especially with cherry trees.

Man they're pretty when they bloom, but the falling leaves are 😂😅

 

xx

*image not mine

Cop of the Year (Booktober)

 

"If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain."

 

 

 

When it comes to authors I read because I like their realistic approach, their characters and, of course, their finished products, Kathryn Shay might be in my top five. Cop of the Year was the first book of hers I read, and I remember bawling like a baby through about half of it. While it may occasionally suffer from some interesting editorial tweaks, the overreaching story is heartfelt, emotional, and brilliantly executed. Have a look at what the captain and the teacher get into when left to their own devices - and some added help from the kids!

 

 

 

 

When by-the-book Captain Mitch Lansing is forced to work in a high school classroom to improve relationships between At Risk kids and the police department, he’s disconcerted about working with teenagers. But when he meets unorthodox teacher, Cassie Smith, his world goes off kilter. So does Cassie’s. She totally against all he stands for, so why is it she finds herself attracted to him? The further they go into the year, the more they’re drawn to each other. The kids also come to care about Mitch, and because of his past in Vietnam, he tries to distance himself from everybody. He can’t, and he must learn to accept Cassie and her kids into his life permanently.

(from Kobo)

 

xx

*image not mine

 

Nefertiti (Booktober)

Timeline (Booktober)

The Murder at the Vicarage (Booktober)

Persuasion (Booktober)

The Longest Ride (Booktober)

Midnight Sun (Booktober)

Percy Jackson & the Olympians (Booktober)

The Chronicles of Narnia (Booktober)

Atlantis (Booktober)

Origin (Booktober)

Quo Vadis (Booktober)

Death on the Nile (Booktober)

The Little White Horse (Booktober)

The Sign of Four (Booktober)

Harry Potter #2 (Booktober)

Troublemaker (Booktober)

The Lord of the Rings (Booktober)

The Longest Ride (Booktober)

 

"His voice follows me everywhere on this longest of rides, this thing called life."

 

 

 

Did I initially read this book because I liked the look for the upcoming film at the time? Maybe. Did I end up falling in love with the book just as much as with the movie even though there were, of course, differences between one and the other (as they usually are)? Absolutely. The overreaching story in The Longest Ride connecting two star-crossed pairs across different eras, bound by art and love, remains one of my favourites to this day. Also, another thing it has going for it: Nicholas Sparks actually gave his characters, Luke and Sophia, a happy ending. I know! I'm shocked, too.

Ira Levinson is in trouble. At ninety-one years old, in poor health and alone in the world, he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash. A few miles away, college student Sophia Danko's life is about to change when she meets the young, rugged Luke and is thrown into a world far removed from her privileged school life. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart. 

(from Goodreads)

xx

*image not mine

Midnight Sun (Booktober)

Percy Jackson & the Olympians (Booktober)

The Chronicles of Narnia (Booktober)

Atlantis (Booktober)

Origin (Booktober)

Quo Vadis (Booktober)

Death on the Nile (Booktober)

The Little White Horse (Booktober)

The Sign of Four (Booktober)

Harry Potter #2 (Booktober)

Troublemaker (Booktober)

The Lord of the Rings (Booktober)

Saturday Snippet: The Return

Hello everyone!

I'm back! Posts resuming this Tuesday 💙

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: Tre Volte No

Hello everyone!

I have something slightly different for you today.

After taking it up a notch with my Tuesday blog post, I'm going in and keeping it extra real with this one tonight, because every once in a while I reach for a book that's slightly different from anything else I've read.

It also usually covers some sort of war aspect, too.

I've done a couple of these on the blog since I started, but I do feel like I should maybe do a few more as well, given that this is a topic that should never be forgotten, ever.

And one of the best ways to do it is if you know specific authors who write magnificent books about it.

Boris Pahor, one of my fellow countrymen, is one of them.

God bless him for his long, fruitful life. He has a collection of books mostly dealing with World War II era in the Trieste region, and I've read a number of them already.

Tre Volte No is just another in a long, long line.

Saturday Snippet: Work and more Work

xx

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Saturday Snippet: Family

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Saturday Snippet: Friends, again

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Tome Thursday: The Devil's Cut

Hello everyone!

It's book review time again this week, but seriously, I need to take two seconds to focus after seeing the Shadowhunters summer finale trailer.

Like, OMG.

I mean I've read the first trilogy, obviously - I'm working on the second one - but that doesn't mean that what I see Freeform putting out isn't amazing. They've taken a step beyond what Cassandra Clare's written and made it their own, and the actors look like they might have pushed all the boundaries, ever.

I can't wait for next Monday!

But, ahem.

It's time for the actual review to begin, and considering it's August, suffice to say there is no other book to talk about but J. R. Ward's Devil's Cut, the conclusion of her Bourbon Kings trilogy.

Talkie Tuesday switch ... again

... because real life is trying to give me a good kicking.

Saturday is all about the movie though! For now, I leave you with something I'm sure you'll enjoy.

xx

*video not mine

Tuesday switch-up

Hey everyone!

So after a network debacle, I thought I'd be able to get a blog post up, but my head is trying to murder me and my eyes are not cooperating, so I'm switching the Saturday and Tuesday posts around. The movie post will be up on Saturday!

In the mean time, here's my current obsession:

xx
*video not mine

Tome Thursday: On the Line

Hello everyone!

I've been slacking a bit in my reading (with new books, that is) and going back to some of my old school favourites because every once in a while, I feel like I might enjoy them a bit more than anything remotely new and exciting, despite the fact that I still have a list about half a mile long when it comes to this stuff.

That being said, however, I DID read a couple new books while I was at it, but not recently which means I had to go and find some little tidbits in other venues of what I remember from it all.

Once again, my attention was captivated by the firefighters in Kathryn Shay's novels, and as I had already written a blog post about the first book in the Hidden Cove firehouse series, I figured I might as well continue right along with the second one.

Although to be fair - I still really, truly prefer Mitch Malvaso's storyline. I think it might have a lot to do with the fact that his was the first story I read as opposed to anything else, but the others in his family just didn't really strike so deep within me that I would connect with them quite as well. Then again, maybe all I need is another read, who knows?

Anyway, off we go to write about On the Line!

Saturday Snippet: Writing

I will be going through a backlog of writing this coming week which I want to focus on, so there won't be any new blog posts until February 14th!

xx
*image not mine

Saturday Snippet: Work

All work and no play leaves me cranky, but at the very least I see light at the end of the tunnel!

Working Sunday tomorrow though, which is a bit of a bummer, but can't help it.

xx

Login Issues

Seriously.

The fact that I couldn't log into a fanfiction site for SIX MONTHS even though I had the right password was beyond frustrating. To top it off, however, I actually MANAGED it tonight after, wait for it, requesting a password reminder to my email account (which I also had to unearth, natch).

Of course, afterwards, it worked.

Say what, please?!

xx
*image not mine

Talkie Tuesday: Everest

"The last word always belongs to the Mountain."

Hello everyone!

Okay, so for this Tuesday, I decided to open up the flood gates. And I don't mean fictional ones, either. 

While I was at the seaside, just, you know, relaxing on my vacation and soaking up some much-needed vitamin D which has by now apparently evaporated between the wind we have here and the incoming rains, I also watched a bunch of movies that made me wish I could go back and maybe never make the decision to watch.

Not because they were so crappy.

But because they were so good, and unfortunately so realistic (as based off true stories will obviously go) that I bawled my eyes out like a huge, oversized baby.

It was not, in fact, a pretty sight.

The movie I'm talking about this time around is aptly titled with one word only, but it doesn't really need any more introduction than that: Everest.

Saturday Snippet: Work

Lost somewhere in translation and looking up old writing I did a LONG time ago ...

Tome Thursday: The Angels' Share

Hello everyone!

Let's take a deep breath and say what we all know is true: there are some books, and authors, that make us drop everything and anything, especially book-wise, to grab at them, and devour them in one sitting.

Hands up from everyone who feels the same way!

I'm pretty sure there are a lot of us.

For me, there are a few authors who will make me squeal with excitement and then dance around the room once I get my hand on a copy of the book in question. The top of that list has to be Tolkien, but he's sadly deceased, so I have to make do.

Among these, and right around the top, is J. R. Ward. Now, if you've been following this blog, you'll know I'm a sucker for her Black Dagger Brotherhood novels (hot vampires who kick ass? UHM YES!), and when news broke that she'd be trying her hand at a different, contemporary story, I was all for it. The Bourbon Kings certainly did not disappoint, and its sequel even less!