Sunday, December 20, 2020

The Sunday Post #254

 

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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book ReviewerReaderbuzz, and Book Date.

 

 


The Sunday Post #254

 

 

 

 

Public Service Announcement

 

I love the holidays and want to spread holiday cheer. (We could all use some cheer in 2020, right?) I’m giving away a $100 Book Depository shopping spree. The winner can choose whichever books they want! The giveaway is open internationally, as long as Book Depository ships to your country for free.

Click here to enter the giveaway. Please enter! You still have a few days before Christmas.




 

 

On The Blog Last Week

 

 

 

 

 

On The Blog This Week

 

  • On Tuesday I talk about the 2020 releases I’m still desperate to read.

 

 

 

 

In My Reading Life

 

Last week, I finished Brooding YA Hero: Becoming A Main Character (Almost) As Awesome As Me by Carrie Ann DiRisio and Linnea Gear. It was . . . not very awesome. It’s repetitive, and there’s not enough material in it to fill a whole book. I used to follow the “Broody” Twitter account, and I feel like everything in the book was already on Twitter. It’s not as funny the second time around. If you’re not familiar with the book or the Twitter account, they’re basically “How to write young adult fiction” instructions, but the lessons are taught by an arrogant, brooding YA character. It’s very meta. If you’re new to writing, this might be a quick, upbeat way to learn the basics, but I didn’t get anything new out of it. Wait, that’s a lie! I did get a cookie recipe! There’s a cookie recipe in the book, which I promptly made, of course. The cookies were delicious. I put M&Ms in them.




Then I read Flying Lessons & Other Stories edited by Ellen Oh. I liked this book a lot! If you’re searching for a good middlegrade short story anthology, I highly recommend this one. There are a few “meh” stories, and a few stories that try too hard to be profound, but there are none I disliked. A few of them made me smile, especially “Flying Lessons” by Soman Chainani and “Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents” by Kwame Alexander. “Flying Lessons” is about a kid and his rich, eccentric granny who are trying to make friends on a beach in Spain. “Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents” is about a kid who’s writing a memoir for English class, but he gives himself psychic mind-reading powers in his memoir. The best story in the anthology is “Secret Samantha” by Tim Federle. It’s about kids doing a Secret Santa gift exchange. The author perfectly captures that awkward preteen age where you feel confused and misunderstood all the time.




Right now, I’m reading Children Of The Cave by Virve Sammalkorpi. It’s historical science fiction about two scientists who discover a group of feral children living in a cave. It’s a quick read so far. The Jules Verne vibes are strong. If you’re a fan of his stuff, check this one out. I’m also reading Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky. I’m terrified because I know a lot of readers hate this book, and I love it so far. I’m scared that something will happen to ruin it! It reminds me of IT by Stephen King. A supernatural creature is threatening a town; a kid is trying to stop it.





 

In The Rest Of My Life

 

Five things that made me happy last week:

 

  1. Watching Alias Grace on Netflix. I love the book and think the TV people did an excellent job with the adaptation. Now they should do The Blind Assassin!
  2. Thank you to everyone who has entered my giveaway so far! Less than a week left to enter. Then I’ll stop Tweeting about it incessantly.
  3. Christmas Cookies!
  4. People seem to like the Christmas gifts I got them. Or, they’re just good liars.
  5. It snowed.

 

Baby Brooklyn is "helping."


 

 

I’m Stuffed With Holiday Cheer (And Cookies)

 

 

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Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!





35 comments:

  1. Brooklyn is so cute with her big shovel :) Alias Grace is a very good show, I loved it very much and almost didn't recognize the guy from "Due South". I baked cookies too but unless you sip them into a warm drink, you'll break your teeth trying to eat them, lol ! I wish you a very Christmas and a happy week :)

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  2. OMG Brooklyn is too cute! I felt pretty much the same as you about YA Hero. It's funny at first, but there wasn't enough to make it a book. Still loved the tweets back when.

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  3. You are ending the year with a bang with this giveaway! So lovely. I hope a very nice person wins. A nice person who loves books. No, it doesn't have to be me, but I would be very, very happy if I won. Very, very, very.

    I am sad when I read a book that looks so promising like Brooding YA hero, and it turns out to be disappointing.

    Look at all that snow! I'm looking out at my backyard from yesterday's rain. Water everywhere. It would be so much more beautiful if the water were snow, I think.

    Happy holidays!

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  4. Baby Brooklyn is a cutie! Thank you for sharing this beautiful snow picture with us. Have merry Christmas and happy holidays. Stay safe and well and happy reading!

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  5. So glad you had such a fun helper. She seems quite capable of shuffling the snow. You can go and read your book now!

    Merry Christmas AJ and I hope you have lots of Christmas cheer and cookies this year!

    Lots of Love,

    Elza Reads

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  6. Good job, Brooklyn! We made Christmas cookies with my mom yesterday and now I have to have willpower to not eat all of them before my in-laws come over.

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  7. Baby Brooklyn is so cute! It's finally snowing here but I got teens and shoveling is not fun anymore unless the cute teen next door is also doing it.

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  8. I love the baby pic. So cute!!
    And I love the pic at the beginning of your post! LOL!!
    Have a great week and Merry Christmas.

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  9. Look at baby Brooklyn all grown up! Have a Merry Christmas AJ!

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  10. Ah I remember shoveling as a child and even more as an adult. Now I live where we only get 2 days of snow a year. She is lovely. I wish you a Marry Christmas and plenty of cookies!

    Anne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post

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  11. OH my goodness, Brooklyn is adorable. I love that photo!!

    Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  12. That's a bummer about Brooding YA but I think I've seen a lot of their stuff on Twitter, so yeah I can see it being repetitive in book form. And oh my gosh Christmas cookies are the best.

    Aww, go Baby Brooklyn! :)

    Merry Christmas!!!

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  13. Baby Brooklyn is cute. Training her early, aren't you.

    https://fromarockyhillside.com

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  14. Adorable Baby Brooklyn. And how wonderful to enjoy the snow.

    Have a great week and wonderful holidays, and stay safe and well.

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  15. Love the snow clearing, she is so sweet. A mixed reading week then, I am finding I am a bit tired at present and therefore picky about what I am reading - hope that passes. Have a happy and safe Christmas.

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  16. I was going to say that Brooding YA Hero looked like it would be a blast. Too bad it didn't live up to your expectations. I don't think I could read Imaginary Friend. Hope you enjoy your books.

    Wishing you a blessed Christmas. Your little helper is adorable.

    http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2020/12/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-dec-21.html

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  17. Brooklyn is so cute!

    I hope you have a great week and Merry Christmas!

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  18. Brooklyn is a cutie! I’ll have to check out Alias Grace. I didn’t realize Netflix had done an adaptation. Merry Christmas!

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  19. We came *this close* to choosing Imaginary Friend for our book club last year. We were all set on it, then we learned how long it was! I don't fear long books, but no one in our group wants to read a long book for book club. I'm still interested in reading it, so maybe I'll pick it up and give it a try.

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  20. Ooo... I love the look of the middle-grade anthology - my younger grandson isn't in a good place right now and a collection of enjoyable short stories might tick all the boxes:). Thank you for the recommendation!

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  21. And... - I pressed the PUBLISH button my mistake - glad you are revelling in all the Christmas cheer and I hope the coming week is a great one, AJ:)))

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  22. What an adorable helper!
    Still have my fingers crossed I’ll be a winner!

    Wishing you a great reading week, and a merry Christmas 🎄

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  23. I love Brooklyn with the shovel! Our snow is now melting. It was off the streets so it could have stayed around for Christmas. Now, it looks like it will melt thought we may get a little more on Wednesday or Thursday. At least the sky is bright blue and the sun is shining!

    I entered the book contest! How nice of you to put this on. And I'm going to take a look at Children of the Cave. Sounds interesting.

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  24. Brooklyn is so cute! Never hear of Alias Grace, but I'll check it out. I'll check out your giveaway too! Have a great week and holiday, A.J.! :)

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  25. I hope Imaginary Friend continues to work for you. The pic of Brooklyn "helping" is so cute. :)

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  26. I woke up to snow this morning too. Flying Lessons certainly has an all-star collection of authors. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  27. Imaginary Friend has been on my list for awhile now. I'm hoping it'll be a good book for the long winter months.

    Ellen Oh's middle grade horror Spirit Hunters was terrifying! I'll have to check out these short stories.

    Thanks for spreading the Christmas cheer and I hope you have a lovely holiday!

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  28. Oh no! Brooding YA Hero sounded hilarious so I'm sad it wasn't good. Imaginary Friend is one I've been interested in so I'm eager to see if you like it.

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  29. With an adorable helper shoveling would be fun! I've read a couple of the books you want to read this winter and they were great. Hope you get to them.

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  30. I really enjoyed Brooding YA Hero, but I agree that it felt like a stretch to write a full book out of the concept. I actually glanced back at my review and saw that I split up my reading of the book because it felt better to read in snippets instead of reading straight through.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  31. I need to put Brooklyn to work here .... as we just got dumped on with snow! do you think you could fly her up? Much snow to shovel. Merry Christmas.

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  32. Brooklyn is adorable and it looks like she can deal with a snow shovel way better then I can! Too bad about Brooding YA Hero. The title is fabulous but it sounds like most of the thought went into the title. Hope you're having a lovely week!

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  33. I loved both the book and series on Alias Grace. I think she is a great writer and the adaptation did justice to the book. I joined your giveaway! Thank you!

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  34. I liked Imaginary Friend and hope that you continue to enjoy it. Baby Brooklyn is getting so big! I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas, AJ!

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  35. Brooklyn is so sweet. 🎁 Merry Christmas to you, Brooklyn, your sister and your mom! ⛄

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