Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for March 13, 2024

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

A Book Trope I Wished Happened In Real Life More

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for March 6, 2024

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Non-Fiction Books I’ve Read Lately

Top Ten Tuesday: Weird or Funny Things I’ve Googled Thanks to a Book


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Since I recommended this topic to Jana, I thought I should be the one to write Long and Short Reviews’s response to it as well.

Here are ten funny or interesting things I’ve googled thanks to a book. Horror and mysteries are among the genres I read which is why some of these queries are about death and corpses.

1. How long does it take bones to decompose in a grave? Can you still tell something was once a grave if there are no bones left in it?

2. What do zombies think about when they’re not chasing people?

3. Why is the Chosen One so often a teenager instead of someone older and more experienced?

4. How did people figure out which mushrooms were safe to eat when a lot of wild mushrooms will kill you?

5. Why do so many romance novelists dislike big cities?

6. Why doesn’t character X have common sense?

(No, I didn’t actually expect an answer for this one. I was simply annoyed by a character who kept making terrible decisions for no reason).

7.  How long can you live on a spaceship before getting radiation poisoning?

8. Why do so many aliens want to destroy humanity?

9. Books written from a cow’s perspective.

(Because I’d never heard of such a thing and wondered if it existed).

10. Can you write a book without any tropes at all?

Book of the Month Poll Winner ~ The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood edited by Kayleigh Dobbs, Stephen Kozeniewski, and Wile E. Young


The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood edited by Kayleigh Dobbs, Stephen Kozeniewski, and Wile E. Young
Publisher: French Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, LGBTQ, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary, Horror
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

For all of human history ghosts were real and they were everywhere. Then, one day, after a horrible cataclysm, they all disappeared.

That was the story of THE PERFECTLY FINE HOUSE.

But there are more tales to be told from that world. And a thrilling lineup, ranging from horror legends to relative newcomers, have joined forces to bring you:

– a roadside attraction featuring a real, dead serial killer

– a pair of twisted sisters whose sibling rivalry only begins with suicide

– a hitman hired to facilitate a ghostly sexual liaison

And more!

The first unhaunted house was just the beginning. Come, stake your claim in…

THE PERFECTLY FINE NEIGHBORHOOD

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE!

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for February 28, 2024

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

How I Amuse Myself In Waiting Rooms

Top Ten Tuesday: Covers/Titles with Things Found in Nature

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This is a very loose take on today’s theme.  But I had a blast searching my previously read books for titles that included something at least closely related to nature.

1. Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh.  Nature is also a strong theme in this novella.  I highly recommend it.

2. Dead in the Water by Dana Stabenow.  This is the third in her Kate Shugak series, set in Alaska.  These books show the harshness of the area while also showcasing how beautiful it can be, too.

3. Thicker Than Water by Megan Collins. From Amazon, “In this “twisty, propulsive thriller” from Megan Collins, two sisters-in-law are at painful odds when the man who connects them—the brother of one, the husband of the other—is accused of a brutal crime.”

4. The Darkness by Ragnar Jónasson.  This is set in Iceland and, much like the Kate Shugak series, showcases how brutal the cold and ice can be.

5. Sea Castle by Andrew Mayne.  Nature comes into play a lot in this series.  Set in Florida, it’s focused on an Underwater Investigation Unit that goes into lakes, rivers, and the ocean looking for clues to solve crimes.  This is one of my favorite series.

6. Desert Star by Michael Connelly. From Amazon, “LAPD detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch team up to hunt the brutal killer who is Bosch’s “white whale”—a man responsible for the murder of an entire family.”

7. The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes. From Amazon, “Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend’s sudden, mysterious death, and has since spent her life trying to forget, sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed…”

8. The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves.  Set in North Devon, England, the weather often plays a role in this series.  However, this most recent installment in the Two Rivers series, the storm is a character in itself.

9. The Capybaras by Alfredo Solderguit.  This is an adorable children’s picture book with lovely illustrations and silly critters.

10. Out of the Storm by B. J. Daniels. From the blurb, ” It’s been twenty years since Daniel went missing in a refinery explosion and was finally declared dead, but Kate never gave up hope, convinced he was somewhere out there, suffering from amnesia.”

What natural finds did you uncover this week?  I did notice that so many book titles contain elements of nature, but not all are driven by that natural force either.  Looking back at my list, the ones where nature – be it a storm, an animal, or an element – plays a large role were the more interesting stories.

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for February 21, 2024

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Today’s topic is: Pets I Used to have, or Wish I Could have

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for February 14, 2024

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Today’s topic is: What’s New in my Life Lately

Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes About Love


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

For today’s Love Freebie theme, I’ve decided to share ten bookish quotes about love.

Some of them are about romantic love, but others are about the many other types of love that exist: platonic, familial, universal, practical, and more.

I believe this holiday can be used to celebrate all of them if you wish.

 

 

1. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

 

2. “Love is like the wind, you can’t see it but you can feel it.”
Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember

 

3. “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.”
Mahatma Gandhi 

 

4. “Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.”
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

 

5. “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.”
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven

 

6. “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”
Maya Angelou

 

7. “How do you spell ‘love’?” – Piglet
“You don’t spell it…you feel it.” – Pooh”
A.A. Milne

 

8. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”
Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband

 

9. “Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze. ”
Elinor Glyn

 

10. “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”
Vincent Van Gogh

 

 

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Thank you for visiting our post today.

 

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for February 7, 2024

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Today’s topic is: Things I Like to Do on Stormy Days