Showing posts with label Happy Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happy Holidays. Show all posts

Saturday, December 25, 2021

The Cookie Book Tag (Round 4)

It's December 25th, so Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope everyone has a great day. The year is almost over, and today we're going to do a book tag. It has been a year to the day since Adri and I participated in the Cookie Book Tag for the third time. And today, we're going to do it again to see how our answers do and don't differ. Before we begin, here are the more technical details about the tag.

The Cookie Book Tag was created by Nicole @ Sorry, I’m Booked. And you can check out the original tag post here: Sorry, I’m Booked, The Cookie Book Tag.

The rules…
  • Link back to the person who tagged you + the creator of this tag 
  • Pick a book that corresponds with the cookies theme 
  • Have fun 
  • Tag 1-3 people

Chocolate Chip: A Classic Book That You Love or Really Enjoyed (interpret classic how you want, it can be a classic written 100 years ago or 20 years ago)

Breana: The Lord of the Rings. I read all three parts this year, and I had a lot of fun with the story. It’s one of my favorites, and I’m glad I took the time to finally get it off my TBR list.

Adri: Treasure Island: fun little (but long) adventure book. If you’re looking for a girl-led remix of the story, then Clash of Steel is the book. I like the family based parts of each story.

Thin Mints: A Fandom That You Really Want to ‘Join’ AND/OR a Hyped-Up Book You Want To Read (your source(s) of a book being hyped can be from anywhere)

Breana: I have a couple of books for this one. In no particular order: Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan, Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden, and The Girl in the Lake by India Hill Brown.

Adri: I’m looking forward to Etta Invincible by Reese Eschmann.

Shortbread: An Author You Can’t Get Enough Of

Breana: Sarah Kuhn’s Heroine Complex series is a favorite of mine. I’ve read up to the current book; although, there was a novella I haven’t gotten to.

Adri: I have two for this one: the late Mary Higgins Clark and Jacqueline West.

Samoas/ Caramel DeLites: An Emotional Rollercoaster (this cookie was hard … so any book that made you feel more than one emotion, strongly. The choice of emotions is up to you)

Breana:  I have to go with You Can Never Tell by Sarah Warburton. I went back and forth between bewilderment and surprise at how the characters got from point A to B to C and to D.

Adri: Her Honor by LaDoris Hazzard Cordell was an emotional rollercoaster. There were moments of sadness, sometimes disgust, but there were those happy moments too. Out of all the books I read this year, this one was the wildest ride I’ve been on.

Oreos: A Book Whose Cover Was Better Than The Story OR Vice Versa, Where The Story Was Better Than Its Cover

Breana: There weren’t any overtly bad covers that I can think of. The one for Aristocracy by William Doyle is kind of plain, but it was a short and informative read.

Adri: Like Breana, I don’t really have a book that fits this category this year. But, if I had to choose one, it would be The Way to Go by Kate Ascher. This is because the newer paperback version has a more striking cover than the hardcover, which is what I have.

Tagalongs/ Peanut Butter Patties: A Book That Wasn’t What You Expected (good, bad, or just different, interpret how you wish)

Breana: A book that wasn’t what I expected it to be was Natalie Starkey’s Fire and Ice: The Volcanoes of the Solar System. Going into this book, I had the expectation of a tour of the solar system through volcanoes. The book does just that, but it also dug its heels into the topic and did a deeper exploration of volcanoes on earth as well as how what we know about them can help us understand what’s going on with the geological activity of other planets. It was one of the most fascinating books I’ve read this year.

Adri: When I buy old books from Better World Books (especially sewing and fashion), I usually estimate what it will be about. My recent purchase, The Vogue/Butterick Step-by-Step Guide to Sewing Techniques, was printed in 1989. It blew my mind, because it’s obviously for patterns, but the various sewing techniques help a lot anyway. It’s hard to explain.

Snickerdoodles: A Book You May Never Stop Rereading/ Loving

Breana: Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. I’m so glad I just bought a copy of the book, because I know I’ll return to it again in the near future. It was another one of my favorite nonfiction reads of 2021, and it was all about fungi.

Adri: Techniques from Casual Clothes from Threads, because there are so many techniques and patterns I want to try myself. So of course I have to read it many-many times.

Bonus: Choose a cookie I didn’t list and make up a question!

Our question from 2018: Monster Cookies have bold flavors and a long and varied list of ingredients such as M&Ms, chocolate chips, peanut butter, oats, and even sometimes raisins. It’s like a handful of cookie types mashed into one monster of a cookie. So… Monster cookie: name a book with a bold and whimsical title or a book title with four or more words.

Breana: I have three for this one: We Hunt the Flame, Six Crimson Cranes, and The Brilliant Abyss.

Adri: Let Me Call You Sweetheart, The Genome Odyssey, Mom & Me & Mom.


That's it for today. We tag you to do the cookie book tag to see how your answers differ (if you've done it before). If you're curious about our original take on the tag and our second and third try at it visit the posts HERE, HERE, and HERE

Friday, December 25, 2020

The Cookie Book Tag (Round 3)

 


It's December 25th, so Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope everyone has a great day. The year is almost over, and today we're going to do a book tag. It has been a year to the day since Adri and I participated in the Cookie Book Tag for the second time. And today, we're going to do it again to see how our answers do and don't differ. Before we begin, here are the more technical details about the tag.

The Cookie Book Tag was created by Nicole @ Sorry, I’m Booked. And you can check out the original tag post here: Sorry, I’m Booked, The Cookie Book Tag.

The rules…
  • Link back to the person who tagged you + the creator of this tag 
  • Pick a book that corresponds with the cookies theme 
  • Have fun 
  • Tag 1-3 people

Chocolate Chip: A Classic Book That You Love or Really Enjoyed (interpret classic how you want, it can be a classic written 100 years ago or 20 years ago)

Breana: It may be 10 years shy of 20 years, but I'm going to go with Cold Magic by Kate Elliott. It came out in 2010, and it's one of my all-time favorite novels. It's also one of the first general fantasy books I picked up around the time my reading tastes were changing.

Adri: I have a Barnes & Noble edition, which includes The Invisible Man and The Time Machine. I finished reading The Time Machine around two years ago. This year, I just now completed The Invisible Man. It was a wild story. 

Thin Mints: A Fandom That You Really Want to ‘Join’ AND/OR a Hyped-Up Book You Want To Read (your source(s) of a book being hyped can be from anywhere)

Breana: I'm still waiting for A Crown So Cursed by L.L. McKinney. The Nightmare-Verse is currently one of my favorite series, and I can't wait to get my hands on the conclusion to the story.

Adri: The Shadows by Alex North has been out for some time, but I was never really sure if I wanted to read it. However, when I saw an interview with the author from BookBub--which mentioned lucid dreaming--I became intrigued. And now I want to read it. 

Shortbread: An Author You Can’t Get Enough Of

Breana: I have two choices for this one: Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Jun Mochizuki. I've really been enjoying Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas. It's one of my favorite takes on vampires, and the world building for the series is just fantastic. I've also read two of Garcia's books so far (Gods of Jade and Shadow and Mexican Gothic), and I've enjoyed both of them. There are a number of other books by the author that are still on my TBR list. 

Adri: My choice is the late Mary Higgins Clarke. I've already read Remember Me, but we have quite a few of her books around the house. I've been meaning to read them but never got around to it. I look forward to when I can get my hands on them.

Samoas/ Caramel DeLites: An Emotional Rollercoaster (this cookie was hard … so any book that made you feel more than one emotion, strongly. The choice of emotions is up to you)

Breana: I know Jelly by Clare Rees doesn't come out until May next year, but I had so many feelings while reading this book. My review will explain it, but it won't be up on the blog until its closer to the release date.  

Adri: Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett. As I said before, one look at the description will tell you why.

Oreos: A Book Whose Cover Was Better Than The Story OR Vice Versa, Where The Story Was Better Than Its Cover

Breana: I really liked the first cover for The Sisters of Straygarden Place, and the second one is just fine. The story though is fantastic and I highly recommend it.

Adri: I don't dislike the cover for Exploring The World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold. I feel like in contrast to its simplicity, the contents of the book are definitely more interesting. 

Tagalongs/ Peanut Butter Patties: A Book That Wasn’t What You Expected (good, bad, or just different, interpret how you wish)

Breana: Deal With The Devil by Kit Rocha was surprising in a good way, and it renewed my interest in post-apocalyptic stories.

Adri: The Complete Book of Fashion Illustration by Sharon Lee Tate and Mona Shafer Edwards. There were no preview images when I purchased this book, and I looked really hard for them too. Since it was a used book, I really didn't know what I would get. However, I've come to love it and have been using it to practice a different art style from my usual. 

Snickerdoodles: A Book You May Never Stop Rereading/ Loving

Breana: I have two for this one. The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden. In terms of series conclusions, this book is one of my top favorites. The same could also be said about Ann Leckie's Ancillary Mercy.

Adri: I will never stop rereading Victorian Fashions & Costumes From Harper's Bazar 1867-1898 edited by and with an introduction by Stella Blum. Note: the cover is in shambles..... **Update: the cover fell off while writing this....***

Bonus: Choose a cookie I didn’t list and make up a question!

Our question from 2018: Monster Cookies have bold flavors and a long and varied list of ingredients such as M&Ms, chocolate chips, peanut butter, oats, and even sometimes raisins. It’s like a handful of cookie types mashed into one monster of a cookie. So… Monster cookie: name a book with a bold and whimsical title or a book title with four or more words.

Breana: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark.

Adri: Dreamscapes Creating Magical Angel, Faery & Mermaid worlds with Watercolor by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.


That's about it for today. We tag you to do the cookie book tag to see how your answers differ (if you've done it before). If you're curious about our original take on the tag and our second try at it visit the post HERE and HERE

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Monday, December 25, 2017

WIP December #6: Merry Christmas! & Something Festive?

WIP: Snowy scenery at sunrise, a.k.a. I’m still painting.


Comments: First things first: Merry Christmas!

Today is also the last post for WIP December. I’m a little sad that I’ve reached the end of this but also relieved, because now I can move on to another project for the blog. Plus, there’s a chance I will do this again next year. So, it’s all good.

Anyway, today’s WIP was inspired by sunsets and snow. It doesn’t snow in the part of California where I live—except on very rare, unusual occasions—which is the complete opposite from where I used to live in Virginia where winter felt like winter. Admittedly, the rest of WIP December wasn’t very Christmas-y, and I couldn’t end this without something appropriate for the time of year. So, here’s my something-festive.

Here's a better explanation for this painting: I’ve always loved the colors of a sunsets and sunrises and how the light can affect the landscape. In my opinion, one of the coolest effects is when the trees are turned all dark and shadowy, and the snow has a bluish quality to it. It puts an emphasis on the color of the sunset. I love it! And, I also wanted to paint it. So, I did. Enjoy!
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What's the best gift you gave or received? Or, what are you working on today?
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