Category: Discussions & Memes

So today’s theme for Top Ten Tuesday, from Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl, is what book titles might make good song titles and … whoa, what … come again?

As someone who reads a lot of diverse genre, specifically, crime and science fiction, this one actually had me laughing out loud. No, seriously. I nearly snorted my coffee across the keyboard thinking about the different tiles I just read recently, and how they might appears as a song title.

I mean, who is going to want to sing a lullaby that’s titled THE ABOMINATION (book by Jonathan Holt) or FORCE OF NATURE (book by Jane Harper) though, it is true Force of Nature could, at a squeeze be a song title. Then let’s think of a few SF titles, how about VELOCITY WEAPON (book by Megan O’Keefe), yeah, sure … not unless we’re talking some weird ass heavy metal grunge group going all Mongolian, or something.

Or, how about, CAPTAIN MOXLEY AND THE EMBERS OF THE EMPIRE (book by Dan Hanks), now there’s a catchy title if ever I heard one. Could you image the lyrics to this K-Pop song, sung in French or Korean? No? Nor can I.

But then, who ever thought a song entitled WATERLOO would ever reach the top of the charts across the planet, and go on to make one group of 4 Swedes an international phenomenon!

So where does that leave me?

Probably paddling up a waterfall, in mid-winter, without a chance of ever reaching the top.

But fear not, I’m sat here wracking my last brain cell fuelled on an 11-strength Nespresso capsule and thinking I just might have ten titles that could work. Behold, a miracle:

1. TATIANA by Martin Cruz Smith — a modern Russian folk ballad
2. STAR OF THE NORTH by D. B. John — a North Korean Christmas lullaby
3. SAVING FAITH by David Baldacci — a country & western ballad
4. THE LONG WAY HOME by Louise Penny — a 60s Quebecois folk song
5. HARD TIMES by Sara Paretsky — a 50s cowboy love song
6. FOUR BLIND MICE by James Patterson — a children’s nursery rhyme
7. FOOLPROOF by Barbara D’Amato — a Motown dance number
8. THE CUBAN AFFAIR by Nelson deMille — a 50s latino salsa hit
9. THE BOTTOMS by Joe R. Lansdale — a 1920s flapper hit
10. THE BEGGAR’S OPERA by Peggy Blair — the latest from Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice

So, how did I do? Did my choices give you a giggle at least? I hope so. And you, what books have you chosen? I’m sure you have all come up with some better titles than I have. Leave a comment, and your links, and let’s all enjoy!

Well, it’s that time of the week again and this week’s topic, from Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl, is what are our Non-Bookish Hobbies. Which basically allows us to waffle on about anything and everything we love to do, outside of reading that is. So what are some of my favourite hobbies?

Well, here we go, here are my top favourite 5:

PHOTOGRAPHY: I’ve been taking pictures, like a lot of other people who are obsessed with photography, since an early age. And, up until the corona virus putting us all back in lockdown, you could have found me outside, clicking one of my many cameras—I have four. And yes, several different types of lens as well. And while I’ll take photos of mostly anything, it’s mostly photos of nature that I’m drawn to.

NATURE: Which brings me to another of my hobbies. All things to do with nature. Combining my love of photography with nature walks through the many parks here, in Québec City, I get the best of both worlds. I can get outside, I can go for a lovely walk, and I can snap pictures to my hearts content. And what both do, is make me more observant.

FLOWERS: While I love nature as a whole, one of my passions is flowers. Sketching them, looking at them, growing them, and yes, taking floral portraits. What, I hear you ask, is a floral portrait? Ha, just me taking lots of close ups of flowers. I currently have about 10,000 floral portraits in my portfolio. I always wanted to do my own book on flowers, as seen through the seasons. Maybe one day, I will.

SKETCHING: Tie in the nature walks, with the photography, and the flower obsession, and you have me sketching and doing bad water colours. And while I will never be even mediocre as an artists, I nonetheless love scribbling and dabbling, and spending a couple of hours absorbed in creating art.

JOURNALLING: Another one of my more recent passions, which I started back in 2016 for certain health reasons. And when you tie this in with the previous four hobbies, you see a pattern emerging here. Whether it’s becoming more aware of my surroundings and my life, to observing more and paying attention to details, to trying to capture those moments and images. Everything ties in together with these hobbies, at least, for me it does.

I also love:

• Scribbling stories
• Creating havoc in the kitchen
• Staring into space
• Gardening (on the balcony)
• Science fiction: movies, TV, books, and games

And you, Dear Reader, what are you favourite hobbies outside of reading?