Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie


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TTT: Bookish Memories & Coming Home

Have a nice nap, Kimber!

Hello Friends and Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Tuesday!

Today’s topic is Bookish Memories and sharing stories of your reading life. I’m headin off to nap time right now. So I’m gonna let Mom tell you about “bookish memories” and this guy named “Uncle Norman.” Her dad’s big bro. It goes like this:

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JUMP Into the Holidays With The Great Book Reunion!

Kimber here. Doing my magnificent stuff as we jump in the holidays!

Speaking of holidays, have I got a deal for you! It’s an oldie but a goodie: Marjorie Holmes’s classic, Two From Galilee: The Story of Mary and Joseph

After the Earth’s Crust Cooled

The first time Mom read this book was shortly after the earth’s crust cooled. Or maybe it was in 1975? (Let’s not quibble, okay? )

“Oh my goodness!” Her Momness exclaimed the other day. We just finished lugging another dusty box up from the resident archaeological dig (Mom calls it “The Basement.” But I have my doubts).

900 Years ?

Anyway, we opened this box and lo! It was jammed with beloved books from when Mom was a young’un. You know. Like, 900 years ago. (Don’t tell Mom I said that, okay?)

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John Boy & Gentle Voices: A Thanksgiving Reflection

Mom is skipping around the kitchen today, merrily cooking up a storm! Everything smells de.li.cious! And I should know. Cuz I’m an expert in all things smellish. And delicious.

You gonna eat that? (Askin’ for a friend.)

With this Thanksgiving thing just around the corner, Mom and I wanted to switch things up a bit. So here, at no extra charge, we’re featuring a little Thank You gift in the form of an original story. From our house to yours. To THANK YOU for being one of our most favorite people in the whole wide world (aka: blog readers. Oh yeah!)

Ready? Enjoy! More info. at the end of this luscious post!

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11 Characters We’d Love to Get Updates On

“This book taught me, once and for all, how easily you can escape this world with the help of words! You can find friends between the pages of a book, wonderful friends.” ―Cornelia Funke, Inkspell

It’s true, isn’t it? says I, Kimber the Magnificent. Mom says we’ve met some of our best friends through a book or books. (I personally think a double cheeseburger would help. But who’s counting?)

Anyway, we recently met Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Jana hosts a Top Ten Tuesday thingy every week. You know. Like where she posts a topic and then a bunch of bloggers weigh in. This week we’re talking Characters I’d Love An Update On.

So Mom and I? We put head and paws together to come up with our list of Characters We’d Love An Update On Now That The Book is Over. Several of their book stories have been made into movies. How many do you recognize? (The jury’s still out on that cheeseburger. But it never hurts to ask, right?)

11-ish Characters We’d Love An Update On (in no particular order):

 

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Bingeworthy or Bust? 11 Popular TV Dramas Reviewed

You know we’re all about books here. Good stuff. Lousy stuff you don’t need to waste your valuable time on.

But binge-watching just about anything on Netflix or whatever seems to have become a favorite indoor sport since the never-ending pandemic took root. So we’ve been getting requests for feedback on some of them thar Netflix-y type drama series of the TV kind.

So. What’s binge-worthy and what’s not? Here goes:

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10 Books to Read If You Love Narnia

Journeys to the end of the world. Fantastic creatures. Talking animals. Epic battles between good and evil. C.S. Lewis’s beloved classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has it all.

Finished all seven Narnia books? Just in time for Top Ten Tuesday, here are ten more magical books to take you through the wardrobe. In no particular order:

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Meet M.L. Farb, Author of ‘Heartless Hette’

Oh Lassie! Oh Lassie! Oh Lassie! Time for another one of my kind of favorite posts: an author spotlight!

Today we’re getting to know M.L. Farb, author of a bacon-worthy new fairytale, Heartless Hette. (See our review here.)

So pour yourself a hot cuppa. Pull up a chair. Put your feet up. Listen in as we get to know this author of exciting and inspiring novels for the whole family:

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25 PAWsome Non-Fiction Books That Read Like Fiction

It’s been forever since we did a Fine Wine Friday post. So here ya go. No extra charge:

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“Alright Kimber. Step away from the Narrative Non-Fiction (NNF) book stash and I’ll forget all about the incident with that double cheeseburger.”

“Drat! I was kinda hoping Mom already forgot about that. But anyway, you’re probably asking, What’s ‘narrative non-fiction’ and why should I care?”

Bet this tastes great if I can ever get it off the fence!

Glad you asked. Basically, narrative non-fiction is non-fiction that reads like a novel instead of a dry-as-burnt-toast textbook. Or War and Peace. ( Mom said I oughtta throw in that last one.)

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Clarifying on Comments & Links

Mom says it’s time for a little blog housekeeping. Not sure what that means. But I’m pretty sure I heard “bacon” or “sausage” in there somewhere along with “comment policy” and “links.” So let’s go!

Comment Policy:

Please note that all comments are moderated. That means one of us – the one with opposable thumbs – manually approves every comment before it appears on the blog. So if you’ve commented and your comment doesn’t show up right away, that’s why.

Contrary to popular belief, at least one of us doesn’t spend all day every day doing this blogging thing. So when it comes to comments showing up, your patience is appreciated.

Links

Authors, publicists, publishers and other humanoids sometimes contact us with:

“Is the review up yet?”

We get it. You want to see the review. Pronto. But as clearly spelled out in our Submission Guidelines, we do not send links or reminders. We expect you to keep track of the date. So don’t annoy us by nagging. See Item #9 under the guidelines:

Posts are usually written and scheduled for auto-launch on a future date, sometimes far in advance. Like weeks. Or more. Mom will let you know the date our review of your book will go live. We expect you to keep track of the date yourself. We do not send links. So please don’t ask.

So kindly don’t nag about “Is the review up yet?” You might as well shout Didn’t bother to read the guidelines from the rooftops. Savvy?

Mom said I better add that. I always do what Mom says. Well. There was that one time with the cheeseburger… But I think she’s forgotten about that. So let’s not push our luck here, okay?

You gonna eat that?


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Author Ann Kiemel & How Do You Spell “Success”?

 

Pssst! Hey, writer! Yeah. You. Over here. I have a question for ya. Well, a few:

  • What’s your goal as a writer?
  • Do you want to sell millions of copies of your book (who doesn’t?)?
  • Make the New York Times Bestseller list?
  • What’s your definition of “success”?
  • How will you know when you’ve arrived?

Or does “bestseller status” seem like an elusive dream, a “happily ever after” fairytale?

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