Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Category Archives: Blogging & Writing


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Summer Reading Olympics & Going for GOLD!

 

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’re either: 1) A humungous book lover, 2) A humungous dog lover, 3) Both, or 4) Tired of kitty-sitting the neighbor’s feline.

Well. Have we got a deal for you.

The Challenge

Ya see, Her Royal Momness stumbled upon this “Summer Reading Challenge” thingy about three months back. (Stumbling. Ya know. Like Mom finds most things. Don’t tell her I said that, okay?)

Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Anyhow, this SRC Challenge ’24 is hosted by the 52 Book Club. Since 2024 is a Summer Olympics, this year’s reading challenge had an Olympics-ish flavor. With 24 sports-inspired book prompts. Participants chose which “medal” they wanted to aim for, based on the number of books they planned to read during the summer in line with select Olympic-ish book prompts: Bronze, Silver, or Gold?

Via The 52 Book Club:

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Books to Grow By

Books to Grow By:

Have you seen the list of Books Everyone Should Read that floated around Facebook awhile back? Her Momness and I read that list. Someone musta forgot to eat their Wheaties says The Old Curmudgeon after reading that list. (You know Mom, right?)

So we put paw and hand together and came up with our own list. We’re callin’ it Books to Grow By.

Classic, contemporary, and just for fun titles are included, plus some surprises.

Note: With apologies to high school English teachers everywhere, neither of us can abide ‘stream of consciousness’ prose a la Faulkner. That’s one reason The Sound and the Fury isn’t included. Ditto Wuthering Heights and The Great Gatsby. And no, you won’t find The Most Over-Rated Book in the English Language on our list either. Hint: Catcher in the Rye. Gag me with Meow Mix!

You will find evidence of our conviction that some of the finest literature ever written can be found in the Children’s Section. Selections appear in alpha order by title.

How many of these have you read? What are YOUR favorites?

Click here for the list. :)

One other thing: This list originally appeared in 2018. What would you add?


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How Spinach Can Make You A Better Blogger

 

Turning a corner today for a min. Doin’ somethin’ a li’l diff. Like, ever come back from lunch with a piece of spinach stuck between your teeth? You didn’t know anything about it. For hours. Just greeted everyone with your dental greenery. Because : 1) You didn’t check, or 2) No one said anything.

That can happen in the blogging world, too. Example? This recent conversation between Her Royal Momness and Sheer Genius on Four Legs (ahem!):

Kimber: Mom! Mom! You gotta optimize us!

Mom: Don’t bother me now, Kimmi. I’m writing.

Kimber: Mom! Mom! You gottta find a responsive theme and layout for our blog so we’re mobile friendly!

Mom: Kimmi. Can you give it a rest already?

Kimber: Mom! Mom…!

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Big Kitty Litter Box In The Sky Awards 6.0

Buckle up, buds!

Cuz it’s time for another rip roarin- edition of the Big Kitty Litter Box in the Sky Awards. 

What’s a Big Kitty Litter Box in the Sky Award?  Tip: You sooo don’t want to get one! Cuz these are titles you can skip and not miss a blessed thing.

Here’s the short list of qualifications for a Big Kitty Litter Box in the Sky award (subject to change whenever we feel like it):

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GUEST POST: How to Quit Your Job and Travel

Author Katie Aune

By Katie R. Aune

When I quit my university fundraising job to travel for 13 months back in 2011, it was a pretty unheard-of thing to do for most Americans. While there are more resources today for those wishing to take a career break to travel, the idea of just quitting everything to travel the world can still feel daunting. Here are a few things to think about as you plan your escape:

  1. Determine your why. Why do you want to travel? Are you running away from something? Could you achieve some of your travel goals by instead taking a sabbatical or transitioning into a remote job that would allow you to work as you travel? I planned my trip as a complete break from work and as an opportunity to transition into a new, internationally focused career.
  2. Figure out your finances. Will you rely on savings? If so, do you need time to save more? I took about a year to save for my trip and focused hard on where I could cut costs, from eating out less to saving on cable bills to eliminating other subscriptions and expenses. Will you try to make money along the way, or do you need your savings to last your entire trip? Spend some time investigating the destinations you plan to visit and what your travel expenses may be.
  3. Address the not-so-fun logistics. If you own your home, plan to sell it or rent it out while you’re away. Arrange to put your belongings in storage or, better yet, sell as much as you can. Other things to think about: health insurance, travel insurance, what to do with your mail, how to handle communicating with loved ones back home, how to handle any ongoing bills and how to access money on the road.
  4. Prepare your out. Update your resume, especially with any accomplishments or data points that may be hard for you to access after you leave. Join LinkedIn if you haven’t already and start building your network. Ask trusted co-workers if they would serve as a reference for you upon your return. And when you do give notice, do it professionally and don’t burn bridges, no matter how unhappy you may be in your current role. Set yourself up as well as you can to find a new job when you eventually return.

Finally, plan, but don’t plan too much! Circling back to number one, have an idea of what you would like to accomplish by quitting your job to travel. Research destinations and make a list of “must-do” activities. But give yourself flexibility to change things up as you go along. Often the best experiences come from just going with the flow!

For more on my career break trip, check out my book, Finding Katya: How I Quit Everything to Backpack the Former Soviet States, and for more career break tips, visit my website, katieaune.com.

Katie R. Aune is a recovering tax attorney who has worked in nonprofit and higher ed fundraising for more than a decade while also dabbling in travel blogging and writing. Despite not traveling overseas until she was 25, she has been to nearly 70 countries and all seven continents.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Katie is currently based in Washington, D.C. and has a habit of rooting for teams that find ways to lose in devastating fashion.


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GUEST POST: ‘Time for Grit’

We have a treat for you today. A guest post. A really good one. Of course, we love anyone who includes Pages and Paws puns in their post. Bonus points for Kimber shout-outs.  We’re just funny that way. Time for Grit by Rick Czaplewski has plenty of both. 

Now, we get a lot of guest posts that are boilerplate. About as fresh as a carton of milk that’s been left out. For a week. As inspiring as an overcooked cabbage. But Time for Grit is fresh. Original. One of a kind. Kimber: Like me! Arf!

In fact, when we received this guest post from author Rick regarding what battling cancer has taught him, we thought it was like, Totally PAWsome. Lots of wag-worthy stuff here to inspire and motivate. You’ll think so, too. So let’s jump in, shall we?

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5 Books That TOTALLY Surprised Us

You know that feeling you get when you think no one remembered your birthday? Then you get home and a bunch of peeps suddenly jump out at you and yell, “Surprise!”? Totally unexpected. After you restart your heart, you go, “Well, I’ll be ‘et fer a tater.”

That’s kind of how Her Royal Momness and I felt after reading these books recently. They didn’t exactly jump out and yell, “Surprise!” But they weren’t what we expected, either. Like this:

1. The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy – Stephen G. Rabe.

If you”ve seen Saving Private Ryan or The Longest Day and think you know D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, think again. Meticulous and very detailed, this incredible tale of courage and heroism is one of the most compelling stories of WWII you’ve probably never heard.

2. The Greatest Reindeer – Greg S. Paris

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen… But do you recall the greatest reindeer of all, Kris’s closest friend and protector, Cedric? He didn’t have a shiny nose, but Cedric shines bright in the pages of this expertly crafted blend of magic, myth, legend, and a betrayal that changed everything.

Masterfully told in the first person by the narrator, Rhangyl, The Greatest Reindeer is a heartwarming story about Northtown – you may know it as the “North Pole” – and the history of the man we know as “Kris” (Kringle). It’s also a fresh and creative tale about the origin of some of the best-known Christmas traditions and customs around the world.

3. Carry Me Home – Janet Fox

Hiding that you lost your mom, live in a car, and that your Daddy has disappeared is no easy task as 12 y.o. Lulu and her little sis Serena find out in this powerful and poignant middle grade read.

At first Lulu isn’t worried. But as the days add up with no sign of Daddy, Lulu struggles to take care of the responsibilities they used to manage as a family. Lulu knows that just one slip-up means she and Serena will be separated and the good things happening in school will be lost.

But family is all around us, and Lulu must learn to trust her new friends to save those she loves and to finally find her true home.

4. Forgiving Like God: A Conversation With Frank, an AI Persona – J. David Wyatt.

A refreshingly real and biblically sound look at a thorny topic that’s too often misunderstood, mis-applied, or taken too lightly. This is the kind of book you’ll want to reach for again and again as you mull over the nuanced and multi-layered topic and grow your understanding of “forgiving like God.”

5. Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens

Weighing in at a whopping 829 pages, this is a prodigious read. It’s one of Chuck D.’s lesser-known works. And that’s too bad. Cuz it’s quite a story about compassion and kindness in the face of cruelty and corruption. Moves fast. And that’s really saying something for Dickens.

What have you recently read that surprised you?


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A BACON-WORTHY Review Request

Yea, verily. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time to run a bark-worthy book blog like Pages and Paws. Not that we’re complaining, mind you. Cuz we get to meet some of the coolest, most talented and bacon-loving peeps on the planet.

‘You gonna eat that?’

Every once in awhile we even get fur-prised. Well, one of us does. (Hi, Mom.) Like when some four-legged friends not only take the time to actually read and follow our Submission Guidelines, but also enlist the aid of their human authoroo to write a review request. Like the one we recently received from my new BFFs, Moose and Mae Bell. It delish! In fact, this is the New Bacon Standard of Official Review Requests for Mom and Kimber.

Moose and Mae Bell’s review request was so yummy, in fact, Mom says I can share it with you. In case you’re short on inspiration. Or bacon. Cuz this is just Too. Good. Ready? Great! Here goes:

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Encore: A Reviewer’s Review of Reedsy Discovery

You know that feeling you get when a million-ish people read your latest stroke of brilliance? And another million-ish are looking for it? It’s not quite as good as sinking your teeth into a nice, thick, juicy rib eye steak…

Wait. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Popular blog posts.

Her Momness and I have been fielding lots of requests for an encore of our post about Reedsy Discovery. A fair amount of peeps have weighed in on this review site for indie titles from an author’s point of view. But a review of Reedsy Discovery from a book reviewer’s POV is as scarce as a slim sow.

We fixed that.

Rather than re-post that stroke of genius again en toto, we decided the best way to do an encore is to provide the link to the original post. With some updates. So here ya go. You’re welcome:

A Review of ‘Reedsy Discovery.’

You gonna eat that?

 


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Summer Stinkers: Skip These & You Won’t Miss a Thing

Ever get a whiff of a skunk? You don’t need to get close. One whiff is Plenty. (Don’t ask how I know that.)

Mom and I, we read. A lot. Like, 300+ books a year on average. We know what we like. What we don’t. What works. What stinketh. We try to approach every book with an open mind. Give it a chance. That being said, it doesn’t take us long to smell out a stinker.

We pass our “olfactory discoveries” on to you at no extra charge. To save you some time. Consider it a Public Service Announcement.

So here’s our newest list of literary skunks. These titles top our most recent DNF (Did Not Finish) list. Cuz they’re stinkers. Here’s why:

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