Top 10 Tuesday

My Top 10 Favorite Podcasts

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Linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for Top 10 Tuesday . . .

I’ve come late to podcasts. Very late. Until recently, I’ve had very little quiet, uninterrupted time in my life. Even now, if I try to listen to audio when my family is around, I end up frustrated by near-constant interruptions. So, I save listening to audiobooks and podcasts for when everyone is asleep or out of the house.

We also had an issue with a shared Apple ID, which essentially meant my husband and I sharing a podcast app. That was problematic, so I deleted the app from my phone and didn’t look back.

Now, however, we have separate Apple IDs, and a world of podcasts has opened up to me. I’ve been sampling some, listening here and there, and I’ve found one I absolutely love (the top spot below) and many others worth a second or third listen.

I’ve always called radio my “first love,” so it’s fun to venture into these audio adventures. Maybe I’ll even get more housecleaning done with them playing in the background!

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Top 10 Tuesday: Things I’m Still Learning After 20 Years of Marriage

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Things Learned 20 YRS Marriage

My husband and I will be married twenty years this week. Twenty years. Not sure how it’s even possible that so many sunsets have slipped by me.

As a twenty-five-year-old bride, I thought I came into marriage well-prepared. Relatively speaking, I did. My parents provided a good example of a long and faithful marriage. (Remote preparation.) I understood, more or less, what marriage entailed, at least as well as any never-been-married person can. We attended the Church-required marriage preparation and consulted with a priest. (Proximate preparation.) We discussed the important stuff: faith, babies, finances, and lifestyle. Continue reading →

Top 10 Tuesday: Hidden Gems Series & Standalones

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I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for ten underrated/hidden gem books I’ve read over the last year or so. I adapted the topic slightly to suit the books I had in mind, making the focus here mainly series.

If my list is “more of the same” from me, it’s because hidden gems are a mainstay of my reading diet. Most of the books I review and blog about could be considered hidden gems. While I do read classics and books by major publishers with super-wide exposure, I concentrate my efforts on quality books by authors who publish independently or with independent publishers. I know self-published books have a bad rap in certain circles, but there are many, many excellent books out there. More every day. Continue reading →

Top 10 Tuesday: Reasons You Should Read Intermission NOW

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Serena Chase’s contemporary Young Adult inspirational romance novel Intermission releases today on Kindle. This book quickly became one of my favorite novels of the year!

Sixteen-year-old Faith Prescott eagerly awaits the day she will exchange her small Iowa hometown for the bright lights of Broadway, but her success-driven parents want her to pursue a more practical career, labeling “artsy” people—including their daughter—as foolish dreamers worthy of little more than disdain.
When Faith meets nineteen-year-old Noah Spencer she discovers someone who understands her musical theatre dreams . . . because he shares them.

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Top 10 Tuesday: Favorite Albums

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All That You Can't Leave Behind U2

I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for my top ten albums. The broad category is “audio,” and since I couldn’t complete a list of 10 favorite audiobooks (yet) or podcasts (which I don’t often listen to), I’m going with albums. A good song, and even more so a good album, like a good book, should transport you to a unique place in your mind with a feeling, a mood, and characters all its own.

In no particular order and probably omitting a forgotten favorite or two:

  1. The Rising – Bruce Springsteen (2002)
  2. Scarecrow – John Cougar Mellencamp (1985)
  3. All That You Can’t Leave Behind -U2 (2000)
  4. Woodface – Crowded House (1991)
  5. Kick – INXS (1987)
  6. Riser – Dierks Bentley (2014)
  7. Mercury Falling – Sting (1996)
  8. Under the Table and Dreaming – Dave Matthews Band (1994)
  9. Blue Moon Swamp – John Fogerty (1997)
  10. Mission Bell – Amos Lee (2011)

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Top 10 Tuesday: Settings as Characters

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unsplash.com, photo by David Marcu

unsplash.com, photo by David Marcu

I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for my top ten books in which the setting acts as a character.  I worked backwards from my Goodreads list of books read, selecting those whose setting immediately came to mind due to its role in the story. Here they are in no particular order.

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: the harsh Nebraska prairie (my review post)

Dying for Revenge by Barbara Golder: trendy Telluride, Colorado (book tour)

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: the imposing Manderley estate (my review post)

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Top 10 Tuesday: Most Anticipated Releases

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feet on books

unsplash.com

I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for my most anticipated releases for the second half of 2016. Some covers are available, some are not. Some are already listed on Amazon, some are not. Some I’m not quite sure of the release date. (And one is a wee bit into 2017).  I’m just going to link to whatever’s available, sans covers. Here they are in no particular order. Continue reading →

Top 10 Tuesday: 10 Myths About Authors

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Some people have fixed ideas about authors: how they do what they do, what they enjoy, all their quirks and idiosyncrasies. In truth, authors and writers are at least as varied as those in any other profession, maybe more so. They are as varied as the topics about which they write. So, here’s my Top 10 author myths. (My apologies to anyone else’s list exposing author myths that I may have internalized over the years.

    1. The cozy writing nook. Creation requires the proper writer environment: a pen and ink at an antique roll top desk overlooking a flowering meadow or forest where woodland creatures peaceably come and go. Or maybe a modern in-home office in which the walls are bedecked with inspiration, awards, and a bulletin board for notes and plotting. While those sound lovely, a writer’s “office” may be a laptop on the couch or the dining room table. Maybe a closet/office. Maybe a bound journal and a sturdy pen. (I write on a laptop at the dining room table.)

      Where I write

      My work station. Note toys surrounding the computer.

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