June 2025 Reading Challenge: Complimentary Colors

This June, I'm visiting the color wheel since I have yellow and blue book covers sitting tip-top on my TBR pile. It just so happens they're complimentary. I'm staying in the blue/yellow range for the month with an assortment of genres (AMZ links included):

1.) Murder Your Darlings by Roy Peter Clark - Writing, Non-fiction

2.) The Housemaid by Freida McFadden - Psychological Thriller

3.) Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam - Apocalyptical Suspense

4.) Swear to Howdy by Wendelin Van Draanen - Middle Grade

June Reading Challenge

Complimentary Colors

"Little by little one travels far."

Big heart corner-bookmark

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Color Fidget

by The Gray Muse on Etsy

Christmas Movies: Best of All Time

While writing a Christmas themed YA romance, I found myself in need of a list of Christmas movies that are loved and recognized by many to include in my story...my heroine is a Christmas movie buff. Coming to my rescue was this article by Entertainment Weekly: "The 23 Best Christmas Movies of All Time" by Chris Nashawaty and Kevin Jacobsen. For more detailed descriptions and the full article, do check out their site, otherwise, the numbered list is below with the movies I've seen in bold.

Drum roll, please! Ready?

The top 23 BEST OF ALL TIME movies, in order, are as follows:

1.) It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

2.) A Christmas Story (1983) 

3.) A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

4.) Elf (2003)

5.) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

6.) Love Actually (2003)

7.) Bad Santa (2003)

8.) The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

9.) The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

10.) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

11.) Home Alone (1990)

12.) Trading Places (1983)

13.) The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

14.) White Christmas (1954)

15.) Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

16.) Die Hard (1988)

17.) Scrooged (1988)

18.) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

19.) The Holdovers (2023)

20.) Gremlins (1984)

21.) Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

22.) Klaus (2019)

23.) The Santa Claus (1994)

A little internet research showed other movies out there that perhaps could/should be considered for "the best" list, and they are:

Polar Express (2004)

Christmas Eve (1915)

A Christmas Carol (1938 and 1984)

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Family Man (2000)

We're No Angels (1955)

It Happened on 5th Ave (1947)

Auntie Mame (1958)

Holiday Inn (1942)

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962)

A Christmas Tale (2008)

Jack Frost (1979)

The Rise of the Guardians (2012)

I haven't seen half of these on this page and don't remember all the ins and outs of quite a few. Hard to imagine watching these over the hot summer months, but apparently there is a thing called Christmas in July. Lol. A mind-bender for me in the PNW.

Anything missing that's worth a shout out? Let me know!

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Christmas in July

Fabulous Five: Favorite Reads for 2024

I've read over 180 books for the 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge, which is mostly due to picture books (125) and DNFs (17). And I get it -- "Did Not Finish" doesn't translate into "read" by most people. But for me, if I cracked it open and got as far as I wanted, then that's read enough for me. Personally, this challenge is not a competition, but a way of keeping books and TBR piles straight in my mind. It's a jungle up in there, folks. Lol. And I don't want to pick up the same book twice, because life's too short, ya'll.

 Goodreads | Stacia’s Year in Books

With so many picture books under my belt this year, five favorites come to mind quickly. See below (AMZ links included).

TOP FIVE CHILDRENS BOOKS:

1.) The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig (Teachers' Pick!)
4.) We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen (Editors' Pick!)
3.) Whopper Cake by Karma Wilson
4.) The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak (Editors' Pick!)
5.) What Do You Do with a Problem? by Kobi Yamada (Goodreads Choice!)

Picture books aside, eleven books in other genres were marked as 5-star reads, and it was a fun-less job choosing which to eliminate. But since this is called Fabulous Five for a reason, five it shall be. The following books made the cut for my 2024 ultimate faves:

1.) All around best-of-the-year goes to this MYSTERY...

None of This is True

by Lisa Jewell (Editors' Pick!)

2.) A MEMOIR worth remembering is...

The Glass Castle

by Jeanette Walls

3.) A POETRY with all the feels...

Feel Your Way Through

by Kelsea Ballerini

4.) A juicy SCREENPLAY...

The Crucible

by Arthur Miller (Best Seller!)

5.) A beautiful REFERENCE book about art, color, and nature...

Nature's Palette: A Colour Reference System...

by Patrick Baty et al.

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"Life's too short for regrets."

Third Place!

 

PNWA Literary Contest Winner!

Young Adult

I'm on the big screen! I won third place in the young adult category for my unpublished Christmas romance last weekend. Also up there is my dog, Tilly Bean, who loves the camera more than I do. Not a very professional picture you might say, but not to worry! A long-overdue update is on deck 😉 📷🌟

July 2024 Reading Challenge: Pens & Pencils

What's your writing tool of choice? Colored, mechanical, lead, ink, ballpoint...pen or pencil...whatever gets the ideas onto paper is the point of July's reading challenge: pens and pencils on the cover. I found a few that I'm looking forward to reading. Here's my TBR:

Penciled in for a reading assignment.

1.) The Creativity Project by Colby Sharp

2.) Murder Your Darlings by Roy Peter Clark

3.) Embrace Your Weird by Felicia Day

4.) The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell

5.) To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

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"I've got this." - Personalized Pencils 

Photo by Madrona Pencils

June 2024 Reading Challenge: A Month of Poetry

Poem Pile

I'm a poet and didn't know it. No, wait...I did know it. Anyway, I thought June would be a good month for some poetry immersion. Random, out of the blue, and why not? Here's the short stack I pulled off the library shelf this morning...my inspiration for a reading challenge:

1.) The Aspiring Poet's Journal by Bernard Friot

2.) For Everyone by Jason Reynolds

3.) If Men, Then by Elzia Griswold

4.) My Name is Jason. Mine, Too... by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin

5.) Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin

6.) Wet Cement, a Mix of Concrete Poems by Bob Raczka

7.) Feel Your Way Through by Kelsea Ballerini

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"Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of dictionary." ~Khalil Gibran

April 2024 Reading Challenge: Karma!

I recently grabbed a picture book off the library shelf called The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson and enjoyed the verse and illustrations...what a cute story! The end-flap advertised the author's "Bear" series, and I remembered Bear Snores On well, it being a 5-star read.

A Stack of Karma

After two great stories, I decided to see what else the author had cooking picture-book-wise and was flabbergasted by the sheer quantity--approximately 58 picture books! Are they all winners? That's the question that needs answering, and what this reading challenge is all about...reading Karma!

Childrens picture books by Karma Wilson (with links to Amazon):

1.) Bear Feels Sick (4 stars)
2.) Bear's New Friend
3.) Bear Says Thanks (3.5 stars) 
4.) Bear Sees Colors (4 stars)
5.) Bear Snores On (5 stars)
6.) Bear Stays Up for Christmas (4 stars)
7.) Bear Can't Wait (5 stars)
8.) Bear Finds Eggs (4 stars)
9.) Bear Wants More (4 stars)
10.) Bear Can't Sleep (3.5 stars)
11.) Bear Counts
12.) Bear Feels Scared (3.5 stars)
13.) Bear's Loose Tooth

14.) A Frog in the Bog (3.5 stars)
15.) Mama, Why?
16.) The Cow Loves Cookies (4 stars)
17.) Sleepyhead (3.5 stars)
18.) Moose Tracks (4 stars)
19.) Horseplay (3.5 stars)
20.) Princess Me (3.5 stars)
21.) I Love Your Face (4 stars)
22.) Whopper Cake (5 stars)
23.) Sweet Briar Goes to Camp (3 stars)
24.) How to Bake an American Pie
25.) Duddle Puck The Puddle Duck (5 stars)
26.) Moose Tracks (3.5 stars)
27.) Give Thanks to the Lord (3 stars)
28.) Hogwash! (4 stars)
29.) Hilda Must Be Dancing (4 stars)
30.) Big Bear, Small Mouse
31.) Doormouse Dreams
32.) A Dog Named Doug (4 stars)
33.) Who Goes There? (3.5 stars)
34.) Mama Always Comes Home
35.) Animal Strike at the Zoo
36.) Mortimer's Christmas Manger (3.5 stars)
37.) Mortimer's First Garden (3.5 stars)
38.) Bear Hugs
39.) Mr. Murry and Thumbkin (3 stars)
40.) If I Were a Mouse (3.5 stars)

41.) What's in the Egg, Little Pip?
42.) Don't Be Afraid, Little Pip
43.) Where Is Home, Little Pip? (3.5 stars)

44.) What's the Weather Inside?
45.) Outside in the Box (3 stars)

Other "karma" books on the TBR pile:

The Karma Map by Nisha Sharma
Karma Khullar's Mustache by Kristi Wientge
Karma: Why Everything You Know About It Is Wrong by Acharya Prashant