teatimelit

Let’s Talk: My Favourite Tropes

I don’t know about you, but I love tropes and cliches. There’s something so comforting about knowing you’re going to read something that’s slightly familiar, but with an original spin on it. Every author approaches tropes differently, and I love seeing how they incorporate them into their writing. Despite having the same core fundamentals, no two authors write tropes the same way, which is why I love seeing them in the books I read! I thought it would be fun to talk about five of my favourites, so let’s get into it! 

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Review: Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer.

In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell.

Working closely with Russell means allowing him to get to know parts of herself that Ari keeps hidden from everyone. Will he be able to embrace her dark clouds as well as her clear skies?

A TV meteorologist and a sports reporter scheme to reunite their divorced bosses with unforecasted results in this charming romantic comedy from the author of The Ex Talk. 

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Let’s Talk: My Auto Buy Authors

Hi, hello friends! This week I thought it would be fun to talk about some of my auto buy authors. I have a lot of favourite books, and I have a lot of favourite authors, so why not highlight some of them! There’s nothing more exciting than getting a new book from an author you love, and I love clicking “buy now” on the Kindle store for these author’s next releases. Without anything further, let’s get into the list!

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Let’s Talk: The Goodreads Reading Challenge

I love the Goodreads reading challenge. Every year I look forward to seeing the new colour and setting my goal to a high number just so I have something to look forward to. And every year, I get stressed. I don’t know about anyone else, but I am a major mood reader. I find monthly TBRs to be too restricting, and it often leaves me in a reading slump. For that reason, I have a love-hate relationship with the Goodreads reading challenge.

It’s only 24 days into the year, and I am already behind. Like any ambitious Type 3 enneagram would, I set my challenge number to 100 books in the hopes of having another solid reading year. So far this year, I have read an impressive number of books, and that number is three. One of which was a re-read, so it’s not like I challenged myself to consume something new. No, I chose to read something I knew I would enjoy in fear of slumping too early in the year. I bet you’re thinking, Mary, what is the point of this post? And you’re right – what is the point of this post? I just wanted to share some positivity and some insight into how hard it can be to motivate yourself to read. So, I thought, why not share some of my favourite things to do to make the Goodreads challenge slightly easier so you don’t get overwhelmed (like yours truly) and quit!

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Let’s Talk: Book to Screen Adaptations I’d Love to See

Hi, hello friends and welcome back to teatimelit! I love book to screen adaptations, and I think there are a lot of books out there that have serious potential to make good tv shows or movies. While I know that not everything can be made into the next blockbuster hit, I thought it would be super fun today to talk about some of the books I think would make good adaptations. Let’s get into the list! 

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Review: Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food and Love edited by Elisa Chapman and Caroline Tung Richmond

A stunning collection of short stories about the intersection of family, culture, and food in the lives in teens, from bestselling and critically acclaimed authors, including Sandhya Menon, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Rin Chupeco.

A shy teenager attempts to express how she really feels through the pastries she makes at her family’s pasteleria. A tourist from Montenegro desperately seeks a magic soup dumpling that can cure his fear of death. An aspiring chef realizes that butter and soul are the key ingredients to win a cooking competition that could win him the money to save his mother’s life.

Welcome to Hungry Hearts Row, where the answers to most of life’s hard questions are kneaded, rolled, baked. Where a typical greeting is, “Have you had anything to eat?” Where magic and food and love are sometimes one in the same.

Told in interconnected short stories, Hungry Hearts explores the many meanings food can take on beyond mere nourishment. It can symbolize love and despair, family and culture, belonging and home.

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Let’s Talk: Audiobooks I Want to Read in 2022

Hi, hello friends! Like most people, I adore audiobooks. I love putting my earphones in and getting lost in a book, all while doing another task at the same time. Due to listening to them at double speed (I physically cannot pay attention to them if they are not on 2x speed), I get through them pretty quickly so I’m always on the hunt for a new one. My personal favourite service for audiobooks is Scribd, and while this post is not sponsored, it’s a service I never shut up about. Their selection is so fantastic, I can almost always find my next audiobook on there. So, I thought it would be fun to go through their library and pick out some books I hope to listen to this year. Be sure to let me know in the comments below if you’ve ready any of these books! Without anything further, let’s get into the list! 

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Let’s Talk: 2022 Reading and Content Goals

Hello my sundrops! Happy New Year! I hope that you’re having a glorious start to 2022 so far! The year is off to a pretty good start on my end because I was able to take this week off of work, so there has been some lounging and reading!

If we’re being completely honest, I was not vibing with the idea of sitting down and writing a review during my week off. Resting and recharging is important and the end of 2021 really wiped me out! So, when I was thinking of what my first post of 2022 would be, it only made sense to start it off with some of my reading and content goals for the year! Plus, I’m hoping that by posting it here and sharing it with all of you, I’ll be more likely to accomplish these things. We love accountability! 

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Review: The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

Calla Fletcher wasn’t even two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when Calla learns that Wren’s days may be numbered, she knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.

She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional—dear God—outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this rugged environment, Jonah—the unkempt, obnoxious, and proud Alaskan pilot who helps keep her father’s charter plane company operational—can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.

Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. Soon, she finds herself forming an unexpected bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship—or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried—and failed at—years ago. It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all.

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