Friday Five Writing Prompt Challenge for May 7, 2021

May 7, 2021 By 1 Comment

Each Friday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly five word writing prompt. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Also coming soon: giveaways each week for participants in both this blog hop and the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. Prizes will include Amazon GCs, print and digital books and free advertising on the site. Keep an eye out!

Today’s five words to use as your prompt are: exchange, firsthand, friendly, jump, trick

Thank you for joining our Friday Five Writing Challenge! Please put the direct URL to your blog post here so other participants can visit your post. Thanks!
1. Judy Thomas  4. Aymee  
2. Marianne Arkins  5. Megan Slayer  
3. Patrick Prescott  

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Filed Under: Friday Five Writing Prompt Challenge, Miscellaneous Musings Tagged With:

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for May 5, 2021

May 5, 2021 By 1 Comment

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

NOTE: we also host the Friday Five–a fun writing prompt blog hop and would love to see you there!

Also coming soon: giveaways each week for participants in both this blog hop and the Friday Five. Prizes will include Amazon GCs, print and digital books and free advertising on the site. Keep an eye out!

Today’s topic is: Fictional Character I’d Love To Meet and Why

Thank you for joining our Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge! Please put the direct URL to your blog post here so other participants can visit your post. Thanks!
1. Siran T  6. Lydia Schoch  
2. Tanith Davenport  7. Shari Elder  
3. Echo Ishii  8. M | RAIN CITY READS  
4. Judy Thomas  9. Megan Slayer  
5. Patrick Prescott  

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Top Ten Tuesday: My Ten Most Recent Reads

May 4, 2021 By 48 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Here are my ten most recent reviews at Long and Short Reviews as of when I wrote this post.

If you’re interested in joining the Long and Short Reviews team, go to our Become a Reviewer page for more information.

We have a wonderful group of reviewers and are always happy to welcome new folks aboard!

 

1. Spirit in Time by Julie Howard

Genre: Romantic Mystery

Why I Liked It: It had genuine character development that I mentioned wanting to see more of in my review of the first book in this series. Isn’t it wonderful when authors do this?

 

2. Fern and Otto by Stephanie Graegin

Genre: Children’s

Why I Liked It: There were so many clever references to classic fairy tales and legends.

 

3. To the Moon and Back For You by Emilia Bechrakis Serhant

Genre: Children’s

Why I Liked It: The main character was a loving, attentive parent. I also liked how open-ended the storyline was as far as how she eventually was able to become a mother.

 

4. Short Poems, Long Tales by Rashid Osmani

Genre: Poetry

Why I Liked It: All of poems were short, sweet, and to the point. I appreciate that sort of poetry.

 

 

5. Mae the Mayfly by Denise Brennan-Nelson

Genre: Children’s

Why I Liked It: Mae was such a brave little Mayfly.

 

6. The Ferret by Tom Minder

Genre: Mystery

Why I Liked It: The descriptions of how the Witness Protection Program works were fascinating.

 

7. Hunted: A Short Story by Brandon Tolin

Genre: Science Fiction

Why I Liked It: Cryptozoology is one of those topics that isn’t covered nearly enough in this genre, so I was happy to see it here.

 

8. Where Are You,  Agnes? by Tessa McWatt

Genre: Children’s

Why I Liked It: I didn’t know much about the early life of Agnes Martin, a famous Canadian painter, and was excited to learn more.

 

9. Sparky Brain – Epileptic Tips and Stories by Ada Almond

Genre: Non-Fiction

Why I Liked It: Someone I care about has epilepsy. It was interesting to read about this author’s experience with it and learn about some things that have helped her reduce her seizures.

 

10. Masquerade Season by ‘Pemi Aguda

Genre: Science Fiction

Why I Liked It: The main character was incredibly sweet and likeable. He made me want to learn more about the world building.

 

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings Tagged With:

Book of the Month Poll Winner ~ Leah’s Surrender by A.M. Westerling

April 30, 2021 By 3 Comments


Leah’s Surrender by A.M. Westerling
The Ladies of Harrington House Book 2
Publisher: BWL Publishing
Genre: Historical, Romance
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Mistflower

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

With the threat of scandal hanging over Lady Leah Harrington, her parents arrange a temporary position for her in Australia as a companion to her aunt. Leah vows that on her return to England, she will forge her own future as a published lady of letters. However, now that she’s learned men are not to be trusted, having her sensibilities muddled by a dashing navy captain is not what she had planned for herself.

Despite France’s ever-present menace during the Napoleonic Wars, Captain Heath Trevelyan is ordered to transport a load of convicts aboard HMS Charlotte Mary destined for the penal colony of Australia. As a favour to a friend, he also provides passage for an alluring young woman and her aunt. When his ship sinks during a storm, a battle of endurance ensues for Heath and the survivors, including several convicts and the beauty who has captured his senses.

Which will he obey? His orders or his heart?

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: ,

Friday Five Writing Prompt Challenge for April 30, 2021

April 30, 2021 By 1 Comment

Each Friday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly five word writing prompt. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Also coming soon: giveaways each week for participants in both this blog hop and the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. Prizes will include Amazon GCs, print and digital books and free advertising on the site. Keep an eye out!

Today’s five words to use as your prompt are: proper, brand, husband, pigeon, offend

Thank you for joining our Friday Five Writing Challenge! Please put the direct URL to your blog post here so other participants can visit your post. Thanks!
1. Echo Ishii  4. Marianne Arkins  
2. Patrick Prescott  5. Megan Slayer  
3. Judy Thomas  

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for April 28, 2021

April 28, 2021 By 1 Comment

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

NOTE: we also host the Friday Five–a fun writing prompt blog hop and would love to see you there!

Also coming soon: giveaways each week for participants in both this blog hop and the Friday Five. Prizes will include Amazon GCs, print and digital books and free advertising on the site. Keep an eye out!

Today’s topic is: Favorite Outdoor/Nature Activities

Thank you for joining our Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge! Please put the direct URL to your blog post here so other participants can visit your post. Thanks!
1. Marianne Arkins  6. Michael Mock  
2. Judy Thomas  7. Patrick Prescott  
3. Shari Elder  8. M | RAIN CITY READS  
4. Megan Slayer  9. Siran  
5. Lydia Schoch  

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Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge Tagged With:

Top Ten Tuesday: Dogs in Books

April 27, 2021 By 41 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday!  This week’s topic is animals in books.  I love dogs.  I have three dogs, a pug and two Saint Bernard/Great Dane mixes, and they are a much loved party of my family.  So this week, I decided to feature books with dogs.  Let’s get to the list!

If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff-Part of a classic series!

If You Give a Dog a Donut

Wellington’s Rainy Day by Carolyn Beck-Always good for a laugh.

Wellington's Rainy Day

Kipper Series by Mick Inkpen-Love this whole series!

Kipper's Snowy Day

The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach-I almost feel that including this story is cheating, but once you get to the end, I think you’ll know why I included it!

The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford-I haven’t read this book in a very long time.  I think I should pick it up again.

The Incredible Journey

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo-I I read this a couple years ago with my oldest and we both loved it!

Because of Winn-Dixie

Say Hello to Zorro! by Carter Goodrich-Having a pug and big dogs makes this book even more entertaining!  There are two other books in this series and they are all a lot of fun.

Say Hello to Zorro!

Dream Dog by Lou Berger-I stumbled across this heartwarming story at the library.

Dream Dog

Tornado by Betsy Byars-I just recently picked this book up for my youngest, but we haven’t started reading it yet!

Tornado (Trophy Chapter Book)

James Herriot’s Dog Stories by James Herriot-Another one on my to read list!

James Herriot's Dog Stories

Have you read any of these?  If so, do you have a favorite?  If not, are you interested in any of them?  Do you like dogs?  Do you have any?  If not, what sort of animal is your favorite?

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings Tagged With:

Friday Five Writing Prompt Challenge for April 23, 2021

April 23, 2021 By 1 Comment

Each Friday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly five word writing prompt. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

Today’s five words to use as your prompt are: increase, retire, dairy, hiccup, verdict

Thank you for joining our Friday Five Writing Challenge! Please put the direct URL to your blog post here so other participants can visit your post. Thanks!
1. Patrick Prescott  4. Megan Slayer  
2. Judy Thomas  5. Aymee  
3. Marianne Arkins  6. Echo Ishii  

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Filed Under: Friday Five Writing Prompt Challenge, Miscellaneous Musings Tagged With: ,

Movie Review: Howard Original

April 22, 2021 By Leave a Comment

Movie Review: Howard Original

Director: Natalie Rodriguez

Writer: Kevin Michaels and Natalie Rodriguez

Stars: Kevin Michaels, Natasha Galano, Katt Balsan, Jasmine Richards, Ivon Millian, Alessandra Mañon, and Iliyana Apostolova.

Due to recent tragic events in his life – particularly with MULTIPLE failed relationships – a screenwriter named HOWARD begins to question his life and the meaning of it. He escapes to a cabin, in hopes to find closure from both his writer’s block and hysterical, yet painful past. Only, HOWARD finds himself in a state of reality and an altered universe when he finds an abandoned cat named BLUE while reflecting on his personal and work relationships.

Rated: 3 Stars

Review by: Astilbe

He’s not a good guy, but he is an interesting one.

Howard was an argumentative, crass, and deeply prejudiced character whose profound lack of self-awareness made me shake my head. He was the last person I’d ever want to spend time with in real life, and yet I found myself fascinated by his repeated refusals to learn from his mistakes or listen to the feedback he was given about his abhorrent behavior from many of the women who crossed his path.

Other films on this topic would generally shown a small crack in the main character’s persona early on as evidence that he knew what he was doing was wrong and that he was at least theoretically capable of changing. The fact that this one gave the audience no hints about him learning the error of his ways or even admitting he had major issues relating to other human beings only made me more curious to see how such a belligerent and stubborn character would react to all of the plot twists that were being thrown his way.

I was often confused by the flashbacks in the storyline. While some of them were necessary in order to understand the deeper meanings of the plot, they happened so regularly that I struggled to keep the timeline in order in my head. Once or twice I paused this film in order to write down how I thought everything fit together and then checked it later to see if I was correct. It would have been helpful if more of the most important scenes had been shown in the order they actually occurred. There were times when I was totally wrong about how they should have fit together, and that only puzzled me more.

Blending the satirical and dreamlike elements of the plot together was a good choice. This was especially true during the portions of it near the end that would have been easy to take literally if they’d been shot in a more straightforward manner. I appreciated having these reminders to dig more deeply into what was happening and think critically about what I was watching. They did a good job of tying up some loose ends for me.

Howard Original kept me on my toes. I’d recommend it to anyone who is in the mood for something genre bending and thought provoking.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Movie Review, Television Show Tagged With: , ,

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for April 21, 2021

April 21, 2021 By 2 Comments

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

NOTE: we also host the Friday Five–a fun writing prompt blog hop and would love to see you there!

Today’s topic is: Creative outlets I enjoy

Thank you for joining our Weekly Wednesday Blogging Challenge! Please put the direct URL to your blog post here so other participants can visit your post. Thanks!
1. Marianne Arkins  9. Patrick Prescott  
2. Tanith Davenport  10. Fiona McGier  
3. Lydia Schoch  11. Michael Mock  
4. Echo Ishii  12. M | RAIN CITY READS  
5. Megan Slayer  13. Judy Thomas  
6. Shari Elder  14. Siran T  
7. tory richards  15. K J-LaMon  
8. Aymee  16. Emily The Book Nerd  

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