#WordWonder

[julierysava]

Wordplay Wednesday Wonders: Unraveling the Magic of Language! 📚✨

Greetings, language aficionados of Tumblr! 🌈🔤 It's Wordplay Wednesday—a whimsical day dedicated to the sheer joy of words, linguistic acrobatics, and unraveling the tapestry of language. Let's dive into the enchanting world of wordplay together! 🎩🗝️

🕵️‍♀️ Detective Diction: Unearth a fascinating word you've recently discovered. Share it in the comments, and let's build a lexicon of intriguing terms. Bonus points for using it in a sentence!

🧩 Puzzling Prowess: Feeling up for a linguistic challenge? Drop a riddle, pun, or clever anagram in the comments. Let's see who can decode the cryptic delights of wordplay!

📖 Literary Labyrinth: What's a book left you spellbound by its prose? Whether it's a classic, a contemporary gem, or even your own writing, share the literary magic which has you captivated.

🌐 Global Glossary: Teach us a phrase or saying from your language or culture. Language is a vibrant tapestry, and we'd love to add some new threads to it.

🎭 Playful Poetics: Channel your inner poet! Create a short poem or haiku inspired by the theme of "whimsy" or "serendipity." Let your creativity flow!

🎲 Game of Synonyms: Choose a common word, and let's see how many creative synonyms you can come up with. It's a playful exercise in the richness and diversity of language.

🔤 Alphabet Adventures: Pick a letter and share a word starting with letter resonates with you today. Let's weave an alphabet tapestry of expressions.

👂 Eavesdrop Express: Share the most intriguing snippet of conversation you've overheard recently. Sometimes, the beauty of language lies in the everyday whispers.

🗣️ Linguistic Laughter: Tell a joke or pun to tickle your linguistic funny sense. Let's share a collective chuckle and revel in the humor which words can bring.

🚀 Language Launchpad: If you could invent a word, what would it be, and what would it mean? Let your imagination take flight and contribute to the ever-evolving landscape of language.

So, fellow logophiles, let the linguistic festivities begin! Whether you're decoding wordplay wonders, exploring new phrases, or concocting your lexical delights, let's revel in the magic of language. 🎉🔠

[lucianopodes]

Great Wall of China A Muralha Huangyaguan original era uma combinação de uma fundação de pedra do século VI e partes de tijolo do século XVI. Estendeu-se por aproximadamente 42km, embora outras fontes citem 54km, e tinha 66 torres e uma fortaleza. Como a única Muralha localizada em Tianjin, uma importante cidade portuária a sudeste de Pequim, ocupava uma posição muito estratégica. Inimigos querendo invadir Tianjin tiveram que passar pela passagem de Huangyaguan. Inúmeras batalhas ocorreram aqui que destruíram a muralha. A fortaleza Huangyaguan está situada em um vale entre a Montanha Banlagang a leste e a Montanha Wangmaoding a oeste. Está ligado à parede de Taipingzhai a leste por uma ponte. Durante a guerra, os cinco arcos sob a ponte foram fechados, bloqueando o acesso pelo rio. Nas ameias da ponte, os soldados montavam canhões para disparar contra os inimigos que se aproximavam do rio. A Muralha de Taipingzhai tem pouco mais de 800 metros de comprimento e foi construída no cume da montanha. Começa na ponte e termina na Montanha Banlagang, onde o terreno íngreme e rochoso se torna uma barreira natural. A meio caminho ao longo da parede há uma barbacã usada como entrada alternativa e perto dela há uma estátua de Qi Jiguang com 8,5 metros de altura. A estátua foi construída pela população local que queria homenagear a contribuição do general na defesa das fronteiras contra os inimigos do norte. Huangyaguan e Taipingzhai são talvez um pouco perfeitamente restaurados. A essência da história da Muralha, a capacidade de tocar e sentir as suas pedras ou tijolos originais, perde-se aqui. O que resta são aquelas escadas insanas de ângulo de 85 graus e as subidas íngremes. @prof.lucianodornelles #greatwallofchina #huangyaguan #run #wordwonder (em Huangyaguan Pass Great Wall) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbCjX5juraa/?utm_medium=tumblr

[cover2covermom]

Happy Sunday bookworms!

As some of you may remember, I have been considering redesigning my blog for a while now.  I am happy to report that I made a lot of progress with this over the weekend.  My biggest hurdle was creating a blog header.  After many long hours, I finally designed a new header that I absolutely love.  And guess what?  I am revealing it to you all today in my wrap-up…

Go on, you know you are dying to see what I’ve come up with…

*Weekly Wrap-Up is a weekly post where I feature what posts were published on the blog for the past week, any bookish/blog happenings, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, what I will be reading next, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, and any interesting bookish articles I came across.

This week on the blog:

Monday 4/3

April 2017 TBR

Wednesday 4/5

Top 5 Wednesday: Science Fiction Books On My TBR

Friday 4/7

Book Review: The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood

Bookish/Blog happenings:

» I won a portion of  The Bone Witch Blog Tour Giveaway hosted by Pink Polka Dot Books.  I found out about this giveaway after reading a review on The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange, which you can read here →The Bone Witch, by Rin Chupeco (The Bone Witch #1).  Now I didn’t win the grand prize which was an autographed copy of The Bone Witch :( BUT I did win a bottle cap necklace and a crochet Tea doll…. so this is totally a good excuse to go buy the book now right? ((right!))

» Yesterday I attended the Ohioana Book Festival in Columbus, Ohio.  I attended 4 wonderful panels and bought 6 books.  ((I tried contain myself at this book festival because I have the SOKY Book Festival coming up in 2 weeks))  More details to come later this week :)

» I am currently working on redesigning my blog, and made a ton of progress this weekend.  I finally created a new blog header that I absolutely love!  Seriously guys, it is freaking awesome if I do say so myself.  Without further adieu, I give you Cover2CoverMom’s new blog header:

What do you think?!?!?  ((Please don’t crush my dreams because I worked for a LONG time on this and I love it lol))

I also decided on a new theme, a new section divider image, and new section title graphics.  Huge thanks to Megan @bookslayer Reads for pointing me in the right direction with this.  She was the one who suggested freepik.com to me, which is where I got most of my new graphics and the images I used to create my new blog header.

*I tried to switch my blog over to the new design last night, but every time I go into the customizer, WordPress crashes… Has anyone else had this problem?  This has been an ongoing issue.  I had created a “test blog” to figure out my new design (big thanks to Fadwa @WordWonders for that idea), and the customizer works fine for the test blog, but it will not work for my Cover2CoverMom blog…

What have I been reading?

*Book titles link to Goodreads

Recently finished reading:

» Every Single Second by Tricia Springstubb

*Part of my Ohioana Book Fest TBR

I’m really conflicted over this one.  On one hand, there were many great aspects about this middle grade book, but on the other I think the author may have been a little too ambitious with all the “heavy topics” that she included in one book.  This book includes topics like *highlight to see text ⇒ PTSD, drunk driving, a white man shooting a black man, racism, autism, the media frenzy, etc. etc ⇐ ((What I’ve hidden isn’t necessarily a spoiler, but I did want to hide it from those who like to go into a book not knowing much about the plot))  With all these “heavy topics” plus the alternating timeline, this book felt very busy to me.  The author’s writing style was a little hard to get used to at first, but it did get easier over the course of the book.  Most of all, I struggled with how the author handled the race relations within the book.  It isn’t necessarily problematic, but I don’t necessarily think it was handled correctly either.  In my opinion, it was very risky attempting a book that has this particular scenario *highlight to see spoiler ⇒ a white security guard shooting and killing an unarmed black man.  The author gives both sides of the story, to show that it isn’t always so cut and dry.  While I understand what the author was trying to do here, it rubbed me the wrong way.  I can’t exactly explain it.  Even though this was a race relations issue, racism was never fully addressed or acknowledged in the book? ⇐  I think if the author had left out the race relations, and focused on the other topics, then I would have enjoyed this book a lot more.  Don’t get me wrong, this book had some good things going for it: themes like friendship, family, and community.  I also really liked the portrayal of growing up in a catholic school, as it brought me lots of nostalgia.

» The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall

*Part of my Ohioana Book Fest TBR

I really adored this book.  At the core, The Seventh Most Important Thing is about not judging others, but it is also a story of loss, grief, guilt, and friendship.  I had no idea this book is based off of true events, though I won’t share which parts because it is better going in not knowing until the end like I did.  *Highlight to see spoiler ⇒ This novel gives a fictionalized back story to the famous piece of art,  The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly by James Hampton.  I had never heard about this piece of art before, but I really enjoyed how the author spun this tale around it. ⇐ I think this would be a wonderful book to use in a classroom setting.  My only issue with this book would be the fact that it was set in the 1960’s, but I didn’t feel like I was in the 60’s while reading it.  There were a few references of the past: a record player, pay phones, going to the library to use the encyclopedia, but when I read “historical fiction” I want to feel like I’m in that time.  I wish the author would have spend a little more time “setting the scene.”  Other than that, this was a very unique and delightful read.

Currently reading:

» The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett

*SOKY Book Fest TBR

I am about 65% through this audiobook and am enjoying it thus far.  This is actually one of Ann Patchett’s lower rated books too.  I think many people read the title and probably made assumptions about what the book is going to be, but then it doesn’t end up that way.  The Magician’s Assistant is more about loss, grieving, and family secrets, and less about getting on stage and assisting a magician…

» Fates and Traitors: A Novel of John Wilkes Booth by Jennifer Chiaverini

*Part of my Ohioana Book Fest TBR

I am about 50% through Fates and Traitors and am really enjoying how the author chose to tell Booth’s story through the women in his life.  This is definitely a different angle then I’ve ever read about John Wilkes Booth.

On deck:

For the next two weeks, I will continue on with my SOKY Book Fest TBR.

»The Illusionist’s Apprentice by Kristy Cambron

» Pillage by Obert Sky

Around the bookish blogosphere:

» Cait @Paper Fury talks about #FangirlProblems →10 #FangirlProblems That Will Give You The Crisis You Always Knew You Needed

» Fadwa @Word Wonders asks where is the positive female friendships in YA? →Where are the Positive Female Friendships in YA?

» Gretchen @ChicNerdReads announces that her book love, and you is now available! →love, and you out now!

» Naz @Read Diverse Books posts the 2nd quarter link up for #ReadDiverse2017 → Read Diverse 2017 – 2nd Quarter

» Marie @Drizzle & Hurricane Books talks about blogging expectations vs. reality →On book blogging expectations vs. reality

» Amy @NovelGossip shares part 2 of her blogger guilt discussion →Blogger Guilt Part 2

» Millie @Milliebot Reads talks about managing your personal library→ Managing Your Hoard – Er – Library

» Jen @Reader in a Reverie shows what a star rating system would look like in FRIENDS gifs →Rating Books with F.R.I.E.N.D.S Gifs

» Megan @bookslayer Reads asks if it is ok to review a book you DNF? → DNF Reviews // Is it ok to review a book you didn’t finish?

» Danielle @Books, Vertigo & Tea shares another Pairing Teas & Reads feature →Pairing Teas & Reads

» Drew @The Tattooed Book Geek asks what makes a good book? → What Makes A Good Book???

Interesting bookish articles:

» Colorful Poetry: 22 Diverse Poetry Picture Books for Kids

» How to Make Reading Fun: 25 Ideas Kids Will Love

*Love these ideas!

» The Best Children’s and YA Books of April 2017

» Books Like Percy Jackson: 11 Super Series to Read Next

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading

See which #books I've been #reading AND I reveal my new #blog header... #BookBlogger Happy Sunday bookworms! As some of you may remember, I have been considering redesigning my blog for a while now. 

[cover2covermom]

Happy Sunday bookworms!

Did everyone have a good weekend?  Mine was low key, as my kids are now on spring break.  I think I look forward to school breaks just as much as my kids because it means I am not chauffeuring my two humans around all day to and from school and extracurricular activities.

Anyways!  My wrap-up this week is a pretty long one, but filled with lots of good stuff (at least I think so).  I talk about some upcoming projects on Cover2CoverMom and pose a few questions to my fellow book bloggers.  So pull up a chair and grab a cup of coffee/tea/wine (I won’t judge if you go with the wine) and let’s see what I had going on this past week, shall we?

*Weekly Wrap-Up is a weekly post where I feature what posts were published on the blog for the past week, any bookish/blog happenings, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, what I will be reading next, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, and any interesting bookish articles I came across.

This week on the blog:

Tuesday 3/28

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I’ve Met & A Few I’d Like to Meet

Wednesday 3/29

Kids’ Corner: Diverse Children’s Picture Books in Review (March 2017)

Friday 3/30

March 2017 Wrap-Up + Book Haul

Bookish/Blog happenings:

» I have been working on a little project and I need some help from you all !  What I need from you all is book blogger recs for bloggers who read & review predominantly within a certain genre. 

For example, bloggers who read & review mostly…

• Young Adult • Middle Grade/Children’s Books • Diverse Books • Graphic Novels • Historical Fiction • Fantasy/Science Fiction • Contemporary • Thriller/Suspense • Romance • Horror

You get the idea.  Keep in mind I said bloggers who read & review predominantly within these categories/genres.  They do not need to review 100% within these categories/genres, but a good majority.  So a blogger like myself would not fit into any of these categories because I read & review all types of books.

*Does this make any sense?  Or have I lost everyone?

If you know of a book blogger who fits into any of these (or a different category/genre not listed) please leave them in the comments down below!  Thanks in advance.

*I would also like to mention they won’t have to do anything, this is going to be more like a feature project :)

» I have been wanting to redesign my blog and graphics for a while now, but it is a hot mess.  Basically I have no idea what I am doing.  What I am struggling with the most is the graphics department.  How did you all do your headers/logos and graphics?  Is there some free graphics site that I do not know about?!  Do you draw/design them yourselves?!  Did you pay someone to do it?  I wish I had the money to pay someone to do all this for me, but I can’t justify spending money on my blog when we are a one income family while I am at home with the kids.  Any advice, suggestions, or direction in this would be much appreciated.

» I realized this weekend that I really need to step up my bookstagram game.  I posted a picture that got over 140 likes, which hadn’t happened to me before.  I know this is probably not a big deal to those of you who are used to getting hundreds (or thousands) of likes every time you post a picture, but I had never gotten over 70 likes before on a picture before.  So what I want to know is, how do you juggle being active on bookstagram if you also have a book blog?

» This week I will be marathon reading to get ready for the Ohioana Book Festival that is taking place in Columbus Ohio on Saturday, April 8th.  I may be a little MIA this week around the blogosphere, but fear not, I’ll be back.

What have I been reading?

*Book titles link to Goodreads

Recently finished reading:

» The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

Summary of feelings: No one is more shocked then me that I actually really enjoyed this book.  If you have followed me for a while, you know that thriller novels are not my go-to books, but I kept throwing them into the mix.  Girls in the Garden is one of those books where you learn about “the incident” first, then go back in time leading up to the incident.  I thought the author did a great job of holding my attention the entire time.  I really liked how Jewell introduced all kinds of characters/scenarios to thrown the reader off the trail.  The conclusion wasn’t exactly a huge shocker, BUT it was definitely more involved and complicated then I was anticipating.  Typically I don’t like when the author leaves things unresolved, but Jewell does leave a few things up in the air.  I think it worked here.

*Full review to come

» The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

Summary of feelings:  I am going to venture to say that The Animators is going to be the biggest surprise of 2017 for me.  This book is so much more than I was anticipating.  I was anticipating a light hearted contemporary novel with friendship being a central theme.  While friendship is a major theme, The Animators is NOT a light hearted read.  It is very gritty and raw… definitely more of a darker novel.

I also thought this book was young adult, and it turns out that this book is very much an adult book.  I think it was because the cover gave off a YA vibe to me?  Anyways, The Animators has a lot of adult content that is not suitable for a young audience.

*Part of my SOKY Book Fest TBR

» Loving Vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case by Patricia Hruby Powell (Illustrated by Shadra Strickland)

Summary of feelings:   Loving Vs. Virginia is the Supreme Court case that legalized marriage between races.  In this book, we learn about Richard & Mildred Loving, the couple behind this infamous case.  Told in verse, Loving Vs. Virginia is very much the love story of Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred, a biracial woman.   I was anticipating a little more historical content, but overall, this was a very well done YA book.  I must admit, I have never really read a book about interracial marriage before.  The challenges that the Lovings faced was heartbreaking to read about.

I listened to the audiobook version, but I am waiting for a copy from my library to see the illustrations.

*I am definitely interested in reading a book that goes a little deeper into the history of interracial marriage, as well as challenges that interracial couples face in today’s society.  If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know.

Currently reading:

» Every Single Second by Tricia Springstubb

*Part of my Ohioana Book Fest TBR

» The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett

*SOKY Book Fest TBR

On deck:

» The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall

*Part of my Ohioana Book Fest TBR

» Fates and Traitors: A Novel of John Wilkes Booth by Jennifer Chiaverini

*Part of my Ohioana Book Fest TBR

Around the bookish blogosphere:

» Cait @PaperFury talks about how to come up with discussion posts for your book blog → How To Think Up Discussion Post Ideas For Your Book Blog

» Ashleigh @A Frolic Through Fiction shares her favorite underrated characters →Favourite underrated characters | Some characters just aren’t appreciated enough

» Marie @Drizzle & Hurricane Books talks about the trend of series and novellas →The series and novellas trend

» Fadwa @WordWonders asks if relating to characters is a must to enjoy a book →Relating to Characters: Is it necessary to Enjoy a Book?

» Kirsty @Kirsty and the Cat Read discusses audiobooks →Discussion: What Makes A Good Audio-Book

» Drew @The Tattooed Book Geek talks about some of the downsides to book blogging →Jaded by Blogging

» Stephanie @TeacherofYA hosts her first giveaway →TeacherofYA’s Very First GIVEAWAY! (::cheers::)

*U.S Only*

» Megan @bookslayer Reads talks about book review layout →Reading & Writing Reviews // Does the layout of a review determine whether or not you’ll read it?

» Amy @NovelGossip is hosting a giveaway →Giveaway: The Breakdown by B. A. Paris #giveaway

Interesting bookish articles:

» Quiz: Which Character Are You Based On Your Astrological Sign?

*I’m an Aries, and got Elizabeth Bennett from P&P.  Very fitting.

» 20 Best Books To Pick Up This April

» The World’s Highest Paid Authors

*I was actually shocked at #2… especially being paid more than J.K. Rowling?!?  Was also surprised who was at the bottom of this list… Happy to see so many female authors (6 out of 14)

» Twice the fun: 9 Books featuring twins

*One of my favorite books, East of Eden, is on this list :)

» Series About the Brontë Sisters Coming Soon

*Um, yes please!

» The 50 Best Books for 11- and 12-Year-Olds

*I’ve only read 5 of these books?!?! I just added 45 books to the ole TBR

» 5 Children’s Stories That Really Freaked Us Out

*I read Coraline this past October… It definitely gave me an unsettled feeling.

» Quiz: Who’s Your Author BFF

*J.K. Rowling and I would make the bestest of friends :)

» 9 Imaginative Fairy-Tale Retellings

» 12 Images All Bookworms Can Relate To

*Yup

Whoa.  That was ridiculously long.  If you have reached this point, go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back.

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading

See what I #AmReading & what's on the #TBR for this week in my #WrapUp. #BookBlogger #Bookworm Happy Sunday bookworms! Did everyone have a good weekend?  Mine was low key, as my kids are now on spring break.