It’s Okay for Writing to be a Hobby

Well hello hello hello! Long time, no write! It’s been awhile. If you’re reading this just now, it’s been probably no time at all for you. But for me it’s been almost a year of inactivity on this site. I swear, if this was a bank they would’ve closed my account and taken all my left over money by now.

I’m grateful for this low-stakes kind of environment though. No pressure to push out content all the time. Especially since barely anyone reads this thing. If you are reading it – welcome!! It means a heck of a lot that you’re here and hopefully interested.

This blog mainly dabbles in reading and writing like content. I mean – I’m a wannabe writer who writes as a hobby so it makes sense. At least to me. I’ve been MIA for awhile though. I swear it happens sometimes to me. It comes in waves here and there my hyper fixation on this website. Sometimes I can’t get enough of it and I have so many ideas and plans to write and other times I forget it exists. Poof – gone from my mind.

I was writing today in Scrivener though and I noticed how many words I had written in my story. 38k something in total for my current WIP. When I took the screenshot it made me remember how often I posted screenshots on this site so I thought I’d come back and take a peek.

I might disappear again in a moment but I wanted to pop on and say hello. I’m grateful for this space and the flexibility it allows me. I am grateful that I can pop in whenever I feel up to it. And I’m grateful to just do some free conscious writing. No plan. No expectations. Just me sitting in front of my laptop writing whatever comes to mind. It’s a freeing relief in a way to let that happen.

I did a lot of writing in a notebook for the current WIP. It’s one of the Jane Eyre retellings I was mentioning in a previous blog post. Not the Middle Grade reader one, but the romance one. I have quite a bit written in a notebook, more than I even realized. I’ve been transcribing it over to my Scrivener app to get it down for some editing. I tend to edit as I rewrite it into the new system. It’s fun that way – it helps me see what flows and what doesn’t work so well. It also has helped me recognize a couple plot holes already that I filled up. I also have written out 38k words and still have a little bit to go. The ending hasn’t been written yet.

The ending.

The part I struggle with the most in all my novels. I just can’t seem to finish them. I have great starters and can even pick up here and there where needed – but write the ending to a novel? It seems impossible. I don’t know how to do it. It’s like a block in my brain.

I’ve talked about this before on here. It’s something I even struggle with in my professional career. I’m a great “ideas” person – I have tons of ideas and suggestions for improvement. I can steer you in the right direction and probably even connect you with the right people to get the job done. I also can offer advice, support, and feedback. And help find your gaps in a process and try to fill them where I can. I am really great at training and being a Subject Matter Expert in certain fields when I get to know the job well enough. But finish a project? Bring it to the implementation phase? Gah! It just doesn’t seem to happen. Even when I have really excellent intentions I can’t seem to cross that finish line. It’s frustrating to myself even. I don’t even think my coworkers really know (or care) because when I’ve brought it up they’re all like “Oh! But you did so much work and got us to the point we needed to be at!” and that’s awesome and I’m grateful I have, but it still makes me feel inadequate in some way. Like I don’t know how to see something through to the end.

So if you need an “Ideas” person – I might be the one for the job. Just don’t really depend on me to actually finish it through right to the end. Probably not going to happen. Some other priority is going to pull my attention or something is going to come along that sends me in another direction. Even with the best of intentions and plans laid out – I might not see it through. And that’s something I either need to learn to overcome and fight to follow through, or just learn to be okay with and grateful that I can get the plan or project as far as I do.

It’s also something I’m coming to accept with writing. I might not be the next best seller or ever even get a book published. But I have a lot of fun with the process and isn’t that good enough? Some people just love painting or drawing, it doesn’t mean they HAVE to sell their art or have this great big exhibition. They could just love drawing and painting as a way to relax or have fun or perfect a skill. Why can’t writing be seen in that same way? Why when you tell someone you’re writing do they automatically jump to the phase of getting it published and being the next best writer? Why can’t it just be a fun hobby that someone enjoys?

With any hobby – if somehow it leads to more that’s great! I’m not going to stop that from happening – but that’s also not the sole reason I write. I write because it’s what I’ve always done and it’s a way to express myself and pursue my creative side.

So this free flowing writing may not have made complete sense the whole way through. I didn’t have this laid out of a beginning, a middle, and an end. It was just a way to get words out that I’ve been wanting to express. And sometimes – that’s good enough. And that’s more than okay.

Juggling Multiple Story Ideas – Life of an Aspiring Author

Hey! Here’s a small writing progress update! I am still working away on some book ideas. Yes, plural. Book ideas. When I started providing updates on this blog I was focusing on just one book idea since last summer (Summer 2021) about a YA fantasy type novel. A bit of a “big epic adventure, girl discovers there’s more to the world than she realized” kind of troupe.

Right now I have about 90k words written in the story. And that’s pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. The thing that isn’t so fantastic is I seem to be stalled out on the story. I literally am mid explanation on the page in the middle of a character’s dialogue and I’m just story fatigued. Does that happen to any other writers?

I just feel like I have hit a written wall right now, and I may have mentioned this previously on my blog. I feel like my skill level as an author isn’t quite up to par to write the epic fantasy novel that I want to write. And I want it to be good and something that has a believable plot and storyline and well-developed characters. I want the book to be good.

If this is your first time coming across a post of mine – Hi I’m Deanna and I am an aspiring writer that has been hoping to write for quite awhile now. You can look back through this blog and see a few other posts about my journey. I also have a YouTube channel, but I haven’t really documented as much of my progress as I’d like. Instead I focus more on book reviews. Check it out if you’re interested!

For now, I have paused the story of my epic fantasy-like adventure story. I can appreciate and recognize my limitations. I’ve never completely finished a book, except for a memoir I wrote that wasn’t even fully finished, because hey it’s my life and (thankfully) it’s still continuing!

For writing fiction novels though – the score is currently 0/unknown number of writing attempts. I’ve been writing for most of my life. I don’t even have all the stories I’ve attempted over the years. I really wish I did – but most of them are lost and long gone. Probably rotting in a garbage heap somewhere. Or lost to a computer I no longer have.

But, saying that, I do have some current book ideas. If anything I have so many book ideas I don’t always know where to focus my attention. I wonder if many other writers suffer from this issue and that’s what stops some writers from becoming published. Because I have the makings of a novel. Or several novels. I have even started quite a few. And I have a few more ideas written down, but just where do I focus my time and energy?

I think I have referenced the above graphic before regarding the spoon theory. Dealing with PTSD and other neurological symptoms I do feel the spoon theory applies to my situation a lot of the time.

My time and energy is limited. Even now, I am a mom, a wife, and I work a full time job. I’m trying to maintain the upkeep of my home (with as much help from my spouse as possible) while also succeeding as best as possible in my regular job. So the time and energy I have to focus on side projects such as my writing interest isn’t overly plentiful. I wish it was. I wish I had unlimited time to lounge around and write when I felt like it. But I don’t.

The reality is sometimes I have little to no motivation because I have so many other things going on, and it is “easy” to slip into a mode of just scrolling mindlessly on social media or watching YouTube videos. Something that I recognize I do need to straighten out my priorities more to focus on what I want to put energy into. But sometimes I’m working on very little spoons that day. And when that happens I need to listen to my body and my mind and not push it too far. I am prone to burn out and overwhelming stress and anxiety. I don’t need to beat myself up in the process.

So I took a step back from my epic fantasy WIP and have been focusing on a different story.

It started as a Jane Eyre re-telling and has morphed into something else entirely. There are elements of the beginning of the Jane Eyre novel: orphaned young girl, first person POV who is mistreated at the hands of her aunt and sent away to a “boarding” school. But that’s about where the similarities end.

Because instead of allowing the story to morph into a romance novel (like the classic) my story has stayed in the realm of Middle Grade reader and focused more on the main character’s time at the school and some of the adventures taking place there. It went that way because my 10 year old son took an interest in it and I’ve been reading it to him now as I add more to it.

He’s a great critique partner who gives me a lot of great feedback to work with. But what started as an exercise to focus on a well-known and already developed plot line and story has switched into something much different.

So the original idea I had for the romance story is still simmering in the back of my mind. I have written down elements of it in my idea journal and I even started writing it, but what I’ve written feels like a different story entirely too. I don’t know if that’s just because I have so many other competing ideas or because when you start writing one story the characters and storyline take over and make it something else entirely. I am curious – any other writers reading this now – is this something you’ve struggled with at all?

I actually got so inspired by some other authors I’ve seen on YouTube that I created a “Writing Notebook” for myself. I came across this great deal on Indigo for a really interesting notebook that has lined paper pages, bullet-style pages, blank pages, and graph paper pages. It is sectioned off with tabs and I decided to divide it up and document my writing ideas.

Right now I have 14 ideas written in this Writing Notebook. Perhaps I’ll share more in another blog post, but right now that is kind of exciting to have 14 different ideas that are ruminating – the main question is where do I start or focus my attention? Do I just relax and let myself enjoy writing a little bit in each one until one of them is finished or do I hard-core only focus on one.

Knowing myself – I’m probably going to do the first option because I can get burnt out if I am too over focused on something – so being able to divide my attention between a few ideas might mean that one of them actually gets done before I know it. I can only hope at this time and do my best. Wish me luck!

The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Summary

As a human living in the High Court of Faerie, Jude has always struggled to fit in. Especially when dealing with the disdain from Prince Cardan, youngest and most arrogant son of the High King. Mocked, ridiculed, and downright harassed by the immortals that surround her Jude yearns to gain a place at the Court and prove herself worthy. She is bound and determined to show her strength, determination, and skill to be a legitimate member. And beyond all else, Jude craves something that is just beyond her reach. The thing that the immortals flaunt in her face so carelessly. Just how far will Jude go to gain a place in the Court for all to see. Especially if it means betraying the ones she cares for.

Corner Thoughts

This one was so enjoyable. I saw a lot of hype about it on YouTube and didn’t immediately jump on board because I was hesitant that it was overhyped. I even put it off for awhile after I bought it wondering if it was as good as others declared. I tend to shy away sometimes from the hype, or at least be very skeptical of it. However, I was glad that I bought this one and finally read it. Immediately when I opened the book I fell in love with the map at the front.

I went back and referenced it a few times. I always love cute/cool maps in Fantasy books. It’s a great way to go back and reference places and get a better feel for the area and what the author is attempting to depict to the reader. This one was especially cute and well done.

After getting all cozy with the map, I read the Prologue and was completely shocked by the events that happened. After seeing the cuteness of the map, I was not expecting the brutality and action that occurred. Instantly I was hooked.

This book is typical YA-style but Holly has a great writing style that is fun and engaging. The writing was first-person point of view (POV) and from Jude’s perspective. Except for the prologue, which I found a very impactful method for the author to use to switch from third person to first person narration. It made the prologue that much more shocking and the rest of the novel that much more of a connection with Jude.

In the prologue we’re introduced to Jude’s older sister Vivienne and Jude’s twin Taryn. I loved Jude’s older sister Vivi, but I didn’t always enjoy Taryn. Vivienne was a compelling character with a real feeling to her. She was rebellious to her father, Madoc, and tried to undermine him where possible. I thought she was a great character and could’ve been a great protagonist because of her frustration with living in Elfhame and her desire to return to the mortal world. She was also a very protective sister and it was evident through her interactions with Jude and how much she cared for her.

As for Taryn, I thought she would be closer with Jude but sometimes I didn’t get a good feel for Taryn as a character. It was like there was a disconnect between her and Jude or Jude just didn’t seem interested in her at all. Perhaps in future books we’ll learn more of her as their relationship is explored more and that might change my opinion. I think this was a very deliberate writing choice from the author to have Jude feel more isolated from her own twin and to learn more about Taryn later.

I did love one of the lines that Taryn says to Jude in the book:

I’m a mirror… I’m the mirror you don’t want to look at.”

Taryn to Jude; The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

This was a great line considering Jude and Taryn are twins and Jude did avoid Taryn a lot in the book or was not as engaged with her through the book. It really struck at the heart of the matter of the issue between Jude and Taryn and why perhaps Taryn wasn’t such a central character in this first story. Only time will tell in this trilogy if Taryn makes more of an impact later.

I loved the little touches of art sprinkled throughout the book. It was so fun to see the illustrations around the chapter breaks and in between scenes and it helped to remain so immersed in the world of Elfhame. I am very inspired by the artwork in this book for my own works.

Overall this book was delightful and I went out as soon as I could and got the second book in the trilogy, “The Wicked King” and I’ve been reading that and enjoying that book just as much as the first, I will have a review out as soon as I can. So perhaps it was worth the hype. At least five stars worth in my opinion.

Corner Rating: 5/5

Dial A for Aunties

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto

Summary

The women in Meddy Chan’s family are cursed. Seriously. No man has ever survived a relationship with the Chan women. Not even their own sons. So Meddy is determined to stay by her mother and aunts’ sides, because when the curse comes for her, who else will she have? Of course, Meddy wasn’t really expecting the curse to hit her so soon. In this fantastical and exaggerated tale she will find herself relying on her family more than ever when an encounter goes from bad to worst. Add murder to the mix and you’ll be laughing as you try to keep up with Meddy and her meddling aunts.

Corner Thoughts

I’m not even entirely sure how I came across this book. I know for a fact that I read it as an e-book. And e-books are not my favourite type of format. But this one was so interesting and such a quick read that I couldn’t put it down for awhile. It kept getting more and more and more ridiculous. And I was loving that I was along for the ride.

Now I will warn you that in order to really enjoy this book, you have to suspend your disbelief. Plus you have to kind of be okay with dark humour and having murder treated in such an absurd way. The aunts are all their own exaggerated characters and Meddy is just kind of taken along trying to keep up with their crazy shenanigans and ideas. All with Meddy’s best interest at heart of course. Though they can be a little overbearing.

I did find myself having a little trouble allowing the story to just be as I was reading it. I kept thinking maybe there was something I was missing or like it couldn’t seriously be this dark without really addressing how dark it is. Once I reconciled that part of myself and just let myself enjoy the wild story, it did get pretty fun.

Though sometimes it was just like “Okay, seriously, what next?”. What else could possibly go wrong? It was still enjoyable and I loved how fiercely protective of Meddy all her aunts and her mother were. They are the definition of ride or die.

To be very transparent, I read this one a little while ago. So it’s not quite as fresh in my memory. What is fresh is that I kept shaking my head in silliness and laughter. And I ultimately enjoyed the entire story. I felt like I almost needed to go back and re-read it with a better understanding of just letting the story be. I kept thinking some big twist was going to happen and that things weren’t really what they seemed, so that kind of held me back sometimes from just losing myself in the story. Again, I think it was because I didn’t allow my suspension of disbelief to occur. I kept trying to be logical about this crazy and over-the-top story. Add a big wedding that is happening on a beautiful private island, it was sometimes a little much to take in.

This book was my lesson that sometimes you just need to let fiction be fiction and not pick apart details or overthink too much about the realism of a story. You just gotta buckle in and enjoy the ride. I know the author has come out with another one, so that might be one I will pick up and gave a chance. And this time I’ll start it with a much more open mind and just let the story be what it is – a fun, good time with a lot of love from an overbearing and hilarious family.

Corner Rating 4/5

My Plain Jane

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows

Summary

The story of Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester is a classic. Charlotte Bronte wrote a fantastic story about an orphaned young girl who is poorly treated at the hands of her cruel aunt and shipped away to a school for girls. The girl grows and then travels to a strange and isolated mansion to live with a strange and fascinating man. This gothic love story is loved by many. However, in this new tale the story is turned on its head and Charlotte is best friends with Jane Eyre. Together they go on an adventure that leads them to Thornwood Hall, the home of Mr Rochester, but the circumstances are much different and the ghosts in this one are real. What will become of our wonderful main characters Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre?

Corner Thoughts

I received this book in October 2018 from the book subscription box service Owlcrate. It was my first venture into the subscription box service and I was delighted with the many treasures that I received plus this book. I even did a video about it.

In 2018 I had barely read any of the big classics – the Jane Austens, the Charlotte Brontes, and the Dickens of the Old English Literature. I’ve still just barely dipped my toe in the Classics’ pool, but back then what I knew of them could barely fill a wading pool. So “My Plain Jane” was my first introduction to the world of Jane Eyre.

Having no prior knowledge of Jane Eyre I loved the story of My Plain Jane. I found it funny and engaging and easily readable. Now recently I went ahead and re-read it again to not only compare the story to another Jane Eyre adaptation (Brightly Burning) but to compare it to the original story.

Stepping back into this story was really easy as it is a really fun read. The three ladies that wrote it together did a great job in their sharp humour and making the reader a fairly active participant. It is written in third person between three different perspectives – Charlotte, Jane and Alexander Blackwood. The authors sometimes address the reader when speaking and those were some of my favourite parts because it showed the authors’ humour and cheekiness. It was fun that they took such a well known story and main character Jane Eyre and spun it in a way as though the whole story was real, especially throwing the author herself into the mix.

I also enjoyed the supernatural element of the story and the ghosts that some of the characters interact with. The only true downside I have was sometimes the writing was very lively and the tone was very excited and quick but good, while other times the writing style was a bit different and wasn’t quite the same punch as it felt a bit jilted and like it was showing vs telling. The showing bits were a lot of fun following these three different main characters around on their adventure, but then at a couple points it was like the narrator flipped and it was telling us what was going on. Or at least the action was so quick and convenient that it didn’t feel as natural. It felt a bit bumpy in places. I’m not sure if this was a result of trying to mix three different author’s styles into one book or what the issue was.

Overall, the story was very fun and entertaining and one I’ve read at least twice now. The three authors have written a few books together “My Lady Jane”, “My Calamity Jane”, and “My Contrary Mary”. According to their website blog they are working on a couple more. With how fun and interesting this one was it such a delightful take on a real person, I’m excited to get my hands on a few more books of theirs. Thank goodness I have a Mother’s Day gift card for books! Don’t mind me, I might be adding a couple more of these stories to my Indigo cart!

Corner Rating 4/5

The Alice Network

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Summary

Charlie St Clair has done the unthinkable. She has escaped from her parents after her little “accident” and is on a hunt to search for her lost cousin, Rose. She loves her cousin and could always count on her, but now she has disappeared and no one else seems interested in finding her. So Charlie musters the courage to find Rose so they may finally be reunited. Little does Charlie know that her hunt for her lost cousin will set her down a mysterious path she never expected and she winds up on Evelyn Gardiner’s front step. Evelyn (Eve) has dark secrets she has hid for thirty something years after the First World War. Now with the world trying to heal from the horrible blackness of the German enemy for the second time, Eve must face her past and the betrayals that plagued her. And this means revisiting her years as a member of “The Alice Network” and the scars it left behind.

Corner Thoughts

Historical fiction novels about World War II are some of my favourite novels, so keep that in mind for this review. And this novel was no exception. This one actually even took it a bit further and had elements of World War I throughout it at as well, especially with Eve’s storyline.

This novel was interesting in that it switched between First Person narration for Charlie St Clair and then to Third Person for Eve’s sections. The chapters were even labelled “Eve” or “Charlie”. I personally actually enjoyed the third person narration more and the storyline that involved Eve. If I was to rank the POVs differently I would rank Eve’s as 5 Stars and Charlie’s as 4 Stars.

Charlie’s story was interesting and there were moments that I was sad for her and curious to what was happening to her, but I was much more interested in Eve’s storyline and the complexities of The Alice Network and the precarious line that Eve had to walk in such a dangerous situation, literally right behind enemy lines. I was always so invested in her storyline and the plot and when I had to come out to read Charlie’s section it was like I was just trying to plow through it to get back to the heart of the matter with Eve.

Eve in the future is paranoid, cynical, and isolated. And honestly, I could see that happening with the horribleness that she endured. She is a raving drunk and is barely functioning and in a time when those with mental issues were just shipped off to rot in psychiatric hospitals I don’t blame the way she shuns society. She is trying to manage the best way she knows how.

I think that is where Charlie does become a bright light in Eve’s world to push her out of her comfort zone, which I did appreciate to drive Eve’s story forward and get her a resolution, but there were times I didn’t care as much about the events from 1947 and wanted to go back to the setting of World War I.

I do love how Kate takes real situations and events and weaves fiction throughout it. The fact that The Alice Network was a real society of women working as spies against Germany and it’s allies is fascinating. The strength and determination these women displayed, yet alone their bravery is fantastic. We owe so much to all of these individuals that fought for all of us.

Corner Rating: 4/5

The Rose Code

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

Summary

During the peak of World War II as England is fighting the advances of Germany three women from very different backgrounds are summoned by mysterious orders. They are recruited to Bletchley Park where they are required to take oaths for King and country or be tried with treason. Here their skills are all put to the test in a secret world that could change the fates of all of England. These three different women Mab, Osla, and Beth are each pushed to their limits and form a bond through the process. But with war raging around them, lives lost, and the stress of breaking German codes on their shoulders will their bond survive loss, heartache, and the tragedy of war?

Corner Thoughts

This historic fiction was a delight from the moment I started reading it. I was familiar with Kate Quinn’s writing style as I had previously read “The Alice Network” which has a very similar tone and subject. However, “The Rose Code” took the stylings of “The Alice Network” and elevated it.

The three women we follow (Mab Osla and Beth) are each so unique and compelling characters with interesting backgrounds and stories. The tight bond they all form was fun and I loved each character. They each had traits that I could relate to and appreciate. They all had such wonderful qualities, while also having flaws and issues. They are all strong women trying to prove themselves in some way during a horrible war that is plaguing their country.

I loved how Kate Quinn stays so true to historical events, while also weaving in stories of fiction. I was surprised to see mention of Prince Philip who is dating Osla throughout the book. I wasn’t expecting to have actual real people referenced and followed. I think the research and understanding of the war that Kate puts into her books is phenomenal. It makes the story that more enriching and engaging.

I can’t even begin to say which character of the three main women was my favourite because they all have such wonderful storylines. Osla with her bright beauty and class, Mab with her tough attitude and strong personality, and Beth with her shyness and laser focus on codes. They all had such rich character developments throughout the story and none of them are the same women that started at the beginning of the novel.

There is definitely a level of mystery and intrigue woven throughout the book. The women and all those that work in Bletchley Park are so secretive and have to be careful of speaking of anything that happens within the walls. They are all sworn to silence and barely can share information amongst themselves to ensure there is no compromise in the work they are doing to decode messages from Germany and Germany’s allies. So there is a lot of questions throughout the story. Kate does an excellent job at keeping it intriguing enough to keep me guessing through the story, but not too much to be too frustrating.

Kate also does an excellent job of being authentic to the times of 1940s. Especially the treatment of women. It is fascinating how much women rallied together to fight for their country in any way they could and they were so instrumental to the success of the war for England and its Allied Forces, but yet didn’t always get the respect or appreciation they deserved. Their treatment from others and even the events of the insane asylum highlight that so strongly and that a man’s word was so much stronger than a woman’s.

Even with this stark contrast between men and women in the 1940s, there were also some really great male characters in this story. My favourite male character would potentially be Dilly. This older gentleman, who takes Beth under his wing to get the best out of her, was wonderful.

There are also some other fantastic secondary male characters. Francis Gray was so kind, patient, and loving. Harry Zarb’s guilt and frustration as a young strong strapping man that isn’t on the front lines was so well portrayed. And finally Prince Philip of Greece. His relationship with Osla was interesting to see on the page and how Kate weaved in some truth and real facts about the Prince and developed his character based on these facts and some of his famous quotes.

Overall this story was a wonderful story about loyalty, resilience, friendship, and forgiveness. It was heartbreaking at times and had me crying quite a bit. There were also some really poignant moments that made me sit and think for a moment. And it really made me appreciate what our ancestors did in such harrowing times. Both male and female. The strength, determination, and sheer force of wills that they all demonstrated. I am eternally grateful for their sacrifices and bravery.

My favourite line of the book actually made me stop for a moment to annotate it because it resonated so deeply. Dilly and Beth are discussing the pressures of Bletchley Park and trying to break the Engimas. This has caused some other individuals to have breakdowns and Dilly says, “….Strain. It gets even the best brains in the business. Sometimes the best brains are the ones that get it worst.” So if you are struggling or feel overwhelmed after the last few years we’ve had, take comfort. Perhaps it just means you have an excellent brain that really understands life and yourself.

Corner Rating 5/5

Corner Choice – A Tribute to Bob Saget

I, like many children of the 90s, grew up watching the iconic show “Full House”. I’m pretty sure it was one of the shows in the lineup of TGIF. Full House, Boy Meets World, Step-by-Step, Fresh Prince of Bel-air. All classic hits of the 90s.

And the centre of the show of Full House was incredible comedian, Bob Saget. He played the show’s titular main character, Danny Tanner. He was the rock to the crazy household of the Full House. His character recently lost his wife so his brother-in-law Jesse (John Stamos) and his best friend, Joey (Dave Coulier) move in to help him raise his three girls: DJ (Candace Cameron(now Cameron-Brue)), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and Michelle (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen).

It’s a very wholesome show. Full of real lovey-dovey moments between all the characters. This was prime-time TV in the 90s. No PG-13+ here. It was all strictly G rated only. So many of us 90s children grew up looking to Danny Tanner as a father figure.

And then when a lot of us grew up we realized how raunchy and hilarious this man was. It was funny to know that the man who hosted America’s Funniest Home Videos had such a filthy mouth. But to say that Bob Saget was just a foul-mouthed man would be a huge disservice to who he was.

The outpouring of love and support that came out with the news of his passing is testament to what a wonderful man he truly was. He was a man that loved and loved big. Listening to his Podcast “Bob Saget’s Here for You” just emphasizes how much he cared. As I type this out, I’m sitting here right now listening to him chat with How I Met Your Mother’s main character Ted Moseby, played by Josh Radnor. To hear Bob speak, you can hear the kindness and patience in his voice. The episode is so filled with Bob talking about kindness that it is all that much more heartbreaking to realize he is gone.

Sometimes you don’t realize how important someone or something is in your world until that thing or person is gone. Bob Saget definitely fits that phrase. His tour “I Don’t Do Negative” Tour was cut way too short. We needed the positivity that Bob wanted to share with the world.

When I learned of Bob’s passing I was streaming on Twitch, playing The Sims 4. Now I don’t have a big Twitch following. Heck, I barely tell people I stream on Twitch. It’s just something fun and goofy I do sometimes. I get maybe 1-2 people who watch me play games. And sometimes that one person is my mom. But I still didn’t know how to react when I was live and got the “Breaking News” about his passing. I was shocked. Completely and utterly shocked. I was not expecting it, and I barely thought about the man. He had just been a constant since I was a girl watching Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos. I couldn’t imagine how his friends and family were feeling. Especially his wife and daughters.

And when I saw all the outpouring of love for this man, it floored me even more. I didn’t realize how many lives he affected in big and small ways. And so while I didn’t know him, I was entranced by the impact he had on others. It made me wish I had appreciated his talents and work a little more while he was here. I watched a few podcasts of his on YouTube and my heart broke a bit from the loss this world has experienced.

I believe in one of his Podcasts he mentioned he wanted to write a book or he was in the midst of writing a book. And that struck me as an aspiring author that I would’ve loved to have read a book that he wrote. So I went searching and found “Dirty Daddy” by Bob Saget. I wonder if this was the book he was talking about or if he had plans to write a newer book with new stories and adventures. As lives are always changing, there’s always a chance to release a new memoir. I think Bob’s life changed so much from 2014 to 2022 that it would be interesting to see a new perspective he may have had.

He definitely seemed to get more mellow in his older years, and I think his wife played a big part in that too. I can’t imagine the loss she is feeling right now, having lost her best friend. I send her love and comfort and hope she stays surrounding by her sweet and fond memories of him. And may his legacy live on in so many of the lives he touched and inspired. May we all find some kindness and comfort in our lives. And let the love continue to spread to others. I think Bob would’ve liked that.

City of Ember

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Summary

The City of Ember was not meant to last long. It was built with instructions for the residents to return to the world again. But somehow, those instructions were lost. And now more than two hundred years after it was built, the city is starting to crumble. And the lights are flickering more and more, plunging the city into total darkness. With supplies and hopes running low, Doon Harrow is determined to find some answers, but his assignment isn’t quite giving him the knowledge he hoped for. That is until his friend, Lina Mayfleet, finds an old message from when the city was built. With this now coded message from The Builders, Doon and Lina try to decipher the message to try to save Ember once and for all. Or be lost to the darkness forever.

Corner Thoughts

I didn’t know about this series until my son came home from a day of school excited about a book his class was reading. He couldn’t stop talking about how interesting it was and all the things happening in the book.

So for Easter he got a copy of the book to keep for his collection, and this mother got to borrow that book to read.

This is a middle-grade reader book about a dystopian future where we as the readers are almost in the dark as much as the main characters, except we have one bright spot of knowledge. We know that there are instructions that were left behind for the city to re-enter into the regular world. The mystery is surrounding more of why was the city built to begin with, and what catastrophe The Builders had been trying to plan against.

The book is really enjoyable from both Doon and Lina’s third person/omnipresent point of view. This is not a first person narration. But we see from both these two individual’s experiences and life.

In typical young person reader, neither one of these individuals really shared much of what they were doing or the mystery they were unraveling. Lina was a little better at this than Doon as she did attempt to notify a couple people and left messages behind, but maybe not as efficiently as could’ve happened. Though it probably ended up working out for the better in the long run.

This book was fast paced and interesting. It kept me fairly hooked and wanting to know more. Even now having finished the entire book, I want to pick up the next in the series and find out more of what is going on and how the residents are fairing. This book did a great job of blending showing and telling perfectly together so that we had enough moments of seeing the action and moments of being told what happened.

I still feel like the characters are a little bit of a question mark. I understand possibly Doon the most as he was the one with the motivation to learn more about the world and the way things worked and we got to see that. Lina I didn’t really know what her main motivation was until she found the message. There’s quite a few side characters as well and some of them were more fleshed out than others, though perhaps there is room to learn more about them in future books as this is only the first book in the series.

Also, some of the mechanics of the world building such as the lottery that happens for graduating students to receive their job is interesting. I am hoping we see a bit more of the history of The City of Ember and understand more of how the city was made and the decisions that were made for the city.

This is a trilogy with a prequel. So perhaps the prequel will help explain a lot of what brought the city to the point we find them at. I’m definitely interested to read the next one in the series.

Corner Rating: 4.5/5

Pride & Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Summary

In this Old English literature classic from the early 1800s Jane Austen presents us a commentary on etiquette, classism, sexism, and when prejudice and pride get in the way of human interaction. Elizabeth Bennett and her sister Jane Bennett are two of the older Bennett sisters. In a time and day when being a woman gave much to be desired, these two women are navigating the peaks and pitfalls of society and faced with the ever looming thought of having no marriage prospects and being destitute. Of course, that is not the main compelling component for these two women as they wish to marry for love and to find a man that can meet them in their wits and desires. Jane has found such a man in the lovely Mr Bingley, but Elizabeth is hesitant of his friend Mr Darcy and when it comes to light that Mr Darcy caused a rift between Jane and Mr Bingley Elizabeth’s suspicions are confirmed. But is there more to Mr Darcy than Elizabeth first realized? Are Elizabeth and Mr Darcy able to set aside their pride and the prejudices they carry with them to see each other for who they truly are? When Elizabeth’s youngest sister Lydia causes an outright scandal in the community, is it too late for Elizabeth and the proud Mr Darcy? Can they find love in each other? Or are they doomed to a loveless marriage with only their pride to comfort them?

Corner Thoughts

I finally did it. I finally read this classic. It took me awhile. Quite awhile.

There were times it was very difficult to get through this book. The language is different than how we speak today. There are times when a statement is made and I had to interpret what it means in the way we currently speak. This caused it to be a bit slower of a read at times. There’s also a lot of sarcasm and satire throughout this book that sometimes is hard to pick up on until it is mentioned again in a different way.

Also, this book is written in a time period when society and expectations were vastly different from the way we live now. In Austen’s period women barely have rights. They are unable to inherit property and that leaves the Bennett women in a situation where they could potentially be homeless or relying on other family relations, especially if something were to happen to the father of the family, Mr Bennett. This is stressful for all members of the family.

However, these women are quite progressive in a lot of ways, especially Elizabeth Bennett. She is offered marriage twice in this book, but turns it down both times because her pride and desire to marry for more than just comfort outweighs her wish to be married. Elizabeth wants something more from her husband. She wants a companion who can match her in wits and beliefs. Something that causes a lot of strive to her mother who wants to see her properly married off in a successful marriage.

Elizabeth’s mother, Mrs Bennett, is quite the character in this book, very over-exaggerated and overbearing. Even her own husband makes snide comments here and there about her intelligence and character, which Mrs Bennett doesn’t always pick up on. To me she came across as a bit of a comic relief character to show the difference between her loud and sometimes obnoxious ways in comparison to Elizabeth and soft-spoken Jane. There were quite a few scenes when Mrs Bennett was in a fit over something or other, especially in regards to Lydia’s scandal.

The scandal involving Lydia is that she runs away with Mr Wickham. This type of scandal would barely bat the eyes of most Westernized families nowadays. Back in the early 1800s it was appalling to be fraternizing with a member of the opposite sex, let alone run off with them without being married. It is so scandalized that in one of the scenes the Bennett’s receive a letter from their cousin, Mr Collins, that essentially states that she would be better off dead. In today’s day and age that plot line would have to be a bit more juicier, as living with a significant other is almost normalized now.

There were times it was hard to read the story beyond some of these just abhorrent ways that our ancestors thought. To rather have your daughter or family member dead instead of living with someone they love. Of course, we’re not perfect now and I’m sure there’s some individuals who can relate with this. (My own mother told me I was going to hell in a hand-basket when I started living with my now-husband.) While it may be clearly evident that we have progressed much farther in our views on relationships, sex, and women in comparison to Austen’s time period, we still have better to do.

Looking past the society values and language barriers that may occur within this novel, I personally found this book had a lot of telling in a lot of places and not as much showing. There were scenes of showing, but I was surprised with just how much telling there is in the story.

The difference between telling and showing is linked to the words themselves. When a scene is “showing” it is showing us the readers what is happening as we read the words. Example of showing: She sat waiting in the chair when he approached with a scowl on his face and his jaw clenched. She watched him with wide eyes as he stood in front of her squeezing his fists closed. She shifted uncomfortably. We are watching the scene happen. While telling is the author telling us what has happened, through either info-dumping in the scene or characters telling us what has happened. Example: She saw him approach her and he was mad which made her uncomfortable.

I felt in this novel it was a lot of telling us as the reader what has happened in scenes, like when we are told that Mr Darcy was sitting beside Elizabeth at one of the balls and barely spoke to her.

In one of the scenes in the book we have this dialogue that told us of this interaction between Mr Darcy and Elizabeth:

I beg you would not put it into Lizzy’s head to be vexed by his ill-treatment, for he is such a disagreeable man, that it would be quite a misfortune to be liked by him. Mrs. Long told me last night that he sat close to her for half-an-hour without once opening his lips.”

Chapter 5, pg. 16, Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen

Now in fairness to the book, this was a scene that was a recap of the previous evening’s ball and the women were gossiping about the two men Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy. But I would’ve loved to actually see that interaction between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. I wasn’t expecting so much telling in this book. Of course, that could just be a testament to how much authors have grown and evolved in their storytelling ways.

I also must admit that I approached this story expecting a romance. When I thought of the story “Pride & Prejudice” I thought of the two main characters “Elizabeth Bennett” and “Mr Darcy”. Therefore, I was almost confused when I realized that the love story that has been pushed at me between these two main characters isn’t as prominent throughout the story. It’s there a bit throughout the story, and definitely at the end, but I thought it would be a lot more front and centre. Instead we got more of a love story between Jane and Mr Bingley and then it was more of a story about family and just society living in the 1800s. And honestly I think some would argue that it’s more of a comedy and satire than a romance really. However, there definitely is some romance in the novel.

I also watched the movie this evening too. And it was good. I watched the 2005 version and I really enjoyed it. It was a lot more fast paced than the book. There were some scenes in the book that felt a little more dragged out than in the movie. Watching the movie does make me want to re-read the book again.

Overall, I am really glad I read this book. Perhaps approaching it with more of an open mind and understanding that it is more than just a romance between Mr Darcy and Elizabeth will help me to enjoy the second read-through a lot more. There is a reason this book is a much beloved favourite and a clear classic that has stood the test of time.

Corner Rating 4/5