Tag: #thetoiboxofwords

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Question of the Month

#Question of the Month: a #bloghop to think about. No. 9- When have you lost or found love?

A little while ago, Michael D’Agostino, of A Life Examined, brought up the idea of a new blog hop called Question of the Month. He thinks blog readers would like to know a little more about us, the bloggers. So we’re all gathering to show you guys who we are by taking part in the Question of the Month blog hop. On the first Monday of each month, we answer the question that gets posted here.

This month’s question is: “When have you lost or found love?”

Love is such a general term; it’s difficult for me to talk about it without going off on crazy tangents.

I’ve been blessed. I met the love of my life in college, and while I couldn’t stand him at first, we became friends and later fell in love. There really is something special about falling in love with someone you’re such good friends with, but not all love has to be romantic.

I’ve also lost love in my time. I’ve lost friends, people who I thought would always be there for me and vice versa. Alas, when the right circumstances present themselves, you find out exactly where you stand in someone else’s life. That’s not to say that I don’t have some devoted friends, but it still hurts to figure out how not devoted some are.

For me, family is the embodiment of love. I don’t always like or even agree with my family, but I love them and appreciate them so much. It saddens me when I see other people being hateful towards family members, or try to avoid family at all cost, or have a complete disconnect from the people they are related to by blood. However, I also appreciate the fact that not all family members have to be people you are related to by blood. People can say what they will about those “Fast and Furious” movies, but they are a wonderful representation of how family sticks together- if you ignore everything else that’s going on in the movie, hopefully, that message comes across.

Revisiting romantic love briefly, I just wanted to point out that my husband and I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day as a couple. It’s too much of a hassle and is no reflection on the true nature of our relationship. We celebrated it once when we were still dating before we were even engaged. We vowed then to never do it again. We do special and romantic stuff for each other all the time- we’re cool…

With that said, we love to see how other people celebrate it. We love hearing stories of how others have expressed their love and celebrated this holiday.

If you’re interested and have the time, please check out my last BooktagsBlogHop post and perhaps join in.

Also, please visit the other participants in this hop and even join in if you’d like.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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#BooktagsBloghop

#BooktagsBlogHop No. 4: The Woodcutter by Kate Danley #fantasy #YA

Booktagbloghop

The purpose of this blog hop is for readers and writers to share what they are reading, have read, are writing, or have written with others. This is not about promoting free or discounted books though some of those may be featured. This is about book lovers sharing what they love about books. This blog hop is about the Joy of Reading and the Joy of Writing with tags of your choosing and is hosted by me, Toi Thomas, the third Monday of the month. Learn more here.

This month’s optional theme is: New Year, birth, fresh start.

Excerpt from Chapter 78

The Grandmother and Red Riding Hood stopped at the base of a mighty oak tree whose gnarled roots ate the ground and whose grand trunk could only be surrounded if ten tall men stood hand in hand. There, the Grandmother and the child transferred the body to the earth.

They stood respectfully as the Woodcutter knelt at the side of his own being. A phantom tear slid down the Woodcutter’s cheek, and it fell, landing upon the earth.

The Woodcutter buried his face in his sleeves.

But where the tear touched, a small mushroom emerged, a mushroom of red with small dots of white on its cap. It stretched and yawned and shook off the dirt and then shrank back as another tear slid from the Woodcutter and landed wetly upon its head. It shook off the tear like a dog come in from the rain, and where the spray of the second tear landed, a second mushroom emerged, waking and shaking as another tear fell. Around and around the mushrooms grew, until the tears stopped and the Woodcutter looked up.

A circle of mushrooms gazed back at him from all sides, a circle of mushrooms grown into a complete faerie circle.

202 words from: The Wood Cutter © 2010 Kate Danley

My Thoughts

Before I get started with my spiel, let me first apologize. I took a bit of a digital cleanse in the last week or so and let a few things lapse. While I will continue this blog hop regardless of outside participation, I must admit that I didn’t promote this very much this month. I will rectify that for the next post and hopefully come up with a nice list of books to sample.

Now on to the book. I absolutely adored this book the first time a read it, which is probably why I felt the need to read it again. There are so many wonderful qualities to this story- a nice balance of the traditional mixed with twists and upgrades.

In this particular scene, there are several types of awakenings happening and beginning to happen. I won’t go into too much detail about the how and why because I don’t want to spoil it too much. In any case, in keeping with this month’s optional theme, I thought the “birth” or creation of mushroom circle was a perfect fit. I must also admit that when I first read this, the dancing mushroom scene, to the music of the Nutcracker, from Fantasia ran through my mind repeatedly. I felt like a child reading Peter Pan for the first time all over again.

So there, a bit of my perspective and a trip down memory lane. If you like fairytales, mythical lore, and fairy magic, please give the Woodcutter a try. Aside from being a wonderfully told story with amazing world building, it has a subtle and positive message to it.

Find this title at Amazon | Goodreads

What are you currently reading? I’d love to know.
Next blog hop post date will be February 15, 2016.

Be sure to hop around and see what others are reading so you may continue to pile onto your TBR list.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Question of the Month

#Question of the Month: a #bloghop to think about. No. 8- What are some new year’s #resolutions you’ve had in the past?

A little while ago, Michael D’Agostino, of A Life Examined, brought up the idea of a new blog hop called Question of the Month. He thinks blog readers would like to know a little more about us, the bloggers. So we’re all gathering to show you guys who we are by taking part in the Question of the Month blog hop. On the first Monday of each month, we answer the question that gets posted here.

This month’s question is: “What are some new year’s resolutions you’ve had in the past?”

It’s been a while since I’ve really set any New Year’s Resolutions. I typically have so many other goals and deadlines to meet throughout the year that I simply don’t want to add on to anything at the beginning of the year. Plus, I go through a period of consecration each year, as do many Christians, and that’s usually when I stretch myself either mentally, physically, or both.

With that being said, I’ll admit that in the back of my mind I’m always thinking this will be the year I:
Lose weight,
Read more,
Hone old skills I’ve lost, such as: sewing, speaking Spanish, and programming.

I’d say that the last real resolution I set for myself was back in 2009. I told myself that I’d write a book and then I did. I have other goals I hope to meet, but I’m not setting any limitations on when they’ll get met.

Since it’s a new year, and if you feel like trying something new, why not check out my blog hop. It’s a great way to sample new-to-you books. Check my categories to see previous posts or click on BooktagsBlogHop to learn more.

Also, please visit the other participants in this hop and even join in if you’d like.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords