March 26, 2019: Audio Freebie (Any audio goes: audiobooks, music, podcasts, you name it.)

My taste in music is ALL over the board. It took me years to figure out why I liked so many different songs from so many different genres and never really very many full albums. I have come to see that my tastes land heavily in Arena Rock. Arena Rock is the sing-out-loud, pump your fists, foot stomping and powerful music that bands like Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and Def Leppard play. But a lot of other bands have Arena Rock songs in their albums.

Below I’ve created a spotify playlist of favorite songs from the top ten bands I love. You’ll quickly see how crazy my musical tastes are. 😜

Side note: I also love sounds tracks,  that could be it’s own top ten list.

Top Ten Bands I Love:

1. Geoff Moore & The Distance – A Christian Pop Rock band from the 1990’s,  they  went  a lot  harder on  the  threads album and the first song is probably my favorite cover of all time.
2. Petra – When I was a teen Petra was my absolute favorite, and in concert these guys totally blew the roof off! Every once in a while I’ll put a Petra CD in and remember once again just how awesome of a voice John Schlitt’s has.
3. Bon Jovi – I can listen to these classic rockers all day and night, one of the few bands I can say that about.
4. AC/DC – Watching these guys in concert is pretty much the epitome of Arena Rock, although I’ve never been to one of their concerts live. But look them up on YouTube and just see how much energy they put into a live performance.
5. Metallica –  Metallica is one of the all time greats. I love them for their music and their lyrics. Songs like King Nothing and Fuel are two prefect examples of why I keep coming back to Metallica.
6. Collective Soul – We saw these guys in concert a few years ago and boy they still rock. It was one of the more enjoyable concerts I’ve been to in a while. (Admittedly, I don’t like crowds so I don’t go to a lot of concerts any more.)
7. Audio Adrenaline – For years I saw them every time they were in NM. I even once flew down from Oregon to see them, which sounds absolutely crazy to me now. They are a really fun band, and I wish more Christian music was like Audio A.
8. Queensryche – These guys had to grow on me. Obviously Empire is a classic album, but Operation Mindcrime is just as good. I’m a lyrics person and Queensryce is lyric rich.
9. Heart – Girls that rock! And rock hard. Growing up I loved them and it’s not faded with time. Listening to them now is just as enjoyable if not more.

Journey – Another band that’s lyric rich and rocking. Journey actually has several songs that are like personal milestones for me, so there are times when listening to them is like taking a trip back in time.

I’m having trouble getting the embed for Spotify to work. Hopefully you can see it below, if not you can click here to go to the playlist.

I hope you enjoyed that. It might be the only time those songs have all been on a list together. What’s your favorite music genre? I’d love to know, so leave me a comment below.

March 19, 2019: Books On My Spring 2019 TBR

I’m a few days late in getting to my Top Ten Tuesday list this time. This week has just been crazy! Besides the importance of getting my review of Inferno up on time 😉, my grandmother had the seniors group from our church over to the house this week so I had to help her get ready to host the 30 or so people we were expecting.

But better late than never, right?

Ten Books I Hope To Read this Spring:

1. The Maze Runner – I actually started it last night. I’ve been meaning to read it forever and I think now it the time.
2. Angst – The author of these books loved my review of Clod Makes a Friend so much he sent me ALL the books in his other series. I mean to get started on it this spring.
3. In the Region of Summer Stars – A new book by my favorite author. Which of course I had to wait for 9 months after publication before I could get my copy… because publishers do that to us paperback readers for some reason. I’m really excited for this new series.
4. Brian’s Hunt – I picked this up at a thrift store, I didn’t even know there were more Hatchet books out there beside Brain’s Winter. I’ve always loved Hatchet, so this ought to be a good read.
5. Hatchet – Speaking of Hatchet, I’m hoping to read this classic book with the 8 year old soon.
6. A Mid Summers Night’s Dream – I try to fit one classic book into my reading each year. This year I want to do a Shakespeare play and having never read A Mid Summers Night’s Dream it seems like a good time to do it.
7. Kingdom of Salt & Sirens – I bought this Little Mermaid retelling collection when I featured the Blitz on my blog and can’t wait to dive in. I won’t read the whole thing this spring, but I’d like to get started.
8. The Heart of Abshire House – I’m 73% through this book and plan to finish it soon, I just need to get back into the mood.
9. Ginger Pye – I’m planning on continuing my Newbery read through with either Ginger Pye or…
10. Dead End in Norvelt

That’s it for my Spring TBR. What books are you planning to read soon? Let me know in the comments.

Bonus:

I’m doing a giveaway on Twitter. Simply follow and Retweet the tweet below to be entered to win a copy of Powerless by Shelly Miller.

To help celebrate the awesome #bookblogger community here I’m giving away a copy of Powerless by Shelly Miller (a personal friend of mine.)

To be entered to win:
💥1. Follow me on Twitter
💥 2. RT this tweet.

You MUST be able to receive a Kindle gift copy if you win. pic.twitter.com/3Uqqb9Rsur

— Arwen McGilvra (@TheTechChef) March 7, 2019

February 26, 2019: Places Mentioned In Books That I’d Like to Visit

Oh, I love this topic! There are sooo many places that I could list. (In fact, I could probably come up with just 10 places in Middle-Earth alone, but that’s a list for another time.) Here are simply a handful of places from books I wish I could visit.

Five Places I Wish I Could Visit

1. Middle Earth – Edoras – The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien – I would love to visit the golden hall as the Rohirrim are by far the most interesting of the races of men.
2. Middle Earth – Rivendell – The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien – Since I am named after one of the Rivendell elves I would like to visit the home of Elrond too. Plus the movie really made Rivedell seem like a paradise.
3. The Otherworld – The Song of Albion Trilogy by Stephen R Lawhead – Ever since I was a teenager the otherworld as described in the Lawhead books has captured my imagination. Imagine a place so beautiful that you would weep to see it.
4. Os Alta– Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – Admittedly the fact that I’m reading the series right now might have something to do with this. But the shining city on a hill with it’s golden domes just sounds intriguing.
5. Nocturne – The Fourth Talisman Series by Kat Ross – In this world of Solis/Nocturne half the world is always in day the other in night. The deep night forests of Nocturne sound stunning and peaceful.

Okay, I only had time to do five, but there are more, many, many more I could choose. I almost added the Oasis from Ready Player One and Meridian from the comic books of the same name.  If you could travel to a place from a book where would you go?

February 19, 2019: Books I LOVED with Fewer than 2,000 Ratings on Goodreads

I did a similar topic for Top Ten Tuesday back in Top Ten Tuesday #6. So I’m going to pick a list of ten books that didn’t make that first list. In fact, I narrowed down my list even more to books with under 100 ratings on Goodreads.

Ten Books That Need More Love:

1. You Wouldn’t Believe Me If I Told You – A personal friend of mine wrote this pseudo-memoir/ autobiography of her mother, and wow, it’s powerful.
2. Rags and Ruins– A fantastic read! A fantasy book that turns troupes on their heads. Read my review.
3. The Last Treasure of Ancient England – I know that the phase of boarding school stories may be past, but this one is worth a read for it’s inventive “treasure”. Read my review.
4. Era of Undying – I just recently read this story and again it’s the fact that it’s so inventive that makes it worthy of a read. It’s a little bit like Avatar the Last Airbender meets Torchwood Miracle Day with hints of Greek mythology thrown in. Read my review.
5. Clod Makes a Friend – I know I’ve raved and raved and raved about this book. That’s because it really is that GOOD. If you want a great middle grade read pick up Clod Makes A Friend because it will not disappoint.
6. 99 Days – I still need to write a review of this one. But it was definitely the book of the year for 2017. A very interesting fantasy book that asked deep questions about what a life is worth.
7. The Waterfall Traveler – A great fantasy book that I remember I couldn’t put down. The only reason it wasn’t five-stars was because of a unnecessary love triangle. Read my review.
8. Empty Threat – An absolute book lovers treat. If you’ve ever wondered if you could go into the story and change it, this book is for you.
9. Richard’s Story – Part of the Shattered Worlds boxed set this is the story of how the modern world ended and what lead to the creation of a dystopian. A side of the stories we don’t normally get.
10. Lettuce Grows on the Ground – This whole series of kids books it totally worth having in your library. Each book is colorful and leads wonderfully to discovering where our food comes from.

What’s a book you love than has less than 100 ratings on Goodreads? I’d love to know, so leave me a comment below.