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My Blog Posts (Musings….)

10 Great Books I Read in 2021

April 4, 2022 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I was looking through the list of books I read last year and thought I’d share some of my favorites ones. These are the books that jumped out at me when I was perusing the list. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find your next great read.

  1. Last Night at the Telegraph Club
    Malinda Lo
    Last Night at the Telegraph Club

This historical novel takes place in Chinatown in 1954 and follows two young women, Lily and Kath who fall in love with each other.” The Telegraph Club is a Lesbian bar and it’s where a few pivotal events in the novel occur. This is a dangerous time for the young women to fall in love, with Red-Scare paranoia threatening their existence, especially for Lilly who is Chinese-American. I thought this was a delightful story focusing on lesbian culture and the coming of age of a young Chinese-American woman. I enjoyed the discussions of race, culture, immigration and sexuality in the story and this book stayed in my mind weeks after having read it.

  1. Malibu Rising
    Taylor Jenkins Reid
    Malibu Rising Cover
    Four famous Riva siblings throw an epic end of the summer party. This year’s party, however, is unlike those of the previous years, as each of the secrets that the siblings have been hiding comes to light. Additionally, a few unexpected guests manage to further fuel the fire that’s been brewing. As the party gets insanely out of control (kind of like a freight train running off the rails!) due to excessive drugs, copious amounts of alcohol, and disappearing inhibitions, the underlying drama escalates — resulting in quite an explosive conclusion, so much so that none of the Riva’s lives will ever be the same afterward.
  2. The Outsider
    Stephen King
    The Outsider book coverWhen the body of an eleven-year-old boy is found in a town park, eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. However, things are not as they seem, especially in this story. I was shocked (in a good way) when this book turned out to be completely different from what I thought it was. It starts out as a murder mystery but ends up being so much more, once doubts and alternative evidence make the police question everything. Another hit for me by Stephen King. It’s also peppered with amazingly quirky secondary characters.
  3. The Echo Wife
    Sarah Gailey
    The Echo Wife
    I’ve read a couple of other books by this author: Magic for Liars and When We Were Magic and enjoyed both of them. But I’d say that this book is my favorite one of the three. I’m not sure if it’s really a thriller…it’s kind of a mixture of sci-fi, suspense and domestic drama. The story takes place in the not-so-distant future and follows a brilliant and driven award-winning scientist named Evelyn Caldwell whose work involves Clone technology, Unbenownst to Evelyn, her husband Nathan has stolen her research and created a genetic clone of her and named it Martine. Things get really crazy when the husband ends up dead in Martine’s kitchen and the two “Mrs. Caldwells” end up having to work together to fix the mess.
  4. We Begin at the End
    Chris Whittaker
    We Begin at the End Book Cover
    I actually won this book in a Goodreads Drawing and boy what a pleasant surprise. This was a gripping character-driven saga of a family in small town America and deals with topics such as loyalty, loss, tragedy and murder. This crime fiction/murder mystery was one of those heart-wrenching books that sticks with you for a long time. The relentless plot kept me guessing until the surprising ending.
  5. Every Last Fear
    Alex Finlay
    Every Last Fear book cover
    “They found the bodies on a Tuesday. Two days after the family had missed their flight home. Six days after all texts and social media had gone dark.” Thus begins Every Last Fear, by Alex Findley, a spine-chilling, tension-packed gripper of a story. The story hurtles along at breakneck speed, never giving you the opportunity to catch your breath, with each scene ratcheting up the tension page by nerve-wracking page. Really, the suspense is pretty much unrelenting, almost to the very end.
  6. One Last Stop
    Casey McQuiston
    One Last Stop book cover
    I fell deeply in love with this story. McQuiston is the same author who wrote “Red, White and Royal Blue,” another favorite of mine. The story follows twenty-three-year-old August who has just moved to New York City. One day, she meets a gorgeous young woman named Jane on the subway and pretty soon falls head over heels for here. There’s only one problem however: Jane has been stuck on the subway since the 1970s and cannot leave it. Unable to resist a mystery, she and her roommates, try to help August and save her from the subway.
  7. Under the Whispering Door
    TJ Klune
    Under the Whispering Door Cover
    This might be my favorite book of the year. This is an endearing tale that follows Wallace Price who has just died. A reaper appears and takes Wallace to a small teashop in a village where he has to learn a few important lessons before being allowed to enter the afterlife. Things get really interesting when the Manager, an enigmatic and and powerful being arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace only one week before he cross over. Thus, Wallace sets about living an entire lifetime in seven days. A heartwarming, whimsical story about love, life and second chances. This one really wormed its way into my heart.
  1. Razorblade Tears
    S.A. Cosby
    Razorblade Tears Cover
    Though this was a tough book to read, it also was an amazing one. It’s a tragic story that follows two ex cons who gay sons are both murdered so they take it upon themselves to avenge the murders. It’s an action-packed, intense, heartbreaking book that looks at violence, racism, shame, guilt and regret. But it’s also a hopeful one about family, relationships, and friendship. Be warned however: it is a tad brutal in places, given that violence, sadness and grief are major themes in the story. Yet, it is ultimately a hopeful tale with incredible storytelling and larger-than-life characters.
  2. Anxious People
    Fredrick Backman
    Anxious People cover
    I reread this for my bookclub and I enjoyed it even more the second time. This was not only thought-provoking but laugh-out-loud funny. It’s a heartwarming novel populated with zany characters stuck in a ridiculous situation and I thought this was so much fun. If you enjoyed the humor in A Man Called Ove, you should enjoy this.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

My struggles to become a morning person

April 3, 2022 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Man sleeping holding alarm

“Early to bed, early to rise,”… yada, yada, yada.

How many times have you heard this adage, or have had someone tell you that you should wake up earlier in the morning in order to be more productive? People describe getting up early as this glorious, almost spiritual experience where the world conspires with them to get as much done as possible. I’ve heard people say that early risers are more motivated, more productive, healthier, and even more intelligent.

Thus began my struggles to become a morning person. I wasn’t an early-to-rise person. I worked in the food service industry for years as a waiter, where I didn’t get off work until close to midnight. This was my schedule during most of my 20s. Even during my college years, I made a point of only taking afternoon and evening classes so I could sleep in. Heck, there was even a short stint where I worked third shift, which I didn’t enjoy at all.

Then I entered the corporate world, and they expected me to be at work by 8:00 or 8:30 every weekday, which to me was a nightmare. Good gods! But I did it and convinced myself that I would finally be a morning person.

Have you ever heard of people saying they wake up at 6:00 am every day, without an alarm, refreshed and ready to face their day? Yeah, that was so not me. That was never me. Every morning, getting out of bed was a battle. I’d lie there until the last possible moment, hitting the snooze button over and over—basically torturing myself each and every day. This routine never relented. As long as I worked first shift, the mornings were a battleground with me trying to get out of bed.

When I started working for myself, I figured I could wake up whenever I wanted to. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Instead, I soon discovered that people began calling promptly at 9:00 to place orders or get their questions answered. So the struggle continued.

What I noticed over the years is that if I don’t set my alarm, I don’t get up early. Rather than automatically waking up at my usual time, my body shifts to a second shift schedule, no matter what time I go to bed. So if I don’t set an alarm, I’ll wake up at ten or eleven o’clock in the morning. Then when it’s time to return to awaking early, the struggle returns worse than before.

These days, I choose to get up at 7:00, though it’s still a struggle. But I’m doing better. I have three alarms that go off every four minutes. Thus, the irritation factor eventually outweighs my desire to snooze, and grumbly, I get out of bed shortly after 7:00. I arise at the same time, even on the weekends, because if I don’t, then my schedule is destroyed, and it will be that much more of a struggle come Monday.

I no longer have to be up early to answer customer calls, but I still choose to be at my desk a little after 7:00 am. Though I don’t enjoy waking up in the mornings, I do enjoy the beauty, quiet, and solitude of the mornings, and I do believe that I accomplish more during the day when I wake up early. Additionally, being an amateur photographer, the best time for photoshoots is right around sunrise, so there is that motivation for me as well. But every now and then, I briefly consider shifting back to more of a second shift schedule, which is more in tune with my body’s natural rhythm. It would be nice to wake up during the day without the endless and agonizing morning battle with the snooze alarm. Perhaps during my dotage, I’ll finally get to enjoy sleeping in.

I’ve heard people say time and again that anyone can be a morning person and that people who sleep in are lazy. I wholeheartedly disagree. For decades, I have been trying to “become” a morning person, and even though I still get up early (though there are many who don’t consider 7:00 early), it’s never gotten easy. I genuinely believe that some people simply are not morning people, and it’s something you can’t ever force. The struggle is real, folks. Believe me.

Norian Cover

Filed Under: Musings

Weekly Roundup – April 2, 2022

April 2, 2022 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Weekly Roundup

Welcome to my Weekly Roundup where on Saturday, I post links to things I shared on social media throughout the week that I thought were interesting. I’ll also include book news, cover reveals, and more goodies.

This week, I’m announcing some major changes with the newsletter and with the blog. These days, all of us are inundated with the numerous emails and newsletters that clog up our inbox, with more appearing all the time. I have had some people comment that a weekly newsletter is a bit too much and they’d prefer to receive mail from me only when I release a new book or have other book-related announcements.

I’ve taken your comments to heart and from this point forward, I will no longer send out a weekly newsletter. Instead, those of you who are subscribed will only hear from me about once a month or so, unless I have a new release or a book cover reveal to share. As for the Weekly Roundup, it will be returning back to the blog on Saturdays. That is to say, each Saturday I will share links to some of the interesting articles I came across during the week, as well as any book news.

Speaking of book news, I recently released the fifth book in my Ghost Oracle series entitled “Camping with a Ghost”. You can learn more about it HERE. After that, I’ve planed one more book in the series which you should hopefully see within the next few months.

Camping with a ghost

But next up, I’ll be releasing a gay young adult contemporary novel the takes place at a hockey academy. Editing is coming along nicely.

So on to the roundup.

Some Things I Thought Were Worth Sharing

  1. Just for fun: Artist Made These 40 Hilariously Absurd Comics With Ridiculously Unexpected Twists. Also, this thought-provoking thread: ‘Workers Strike Back’: Times When People Realized That Modern Capitalism Is Starting To Look Ridiculous
  2. One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to buy books: Why used books make the best travel souvenirs. If you’re a sci-fi/fantasy fan, here are 37 New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Releasing April 2022.
  3. I’m looking forward to this as I love witchy stories: You Won’t Be Alone Horror Director Interview Goran Stolevski. I’m also intrigued by the release of this film, as I loved the book: Where The Crawdads Sing – Trailer. Lastly, I read the book (Dear Edward) and it was an excellent story so I’m looking forward to see what Apple does with it: Upcoming Apple TV show ‘Dear Edward’ adds 11 to its cast
  4. Book Lovers may enjoy this: Folks Online List 30 Books That Blew Their Minds And Changed Their Lives
  5. Compelling article about forgiveness in our modern society: Is there room for forgiveness in today’s “cancel culture” era? I also enjoyed this opinion piece about our changing times: What You’re Feeling Isn’t A Vibe Shift. It’s Permanent Change.
  6. “A novel is also a thing you make, like any other craft, by doing it wrong a bunch of times first.”: Telling the Story of (the Real) Greenwich Village
  7. Article about How to Turn Casual Connections into Close Friendships
  8. Jamie Todd Rubin answers the question: What It Means to Read a Book
  9. For my writer friends: Everything You Need to Know about Your Author Website
  10. Hmm..I didn’t know this was a thing: Winchesters Casting: Supernatural The CW Prequel Casts Parents
  11. Are Matt Bomer and Bradley Cooper about to become a couple? Onscreen, that is.
  12. Interesting reading: Are we doomed? Why we keep turning to social media for the answer — and ways to cope – Doomsday, probability of nuclear war, and WWIII: A guide to surviving the online apocalypse
  13. Writing Lessons from Author-Seductress Extraordinaire Catherine Tramell
  14. For the aspiring photographer: 10 Best Photography Books You Should Read in 2022
  15. Want your book to be a movie? ‘The Last Duel’ author tells how his book got optioned for film (opinion)

Oh, and in case you missed it, Instagram’s chronological feed is back — but it’s not on by default.

Filed Under: Weekly Roundup

Goodbye Field Notes (for now)

April 1, 2022 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Field notes notbooks on desk

Even though I’ve been a fan of the Field Notes Brand of notebooks for many years now, and I love writing in them, the time has come for us to part ways. I recently went to renew my yearly subscription and I was more than a bit stunned to see that the subscription was now $120 per year — for a few pocket notebooks every three months.

If I used every notebook I received, it might be a different story. But I have stacks upon stacks of the notebooks on my shelf, most of them yet unopened. With the subscription, the company typically sends you two packs of three notebooks each quarter, which comes to about 24 notebooks a year, which is much more than I go through. Usually, it takes me about two months to work my way through a notebook, sometimes less. I also maintain a bullet journal, so a lot of my daily writing ends up in there. I’ve been considering moving my bullet journal to the Field Notes notebooks, given that I have so many of them that are not being used.

Field Notes

So basically, this is a case of me buying way more notebooks than I need, leading to kind of a hoarding situation.

But it was really the cost of the subscription that gave me pause. When I first started subscribing, I think the price was around $80, maybe even less. Even then, I thought the subscription was a tad expensive for paper products, but I liked them, so I figured ‘what the hell.’ When the cost jumped to $99, I hesitated again, trying to decide if they were worth the price. But this time, at $120, I decided to pull the plug. It’s an awful lot of money for something that mostly sits on my shelves, unused. Plus, the ever-growing stack of notebooks is a bit silly. Thus, I made the decision to work my way through the ones I’ve already purchased before bringing any new ones into the house.

Now, am I saying I’ll never again purchase a Fields Notes notebook? Not at all. In fact, if they release an especially compelling edition, I may log onto their site and purchase just that specific notebook pack. I especially like the oversized editions they come out with occasionally. But my main goal is to work through the ones I have first. Once I do, I might even consider subscribing again.

I have to admit that I will miss seeing that package arrive every quarter with exciting new notebooks for me to discover. But, on the bright side, I now get to enjoy all those unused notebooks that came to my house in past subscriptions!

Ghost at the Prom cover

Filed Under: Writing

What I Read This Month (3/2022):

March 31, 2022 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Many friends who know I read a lot often ask me what books I recommend. In fact, I used to post weekly on a Booktube (YouTube) channel. So I figured that at the end of each month, I’d post about what I read during that month. These won’t be in-depth reviews, just a couple of sentences about each book.

I actually decided recently to scale down by reading as I was spending too much time doing it and, in the process, ignored other things I needed to do. Still, I managed to read nine books this month.

  1. Here’s to Us by Becky Abertalli and Adam Silvera
    Here's to Us book cover

This is the sequel to “What If It’s Us” by the same authors. Ben and Arthur find themselves drawn into each other’s orbit once again. Unfortunately, they both have a boyfriend. So what is the universe going to do?

  1. The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
    Rules of Magic

This is another book in the author’s Practical Magic series. This one follows Owen’s siblings in the 1960s (including the two sisters who will grow up to be the memorable aunts in Practical Magic). In this book, we learn more about the dreaded Owens curse. Loved it!

  1. Manitou Canyon by William Kent Krueger
    Manitou Canyon

I’m a massive fan of this author and this Corkrin O’Connor series. This is the 15th book in the series though they don’t have to be read in order. In this book, a man camping in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness goes missing, and the search is concluded without finding a body. The man’s family asks Cork to stay on the case, so he does — and ends up in a deadly situation.

  1. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
    Clockwork Angel

This is the first book in Clare’s “Infernal Devices” series, which takes place during the Victorian era. This was a fun read with plenty of intrigue and action. I am looking forward to continuing with this series.

  1. Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson
    Oathbringer cover

This is the third book in Sanderson’s epic fantasy series, “The Stormlight Archive.” I loved it just as much as the first two. This is one of my favorite fantasy series.

  1. Game Changer by Neal Shusterman
    Game Changer cover
    I love twisty mind-bendy books, and this one ticked all the boxes. This follows a young man who discovers he can shift into parallel universes. A lot of mayhem ensues. So far, I’ve loved everything I read by this author, and Game Changer did not disappoint. It’s worth mentioning that I listened to this in audiobook format, and the narrator was phenomenal.
  1. The Nerd Jock Conundrum by Hayden Hall
    Nerd Jock Conundrum cover
    This was a cute gay romance book following a football player and a chemistry nerd that was plenty of fun. I’ve wanted to check out this author for a while now, and I’m glad I did. This is the first book in the College Boys of New Haven series, and I plan to continue on with this series.
  1. Punching the V-Card by Leta Blake
    Punching the V Card cover
    I’ve read books by Leta Blake before and have enjoyed them. This one…not so much. This was more smut than romance with very little plot. It was more like one continuous sex scene. I don’t mind a sex scene here and there, but it doesn’t work for me when that’s the only focus of the book. I suppose the title should have been a clue as to its contents. But if you’re looking for a fun, super sexy read, then this might be worth checking out.
  1. Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts by Matt Bell
    Refuse to be Done Cover

I always try to read new books on the craft of writing. There are a ton of helpful revision tips in this guide, broken down into manageable steps. It’s definitely worth the buy.

Filed Under: Books I Read (by month)

Wordless Wednesday – Tree Artist

March 30, 2022 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Tree Art

Filed Under: Wordless Wednesday

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