The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 5

The Valley of the Horses by Jean M. Auel

Goodreads Blurb: This unforgettable odyssey into the distant past carries us back to the awesome mysteries of the exotic, primeval world of The Clan of the Cave Bear, and to Ayla, now grown into a beautiful and courageous young woman.

Cruelly cast out by the new leader of the ancient Clan that adopted her as a child, Ayla leaves those she loves behind and travels alone through a stark, open land filled with dangerous animals but few people, searching for the Others, tall and fair like herself. The short summer gives her little time to look, and when she finds a sheltered valley with a herd of hardy steppe horses, she decides to stay and prepare for the long glacial winter ahead. Living with the Clan has taught Ayla many skills but not real hunting. She finally knows she can survive when she traps a horse, which gives her meat and a warm pelt for the winter, but fate has bestowed a greater gift, an orphaned foal with whom she develops a unique kinship. One winter extends to more; she discovers a way to make fire more quickly and a wounded cave lion cub joins her unusual family, but her beloved animals don’t fulfill her restless need for human companionship. Then she hears the sound of a man screaming in pain. She saves tall, handsome Jondalar, who brings her a language to speak and an awakening of love and desire, but Ayla is torn between her fear of leaving her valley and her hope of living with her own kind.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: This may be a controversial statement but … the least interesting thing about Jondalar is the size of his ‘manhood’. What? You thought I was going to say this book was better than the first one? Well, that’s objectively not true – but still an excellent book none the less, couldn’t put it down. Figuratively speaking.

Amazon Associates Link: The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel

The Wee Writing Lassie’s Gilmore Girls Love Interests of All Time: The Ninth Love of their Life

Is there anyone out there who actually likes Dean? Seriously? Why? Huh, well not to be offensive but that sounds deeply stupid, and this may not be the post for you. So we’ll see you tomorrow – as for the rest of you, onwards sane reader, to adventure.

Dean Forester

Okay, that was a bit of a joke – I didn’t actually mean to shit on anyone there. But come on this guy is the actual worst. He’s abusive, controlling, belittling, gets married on what looks like a whim, and then cheats on his wife with his ex-girlfriend. The only reason I can see anyone in the 2020s liking him is out of spite for Rory’s other two main love interests, Jess and Logan. And while neither of them are perfect, and it could be argued in the revival Logan is also a cheater – you know what they have, that Dean will never have? Actors that can actually act. That’s right Padalecki fan girls, I – having only watched him in this – have unjustifiably gone there.

The only reason this asshole isn’t the lowest on the list, is because unlike Dave no one’s going completely rabid over him, and insisting he was perfect. At least not the majority of people anyway. Which ironically makes me resent him less.

If you’ve enjoyed this wee post remember to follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on X, Goodreads, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Pinterest, Tumblr, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Kofi. And remember to subscribe to the Wee Mailing List before the end of the month to discover the Top Love of their Lives. Until next time, stay safe and have a swell day.

The Wee Writing Lassie’s Gilmore Girls Love Interests of All Time: The Tenth Love of their Life

Well, here I am my Wee Readers, back again with my second Gilmore Girls Blog Series. Today we delves into the strange and sometimes somewhat unsettling world of the men of the Gilmore Girls. I know it says love interests in the title, and that’s a usual more gender ambiguous term – but this was a show from the nineties and even its modern revival technically only had one canon gay character, and he was a man so it wouldn’t really make a difference even if I did include his unseen partner on this list. Sorry, got away from my self there … let’s get this started before I get distracted again … ooh what’s that shiny thing?

Dave Rygalski

I’m going to start this list off on a slightly controversial note … I don’t like Dave. Yes, yes, I live for your hate – boo louder, grab those pitchforks and torches, chase me across the field! You’re only giving me what I want! But in all seriousness, I don’t particularly care for Dave. Sure as a first boyfriend for Lane he’s perfectly serviceable. Nice enough, technically good looking, and willing to tie himself in nots and tell any lie to her mother just to be with her. That may sound like the stuff of dreams to a large portion of the Gilmore Girls fanbase, but I would argue at least one of those qualities your fawning over makes Dave a terrible choice for Lane in the long run.

Can you tell? It’s the lying.

Oh sure, we never see him lie to Lane herself, but he feeds into her gut instinct to lie and scheme around her mother and the other problems in her life rather than confronting them. Don’t get me wrong, in the short time they actually go out, Lane is still in the part of her life when she relies on this coping mechanism to stay sane. So it never comes up as an actual issue, but I can’t help but cringe every time I watch that part when he curly berates her in front of the other members of Hep Alien, so as to better keep their relationship hidden from them. And the reasons they do this are deeply dumb, and unnecessary. Especially considering the two people they’re hiding from this time are Zach and Brian – two people who could not care less about their bandmates private dating lives.

Mrs. Kim at least makes sense, given the repressive regime she ran in the Kim household – but, the thing you have to understand with that is, that Lane’s coping mechanism of hiding and scheming to get some freedom was always a short term solution. If we can tell anything from the progression of the Kim’s storylines post-Dave, it is that to truly be able to live a full and rich life, something had to break. Mrs. Kim needed to discover who her daughter really was. Yes, it’s sad that upon discovering her records and clothing and other paraphernalia that she threw her out of the house and Lane was forced to move in with Zach and Brian. But ultimately I would still argue Mrs. Kim discovering the truth was something that needed to happen – as once she calms down and makes contact again, we see the mother and daughter are able to more honestly support and understand one another’s needs than they had before their confrontation. And that never would have happened with perfect Dave and his wonder lies backing Lane up.

If you’ve enjoyed this wee post remember to follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on X, Goodreads, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Pinterest, Tumblr, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Kofi. And remember to subscribe to the Wee Mailing List before the end of the month to discover the Top Love Interest of Gilmore Girls, it’s not who you think it is. Until next time, stay safe and have an awesome day.

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 4

Knot a Chance by Sinclair Kelly

Goodreads Blurb: Time heals all wounds…

Yeah, I call bullshit. My grief still bleeds out each and every day no matter how much time passes.

I’ve managed to make a new life for myself by helping my bestie run TheOmegasGuide—our viral social media account. We support freedom of choice for all designations.

Though I’m starting to wonder if having a choice is really all that great. Locke’s up my ass more than usual, acting weird, and…is my hulking Beta friend flirting? I’d be lying if I said I didn’t secretly hope he’d ignore that whole friend-zone thing. Then there’s Cohen—the commanding, broody Alpha who wants nothing to do with me, but that I can’t stop thinking about. Of course, I can’t forget Bastian—the sexy stranger I ran into—literally. With his big, warm, mouthwateringly gorgeous body and haunted brown eyes, I’d love the chance to get to know him better.

The intensity of our chemistry is explosive, but they’re not a pack, and I’m not looking for another forever….right? No. It hurts too much and goes against everything I believe now.

No relationships. No commitments. This Omega needs to rediscover just who she is and can’t fall into anything serious.

Nope. Knot a chance.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Kiss him you fool … hmm … okay well that will do too 🤣 A well written, engaging read that delves into love, loss, grief and stalking in the Omegaverse.

Amazon Associates Link: Knot a Chance by Sinclair Kelly

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 3

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Goodreads Blurb: This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love. Through Jean M. Auel’s magnificent storytelling we are taken back to the dawn of modern humans, and with a girl named Ayla we are swept up in the harsh and beautiful Ice Age world they shared with the ones who called themselves The Clan of the Cave Bear.

A natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind. To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly–she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat to his authority. He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Incredible book. I did get a little annoyed every time the narrative voice felt it had to stop and point out that the Clan had reached their genetic conclusion, and of course would be surpassed by a newer (and possibly greater) species on earth’s stage. As given it was written by a member of that newer species it kind of felt a little like gloating. Still, five out five regardless.

Amazon Associates Link: The Clan of the Cave Bear

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 2

The Aeneid by Virgil

Goodreads Blurb:The Aeneid – thrilling, terrifying and poignant in equal measure – has inspired centuries of artists, writers and musicians.

Virgil’s epic tale tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, who flees his city after its fall, with his father Anchises and his young son Ascanius – for Aeneas is destined to found Rome and father the Roman race. As Aeneas journeys closer to his goal, he must first prove his worth and attain the maturity necessary for such an illustrious task. He battles raging storms in the Mediterranean, encounters the fearsome Cyclopes, falls in love with Dido, Queen of Carthage, travels into the Underworld and wages war in Italy.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Very beautiful writing, very beautiful prose but if I’m to be honest the story was a bit of a slog. If I hadn’t been reading it as research for my own book I would have given up ages ago. Also was not expecting it to rhyme as much as it did, I’m not complaining it was just a bit of a surprise.

Link for Audiobook on Amazon Associates: The Aeneid by Virgil

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 1

The Truth by Terry Pratchett

Goodreads Blurb: William de Worde is the accidental editor of the Discworld’s first newspaper. Now he must cope with the traditional perils of a journalist’s life – people who want him dead, a recovering vampire with a suicidal fascination for flash photography, some more people who want him dead in a different way and, worst of all, the man who keeps begging him to publish pictures of his humorously shaped potatoes.

William just wants to get at THE TRUTH. Unfortunately, everyone else wants to get at William. And it’s only the third edition…

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Without a doubt my favourite of all the Discworld Books. The only downside is this is the only one with William De Worde as a main character, or as I call him the best Discworld character, which I suppose is less of a downside for this book and more for the rest of the series.

I’ve recently become an Amazon Associate, so in celebration of this might I invite my wee readers to click through onto the link below. I’ve chosen to link to the Audiobook because that’s the way I read it.

Link for Audiobook on Amazon : The Truth by Terry Pratchett

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – an Introduction

What Ho, Wee Readers I hope you had a merry Christmas. I know I did. Mostly because I spent it with my family who I love of course, but the second thing that made my Christmas- or at least my December – so awesome, is that I completed my 200 Book Goodreads Reading Challenge. With those kinds of things I have a tendency to get a fatigued near the middle and lose my momentum, so this was really exciting.

When I reached my target, and that digital confetti went off I felt I could touch the sky, like I could literally do anything. So I thought this year, let’s up the ante, let’s make it 300. And to keep myself motivated with this, I’m going to document it on The Wee Blog. That’s right, this blog series will be 300 blog posts throughout the year, 301 if you count this one. Follow the Wee Blog if you want to stay up to date.

The Wee Writing Lassie’s Top Fourteen Odd Characters from Gilmore Girls: The Wee Mailing List

Hey, just a brief reminder to sign up for the Wee Mailing List before the end of the month, to discover who the top Odd Character from Gilmore Girls really is.

As I’ve done before that post will be published on the Mailing List first. And while I will no doubt be posting it on the blog eventually under the Wee Archive Banner – there’s no solid date for that. I usually do Wee Archives when I’m either working on a very long and involved piece, or a new short blog series to give myself some time to write without going too long without posting anything. But since I’ve been getting much better with writing my posts in advance, at least lately – no Wee Archives have been planned anytime soon.

So if you’ve enjoyed the rest of this series, and are eager to see how it finishes – don’t wait around for months, sign up to the Wee Mailing List today.

If you’ve enjoyed this wee post remember to follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on X, Goodreads, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Pinterest, Tumblr, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Kofi. And remember to subscribe to the Wee Mailing List before the end of the month to discover the Top Odd Character of Gilmore Girls. Until next time, stay safe and have an excellent day.

The Wee Writing Lassie’s Top Fourteen Odd Characters from Gilmore Girls: The Second Character

Everyone shut up … best character is choosing to speak to you. Well Second best, but you get the joke.

Michel Gerard

The proud bearer of the titles of Only Foreigner, Only Black Man, and Only Gay Man in Stars Hollow. Michel is without a doubt one the funniest characters in the show, and one of the very few not in thrall to the Gilmore charm. While by the end he is is firmly a friend of Lorelai, I’m pretty sure he either hates or is so deeply indifferent to Rory that she’s incapable of pulling her usual crap over him.

Granted he’s apathetic to most things, so we rarely get to see this in action – but I still hold close to my heart the moment he flipped out at – collage age – Rory for using his post-it notes and messing up his system for checking people in to the Dragonfly Inn. She was flummoxed at being called out on anything, and had to have her mother step in reign in Michel. It was awesome. *dreamy sigh* If only there were more scenes like that, he might have even made the top spot.

To find out who really did remember to sign up to the Wee Mailing List before the end of the month.

If you’ve enjoyed this wee post remember to follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on X, Goodreads, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Pinterest, Tumblr, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Kofi. And remember to subscribe to the Wee Mailing List before the end of the month to discover the Top Odd Character of Gilmore Girls. Until next time, stay safe and have an excellent day.