Tag Archives: Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday (October 4) – The Island

Posted on by

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

It’s the nature of book blogging to focus mainly on new releases, but there are thousands of great books out there that haven’t seen the “New Releases” shelf in years. We hope to be able to bring attention to some older titles that may not be at the top of the current bestseller list, but still deserve a spot in your To-Be-Read pile.

You don’t have to be a book blogger to participate! You can put up a Throwback Thursday post on your non-bookish blog; or if you don’t have a blog at all, just use the comments to tell us about a book you remember fondly.

Here’s how it works:
1. Pick any book released more than 5 years ago. Adult, YA, Children’s; doesn’t matter. Any great book will do.
2. Write up a short summary of the book (include the title, author, and cover art) and an explanation of why you love it. Make sure to link back to The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books in your post.
3. Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
4. Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list!

Feel free to grab the Throwback Thursday button code from the sidebar to use in your posts.

Thanks for participating, and we look forward to seeing which books you choose to remember!

My Throwback this week is…

The Island by Victoria Hislop

No, this isn’t an explosion-filled action-adventure about strangely attractive clones. (Full disclosure: I kinda love that movie).

The Island is follows the story of 25-year-old Alexis, who travels to Crete to learn about her past and figure out what she should do about her own angst-filled life. While there, she learns the story of her great grandmother, Eleni, who was sent to the leper colony of Spinalonga in the 1930s, and of her grandmother and great-aunt, Anna and Maria, the daughters Eleni left behind. The bulk of the story actually follows Eleni, Anna, and Maria, with Alexis’ story bookending theirs.

I enjoyed this book, and while it is fictional, I found it rather eye-opening. I haven’t come across a lot of books about leprosy (granted, I haven’t been looking), and reading about the colony, how its inhabitants functioned, and how the disease progressed were really interesting. There isn’t a lot of action or mystery or suspense in this book; it’s quiet and introspective, a romantic and occasionally melodramatic story. It uses Nazis and World War II as more of a backdrop than a focal point, and most of the drama and conflict is contained within Crete and Spinalonga. But it was a quick and simple read, which got me interested in a subject I didn’t think I’d ever want to read about.

This is a blog hop! Link up your Throwback Thursday post below!



Throwback Thursday (September 27) – The Talisman

Posted on by


Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

It’s the nature of book blogging to focus mainly on new releases, but there are thousands of great books out there that haven’t seen the “New Releases” shelf in years. We hope to be able to bring attention to some older titles that may not be at the top of the current bestseller list, but still deserve a spot in your To-Be-Read pile.

You don’t have to be a book blogger to participate! You can put up a Throwback Thursday post on your non-bookish blog; or if you don’t have a blog at all, just use the comments to tell us about a book you remember fondly.

Here’s how it works:
1. Pick any book released more than 5 years ago. Adult, YA, Children’s; doesn’t matter. Any great book will do.
2. Write up a short summary of the book (include the title, author, and cover art) and an explanation of why you love it. Make sure to link back to The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books in your post.
3. Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
4. Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list!

Feel free to grab the Throwback Thursday button code from the sidebar to use in your posts.

Thanks for participating, and we look forward to seeing which books you choose to remember!

My Throwback this week is…

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

Okay, I’m going to be honest here. I don’t remember much about this book, except that I really liked it. I remember why I read it. I was on a plane to Albania (yes, Albania) on a college chorus tour. My fiancé was on a different flight, so I was sitting next to a friend I didn’t know very well, and he had this book. And in talking about books and movies, he determined that I would probably like it. He had finished it, so he loaned it to me. And I read it, and I loved it. I just can’t remember what it’s about anymore. So here’s the Goodreads synopsis:

On a brisk autumn day, a twelve-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: his father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change. For he has been chosen to make a journey back across America–and into another realm.

One of the most influential and heralded works of fantasy ever written,The Talisman is an extraordinary novel of loyalty, awakening, terror, and mystery. Jack Sawyer, on a desperate quest to save his mother’s life, must search for a prize across an epic landscape of innocents and monsters, of incredible dangers and even more incredible truths. The prize is essential, but the journey means even more. Let the quest begin. 

Now, it may seem strange that I’m picking a book I don’t really remember as my Throwback. The main reason I’m picking it is because while I’ve actually read a decent amount of Stephen King’s books that I do remember, I recall liking this one more than all of those.

Because it is a King book (although it is co-authored), it’s probably a safe assumption that there’s a fair amount of violence. King also never shies away from uncomfortable situations and killing important characters, so we can safely assume that’s in there too. But there’s no denying that the man has a way with words and stories. Now I need to go check this one out from the library and remember why I liked it so much.

This is a blog hop! Link up your Throwback Thursday post below!



Throwback Thursday (September 20) – The Andromeda Strain

Posted on by


Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

It’s the nature of book blogging to focus mainly on new releases, but there are thousands of great books out there that haven’t seen the “New Releases” shelf in years. We hope to be able to bring attention to some older titles that may not be at the top of the current bestseller list, but still deserve a spot in your To-Be-Read pile.

You don’t have to be a book blogger to participate! You can put up a Throwback Thursday post on your non-bookish blog; or if you don’t have a blog at all, just use the comments to tell us about a book you remember fondly.

Here’s how it works:
1. Pick any book released more than 5 years ago. Adult, YA, Children’s; doesn’t matter. Any great book will do.
2. Write up a short summary of the book (include the title, author, and cover art) and an explanation of why you love it. Make sure to link back to The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books in your post.
3. Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
4. Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list!

Feel free to grab the Throwback Thursday button code from the sidebar to use in your posts.

Thanks for participating, and we look forward to seeing which books you choose to remember!

My Throwback this week is…

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

I’ve tried to be varied in my Throwback Thursday picks, but the truth is, I am limited to what I read in years past, and in high school and college I read a lot of Michael Crichton. As in, all of his books. So he’s just going to have to be a recurring theme in my Throwbacks.

The Andromeda Strain is very heavily focused on the “science” part of science fiction, as the vast majority takes place in a top-secret lab where a bunch of scientists are conducting experiments on a tiny piece of alien rock that managed to wipe out an entire town. And if you don’t like lots and lots of techno-babble and science-speak in your sci-fi, then this book (and Michael Crichton, in general), are probably not for you.

I, however, am a big nerd and think that sort of stuff is awesome.

Even though this book has a claustrophobic setting and a tiny assortment of characters, and even though most of it is devoted to science experiments involving monkeys and microscopes, I love this book. Michael Crichton really was the master of weaving enough half-truth and near-plausibility into his sci-fi to make it seem like something that could actually happen.

Also, this book has been made into both a film and a mini-series, and neither one did it justice (although if you must watch one, the 1971 film is marginally better). Hollywood, please do it again, and do it right this time.

This is a blog hop! Link up your Throwback Thursday post below!

Throwback Thursday (September 6) – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Posted on by

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

It’s the nature of book blogging to focus mainly on new releases, but there are thousands of great books out there that haven’t seen the “New Releases” shelf in years. We hope to be able to bring attention to some older titles that may not be at the top of the current bestseller list, but still deserve a spot in your To-Be-Read pile.

You don’t have to be a book blogger to participate! You can put up a Throwback Thursday post on your non-bookish blog; or if you don’t have a blog at all, just use the comments to tell us about a book you remember fondly.

Here’s how it works:
1. Pick any book released more than 5 years ago. Adult, YA, Children’s; doesn’t matter. Any great book will do.
2. Write up a short summary of the book (include the title, author, and cover art) and an explanation of why you love it. Make sure to link back to The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books in your post.
3. Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
4. Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list!

Feel free to grab the Throwback Thursday button code from the sidebar to use in your posts.

Thanks for participating, and we look forward to seeing which books you choose to remember!

My Throwback this week is…

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone if you’re British) by J.K. Rowling

On the one hand, this choice is a little bit of a cop-out, because isn’t it just automatically assumed that everyone’s read Harry Potter already? But the sad truth is, there are still people out there wandering the earth who haven’t yet met Harry. They don’t know what muggles, Quidditch and butterbeer are. They don’t cringe at the words Crucio and Avada Kedavra. They may not even know how to pronounce “Hermione.”

So to those people, I say give it a chance. I scoffed at the series for years. I thought they were children’s books, and I couldn’t figure out why any self-respecting adult would read them. But one year, for my birthday (I seem to be developing a theme with birthday books), a friend gave me Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, because he liked it more than Sorcerer’s Stone, and I read it, and I was hooked.

The story is wonderfully imaginative. The writing is beautiful, and it matures with the readers (Sorcerer’s Stone, featuring an 11-year-old Harry, is a solid middle-grade. Deathly Hallows, featuring a 17-year-old Harry, is written for older teens). The attention to detail is amazing. There’s casual mentions of things in Book 1 that don’t wind up being significant until Books 6 and 7. The wide assortment of characters is among the most fabulously developed of any cast, ever. From Harry’s classmates to his enemies to his friends’ parents to his teachers, you won’t find any one-dimensional characters in the pages of Harry Potter.

If you’ve never visited Hogwarts, let’s remedy that.

And if you have, here is your reward.

And another!

This is a blog hop! Link up your Throwback Thursday post below!


Throwback Thursday (August 30) – Time Blender

Posted on by

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

It’s the nature of book blogging to focus mainly on new releases, but there are thousands of great books out there that haven’t seen the “New Releases” shelf in years. We hope to be able to bring attention to some older titles that may not be at the top of the current bestseller list, but still deserve a spot in your To-Be-Read pile.

You don’t have to be a book blogger to participate! You can put up a Throwback Thursday post on your non-bookish blog; or if you don’t have a blog at all, just use the comments to tell us about a book you remember fondly.

Here’s how it works:
1. Pick any book released more than 5 years ago. Adult, YA, Children’s; doesn’t matter. Any great book will do.
2. Write up a short summary of the book (include the title, author, and cover art) and an explanation of why you love it. Make sure to link back to The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books in your post.
3. Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
4. Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list!

Feel free to grab the Throwback Thursday button code from the sidebar to use in your posts.

Thanks for participating, and we look forward to seeing which books you choose to remember!

My Throwback this week is…

Time Blender by Michael Dorn

Guys, this recommendation is pretty much exclusively for fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation. So if that’s not you, sorry. Also, if that’s not you, what’s wrong with you?

Just kidding. Mostly.

Anyway. For those of you who are interested…Michael Dorn wrote a book.

Michael Dorn. Wrote. A book.

I really wish this was the author photo on the back of the book.

And the premise is, more or less, Black Indiana Jones + TIME TRAVEL. Worf wrote a time travel book featuring Black Indiana Jones. Let’s all just bask in the gloriousness of the fact that this book exists.

I read this when a friend gave it to me as a [semi] gag birthday gift in high school. I thought it was an appropriate pick for today for two reasons:

1) Today is my birthday, so I thought it was appropriate that I feature a book I got as a birthday present when I turned 17. No, I’m not going to tell you how old I am today. Older than 17. That’s all you’re getting.

2) [I was going to mention how much I love Worf and Star Trek: TNG, and how I can do what I want because it’s my birthday, then I realized that’s basically just reason 1 again.]

It is not great literature or mind-blowing sci-fi. It ends with a big “TO BE CONTINUED” and it was never continued. And it’s been a few years, but I think it may actually end on a literal cliffhanger. As in, a person hanging off a cliff. So be warned about that one.

But it’s a fun quick read (I’ve read far worse sci-fi), the premise is really amusing, and it was written by my favorite Klingon. It entertained me immensely, and now if I ever meet Michael Dorn, I can say I read his book. And that’s really all I needed.

Oh, also, ALSO, this. Which has nothing to do with this book, except, WORF.

This is a Blog Hop! Link up your Throwback Thursday posts below!