A beautiful little novella about connection, distance, familial love, the pull of home vs the joys and possibilities of independence. Thoughtful, lovely, bittersweet.

A daughter leaves home in Brazil to attend a small Liberal Arts college in Vermont. She speaks to her mother regularly over Skype, savouring those “blue light hours“, while beginning to picture the possibilities of a life in America, and asking how to exist in both lives at once

Yes! One of my local indie bookstores (tagged) runs amazing book events, and a wonderful festival, Book Drunkard, in the fall. I get to volunteer at a lot of the events, which include signings. So far I've met: Fredrik Backman, Ann-Marie MacDonald, David Robertson, CS Richardson, Michael Crummey, Alissa York, Holly Hogan, Heather O'Neill, and Jane Urquhart.

@BookmarkTavern #SundayFunday

It's very important to match your donut choices to your book covers 🤣🤣🤣

This is a book you could read seven times and get something new each time. A woman leaves her life behind to live a quiet life at a priory, although she herself doesn't share the nuns' religious beliefs. The beauty and solitude of her daily life are haunted by her past and her grief. The creeping, claustrophobic feelings presented by an infestation of mice on the property play with these themes and keep the reader as unsettled as the narrator.

An author in a writing/confidence/romance slump wakes up next to a dead body. Instead of calling the police, he calls his agent, and together they hatch a plan to move the body across NYC.

It is chaotic, thrilling, a little bit goofy, thoughtful, and ultimately just the right touch of sweet. A fun diversion that I very much needed!

"A heavy spring frost this morning. Crossing the grass I made a clean track of footprints, deep green on the white spread of the lawn. It returned me to my childhood, to the sense of secret authority, imprinting one's presence into a place with those clear, sharp prints. I exist. The private, pleasurable sound of the finest layer of ice breaking beneath the weight of each step."

The usual wilderness, over-the-top, wild and crazy, palate cleansing visit to Haven's Rock. Whipped through it in 24 hours.

Happy St Paddy's Day! ☘️☘️☘️

I started my day with a couple stories from the tagged while drinking tea my parents brought back from their last trip to Ireland 🇮🇪 before jumping into the kitchen to bake soda bread to go with tonight's dinner. Next, on to Dublin Coddle while the music plays! If you're looking for a playlist today, I love this one: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0GpyyMiGai1OHwfmkSEG6c?si=P7_wQtDjQ_mvsSdrPqua...

In 90's Edmonton, Molly MacGregor dreams of a life worthy of her adored Penguin Classics and of writing The Great Canadian/Edmontonian Novel. But summers selling shoes at West Edmonton Mall and semesters with pretentious English Lit profs don't seem to be cutting it. But this year, she just might find truth and beauty in the place she finds herself.

Charming, witty, and thoroughly delightful. I loved spending time with Molly. Highly recommend!

This showed up on my FB feed this morning, and I thought of all you #NancyDrew buddy reading Littens! 🤣🤣🤣

It's Me!

"Last night, I found myself perusing the shelves in our family library the way one might gaze reflectively into the refrigerator looking for that perfect bedtime snack."

Another excellent selection from the #wpnf25 long list. Centering on the ups and downs and legal manipulations of a Supreme Court decision, Nagle explores Indigenous Land Rights in the US. It is sad and infuriating, with occasional glimmers of hope.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

This week was March Break, which means chaos and family fun.

1. My eldest's first speed cubing competition
2. Family movie day - Dog Man!
3. Bowling 🎳
4. Sunshine-y Ski Day!
5. Cobs Scones...mmm...

"What's weirder," Eugenie asked, "that Maureen has so many shoe-store guys after her or that they're all named Gordon?"
"Being surrounded by Gordons does seem to be a distinctly Canadian occurrence."

#InGordWeTrust #CanLit

It's possible I have too many books checked out from the library at the moment....

I just love these women. Such fun palate cleansers, I hope she writes more!

My eldest is competing in his first speed cubing competition today 👏👏👏

We're in the waiting stage, so he's off checking things out and making friends, and I get time with some book friends.

Who doesn't need another longlist to expand their TBRs, right? The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction announced their longlist on Thursday. I've read a few, been wanting to read another few, and the ones I've never heard of are definitely intriguing!

https://carolshieldsprizeforfiction.com/

First awarded in 2023, the Carol Shields Prize is for works of fiction written by women-identifying and non-binary authors in the US and Canada.

Sharp, thoughtful, and darkly funny. Nadia is an academic who heads to Iraq to work with the UN on the deradicalization of ISIS brides, but also to run away from heartbreak and grapple with her own history with religion and rebellion. Fundamentally tackles ideas of religion, racism, belonging, bureaucracy and systemic failures within the foreign aid systems without prescribing answers, 👇 cont'd in comments

#MondayMood

@talkthattalk_rarity on Insta - Spoken word that puts a fire in your belly. Highly recommend.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEtYQfGJz5J/?igsh=MTF6OXE2azZ1MjhuMA==

🔥🔥🔥👏👏👏

Pitch dark interconnected stories of women's lives and violence in Mexico. Stories of violent women bleed into those about violence against women, revenge and rage intermingle with ironic teenage posing and sarcasm. Most of these stories work. There were some that I just wanted more from, to delve deeper, but sometimes the true weight of a story was felt as connections were made in later tales. The last few stories were, IMO, the strongest.

"There is no room of one's own when men think our bodies belong to them."

I love that Yang chose to profile four regular women in China, this book really does provide a glimpse into a very different kind of everyday life. The challenges of work, family, and independence made for fascinating reading. There were some things that I wish were addressed (*see comments) but overall another great #wpnf25 read. Very impressed with this year's list so far!

"Life's a bitch. That's why you gotta rattle her cage, even if she's foaming at the mouth."

Happy #InternationalBooker Longlist Day!

Which have you read? Loved? Loathed? Which are going on your TBR? I won't be reading the whole list, but I'll check out what I can get through the library, starting with the tagged. I'm also looking forward to The Book of Disappearance and On a Woman's Madness, both of which I can get through hoopla.

#IntlBookerLonglist #IntlBooker25 #BooksinTranslation

Today's Monday Night Hockey is The Jets vs The Sharks. So now I have this stuck in my head: https://youtu.be/twbuT1V5mFE?si=OZWRSdfkL4zPu_v6

#TheatreNerdsUnite

It is difficult to read and review a book like this when, less than a year after its publication, it is already out of date. Applebaum lays out many of the ways autocracies work in the modern day to undermine democracy, truth, and morale. In that way it is important reading, and I found it quite accessible to listen to. Cont'd in comments

#wpbf25

What an absolute triumph of a book. #wpnf25

In the summer of 2017, 9 year old Keira was killed in a tragic car accident. Her family's decision to donate her organs led to her heart being transplanted into Max, also 9. Dr Clarke writes the story of Keira and Max, their families, and all the incredible people who contributed to this heart's journey with such compassion and humanity.

Cont'd in comments.

Check me out, buying a book, and then reading it right away instead of letting it sit on my shelf for months/years first! The things I will do for Evie Wyld. I absolutely loved this, I think it might be her strongest yet.

Hannah is haunted; by the (literal) ghost of her boyfriend Max, by the life in Australia she moved to London to escape, by the unknown traumas her family carries... cont'd in comments 👇

I knew next to nothing about Cherry going into this. I knew Buffalo Stance, and had a vague idea she was Swedish, but that's it. I started listening because it was long listed for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction, and quickly fell in love with Cherry's voice, both as narrator and the poetic tones of her writing. This is a celebration of creativity, love, and families both born and made. Cont'd in comments

In a time of hate
Love is an act of resistance.
In a time of fear
Faith is an act of resistance.
In a time of misinformation
Education is an act of resistance.
In a time of poor leadership
Community is an act of resistance.

In a time like this
joy is an act of resistance.
Resist. Resist. Resist.

By Loryn Brantz 🌹

This book defies easy categorization, which if you've read it you'll know is quite fitting. An engaging look at how humans have attempted to place order on the natural world, and how wrong we can be. About a turn of the century naturalist-scientist who was compelled to discover the order of life, and used his scientific mind to promote dark, dangerous, and deadly ideas. About how we find meaning and hope in a life ruled by chaos. Loved it. 👇

@TheBookHippie I couldn't resist doing mine, too. I don't know what it says that Alice is in there twice 🤷‍♀️

While not a perfect novel (it can feel a bit stilted and awkward in style at times, perhaps a translation thing?) this feels quite special.

As a young boy in Tokyo, Rei witnesses his father's arrest and the destruction of his beloved violin. Coming of age in France, he devotes his life to the reconstruction of his father's treasured instrument. A quiet story about beauty in the face of destructive, oppressive elements, I'm glad to have read it.

This feels so accurate. Except there's also constant snow falling, creating a bigger and bigger TBR pile!

I ADORE Evie Wyld and her beautifully messy, complex women. So last summer when I read she had a new book I immediately ordered it, even though I knew I'd have to wait awhile for its North American release. The day is finally here! I'm almost finished another book, but plan to start this one today. Buying a book and starting to read it in the same day?!?! THAT'S how much I love her.

This was A LOT, in all the best ways. Our narrator is deeply, obsessively in love with her husband. And with crafting every moment towards him, plagued by thoughts of his every slight, absorbed with thoughts of him and her love for him as she goes about her week at work, with the children, with friends. It's, again, a lot, but so deliciously wild to go along for the ride.

Whew, what an emotional experience! When 6 year old Alex Selky goes missing on his walk to school one day, police are baffled - no one just disappears without ANY trace. As time goes by and leads dwindle, we follow his mother Susan as her determination to find him alive never falters, despite the changing attitudes of those around her.

Cont'd in comments

#AuldLangSpine @CarolynM @monalyisha

#MeanwhileinCanada #ItsBeginningToLookALotLikeChristmas

Thank you to @Texreader @TheBookHippie @FromMyLectory @Pogue and @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks for the holiday joy! Mail is slowly getting back to normal 😁

"One does not learn to be silent, one is forced to shut up."

In beautifully poetic prose, Rivera Garza gives voice to her sister, Liliana, murdered at a young age by a jealous ex in Mexico City. By combining her own words with those of Liliana's friends, their family, police and newspaper reports, and Liliana's journal entries and unsent letters, we are given a complete portrait of a young woman making her way in life. cont'd

My ILLO on this one finally came in, so I'm returning to @CarolynM 's #AuldLangSpine list and preparing to be devastated.

@monalyisha

#CanadaReads - four down, one to go, and this was by far my favourite of a decidedly underwhelming selection this year.

As a preteen, Lily's mother walked out on her family and was never seen again. Later, following the birth of her own daughter, Lily once again embarks on a search for answers. The first half, Lily's childhood in a mining town in BC, was good but a bit uneven. Cont'd in comments...

“And what more beautiful gift is there than a hiding place?“

The deceptively simple, unsettling prose in this one is so spot on. Unnerved and intrigued so far!

Last night was one of our favourite school events of the year! Every year, they host a Snuggle Up and Read evening. Everyone comes to the school in their pajamas, and there are all sorts of literacy focused events throughout the school. It's the most cozy form of chaos, and the kids LOVE it!

#RaisingReaders

36/100 - being a Drama major at university really helps with all the plays on these lists!

Three of my all time favourites were on this one:
Middlesex
The Namesake
Never Let Me Go

#ThreeListThursday #TLT @dabbe

Love the idea, but it's just not working for me in execution. Moss gives far too broad an overview of each bird to engage me as a reader. If you have even the most basic knowledge of any of these birds, you are likely not going to learn anything new here. For me, this would have been more effective if it delved into one specific thing/story about each bird (kind of like Eight Bears did), rather than try to do a complete overview in 30-40 pages.

Third book for #CanadaReads and so far I'm not overly impressed with this year's contenders. I'm all for genre fiction in the Canada Reads list, and I know that there are domestic thrillers that can contribute and propel discussion forward with regards to nationally important topics, but this certainly ain't it.

Taken alone, this still didn't work for me. I actively disliked characters that I'm pretty sure I was supposed to feel for. Cont'd

#5JoysFriday

1. A visit to my library's makerspace to 3D print a cool stand for my oldest's speed cube
2. Maple Leafs vs Bruins Alumni game! So much fun watching the "old guys" having fun out there.
3. At the game, I won a $100 grocery gift card ??
4. A visit to the Toronto Zoo with middle kid. He made friends with Rosie the Galah, she followed him around for half an hour ?
5. All my kids are healthy this week ???

@DebinHawaii

January #AuldLangSpine wrap up!

Thanks to the always fabulous matchmaking skills of @monalyisha I received a great list of books from @CarolynM to kick off 2025! I read four this month, and all were great reads, with the tagged emerging as a surprise favourite 😍 I just loved discovering Gail Jones' beautiful, engaging writing.