I needed something light and sweet, and this delivered. Bonus - the book takes place from October to January, so there were some joyful holiday vibes thrown in.

"But of course men, particularly the godly ones, have little common sense."

#UnpopularOpinion time!

Chris Whitaker is just not for me. I think there's a really good story buried here, but he overwrites and gets in his own way. Sometimes beautiful writing is the point, but sometimes it is an obstacle. I find this to be the latter. He uses 100 words for what could be said in 10.

Glad it works for others, but it's not for me!

"You know what I like to imagine? I like to imagine the streets lined with all earth's fallen women. Everyone else having to pick their way through the streets, stepping over them. That would be some kind of justice, wouldn't it? All those women blocking the path of the sanctimonious bastards who knocked them down. And there would be a lot of us."

Another #CanLit read for #FoodandLit ??

Reading some light #CanLit Rom Com fun while a tourtière cooks in the oven. #FoodandLit #Canada 🇨🇦

Phoebe, a trans woman living in Copenhagen, is surprised to find her ex, Grace, on her doorstep. She hasn't seen Grace since their breakup, before her transition, and must come to terms with where her new life fits within the story of her past.

It is a book of thought and ideas, and of place and belonging (Copenhagen really comes alive). Not much happens, but that's okay. Cont'd in comments...

Celebrating #FoodandLit #Canada month with a chip truck poutine. I mean, really, any excuse for a chip truck poutine is a good one. #iykyk

Tagging my last excellent #CanLit read if anyone is looking for recommendations!

#WhereAreYouMonday I'm in Copenhagen with Phoebe and a surprise visit from her ex, Grace. So far, so wonderful.

@Cupcake12

"Culture doesn't have to make sense, Grace. It's invented by people. You know what they're like."

Rarely do I pick up a book amidst this much hype and love it this much, but this one is just that special.

A year after the death of their sister Nicky, the remaining Blue sisters try and find their way back to each other, and to themselves, amid the fog of grief, anger, and addiction. Their journeys, alone and together, are difficult and heart wrenching. But even in the darkest moments, it never feels exploitative.

cont'd in comments

All signed up!

@bookish_wookish I said my country only on my sign up, but I can also ship to the states if necessary, I just can't ship overseas 😄 Thanks for hosting!

Who else loves it when their car needs an oil change, because it means you have no choice but to sit and read for a while? 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️ I'm being productive AND reading! Yay!

P.S: so far, this book truly lives up to the hype.

Loved the first half. Second half got a bit messy, and I'm not entirely sure I get what was going on, but was still creepy Halloween fun. A good read to finish off October.

I think this was Kliewer's debut? I'd definitely be interested to see what he does next.

Started this yesterday. Absolutely loving it so far. Was going to read more last night, but it was dark and everyone was upstairs asleep. Unsettling and eerie in the daytime, downright scary in the dark!

I read this one for the IRL Book Club I host at a local Cafe (our meeting was tonight). My favourite part was the wonderful discussion we had 🤷‍♀️ There were the makings of a really good book here, but it was severely underdeveloped. I loved Jake's storyline, but everything else felt emotionally lacking and frustratingly off the mark.

What a phenomenal, raw, moving memoir. Broome writes about his experiences growing up black and gay in Ohio, in a society rife with homophobia and racism, where everyone holds very specific, narrow ideas of what a Black male can and should be. It is heart breaking, moving, enraging, and sometimes vitally, purposefully uncomfortable.

Cont'd in comments

"Ted was a broken soul, Charlie a nature lover and Tom had seen everything a man is allowed to see."

Three men retreated from society to live and die on their own terms in the remote Northern Ontario wilderness.

Cont'd in comments

A clever thriller, with a snarky as all get out MC, a twist I genuinely didn't see coming (but made total sense looking back at it), and some thoughtful social commentary on violence against women, who people are willing to believe, and societal expectations of a "good victim". It took me about 1/3 to really get into this one, but then I couldn't put it down.

"In which people go missing, a death pact adds spice to life, and the lure of the forest and of love makes life worth living. The story seems far-fetched, but there are witnesses, so its truth cannot be doubted. To doubt it would be to deprive us of an improbable other world that offers refuge to special beings."

Been on my TBR for a while, but @monalyisha recent review made me grab it at the library. With an opening line that I couldn't resist!

"My life vastly improved once both those men were gone. Men don't protect us, not really. They only protect themselves, or each other. The only thing men ever protected me from was happiness."

I'm between a pick and a so-so, but I'll give it the higher rating because it may not be the book's fault.

Upon the sudden death of her husband, Waite discovers his affair(s), porn addiction, and time spent with escorts. This leads her on a complicated journey through her grief, which she recounts here with opened and candor.

I appreciated the raw nature of her story, and the ups and downs of her healing journey, but.... cont'd

Reason 872 to love my kobo:

I came out to read and totally forgot my glasses! Thankfully I can just bump up the text size and muddle through 🤓🤦‍♀️😊

Dear Audiobook Narrators,

Thank you for all you do, love your work. HOWEVER, if you are going to be narrating a book written by a Canadian, please please PLEASE learn how to pronounce common Canadian words, like TOQUE. It is not "toke" (as used in the tagged), nor is it "toe-kway" (as used in Eight Bears).

Signed,
A frustrated Canadian listener

Full house tonight for Jane Urquhart at the Book Drunkard festival!

Over the top, ridiculous, and so, so much fun. Took a bit to find its groove, but overall I loved meeting Steve, Amy, and especially Rosie. I will definitely read on to their next adventure when it comes.

But first, a new Thursday Murder Club book coming in 2025 🎉

Quill, training for the Boston Marathon, is out running when she hears a woman scream. This is the catalyst to lead her on an investigation into the violence and kidnapping of women and girls in her community, touching on the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women in North America. Quill and her friends Punk and Gaylyn are well realized, empathetic characters - fully fleshed women with all their vulnerabilities, love, and rage.

cont'd

This was really good!
In 1950s London, Cypriot grandmother Zina Pavlou is accused of brutally murdering her daughter-in-law. As she speaks no English, interpreter Eva Georgiou is brought in to translate.
The result is a gripping courtroom drama combined with a thoughtful character driven portrait of these two women. It also confronts zenophobic and class issues within the justice system in a nuanced way that never feels too heavy-handed.

My next listen. How can you not want to pick it up with a title like that?

A thoroughly engaging look into the dualities in modern life and society, prompted by online confusion between Naomi Klein and Naomi Wolf. I was particularly struck by the empathy with which Klein investigates how someone like Wolf, feminist darling of the 1990s, would fall into the far right conspiracy crowd.

I recommend the audio, Klein does a great job at the narration!

When the National Book Awards shortlist was announced, this was one of two on the fiction list I had not yet read, and the only one I hadn't heard of. It also happened to be available right away on Libby. I was hooked from the first.
Short stories of the eerie, unsettling, and sometimes horrific, set in Lagos, Nigeria. Aguda knows how to ensnare with just a few short sentences, how to skew the everyday just enough to shift reality... cont'd

The ideas and the bones of a great novel are here, but the execution felt somehow soulless.

This is a story about women's lives in the brink of the divorce referendum in Ireland, and about the men who deeply fear the loss of control that women's freedom of choices signifies. It should rage and burn, but it fails to ignite. Most of the characters feel like blanks, and I just could not bring myself to care.

Audio party prepping!

Throwing kids birthday parties is not my favourite thing, but sometimes you just gotta suck it up, eh? Thankfully the tagged keeps me engaged through the drudgery of prep work.

“A long time ago, there was a woman who lived elsewhere in the city. What is a house - this woman wondered, as her husband dragged her body, like a mop, over faded linoleum floors - but a pressure cooker, a vent pipe screaming steam?“

I'm really into this collection so far - full of arresting, unsettling imagery. And I just love this cover!

Finally saw one of the L.M. Montgomery loonies the other day, it's so beautiful!

So excited to volunteer at this event tonight!

I suspect this may be a case of blame the reader, not the book. I enjoyed some of the stories, but others didn't work as well. Each new story I had to force myself to start reading. I may try again if my library gets a physical copy, which would be easier for me to dip in and out of around other reads!

Some of the stories were really strong, so if the premise interests you don't let my bail put you off (but I'd recommend a borrow, not buy)

In the 1800s, parts of England were temporarily enraptured by the story of Mary Toft, the woman who gave birth to rabbits, until the story was finally proved to be a hoax. In Mary and the Rabbit Dream, debut author Noémi Kiss-Deáki takes Mary from being a dehumanized footnote of history, an anecdote that invites incredulous chuckles, and returns her humanity in rich, often playful, and regularly unsettling prose.

Cont'd in comments

@Jess861 Sprocket says thank you, too! He loves his squeaky monster 👻

Happy October! It's #FallingforFallSwap opening day!

I LOVE everything! I've almost bought the David Nicholls so many times, I'm really looking forward to it (I love hiking stories, and Nicholls' particular brand of love story). And I'm fascinated by Sylvia Beach, so this historical fiction is a must read for me! Throw in some lovely fall socks, yummy sounding tea, and Twizzlers which I will now go hide from my kids, AND a toy for Sprocket! 👇

Gilbert has crafted a collection of stories that feels alive with the deep, genuine humanity of the residents of Mile End, Montreal. The working class, artistic, and intellectual residents face a changing neighborhood and a changing world as the highs and lows of everyday life clash with gentrification and the pandemic.

I loved dipping in and out of this collection over the last couple of weeks. Gilbert has a gift for realism.

There's not much to say that hasn't already been said. This was fascinating, informative, and, at times, rage inducing. Bohannon is an engaging narrator, making the history and science come to life.

"The view is obscured by clouds of steam from the locomotive that trail along the platform."

#FirstLineFridays

I'm so excited for this one!

Book shopping!

Not sure how this one escaped my radar in 2022, but I just read about it the other day and then read all the wonderful Litsy reviews and just had to have it.

Grabbed #18 in the Dragon Masters series for my 8 year old - anyone else's kids love this series? He's whipping through them, and we can't keep them on the shelves at the library! #RaisingReaders

Off to host tonight's Book Club at the local Cafe. I'm told there will be tea and scones (and Pimm's Cup!) in honour of this month's very British selection.

My #FallingforFallSwap package has arrived! Now the hard part - waiting for Oct 1 to open it!

#fffs @Avanders @Chrissyreadit

(There's no sender info, so I look forward to finding out who to thank on opening day 😀)

On an unseasonably warm November day, Kathleen decides to go for a swim. Then she decides not to get out. In a tense, well crafted novella we see her marriage to beautiful, lazy Virgil Beckett come to its tipping point.

I loved it. Started this morning and just didn't want to stop reading. Anthony has a deft hand at saying more with less. Highly recommended!

#WhereAreYouMonday @Cupcake12

Visiting the residents of the Mile End neighborhood of Montreal - so far this short story collection is really good.

Also in a pool somewhere outside of Wilmington, Delaware with The Most. I started early this morning and can't put it down!

Booker Shortlist is here! Who's got thoughts?

I'm so happy to see The Safekeep here, as soon as deWaal started talking about it I knew which book he was talking about and cheered!

I bailed on Orbital and Creation Lake, so of course they're both here. Maybe I'll try them again. And maybe I'll finally give held a shot.

James was expected.

Stone Yard Devotional I need to order from Blackwells because who knows when it's coming out in Canada.

#FallingforFallSwap all boxed up and heading East!

Thanks to our organizers @Avanders and @Chrissyreadit for all your hard work!

"When you reread a book multiple times, you begin to find secrets in the text. You can dip your toe in the book and feel the delightful cold of the subtext."