This week brought with it two new releases I’ve been excited for, as well as two books I discovered while on vacation but didn’t have room for in my suitcase: The Illegal – Lawrence Hill The Novel Bookstore – Laurence Cossé Yes, My Accent Is Real – Kunal Nayyar Little READ MORE
MY WEEK ON WEDNESDAY | #24
I’m really grumpy this week. Not only am I fighting off a cold that’s making me narcoleptic (I fall asleep whenever I try to read or watch tv or walk or stand up), but they’re re-roofing my place, which means constant banging, guys yelling outside and objects falling off the roof making me too READ MORE
RELEASE DAY REVIEW | THE BIG BAD BOOK OF BILL MURRAY – ROBERT SCHNAKENBERG
Bill Murray is a legendary misanthrope. His public image is full of quirks, oddities and random photo-bombs. Though not necessarily the most cheerful of celebrities, his antics have nonetheless earned him a large and loyal fan base. Though he has been notoriously overlooked for awards, Murray has nonetheless created a library of work that is READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | BEST BOOKS I’VE READ SO FAR IN 2015
For Top Ten Tuesday this week, we get to pick our own topic. For normal people, this is probably a great opportunity to come up with something original and interesting. I, however, am not normal. So for me, it’s an opportunity to panic, hyperventilate, and second (or third) guess all of my potential ideas. READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | PURITY – JONATHAN FRANZEN
I’ve been seeing Jonathan Franzen’s books around for years, but to this point hadn’t actually read any of them (admittedly their length intimidated me somewhat). So when the book fairy (AKA Random House Canada) delivered an ARC of his upcoming novel, Purity, to my mailbox, it seemed that fate had intervened. I went into READ MORE
STACKING THE SHELVES | #89
September has come with an overwhelming amount of long-anticipated and excellent-sounding book releases. So. Many. Good. Books. My pre-orders are rolling in like they heard there was a party with an open bar. This week brought several I’ve been hearing a lot about, and that I’ve been eagerly anticipating: Did You READ MORE
BOOK REVIEW | BREAM GIVES ME HICCUPS – JESSE EISENBERG
Every once in a while, you just need some comic relief. I’ve laughed my ass off at Jesse Eisenberg’s comic portrayals over the years, my favourite of his films was Zombieland – because of course – but I also enjoyed Adventureland and admired his acting chops in The Social Network. He’s firmly earned a place READ MORE
BOOK THOUGHTS ON THURSDAY | BINDING MATTERS
Last week I wrote about judging books by their covers, and how I totally do that. This week, I’m talking about another book-related prejudice I have. This one is to do with binding. I suspect we all have our favourite book formats. I certainly have mine. For fat books or for books I know READ MORE
MY WEEK ON WEDNESDAY | #23
It feels like a while since I wrote a My Week On Wednesday post! I’ve been delaying this one til the last minute because I’m so close to finishing a couple of books that I was hoping to wrap up in time. But alas, I’ve been distracted by real life, so here’s my week READ MORE
MONTHLY WRAP-UP | AUGUST 2015
It’s been quite the month! In addition to my computer giving up the ghost (don’t even get me started, I’m very depressed), I wrapped up the month with a trip to sunny California, where I got to enjoy some beautiful weather and lots of amazing bookshops in both San Francisco and Oakland. Here are READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | SERIES I HAVE YET TO FINISH
In 2013, when I first started reading again post-university, I was drawn to young adult books. Many of the ones I was drawn to were series I’d heard a lot of other bloggers raving about: Divergent, The Hunger Games, Shades of London. Some of the series were already published, so I was able to READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WICKED AND WEIRD – RICH TERFRY
Rich Terfry is a Canadian public figure – I use that term because I can’t think of a better one for a man who has been an (almost pro) baseball player, a hip hop artist and a CBC radio presenter – and is now an author. He is better known by many as “Buck 65,” READ MORE
STACKING THE SHELVES | #88
As you guys know, I spent the past week visiting San Francisco. It’s a wonderful city – the people are friendly, the weather is gorgeous, there are plenty of fun tourist things to see and do… and it is home to some of my all-time favourite bookstores. I visited four on this trip (two READ MORE
BOOK THOUGHTS ON THURSDAY | JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER
We all do it. At least, I do. I can’t help it. A bad cover will turn me off a book in about two seconds flat. I know it’s unfair, I know it’s breaking the cardinal rule of book selection… but I do it anyway. I even buy books entirely because of the cover READ MORE
RELEASE DAY REVIEW | EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING – NICOLA YOON
I’ve been hearing about this book for months now, just waiting until I could get my hands on a copy. But I didn’t actually know much about it other than everyone was loving it up. When it arrived in my mailbox, I immediately tore into it. 24 hours later, I was done. It’s the READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | CHARACTERS I JUST DIDN’T CLICK WITH
It’s happened to all of us. You start a new book, and you wait. You wait for the magic to happen. You wait for that moment when something snaps into place, and you just get the main character. Lilac and Tarver from These Broken Stars. She was a major pain in READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE – JESSICA KNOLL
Luckiest Girl Alive is unlike any other book I’ve read. Don’t get me wrong, there are elements to it that will feel familiar. But taken as a whole it completely surprised me. The book begins with a perfect girl. She’s got a high-powered job working for a magazine in New York, she’s pretty and READ MORE
STACKING THE SHELVES | #87
Is there anything better than book mail? That’s a bit of a trick question, because yes, there is – SURPRISE book mail! I received some awesome ARCs and review books from the wonderful folks at Penguin Random House this week, which will have me excitedly reading well past my bed time for the foreseeable READ MORE