Well, it’s that time of year again! Flower shops selling out, chocolate wrappers scattered throughout the entire house, and, Omicron permitting, forced dates going either extremely well or horribly wrong. It’s not a holiday I care much about, but this year I decided to lean into it with a list of LGBTQIAP+ books that READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME – TA-NEHISI COATES
This book is short but will turn your worldview on its head, shake it up and set it decisively to rights. It follows in the tradition of James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, a book so short but with such power that it is still one of the most important books on race in READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | THEME SONG FOR 2022
Well, it’s a fairly obvious choice, but…. And then there’s this one that I shared as my theme song this time last year, but is depressingly still extremely apropos: There’s also this one, mostly just because I like it and it cheers me up some: And finally READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | BOOKS WITH CHARACTER NAMES IN THE TITLE
This is a really interesting prompt. I don’t really notice when character names are in the title, but I probably will now! These aren’t necessarily my favourites that fit this prompt, just ones that I’ve either read recently or have sitting on the shelf in front of me! READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE – BENJAMIN ALIRE SÁENZ
Dante and Aristotle are two characters who will leap off the page and act out their story vividly in your mind. And they will be as real to you as the people you share your life with. They’re flawed but beautiful, vulnerable but strong, scared but loyal. When we first meet Ari, he is READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | BEST BOOK/MOVIE/TV SHOW OF 2021
This week’s prompt is basically the best of last year. Books are easy, but I didn’t really keep track of which movies and TV shows I watched actually came out last year, so it’s a bit more of a challenge! Best books: I have a whole post about the best books I read in 2021, READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | NEW TO ME AUTHORS I DISCOVERED IN 2021
I had an amazingly good reading year in 2021. A lot of the rest of the year sucked, but that part worked out okay. So there were more authors I became acquainted with this year that I’m sure I’ll revisit, and some of these books are not favourites. READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WHEREABOUTS – JHUMPA LAHIRI
I’ve had Lowland on my shelf for years. I’ve had it recommended to me over and over again, and I’ve seen it in more must-read lists than I can count. And yet, this is the first Jhumpa Lahiri book I’ve gotten around to trying. It’s a quiet book, an internal exploration. It follows one READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | HOW I KEEP WARM
I am always cold. Partly genetics, partly medical issues, it’s something that has been a part of who I am for as long as I can remember. (My kid is the opposite and would happily run around in a t-shirt in December.) So I’ve gotten good at staying warm. My top tips: Layers. Lots READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | 2021 RELEASES I WAS EXCITED ABOUT BUT DIDN’T GET TO
There are so many books that came out in 2021 that I was really interested in… and didn’t get to. And guess what? That makes it pretty much like every other year. I NEVER get to all the books I want to read. Ever. And this particular list could go on for days. So READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY – RACHEL JOYCE
Harold Fry has been languishing on my shelf for years, just waiting for me to get around to meeting him. I was expecting a charming, sweet story of personal challenge and growth. I was expecting something heart warming and deeply emotional. What I got was… not exactly that. This book has a simple story READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | BOOKS I WANT TO READ IN 2022
This could be quite a long post, because I have thousands of books on my TBR. So I’m just going to pick a few. There are so many more. But those are a few on my bedside table currently. What about you guys? Which READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | MOST RECENT ADDITIONS TO MY BOOKSHELVES
Weirdly, at least for me, I haven’t really been buying books. I didn’t even find many books under my tree this year. So this post was a bit of a struggle – the last books I bought, except for the first one, were bought months ago. And I don’t really remember which were the READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | WE ARE NOT FREE – TRACI CHEE
A book that will take you into an often overlooked or hidden part of American history during WWII, and one that desperately needs to be brought to light, shared, talked about, and faced. This is the story of a group of young Japanese-Americans who live in San Francisco, in a community of immigrants (and READ MORE
WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | GOALS FOR 2022
This prompt feels uncomfortably close to asking me for new year’s resolutions, and I don’t do those. I don’t really attach much significance to a new calendar year, I kind of feel like every day has the same potential for change and growth as January 1st. But I’ve got a few things I’d like READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | MOST EXCITING BOOKS COMING OUT IN EARLY 2022
I haven’t been paying much attention to the literary world lately. It seems, based on the last couple of years of reading, that starting in September there begins a sort of seasonal winding-down in my reading life. I read progressively less, and normally by the time I hit December, I’m fully on hiatus. I READ MORE
THE SUNDAY REVIEW | SEVEN KINDS OF PEOPLE YOU FIND IN BOOKSHOPS – SHAUN BYTHELL
I adore books about books, reading or readers. There are so many things I relate to when I find books about readers. Little details of how the world looks different if you spend a chunk of your life between the pages of books. The inability to walk past (or leave) a bookstore is probably READ MORE
TOP TEN TUESDAY | BEST BOOKS I READ IN 2021
I have had an absurdly good reading year. I don’t know how that happened – I went into 2021 not having read a single book in a couple of months. Every time I have a slump like that I have no idea when (or, indeed, if) I’m going to get back into reading. But READ MORE