Took this Friday off before the holiday on Monday to give myself an extra long weekend. Spending it outside enjoying this beautifully breezy day.

MacLeod is the master of the short story. Period. I loved this collection. Nothing more to be said really. #CanLit

Ran to Indigo to get the new Backman book and the new Natalie Jenner too. Had a coupon for 20% off. Bought the Book Club candle (smells good but fail on if just being this small plain blue glass? I thought Book Club would be printed on it?) and a staff pick of “One Hundred Saturdays” and library card bookmark. 😊

An excellent story, seamlessly told Canadian history lesson, and a group of women that I want to sit with for a little longer before picking up another book right away.

That night, Flora knelt beside the bed in her hotel room and prayed that her father would forgive her for using her dowry not to find a husband, but to lose one.

Finished the first story, Mr. Harrigan‘s Phone and it was excellent. Will Patton as always is fantastic. I‘m listening to the second story Thanks Chuck! but the narrator isn‘t as good, but just found out today this story will be a movie coming out soon with Tom Hiddleston.

It‘s been awhile since a publisher has sent a book. Looking forward to reading this one! So far so good. Thank you #Simon&SchusterCanada #canlit

Absolutely loved this in audio. Wil Wheaton performed it and was perfection. A book I never would have imagined to pick up and did so on a whim. It‘s been the best boost to my otherwise pretty dull reading year so far. I highly recommend the audio. Lots of fun and laugh out loud moments with an on-point message for today‘s current affairs too.

Took a day off today and walked my usual trail this morning. First time I‘ve ever seen one of these guys just sitting there so calm and unbothered!

Been in a bit of a slump (feels like for the past 3 months!! Nothing has knocked my socks off) so I‘m going to buddy read Lonesome Dove with my fellow Hoarder Elizabeth. Everyone and everyone has proclaimed this to be fantastic. Which scares me because what happens if it‘s not?? 858 pages of pretty small print though 😮 Here I go!!

A beautifully written (and translated) love letter to Emily Dickinson and also a beautifully written exploration of grief. I do hope this beautiful piece of literary fiction is moved to the Shortlist for the Carol Shields Prize. #CanLit @Lindy

I was floundering trying to find a book that would stick. I think I started and stopped about 5 or 6 before just reaching for a Lesley Crewe. I knew she wouldn‘t disappoint and she certainly didn‘t here. Once again wonderful characters! Great story about a woman finding her own agency on her own terms.

Needed something light and would make me laugh. Saw someone say this was a lot of fun and it was narrated by Wil Wheaton so I grabbed it. I‘m enjoying this very much

A good one! A good one for our book club I think - we‘ll see how the rest feel when we meet at the end of March.

No idea what it‘s really about, all I needed to know is that it‘s a new Graham Norton. First chapter in and I think it‘s going to be a good one!

Cute. A nice little boost of happy which is what I expect from a Lipman book. Good to lose some time in this one instead of the heavy barrage of shitty current events. A 3.5 star for me.

While I was in the library this one was just sitting there in the new releases.. this sounds interesting!! Will get to it after my “quick read” Lipman book!

Now I‘m on to something lighter and I hope beings the funny! I always find Lipman‘s books to be a nice boost to the mood!

Another solid and excellent piece of great storytelling. A book about reckoning and betrayal. The continuation and end of this Cain and Abel story he started in The Kingdom. The ending was maybe a little tiny but so-so but overall another excellent tale told by Nesbo.

“Some family trees spread sickness. They should‘ve been cut down a long time ago.” Once again fantastic storytelling by Nesbo. Almost finished - it‘s due back to the library tomorrow.

However, this just came in from the library and is only a 7-day loan! So I must shift to this one. Did anyone read The Kingdom by Nesbo? It is the first in this series and it was so good, so I‘m excited to get into this one!

This is for our book club and I put the other two aside to start this one. Easily getting into it!

So I decided to send both of these back to the library. I know they are there waiting g for me to read them when I‘m in the right mood. I was struggling a bit trying to find something to settle into and both of these just weren‘t it at this time.

Picked up these two from the library. Going to start with the new Ivey one.

It was okay. Pretty predictable by the end and I found it wandered around trying to talk about all different kinds of things. So, not too focused. Just okay.

This one is due back to the library sooner than Juice so I started it last night. I‘m enjoying it so far.

Next up. I don‘t normally read dystopian stories, but I do hear amazing things about Tim Winton‘s writing so we‘ll give it a go. (I also read/finished Mrs. Nash‘s Ashes for book club. 🙁 it wasn‘t what I was hoping it would be - a light read to calm my mind - it was light but it was filled with the toxic male behaviour and the women that scramble to love them and ruin their self-worth in the process.)

It was okay but not the standout 5-star read others I‘ve seen rate it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Really liked this one!

So. I‘ve been listening to this. Maybe about 2 hours in. Mark Bramhall is PERFORMING this. But. It‘s dark. It‘s disturbing. It‘s increasingly weirdly violent with bizarre religious fervour and violence. I don‘t mind grit but I‘m not certain I want to continue with it? Anyone else read it? To the end?

It‘s raining out. I‘ve made my cup of tea and let‘s settle in and get this book read! No distractions. I feel like I‘ve been distracted by other books (and my phone) so I‘m going to focus and finally get this book finished! It‘s a perfect day for it right? ☔️

The library is determined to keep me from finishing The God in the Woods! This came in for me today. (I mean I could probably focus on finishing TGITW before starting this one…we‘ll see!)

A pick but with some “buts”. I loved chapter 6. I loved part III with Eva‘s journal that connected the book nicely for me. But a lot of the times I felt a bit distanced from it. I don‘t know how to express it any better than that.

Just an appreciation post for this bookmark. There are a few more like this and I need to go back and buy all of them. They‘re beautiful 🥰

Currently reading 2 books with moody green covers. Have been noticing the use of green instead of blue that was everywhere a number of years ago.

What did I just read? This wasn‘t for me - I‘m trying to read more Classics this year and this was to be a prequel to Jane Eyre. Here‘s to hoping my reading experience is vastly different for Jane Eyre than it was for Wide Sargasso Sea.

Alright. Mixed reviews for this one. But I love Liz Moore so I‘m jumping into this one. Another one where I‘m thrilled the publisher spent time on the insides of the book.

I quite enjoyed this one!! Now the well-worn saga of “what do I read next??” The first book choice of the year is so important!

I do love when publishers make a great effort like this for books. Every chapter, section, quotes like this have received nice attention. It makes for an enjoyable reading experience for sure.

This is a stack of Classics I hope to get to in 2025. To work one in a month. I have plenty more sitting on my kobo too.

I‘ve been thinking about how to start my 2025 reading. I‘m thinking of starting with one of these stacked books (in my new book cart my daughter gave me for Christmas!). Under it are Classics that I‘m going to try and work on to my reading each month.

I started this one on Christmas Day because I was close to finishing the Fredrik Backman and I was feeling the tears were going to start pouring, so I quickly reached for this one so I wouldn‘t be breaking down in front of my family. 😚 So far it‘s been good.

Oh Fredrik Backman. How I love you. At first I wasn‘t liking the fairy tale pieces to this one, felt it convoluted the story too much then he did what he was always does - he reveals the connections and the reasons and I was left with many tears while finishing. Loved it.

I‘m hoping Backman gives me all the greatness I need to finish out my reading year with an excellent read!

It was just a pick. I read a review on Goodreads that said this series has lost its charm, and I think that‘s a pretty spot on analysis. While I appreciated the humour in this one, I did not appreciate the repetition and the long and weak drawn out plot. 😕

Another quick read from the library. So far I‘m quite liking it.

Beautiful writing. Lovely story. But I grew a little weary of the linguistic gymnastics. What may take a sentence or two was always described in a page or two. Overall 3.5 stars. It was a very lovely story with beautiful writing. I just grew anxious for the end. 😘

Oh!! ❤️❤️ This book is BRAND NEW from the library! I am the first person to crack it open! That makes me so happy!

Well Louise Penny will need to be put on hold. Library holds showed up. I only have 7 days to read Time of the Child so I have to hurry on to that one. My Favourite Terrible Thing is for our book club and I couldn‘t resist a new John Banville.

Finally finished an absolutely all consuming work project that‘s consumed my life for the better part of the last 6-8 months. I have saved my new Louise Penny to settle down with, calm my mind, cozy up to and enjoy as we barrel into the last month of 2024 😮