Coffee and WWI, perfect dreary morning combo 🌧

"You can kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and I will win"

-Ho Chi Minh

"...neither dared confront the thought that man is a thinking animal in whom the intellect directs the urge to hunt and the ability to kill"

Covering everything from the Assyrian charioteers to Zulu warriordom this book was impossible to put down. I sat in the sun all morning and read about war and it was the perfect Saturday.

Read this book if you're into:
Stalinist Russia
Historical Fiction
Crying by yourself in a busy café

I know it's only the end of April but I'm already calling it; this will be one of the best books I read all year. I will read this again. And again. And probably one more time.

Had a super productive day and now it's reward time. Also, yah this Soviet Russia phase is still going strong thanks for asking. #booksandbeers #currentlyreading

"...for a drunk, a city is built on half-litre bottles of vodka to be shared with two chance companions. And for someone in love, a city consists of benches on boulevards, of two-kopek pieces for public telephones, of the hands of city clocks pointing towards the time of a rendezvous"

#sorrynotsorry for the Grossman spam but THIS NOVEL OHMYGOD ?

My book order arrived today! And yah, I'm going through a serious Soviet Russia phase.

"I said that our Revolution was magnificent and just; that only its 1929 distortion was terrible. He looked at me regretfully, compressing his nervous lips."

Spent the afternoon on a date with myself drinking delicious local beer and reading one of my all-time favourite Gulag histories.
I. Love. This. Book. #booksandbeer

The life of Lev Termin, inventor of the theremin (that creepy sounding sci-fi instrument) and reluctant Russian spy is retold in one of my favourite novels to come out in the past five years. Gulags, spies, jazz music, gin, engineering, and partying in New York City. It's even better the second time around.

Not going to lie, it took me two false starts before I really got into (and finished) this book but it was totally worth it. Give it the time it needs and you'll fall in love with it! #finallyfinished

Lazy, rainy coffee date with myself. #currentlyreading #historygeek

"As he lay there on his back and looked up at the sky, so far from home and the European instrument makers, he had declared: “Lucky are those who travel without instruments that break.“"

I didn't know nearly enough about Alexander Von Humboldt before reading this; explorer, scientist, abolitionist, unwitting grandfather of the environmental movement, love of my life.

Is there an unwritten rule that in every novel based on the Franklin expedition Sophia Cracroft must attend a ball during which she lusts after Ross or is it just the two I've read, I'll have to dig a little deeper and try a third 😬

Enjoying the book so far though! ❄️💙❄️

Is this collection of Varlam Shalamov's Gulag stories my favourite short story collection? How many times do I read it before it's officially My Favourite? Maybe four times because I think I'm going to start calling it #myfavourite

A crazy blizzard has completely shut my city down but on the plus side I have a fire going in the wood stove and the whole day to revisit some pre-WWI history! Let it snow ❄️💙❄️

"He was too strong to employ despotism, too weak to establish liberty"

This is easily one of my favourite biographies, couldn't put it down, couldn't stop talking about it.

Four days until the Mr and I head to the SOLD OUT Mountain Film Festival stop in my province! Sitting here until then reading all the mountain books and getting crazy excited.

Today in 1912 Scott and his team reached the South Pole to find the Norwegians had beat them to it. Their story is so frustrating and devastating but I can't stop reading about it; this entry in Scott's journal gives me chills every time. I figured this was as good a time as any to revisit this book.
❄️💙❄️

#coldweatherbooks

Ventured out of my comfort zone with this one, I've never read anything in the sci-fi genre and I'm so glad I started with this. I wasn't sure what to expect but I couldn't put this down or stop talking about Hari Seldon and the Foundation. I enjoyed it so much more than I expected to. Makes me wonder what else I'm missing.

"I am large, I contain multitudes"
This book was so good! I could barely put it down. Ed Yong's book I Contain Multitudes; The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life about the world of microbes and how it interacts and influences the world of Big Things was one big WOW moment after another. I still haven't stopped talking about it. Lots of science. Absolutely wonderful. A total must-read. #bestofdecember

Just opening up this history of the Romanov dynasty. I've wanted to read this since the first time I laid eyes on it. What a beauty!

Wildly excited to have all night tonight and all day tomorrow with no plans or obligations.

I took a break from everything to read this book about the expedition sent to investigate the existence of Crocker Land and it was completely worth it. A great story of survival and exploration in the Arctic with a few appearances from polar exploration royalty like Peary and Rasmussen! ❄️💙❄️

Reading some of my most favourite short stories while the Mr. finds a spot for my most favourite gift 💕 #bookishdecor #hemingwaylove

And so begins the Christmas Book Haul; off to a ripping start. Couldn't wait two more sleeps to open this beauty. Misery, cold, and scurvy--just a few of my favourite things!
#holidayreading #earlypresents

Today the temperature dipped down to -32 celsius and I spent the day rereading The Ice Balloon. I love this book and come back to it once every winter. The story of S.A Andrée and his attempt to reach the North Pole by hot air balloon. It would be laughable if it weren't so predictably horrible.

Having a blast with this book. 🧀🧀

Had a crap day so I decided to treat myself to a new book and my favourite local cider. Feeling better already!

Classic food-nerd move; handing this over to a junk loving friend for Christmas. I loved this book and its balance between nutritional science and marketing efforts in the battle for our appetites. It's everything I crave in a book about food (get it? bad, I know).

#recommendsday

I'm about 300 pages away from being the most annoying dinner partner in the world. 😷

Sundays are my favourite days. Strong coffee, good books, and a whole day wide open.

Had an awful day so now it's time for me. Sitting down with a great beer and my absolute favourite book about the race to the South Pole. I came at this with my own prejudices and a strong pro-Amundsen bias but Huntford does such a good job exploring the personalities and attitudes of Scott and Amundsen that by the end I couldn't help but admire both men for different reasons. Knowing how it ends doesn't make the ending any easier. #booksandbeer

“The Book Fool” 1494. #selfportrait 😂

This book 👌🏻#decemberreads

I said I wasn't going to read anything I have already finished so I could tackle my #tbr pile but this novel though...I couldn't resist picking it back up for a second read #firstreadofdec #youagain #couldntforgetit

Malta, Yalta, Berlin, the Bomb. The Big Three play out their endgames (and engage in some serious gossip and shit-talk) in the final volume of Churchill's history of WWII. #justfinished

First snow day of the season means dropping whatever I've been reading and picking up some polar history. This instantly became one of my favourites. Cherry-Garrard is so immensely likeable and the story, of course, is so brutal; the combination makes the book impossible to put down (even during some long bits about penguins)

Pre-work coffee date with Mr Winston Churchill.