A soft pick.
1st my quibbles. A strained set-up. Lots of telling not showing what an oddball detective Merivale is. Women are mousey bores or sirens. The only sign of Xmas is a dusting of snow.
And yet, I spent the whole day engrossed, reading to find out who did it.
☑️ Chimney prompt for #ChristmasCrimeChallenge
☑️ book 5 / #10beforetheend
@Ruthiella @RaeLovesToRead @ChaoticMissAdventures

Sunrise, this morning. 🌅 The beauty before the snow. 🌨️
No photographic evidence but I sent off my #jolabokaflod package today! 📬 💌
Love this swap!! 🎀
@MaleficentBookDragon

Cora meets Sam at playgroup & thus launches the "ten year affair" that sometimes lives more in Cora"s imagination than in reality. This is well-trod territory with a millenial spin.I probably would have been more moved by this book at 35 when I too was immersed in the world of raising kids, managing careers & making a marriage work. At 52, I found it kind of exhausting. That said, I was moved in the end. And Somers makes some sly observations ?

Book mail!! 🎉🎉

My first mystery for the #ChristmasCrimeChallenge. A locked room.
It was also on my list of #10beforetheend.
@Ruthiella @RaeLovesToRead @ChaoticMissAdventures

Ugh, this short novel from the #TOB long list is BLEAK. It follows a young woman's descent into serious mental illness. (Schizophrenia is suggested.) Eventually she must choose between life on heavy meds or psychotic episodes. As a reader, we experience both. As well as the hospitalizations in between. The book is well written but it is rough going. Worth reading maybe if you want to understand that diagnosis? Otherwise, I would say skip.

My favourite book of the year? A definite contender! At a crossroads, somewhat aimless Sylvia travels to Europe where she meets up with ex-pat Henry who loves a good meal, fine wine, and a luxurious hotel. Together they crisscross Europe and Sylvia shares stories from her life. A simple set-up but the execution is brilliant. Somehow Kirshenbaum manages to seamlessly weave together multiple time lines. It's a meditation on memory, keepsakes 👇

In my small town, the restaurants are predictably mediocre. Occasionally there's a delicious surprise, but for the most part, the food here, while not bad ain't great either.
This book was like dining at a local restaurant. The story of two friends at near-70 reflecting on their life choices was pretty mediocre. Some wise insights were shared but most of the narrative reminded me of dining out on a serviceable steak served with too many fries.

Me too, Claudia. Me too.
I often read the end of the book to relieve my anxiety. And a few years ago, I discovered my mother does too. Sacrilege perhaps but I still do it. (And it rarely reveals much.)

My favourite (and only) swap of the year! Always a holiday season highlight. Love getting a parcel ready to send and opening mine on Christmas Eve!
Thank you @MaleficentBookDragon 🙏 for organizing again this year! You are awesome!
#jokabokaflodswap

Was I initially skeptical? Yes. Is it too long? For sure. Does it stretch a metaphor past its breaking point? Absolutely. Did I still get sucked into this wacky, witchy, saccharine, violent, weirdo world again? I did. In fact, I kinda loved it Bunny!
(No bunny was available to pose so here is Sweet Potato/Tornado instead.)

I can't decide if this is bad or so bad it's good? It's like Awad is writing her own fanfic.

I finally read this 800 page YA novel that's been sitting on my shelf for years, a leftover from my teaching days. It took over a month & I don't even know how to review it. Definite ups & downs. Places where the narrative went off the rails. A TERRIBLE ending. Some beautiful parts woven in. A complex depiction of teenage life. So I guess overall it's a pick because a) I managed to read the whole thing & b) I have complicated feelings about it.

Half of my books for #10beforetheend. I've been working away at the Nin & Pinkola Estes for a while.The other five include:
The Frequency of Former Things by Nick Fuller Googins
We Love You, Bunny by Mona Award
On the Calculation Of Vol. 3 by Solvej Balle
Big Kiss, Bye Bye by Claire-Louise Bennett
The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley

@ChaoticMissAdventures

It's hard to explain the appeal of this book. Everyone is awful. And yet, I found this scathing depiction of a dinner party hosted by wealthy NYC cultural elites quite compelling.
Recommend if you feel like hating terrible rich people and can handle lots of cynical takes on art and culture.
Between a pick and and a so-so.

This is an excellent novel. This cover is atrocious (and I could not resist buying it.)

I picked this up for a pound in a charity shop in London. A coterie of French intellectuals & artists are all somewhat miserable. No one is married to the person they are in love with, and even those that find love, know it will be brief and unsatisfying. Happiness is ever elusive. It felt very French. Indeed, almost a parody of very French! While my eyes did roll, I liked Sagan's simple, stripped-down prose. I still want to read Bonjour Tristesse

Moving right along!
Preordered Volume III this morning.

So into it!!

Enjoyed this Canadian middle grade timeslip novel from the 1980s.
After her grandmother dies, twice-orphaned Rose is sent to live with her aunt's big family in a ramshackle farmhouse on Lake Ontario. She is miserable until she finds a root cellar and travels back to the days of the US Civil War. What follows is an adventure for Rose that helps her discover where she belongs.
The book earned honours back in the day and I can see why.

I don't know how I first learned about this 1986 YA novel by NZ author Margaret Mahy but it's been on my Goodreads TBR since 2016.
And it's fantastic!
Middle daughter Harry (real name Ariadne) is a quiet bookish middle daughter in a bustling family. At their summer house for Xmas holidays, three young men crash the party. And it's unclear who or what they are. Did Harry conjure them through her writing?
The story is weird & complex 👇

Zipped through this excellent memoir about Moss's complicated relationship with food and subsequent eating disorder. She writes so well! And finds innovative ways to work within the genre. Loved how she seamlessly wove in literary analysis as well and explores how many classics support restriction and control of female bodies. It ranks up there with In the Dream House which is high praise!

Quite enjoyed this tale of Dawn, a Trinadadian woman who gave up a baby for adoption when she was 16. The book explores the impact of that decision on her life. Now at 58, divorced, with two grown sons, she is still searching for her daughter.
I especially enjoyed learning more about Trinidad and its relationship to Venezuela. Is this a "Booker" book? (It's on the long list.) I don't know. It is a well-wrought novel that I found compelling.

Visited an out-of-the-way used bookstore today. It's in the middle of nowhere and only open on Sat and Sun afternoons in the summer. All the proceeds go to the local heritage society. Nevertheless,it had a great assortment and the Canlit section was particularly good! Oh, and the books are reasonably priced. This stack was $23.00.

Finished this re-read for my book club. Robertson Davies was a force in Canlit when I was growing up. I read and loved his books in my late teens/early twenties.
His world is the university & the eccentrics therein. He pokes fun but there's no doubt that it's a place of wisdom & intellect, a force against bourgeois, materialist 20th life. I bought it at 22, harder to swallow at 52. Still a somewhat thought-provoking & entertaining read.

Sweet Potato is getting bigger! (This is a rare photo of him asleep!)
Started tagged audiobook on a whim and went in without any foreknowledge, a selection from the #bookerlonglist. About a Trinadadian woman who gave a baby up for adoption at 16. So far, so good.

I have decided to attempt #TheSealeyChallenge again and read a book of poetry every day in August. (No way I will manage it but worth a shot. Worst case is I read some poetry.)
Day 1 is a collection by Mi'kmaq poet Rita Joe (1932-2007).

Tidied off my bedside table and was left with this stack . . . Feels pretty representative of my current reading mood/obsessions.
And RIP Andrea Gibson. What a loss! Having her words flood Instagram this past week has been such a gift. I find it WILD she's from Calais, Maine - the border town closest to me. Proof that amazing art can emerge from anywhere!!

Meet Sweet Potato, the latest addition to our home. He's itty bitty and ridiculously cute!! 😻
Finished the tagged book. It's a great story and weaves in a lot of voices and themes. It has a slow start but once it got going, I was hooked. The book's style feels old-fashioned, and so I do wonder if many kids today would enjoy it.

This vintage children's book has been on my TBR for a while! It's set in rural Nova Scotia village on the foggy Bay of Fundy. I grew up across that bay in New Brunswick. So I have deep affection for fog & believe it is magical. For 10 year old Greta, fog signals an opportunity to slip away to another time. She visits her village as it was a century before and the history of that place. There was a lot I liked!The rooted magic, descriptions of 👇

Exquisite!!
A beautiful, poetic novel about the women who loved Emily Dickinson and helped shape her legacy.

Started the tagged book on audio. It's been on my Goodreads TBR since 2014 and today felt like the right day to start it. In the mood for some children's lit!
And enjoying my blooming peonies from the garden. 💮💮💮

I did it! 🎉🎉🎉 Finished my last two books for #192025 this weekend! It took me exactly 3 years.
It's been fun wending my way through the decades. I may at some point post my highlights from each decade
Thanks to @librarybelle for hosting. Now to read whatever I want from whatever year! 😉

Up next for #192025. I'm pretty sure I read this in Grade 9 English so am interested to see what I remember.

Hares, hares everywhere...

This spring I read:
🐇Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
🐇The Safekeep which feature hares
🐇The Expert of Subtle Revisions where the MC is named Hase which means hare in German.
🐇Precious Bane where the MC has a hare-lip and is believed to turn into a hare at night.

What the hare is going on??? 😂😂 Is this the year of the hare?

I loved this 1924 novel set in rural Shropshire during the Napoleonic wars when Christian faith and folk beliefs mingled. Prue is a wonderful heroine and the descriptions of the natural world were stunning.

Another one down for #192025. Only four more to go!

@Librarybelle

I'm on a mission to complete the #192025 challenge! I have 8 prompts left. I have these four on the go in various formats. Then four more and I'm done!
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain
@Librarybelle

Brothers Joel & Emmett have returned home to rural Kentucky. On sabbatical from NYC, Joel is a Marxist scholar who writes essays about the destruction of the South. Emmett is a wannabe screenwriter drifting from job to job who lands a gig at the nearby Amazon-like package hub. Neither brother is happy. Nor is Joel's idealistic wife Alice who wants to buy land and garden. They all flounder trying to find a way to something better. A book about 👇

May's miserable weather 🌧️ 🌧️ meant a banging month for reading! I managed to read 10 books & these are my favourites.
Catherine Lacey's Nobody is Ever Missing blew me away. Jon Krakauer can write about things I don't care about (mountaineering) and I am GRIPPED!
Fanny Howe's memoir/philosophical treatise left me thinking.
Sour Cherry is a Bluebeard origin story.
South Riding is a 1930s Middle March
Open, Heaven ripped my heart open.

Gawd this book is beautiful & broke my heart. 😭
James is a teen in a small Irish village. Once he comes out as gay, he becomes isolated, cut off from his peers. At the same time, he is filled with desire to be loved. When a friendship with Luke develops, a world opens up to James that he thought was impossible. This is first love x1000. At times James's vulnerability was almost too much to bear. But the care, honesty & nuance in how these 👇

Another cold, rainy day this May 🙄 so the cats and I have opted for naps and reading. A former Litten sent this novel to me years ago, and today, I decided to read it. Hard to say why now! 🤷
The MC has left her life behind and flown to NZ to stay at a farm owned by a poet she met once. She is not okay! The story is moving between her present journey and the past events that led her to run away.
So far, so good.

A fun little novella about a woman who suddenly turns into a fox, and how her husband manages. Author was part of the Bloomsbury Group.
Although very different in style and tone, reminded me a bit of the recent memoir Raising Hare.
Both suggest humans can learn a lot from wild animals.
Another prompt complete for #192025!

Time travelling tales always get a bit wonky imo (and this was no exception) but I still enjoyed it. The novel flips back and forth between a circle of math intellectuals in early 1930s Vienna and an off-the-grid young woman who edits Wikipedia in CA in 2016. Slowly the connection between these two times is revealed. But what I enjoyed most was the attention to language's power to shape reality. Reminded me a bit of Ministry of Time but better.

Spent a week in London and came home with a stack of books, a mix of new and used. Was excited to find both a Persephone and Slightly Foxed edition.
Could have spent days perusing book stores but my family was less inclined. Just as well because my suitcase was pretty heavy!

This book is a must-read. It talks about how transformative pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood is -- physically, emotionally, biologically, spiritually. It talks about all the things we don't tell women about these experiences and all the ways society fails mother's in WEIRD (wealthy, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) countries. It is brilliant! And infuriating. I'm long past pregnancy & childbirth, but this book still 👇

Found this re-telling of The Grimm' s "Six Swans" to be compelling and evocative. There was beautiful world building and Sorcha, the heroine, was strong. I found the last few chapters dragged. The fairy tale was complete so they were dedicated to completing the love story and I'm not much of a romance reader.
Still, it was good. And I think I'll take a break from fairy tales for a while.

Finally read this battered copy I bought a few years back. These stories are about women and men AT love. That preposition matters. The settings are 1950s, urban, gritty. Think Marlon Brando yelling Stella! Single moms and deadbeat dads, wiley kids and absent parents, naive women and old lotharios, nymphets and crusty bachelors. The voice is strong in each. Paley has an ear for dialogue. Every story has a zinger sentence that rings with truth. 👇

I ordered some bookmarks from @shawnmooney and they arrived today. Aren't they delightful? 😁 I think the last one is my favourite!

Blame it on an upcoming trip to London, but this royal history about Richard II & Henry IV from the Women's Prize Nonfiction Longlist piqued my interest. Also helped that I've read the Shakespeare plays about these kings. At 20+ hours, it was a commitment. My interest waned near the end. But I was immersed for the first 3/4. War, intrigue, rebellion. Nothing was stable for long. Castor is THOROUGH & has a soft spot for Henry IV & his father 👇

Quite the epigraph!