#12Booksof2024 November

It was a month dominated by stories of the complicated, beautiful relationships of sisters. In the end, the McKenzie sisters eked out the top spot over the Blues. Their hopes and dreams of finding a way to be themselves amid the societal pressures of 1920s Vancouver were engaging, beautiful, often enraging, and all too relevant to today's world.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2024 October

I love when style, substance, and story come together to create something unique and memorable. This one did just that, and once I got into the style, I couldn't put it down. Bonus, it was printed on beautifully textured paper by Coach House Books so it felt just as good as it read.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2024 September

A great reading month, but Claire Kilroy's Soldier Sailor (with a fantastic audio narration by Simone Collins) wins out.

"You thought wolves were extinct in this land? I thought so, too. The sea is not glittering, and the mothers are not serene, and the wolves were never more alive than they are tonight. They are volatile, they are vengeful, and you have summoned them to your door."

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2024 August

The Safekeep is just so so good. Beautifully crafted, masterful build of tension, so much left to think about.

@Andrew65

"Tall and sharp at fifty-two, Campbell Flynn was a tinderbox in a Savile Row suit, a man who believed his childhood was so far behind him that all its threats had vanished."

Happily kicking off the new year with this #AuldLangSpine chunkster (although you're right @CarolynM it doesn't read like a big book, I've whipped through the first 90 or so pages already)

@monalyisha

All set for the New Year!

Liberty Scarf is for my IRL Book Club, one of the authors will be joining us at the end of the month (my first time as host with an author present 🤞)

The others are from @CarolynM #AuldLangSpine list. I'll be starting with the tagged (didn't realize how chunky it is! Read the first couple lines, it's engaging and intriguing right off the bat.)

Loaded onto the Kobo are two more from Carolyn: One Another and Rapture.

This one was on a few Best of '24 lists, but I'm left a bit underwhelmed. It was alright, but nothing stand out, and ultimately I suspect forgettable. I like the idea of reading about the aftermath of a relationship from one perspective, then flipping to the other side, but the balance here was out of whack. I would have preferred more of Jen, less of Andy. While I liked where Andy ended up, it took a lot of pages of just not much to get there.

#12Booksof2024 July is an easy favourite. I thought a book about OnlyFans and pro wrestlers was NOT for me. But I fell head over heels for Margo and Jinx and Thorpe.

@Andrew65

#12Booksof2024 June

Some really solid reads in June, but this slow examination of artists and art was the most intriguing.

@Andrew65

Wow, what an incredibly affecting, original piece of fiction. Through her narrator Jess, Black explores the effect of trauma on an individual's life, and the role of suicide in society. But also relationships, family, love, grief, and joy. It is a dark book, but balanced enough to avoid total despair. Black does an incredible job of balancing a book that looks so deeply at trauma without falling into “trauma-porn.“

TW: suicide, abuse

Catching up on #12Booksof2024 @Andrew65

January - Fault Lines was my surprise hit in January. This story of a woman straining against societal and familial expectations in modern day Japan resonated and has stuck with me every since. Thanks to @Sapphire for the #AuldLangSpine recommendation (and @monalyisha for her epic matchmaking skills)

"Perhaps this is how good parenting always happens; you middle through in desperate terror and then attempt to apply logic afterwards to justify your choices."

Sounds accurate to me!

Happy #Jolabokaflod 🎉

Thank you @melissajayne - I'm really looking forward to finally reading this one! And enjoying all this awesome chocolate 🍫

And thank you to @MaleficentBookDragon for organizing once again this year!

💯

New Emma Donoghue coming in March! And it sounds good!!!! https://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443474238/the-paris-express/

I grew up on soul music, and reading the synopsis of this one from @CarolynM's #AuldLangSpine last called to mind favourite films like The Commitments and Standing in the Shadows of Motown. So it kinda sorta fell into my online shopping cart when I was doing some last minute holiday shopping, and arrived at my door today!

@monalyisha

I like it, in romance books, when the adult characters are having a misunderstanding and stop to say “hey, I think we're having a misunderstanding here, can I more fully explain my feelings?“ instead of stewing in silence for 100 pages or so.

Kate and Matt are (mostly) good at acting like reasonable adults and doing the above, and it made for a charming, fun read set in cottage country in the winter. It was a great, light, and fun diversion!

Between Best of 2024 lists, and Most Anticipated of 2025 lists, 'tis the season for TBR explosions! Here's Time's Most Anticipated list: https://time.com/7202423/most-anticipated-books-2025/

What are you most looking forward to? For me it's a toss up between the tagged (can't resist an isolated island setting) and Dream Hotel (I loved The Moor's Account)

This logic checks out.

Tagging the last new book I bought. Just ordered Rare Singles from @CarolynM's awesome #AuldLangSpine list 💕💕💕

A solid courtroom/domestic thriller about a conflict between neighbours, rife with racist dog whistles, which escalates out of control. Engaging, thoughtful, well paced. I was happy to find my library has another title by Abdullah, because I'll definitely read more!

This one has super #BlameitonLitsy pedigree - I first discovered Annie Hartnett through @Chelsea.Poole's #AuldLangSpine list a couple years ago, and when I recently posted about how much I loved Unlikely Animals @Christine recommended this one!

I loved this one so much, a bittersweet portrait of grief through the eyes of 10-year old Elvis. Hartnett has a talent for injecting just the right amount of quirk into her characters and stories (cont'd)

And my #LittleChristmasSwap is also heading out, directly from Amazon. @bookish_wookish

@LeahBergen if you receive an unexpected Amazon package around Dec 23rd - that's from me! Open Jan 6 😁👍 (once real mail resumes I'm going to send another small package with some items I couldn't replace online!)

Because of the Canada Post strike, I was going to ship my #jolabokaflod package through alternate couriers. Unfortunately, it was going to cost an exorbitant amount and it was 3X cheaper to buy a new gift through Amazon (which I hate using) and send it directly. 😕

The good news, my #jolabokaflod package has been shipped, will arrive by Dec 22 @MaleficentBookDragon

Packages!

@StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego my #LittleChristmasSwap package arrived today, now to squirrel it away until the opening date! Thank you!!! @bookish_wookish

Another package arrived from Amazon, and I'm pretty sure I didn't order anything - I'm guessing it's for #jolabokaflod? @MaleficentBookDragon

Killers of a Certain Age sequel, coming 2025? Yes, please!

I loved this book and its characters so much, thank you @squirrelbrain for sending it my way! I've seen it marketed as a mystery, which I think does a disservice to the book - if you're expecting mystery, you may be disappointed. This is a poignant coming of age, set in a small Yorkshire town in 1979/80; the mills have closed, Thatcher is coming to power, and the Ripper has the county on edge. Cont'd in comments

I saw @Amiable posted her favourite reads from past #AuldLangSpine matches, and I love the idea! As I look forward to reading from @CarolynM's list in 2025, here are my faves from my past awesome matches:

@MeganAnn - The Girls at the Kingfisher Club (historical fiction meets fairy tale retelling at its finest)

@sprainedbrain - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

@monalyisha - World of Wonders (so good I've read it twice now!)

Cont'd

#5JoysFriday

There are young snow leopards at the Toronto Zoo. My son and I took a trip to watch them play, it was so much fun.

First real snow of the season!

#AuldLangSpine match time!

Sprocket is in his full fluffy glory these days 😍

Delicious local ciders 😁

@DebinHawaii

@CarolynM what a great #AuldLangSpine list! The only one I've read is Clear, and I loved it so that's always a great sign. Caledonian Rd, Death at the Sign of the Rook, and Driver's Seat are all available through the library, so I've got my holds placed and will start there. Edenglassie sounds right up my alley, and it is released here on Jan 2, which seems like a sign. And I'll have to see what else I can get my hands on!

@monalyisha

First real snow day of the season! Excuse me while I curl up by the fire with this one from @squirrelbrain

Loved the setup in this one, but the execution was convoluted and, unfortunately, boring. At least it was a quick read.

I loved the start of this one so much. I was completely engaged and enraptured by Rain's story for about 75% of the book. Then it started getting a little shaky, but still good. But the last 10% pissed me right off. I won't give it anything less than a pick because the first half was just that good, but sitting here at the end of it, it is a low pick.

"Arguably, men made me hate men. Stripping just let me see them at their most men-ish"

I recently finished the tagged book, where she briefly mentions Indigenous cultivation of nut trees in North America, and today this article appeared on cbc.com.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-hazelnut-research-1.7392860

It's a quick, interesting read!

"Give the earth your rage, young man, she'll give you flowers."

From the moment I started this one, I wanted to do very little other than read it.

In 1920s Vancouver, Isla McKenzie seeks out an illegal abortion. Her sisters find her near death in a hospital ward. The consequences ripple through the lives of all four McKenzie sisters and those around them, as they each try to find a life that is true to their own selves in a society that places little value on a woman's ideas, love, and choices. Cont'd 👇

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Sign ups are open for #AuldLangSpine with @monalyisha - head to her page for details and sign up link.

If you've never taken part, I highly recommend it! I have met some fabulous Littens, and some fabulous books, through this reading event. Alyisha always does such a thoughtful, wonderful job matchmaking the readers.

Holy shirtballs 😱 😱 😱

I read this in one sitting. The growing tension and pacing are so well crafted. Frustration at the treatment of women by the medical establishment turns into creeping unease as you learn more and more (but never everything) about what is happening. So so good.

Gotta get through this one so I can prep for book club next week. It's okay, but not amazing, and I really would rather be reading my other book, which IS amazing. So I'm rewarding myself with chocolate for doing the reading i should be doing instead of the reading i want to be doing. Toblerone season is here!

#TLT @dabbe

I LOVE Thanksgiving sides, especially:
1. Brussels Sprouts
2. Green Bean Casserole
AND
3. All the pie! (Except cherry 🤮)

DO NOT make me eat:
1. Cranberry Sauce
2. Sweet Potato Casserole (sweet potatoes are delicious, they DO NOT need marshmallows!!!)
3. I love turkey, but turkey DOES NOT love me 😭🤢

I needed something light and sweet, and this delivered. Bonus - the book takes place from October to January, so there were some joyful holiday vibes thrown in.

"But of course men, particularly the godly ones, have little common sense."

#UnpopularOpinion time!

Chris Whitaker is just not for me. I think there's a really good story buried here, but he overwrites and gets in his own way. Sometimes beautiful writing is the point, but sometimes it is an obstacle. I find this to be the latter. He uses 100 words for what could be said in 10.

Glad it works for others, but it's not for me!

"You know what I like to imagine? I like to imagine the streets lined with all earth's fallen women. Everyone else having to pick their way through the streets, stepping over them. That would be some kind of justice, wouldn't it? All those women blocking the path of the sanctimonious bastards who knocked them down. And there would be a lot of us."

Another #CanLit read for #FoodandLit ??

Reading some light #CanLit Rom Com fun while a tourtière cooks in the oven. #FoodandLit #Canada 🇨🇦

Phoebe, a trans woman living in Copenhagen, is surprised to find her ex, Grace, on her doorstep. She hasn't seen Grace since their breakup, before her transition, and must come to terms with where her new life fits within the story of her past.

It is a book of thought and ideas, and of place and belonging (Copenhagen really comes alive). Not much happens, but that's okay. Cont'd in comments...

Celebrating #FoodandLit #Canada month with a chip truck poutine. I mean, really, any excuse for a chip truck poutine is a good one. #iykyk

Tagging my last excellent #CanLit read if anyone is looking for recommendations!

#WhereAreYouMonday I'm in Copenhagen with Phoebe and a surprise visit from her ex, Grace. So far, so wonderful.

@Cupcake12

"Culture doesn't have to make sense, Grace. It's invented by people. You know what they're like."

Rarely do I pick up a book amidst this much hype and love it this much, but this one is just that special.

A year after the death of their sister Nicky, the remaining Blue sisters try and find their way back to each other, and to themselves, amid the fog of grief, anger, and addiction. Their journeys, alone and together, are difficult and heart wrenching. But even in the darkest moments, it never feels exploitative.

cont'd in comments