WHAT I KNOW ABOUT YOU is my penultimate book from this year‘s Canada Reads Longlist, and it‘s yet another I‘d like to see jump to the shortlist in a year or two. While I can‘t say there‘s anything truly unexpected in the story, Chacour draws the reader into his characters‘ world so completely that I forget I know pretty well what‘s coming. And hey, I‘ve still got 80 pages or so left, so he might surprise me!

It took me a smidge longer to sink into the series finale than I needed with the first two books, but ooooh boy. A COVENANT OF ICE builds beautifully as it delves into its wider themes of colonialism and displacement, and it remains deeply personal to Lilley‘s struggle throughout. I‘ve had a wonderful time considering everything Lowachee does here, and I can‘t wait to revisit all three books in one fell swoop.

Highly recommended.

I took a deeply excellent bike ride past the bilingual library today. While the letters of Madame de Sévigny were, alas, a bit too bulky to carry away, I still grabbed some poetry and a trilingual play.

My nonfiction reads are in sync. ALFABET/ALPHABET, which I should finish today, is intimately concerned with how language guides identity and creative action. While not all the essays in LUMINOUS INK explore similar questions, a fair few of them do. I‘m loving both books.

Fabulous book + fabulous dog. I think I snagged THE SCANDALOUS LETTERS OF V AND J during one of those Stuff Your Ereader events, and I‘m super happy with Past Me‘s choices. This gender bending epistolary historical fantasy is all kinds of moreish. I know what I‘m doing with the rest of my evening.

Throwback to yesterday evening, when I read A COVENANT OF ICE while I hung out with a cute blond. This was a highly anticipated ARC, and I wish I‘d reread the first two novellas right before it, because the bulk of the book didn‘t hit me the same way as its predecessors. The ending was great, though—the kind of conclusion that snaps everything else into focus—and I know I‘m gonna come back to this trilogy time and again. Full review coming soon.

Saturday morning Nancy Drew with sweet Finian. He lives close to quite a few Little Free Libraries, so I figured I should knock this off the list while I‘ve got so many convenient places to stick it when I‘m done! The last one I read left a lot of educational opportunities pass it by, which seemed weird, but this one‘s back on form with a fair bit about fabric production and antiquing.

I had enough issues with THE SINS ON THEIR BONES that I couldn‘t love it (and was surprised at the number of critics who called it amazing), but I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the general vibes and I knew I wanted to read the sequel. Now here it is, in all its oversized, hard-to-hold glory, and I‘m enjoying it—but it rests so firmly on my issues with the first book that I dunno if it‘ll earn my love, either. Let‘s find out.

Further tiny bookshelf progress (now with personal touches like polished rocks from my childhood) while I listened my way to 66% of SHADOWS & DREAMS. I liked the first book in the series a couple years back, but somehow my memory of it didn‘t prepare me for the ABSOLUTE DELIGHT this second one serves up. So much hard boiled paranormal investigation! So many jokes! So many digs at Twilight! #audiocrafting #showandtelltuesday

At first, I thought HOW TO SUMMON A FAIRY GODMOTHER was one of those stories I‘d rather watch than read, but it hooked me good as soon as Theo started doing tasks for Cecily. I‘ve giggled and theorized and very much enjoyed seeing Theo‘s antagonistic prickliness take on new weight as we learn what she‘s been through.

(But seriously, this would be SUCH a fun K-drama. The filmmakers of Korea would have a ball with it.)

I listened to more than half of HEAVENLY TYRANT while I built the structure for a new miniature (a garden loft!) and made most of the stuff for its all-important bookcase. Even at 3x, that was kind of an obscene amount of miniature assembly. Gonna call it quits for the day.

The book is definitely a departure from IRON WIDOW, but it‘s a logical one. I‘m interested to see where the story ends up. #audiocrafting

Doing the late 80s SF thing with my favourite schnauzer. THE CHILD GARDEN is definitely ideas-over-people, which is often a hard sell for me, but I love the vibe Ryman gives off. This book is creepy in all the right ways, with lots about theatre and opera.

I got a great deal on pears yesterday, so today‘s all about using them up before they rot. I consulted my cookbook collection and found some promising pear recipes in Nigella‘s body of work, starting with these pear & ginger muffins. They could‘ve used a bit more ginger, but they‘re mighty tasty overall.

I‘ll be honest with y‘all: I‘ve got other things I‘d rather do with my evening, but I really want to move on to another book tomorrow so I‘m gonna plug on through the last hour of HoFaS tonight. It still isn‘t bad, and it‘s still a showcase for all the bits of Maas‘s writing I ain‘t so wild about.

The thing Ruhn did on Avallen was pretty great, though. Probably my favourite part.

I shall also eat cheesy puffs, for obvious reasons.

Today‘s kitty tether time is all about poetry with that WOW factor. QUESTIONS I ASKED MY MOTHER is a powerful entry in the prairie Mennonite literary canon. Brandt‘s questions aren‘t just for her mother; they‘re for the whole world, with an emphasis on how people perform their faith and how femininity manifests within her childhood community.

I did the return two books, borrow two books thing at the library. I always check the poetry section to see if they‘ve got anything from the years I‘m still missing from my personal challenge where I read a book from every year I‘ve been alive, and this branch had Di Brandt‘s 1987 collection. The tagged book came from the shelf beside it, because I can‘t resist a tiny memoir.

Manga + kitty tether time. (He mostly left the ornamental grass alone! Hurray!) This was a reread for me, thanks to another LFL last summer, and I sort of dismissed it back then because of the teacher-crush aspect. This time, I appreciated it as a story about a girl who adjusts to new circumstances. I hope the next two volumes focus more on that than on Suzume‘s emerging feelings for Shishio.

Tonight‘s plan: dive into Lily Chu‘s latest print release (which I guess has been available on audio for a looooong time?) and drink this delicious nonalcoholic sweet & spicy beer Caesar. I was gonna pop into the Liquor Mart on my way home, since hot days call for refreshing drinks, but the grocery store had these so I figured, why add another stop and shell out extra for alcohol? I just want the taste, and Farmery‘s zero proof stuff delivers.

I passed by two overflowing Little Free Libraries today, right after I reflected on how it‘s been ages and ages since I found any Nancy Drew. Now I‘ve got three I haven‘t read recently (I read them allll when I was 8), plus some manga. I‘ll try to finish as many as possible before I leave here so I can return them to LFLs in this general area.

I invested in a kittycorn mood lamp this week and I have no regrets. It‘s colour-shifting! Whee!

I decided to read HoFaS 25% at a time because I‘m not so invested in the story that I need to gulp it down. I don‘t dislike it, but I do feel like it‘s a showcase for the bits of Maas‘s work I ain‘t wild about; namely, her infodumps and her fondness for alpha male bullshit. The book feels majorly overlong, too, just like its predecessors.

Throwback to breakfast, when I ate leftover cheesecake and started MY DARLING DREADFUL THING. So far, it‘s got solid creep-out potential and a narrator I refuse to trust because her story‘s way more interesting that way, but I‘m not yet hooked. I hope that‘ll happen tonight.

This week‘s library haul includes horror, romance, fantasy, poetry, and general fiction. Good times.

I finished my new book nook, and also my book. READY OR NOT is a great example of how valuable #AuldLangSpine is, because I doubt I‘d even have noticed it if it hadn‘t appeared on @peanutnine ‘s list, and it was absolutely wonderful! I‘m so glad I have it in my life! I love a book that‘s fair to all its characters even when they can‘t be fair to themselves. Major props for being a trans-inclusive hetero pregnancy romance, too.

I hit 26% with REAPER‘S GALE while I assembled a tiny train that‘ll fit into a book nook. I found the last book kind of tedious, so I‘m glad this one returns to the characters and settings from my favourite volume. (The place sounds like Letheri, but I probably spelled it wrong. The enduring issue with audio.) Still, I won‘t emerge from this series a Malazan superfan. I like it enough to continue but not enough to rave about it all. #audiocrafting

I get to spend a few days with my very favourite reading buddy! He‘s helped me make a good start on READY OR NOT, which is great so far. Lots of nuance to everyone‘s emotional responses to this unplanned pregnancy.

It‘s Friday and we‘ve got a heat warning, so I felt totally justified in taking my book & pool time early today. The dogs elected to nap inside, where it‘s frosty.

I borrowed a print copy of HoFaS a few weeks ago, brought it home, and said, “Why the hell didn‘t I get the ebook?” So into the queue I went, with a couple suspensions, and here it is. And here I am, trying to remember who‘s who because it‘s been a looooong time since the first books.

I made a start on this essay anthology while Rocco asked if I could pleasepleaseplease feed him early and also snuggle him. (Snuggles happened. Early breakfast did not.) The introduction was too dense and academic for me to really click with it, but Eden Robinson‘s piece was great. I‘m hoping for more like that and less of the “lemme show off how opaque and fancy I can be” stuff so many litfic writers trot out when they pen essays.

Read some more of SCARAMOUCHE with Wesley nearby. It‘s currently my secondary book, but I think it‘ll graduate to primary when I‘ve got a little gap. It‘s fun so far. I do wish my free copy had an interesting cover, though.

Did some post-breakfast outdoor reading with Cooper before the heat warning dropped into place.

SPLASHDANCE SILVER is another digital freebie I‘ve had forever, since a) it didn‘t make it onto La TBR because LibraryThing couldn‘t find it and I was too lazy to add it manually and b) for some reason I thought it was like 600 pages long. It‘s actually more like 300, and the first couple chapters were fun! I‘m eager to really sink into the story.

A great end to a great series. Sebastian and Wesley have some serious changes to contend with, both personally and magically, and I had a marvellous time watching them feel their way into their new realities and figure out the shape of their lives going forward, all while they bring the mystery to its dramatic conclusion.

You want these books if you crave historical fantasy about characters who shine on their own and get even better together.

I wanted some sort of skillety thing for my birthday breakfast and the fancy place I planned to order from wouldn‘t let me ask them to leave out the red onions. Boo. I stopped off at Tim Horton‘s instead for a resoundingly adequate scramble box alongside my daily short story.

This collection is HEAVY. Manea‘s fiction draws on his experiences in a concentration camp; an important subject that many people obviously need a refresher on.

The dogs and I tried to have a good ol‘ Canada Day outdoor read ahead of the fireworks, but a thunderstorm chased us inside. Probably cancelled the fireworks, too, unless the sound got tangled up with the thunder.

I‘m plugging away through the overtly SF bits of ElfQuest. I read a teensy bit of Jink‘s story right after I discovered the series, via an ancient library book, but most of this 800-page trade is new to me. Exciting times.

Today‘s feed trough pool experience involved an urban fantasy that reads like TWILIGHT with adult lesbians. So far it‘s tapped more into the slice of life stuff that made TWILIGHT so fun and readable (as long as you didn‘t actually THINK about it), but there‘s still a fair bit of creepy possessiveness. We‘ll see how it goes now Libby has learned Jo is a vampire. Will they play very loud baseball with Jo‘s extended family? Will anyone SPARKLE?

Alas, MAGICK & MAYHEM got silly, in a frustrating way rather than a fun one. At least I got to bail on it while I sat in an excellent feed trough pool. Now I know how great this thing is, I‘m just gonna lounge around in it allllll day. Cooper and his brothers can feed themselves.

(No, no, I kid. I‘ll serve up their lovingly prepared bowls of kibble, vitamins, and broth at the appointed hour. No dogs were harmed in my pursuit of pooly enjoyment.)

Delicious lime cerveza plus witchy cozy mystery. I‘m not too far into MAGICK & MAYHEM, but it‘s got promise! The dogs and I are gonna relocate outside to make a big dent in it.

I tried one of the local grocery store‘s whirled pastries and it was actually really good! Kind of like a croissant crossed with a Danish.

I ate it alongside my daily short story, with three drooling dogs just outside the frame. They all fell asleep once the plate was empty and their hopes were crushed.

Here I am, reading a book about a guy called Wesley while I hang out with a dog called Wesley! I‘m about an hour from the end of VISCOUNTS AND VILLAINY and I‘ve got many emotions about how the characters adjust to their new circumstances, but I‘m having a little trouble concentrating tonight. I blame dog-Wesley‘s excessively sweet face. (Sebastian would love him.) We‘ll see if I finish it in an hour or so or tomorrow morning.

I took some time out this morning to listen to THE KINGDOM OF COPPER and decorate my planner for July. The book‘s great—dark and stressful—and I love the succulent stickers I used for my birthday week. #audioplanning

I went into the library to pick up READY OR NOT (my penultimate book for #AuldLangSpine 2025!), but of course I couldn‘t resist this anthology of urban poetry from Africa off the New Stuff stand.

One of my bike tires went flat yesterday (while I was about an hour‘s bike-push from home; blah), so I had to hit Canadian Tire today—and hey, my favourite indie bookstore‘s in the same mall, and it would‘ve been rude not to stop in. I chose two books from the bargain section and a gorgeous new bookmark I shall use in my primary read.

I finished A CHOIR OF LIES while I cooked and ate kimchi udon, and ooooh boy. Great dish; great book. Rowland digs into some of my favourite themes, including how stories work, who gets to claim ownership over them, and how bias colours first person narration.

I know a lot of people on here consider first person lazy writing, but DUDE. Don‘t be a lazy reader; stay aware that YOU CANNOT TRUST FIRST PERSON NARRATORS, and so many layers open up.

Here I am, trying to combat sadness with Kopiko, strawberries, and a Regency friend-romance between an aromantic woman and a gay man. I loved the hell out of the first book in this series (SOMETHING FABULOUS) but just really liked the second (SOMETHING SPECTACULAR). This shall be the tie-breaker.

My stalwart companion as I reread ONCE A ROGUE. He‘s so red in the smokey light! I filtered him a bit to capture the colour I actually saw.

The book‘s still great. I love the way these characters bounce off each other, and Allie Therin‘s prose practically reads itself. I open my ereader and suddenly half an hour‘s gone by. I needed this, especially after I bailed on an opaque contemporary fantasy last night.

I‘m rereading PROPER SCOUNDRELS in preparation for VISCOUNTS & VILLAINY, with help from the cutest little scoundrel I know.

The finished baby blanket. I couldn‘t get it to block as large as I wanted it to with the materials available to me (a stretch frame), but the spirals still stand out better than they did.

Nw, onward through A CHOIR OF LIES. The first Chantiverse novel, A CONSPIRACY OF TRUTHS, had a strong KJ Parker influence, and it‘ll be interesting to see if it carries into this one. Rowland‘s more recent books have rather different vibes. #audioknitting

Doing the backyard cozy mystery thing with my new pal Finian. DEATH BY BUBBLE TEA is a bit slow to gain momentum, but it‘s the first in a series so I‘m willing to give it some time to establish the characters and the community.

I‘ve gotta conclude Evie Woods just isn‘t for me. I liked THE LOST BOOKSHOP, but I found THE STORY COLLECTOR pretty bland and I‘m tapping out of the bakery at page 74. Theres no spark there for me. 😔

At least I had super cute reading buddies while I made the attempt. Please enjoy Cooper‘s curly adorability.

Made some bunnies for some babies while I reread IRON WIDOW on audio. I originally planned to make two bunnies each for the two newborns and two toddlers, but the hand sewn parts are fiddly and I‘m time poor right now, so the newborns can have the bunnies and the older kids can have the store bought toys. #audiosewing

I started KJ Charles‘s latest last night, and oooh, friends, it‘s right where I want to be. I hope I can scrounge enough time to finish it on this busy day.

I stayed up late with SCIONS‘ FLIGHT, then got up a bit early to finish it. Now, a teensy break before I tackle the next collection in the Peltedverse. It‘s felt great to focus on these characters and their struggles for a decent stretch, but I‘ve got a whole bunch of other genres calling out to me.