When I realized my reading last year was #sowhite, especially considering I’m reading all books published within the last few years, I’ve been making a concerted effort to read with diversity in mind, and it has been a rewarding experience. Surviving the White Gaze by Rebecca Carroll is a memoir about growing up half black,…
Picture yourself in a dark basement club in downtown Montreal, small votive candles burning away on each little table. Across from you is a woman with a raspy voice smoking a cigarette, telling you her life story in between sets on stage. She is surprisingly forthcoming considering you’ve never met, but she seems have this…
I had been saving the latest book from David Sedaris on my shelf for awhile, because I wanted to ‘treat’ myself to it when I was ready to enjoy my favourite author without interruptions. So when I managed to score myself a ticket to his Calgary show on February 27, you can imagine how delighted…
I’ve come to that point in my reading life that I no longer can recall if I’ve read certain books. I was so certain I had read an Ann Patchett book before this one, but according to my hand-written reading log and Goodreads, These Precious Days is my first Patchett book. Perhaps I had read…
Poetry isn’t something I read often; every once in awhile I’ll pick it up, but I really don’t look forward to it, and there are way too many novels on my shelf to ignore. But you may find it surprising to hear that my second favourite author (David Sedaris is my first) is the Canadian…
I will fully admit to choosing this book based on the cover alone; the single square of chocolate signaled to me that within these pages, I may find the solution to my chocolate addiction. Now don’t get me wrong, I would never give up eating chocolate entirely, but I would like to have better control…
I’m not quite sure what prompted my purchase of Dare to Lead by Brené Brown, perhaps I saw it listed on some leadership book list and decided I needed to take the plunge. I read a few pages when I first got it, and then quickly abandoned it for more fun (fictional) pursuits. Right before…
The subtitle of Ethan Lou’s book Once a Bitcoin Miner is: Scandal and Turmoil in the Cryptocurrency Wild West, which is both a figurative and literal reference to what is discussed in this entertaining work of journalism. I’ll admit to being immediately put off by the topic – I could care less about Bitcoin, but…
A morbid curiosity first drew me to this book, but The Shaytan Bride by Sumaiya Matin also stood out to me as a memoir that every feminsit should read. There are also elements of the supernatural, as the Shaytan is a spirit from Islam that supposedly possesses women, forcing them into bizarre behaviors and lovesick…
I’m getting to that point in my bookworm years when I completely forget if I’ve read a particular author before. I was sure that Care Of by Ivan Coyote was my first book of theirs (they go by the plural pronoun fyi) but according to this very old blog post, I’ve read and loved Coyote’s…
I distinctly remember the day this book arrived on my doorstep. When I opened the package, I thought to myself how weird it was that the first book about Covid and its disruptions was finally being printed, and how surreal it felt to put it on my shelf. I thought to myself (in a particularly…
How long has it been since you’ve been in a taxi? Personally, it’s been years because I tend to take Ubers, but after reading this book, I may seek out taxis more often. Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers by Marcello Di Cintio is a look into the lives of taxi drivers across Canada,…
