We’re nearly two weeks into this year and I don’t know about you, but I have been having a great time! I feel like the holidays were a real whirlwind and, while I enjoyed them, I don’t have a lot of significant, standout moments. This year, though? Plenty. Ever since my birthday, I’ve felt a real shift in how I’m feeling and showing up in the world. I’ve been spending time with people and doing things - some new, some old hat - and it’s just felt really rejuvenating. The weather outside is very cold - think -13° or 8° for all y’all little beauties down south - but it’s also been beautifully sunny and bright. Through all of this lightness and fun, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want from the year ahead and how I plan to build 2024 into the year I want it to be.

I love a good list of goals for a new year ahead. I know it’s a divisive topic, but that’s the side I come down on. I embrace a new year with optimism and enthusiasm and a belief that things can be better and/or different. Yes! to those in the back grumbling that any day is a good day to start a new habit. You are absolutely right. Any day is a good day to start and so is the start of the year.

For the last several years, I’ve written a list equivalent to the number of years in this century - 19 things for 2019, 20 things for 2020, and so on - of all things that I want to complete before the end of the year. Some of them are intended to change behaviours, others are meant to bring a bit of levity to life. All are selected to improve my experience of the world. It took me a while to finalize this year’s list, but with the help of some loved ones, I think I’m finally ready to shout it out.

Here goes!

1. Eat with my fork in my left hand. You know, like the table is set. Proper-like. I’m sure I used to do this at some point, but it appears I lost my manners somewhere along the way.

2. Buy the perfect black heels. I had a great pair until this year. They were cute, and they were comfortable. They weren’t a big investment at the time, but they lasted probably fifteen years which is more than anyone who needs to wear shoes, but doesn’t care even a tiny bit about owning them could ask for. RIP
   Full disclosure: I completed this one already on 01/04. 🎉

3. Travel with a friend. This was a goal that I had - and completed! - in 2023 as well, and I want to keep it going. I have realized that travel is more important to me than I have ever honoured in the past and traveling with a friend is a great way to create unique memories and grow relationships that matter to me.

4. Make new friends. This one has been on my list and come off of it and now it’s back on. I talked to a friend about it after I showed her my preliminary list and she put it on hers. I’ve never struggled with making friends and I cherish the ones I have, but I also want to be able to (see above) travel with friends, and to call people up and say, “hey, want to do this random thing?” or “I have a ticket to this, want to come?” and have it not be complicated for them to just say yes even if it isn’t normally their jam and I don’t have a lot of that in my life right now.

5. Get professional photos. Be they personal headshots or family photos, both would make me happy and satisfy this goal.

6. Write one short story per month. Part of me feels like I have no business adding this to my list, but while I was out with a friend in another city last year, we discussed our individual writing goals and found that this could be a good step to kick them off. I had never really considered writing short stories before, but it feels like a manageable goal that doesn’t require me to commit too much to each project. I’ve often thought that writing short stories can be harder than long stories and I’m about to find out.

7. Send a card or letter every day. Back in November, my friend Andria shared a story on Instagram with a caption that said, “a wise woman once taught me to start each day by mailing at least one thank you card. It’s a spiritual practice now.” This was like a lightning strike to my heart and I immediately decided I would do the same. Today was day 58.

8. Learn Tai Chi. I’ve always thought about doing Tai Chi, but it’s never really come up as an opportunity and I’ve never had the chance to talk to someone about it. Then, last month, my acupuncturist suggested it related to some wellness tweaks. He even thinks it can help me be less clumsy!

9. Knit two pairs of socks. My friend Barb reached out to me this fall and asked me if I wanted to join a sock knitting club. Of course I did. We committed, joined, and our first package just arrived this week. It is terrifying. I’ve knit in the past, but not with any particular skill so this is a lot daunting for me, but I know I’ve been able to figure stitches out and I’ll just do that again now.
   Stretch goal: knit four pairs of socks which is how many I should knit in a year of sock knitting club.
   P.S. I love it when friends think of me to do random things like this!

10. Join a lacrosse league. This is a BOLD item for my list, probably the boldest of all. I played around with my stick a lot this summer and one of the guys strongly encouraged me to join a league again. When I went to the first day of the women’s lacrosse league this winter, I realized he was so right and I regretted not registering.

11. Choose a Disney villain. Whether I’m guilty of it or not, I often get painted as a villain so I might as well have some fun with it. Also, the villain population is really thriving and there are more options that ever. Way to go, girls!
    Shout out to my friend Bex who, when I told her this list item, replied by text, “Why do you have to choose a Disney villain? Maleficent, obviously.”

12. Prepare resume & apply for at least one job per quarter. Years and years ago, a friend of mine swore that this was the most important professional practice in existence. When it came up in conversation again a few months ago, I was reminded of him and thought it might be a good experiment.

13. Draw every day. Last year, I made a new friend who likes to draw and it made me wonder if I could get better at it, too. It’s something I’ve never even thought of trying until we kept texting about it. This month, we are doing a sketch a day challenge together and we are planning to continue drawing throughout the year. I’m hoping to see some progress after a while because right now I am TERRIBLE.

14. Never show up empty-handed. I love this as a concept and I think it’s a generous and welcoming gesture to always offer something, however small, to a friend or acquaintance upon meeting.

15. Get and wear an all white outfit. I am consistently struck by someone wearing white head to toe and I want to know what that feels like. I doubt I have ever done it in my life. I also doubt that it is a very good idea.

16. Buy a pair of sustainable jeans. This is a recurring item on my list ever since I read Fashionopolis in early 2020. I don’t wear jeans often, but maybe I would if I had a pair that I loved? Let’s see.

17. If you think about getting rid of something, get rid of it. Ever since the first time this thought crossed my mind, I have been unable to come up with an example of a time when I’ve held onto something and not just thrown it out later.

18. Bake twelve cakes. I got a cake cookbook for Christmas and I want to put it to good use. I’m not that into baking because I’m enneagram eight and I feel like its required precision is an attempt to control me. This is some deep inner - and hopefully delicious - work.

19. Get a membership to the Vancouver Art Gallery and visit 12 times. I’ve been thinking a lot about the arts and how I can situate myself better to both enjoy and support them. This was one of the ways I thought of.

20. Learn to tie a tie. Bonus: learn to tie a bowtie.

21. Take an hour+ long exploration walk around twelve of the Skytrain stations on the Millenium Line. Just to see what’s happening in different areas.

22. Host 2-4 dinner parties. This is something I think about all the time and then life just gets busy and I never plan it and it never happens. I want to make it a priority this year.

23. Level up my bathing experience. I’m sinking deeply back into my bath era and I’m thinking plush towels, a good robe, all the best and most luxurious accoutrements. (Plus making the time to enjoy them!)

24. Take on more freelance work. One thing I love about being involved with different businesses and endeavours is that three’s always something going on and it’s always difference. I want to feel a spike of that this year with more projects and more diverse experiences.

Fun fact: twenty-four is actually one of my favourite numbers. It’s going to be such a good year. Let’s go!

Since we’ve been back at it, post-pandemic, I’ve relished the opportunity to pack up my laptop and hit up a coffee shop. Nearby or far-flung, it doesn’t matter. I’m willing to travel.

Today, on my first day of vacation, I stayed in bed, reading my first new book of the year and very slowly started my day. By the time I had completed my morning routine, I’d decided that I was going to head out to a favourite coffee shop and try to get started on a few things that have been languishing since the interruption of the holidays.

As I got ready, I realized that I’d left my regular honeybee raincoat in the car on my birthday and I wasn’t sure that I had an alternative. I knew I’d need one for the rainy trek I was about to make and when I glanced in the closet, I was reminded that I do, in fact, have another raincoat. It’s an interesting shade of yellow. It isn’t the bright yellow we expect from a raincoat or a rubber duck, nor is it pastel. I could tell you that it’s the same colour as the bedsheets I used in my first studio apartment, but that’s a reference for a very niche group of readers. Think, maybe, a little chick at Easter. It’s a cute colour on a small item, but on a whole jacket, it’s bolder.

Being someone much more motivated by function than fashion, I shrugged it on, packed up the too many things that would accompany me where I was going and headed out the door.

When I walked into the elevator, there were two men already inside, each on either side of the space so it was hard to tell whether they were together or not. As the doors closed, one of them observed, “that is a great jacket.” The other audibly agreed. I turned around and said, “thank you. I actually really needed that today. My regular raincoat isn’t here and I’ve never really worn this one before.” The original complimenter expanded by saying, “between that and your hair, you are winning right now.” He talked about the specific colour of the coat and how it is as hard to name as it is to describe. He told me that he was a painter so he is very interested in colour. I asked, “you were a painter? What happened?” He gave me the legit elevator pitch version of the timeline between thinking he’d be interested in it, receiving an easel as a gift from his partner who had since scooted over to be standing beside us both, learning to paint, having a gallery show, deciding he was no longer interested in painting, giving it up. He, the painter, looked at me when he was done and said, “you? What kind of artist are you?” I told them, “I have committed to drawing every day this year.” They were elated. We walked out of the building together comparing notes and experiences related to learning something new and they assured me that practice really does make progress.

After we said see you later and went our separate ways, I felt so energized by my exchange with them. It boosted my mood and made me feel excited and refreshed about all the things I have in mind for the coming year, but am feeling a little intimidated by. At many times in my life, someone asking me, “what kind of artist are you?” would have completely shut me down because I don’t really think of myself as creative in any way. I know this isn’t true, but I have known incredibly talented and creative people in my life and I don’t feel like the things I can produce are as awe-inspiring in comparison. If I hadn’t already been thinking about the things I want to do this year, I might not have been able to answer the question so easily today, but we’ll never know because that isn’t how it played out.

Here I sit, in this new favourite coffee shop, sipping my second decaf americano and thinking about how maybe someday I’ll get to see that former abstract painter’s work or maybe I’ll never see him and his partner again. No matter, for at least a moment of time in my life, they became the centre of it. That, in my eyes, is an art of its own.

This piece, titled Everything I Love, was painted by Jamie at Sunlight After Dark. I bought a print of it last year and I love it so much. You can get yours here. I also support her on Patreon and it’s like a magical gift every time her packages arrive in my mailbox. ❤️

It’s a funny time of year. I have a really heavy workload and a packed schedule outside of the office, too. I basically treated my home as a hotel this weekend, showing up here to sleep and do little else before packing up and heading out somewhere else. As a result, this is going to be quick.

What I finished reading last week:

• And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier - This work that is translated from French by Rhonda Mullins. It’s an ambient, quiet read that details a great story about a group of people living completely off the grid. It was one of those books that kept my interest while also expanding my ideas about the needs and experiences of the characters. It was made into a movie in 2019 and I’d like to watch that in the near future.

• The Adversary by Michael Crummey - This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and I enjoyed it immensely. Once I had started it, I felt like I wasn’t getting enough time to read the pages so I bought the audiobook as well and got through it by alternating between them. Both are great options and they also compliment each other very well.

I’ve switched things up a little from last week, removing some books, adding others in their places. Here’s what I’ll be reading this week:

• Carnival by Rawi Hage - I was low-key obsessed with this book this year after I borrowed a copy from the library and found an inscription from Rawi Hage inside! I reached out to my favourite librarian to find out how and when it happened and it appears that it was a surprise to everyone. I made no secret of the fact that I loved reading Stray Dogs back in 2022 when it was on the Giller shortlist and I’ve been meaning to read more of his work ever since then. I kept this book with me for the maximum number of renewals of my first loan back in the spring and I picked it up again when I was at the library on a random visit a couple of weeks ago.

• Burr by Brooke Lockyer - I’d planned to read Burr earlier this year because I was interested on my own and then the recommendations from writers and readers I really respect started rolling in. I just know I’m going to love this book and it may be the enjoyable sidekick I need to push through the last few days of the year.

• Once Upon An Effing Time by Buffy Cram - Described as “A quirky, thrilling, darkly-funny page-turner that explores the fuzzy lines between sanity and insanity, magic and reality, love and duty.” This one made an appearance on my list a few weeks ago, but was then displaced to make room for other titles. Back on there now!

• We Have Never Lived on Earth by Kasia Van Schaik - This collection of stories first came on my radar when Susan Sanford Blades included a Q&A with the authour in her newsletter (subscribe here!) back in February. It came up again this fall when it landed on the Giller Prize longlist. When I’m really swamped juggling things vying for my attention, I sometimes find solace in stories or essays to help me keep reading while also feeling like I’m getting somewhere. I deliberately chose this collection because it was once I’ve been wanting to read for a while.

• Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen - I read much of this light and funny family story last week and even almost thought I’d finish it up before the new week began. Not quite, but it’ll be my first priority during the new one.

  ---

What will you be reading this week?

To summarize my week ahead, I have to do two weeks’ worth of work in four days. It’ll be a challenge and I’ll be exhausted, but I also kind of like the intensity of it. I’ll definitely survive and I’ll also miss the high of it in the work weeks that follow.

I’m taking tomorrow off and I have big plans to explore some places I like to go and haven’t been in a while, seeking solitude while enjoying the changes that the holiday season brings with it.

Reading? Hmm. I don’t know. It could become solace or it could position itself as too much mental energy to expend. Only time will tell.

What I read last week:

I read a bit of everything that I had on my list with the exception of French Exit. I was saving that one for a time when I could really enjoy it and I ran out of time to devote without interruption.

I’m bringing three books from this week into next. Of the two I’m not, one was finished this week and the other just got to be too much. I actually think that it will eventually turn into a decent story, but there is a lot of aggressive and even fatphobic language that stole the enjoyment of reading it. I’m undecided on whether I’ll go back to it, but for now it’s being shelved.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay - I finished this book after relying more on the audio than the book itself. I really enjoyed the storytelling and all the threads of the story. I also loved learning more about the characters in Half-Spent Was the Night which I will be reading closer to the holidays or just after Christmas. It’s longer than my preferred length, but it is very worth the investment.

What I’m reading this week:

And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier - This is a carryover from last week and I’m very close to finishing it, but I’m also not rushing through. It’s more of a book I want to savour.

French Exit by Patrick deWitt - This will be my treat or reward whenever I feel like I need or want one.

Uncertain Kin by Janice Lynn Mather - This book was recommended to me by Waubgeshig Rice a little more than a year ago and I bought it immediately at the time. On my trip to Toronto last month, I talked to my friend Emma about it and she texted me last week saying she was reading it and that she couldn’t wait until I did. I replied immediately that I would start it soon.

The Adversary by Michael Crummey - It may not be evident from it hanging around on this list week after week, but I am really enjoying this book. I like it so much, but I also feel like I don’t want to rush through it.

Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen - I started to read this book earlier this year and just as I was getting into the groove, my loan from the library expired and I’ve been waiting to borrow it again ever since. It’s cute and it’s funny and light and every once in a while I need a little of that.

The start of a new month feels like a fresh start and the impending end of the year feels like time to wrap things up. Being inspired and influenced by both, I’m shuffling things around a little while keeping a couple of reads I’m enthusiastic about. For me, this time of year finds me seeking out comfort reads. I want to be able to get cozy and read one book at length. I want it to be light enough to binge a little, but not so light that it’s mindless or trivial.

A quick recap of last week’s reading: I finished reading Her Body Among Animals by Paola Ferrante and Reuniting with Strangers by Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio.

The books I’ve chosen for this week are:

French Exit by Patrick deWitt - I read this book a few years ago and I loved it so much, but I had borrowed it from the library and had never actually owned a copy. Recently, my friend Serena ended up with an extra copy (it’s a whole book lover’s dilemma and I shared the details yesterday) which I volunteered to take off her hands. It just arrived to me this weekend and seeing it is kind of making me want to read it again. (And I NEVER reread!)

And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier - Before the start of this year, I canvased the bookstagram community for twelve recommendations for reading this year. This was one of the books that ended up on my list thanks to my friend Anne. I have only read 4/12 books on the list so far and, if I’m honest, I wasn’t planning on reading any more, but I came across this one on my shelf earlier today and thought it could be a good one for this week.

Roost by Ali Bryan - Despite following each other on Instagram and enjoying a few interactions, and then receiving three different books written by Bryan this year, I have never read her work. I’ve wanted to start this one for a while, but it’s kept getting bumped down the list due to poor timing and needing to prioritize other books. This book sounds like the exact combination of light and heavy that I love and I’d like to start it soon.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay - I’m still reading and listening to this one and I am loving it. I just need to find some more time to be able to focus on it. Something interesting about the audiobook is that in many parts, it is different than the physical copy that I have which I discovered while trying to find my page. The changes aren’t significant - just sentences reordered or reworded, but they’re there and I wasn’t expecting that.

The Adversary by Michael Crummey - I had already read about 30% of this book as a digital advanced reader copy, but when I came back to it, I really wanted to have a fresh start so I started again from the beginning. I’m at about the part where I left off the first time and I just love Crummey’s writing style and especially his choice of words. I often stop myself to ponder how he can get the language so right.

What will you be reading this week?

Here’s the TikTok I made with all my little free library pics.

As for reading last week, I actually read at least some of four of my five book selections. I didn’t feel like I had a lot of reading time, but I managed to finish two books and read a decent portion of the other two.

Books I finished:

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin - I *adored* this book. I thought I loved Austin’s first novel, Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead, more than I could love another, but I was wrong. In Interesting Facts About Space we meet Enid and all her quirks. She is obsessed with space and terrified of bald men. She dates a lot of women and keeps a breakup form letter in her notes app. She loves her mother and is is getting to know sisters she just met as an adult. She gives the reader so much to love and her broken parts just make her more adorable. This is one to put on your most anticipated list for 2024. It’s out in the end of January.

The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman by Molly Lynch - I liked this book, but not as much as I’d hoped. I’d recommend it to people who enjoy reading about women with deep connections to motherhood and the ambivalence that foists onto their lives. It’s not totally my genre, but I love a good, emotionally challenging and traumatic story. This fell a little short of that expectation for me, but it fulfilled it for my friend Dana and a few others I’ve spoken to.

My five books for this week are:

Reuniting with Strangers by Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio - I had the pleasure of seeing Austria-Bonifacio speak on a panel at Whister Writers Festival in October and I got to spend time with her after that event. After listening to her read from it, I knew immediately that I wanted to read her book which explores the experience of Filipino caregivers living in Canada and being reunited with their family members after years of separation. I hadn’t had the chance to figure out how to get my hands on a copy until this week and I was so happy to see that it was available from my local library. I picked it up yesterday so it immediately got a spot on the list.

The Adversary by Michael Crummey - The only book in last week’s five that I didn’t read at all. I’m actually very excited about reading this so I wasn’t ignoring it. I think I just feel like I want to give it my undivided attention so I’m waiting for the perfect moment. It’s coming. I can feel it.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay - I am also really looking forward to reading and listening to this one. I started it one evening last week and it kept me up later than I had hoped so I’m being deliberate about when I’m choosing to listen to it and when I’m choosing to read it instead. I’m loving it during both.

The Bleeds by Dimitri Nasrallah - I bought this book earlier this year and it sat on my shelf ever since. When I was book shopping with my friend Emma in Toronto, we found this one in the CanLit section and she was very enthusiastic about it. I feel like it landed on my bookshelf because someone recommended it one of last year’s Giller Book Club events OR I bought it after watching Nasrallah’s Giller Book Club event. Either way, I’d like to give it a read soon.

Her Body Among Animals by Paola Ferrante - I’ve been working my way through this. Last night, I finished the story The Silent Grave of Birds and it was so heavy. I am not a sensitive reader, but I read most of this 48-page story with tears in my eyes. It was so tender and heart breaking and it was hard to read so I took a few days to get through it. I have two stories left and I’m hoping to be able to read one each on two days this week.

Next Friday, December 1st will mean the arrival of the last edition of Susan Sanford-Blades’s newsletter, Girls to the Front! Sign up today to see everything she has in store for December and also get to read my book selection for the month. All Susan’s great goodies can be viewed online later, but Carly’s Choice only shows up in the emailed newsletter. Don’t miss it!

What will you be reading this week?

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While I was in Toronto, the Giller Prize was awarded to Study For Obedience by Sarah Bernstein. This was by no means my first choice. I read it a few months ago and I liked it enough to finish it, but it wasn’t really my jam. It’s a bizarre little novel that offered its high points in uncomfortable moments and awkward scenarios. The gift I got from reading it was the opportunity to listen to people who loved it explain how different their reading experience was from mine. That kind of contrast is exactly why I love talking about books.

Before I arrived in Toronto, I spent some time in Brantford, Six Nations, and London as well. I took the train from London to Union Station and it was such a fun experience. I wish I had planned a longer train ride! Once in Toronto, I got to spend some time with a couple of dear friends and have lengthy catch up sessions over delicious dinners. I also got to spend my days wandering aimlessly around the city and visiting the Royal Ontario Museum one day and the Art Gallery of Ontario another.

Throughout it all, I continued to do more reading than I had anticipated. I only finished one of my five books, but I also read a significant part of two others. Those two will be carried over into this week’s list, but the two that I didn’t touch will have to be put to the side while I focus on other, more pressing endeavours.

The book I finished was Skid Dogs by Emelia Symington-Fedy which is a memoir of growing up in the small town of Armstrong, BC and having family ties that remain there throughout adulthood. It examines the relationships between mothers and daughters, young women and their friends, the men and boys in their lives, their bodies, and themselves. I was really excited to finish this one when the week began and it became my top priority.

I’ve been out of the office for two weeks so I’m not sure what I’ll be walking into tomorrow morning. My reading might be limited if I’m too overloaded at work, but here are the five books I’ve chosen for the coming week:

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin - I loved loved loved Austin’s debut novel, Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead. When I heard back in July that she would be publishing a new novel in 2024, I immediately preordered a copy. At the same time, I started looking for some way to miraculously get my hands on an advanced copy. On Friday, my prayers were answered. I shared openly and shamefully/shamelessly that I held off for a few hours, fully intending to put off reading it until this week, but was overcome by my compulsive mood reading tendency later in the day. (My full confession here.) One paragraph led to a chapter which led to another chapter and it became my primary read pretty quickly. I’m try to slow down and savour it, but I’m telling you now THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay - We’re coming up on the holiday season and one of my faovurite books to read during that time is Half-Spent Was the Night which is also by McKay and is actually a follow-up to The Witches of New York. It’s a brilliant stand alone book, but I’ve always wanted to get to know the witches better so before I do my annual reread, I thought I’d familiarize myself with their backstory. I have a physical copy, but also an audio version so I’m going to experience it as a hybrid of both formats.

The Adversary by Michael Crummey - Michael Crummey wrote my favourite ever Giller Prize finalist book and his newest novel, The Adversary, was one of my most anticipated books of the year. It was so anticipated, in fact, that I preordered it…TWICE. Thankfully, many people were also excited for this release and I was able to find a welcome home for it. (Thanks, Serena!) After my multiple preorders, I was also given a digital advanced copy so I started to read it while I was in Portugal in September. I was so into it, but then I got distracted by travel and sightseeing and my severe preference for actual books I can hold in my hands. Now that I have a physical copy, I’m excited to pick up where I left off.

The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman by Molly Lynch - I’m about 65% of the way through this novel and it is reminding my so much of 2021 Gille Prize finalist The Listeners by Jordan Tannahill. I’m not entirely sure what is happening or where it’s going, but I’m on board to find out.

Her Body Among Animals by Paola Ferrante - I’m trying to read one short story a day, but am running into some lengthier ones at the end of this book. These stories are wild and imaginative and intensely immersive. When I’m reading them, I feel like I’m on the edge of my emotional seat and I am here for it.

What will you be reading this week?

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My trip to Vegas was fantastic! This was the first time I had been there since 2019 and I’d been receiving mixed reports about how things were down there. A lot of people said that it was more expensive and more run down. I have to agree with both, but Vegas is Vegas and there was still lots going on and lots to see and enjoy. I’d say that my top three highlights were eating at Hell’s Kitchen and Vanderpump Paris, and visiting the Neon Museum.

Even better than all of those things, I got to meet a friend I had only known online until last week. Dana and I got to know each other shortly after I joined bookstagram and we bonded over our shared passion for CanLit. Our relationship quickly explanded to letter writing and later texting. We are in touch several times a week and have continued to marvel at how much we have in common, right down to our backpacks! She lives in Ontario, but not in an area that is easily accessible during our visits there so we can’t just stop in or make quick plans to connect. It just so happened that we were both in Vegas last week and it was absolutely magical to have the chance to meet and spend time together. I feel like we could have sat and talked for days! We met up at her hotel and visited a bookstore there (a bookstore in Vegas, who knew??) then had drinks and snacks, and played some skeeball. It was exactly the kind of easy friendship that I imagined in would be. We connected again for a visit to the Neon Museum and it was a lot of fun to explore the city through such a unique historical and cultural medium. I’m definitely looking forward to our next opportunity to meet up! And, yes, books were exchanged.

I flew back from Vegas on Thursday night and arrived home at about 1am on Friday morning. My next flight was 12 hours later and that’s the point when the dizzying confusion of days and times and places began. I’m not complaining AT ALL because I love it, but it’s a fact that I have a train to catch and keep having to remind myself that it is TOMORROW and that I’ll need to keep track of the time so that I get there BEFORE IT LEAVES.

I started this morning in Brantford, Ontario and then caught a ride with a friend over to London, Ontario this afternoon. Tomorrow, I’m hitting up Toronto for a couple of nights and am excited to enjoy some time there. When I make the five hour flight to this province, I am often spread thin enough seeing family and loved ones that I don’t get to spend a lot of time in Toronto and with the friends I have made there. I’m looking forward to meeting up with some of the people I usually want to see and to spending some time exploring the city, too. If you have suggestions for things to do or want to meet up, please be in touch.

True story: I have been lugging ten books around with me since I left home on Friday morning - five for me, five to share with others.

Let’s start with last week’s books. Here are some updates:

Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall - I bought this book a while back and it stayed on my shelf for a long time. I added it to my five books list a couple of weeks ago and I started it at the beginning of last week. I am so glad that I finally read it and I firmly believe that more people should be reading and talking about it.

Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice - I both read and listened to this book over the last couple of weeks. I love Billy Merasty’s narration so the audiobook was a treat and I love Waub’s writing so reading it was as well. It will not disappoint fans of his last novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow.

People You Know, Places You’ve Been by Hana Shafi - Could I be a poetry person? Hana Shafi has me feeling like I could be. This collection of poems and illustrations is adorable and relatable. There are so many ways to identify with the feelings and the experiences laid out in these pieces that I found it irresistibly delightful and sometimes a little bit uncomfortable.

Skid Dogs by Emelia Symington-Fedy - I read much of this and am now somewhere around the 90% mark. Despite its very compelling subject and my keen interest in it, it took me a little while to fully immerse myself in this book. Once I did, I found it really hard to put down.

Here are the books I’ve chosen for the coming week:

Love and Rain by Carmella Circelli - This book arrived at my door the other day thanks to River Street Writing and you know when you read the first paragraph of a book and think “THIS ONE IS FOR ME!”? That’s what happened.

I’ve read two books based in Montreal recently, loved them both and this one will return me back to the same setting. Some key words and phrases (for me) that are used in its description: love, pain, “the near impossibility of its enduring happiness”, “mysterious alchemy of fate and chance.”

It went immediately into the pile.

Her Body Among Animals by Paola Ferrante - I’ve decided to keep a book of poems or short stories in the mix every week so that when I am limited for time I can still choose to read without having to worry about being able to finish a chapter or put the book down before I can make a clean break.

Her Body Among Animals is the one I’ve chosen for this week. I have read a couple of the stories already and they were so intriguing. Edgy and intense, I have a feeling this collection will be strong all the way through. If you don’t believe me, here’s the first paragraph from its description on its Book*Hug page:

“In this genre-bending debut collection merging horror, fairy tales, pop culture, and sci-fi, women challenge the boundaries placed on their bodies while living in a world “among animals,” where violence is intertwined with bizarre ecological disruptions.”

Enticing, right?

Skid Dogs by Emelia Symington-Fedy - I really wanted to finish this before the week was up, but I didn’t quite make it. It’ll be my first order of business for this week.

Once Upon an Effing Time by Buffy Cram - One of the quotes by the authour that appears in the press material that came with this book reads, “If I have left readers questioning the difference between magic and reality, then I have done my job.” Count me in.

This arrived sometime while I’ve been away over the last couple of weeks and it got my attention with its wild premise involving a mother-daughter relationship, a hippie-ish approach to life, and a doomsday cult.

The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman by Molly Lynch - When Dana told me a few weeks ago that this story broke her, I begged her to bring it to me when we met up in Vegas. I love an intensely emotional story and it’s a book I’ve been staring at while reminding myself that I’d have to wait until this week for it to make its appearance on my list. This mystery built around a series of disappearing mothers all around the world is blurbed by Claudia Dey, so … need I say more?

I’d like to thank everyone involved in getting most of these books in my hands: River Street Writing, Book*Hug Press, Douglas & McIntyre, ZG Stories, and Dana the Book Lady. I appreciate all of you. ❤️

What will you be reading this week? And which of these books do you think I should start reading first?

I leave for Las Vegas today for a work trip that will have me on conference for several days. I love this event and it’s always a great opportunity to learn and to network with people in similar roles to mine. I have enough to be excited about with that alone, but what’s really so delightful about this trip is that my booksta bestie Dana also just happens to be in Vegas AT THE SAME TIME. We live on opposite sides of the country and have never had the chance to meet in person, but we keep in regular contact and have for a long time. We are constantly discovering that we have all the same interests. (It’s not even a surprise anymore when one of us shares a story or an experience or a love and the other says “me too!” We just laugh now.) It’s going to be so fun to finally take this friendship IRL, but I anticipate a lot more talking about books than actually reading them.

I come back from Vegas late on Thursday (you can tell I was maxing out my away time because my flight gets in at almost midnight) and then I’ll head home, sleep (maybe), do some laundry, convert my hot weather suitcase to a cold weather suitcase and get on a plane to Toronto twelve hours later. That’ll be another busy trip with lacrosse training camp, visiting with family and friends, and finally a few days in Toronto when I will get to see Emma and meet Jen for the first time.

Reading? Well, we’ll see.

But first, a recap from last week.

I read two of the books I had on my list: Trailer Park Shakes by Justene Dion-Glowa and Back in the Land of the Living by Eva Crocker. Honestly, I loved them both. And I knew I would.

I did not read the other three I had selected. At all.

Here are my five books for this week, the new ones on the list first:

Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice - I’ll be honest: I’ve read part of this and I’ve also listened to part of it. I could not wait for this book to be published and when my preorder did not come in before the last time I left town, I bought the audio from Libro.fm. I was on a road trip and listened to it on the way to and from Whistler. Coincidentally, I had listened to Moon of the Crusted Snow the last time I made that drive. I really enjoyed the first instalment in this series and have no doubt I’ll love this follow-up.

Sadly, my conference this week made me unavailable for the Vancouver stop on Waub’s book tour. If you are around town on Monday, check out the event at Wise Hall. You can register here.

People You Know, Places You’ve Been by Hana Shafi - This is a book of poems and illustrations that I was lucky to receive as an advanced copy thanks to ZG Stories. I’ve followed frizzkidart on Instagram for a while and I recently made the decision to support her on Patreon as well. Although I have only had a chance to flip through it and to read a couple of quick poems so far, I think this book is a delight.

These three were on my list last week, but I’m not ready to take them off yet.

The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong

Skid Dogs by Emelia Symington-Fedy

Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall

What will you be reading this week? And if you’re in or near Toronto and want to meet up to talk books or do something fun, let me know!

I chose And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott and Susan’s newsletter with my thoughts about it went out yesterday morning. The only way to read my portion of the newsletter is if you are subscribed so if you weren’t before now, you missed the original, (don’t miss another - subscribe here!) but I’m super excited for the opportunity to talk about it in my own space here as well.

Here’s the synopsis:

I received a copy of this book from the Penguin Reads program and I was so excited when it arrived. I had read Elliott’s memoir A Mind Spread Out on the Ground back in 2019 and her voice stood out to me as one that was honest and unapologetically frank. I was curious about her transition to fiction and hopeful that the raw nature of her writing would mesh well with her solid storytelling. I’m happy to report that they go together even better than I could have imagined.

And Then She Fell is a perfect read for these darkening days of fall when you really want to curl up under a blanket and just let go into an immersive story. Elliott brings a clear and direct style to her first novel, but that doesn’t make it an easy story to digest. I defy anyone to not have at least a few moments when they think “wtf?” and lower the book away from their eyes or hit pause on their audiobook to mentally walk themselves back through the most recent events.

One of the most meaningful parts of reading this book was that Elliott embedded the lived experience of being an Indigenous woman into every page. She does not spare the non-Indigenous reader from the realities of inherently racist attitudes and approaches when interacting with Indigenous people, Indigenous women in particular. Through writing this work of fiction, she has held up a mirror to non-Indigenous people and reflected that well-meaning does not always equal respect or allyship.

Another key part of this book was Alice’s contemporary version of the Haudenosaunee creation story. No matter how I’ve heard it told, it’s a story I love to listen to and Elliott gave me and others a different experience when thinking about it. Using Alice’s pursuit of her own means to tell the story was a unique way of allowing it to be shared with a reader who may never hear it otherwise.

I have spent a lot of time in the area where Elliott and Alice are from so my familiarity with some of the descriptions really contributed to my enjoyment of the book. When I spoke to her at Whistler Writers Festival last month, we laughed as Elliott talked about all the easter eggs, as she called them. It also makes it an easy recommendation for my friends and family from back there.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It is intense and it is dark and twisting, but it is also witty and sharp. With elements of suspense, history and social commentary, it packs a big punch and will leave any reader thinking about it long after they turn the final page.

.Want to learn about what’s inside? Here’s the back cover copy:

Alli is brilliant and fun and so sharp and I have no doubt that her getting all that down on the page will be an incredible reading experience.

Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here can be preordered right here, right now.

Visit Alli’s website to see what’s going on and to sign up for her newsletter. Connect with her on Instagram and Twitter to come along on the journey that takes Brooklyn Thomas from here to publication day.

Last week, I selected five books for the week and I was successful in reading one of them and part of three others.

Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel was a whirlwind for me. It’s deeply intimate and not easy and those are two of the things that I strive for in my personal interactions and that I love in my art. Centred around the friendship between two women and their relationships with their attachments to mothering and children, it’s vulnerable, touching, and very thoughtful.

There was some confusion (probably all mine) about Naniki. In my ARC copy of the book, it didn’t specify that she currently lives in Montreal which makes it possible that the book qualifies as one written by a Canadian authour. I committed to reading only five books that are not Canadian this year and Still Born was my fifth so I put Naniki to the side not knowing whether it fit. I’ll come back to it at another time either way.

I did read parts of Huge, The Double Life of Benson Yu, and Your Body is a Revolution this week. I got the furthest with Benson Yu, but I still didn’t get all that far. I was tempted to put all three to the side for now, but I decided to keep Kevin Chong’s Giller Prize shortlisted title around for another week and try to get a bit further into it. It’s early enough that I don’t have a good handle on the who’s who that is required to enjoy a book like this, but I also know that can change at any moment.

I have a couple of vacation days this week and then I’ll be out of the office and away from home for about two weeks. It feels so exciting to say that, but the reality is that it will cost me some really intense days because there is a lot of work that just won’t get done in my absence. In other words, I’m picking five books for this week, but I’m not optimistic about the amount of reading time I’m going to get. Cross your fingers for me. 🤞

Here are my five books for the week:

Back in the Land of the Living by Eva Crocker - Back in the Land of the Living’s was my most surprising most anticipated book of the year. I hadn’t known that Crocker was working on a new novel until she started mentioning it on Instagram very shortly before its publication date. I had loved reading her first book, the Giller longlisted All I Ask, so much that I’d have read anything of hers. I visited Glass Bookshop in Edmonton on the morning of Back in the Land of the Living’s release and snagged the only copy they had on the shelf, but still haven’t started it yet. I have a strong tendency towards delaying my own pleasure and this is a perfect example. I think I’ve been saving it to be a travel read, but I have decided that don’t want to wait any longer.

Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall - Although I’ve never thought about it before right this minute, it is probably appropriate to say that I am a Zoe Whittal stan. She is an authour whose backlist I plan on thoroughly completing and I’m excited to get to her gritty, 2007 debut novel. Like Back in the Land of the Living, Bottle Rocket Hearts is centred around a young queer woman finding herself and her place in the world in Montreal. I think these two books in succession could really compliment each other.

Trailer Park Shakes by Justene Dion-Glowa - This was the first book I bought at this year’s Whistler Writers Festival. I’m a little intimidated when reading poetry, but I have found that I really enjoy listening to poets read their own work and Dion-Glowa gave an outstanding performance at the Literary Cabaret. I’m committed to trying to learn to read and experience poetry on my own and her poems felt very accessible.

“These poems, while dreamlike and playful, bear unflinching witness to the workings of injustice — how violence is channeled through institutions and refracted intimately between people, becoming intertwined with the full range of human experience, including care and love.”

Skid Dogs by Emelia Symington-Fedy - Skid Dogs is another book that I was compelled to purchase at Whistler Writers Festival (shout out to Armchair Books, the official bookseller of the festival) after listening to a reading by the authour. Symington-Fedy sat on the Thrills and Chills: Mystery and Crime Writers panel which was kind of unique and very interesting because, unlike the other writers on the panel, her book is a memoir.

The book focuses on Symington-Fedy’s experience of being a teen girl in a small town and is written after the murder of a girl of a similar age in the same small town and at one of the locations where she and her friends hung out decades earlier. What really attracted me to this book and to Symington-Fedy is that she seems to have approached the book from a factual perspective while deeply layering it with observations on and reflections of how young girls are treated. I anticipate her wry and raucous voice to culminate in my favourite kind of memoir - one I can’t put down.

The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong - I wrote about this one last week.

I’ll be back with a report on this week’s five and five for another week next Sunday and I hope to have a couple of posts published in between. If you like to talk books and random topics, please be sure to subscribe and get these delivered to your inbox.

Sign up for Susan Sanford Blades’s newsletter, Girls to the Front!, to get her email next Friday, November 3rd. In it, you’ll find her latest interviews and reflections on writing and books. In addition, you’ll get to read my little review on my book for November and I promise it’s a selection you do not want to sleep on (even though you might have a little trouble sleeping after.) You can only read my review in her email, though, so make sure you subscribe!

What will you be reading this week?

Unrelated to reading - well, mostly, anyway - I got a new bed recently which has shaken up the entire bedroom situation. With the new arrival, I reoriented the furniture and now the table I was using as my bedside is a bookshelf and the chair that I was using to pile everything I didn’t want to put in a proper place has taken over as the destination for my sleep needs: eye mask, lip balm, and, of course, my current reads. It’s my nightstand, I suppose.

As any book lover knows, it’s really easy for any surface to get overrun with books, but especially when you have no self-control and have to switch one book out for another when all the stars have not aligned for a particular title.

So, when I rearranged all the stuff and ended up with less space than I was used to for books, I went around and looked at all the ones I’ve started or wanted to and I formed a neat little pile of five. I put it on my chair/nightstand and looking at it several times over several days, I really grew to like it. I had the idea that each week, I’d identify five books and just try to roll with them. That way, if one wasn’t my jam, I could switch to another without having to face an entire wall of unread possibilities.

I don’t know that this resolves the moody reader dilemma, but for now, it feels good so I am going with it.

Here are my five books for this week, three of which are carryovers from past weeks.

The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong - This is one of the books that was shortlisted for this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize and one of the longlisted titles that I had been most curious about. I spent last weekend at the Whistler Writer’s Festival and attended a couple of events where Kevin Chong was moderator and panelist and hearing him speak inched his book up on my priority list.

The Double Life of Benson Yu is described as “A fresh, unique work of metafiction that follows a graphic novelist who loses control of his own narrative when he attempts to write the story of his fraught upbringing in 1980s Chinatown.”

Huge by Brent Butt - I received a copy of this book from the Whistler Writer’s Festival team because Brent Butt was the guest for their event Saturday Night Special: A Killer Night of Comedy, Murder and Mayhem. Before seeing his standup performance and reading, I was aware of who he was, but was largely unfamiliar with his work. I learned that he’s a pretty versatile and experienced writer. I can also confirm that he’s also pretty funny.

Huge, a book that I started a few weeks ago to prime myself for the performance last weekend, is funny, but also pretty dark and eerie. The tagline on the cover reads, “In comedy, killing is a good thing.”

Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel - I randomly picked this title up at the library a couple of weeks ago. I’m fascinated by the conversations women have around motherhood and each individual’s decisions related to it. This complex story of two friends with evolving opinions and choices intrigued me and I decided to borrow it immediately. Still Born was longlisted for the International Booker Prize this year, a fact which, I will admit, I didn’t know at the time I acquired it.

This is the current read getting the majority of my attention right now. I started it this morning and struggled to break away from it. It was originally written in Spanish, Still Born was translated by Rosalind Harvey.

Your Body is a Revolution by Tara Teng - This book was a gift from the team at Dundurn Press 🙏 and one I’ve been working on for a little while now. The introduction recommends reading with a friend and, though I recruited two of mine to read it with me, the practice of working through it together stalled in both cases. A guidebook to reconnecting with our bodies and learning to accept ourselves and prioritize our wellbeing is thoughtful and well-intentioned, but it is probably more suitable to a younger or less experienced audience that may be just learning to identify the importance of these actions. Most of my friends and I have been at this for a while so, while it’s inspiring, much of it is not new to us. What makes me really excited about this book is the opportunity to share it with the younger women in my life who may be embarking on that journey.

Naniki by Oonya Kempadoo - This book was also a gift from Dundurn Press, from their Rare Machines imprint, which has published some of my favourite books over the last couple of years. A compact little book, the quick synopsis of Naniki offers this: “Through luminescent light, ancestral paths, and a Caribbean spirit-inflected world, Naniki explores the musings and inner workings of the deep blue — the Caribbean Sea — and its shape-shifting sea beings.” A quick look inside reveals some interesting choices in prose and

Naniki will be published on January 23rd, 2024.

What will you be reading this week?

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