In the face of my low reading expectations for last week, I actually got a decent amount of reading done. And after back-to-back months of only finishing three books, I’m currently sitting at a total of five completed books so far in November. (Not that I am encouraging competitive reading. I’m much more a quality over quantity girlie, but we’ll get to that later.)
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?