Raised in Captivity by Chuck Klosterman

This is the type of book I always struggle with writing a review for. I typically stay away from short stories, especially if the compilation is made up of only the one author. I've been reading Chuck Klosterman's books for almost a decade now and still feel compelled to pick up his newest work all these years later. Raised in Captivity is his newest work and is a collection of short stories.

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A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett

I felt a bit guilty reading this first, because it was Meghan who told me about this book. She also wrote about it in a post we did on upcoming movie adaptations we're excited about. But, I found it for FOUR DOLLARS at Value Village (thank you Marie Kondo) and couldn't resist starting it. It's an incredible true story of a Canadian travel journalist who was held hostage in Somalia for ~15 months.

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Hiroshima by John Hersey

As soon as I learned of this book's existence I was shocked I didn't already own it. It seemed like everything I could ever want to read. The promotional blurb on the front cover literally says "Everyone able to read should read it." As Stefan said, it's one of the strongest endorsements of a book he's ever seen (lol). I borrowed this book from my insane friend Michael Robinson (a journalist who just won a Michener award!!!!) who obviously was interested in it because of its new-journalism style. Michael lent me the book and I finished it in a few days (160 pages).

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10 of Our Favourite Essays

Essays are some of our favourite items to read. They provide the high of a good piece of nonfiction, but immediately, for those of you who lean towards incredibly impatient like we do. You don't waste your time on stuff you don't like when you read essays. There might be a bit of author repetition in this month's list but that's because we are big fans of some pretty prolific essayists. Here is a look at some of our favourite, short non-fiction!

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To Shake the Sleeping Self by Jedidiah Jenkins

I have been anticipating this book release for about ~3 years, basically as soon as I heard it was being written. To know me is to know about my bizarre obsession with Sophia Bush, and this author, Jedidiah Jenkins is a close friend of hers. Through social media I learned Jenkins was writing this book about his bicycle trip from Oregon to Patagonia and I'd built it up so much that even holding it when I got it for Christmas felt surreal to me.

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A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Stefan has this "rule of three" where he thinks the ideal movie is three hours, the ideal TV series is three seasons, and the ideal book length is 300 pages. I get the idea and I've read plenty of incredible ~300-paged books (An American Marriage being the best example), but it's hard to compete with the immersiveness of big fiction. Starting an 814-paged book is a commitment and guarantees you'll be left thinking about the characters for a long time. After reading Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life I know I'll remember the name Jude St. Francis for the rest of my life.

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The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Grinder

A co-worker gave me this book a few months ago and I recently wanted a bit of a 'break' from some of the heavier stuff I've been reading, per se. I thought this would be light and silly and in the time leading up to my own wedding it seemed like good content. This book really surprised me with its depth. It was still light and silly at times but it had all of these deep family conflicts and a bitterness to the whole thing that I loved so much. I also feel like it Grant Grinder manager to write about a wedding without falling into any 'wedding fiction' cliches or formulas. I've since put all of Grinder's other books on my reading list.

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Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel

It's been a few years since I read Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America but I wanted to review it because this year marks the 25th anniversary of its publication. So much has changed in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health since the publication of Elizabeth Wurtzel's memoir, but after all this time her writing still resonates and I wanted to revisit it.

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10 Books Under 300 Pages You Can Crush This Long Weekend

We each know a handful of people who "just don't have time to read". What this actually means is that they don't like reading, but for those still in denial we've put together a list of 10 books under 300 pages that you can easily blow through this long weekend. We've included some classics, some essays, and some fun ones, so there are really no more excuses.

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Sister Mother Husband Dog by Delia Ephron

I found this book at one of my favourite used bookstores in Florida (Sandman Book Co.) for only a few dollars about a year ago and instantly snatched it up. I love Nora Ephron and her writing, but I hadn't read anything by her sister Delia with whom she used to co-write screenplays. I have an affinity for these lonely-feeling, middle-aged, dog-loving female memoirs, so while this book wasn't anything particularly unique for me, I really loved reading it.

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10 Book To Television Adaptations We Haven't Read (Yet)

We almost always try to read the book first. If there's a movie coming out and we know we're interested in the book we will rush to finish it. But these TV series were so enjoyable that we're looking to pick up the book after the fact!

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The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Bernhard Schlink's book centers around so many fascinating concepts and ideas that I wish it was a thousand pages longer. His careers have ranged from law professor to judge to acclaimed author. I had watched the movie long before I picked up a used copy of the book but it didn't matter at all. Read it or watch it, The Reader is a beautiful piece of work and it will burrow into your brain.

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