The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood

I don't really know why, but for some reason I find Margaret Atwood novels extremely comforting. So far I have only read Cat's Eye, The Blind Assassin, Alias Grace, and now The Edible Woman. But whenever I crave a "real" novel, I somehow always end up wanting one of hers. Atwood is so prolific and has such a giant bibliography that it's super easy to pick her stuff up at used bookstores. I bought The Edible Women on a whim and its sat on my bookshelf for years. The plot is briefly mentioned in Jana Casale's The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky (which I reviewed here) and I knew it had to be my next read.

CONTINUE READING

2021 VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL: Our 10 Favourite Romantic Comedies

Sure, this has nothing to do with books, but it's Valentine's Day and the only plans we're even allowed to have involve sitting at home watching copious amounts of movies and television. We both have a 'thing' for romcoms and despite a lot of overlap (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days), we each have our own favourites too (Hitch). Apologies to your boyfriend for this amazing list. 

CONTINUE READING

The Paradise Trilogy by Elin Hilderbrand

This is a 3-in-1 review because it covers the entire "paradise" trilogy by Elin Hilderbrand. I did sort of the same thing with her last series here. The books are super quick to get through and with the same locations and characters it doesn't really make sense to review them all separately. This is the first time Hilderbrand (that I'm aware of) has set her books someplace other than Nantucket, and not for that reason, but this is also the first time I've found myself bored of her writing.

CONTINUE READING

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

I bought Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts after Meg had sent me a link to an interview with Greta Gerwig saying this was one of her favourite reads. I respect Gerwig's taste for many reasons ... her movies and scripts are excellent, and her directorial debut opened with a quotation from Joan Didion's Where I Was From. I picked The Argonauts up off the shelf in early August and finished it within two days.

CONTINUE READING

13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff with the Annex Security Team

This is another of Scott's books, surprise, surprise. I don't think he owns anymore military books that have been adapted into movies I enjoy so I'm pretty sure we're done with this phase of my life, and we did not end on a high note. This year I read American Sniper, Lone Survivor, and now 13 Hours and even though some people would argue they aren't meant to be compared- this was the worst one.

CONTINUE READING

Best & Worst of 2020

Looking back on the books we read this year only amplifies how long it felt. We each read a LOT of books this year but we've narrowed it down to our favourite and least favourite six. 

CONTINUE READING

Books We Got for Christmas 2020

What a year huh?! I think reading has been a bit of solace for both of us through all of 2020's turbulence and we did some serious damage to our bookshelves. Christmas couldn't have come sooner for a good stockpile replenish and we got some excellent books that we can't wait to check out.

CONTINUE READING

The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky by Jana Casale

I bought this book mostly because of the title. Meg and I both studied linguistics in undergrad and graduate school, and it is well known that I think Noam Chomsky is hot. I'll say off that top that this book only references Chomsky's political writing, there is absolutely nothing about linguistics in The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky by Jana Casale. 

CONTINUE READING

Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

I actually treated myself to this as a $5 special buy at Walmart one day recently which is very unlike me but I just felt like reading some festive trash. I don't mean anything against Kinsella, who has done very well for herself and written a series that most women (myself included) love, but it's brain mush and that's why I love it. 

CONTINUE READING

Her by Christa Parravani

Many years ago my friend Katie mentioned this memoir to me and I bought it solely off her recommendation. Katie has always chosen really interesting books, especially nonfiction ones, so I often find myself writing titles down whenever we would hang out. Katie got me addicted to Everest, if that's any indications of her sway on my reading material. 

CONTINUE READING

Resistance by Anita Shreve

As I've been working through Anita Shreve's bibliography I've been putting off her historical fiction like Resistance because it's honestly just not my thing. There have been few exceptions where I've really enjoyed this type of story and I really wasn't looking forward to reading this the way I usually am when I start a Shreve novel but I ended up enjoying it.

CONTINUE READING

Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones

Tayari Jones' An American Marriage was the best book I read in 2019, and hands down one of the best books I've read in the last five years. As soon as I finished it I knew I couldn't wait for whatever Jones does next, so I decided to look at the books she has already published. Leaving Atlanta was published in 2002 and is her first book. I got it for Christmas and finally got to it this summer!

CONTINUE READING