15 September 2019
Our 2019 TIFF Experience
5 September 2019
Book Adaptations at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival
This is always one of our favourite lists of the year (and also the most time consuming) because it gets us hyped for the festival and helps us decide what we are/aren't interested in seeing. Sometimes we luck out and get to see one of these movies during the festival, but not always. What we love about this list is that if we don't get to see one we're excited about, we have time to go out and read the book before we get out next opportunity. Many of these movies don't get released until much later in the year so have a look and pick one up! Some TIFF tickets are still available so if one of these adaptations look interesting you can see what's left here.
30 August 2019
This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps
I've always been a fan of Busy Philipps but I could never put my finger on why. She's always been annoying in everything I've seen her in. Having read this book I feel like I can finally articulate it: Philipps is a celebrity we all have a real chance of being. Her 'vibe', for lack of a less cringey word, feels mildly attainable to us nobodies.
22 August 2019
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.
16 August 2019
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.
8 August 2019
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).
2 August 2019
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!
26 July 2019
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.
18 July 2019
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.
12 July 2019
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.
4 July 2019
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.
27 June 2019
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.