We didn't float in a pool once this summer but we did get to see each other when Meg and Ben came to Ontario. Babies were had, ice cream cones were eaten, and here's all the content we enjoyed...
6 September 2022
26 August 2022
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
I am very hit and miss with Ondaatje novels but the ones I love, I love so much that I keep plugging away at them. The Cat's Table is one of his 'newer' novels from 2011 and my version is clearly old and used which is a real shame because I've seen the intended cover for this book and it's gorgeous. I must have found it at a secondhand bookstore at some point. Having the pretty cover would have pleased me because the book itself certainly not going on my favourites list...
4 August 2022
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
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This is another one of those random fiction books I ordered in an Amazon frenzy because I saw it on a "best new novels" list. I also remember being swayed by two things: the first edition hard cover (which I did not get) and that the plot was set in remote Russia.
21 July 2022
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
Sometimes my specific interests lead me into believing actual textbooks will make for entertaining reading and this is exactly what happened here with Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell. I saw someone talking about it on Twitter, added it to my list, and realized 1 chapter in that I was reading something you'd find on a syllabus. Not that I minded too much, Meg and I met doing our MA in linguistics, but it doesn't exactly scream "poolside pleasure" either.
5 July 2022
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
My experience reading Ottessa Moshfegh is unique in that I have never had higher hopes picking up the rest of an author's work. My first time reading her work was My Year of Rest and Relaxation which I absolutely loved and picked for my top read of the year. I immediately ordered her two other novels: Death in Her Hands (reviewed in full here) and Eileen. I felt let down by both but am so committed to Rest and Relaxation that I keep googling Moshfegh looking for her next release date.
29 June 2022
Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand
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I read a Hilderbrand novel every spring because for me it's like an official launch of summer. The majority of her books are set on Nantucket Island in the summertime and I just love going there mentally. This is not her newest book but it's one I hadn't read yet and I was glad to be reading more of her 'normal' stuff after striking out with a series she wrote set in St. John most recently.
13 June 2022
May Recap
May felt good after this past winter. The weather wasn't a total asshole and people are hanging out again after two years of being scared of it! Here's what we got up to...