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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Author Spotlight: Judy Blume

This blog, if you've been following along, pays homage to my adult love of Judy Blume, but what it doesn't show is that I've been a Blume fan my whole life. I grew up giggling through the 'Fudge series', I did the "we must, we must, we must increase our bust" chant from Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and I dreamed of a glittery sleepover room like Rachel Robinson's. As far as I'm concerned, Judy Blume is a lifelong treasure, and I wish more of my favourite childhood authors would write quality adult novels as well.

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The Library Book by Susan Orlean

Susan Orlean's The Library Book was on the New York Times' best non-fiction of 2018 but it was how much I loved Orlean's research-heavy writing in The Orchid Thief (reviewed here) that made me  decide to buy a copy. What drew me to The Orchid Thief was her envy of passionate people. She memorably states: "I suppose I do have one unembarassing passion - I want to know what it feels like to care about something passionately." The Library Book quickly becomes an ode to something Orlean is very passionate about - books.

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Alice & Oliver by Charles Bock

A few years ago our pal "book club Becca" so kindly mailed me a copy of the New York Times book section where a favourite author of mine, Elin Hilderbrand, was being interviewed. In the interview she mentioned Charles Bock's Alice & Oliver as being her favourite recent read, and I've been dying to read it ever since. I tried to push it for a book club a few times but, no takers. It's a shame because it was really, really good.

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10 Books on Motherhood

I think it's easy to agree that both of us are fascinated by motherhood. So many of the books we have consumed have been frighteningly honest about the pros and cons, and still I feel like I want more. More pros, more cons, more research. Motherhood is something all women think about, especially as we move through life and its different stages. While we might not always be on the exact same page about having children, I still think we are both very drawn to books about motherhood and what comes with that role. Below is a list of our favourite books on the topic as well as some we are interested in reading. 

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True Confessions by John Gregory Dunne

A year or so ago I went into a frenzy and tried to purchase every possible John Gregory Dunne book I could. I was lucky in that True Confessions and Nothing Lost are still available for order at Indigo because the majority of his books are no longer being printed. So most of his collection has been sitting on my shelf as I take my time going through them / savouring anything related to Joan Didion. I decided to read this one because of the upcoming TNT series I Am the Night about the Black Dahlia starring Chris Pine and directed by Patty Jenkins. True Confessions is loosely based off the same murder.

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