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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When You Find Out The World Is Against You by Kelly Oxford

Last March I reviewed Oxford's first novel, Everything is Perfect When You're a Liar, and I really enjoyed it. I was excited that she wrote a second because I still felt like there was a lot of ground she didn't cover in the first, such as parenting, transitioning to fame, etc. I got her second book this year for Christmas and it really delivered in the areas I just mentioned.

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Half a Life by Darin Strauss

A couple of years ago a friend recommended I sign up for this email subscription from Longform. They're a website dedicated to gathering the top longform articles of the day and sending out a daily list of usually five articles from all sorts of online publications. A year ago I clicked on a suggested story from the New Yorker (linked here) about accidental deaths in America and found that there's a memoir written by Darin Strauss about such an event. I ordered it from Indigo and got it last Christmas.

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10 of the Best Chick-Lit Reads

Meagan here, doing this post solo because my best friend, soulmate, and the love of my life could not be caught dead with an Emily Giffin book in tow (even though we both grew up with similar tastes). I feel I have a wide range of interests when it comes to reading. I'm down for very fact-based non-fiction, some dark true crime, but I also love a good chick-lit novel every now and again. I'd call the 'genre' a guilty pleasure but I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about it. Below are my 10 favourite chick-lit novels in no particular order.

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The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

Immediately after I read Moneyball last year I threw every other book by Michael Lewis on my wish list and was lucky enough to get The Blind Side for Christmas. I think Lewis is such a talented author and I'm happy to read any random topic he wants to write about, this time it happened to be football. I am not going to gush about Lewis too much here, you can read my review of Moneyball for that. I will say I loved The Blind Side even more than Moneyball, and I'll go as far as to say it has the most captivating opening chapter of any book I've ever read.

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An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

I would assume you've all gathered that I love reading non-fiction. I love projects that involve a lot of research and a personal relationship to the subject matter. Non-fiction is a field I wish I worked in. But fiction was the first thing I picked up, and every so often I read a novel sooo good that I remember how much I LOVE fiction and what an impressive art form it is. I finished An American Marriage on January 2, 2019, and I already know it will be my favourite book I read all year. I can't imagine anything being able to top it. Tayari Jones' Atlanta-based book is incredible. 

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Single State of Mind by Andi Dorfman

Somebody bought me this book for Christmas but I can't for the life of me remember who. I didn't even realize I had got it as a gift either until I went to my bookshelf and saw it. The mystery is real. The only person who could have possibly forgotten he bought this is my fiance, so it was either him or somebody is playing coy. And there's no reason to be ashamed- I am a die hard-'till my last breath-Bachelor fan. I could read these books non-stop and not give a care who wrote them or what the content is because if there's even one sentence of scoop on the show I will have found it worth my time.

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Top 5: Ben Silcox

One thing I have quickly learned about my boyfriend Ben is that we have very different interests in fiction. When Ben and I first met we would hang out until like 5 am watching movies and we'd often talk about books we liked. I remember writing down and then buying Don DeLillo's White Noise based on his recommendation. I also read The Unbearable Lightness of Being quite a few years before I met Ben and had a very different experience with it - but after reading White Noise I wasn't surprised in the least that Milan Kundera was included on his top 5 list.

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