What the hell is a Liebster Award?

leibster

The Liebster Award is making the rounds. I got nominated for one years ago, and ignored it because it read like some kind of chain letter, and well, it is, but the questions going around these days are much better. I’m old enough to have received chain letters via email and *actual mail.* You know, the ones full of promises of death and dismemberment if you didn’t reply within seven days. The Liebster does not ask about the last person you kissed OR threaten you with death, so it’s already an improvement.

I am nominated by Tania of Write Reads. Thank you Tania! Check out her award post here.

Before I get started though, I have a question…

What the hell is a Liebster?
Apparently NOT a guy named Lieb who insists on being called The Liebster, which is what I always pictured. The Liebster is tough to pin down. If infiltrates a group of bloggers for a while; you feel like your whole feed is Liebster posts. And then it’s gone. Who started it? Is it a book blog-specific thing? Why do the rules vary (it’s supposedly for blogs with “few” followers, and I’ve seen that defined as under 200, 300, 500 and 1000?)

Book blogger Sopphey Says traced it back about as far as you can go, to a German book blog circa 2010. (Her Google-translated bio describes her as a “book rat” which is something we should make happen in English.)

The most surprising thing I learned is that Liebster is not someone’s name, it is German for “darling.” Isn’t that cute? We are all darlings!

Anyway, this is a chain letter, so let’s get down to business:

The Rules

  • State 11 random facts about yourself
  • Answer 11 questions about yourself that were given to you by your nominator
  • Nominate people yourself
  • Give your nominees 11 questions to answer

11 Facts About Me

  1. I have two children with a combined birth weight of over 23 pounds. I have learned a few things since birthing freakishly large children: that the medical term for “big ass baby” is macrosomia, that 13 lbs will get you media attention, but 12 lbs will only make you a side-show for the hospital staff (and no one bats an eye at 11 lbs) and to never spend money on newborn-sized clothes.
  2. The first time I met someone off the internet I was 14 and it was 1994 and what were my parents thinking? Yes, I was in to BBS…and yes, the person I met turned out to be a 14 year old as well and not a 50 year old pedophile, which was basically good luck.
  3. I met my husband on Lavalife ten years ago. This was waaayyy less socially acceptable back then.
  4. I’ve only had two jobs since graduating University. Seems odd these days. As Samir says in Office Space, “it would be nice, to have that kind of job security.”
  5. I haven’t been on a bike in almost 20 years because last time I was on one, I was hit by a van. I wasn’t wearing a helmet and took the impact on my left eyebrow… which fell out from the trauma. And the doctor told me if might not grow back (it did.) I was pretty much unharmed otherwise. I remember being a lot more concerned about my eyebrow, and about the illicit items in my pocket that I hoped the doctors wouldn’t confiscate (I was 15!) than the fact that I could have died.
  6. I worked in a haunted castle. We also had glow in the dark golf and go karts. I was a mall carny 😦
  7. I was bullied in junior high. I wonder what the incidence of being bullied is among book bloggers? I’m gonna go with “high.” I was a target for a number of reasons and reading books was a big one.
  8. I haven’t watched TV in over a year. Let me clarify: I haven’t watched TV *for myself.* I am well versed in the worlds of Umi Zoomi, TMNT, and Tinkerbell. Notable exceptions: Pride and Prejudice, Olympics, Blade Runner (for a blog post!)
  9. I don’t want anything for Mother’s Day. Or any holiday. My husband and I stopped buying each other presents for birthdays, anniversaries, everything, a couple of years ago. Terribly unromantic, but I love not having the pressure.
  10. I live three blocks from where I grew up. I realize this is unremarkable is you live in a small town, but I don’t, and never intended to come back here. I am totally that person that walks by the old house and tries to look in the window.
  11. I’m participating in my second Slutwalk this year. I’m pretty open about being a feminist and this is the issue that is most polarizing between me and people I know in real life. Bottom line: I’m raising boys and I want them to learn not to rape; rather than learn that girls need to do X Y and Z to avoid being raped.

Continue reading →

A Tale of Two Cities Read-Along Update #2: Two Mary Sues

 Having the worst of times figuring our what this is all about? See the master post!

#1Tale2CitiesButton

I know a lot of us are struggling right now. Too many characters, too many storylines, too many WORDS (and this isn’t even a long book by Dickens standards!) Here are some resources:

  • The gold standard: Spark Notes. I do two things when I finish a chapter: read the end notes, and read the Spark Notes summary. Each chapter is summed up in about a paragraph, and there’s some analysis every couple of chapters. Plain language, no spoilers.
  • Reader-along Consumed by Ink wrote a great post just today that lists all the major storylines. She should write for Spark!
  • TOTC was an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 2010. There are a bunch of resources at the link, but my favourite is the super-succinct character list.

On to chapters 6 through 16, Book the Second, in which we meet even more new characters, but at least some of them die right away.

The Two Mary Sues
I know some of you are having a hard time connecting to the characters. I am too. I think it’s because the romantic leads (at this point, anyway) are such Mary Sues. Mary Sue comes from the world of fanfic (what? I have diverse interests) and means an idealized heroine. She’s beautiful, thoughtful, athletic, intelligent, resourceful, and boring as hell. Lucie is a total Mary Sue. She’s described as a doll a few times, and that’s how I feel about her: she’s just a shell. She’s the perfect daughter and every guy she meets falls in love with her.

Charles isn’t much better. He at least has some DEEP DARK secret, but he’s good looking, hard working, devoted, respectful. He’s a total Noel (WARNING link is a six-minute montage of Felicity and Noel moments and may cause nausea, dizziness, and extreme boredom.)

Hopefully Dickens won't try to make Charles interesting by having him go crazy and get a tattoo like a certain someone I know

Hopefully Dickens won’t try to make Charles interesting by having him go crazy and get a tattoo like a certain late-90s show did… ahem

I didn’t like how the courtship with Lucie is totally glossed over – we never find out how Lucie feels about Charles, because I guess it’s just obvious that she would love him? And her relationship with her father is a bit much. She’s always trembling and throwing herself on him and declaring her love. It’s kind of creepy.

There are some great, flawed, INTERESTING characters in this book and so far, when Lucie and Charles are on the scene, I just want to get back to them: Sydney and his alcoholism, Jerry and his grave-robbing, Stryver and his, well, striving.

Vive La Revolution
My favourite part of this section was the Marquis chapters. I usually don’t like it when a character is obviously there just for social commentary, and the Marquis is the embodiment of cruelty and excess of the aristocracy that lead to the revolution. But how can I resist a guy who requires four “lacqueys” to make his hot chocolate? And whose morning agenda appears to be sashaying around his palace? His cruelty is similarly exaggerated, and his offhand remark upon trampling a small child reminded me of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada:

“It is extraordinary to me,” said he, “that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children.”

miranda

I also really like Dickens’ use of repetition – of words, phrases, styles – to (I think) convey the grinding povery and hunger and injustice that just never ends.

Madame Defarge: Just Keep Knitting
Mme. D. is my favourite character so far. In this section, she is described as having “the steadfastness of Fate” and as seeing and hearing “something inaudible and invisible” so I’m pretty sure she’s got super powers.

The Best of Blogs

Check out these posts from the #1Tale2Cities readers-along:

If you write an update post this week, link it in the comments and I’ll update here in the main post.

Tales Heard Round the Internet

Tune in next Monday for Book the Second chapters 7-24 and Book the Third chapters 1-3. 

What did you think? Who are your favourite characters so far?

Come Barbarians by Todd Babiak: The Book, The Man, The Hummus

comebarbariansCome Barbarians languished on my shelves for months, despite the fact that I attended the book launch and was immersed in a rather impressive media campaign that included digital billboards and bus shelters (for a book! For a LOCAL book!) I was afraid of a couple of things:

  • That I wouldn’t like it and would have an Awkward Moment with Todd on Twitter (that sounds like a terrible new comedy series or something)
  • That I wouldn’t “get it” because it was compared to Le Carre, and the one time I tried to read Le Carre, I was like that person in the theatre who’s whispering, “Who’s that? Why are they doing that? What is happening?!”
  • That I wouldn’t be able to stand reading about the death of a child the same age as my own. It’s a terrible cliche, but it’s true: the older my kids get, the harder it is for me to read anything about a child being killed or hurt, real or fictional.

I got a kick in the butt from #yegbookclub, a monthly Twitter chat dedicated to an Edmonton-authored book. Come Barbarians was the first selection, and I started reading the next day.

Around this time, I listened to an interview with Todd on The Next Chapter wherein he reminded me of his BOOK CLUB PROMISE (his caps, not mine,) including “magical” hummus and “ninja vacuuming” and I knew what I had to do. I rounded up a few of the Edmonton book bloggers and created an impromtu book club. On to the reviews!

The Book
4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

In addition to the reservations listed above, I had a feeling Come Barbarians wasn’t the right place to start with Babiak’s work. Come Barbarians is a departure, a genre book, a political thriller; whereas his earlier stuff is (I understand) funny, smart, and literary. I’ve had my hand on Toby: A Man several times (That’s What She Said) but never took the plunge.  It doesn’t really matter, though. A good book is a good book.  I’m glad I read this one first. It was surprising and dark, action-packed and violent, but also contained and cerebral.

I feel like this one could have been called Kruse: A Man (though I’m glad it wasn’t) because despite the action and intrigue, it’s a character study and a mediation on what makes a “good” man. Is it being good at something? What if the thing you’re good at is basically beating the crap out of people? Is it loving your family? What if your family doesn’t love you back? What if you lose them anyway? What’s left after that’s all gone?

And if these types of questions bore you, there’s plenty of other stuff to get interested in, from martial arts to French politics and organized crime.

I thought this book would be different from what I usually read, and it was, but I found myself comparing it to an old favourite: Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving. Maybe it’s the (North) Americans in Europe, or the sudden turns of tragedy and violence. Actually, I know what it was. It was this line, as Kruse laments the loss of his daughter and his wife:

He would swim to Europe with them on his back.

It put me in mind of the death of the mom and Egg over the Atlantic, and also that repeated line, “Sorrow floats.” It also made me at once wistful (how romantic!) and cynical (easy to say now, bub.) That’s a lot of stuff going on for ten-word sentence.

The only parts of the book that didn’t work for me were the more outrageous scenes. One involves a vegetable peeler used in creative and disturbing ways, and one involves the shaming of a child abuser. Neither were necessary to my experience of the book, and neither did much for me. I feel like I should have been a lot more grossed out about the vegetable peeler thing, but mostly I was wondering where I could purchase such an efficient utensil. For vegetables, calm down!

So, don’t be afraid. Whether you’re a Le Carre fanatic or and Irving lover or neither of these, if you like moody, thoughtful writing, you’ll like this.

Other reviews worth reading:
Fellow book-clubber Tania of Write Reads
The original Edmonton Book Blogger Kristilyn of Reading in Winter
Laurence Miall (who has a Babiak-blurbed book coming out soon, incidentally)

The Book Club

Can you believe we forgot to take a picture? He pretty much looks like this but less intense.

Can you believe we forgot to take a picture? He pretty much looks like this but less intense.

After a little awkwardness and jitters (none of us had done the author-visit thing before) talking to Todd about his book and a million other things was totally natural. We talked about marital arts, acts of kindness, vegetable peelers, and growing up in LA (that’s Leduc, Alberta.) I was most surprised by how autobiographical this book was. I was most nervous about how to talk about the book critically with the author right there but it was no problem at all. He even asked us questions about how authors and publicists should pitch to bloggers, which is always a ripe topic!

The Wine
bilahaut
Part of Todd’s book club promise is to bring a wine from the region the book takes place in. He couldn’t find the exact one he wanted, but assured us the grapes were the same, whatever that means. It was so good that when I got home, I immediately emailed to find out the name of the wine. It was Bila Haut by Chapoutier. Todd sent me a detailed description of the region and the grapes, which didn’t mean much to me. Bottom line: The first glass tasted like a second glass. I picked it up for $16 at Liquor Select.

The Hummus
This pains me, but the hummus not only displayed limited magical qualities, but it needed more garlic. The texture was good but it wasn’t flavourful enough for me. Sorry Todd!

Watch for book two in the Christopher Kruse series sometime in 2015. Todd would not give us an exact date no matter how much we hounded him.

The next #yegbookclub selection is Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk and it sounds amazing.

A Tale of Two Cities Read-Along: Knitting for Dummies

Having the worst of times figuring our what this is all about? See the master post!

#1Tale2CitiesButton

This first section is, in a word, disorienting. The writing style, the cast of characters, the seemingly unrelated storylines, the mundane shoved up against the absurd, and of course, the movement between the two cities, are making my head spin. At the worst of times I wanted to put the book aside to give my brain a break. At the best of times I wanted to shove the book in people’s faces and say, “look! This is hilarious! This is unlike anything you’ve ever read, including everything that’s ever been called Dickensian!” I hope to get into a better groove in section two.

Knitting for dummies
The pattern on my edition of the book shows something (a scarf?) being knitted. So I can’t take credit for noticing the heavy symbolism of Madame Defarge’s constant knitting, but I’m thinking it has something to do with The Fates, who weave the fabric of a person’s life (and cut the thread when it’s done) and HOPEFULLY it means all the people and storylines introduced in this first section will be knit together into something coherent. There are a LOT of people, and things, and honestly I’m not always totally sure which of the two cities we’re in at any given point. I gather I’m not alone from some of the #1Tale2Cities tweets I’m seeing!

Can you imagine reading this in weekly installments, as it was serialized in 1859? I would have forgotten everything in between!

That Madame Defarge. What a hipster.

That Madame Defarge. What a hipster.

Continue reading →

A Reading Soundtrack: Part III

I was inspired to do a third soundtrack (check out Part I and Part II) by Rory at Fourth Street Review.  Her literary mixtapes immerse the reader in one book through a whole album’s worth of great music. Check out her latest Literary Mixtape for Bonfire of the Vanities, which is such a great book and one that I will never ruin by watching the movie.

My approach is different. I like to pair one song with one book. As it happens, these are all books I’ve read but have yet to review. Hopefully this will hold you over till I get it together.

The Book: The Monk by Matthew Lewis
The Song: Take Me To Church by Hozier

monkhozier

She sealed his lips with a wanton kiss; ‘Though I forgive your breaking your vows to heaven, I expect you to keep your vows to me. 

This is a perfect pairing because both author and singer are super young guys who need to calm down a bit. Matthew Lewis was nineteen when he wrote The Monk in 1796. It is one of the craziest, Gothic-iest books I’ve every read, and I read a lot of crazy Gothic books. Hozier is a 24 year old Irish singer in heavy rotation on CBC Radio 2 and his song Take Me To Church is super overwrought, in a good way:

If the Heavens ever did speak 
She is the last true mouthpiece 
Every Sunday’s getting more bleak 
A fresh poison each week 
‘We were born sick,’ you heard them say it 
My church offers no absolutes 
She tells me ‘worship in the bedroom’ 
The only heaven I’ll be sent to 
Is when I’m alone with you 
I was born sick, but I love it 
Command me to be well 
Amen. Amen. Amen 

They both strike me as that one guy you dated in high school who was super intense and complicated and listened to a lot of NIN (or whatever decade-appropriate band you want to insert there.) And both apparently have some issues with religion.

Continue reading →

A Tale of Two Cities Read-Along: Start Reading!

Having the worst of times figuring our what this is all about? See the master post!

#1Tale2CitiesButton

Have you started reading? I’m on page 12, so there’s plenty of time to catch up. As we get down to business, let’s check in on a couple of things:

Editions
Editions abound for a classic like this, that’s been around so long and has been assigned reading for countless students. The ebook selection was overwhelming, so I decided to go old school with the clothbound Penguin Classics. It’s got a nice weight to it, and a built-in bookmark, and lots of introductions, appendices, and notes. It also bit my two-year-old’s thumb today, according to him. Please note that I did comfort him before grabbing the camera.

What edition are you reading?

 

Henry reviews TOTC: "My thumb. Ow. Don't like book."

Henry reviews TOTC: “My thumb. Ow. Don’t like book.”

Read-Alongers (Readers-Along?)
The master post is updated with the list of participants, but I wanted to give some shout-outs today, because there are some awesome bloggers joining us!

  1. Tony: My brother-in-law. Please address any complaints about book choice to him.
  2. Cait at 1227 Miles: My sister. Oh and by the way – Cait and Tony are officially engaged as of this weekend! Congrats!
  3. ebookclassics: I love how CJ digs up the most interesting and random tidbits about books. I also love her celebrities in classics series – let’s say we have similar tastes (90s forever.)
  4. Cedar Station: We recently bonded over our love of The House of Mirth. OMG – Wharton read-along next?
  5. Consumed by Ink: A serious reader of CanLit and big supporter of book blogs – she writes the best comments!
  6. Romanoir: A new-to-me blogger who has a seriously intimidating Classics Club list, heavy on pre-1600 lit.
  7. Amanda’s Weekly Zen: New-to-me blog, but based on the recent post of Wuthering Heights quotes which contained many of my favs, I think we’ll get along juuuust fine.
  8. Doing Dewey: Best blog title and concept I’ve seen in a while. Reading her way through the Dewey decimal system!
  9. Jayne’s Books: Super prolific reader and Moby-Dick read-along alumni.
  10. Reading in Winter: Partly responsible for this blog being what it is today. Yay Kristilyn!
  11. Lost Generation Reader: A celebrity in the classic-lit-bloggers world. Really excited to have her AND her Dickens action figure joining us!

Tales Heard Round the Internet
This is a regular feature with news and notes about A Tale of Two Cities or Mr. Dickens. Today, I found out that the ubiquity of “A Tale of Two Cities” as a catchy title makes it real hard to do a proper Google search. I did manage to find out that The Invisible Woman was released on DVD in Canada last week. This looks like something I need to watch immediately. Psst, CJ, have you done Ralph Fiennes in your Celebrities in Classics yet?

Happy reading, and see you next Monday for our first check-in!

The Afterword Reading Society: All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu

allournamesI mentioned The Afterword Reading Society on the blog the other day and was inundated with questions (two people asked me questions.) I’ve experienced some confusion myself, so today, to paraphrase Weird Al, we’re going to dig deep and peel back the layers and find out what goes on in this secret Society.

First of all, The Afterword is The National Post’s book section, and they describe The Afterword Reading Society like this:

Books coverage generally focuses on writers; this is a page about readers. Specifically, it’s about the readers we ask to respond to a new novel each Tuesday. If you’d like to read with us, sign up at theafterword.ca

When you sign up, you will receive weekly-ish emails, either inviting you to read the next selection, or, to answer another bookish question. Those emails are signed off by Afterword editor Mark Medely, who assures me that they randomly select 25 people to read each week’s book, and do not just taking the first 25 to request, as I suggested – after months of trying, I finally made it when I happened to be in Gmail when the email arrived, and clicked through within 5 seconds.

ARS edit

SUCCESS!

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After Alice by Karen Hofmann

After Alice by Karen Hoffman | Published in 2014 by NeWest Press| Source: Review copy from the publisher

After Alice by Karen Hofmann | Published in 2014 by NeWest Press| Source: Review copy from the publisher

My rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads
Synopsis:

Having escaped the place in her youth, retired professor Sidonie von Taler returns to her ancestral Okanagan valley orchards still very much in the shadow of her deceased older sister Alice.

As she sifts through the detritus of her family history, Sidonie is haunted by memories of trauma and triumph in equal measure, and must reconcile past and present while reconnecting with the people she left behind.

Karen Hofmann’s debut novel blends a poetic sensibility with issues of land stewardship, social stratification and colonialism. Her eye for period detail and characterization is reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s “The Blind Assassin” or Margaret Laurence’s “The Stone Angel,” while her lyrical realization of bygone B.C. pastoralia recalls the work of George Bowering.

The blurb is right: After Alice reminded me of The Stone Angel, big time. This is good, because TSA is one of my favourite books, but it’s also bad, because nothing can really measure up. Eventually, I realized there are enough differences here for After Alice to stand on its own, majorly influenced by Laurence, perhaps, but not derivative.

Where The Stone Angel fascinated me with it portrayal of aging – of a woman aging, specifically, and reverting back to childhood impulsiveness and petulance – After Alice frightened me. Hagar was 90, an age one may or may not reach, but Sidonie is in her 60s, and her stubbornness, her ambivalence towards her nephews and nieces (which reminded me of Hagar’s hate-on for Martin,) the creeping suspicion that she had mattered too little, had left no mark – is too close for comfort.

Sidonie’s retreat to her abandoned childhood home and subsequent illness are very reminiscent of Hagar’s journey into the wilderness. It may just be a coincidence, but I recently read yet another book with the “aging woman wanders into wildness, is stranded, and reflects on life” thing (Malarky, review forthcoming.) Is this becoming a cliche? It is effective though.

There are also shades of The Grapes of Wrath in the plight of the seasonal workers, both necessary and marginal. The reverse colonization, where Japanese labourers are brought in, during Sidonie’s childhood, is contrasted with present-day gentrification.

After Alice isn’t just about aging and pastoral scenes. It’s about importance of relationships, or sometimes, the lack of importance. I was struck by how few words are given to the recounting of Sidonie’s married years. The fact that Sidonie’s married life wasn’t central to her story was unexpected and I don’t know what that says about me, but it certainly conveys that Sidonie is an unconventional character given her age and background.

Hofmann is really effective in revealing the ambivalence in close blood relations – siblings, children, cousins.  The sisters, Alice and Sidonie, especially. After sniping at each other in a way that is horribly recognizable, Alice lets her guard down for just a moment and Sidonie realized she doesn’t know her sister anymore:

“I pity you,” Sidonie says… “because you’re married to Buck, who, everyone knows, is a drunk and a bum, and you’ll always be poor and have black eyes and get fat.”

And then Alice opens her mouth in a sort of grin that is also a snarl, a rictus, and Sidonie sees what Alice has been hiding with her hand, her tight-lipped speech. Both of Alice’s upper eyeteeth are gone, pulled out, and dark spaces agape. Alice is missing teeth. How has this happened?

I was also fascinated by Alice as a mother, disgusted with her deaf child Claire; and how Sidonie related to Claire after Alice was gone, and then, in the present day, how Sidonie placed so many hopes on Claire’s child, teenager Justin. The portrayal of Justin and his two teenage cousins was great. They are at times sulky, entitled and “emo” but then suddenly caring and resourceful. The kids gave this book a hopeful tone that I welcomed, after the slow revealing of Alice’s death and Sidonie’s childhood trauma.

That slow reveal is so well done. Hofmann tells a story over many generations and places and not only makes it coherent, but makes you want, no, need to know more. Not a lot happens in the present, but after the halfway point, actually, right around the point of that excerpt, I needed to know. What happened to Alice?  To Sidonie? Who was to blame? How did they seemingly end up trading fates?

After Alice has the makings of a CanLit classic, with complex characters, heavy themes done with a light touch, and expert pacing. Did I mention that this is Karen Hofmann’s first novel? I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Thank you to NeWest Press for the review copy!

For an amazing review of After Alice, check out Pickle Me This.

A Tale of Two Cities Read-Along: Master Post

Get ready for the best of times and the worst of times, with the whitest and deadest of Dead White Dudes, Mr. Charles Dickens, and his Tale of Two Cities.

#1Tale2CitiesButton

Why A Tale of Two Cities?
My brother-in-law threw down the challenge. Yes, this is exactly how the Moby-Dick read-along came about. I feel like he really wants to be a book blogger, but doesn’t know how to start. Poor guy. Maybe we’ll convert him this year.

I was less than excited about his choice at first. But then I realized that I don’t know if I’ve ever read Dickens, really. I own some books, but I don’t know if I actually read them, or I just think I did because I’ve seen adaptations, or just know the stories because they’re part of our culture. At 33 years old, I think I should know whether I’ve read any Dickens or not, you know? Time to get serious!

And as much as I support things like #readwomen2014 and reading diverse authors and local authors, sometimes, you gotta hand it to the dead white dudes. I understand this Dickens fellow was pretty good at writing.

I actually have no idea what TOTC is about. But with that opening line, and that title, I’m thinking it’s got to be good. Or at least, make for some good mocking.

What do I have to do?
Nobody has to do anything. But it would be super cool if you did some of the following:

  • Sign up by leaving a comment on this post.
  • Grab the button and put it on your blog.
  • Swing by on Mondays for my weekly recaps.
  • If you are so inclined, post your thoughts on your own blog too.
  • Visit other read-alonger’s blogs. I’ll update the list right here in this post.
  • Tweet your thoughts/frustrations/Simpsons references at #1Tale2Cities

When do we start? (Schedule and links to update posts)

What’s in it for me?
You knew there would be some swag (bribes.)  I’ll randomly choose one participant to win a sweet TOTC shirt from Out of Print Clothing. For some reason, which I’ll assume is sexism, it’s only available in men’s sizes, but, you know, it’s a t-shirt. I think it’ll be okay. Or you can choose a different shirt, whatever.

totcshirt

If you want even MORE Dickens swag, check out this Book Riot post.

Still not convinced?
How about shout outs in both The Simpsons and Clueless?

“It was the best of times, it was the… BLURST of times? Stupid monkey!” in reference to, of course, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

via lesimpsons.tumblr.com

via lesimpsons.tumblr.com

“It’s like that book I read in the 9th grade that said “’tis a far far better thing doing stuff for other people.'” A reference to “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

via clothesonfilm.com

via clothesonfilm.com

How about Emma Donoghue naming Dickens as her favourite author?

That’s all I got for now. Tell me in the comments, why are you excited to read A Tale of Two Cities?

Who’s Reading Along?

 

In my bed: March 2014

You know you’re in a blogging slump when: a monthly update becomes quarterly. At least I came up with a sassy new name?

Reading has trumped writing lately, and I blame all the wonderful books. In the first three months of 2014, I’ve read three five-star books, one that was ever so close, and many that rate a solid four-stars.

Recommended reading
I’ve read 17 books to date this year. Here are a few that I would recommend to almost anyone.

dadeosorendaVillette Charlotte Brontemadhopebridgeofbeyond

  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick. See my guest post over at ebookclassics and get ready to have your mind blown.
  • Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Check out me Bronte fangirling here.
  • The Orenda by Joseph Boyden. I knew this one was special after the first 15 pages and was a wreck after the last page. Review to come.
  • Mad Hope by Heather Birrell. Seriously cannot wait to reread this when I review.
  • The Bridge of Beyond by Simone Schwarz-Bart. My favourite of this year so far. As much for the translation as for the author’s work. It’s unbelievable that this was not written in English, because the language just soars.

Reading diverse
It was enlightening to count up the diversity (or lack thereof, sadly) in my reading last year, so I thought I’d track it more often in 2014. Of the 17 books I’ve read so far:

  • 10 written by women
  • 5 written by people of colour
  • 3 written by Dead White Dudes (and just 1 by an Alive White Dude. Hi Todd!)
  • 7 Canadian, 4 American,  4 British,1 Russian, and 1 Caribbean

So, still heavy on Canada/US/UK and heavy on white authors. A work in progress.

Reading local
I read some great local Edmonton books recently. Reviews for these are all to come.

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  • The Shore Girl by Fran Kimmel: Complex and satisfying.
  • Follies Past by Melanie Kerr: Unexpected and authentic.
  • Come Barbarians by Todd Babiak: A cross between Le Carre and Irving.

There are also some great recent and upcoming events in Edmonton:

  • Sadly, Richard Wagamese (author of Indian Horse) couldn’t make it to the Macewan Book of the Year event, so it’s being rescheduled.
  • I attended my very first CanLit Book Club at Jasper Place Library, and Indian Horse was the March pick. I think a full blog post is in order, but I’m so happy to have found this group! Our next book is Emma Donoghue’s Astray. 
  • This week, I’ll be staying up past my bedtime to attend Green Drinks: Local Literature. I’m not sure exactly what will go on, but I’ve been told it involved “literati,” possibly “glitterati,” and also high-fives. I will attempt to take selfies with the likes of Jason Lee Norman (Americas, 40 Below Project), Matt Bowes (NeWest Press), Diana Davidson (Pilgrimage), and Alexis Keilen (13, She Dreams in Red.) There are 24 tickets left as of 10:30 Monday night. Get on it!

What’s next on Reading in Bed
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  • Guest hosting on Write Reads: I haven’t been much into podcasts until I realized that my gym has free wifi and I can listen to them while I work out. I listened to Write Reads this week, and soon enough, I’ll be guest hosting with Tania and “Kirtles” (that’s what Tania calls him. I don’t know if I get to call him Kirtles right off the bat or not!) with my choice for Canadian New Release month:  Emma Donoghue’s Frog Music.
  • Reading for The Afterword Reading Society: The National Post books section came up with a quasi-book club of it’s own. Each week there’s a new book, and members can request a chance to read. 25 are picked and you get a review copy of the book and a set of questions to fill out. The results are summarized in the paper. I’ve been trying for months and finally got picked to read Dinaw Mengestu’s All Our Names. One of the questions asks, “what would you ask the author?” I had a real hard time coming up with something more intelligent than “why are you so awesome?” I’ll post all my answers on the blog soon.
  • #1Tale2Cities Readalong: Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is the first readalong I’ve hosted since Moby-Dick. Watch for a sign up post soon! We’ll start reading on April 20th.
  • Madame Bovary Readalong: I feel like living on the edge, so I’m signing up for this readalong the day before it starts. ebookclassics, Cedar Station, and a scandalous heroine? Yeah, I’m in. Sign up here, soon.

How about you, book bloggers and readers? Are you reading diverse or local or anything else we should know about?