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A Recent Book Award Wrap Up (and I’m Back!)
I’ve fallen off a bit on blogging over the last 6 months, but am making a commitment to myself to start again in 2024! I’m starting with a few BIG blog posts, since not blogging for over 6 months certainly means I have a lot to talk about! Today, I’m looking at recent book awards from the second half of 2023, including some books you likely have heard of, and quite a few that you may have not encountered yet! Next week, I have a look at my reading year in 2023 (and looking forward to March, we have my favorite event of the spring coming up, the Tournament of…
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Reading and Climate Activism: What Young People Are Reading Now
A month or so ago, I came across a great article written by Kelly Jenson about what young climate activists are reading (and writing!) today. In light of the fact that Greta Thunberg has a book out this week, I wanted to share these additional climate books with you. I find it really interesting to see how the current young generation’s climate activism is subtly different than even the activism I was raised with, and I am curious to pick up some of the books below, especially the fiction books, to see what they are like. As an aside, Kelly Jenson, is also a writer and the editor of three…
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More Award Winning Books: Adaptations, Interesting Narrators and More.
Hello everyone, Today I wanted to share a few books that have come out in recent years and received awards. I am always surprised by the number of books that I have never heard of when I look at award lists, and while it does get a big overwhelming, it also sometimes pushes books I have wanted to read higher up my TBR. Below are some of the ones I am interested in – if you want to learn more about the prospective awards, or find some books you might want to read, you can check out my full database of Current Book Award Winners as well. A Memory Called…
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Recent(ish) Award Winners: New Awards and Weird Books
I recently updated the Current Book Award Winners page of my website, which I try to do every few months (it’s been 2 years now…), and it was fun to see what has been getting the spotlight. Some I had read, some I had heard of, but many were new to me, which was fun! The page linked above looks at your standard mainstream book awards, but it also tracks book awards for specific formats, or that give awards for regional authors, genre book or authors and protagonists who have a typically underrepresented background, and you might have fun exploring some prizes that you didn’t know about! Today, I have…
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Weekend Joys in Books and More: April 2nd
Hello everyone, How is it already April!? I feel like this year is flying by and can’t quite believe it is already Easter this weekend. This week, I have a few fun things for you all, and I hope you enjoy. 1.) I don’t understand how bestseller lists work as well as I should, but this was interesting. These stories didn’t help me understand it better. 2.) While this makes perfect sense, it also blew my mind. I’m thankful for my spring birthday! 3.) They taste so similar, but I didn’t know this! 4.) These are great gifts (with some fun book options too)! 5.) Who doesn’t like free books?…
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My Best Reads of 2020: Classics, Science Fiction and Plenty of Tears
So in honor of a particularly unlucky year (and because I read too many books to narrow the list further), below are my top 13 books of the year. I read a LOT this year, but these are the books that managed to capture my attention and interest in what was an otherwise pretty insane year. This is an eclectic mix, including books about places from Egypt to Montana, classics, historical fiction, memoirs, and soaring science fiction and fantasy that takes you back in time to Troy and to distant planets filled with life. The one thing that surprised me is that while I did a lot of comfort reading…
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Weekend Joys, Books and More: December 18th
Is it just me, or does it feel a little early to start doing the “Best of 2020” lists? Maybe I’m a bit of a grinch, but I always feel like these lists forget that one 12th of the year happens in December! This weekend, I may not have a best of list, but I do have some fun things to check out: 1.) These are hilarious, and the prints are probably one of my favorite gift ideas for outdoorsy people! 2.) These are some fun book pairings. 3.) I made this for an (outdoor) party the other night, and I think it may become my new appetizer disk for…
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Cozy Mystery Round Up
Every once in a while, I need the book equivalent of a freshly baked cookie, something light, fluffy and without much substance. The books that give me the best “cookie” vibes are almost always “cozy” murder mysteries, especially when they have a female detective. I mean, when the world feels like it is ending, what could be better than reading about bad-ass women who can fix all the problems that they are given and still manage to enjoy themselves? My all time favorite series is the Phryne Fisher series, which was also developed into an absolutely wonderful television show. This series is set in late 1920s Australia and is based…
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My Reading Month: May
I didn’t really have much of a reading month in May to be honest – we went back to work (in the midst of a pandemic) and between dealing with that AND a move, reading wasn’t at the top of the list of things I was eager to do when I got home at night! Also, with everything going on the world, it feels self serving to post too much about my little reading project now. What I will say is that I am working on a post that looks at books about racial equity, racism and racialized violence, and I HIGHLY encourage you to take a minute to look…
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A Jane Austen Re-read: Mansfield Park
I promise I’ll have more to write about than Austen here at some point soon, especially as I am temporarily out of work due to events out of my control. In the meantime, I do promise that Austen is worth re-reading! Why not pick up Pride and Prejudice, and start reading along with me? The next book I will be reading is Emma, which is probably the second most popular Austen book, and is a very different flavor from Mansfield Park. There are spoilers below. If you haven’t already read this book or watched one of the movies, this post likely isn’t going to make much sense anyway. Rereading The…
because stories are important
