Posts

Showing posts from December, 2013

2013 Best Books of the Year

Image
It is time for me to present my Best Books of the Year, determined by which books I gave 5 star ratings to on GoodReads this year.  Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Emancipation Day - Wayne Grady Stats Canada: Satire on a National Scale - @StatsCanada A Cinderella Christmas - Holly Kingston A House in the Sky - Amanda Lindhout Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan Anchorboy - Jay Onrait There's More to Life Than Cupcakes - Poppy Dolan Ghana Must Go - Taiye Selasi Get You Good - Rhonda Bowen Hell-Bent - Benjamin Lorr The Poisoned Pawn - Peggy Blair The Rovers Return: The Official Coronation Street Companion - Tim Randall Ascent of Women - Sally Armstrong And my choices for Best of the Year: Best Fiction Best Non-Fiction What are your favourite books of 2013?

2013 Year in Review

Image
It seems like it wasn't too long ago that it was the beginning of the year and I was thinking "oh it's so long until the literary awards season, and so long until I get to make those fun end of the year posts."  Honestly, around last February this time of year seemed so far away.  And yet now, as with almost every year,  I look back and wonder how it all flew by.  So, let's take a quick look back at my year in reading and the things I have learned. Trends Once again, it's been an eclectic year.  Biography, literary fiction, chick-lit, cookbooks, CanLit, current events, mystery, even an etiquette book, I once again enjoyed reading many different books.  I think this is the trick to me reading a lot, and with only one DNF this year, I seem to have made a good choice in books.  Were there any trends?  Other than taking loads of chick lit with me on my holidays, I don't think there is anything you can narrow down. Most Popular Posts Here a few of my mo

"The Rude Story of English" by Tom Howell

Image
We use it every day but do we really give much thought as to where it came from?  I’m talking about the English language.  How did it even start?  How did it evolve to what it is today?  And why doesn’t it have a rude history?  That’s right, why isn’t the story of the English language a rude one? Tom Howell has always wondered why the story of the English language doesn’t have a hero and why it isn’t rude enough.  And like any lexicographer would do, he set out to fix that.  The result is his new book, The Rude Story of English .  Beginning in 449 AD, he introduces us to Hengest, the legendary Germanic warrior who tripped and fell onto the shores of Britain, the man who will take us on the journey through the development of the English language and to what it has become today.  Spoken all over the world, English is a rich and diverse language and actually very rude. Travel the world, from England to Australia, from Newfoundland to Jamaica, and beyond, and you’ll find that we

Gift Buying Guide

Image
Christmas is here and everyone is out in full force doing their shopping and buying gifts for their loved ones.  I always give books as gifts and think they're the perfect present for even the most difficult of people to shop for.  And so I share with you my suggestions for book gifts for the different people in your life based on the books I read in 2013. For the Current Events Aficionado A House in the Sky  by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett For the Science Lover An Astronaut's Guide to Life On Earth  by Col. Chris Hadfield For the Reality TV Watcher Crazy Rich Asians  by Kevin Kwan For the Chick Lit Girl Cupcakes at Carrington's by Alexandra Brown For the Fiction Reader Emancipation Day  by Wayne Grady For the Yogi Hell-Bent  by Benjamin Lorr For the History Buff The Orenda by Joseph Boyden For the Vegan Skinny Bitch in Love  by Kim Barnouin For the Short Story Devotee HellGoing by Lynn Coady

"Cataract City" by Craig Davidson

Image
Owen Stuckey and Duncan Diggs are childhood best friends who grew up in the beautiful town of Niagara Falls.  But to them and everyone else who lives in the town, it’s not the picturesque tourist town it’s known as, it has a grittier side known as Cataract City.  Owen and Duncan think they can make something different of their lives and move beyond the city until an incident occurs over the course of a few nights, changing their lives forever. As Owen and Duncan drift apart, their lives take very different paths.  And soon they find themselves on opposite sides of the law: Duncan, serving an eight year prison sentence, and Owen, the man who put him there. Cataract City , by Craig Davidson, takes you behind the bright lights and incredible views of Niagara Falls into a story of two men who are fighting the odds and are not very successful at it.  It takes you into a world where the locals are struggling to get by and into an underbelly of illegal fighting and cross-border smu