Tag Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

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Summer weather in Toronto begins in June and runs through the end of September (or longer some years).

We’ll have warm but still nice days at the beginning and end of summer season, but we also have many hot, humid ones when the best thing to do is to settle down with a book and save any exercising for cooler parts of the day.

This is doubly true this year thanks to the pandemic and the fact that all of our swimming pools and beaches are shut down for public health reasons. Here are a few of the many books I’m hoping to check out this summer as I stay cool.

 

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Release Date: June 30

Why I Want to Read It: As soon as the saw the words “horror” and “Jane Eyre” in the blurb, I knew I had to read this. Not sure if this is a homage to that book or simply has similar themes. Either way, I’m thrilled to check it out soon.

Goddess in the Machine (Goddess in the Machine, #1) by Lora Beth Johnson

Release Date: June 30

Why I Want to Read It: The thought of being in stasis so long that everyone you know and love has died long before you wake up again makes me shudder. It also makes me eager to see how this character reacts to this fact.

 

Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters

Release Date: July 21

Why I Want to Read It: There’s nothing like reading a spooky ghost story on a humid summer day.

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears (Paola Santiago #1) by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Release Date: August 4

Why I Want to Read It: Middle grade novels are the perfect brain candy for hot, humid days. The fact that this one references La Llorona only makes me more curious about it!

The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir by Sara Seager 

Release Date: August 18

Why I Want to Read It: The existence of exoplanets are one of the most interesting aspects of astronomy in my opinion. I could read about them all day.

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee

Release Date: September 1

Why I Want to Read It: The shameful Japanese internment camps of the 1940s are more relevant than ever given what’s currently happening in the U.S.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Release Date: September 1

Why I Want to Read It: I love visiting cemeteries in real life. They’re incredibly peaceful places to walk, and you can learn so much about the lives of strangers and the eras they lived in by reading their headstones. This love of cemeteries encompasses fictional stories about them as well. They’re not scary to me. They’re wonderful.

The Irish Princess by Elizabeth Chadwick

Release Date: September 12

Why I Want to Read It: I must confess to having no idea that Ireland ever had their own princess. Now I want to know more!

The Ninth Life by Taylor B. Barton

Release Date: September 15

Why I Want to Read It: Honestly, who hasn’t grieved the loss of a beloved pet and wished you could have more time with them? The fact that this cat came back as a young queer man makes the storyline even more appealing to me. I can’t wait to see how he adjusts to being human!

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Release Date: September 15

Why I Want to Read It: This mansion that goes on endlessly sounds deliciously weird, and I love stories like that. It also reminds me of dreams I’ve had about similar houses that are filled with more rooms than anyone could ever explore.

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This week’s list might seem a little out of character for my reading habits. I jump around a lot in various genres, but the vast majority of the books I read were written in the last thirty to forty years.

(Do book published in 1980-1990 count as contemporary or historical? I have no idea!)

With that being said, there have been some classic novels like Jane Eyre that I loved reading.

So I’m always theoretically open to reading more classics….it’s just rare for me to actually be in the mood to adapt to the sometimes wordy writing styles from past decades and centuries.

Now I don’t even remember why I was interested in these specific titles, but they’re still on my TBR list.

1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickins

2. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

4. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

5. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

6. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

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Summer is my favourite time of the year when it comes to food. Not only are many of my favourite fruits and vegetables in season, the warm weather leads to delicious grilled dinners and sometimes a scoop of dairy-free ice cream for dessert.

In short, you’re going to be tempted by all sorts of food today from a wide variety of cuisines, so strap in and prepare to start craving the best of what summer has to offer.

1. Asian Grilling: 85 Satay, Kebabs, Skewers and Other Asian-Inspired Recipes for Your Barbecue by Su-Mei Yu

2. Burgers Every Way: 100 Recipes Using Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Lamb, Fish, and Vegetables by Emily Haft Bloom

3. The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi

4. Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer by Tim Stark

5. Der Erdbeerpflücker (Jette Weingärtner #1) by Monika Feth

6. Saladish: A New Way to Eat Your Vegetables by Ilene Rosen

7. Mason Jar Salads and More: 50 Layered Lunches to Grab and Go by Julia Mirabella

8. Smoothies: 50 Recipes for High-Energy Refreshment by Mary Corpening Barber

9. Shug by Jenny Han

10. Sundae My Prince Will Come (Wish, #6) by Suzanne Nelson

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I could have easily made this list twice as long. What a great topic!  Please note that the final opening line references the death of a child.

1.“I am sixteen when my mother steps out of her skin one frozen January afternoon- pure self, atoms twinkling like microscopic diamond chips around her, perhaps the chiming of a clock, or a few bright flute notes in the distance- and disappears. No one sees her leave, but she is gone.”

― Laura Kasischke, White Bird in a Blizzard

2. “Like most forms of corruption, it began with men in suits.”

― Mick Herron, Real Tigers

 

3. “Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.”

― Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere

4. “It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.”

― Philip Reeve, Mortal Engines

5. “It was during Latin that the Austro-Hungarians arrived with their dogs and zombies to kill everyone at the Eden College for Young Ladies.”

― David Wake, The Derring-Do Club and the Empire of the Dead

6. “Late one evening towards the end of March, a teenager picked up a double-barrelled shotgun, walked into the forest, put the gun to someone else’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

This is the story of how we got there.”

― Fredrik Backman, Beartown

7. “Maybe punching her enemy right in the nose wasn’t the smartest way to get out of class, but it was definitely a much more entertaining way.”

― Ophelia T. Starks, Nightfall Academy

8. “During the 1980s, in California, a large number of Cambodian women went to their doctors with the same complaint: they could not see.”

― Sigrid Nunez, The Friend

9. “The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color.”

― Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

10. “The Lord gave, and the Lord took away, her grandmother said to her at the edge of the grave. But that wasn’t right, because the Lord had taken away much more than had been there to start with, and everything her child might have become was now lying there at the bottom of the pit, waiting to be covered up.”

― Jenny Erpenbeck, Aller Tage Abend

 

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I’ve been abandoning books more regularly these past few months. Have any of you noticed the same thing about your reading habits

Here are ten books that I recently started reading but couldn’t finish for reasons I’ll explain below.

1. Nests, Eggs, Birds: An Illustrated Aviary by  Kelsey Oseid

Why I Stopped Reading: I originally thought it was written for adults, but it read like something intended for kids.

2. Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss

Why I Stopped Reading: I couldn’t get into the writing style at all.

3. The Last Plague: Spanish Influenza and the Politics of Public Health in Canada
by Mark Osborne Humphries

Why I Stopped Reading: It felt like reading a dry textbook…and I’m one of those delightfully nerdy people who loves history and reads textbooks for fun.

4. Lake Erie Stories by Chad Fraser

Why I Stopped Reading: See also #3.

5. Ingredients: The Strange Chemistry of What We Put in Us and on Us by George Zaidan

Why I Stopped Reading: The author over-explained everything. If the page count has been cut back by 30-50%, I’d be raving about this book instead.

6. The Uninvited by Cat Winters

Why I Stopped Reading: See also #5. Presumably, there are ghosts somewhere in this tale, but I gave up on it before they so much as uttered a peep.

7. Epidemiology: A Very Short Introduction by Rodolfo Saracci

Why I Stopped Reading: This was a good read, but now is not the right time for me to be immersing myself in this particular topic. And I happened to DNF it right after The Last Plague, too.

8. The City We Became (Great Cities #1) by  N.K. Jemisin

Why I Stopped Reading: I loved the short story that spawned this novel, but I couldn’t get into the writing style of the book. This is something I may try reading again in the future.

9. Dracul by J.D. Barker

Why I Stopped Reading: It’s been far too long since I read Dracula. I had no idea what was happening or what any of the references were. My new plan is to reread Dracula and then give this another try.

10. Slammerkin by  Emma Donoghue

Why I Stopped Reading: I strongly disliked the main character. Reading about sexual abuse also isn’t something I’m in the right headspace for right now.

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1. Mainstream authors would be welcome, too, but I’d put a special focus on inviting indie authors so everyone could have the chance to discuss books they might never have otherwise heard of.

2. A dance floor and a DJ.

3. Charcuterie boards that have plenty of food and drink options for every diet out there.

4. A fog machine. See also: the dance floor and DJ.

5. A quiet room for people who need it for a moment to catch their breath or text someone.

6. Free t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, pens, and other swag with bookish quotes on them for anyone who wanted one.

7. An Instagram page where everyone can upload their photos of this event if they’re interested.

8. Reenactments of funny or memorable scenes from stories. They could be contests or done as people thought of something they wanted to share. I’d probably pick the scene in Harry Potter where he and Ron crashed a flying car into a Whomping Willow.

9. Mistletoe. Do you have to use it? Of course not! But everyone should have the option of getting a kiss in a fun way if their partner consents.

10.A bookish party app to help plan this event and make sure it runs smoothly. There would be an optional feature on it that would give partygoers a chance to give feedback on what they liked and what they’d hope to see done differently in the future.

Because I’d totally want to throw more of these parties in the future.

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My list is a short one this week. One of the things my parents did marvellously when I was growing up was providing their kids with a wide range of reading material. I read just about everything I could get my hands on.

There are a few titles I wish I’d discovered as a child, though!

1.The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat

2. A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

What they all share in common is a strong sense of magic and wonder about the world. Yes, I could read them as an adult – and may well do that one of these days – but I think I would have adored them when I was a child.

Here’s hoping today’s children enjoy these stories and many more of them.

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I don’t know about you all, but I tend to gush about the same books over and over again.  It was fun to look through the lists of books I’ve read in the past and pick out a few that I generally don’t mention.

1. Westlake Soul by Rio Yours

Why I Rarely Mention It: The subject matter is just odd enough that it doesn’t fit into most conversations or blog posts.

2. Angelica: A Novel by Arthur Phillips.

Why I Rarely Mention It: The narrator offers up two possible explanations for what’s going on in this chaotic household. One has to do with a restless ghost, and the other one involves horrific child abuse. I have friends and followers who would find the second explanation triggering, so I’m pretty shy about blogging about this book even though the paranormal aspect of it was fabulous.

3. The Harry Potter series

Why I Rarely Mention It: I used to talk about them here much more often. Then I ran out of things to say about them…for now?

4. MaddAddam by  Margaret Atwood

Why I Rarely Mention It: This was a great story, but I didn’t have a lot of coherent thoughts about it after I read it. Does this happen to anyone else?

5. Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill

Why I Rarely Mention It: The ending made me angry. Don’t get me wrong – it fit the theme of the story perfectly, and I totally understand why the author made that choice. But I so badly wanted it to end more hopefully that I have trouble writing about what actually happened.

6. The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron

Why I Rarely Mention It: The cliffhanger ending makes it hard for me to write about this one without giving away spoilers. I’m also hoping the author will eventually write a sequel. Her characters sure seem like they have a lot to say still!