Category Archives: News

What’s Up Wednesday

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What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. I came across this meme today while reading through book blog posts on WordPress, so I thought it’d be nice to shake things up and share what’s going on in my little world with you all. Feel free to join and share what’s up with you too!

WHAT I’M READING
Right now, I’m about halfway through The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. I had been hoping to finish it within a couple of days after starting it, but last week was busy and this past weekend didn’t provide any time for pleasure reading either. I’m going to try to finish it today, though, so I can get started on The Bookman’s Tale by Charlie Lovett. So far I’m really loving The Jane Austen Book Club—it’s refreshing to see the book and its film adaption complement and stay true to each other. Once I’m done reading, I’ll rewatch the movie again and write a book-to-movie-adaption review post for you all (it’s been ages since I wrote my Pride and Prejudice book-to-movie-adaption post).

WHAT I’M WRITING
To be honest with you, I’m not writing. I have so many ideas for books in my head (a new one just surfaced over the weekend, inspired my boyfriend Filip), and have a plot draft all ready to go for one of them… it’s just time that’s not on my side. I work eight hours a day, with 45 minutes transit both before and after work. When I stay at my aunt’s house, I don’t normally have free time until 8:00 pm, which is too late for me to be creative. And when I’m at my parents’ house, I’m helping them clean/organize our house before I move out. And then on weekends I see Filip/friends. So yes…until I have less responsibilities or more time on my hands for myself, I don’t see me starting Blackbird anytime soon (which is the name of the book I’ll be writing).

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW
Many things are inspiring me recently… Filip’s family has inspired me to take on a more healthier lifestyle, which includes veggie-and-fruit smoothies for breakfasts, excercising as often as possible (usually I do an hour-long power walk with 1-pound wrist weights during lunch) and eating healthier meals. His family has also inspired me to be cleaner, which is why I’ve gotten my family on the whole cleaning-the-house kick.
Two authors at the moment have inspired me too: Karen Joy Fowler (The Jane Austen Book Club) is an amazing writer, and like one review says on the front cover of her book, “If I could eat this novel, I would.” Her style flows effortlessly and she has reminded me to continue experiencing Austen (as I’ve only read Pride and Prejudice before). I want to write characters with as much depth and warmth to them as she has done with hers. The other author who has inspired me most recently (this morning actually) would be Charlie Lovett (The Bookman’s Tale). I had the opportunity to send him some interview questions to post on my blog to share his new book, and just reading his answers to my questions this morning made me almost weep. His words are…incredible. Seriously. I had only planned on skimming through his answers this morning but it was ridiculously hard to pull away. His sentences are magnetic and if he can invoke that much response in me with only an interview, imagine what his book will do to me. He’s experienced so much in his life so far, what with book collecting, living in Europe, writing…I just wish I could mirror his life as my own.

WHAT ELSE I’VE BEEN UP TO
Well since I’ve had little time to read lately, that must mean I’ve had other things on the go! Last week I found out that I can officially move out of both my parents’ and aunt’s home into my aunt’s spare condo now that her renter is leaving. I’m beyond excited as I’ve loved her condo ever since she first built it. While I’ll still be going back and forth each week to spend two nights either at my aunt’s house to help look after my grandma or my parents’ house, it’ll be nice to just have one place to hold all my things. It’s been tough this past year and half living between two homes, never knowing where any of my things are and never feeling satisfied with having spent enough time with both sides of my family. Plus, having a place of my own will mean Filip can come over whenever he wants and I can host little get togethers with my friends. AND having time alone in the condo might mean I’ll have a chance to start Blackbird.
Also. Monday was me and Filip’s first year anniversary (of dating), so that was exciting. We had dinner at the Calgary Tower and dressed all fancy and stuff.
AND my first ever book club meeting will be gathering tomorrow evening! We’re going to meet up at the movie theatre, discuss The Great Gatsby book and then watch the movie. I’m so excited! You can be sure I’ll post about that on Friday, focusing on a book-to-movie-adaption review.

So yes, that’s what’s been up  :)

What have you been up to lately?

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

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Last week, The Cat That Walks By Herself nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger award… Thank you! I’m really glad you like my blog so much to call it “inspiring.” This was completely unexpected, so it definitely made my day. I’ve actually been nominated for two awards: the Very Inspiring Blogger award last week and the Liebster award this morning. However, I’ll only focus on the first award for this post and do the other award later.

For the Very Inspiring Blogger award, there are a few rules:

  1. Display the award badge on my blog
  2. Announce your win with a post and link to whoever presented you with the award
  3. Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers
  4. Drop them a comment to tip them off after you have linked them in the post
  5. Post 7 interesting things about yourself

So without further ado…

Here are 7 facts about me that I realized this past year:

  1. I’m actually not 5’1.5″ like I’ve been telling people. My doctor told me I’m not even 5’1″. DO YOU KNOW HOW SAD THIS MAKES ME?!
  2. I will never understand this My Little Pony craze everyone is going on about. (Don’t even get me started on “Bronies.”)
  3. I might be moving out of my parents’ and aunts’ houses into a condo this summer.
  4. My boyfriend and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary on May 20.
  5. I’ve ran out of room for my books on my two bookshelves. Currently they’re just piling up on top of the other books.
  6. I’ve turned from a messy girl to a girl who enjoys cleaning, purging and organizing. Yes, you read that correctly. Enjoys. (You can blame my boyfriend for that one.)
  7. I’m never satisfied. There’s always something I can do, something I can fix about myself, something to fret about.

And now that you’re pitying the short, all-in-a-flutter girl that I am, I shall divert your attention to the 10 blogs I now nominate for this award (yes, I’m aware I’m five short):

  1. Book, Interrupted – I loved her meme redesigns so much, it inspired me to make my own too!
  2. Alice in Readerland – Just this name alone sparks your imagination.
  3. Sarah Says Read – She wrote a pretty fantastic post on Harry Potter.
  4. Words for Worms – She was featured on Freshly Pressed for a reason.
  5. By George! – She lives in New York City and a journalism graduate. She’s basically me. Except in NYC. Why wouldn’t I love her blog?
  6. Strung Out On Books – I love her layout. So much.
  7. Adventures in my Head – Love her sense of humour, and we think alike.
  8. A Bookish Heart – She’ll be studying in the UK in the fall, leaving her books behind. That’s what I call a true daredevil.
  9. Book.Blog.Bake. – My three favourite things all compiled in this beautiful blog.
  10. For the Love of Bookshops – Her life and her words are enchanting.

Thanks once again for the award and please check out my own nominees! They each are wonderful in their own way and deserve a peek  :)

Don’t forget to enter to win a copy of “Bristol House” by Beverly Swerling!

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Don’t forget to enter to win a copy of “Bristol House” by Beverly Swerling!

You only have 9 days left! Click on the link above to go directly to my Facebook page where you can enter  :)

My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who are affected by the horrific incidents today at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and at an elementary school in Central China. May the faculty and students who lost their lives rest in peace. Christmas is a time for love and happiness…not a time for tearing apart families and bringing pain on others. I can’t imagine what the communities are going through right now, and can only offer my condolences. One incident is too many, and it needs to stop. Rest in peace <3 <3 <3

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Thoughts for a Thursday

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Today is the unveiling of a new meme created by moi. The whole point of me starting this blog a year ago was to discuss my thoughts on books, share book-related news and get to talking with you all, my followers. We’ve had some great conversations over the many long months regarding books, news and every little tidbit under the umbrella of literature. But I’m not done with you yet. I’ve got plenty more thoughtful questions to ask you all, and I hope you join me each week to get the book world talking together!

For this week, I want to know your thoughts on the perfect book shop. What does it look like? Smell like? Feel like? Where is it? What sort of books does it sell? And if it exists for you, what is the shop called? Post a link to your favourite book shop’s website or Facebook page as well!

If you use this meme on your own blog, please include a link back to my blog in your post.

Happy Thoughts everyone!

This is not Belle’s library, to be sure…

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I read this post from The Guardian this morning, and I couldn’t help sharing it with you all. There will always be a never-ending debate between e-books and real books, and while I still vehemently believe in the printed word, I am beginning to understand the lure e-books have for people. They’re incredibly convenient and are as light as anything — the opposite of many Stephen King novels, as this columnist points out. I appreciate her honesty, and am pleased that the power real books hold over her will remain forever. As a student, I see countless others in my university carting around Kindles, Nooks, etc. because e-books are far less expensive than textbooks and weigh much less, too. But as I’m in my last year, I can’t justify buying an e-reader for school — and I’m also slightly terrified that if I have an e-reader, I’ll be more likely to purchase e-books rather than going into my nearest Chapter’s or second-hand bookstore. Will I never buy an electronic reader? That I can’t say. But I can say this with unwavering hesitation: the smell of a book beats the smell of an electronic device any day.