Tag Archives: growing up

Summer Reads

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I don’t know about you, but in Calgary snow is falling right now. In fact, it’s been like this all day. And while I know it is April, it just doesn’t feel like it—meaning summer seems even more unlikely. But while this cold weather will probably continue for another few days, I have to remind myself that summer’s heat will one day be shining down on us and free time will be a bit more abundant than it is right now (thanks to exams and assignments due in the next two weeks).

And with summer comes plenty of reading.

My friend shared with me this website to help me choose my next great summer read—and let me tell you, it was really tough for me to choose just one answer! Many of them sound like great choices that I will, undoubtedly, read at some point. But based on my answers, it led me to Never Let Me Go by Kazuo IshiGuro. Have you read it? And if you have, would you also recommend it?

Now I’m curious about what books you all have been suggested. Click on the link here to find out what book you need to read this summer and then let me know in my comments!

Loved: Book Review

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Book Review #20: Loved

Author: Kimberly Novosel

Genre: Fiction

Days to Read: 1 week

Companion Tea: Chamomile

Synopsis (as taken from Barnes & Noble):

Kim Carlson is a quiet, optimistic dreamer when she trades in the golden fields of her youth for the busy big city streets of her future. She leaves behind a life of Sunday mass, good friends and homework for a world where skipping class, drinking, and friends who leave her alone on her birthday are the norm. On the road to building a career in the music industry and searching for true love, she instead finds loneliness, betrayal and heartache.

Just as she falls in love with the kind of man who would never break her heart and things are falling delightfully into place, everything is torn apart “like a shack in a hurricane.” Kim is faced with a choice: quit believing in the possibility of love and happiness, or fight for the woman she wants to be and the love she wants to have. Kim overcomes each setback with increasing grace and wisdom, proving that sometimes the wrong choices can lead us to the right places.

My Thoughts: You may remember back in the summer I interviewed Kimberly as a preview to her debut novel. And I was pleased to see the enchanting lady I spoke with translated onto the pages of her book.

As a backer for her book, I received a copy from her in the mail to read. Finally as exams passed and the busy holidays were winding down, I settled into Loved, anxious to see what it was all about. From the prologue, I was hooked. Having been let down at my most recent birthday party (less than half of the people who promised to come showed up), I could instantly relate to protagonist Kim’s 20th birthday party experience. Having such a low turn out to an event that means a lot to you puts everything into perspective and makes you re-think everything — am I really liked? Have I offended anyone as of late? Why doesn’t anyone care about me like they care about others? All those questions rush through your mind and it’s hard to see yourself for who you really are.

But as the story moved along, I began finding it harder and harder to relate to Kim. As each relationship began with vigour and got lost in the dust, I started feeling sorry for Kim. She put so much of herself into finding her other half, that she lost sight of who she was. I’ve never been in that type of situation before. Sure, I’ve had failed relationships — but none of them lasted longer than three weeks, so I didn’t have as much of an emotional connection to them as Kim did. As she went from guy to guy, I started feeling less and less sorry for her. There is nothing wrong with being single and being yourself, and yet she just couldn’t understand that. It frustrated me and I started dreading what she’d get herself into next. Maybe I’ve just been lucky — I’ve only had one serious boyfriend that I’m currently with — but I ended up not relating to Kim as much as I had wanted to, which saddened me. I had been looking so forward to seeing myself in Kimberly’s book, just as other readers had done, but that just wasn’t happening. I also couldn’t relate to the whole religious side of the book. I am by no means a Catholic like Kim, so when she referred to God or talked about the bible, etc., I couldn’t jump on the boat and pray with her. As much as I wanted to.

Characters and religion aside though, I loved Novosel’s writing style. She has such an easy, fluent and engaging voice, that even though I couldn’t relate to Kim, I still wanted to read. I’m also a big visual person — I often choose books based on their book covers alone, and I would have chosen this book had I come across it at a book store. It’s simple and yet inviting, but doesn’t give away too much. Novosel offers a fresh take on the age-old “love yourself” campaign, and it didn’t feel forced. It felt real. I loved the fact that the story didn’t end happily ever after; instead it had a satisfying, and yet unsatisfying, ending. Much like life. Life isn’t cookie-cutter or perfect or “happily ever after.” It’s always evolving — going from person-to-person, job-to-job, city-to-city — always bringing you one step closer to a finale. And like Novosel explains, sometimes in the end all you really need to do is love yourself.

Favourite Quotes:

“Unfortunately, he still hadn’t asked for my number, or a date, or my hand in marriage, and my drink was getting low.”

“I was girly and friendly and my family life was happy but many days I felt like I was on the inside what Chase was on the outside. I always believed I was a happy person with a sad soul. I felt like I had had tragedy in my life when I hadn’t. Somehow, without having experienced what he had, his scars resonated with me.”

“I thought about how the past can become so small. An entire day, 24 separate, heavy hours, becomes the size of a tiny brown leaf falling from a tree. Before you know it, a whole year is just a pile of dead leaves on the ground. The year or so I’d spent in love with Chad was starting to feel so long ago, swept away by the wind. I knew that this year would soon feel far away too.”

My Rating: 7.5/10

I have always been a reader

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“I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading was not my greatest joy. And yet I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in my adult years matches in its impact on my soul the reading I did as a child. I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Yet it is not the same. Books are, for me, it must be said, the most important thing; what I cannot forget is that there was a time when they were at once more banal and more essential than that. When I was a child, books were everything. And so there is in me, always, a nostalgic yearning for the lost pleasure of books. It is not a yearning that one ever expects to be fulfilled.”

The Thirteenth Tale

Novel Preview & Author Interview

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Almost everyone I know has said at one point in their lives that they want to write a novel. But hardly anyone ever does. The world is brimming with untold stories, but thankfully, Loved is one story we will soon have the chance to read, relish and remember.

Kimberly Novosel recently shared her thoughts with Books, Tea & Me regarding her upcoming novel, anxiously awaiting the day all her hard work can finally be realized and enjoyed by those looking for a novel that will speak to them. Not only is this young woman gifted with words, but she has the ability to bring forth those raw emotions and challenges we all face growing up into a new light with a fresh perspective on that classic coming-of-age story.

I had the opportunity to speak with Kimberly about her life, her favourite things, her fears and her passions, and I hope you are just as intrigued about Loved as I am!

Let’s start at the very beginning… What moment in your life made you really stop and think “I should write a novel about this”? Was there one particular event or a combination of events?
In general, I was fascinated by the way that people come and go in our lives, how not everyone we get close to remains in our present, but each person has an impact. Positive or negative, always an impact. Specifically, one person I lost was very special to me. He really defined who I am as a person. This story started out as his story, then I realized I was really saying so much more. (Disclaimer: Find out who this person is in my next interview with her in a couple of months!)

When you first decided to write Loved, what were your initial fears? What did your support system (friends, family, coworkers, peers, etc.) say about your goal? What challenges did you meet while writing Loved? What was surprisingly easy for you?
I didn’t have any fears at first because I was only writing for myself. If no one else is going to read something, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Little by little, I started to want other people to read it and feedback from friends and some friends-of-friends was positive, which encouraged me to keep going and put it out there. Now I have fears!
I read a quote somewhere about how writers hate to write but love to have written. That couldn’t be truer. I love the feeling of reading something back and being so excited about what you’ve accomplished. Sitting down to write can be challenging. The hardest part of the whole process is editing. Once you have written the story, the last thing you want to do is go through it with a fine toothed comb and rewrite and rewrite and move commas around. That was agony!

Why do you believe Loved is a story that needs to be told?
I wish someone had told me at seventeen, or twenty, or even twenty-five that I wasn’t alone in my struggles and heartache, or encouraged me about the woman who I would become, in words that I would understand. Those messages come from parents, teachers, pastors and they don’t really sink in. In our young adult lives we tend to feel really isolated from most of the world and from our future selves.  Life isn’t that hard. These young women need a new way to look at things and I’m hoping this story speaks to them in a way they really hear.

Without giving the whole story away, in 50 words exact summarize Loved… And go!
Kimberly leaves her small town to chase big dreams of working in the entertainment industry, falling in love, all the beautiful things life has in store. She’s hit hard by loneliness, heartbreak, and the disappointment that things don’t always work out ideally. She has to learn to manage the letdowns.

Wow, spot on! Nicely done! Okay, now moving away a bit from Loved because I want to get to know the person behind the novel…  Other than writing, what are some of your hobbies and interests?
I love to travel — Portland and Las Vegas are favourites. I’m taking my first trip to Mexico later this year and I’m really excited about that. I also try to stay really active. I love yoga and kickboxing, and I’m hoping to find an adult ballet class. Ballet is one of the things from my youth that I miss! Planning events is also something I love, whether for work or for fun. My two best friends and I founded a charity event planning group called Giving Back is the New Black, through which we host events for charities that we’re passionate about, like young adult cancer advocacy and various issues in Africa.

Describe your perfect day.
Let’s do this schedule style!
7:00am: Waking up in New York in an apartment that I love, checking in with my assistant and answering emails and phone calls in my pj’s, drinking coffee.
10:30 am: Working out and making lunch.
12:00pm: Getting dressed up for client meetings and generally being a marketing/PR rock star.
6:00pm: drinks or dinner with friends.
9:00pm: Reading or writing at home unless I have an event.  Hopefully eventually someone I love will be there when I get home.
11:00pm: Bedtime.


As you can see, this lady is a delight to speak with and her debut novel will definitely be making an impact on young women everywhere. I actually can’t describe how excited I am to read her novel, and I hope this has peaked your interest as well. She has created a Kickstart campaign to get her novel printed, so please click on this link to find out more. I’ve already pledged money and I hope you do too! Let’s help Loved kick off from the ground running.