Tag Archives: non-fiction

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?

Contemplations of a book collector

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A few days ago I went to the new Value Village that opened in my neighbourhood and I was pleasantly surprised that they had a book section. For every used book-lover out there, you know this is bad news. I browsed through the books, picking out some of my most sought-after titles which were all in really good shape. I had at least 15 books that I wanted to get right then and there for a discounted price, but I had to stop myself.

At home, I have more than enough books sitting on my bookshelves, all of which I brought home with me in that same rush of enthusiasm that I felt that evening in Value Village. I have spent more than enough money on unread books, and here I am willing to spend even more on books that will, undoubtedly, collect dust on my shelves as I try to go through my collection of to-reads.

Wouldn't you just love a library like that?!

Wouldn’t you just love a library like that?!

And then I got even more contemplative. Do I love to buy books for the notion that I actually will devour and treasure them, or do I love to buy books simply to say I have a large book collection? There are many people I know who have half the books I have and love each and every one because they only bought the ones they loved most from the library. Then there are people who have 3 times the collection I do and know only half of the books well enough as dear friends, and the rest are more like acquaintances.

So which am I? I only have two books shelves-full of books, which is not nearly as much as I would like in the future. I love the look of books in a home—bookworms have that air of knowledge, of secrets revealed, of many lives lived. I want people to come into my home one day and say, “Wow, look at all those books! I’m so jealous!”

But more importantly, I want to have a large collection of books that are like dear friends to me. Of course, I don’t enjoy every book I buy—I have plenty of books on my shelves that didn’t floor me, but I didn’t give them away. Those books are like extended family members who maybe you don’t get along with but feel you still have invite to family functions. They still have a place on my shelves because at one time I had hopes for them. And maybe those hopes were unfulfilled for me, but maybe my children will enjoy it or a friend of mine will like to borrow it. It’s these off chances that make me hold onto these books, making my book collection continue to grow.

Books have been my escape since childhood, and maybe, in some very strange way, they’re also like my walls. I take a book with me everywhere just in case I feel awkward in a social situation, am bored or just need to find out what happens next in the book. Heck, I even took Harry Potter with me to Disneyland! I feel protected by my books. Perhaps that’s also why I feel such a need to have walls of books surrounding me.

Maybe I’m not supposed to know why I collect books. Maybe I’m just supposed to collect them because they make me happy. Maybe I’ll never read every single book I buy (I truly hope this is not the case!), and maybe that’s okay.

Maybe I’m just supposed to thank every book that’s ever entered my life, and hold onto them as important experiences—some as best friends, some as acquaintances, and perhaps even some as enemies. But they each shape who I am, and maybe that’s why I’m meant to collect as many books as possible. For the hope that they will one day change my life or another’s.

And besides, a home just isn’t a home without books.

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!

Thoughts for a Thursday

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There are so many genres of books out there that can peak almost anyone’s interest. For me, personally, I’ve tended to stick to the genres that make me think, cry and wish. Therefore, I generally stray towards heart-wrenching YAs and literary fiction novels.

I’m curious about what your favourite genres are and why. YA? Mystery? Erotica? Western? Non-fiction? Romance? Sci-Fi? Historical fiction? Horror? Fantasy? Chick lit (even though I despise that term)? Literary fiction?

“Date a Girl Who Reads” by Rosemarie Urquico

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“Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”

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.

Challenge: Day 26

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I have always been fascinated by stories from World War II’s Holocaust. I read The Diary of a Young Girl in elementary school and Night in high school, and was absolutely entranced by both novels. They are heartbreaking and really made me think hard about what all those people had to go through during such a horrific time period. No one will ever forget the Holocaust, but reading stories such as these really helps put everything into perspective and humanizes the tragedy. All stories need a face (my years studying journalism have taught me that much) and both Anne Frank and Elie Weisel take us through their lives during WWII in such a way that it is impossible to ignore their suffering.

What is your favourite non-fiction book?