Books, Books, Books

I know I haven't been very good at consistently posting on this blog, and I blame a combination of real-life (school, debate, social life) and fake-life (writing) but I realized I had a decent batch of new book photos I hadn't shared so I decided to bask in their glory; I mean post about them.

First up is a batch of Canadian fiction from Penguin Canada.

A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is the only book in this post I've actually read, having finished it earlier today. It's been pretty much my main focus reading-wise for the last two weeks, and I'm hoping to share my thoughts about it soon... on another page though! More about in the near future.

The Perfume Lover by Denyse Beauileu is non-fiction meets memoir in the true story about how perfume gets made, and how one woman's beautiful night inspires a perfume. Finally, Creeps by Darren Dynes is a young adult novel set in Newfoundland about a kid being bullied and the girl who helps him escape it, until a moment of violence changes them forever.

Not long after, two more Canadian books showed up, the first from Harper Collins Canada, and the second from Random House Canada. In The Land of Birdfishes by Rebecca Silver Slayer is a novel about two sisters in Nova Scotia who go through the horrible only be separated, and what happens when one of them goes looking for the other years later. Supplying Salt and Light is a collection of poetry by Lorna Goodison that I've taken a sneak peak at and it looks to be very beautiful.

Finally, this week a surprise package showed up from Thomas Allen and Sons with some YA goodies. Unfortunately the first two books, What We Become by Jesse Karp, and Infatuate by Aimee Agresti, are both sequels to novels I haven't read yet so I didn't check out the synopsis since I didn't want to spoil anything. I'm trying to finish up quite a few series this year though so I may pick these ones once I do. 

Lastly, In Search of Goliathus Hercules by Jennifer Angus is the story of an orphan boy in 1890 who suddenly is able to speak to bugs. This is one where I'll probably wait to see what some readers I trust think, it doesn't initially appeal to me but the author is also an artist, and there are some pictures in the book, which I flipped through, and they're quite gorgeous– so maybe the novel will surprise me.

So, those are my books from the last two weeks. Has anything exciting found itself into your mailbox lately? What are you reading? Is there one of these you think I should pick up first? I admit In The Land of Birdfishes and Goodison's poetry is probably next!

Happy things with which to end the week (3)

It's been a good but busy week! Work has been a lot of work, and I'm working on revising my novel some more (I'm at the halfway mark now, so hopefully it'll be done this week). I also got accepted for a really awesome opportunity, but I don't want to say anymore and jinx it. Once it's officially started, I'll be sure to share :)

My mailbox had some happy arrivals this week, two of which were surprises of the best sort, and one I had been excitedly expecting.

Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala, courtesy of Random House Canada, is a memoir about a woman whose sons, husband, and parents all died in the 2004 tsunami while they were vacationing in Sri Lanka. I've already started reading it, and it's just as devastating– but beautifully written– as I imagined.

The surprises were two young adult novels, The Wrap-up List by Steven Arntson and Delusion by Laura L. Sullivan, which showed up courtesy of Thomas Allen and Sons. I hadn't really heard much about either title, though The Wrap-Up List, about a world where Death sometimes sends a letter telling people to wrap up their lives before it's time to depart, and a teenage girl gets one, had made intrigued me and made it on my TBR before. Delusion is about a pair of teenage magicians, set during WW2. I'm not exactly sure if I'll be reading it or not, but it does have a very sparkly cover.

When I went to pick up the Thomas Allen books, it turned out my mail was at the wrong post office, and while I was at a different drug store I discovered they have a pretty massive nail polish collection. In the discount bins I found a ton of magnetic polish I wasn't interested in, along with this gem for only three dollars:

It's called Buried Alive by Orly. I've never owned a normal Orly polish before, because generally I can only find the Quo by Orly line here in Canada. But I love their glitters, and this unusual brown gold immediately caught my attention. I took some photographs of my current polish– a mustard by Nails Inc. to swatch for this site, and I'll probably do the same when I try this. That'll probably be tonight or tomorrow, depending on when I feel like removing my current chipped polish. I'm going to try to swatch my colours as I wear them from now on (and not just using my phone). I adore nail polish, and I'm trying to make this blog about things I like, and make it pressure-free and eclectic in a a way my book blog no longer is. Whatever I feel like sharing, that's what you're going to find here!

Now I'm back to a weekend of Game of Thrones– rewatching the TV show, not reading the books. I hope you had a happy week as well. If you had any happy things to share, I'd love to know what they are.

Happy things with which to end the week (2)

Remember that post last week where I talked about my amazing poutine? Turned out I was back at the mall on Sunday, shopping with a friend who needed an interview outfit, and managed to get it again. Yum. But that has definitely satisfied my poutine craving for the next couple months I think. Unless I happen to be nearby to it again...

I feel like this photo captures its deliciousness even better than last time.

What else do I have to be happy about? Well there are these gluten-free brownies I made last Saturday, and have since eaten. But I definitely enjoyed them while they lasted. Yum. 

Not the best photo, but the taste was worth it.

While I was at the mall, when I wasn't eating poutine, I picked up a few boring things at the dollar store like a potato masher. But I also treated myself to a perfume I've been lusting over for a couple months now. I got the body cream, shimmer cream, and scrub in the scent for Christmas, but I really wanted something stronger and longer lasting. Unfortunately the only size is pretty small, but for $12 I picked up Victoria Secret's Love Spell. It's described as cherry blossom and peach. All I can say is that it smells amazing. As cheesy as the names are, I have fallen in love with it. Definitely worn it a few times already, which you can tell by the slight use of the bottle. Luckily it's a really popular scent because I'm sure I'll be going back for more in the future.

Looking at this picture just makes me want to spray more on. Yum.

I actually also got quite a few goodies in the mail this week of the bookish nature, so I figured I'd share them as well.

Books, books, books!

A pre-order, along with a spontaneous purchase both arrived for me this week, along with two signed books I won on Twitter. Yay Twitter.

I bought Pivot Point by Kasie West when the author was running a pre-order contest with an awesome prize (one option was a manuscript critique) but unfortunately I didn't win. Regardless, I was looking forward to this book, because it reminds me a bit of the movie Sliding Doors and sounds really interesting. In this case the main character spends six weeks in two different realities, which alternate back and forth by chapter, but eventually she has to decide where she really belongs.

The second novel is The Reese Malcolm List by Amy Spalding. I'd been hearing good things about this one for awhile, especially since it was blurbed by one of my favourite YA authors, Courtney Summers. Then I was reading this post on quitting she wrote on Nova Ren Suma's blog, and it just me so much more impressed with her and excited to read her book. Plus, I have only heard amazing things about the publisher, Entangled, and since Book Depository had it for only $6.58 I decided to just order and see for myself. Right now that novel's up a few dollars, but worth keeping an eye because their prices sometimes fluctuate. 

I think she's got such a gorgeous signature actually, really lovely.

Two wonderful signed books courtesy of author Jessica Martinez, who I follow on Twitter, to celebrate the cover reveal of her third novel, The Vow. I only recently read Martinez's first book, Virtuosity, but I really enjoyed her honest contemporary YA and insight into the world of classical violin, so I'm excited to own a copy. She also sent along her second novel, The Space Between Us which is a story about sisters and secrets, and apparently the second half takes place in Canada, which makes it automatically awesome. Now that I own it, I'll definitely have to read it soon. Can't wait! Thanks so much Jessica! 

Combine these goodies with the fact that I finished a draft of my novel, and managed to get a beta back on it in the same week– which didn't totally tear it to shreds– and that's a pretty happy way to end the week. 

Happy reading, happy writing, happy weekend, everyone.