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Allison

@alliemayreads

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I have a B.Sc. in Math and Biology, and I work in a forest ecology lab.
I also like books.

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""Monk."
I still, my muscles going rigid at the sound of her voice. I don't turn around, but I do glance over my shoulder. Her face is smoothed free of expression, but her eyes are alive with emotion.
"It was real and I ruined it," she says, gravel and regret mixing in the words, "And I'm sorry."" Kennedy Ryan, Score.

Kennedy Ryan writes the best romance novels I've ever read. She researches the conditions she writes about thoroughly and treats her characters with kindness and empathy while portraying them going through genuine hardship. She's been in fine form with her Hollywood Renaissance Series. I'm pumped for Seam's release in Aug '27. I say start with Reel (Book 1), because Score shares a timeline.

Until I read Score, my favourite book by Kennedy Ryan was Hook Shot from her Hoops series. That book stands alone and was a five star read.

Score spoke to my personal experience and it may be my new favourite novel from Kennedy Ryan. I easily rate it five stars, despite some minor issues I had with the pacing. My ex was diagnosed with bipolar disorder during the course of our three year relationship. I'd be curious to hear how someone who lives with bipolar disorder thinks this text captured that experience.

While my experience doesn't map directly onto Monk's story, I related to the concern and confusion he experienced while Verity experiences her first manic episode. I also appreciated the discussion of how medication interacts with Verity's body chemistry. I think more people should be aware that for people with bipolar disorder taking antidepressants alone can lead to mania.

I also relate to Verity. Although I don't live with bipolar disorder, I do need to work hard to maintain my sleep hygiene and exercise habits. Living with generalized anxiety disorder is a lifelong journey. During the bad times it's easy to feel hopeless. I'm grateful to Kennedy Ryan for writing about a character learning to navigate these obstacles and to trust that she brings value to a romantic relationship. It can be a radical act to believe in yourself and Ryan's characters excel in that category. #hollywoodrenaissanceseries #kennedyryan #blackromanceauthor #bipolarawareness taken in Canada by @alliemayreads

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4 months ago

"slackbot
I can help by answering simple questions about how Slack works. I'm just a bot, though!" several people are typing, by calvin kasulke. 📱

Quick photo from a cabin weekend with friends. It has been quite nice so far, and I have a good opportunity to rest this afternoon. I'd probably need it normally because my lovely friends provide lots of sensory input, but today it's especially good to take some quiet time to read to manage my concussion headaches. I'm about a month out from my most recent hockey injury and overall my recovery is ok. I have been able to tolerate more bright lights and screen time over the past week, which has been good.

A friend lent me a few short books with me for the cabin trip, and I started with "several people are typing", which is told entirely through slack messages and features some magical realism. I'm about halfway through and thoroughly enjoying it so far. I really enjoy this style of storytelling and it's quite a quick read. Would recommend!

[ID: the book "several people are typing" leans against a wooden paneled cabin wall]

#bookishcanadians #vacationread #canadianbookstagram #severalpeoplearetyping #calvinkasulke by @alliemayreads

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6 months ago

"He - probably swayed by prudential consideration of the folly of offending a good tenant - relaxed a little in the laconic style of clipping off his pronouns and auxiliary verbs, and introduced what he supposed would be a subject of interest to me, a discourse on the advantages and disadvantages of my present place of retirement. I found him very intelligent on the topics we touched; and, before I went home, I was encouraged so far as to volunteer another visit, to-morrow.

He evidently wished no reputation of my intrusion. I shall go, not-withstanding. It is astonishing how sociable I feel myself compared with him." Emily Bronté, Wuthering Heights.

QOTD: Do you have any favourite classic works?

I'm partial to classic children's literature. Anne of Green Gables, The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass are all favourites of mine. I also enjoy the cutting social commentary of Jane Austen, and I've recently rediscovered my appreciation for Bronté's turn of phrase in Wuthering Heights.

I took this photo at a second visit to a lottery showhome. It was a pretty nice house. The ceilings were a bit high for my taste. In the Jill bedroom (separated from the Jack by a Jack-and-Jill bathroom) I spent some time reading the pretty copy of Wuthering Heights from the bedside table. I had forgotten that the writing style is fairly pulpy for a classic novel. I think I'd have a lot of fun with it if I reread the book, so I'm keeping my eyes out for an inexpensive, but good looking copy.

I appreciate that it's a bad look to compare your romantic partner to Heathcliff. Even so, the quoted passage at the top of this post made me laugh because the dynamic of one person wanting more social interaction than the other made me think of my boyfriend. He's more introverted than I am, so I endeavour to avoid intruding when he needs time alone. But sometimes I just want to badger him because he's one of my favourite people and he's interesting to be around!

#wutheringheights #classicliterature #canadianbookstagram #booksta taken in Canada by @alliemayreads

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6 months ago

"As we grow up and our understanding of the world starts to form, it's easy to stop wondering. Why are some leaves green while others are purple or red? Are snails born with shells? Why do some flowers bloom at night? Of course, with the internet we can find answers to all of these questions within seconds, but letting yourself think about it first can help you stay curious, and it might spark a genuine interest in something you've never really thought about before." Maybell Eequay, The Little Frog's Guide to Self-Care. 🍄

QOTD: Have you tried therapy? If you have, then feel free to share something you learned from it!

I took these photos a few weeks ago in the lobby before my couples counselling appointment. Today we had another appointment and I remembered that I had wanted to share some of the art and wisdom from @maybell.eequay's joyful book. If you like what you see, then I recommend finding a copy of the book and looking at the rest of it!

We're about four months into the therapy process. It's not my first experience with group therapy. I did some family therapy as a teen/young adult. However, it is my first time in therapy with a partner. I'm not interested in sharing too many details publicly, but I do think it's important to normalize counselling. I am glad to be going through this process, and I'm grateful to my partner and our therapist for their kindness and patience as we try to navigate the challenges present in the relationship.

[ID: A series of images featuring a small, full-colour and illustrated book by Maybell Eequay titled The Little Frog's Guide to Self-Care.] by @alliemayreads

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7 months ago

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." James Baldwin.

QOTD: Do you enjoy poetry?

I like reading and writing poetry. I want to practice more before I feel my poetry is ready to submit for publication, but I find it's the easiest way to express myself when I'm feeling complex emotions.

I was fortunate enough to attend the virtual publication event for I Am Still Your Negro, an Homage to James Baldwin written by Valerie Mason-John during COVID. I remember the power in the spoken word performance from this author. As I have been reading this poetry, the memory of those spoken words has encouraged me to read aloud.

This work begins with an ID and Introduction from the author. I found that it contextualized the first poem quite well, and I was glad that I was going into the body of poetry with background on the writer's history and the understanding that "the voice of Yaata," is "a current which runs through this collection and which carries the spirit of Africa".

[ID: 1: The cover of I Am Still Your Negro. 2-4: Pages 1-3 of the fourth poem from the book, and the first from the section titled #ThisIsAfricanDiaspora, "Yaata's Lament" which ends in the quote from James Baldwin included at the top of this post.] taken in Canada by @alliemayreads

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7 months ago

Hi bookish friends! 📚🖤✨

How have you been? I've been pretty good lately. Since the last time I posted I've been playing lots hockey, switched jobs, and tried out couples counselling for the first time. Those have all been good changes. I've been thinking about posting here for a while, and I have some photos that I might share over the next few weeks.

QOTD: What is a recent read of yours that you'd recommend I check out?

~Spoilers for Fourth Wing below~

I have been reading the Fourth Wing series lately. The first one was a breezy read for me, it reminded me of my experience with the ACOTAR books. The book in the picture was a Christmas present for my sister, but since she lives out of province part of the gift is holding onto the book and telling her what I think about it. I had a lot of fun bashing Dain to her in the first book. We also discussed Liam's death. I told her that it annoyed me, and she admitted that he barely made an impression on her. I think the most interesting thing about Liam is that he was clearly introduced in order to be killed off. Since this is a series that tries to really sell the lethality of the setting I'm curious to see how long the side characters will last, and which ones will be reserved for the end of the series gut punch. I'm also curious about how the plot progresses and what Andarna will be like as she matures.

#bookdragon #fourthwing #ironflame #rebeccayarros #canadianbookstagram taken in Canada by @alliemayreads

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9 months ago

"once it's gone it won't come back / do you hear me / what did I tell you / I won't come back anymore" Anne Barngrover, Ceres in the Burning Rainforest, Ecotone: The Climate Issue. 🔥

QOTD: How frequently do you think about climate change?

I think it comes up about once a month for me. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I don't experience a lot of climate anxiety. The way I see it, humans have made changes to the natural environment irreversible over the course of seven generations. Of these changes, some of them are beneficial to human existence, and some of them are detrimental to sustaining our current lifestyles long term. Some species flourish in human dominated biomes. Many species cannot coexist with human development and have/will gone/go extinct. We have done a poor job as stewards for the natural environment on our planet, but it is not too late to continue working towards harmony between our civilizations and the natural world. It's certainly in our best interest. If we as humans cease to exist, then life on earth will continue.

Since I'm already talking about environmentalism, I will also take the time to remind my readers that Israel participates in greenwashing. I suggest you google it. It's a form of ethnic cleansing that is quite insidious. My current understanding is that the Israeli government forces Palestinians out of their traditional homes/villages, destroys all of the buildings there, and then plants trees (possibly in monocultures) so that the Indigenous Palestinians cannot return to their ancestral land. And then they brag about it and about how eco-friendly they are. It's pretty horrifying.

#greenwashing #freepalestine #climatechange #ecotone #ecology #sevengenerations #bookstagram #bookishcanadians #booksbooksbooks

[ID: 1. Four items resting on the window and windowsill in my work lunchroom: A physical copy of Ecotone: The Climate Issue found in the take-a-book leave-a-book area. A purple lunch bag with a cartoon witchy Shibu Inu printed on the front. A large water cup with a quote from Frankenstein on it. And, my bright sky blue notebook. 2&3. The Mile High Mile Deep comic. 4. Ceres in the Burning Rainforest.] taken in Canada by @alliemayreads

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2 years ago

"Sylvia was in the river again. Lorelei didn't need to see her to be certain of it. Crowds, after all, were the smoke to Sylvia's fire.

"Lorelei stood with her shoulders hunched against the wind, trying and failing to contain her mounting disgust." A Dark and Drowning Tide, Allison Saft. 🖤

QOTD: What's the last sapphic book you read?

I'm about 95% of the way through One Last Stop by Casey McQuisten. It's a 4.5 star read for me. It has some flaws with pacing and is a bit cheesier than I generally prefer but it keeps making me cry so that automatically improves the rating. And the audiobook is narrated well!

I read Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft and quite enjoyed it and the subtlety of the writing style and gothic tone. So when I saw A Dark and Drowning Tide in The Book Boudoir I knew I had to buy it. I also picked up You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian because I really enjoyed We Could Be So Good (I think that one also may have made me cry). The last book pictured, Sword Crossed by Freya Marske, is an entirely new-to-me author. I liked the cover, sprayed edges, endpaper, premise, and first page, so I decided to take a chance on it!

The Book Boudoir is a relatively new independent bookstore here in #yeg. I've been wanting to check it out for a while! They have a pretty decent selection of popular smutty books, and a reasonably well stocked queer section. I liked how many special editions they had. I was a bit disappointed that some of my favourite niche romance authors weren't stocked, but I have the impression that they might be willing to order in requests. If historical romance is your favourite romance genre, then you might find the current selection a little lacking - I think they had a few books but not many. Historical fiction might not be the most bodice rippery romance genre. All in all I had fun and definitely plan to go back. For locals (or tourists) interested in visiting the bookshop I would note that the books stocked did generally seem to be the kind of smut books that are popular on tiktok/booksta. They also have a good selection of holiday romances at the moment, including a new Timothy Janovsky book!

#bookdragon by @alliemayreads

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2 years ago

"Tally sighed, tipping her feet again to follow. "Maybe that's because they have better stuff to do than kid tricks. Maybe partying in town is better than hanging out in a bunch of old ruins."
Shay's eyes flashed. "Or maybe when they do the operation-when they grind and stretch your bones to the right shape, peel off your face and rub all your skin away, and stick in plastic cheekbones so you look like everyone else-maybe after going through all that you just aren't very interesting anymore." Scott Westerfeld, Uglies (Uglies, #1)�

QOTD: Did you go through a YA dystopian reading phase?

Dystopian books were my favourite genre for a while! And the Uglies series was my favourite book series when it first came out almost two decades ago. @scott_westerfeld also has some short standalone novels that I loved. Peeps is probably my fave of those books. He also has a follow-up series to the Uglies books (Imposters) that is very fun and has a fantastically angsty sisterhood dynamic.

Scott Westerfeld has another movie adaptation coming out on Netflix soon, ICYMI! It's an anime adaptation of Leviathan, which I and @saltyauntie are both incredibly pumped for.

🎬 #ugliesmovie #ugliesnetflix movie review 📽️

My star rating for this movie is definitely inflated by my nostalgia for the book series, as I was part of the original book audience back in the early 2000s. Shay is perfectly casted, and I'm excited to listen to the version of the audiobook that her actor is narrating. Laverne Cox has such a fun take on a surgical supervillain with sensational style. I love how expensive Dr. Cable's hair looks. And the lead role is also well cast! See my full review in the comments for the flaws of the movie, but here's my main takeaway: I paid for a Netflix subscription solely to watch this movie with my sister and boyfriend; and it was worth it for me. I thought I'd watch other things on Netflix this month, but I haven't. I just keep rewatching this movie because it is so comforting to me. I have so much love for the author and cast! The hype I felt when I found out this movie was coming out was fully met. I'm so happy.

#bookadaptations #bookdragon #canadianbookstagram #bookish taken in Canada by @alliemayreads

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2 years ago

"It's time to come home. Brother Hutch holds out his hand to me. The hand that clasped Mom's in prayer, the hand that pulled the trigger on Dad." Andrew Joseph White, Hell Followed With Us. 🤝

QOTD: What does home mean to you?

I made it around the sun and completed my 30th summer! ☀️

Quote is from my current read. It's the first sentence in the second chapter, and I'm loving how dramatic it is already.

[ID:
1. Group photo of all the combat archery participants! Thank you @combatarcheryedmonton for a wonderful way to celebrate with friends. With our numbers I enjoyed capture the flag the most. I'm excited to go back sometime :D
2. PPE is important. Close up of my face in the provided head protection
3. @spiced.pumpkin.review is on the left and I am facing him and kissing his cheek in my dinner outfit
4. Group shot of the party goers outside the combat cage getting ready for archery
5. My friend Melissa is on the left, and I am on the right. We are standing in front of a "7-Up machine"/the speakeasy door to @fus_repair_shop
6. Steve on the left and Allison on the right (technically stage left and stage right)
7. Steve has a mysterious red lipstick mark on his cheek
8. Lemon Raspberry cake from @sugaredandspiced. Donated to the party celebrants by the lovely Kelly Lucky
9. Allison's right hand birthday party nails
10. Allison's left hand birthday party nails
11. Obligatory unposed weird face photo with Steve and Allie by @alliemayreads

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2 years ago

"There's no time to lose -- I must DESTROY THE PORTAL, BURN MY JOURNALS AND LEAVE TOWN FOREVER!" The Book of Bill, from Alex HuRzch's normal hUMAN HANDS. 📐

QOTD: Have you watched Gravity Falls?

My best friend introduced me (I was reluctant and a teenager) to gravity falls around the time of the hiatus. Since then I have rewatched the show with my dad and sister and anyone else I can get interested. Steve watched the first episode for his first time with me this morning! My dad bought me the best 30th birthday present - a new gravity falls puzzle book that I barely knew existed! Candles shown in the photos were found by my sister. Cake is a Vietnamese* [*edited Aug 7] cow cake (cross section shown in photo 2 meant to look like a cow's intestine) made as a housewarming gift by a good friend of mine. Spear was lent to his wife on Monday after they helped me move and returned today with the delivery of the cake. She is a voracious reader and has provided some of my all time fave book recommendations.

[ID: 1. flatlay on a messy kitchen counter displaying The Book of Bill, a cow cake, and Spear by @nicolagriffith. 2. A piece of cow cake showing the bright green, bubbly interior of the cake. 3. Zoom out of the flatlay in 1 with an IKEA chaise lounge and a Ninja Creami Steve won at a work event in the background along with other moving clutter on the kitchen island. 4. Sparkly silver 30th birthday candles on top of other birthday accoutrements. 5. A frame of Mabel about to puke from the first episode of Gravity Falls. 6. My hand holds the Book of Bill in front of the TV showing a frame from the show's title sequence. 7. Selfie of Steve and I smiling on the couch. 8. The back cover of The Book of Bill.]

#gravityfalls #saturdaymorningcartoons #thebookofbill #bookstagram #bookishcanadians #bookdragon
Have you watched Gravity Falls? by @alliemayreads

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2 years ago

"Iz looked him in the eye when she reminded him: "You said never again."
"Once is almost never."
"Said the bullet to the head."" The Hexologists, Josiah Bancroft. 💚

QOTD: when was the last time you were in a forest?

I was in Northern Alberta for field work last week (and the rest of this summer). Please enjoy some photos from my trip!

[ID: 1. My newly acquired copy of the Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft next to dinner and an ice pack for my stiff ankles.

2. Me standing in one of the most photogenic places i went to last week. In the foreground is one of the micro-climate stations (measures soil moisture, air and soil temp, air humidity, and light available for photosynthesis) that are scattered across a forestry experiment est. 1999. This particular site is quite wet and has a lot of moss, and there a quite a few big, downed trees. Like the one behind me (with two peace signs, a big fishing hat, and a surveying vest/rain gear swallowing me up).

3. Cougar print with claws visible. Saw these on the last day visiting sites for photo 2. There were definitely multiple cougars in the area, which I've never seen such fresh evidence of before. If we saw a (deer) carcass we would have bailed. We didn't see any signs that a cougar was stalking us, but we wouldn't have known. We did finish our work (11.5h day including driving and check-in with wildfire contact) and got back to the truck without incident, but I definitely found myself staying unusually alert.

4. Cool moss and hydrated lichen

5. Cool moss and drier lichen than 4

6. Paintbrush, one of the common native wildflowers in Alberta

7. A dendrometer (measures tree growth) where the plastic on the base has been chewed, likely by an ungulate. Wildlife sometimes seems to really enjoy chewing on the plastic equipment we leave in the forest.

8. The broken culvert that lead to the road closure that lead to me walking 20km in one day to visit 6 climate stations.

9. The puzzle I worked on when I couldn't sleep the first two nights of the shift

10. A birch sapling planted this June and the plastic mulch I have spent at least a month this summer shoveling dirt onto and adjusting to keep our trees alive.] taken in Peace River, Alberta by @alliemayreads

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2 years ago