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Amanda 🌱📚🇨🇦

@bookpimp

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2019

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Books, cats, coffee, & nature
Come for the books, stay for the sarcasm.
#bookprizejunkie #naturelover #catsofinstagram #bookstagram #librarylife

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Booker Longlist Book 8/13

There's a video making the rounds of Mary Beard saying she dislikes the phrase 'I really love reading'. I get the point she's making but at times with this Longlist I have thought that Mary decided that she would take that phrase as a challenge. Girl, don't take my love of reading from me. I am StRuGgLiNg with this years Booker like I haven't done before. Ok, to be honest I've really enjoyed a lot of the books so far but two duds in a row has me depressed.

The End of Everything by M. John Harrison was not for me. The characters didn't matter and the story was also vague. It's a weird sci-fi/dystopian novel that I finished yesterday or the day before? Time means nothing and I've completely forgotten what I've read. It's fine. It's over.

#bookreview
#bookerlonglist #thendofeverything #bookprizejunkie #bookstagram taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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2 days ago

Today is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.

I recently finished reading Ninan: Tiohtiá:ke, Montreal by Michel Jean, translated by Susan Ouriou and thought it was a really powerful and important novel. Michel Jean is an award winning Innu author, news anchor and investigative journalist. This book follows a young Indigenous man named Élie who is exiled from his community after serving a prison sentence for the murder of his abusive father. When he is released, Élie has to find a new way of life on the streets of Montreal. The novel shows the ongoing impact of systematic trauma and gives a voice to those experiencing homelessness and addiction. It is also a story of found family and community, resilience, intergenerational trauma, racism and the lack of institutional support. Ninan: Tiohtiá:ke, Montreal is beautifully written and enlightening while also providing hope within tragedy. I can't recommend it enough.

Thank you @houseofanansi.

#bookrecommendation
#bookreview
#ninan #micheljean #houseofanansi by @bookpimp

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5

5 days ago

Is that a romance novel? Who even is she?? I went off theme and picked up Main Characters by Bobby Palmer after seeing some reviews raving about it.

They weren't wrong. Main Characters is the story of Seb and Clara's relationship except it's told through the perspectives of those around them. We never get inside their heads but we see what they put out to the world. Close friends, a person eavesdropping on a bus, coworkers and random strangers are the ones telling the story. Do you ever see the same couple on your morning coffee run and in your head you have a full backstory made up for them? Or you go out to lunch and spend your time listening in to the next table and not your friend's rant? Noisy bitches unite. This may be for you! It had a Sally Rooney tossed with Fredrik Backman vibe and I loved it. I'm now an unofficial romance girlie. This was the kinda fun I needed.

#bookstagram #romance #maincharacters #bookrecommendation #funreading taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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8 days ago

Booker Book 7/13

I blame The Vivisectors for slowing my reading to a snail's pace with this longlist. I don't even want to talk about it. I kept re-reading large chunks of it and I swear it's like my brain just said no, girl give it a rest. Did I listen to my brain? Absolutely not.

My friends Shell @booksbythecup and Sarah @the_need_to_read are always teasing me about my inability to DNF a book. Once I start, I will finish even if it kills me. Well, The Vivisectors sucked my soul out and then brought me back to life just to do it all over again. I'm not saying it was a bad book, in theory. It has an interesting concept and there are lots of beautiful sentences. It's just when you put the sentences together it was like alphabet soup. Anyhow, I should of DNF'd it but clearly I need therapy.

#bookprizejunkie #dnf #thevivisectors #bookerlonglist #sendhelp taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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11 days ago

The countdown is on for the Booker Shortlist and I'm pretty sure I still have some that will end up being favourites left to read. But!!! I really hope The Renovation by Kenan Orhan makes the shortlist.

Booker Book 6/13 - I'm behind but it's fine. I will get there.

I loved this fever dream of a novel about memory, Turkish history, political trauma, immigration and being a caregiver. Dilara finds her bathroom renovation has become a Turkish prison cell, complete with guards and prisoners. Her father is losing himself to Alzheimer's and Dilara begins to find solace in the cell that reminds her of the home she was exiled from as her personal life gets complicated. Sound weird? It is. It's also beautifully written, filled with metaphors and darkly funny with sharp political commentary. I love a novel that does something different and this one fits the bill.

#bookstagramreadsthebooker #bookerlonglist #bookprizejunkie #bookstagram #therenovation taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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14 days ago

I loved The Stepdaughter by Caroline Blackwood so when Sarah @the_need_to_read suggested we read The Fate of Mary Rose I was all in! Blackwood does it again. I can't get enough of her unlikeable, unhinged characters and I love that her books have been reissued.

This is a dark crime novel but also a strong characterization of an unreliable, narcissistic and rage inducing narrator, Rowan. He's disgusted by his wife, condescending to his mistress and detached from his daughter. The reader gets his selfish viewpoints as his wife becomes obsessed with a missing little girl. There's themes of family dysfunction, class prejudice and a really interesting examination of crime reporting and mass hysteria. If you don't mind being completely infuriated this book might be for you. It was written in the 80s but feels relevant to today's issues and it made me immediately look for more of Blackwood's novels.

#thefateofmaryrose
#carolineblackwood
#unreliablenarrator #bookstagram #bookrecommendation taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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16 days ago

Well, that was an experience! Sarah @the_need_to_read talked me into reading this one. I honestly never need much encouragement to pick up a chunky book but George Perec was definitely not on my radar. I'm a book lemming that will follow anyone over that cliff for a good buddy read.

I started Life: A User's Manual in January. I think this might be the longest I've ever spent with a book. I would lay it down for long periods then pick it up and get sucked in for 100 pages, followed by dropping it again. This is probably not the best way to read this book which is filled with puzzles, mathematical problems and crosswords. You kinda got to be engaged with it to get it so I'm positive I missed so many things in this experimental novel. I don't care, I did it my way. Did you sing that in your head? Just me?

It's a huge book about a single Parisian apartment building and a single moment, 8pm on June 23rd, 1975. We go room to room seeing the stories of hundreds of characters, objects and descriptions. It's a masterpiece in patience. It's complex and beautifully written. It probably needs a second or third reading to be truly appreciated which I have no intention of doing. 😂

#lifeausersmanual #bookstagram #bigbookreading2026 #buddyreads #modernclassics taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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19 days ago

Women's Prize for Fiction Book 16/16

Still a completist. Still doing it without a deadline. Still feeling a sense of satisfaction when I finish.

I didn't save The Best of Everything for last but instead I put it off until last. Why? I'm not sure. I never saw a lot of reviews and I didn't really know what the book was about. I think I made an assumption that it was a child narrator, which I don't love. I picked it up because I had to finish the list not because I had any interest in reading the book.

I was surprised when I started it and couldn't put it down. Remember the big trend of 'uplit' a few years ago? The Best of Everything falls into that category. It's a story of found family, love, forgiveness and personal growth. It's the kind of book that makes you want to hug it and every character in it. Not a whole lot of plot but a quiet character driven book with a lot of heart. I'm happy that this longlist put it into my hands.

#womensprizeforfiction
#bookprizejunkie #thebestofeverything #bookstagram #uplit taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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23 days ago

I was randomly scrolling Libby for an audio book to listen to and hit upon Sad Tiger. I recognized it as a book I had on my shelf and that it was a memoir but otherwise didn't really remember why I had it. Well, this book swallowed me up whole and spit me back out two days later.

⚠️ Before going any further please take a moment to check the trigger warnings on this book. ⚠️

This was a horrific account of the author's childhood sexual abuse and the trauma inflicted on her by her stepfather. This is written as a fragmented, non-linear stream of consciousness that is raw, powerful and brutally honest. Sinno also uses literary analysis to examine the psychology of pedophiles and society's handling of these predators. The literary critism somehow works really well with her personal memories making this book thought-provoking as well as shocking. I may not of enjoyed this book but I appreciated it. It's won a host of awards and they are well deserved.

#bookreview #memoir #powerfulread #sadtiger #nonfiction taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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a month ago

When you work in a library it's not unusual to have random weird conversations about books that you are reading. This has somehow moved into a casual bookclub in which we read titles that have sat on our personal shelves for years. Love In The Time Of Chloera happens to be a book we all owned and never read so it was our latest pick and let me tell you, the conversations at the water cooler over this one have been WILD.

This book will forever be Love In The Time of Chlamydia in our minds. Dude falls in love and when she marries someone else he vows to wait for her and then proceeds to have 622 affairs that he details in his little notebook. It's ok though because it's his heart that has remained faithful. Swooooon!

The writing was beautiful and poetic but also completely unhinged. I can't tell you how many times I stopped to gasp, roll my eyes or chuckle at what I was reading. In particular, the descriptions of the female body were a choice. "Everything about her was large and intense: her siren's thighs, her slow-burning skin, her astonished breasts, her diaphanous gums with their perfect teeth". Sir, my breasts are also astonished, flabbergasted even.

I'm not sure I liked this book but I really liked my experience reading it, if that makes sense. It's a book that you want to scream about with your coworkers as you discuss stalking, predators, grooming and exploitation and obsession and aging. The text messages and conversations we had were not for public consumption, they were just that good. I apologize to anyone who came into the library and heard our shrieks, cursing and uncontrollably giggling during our informal discussions.

#librarylife #readtheclassics #bookstagram #casualworkbookclub #loveinthetimeofcholera taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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a month ago

Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist Book 15/16

Interrupting your Booker reading to highlight some good old fashioned Irish anguish fiction. The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine is a force of a novel. Multiple voices, multiple emotions, multiple generations and multiple viewpoints. Do you see a theme?

The Benefactors examines the aftermath of a sexual assault on a teenage girl and the efforts of three wealthy moms to protect their sons from the accusation. At the core, the novel examines how wealth and social status can shield people from accountability. Shocking, I know. This character driven book deeply interrogates privilege, parenting, consent, misogyny, trauma and so much more. It was brutal and dark but also had so much heart and humor. I loved how it was written and the unforgettable characters.

5 stars.

#womensprizeforfiction #thebenefactors #irishfiction #bookstagram #bookprizejunkie taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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a month ago

The Rayburn Affair by Laurie Petrou is released today! I love to read a good campus novel in September and this one's a page turner.

Ruth is a struggling associate professor who needs to become tenured but her passion lies in her fiction writing. Her life changes when she meets her idol and literary icon at a party. Ruth finds herself in a weird relationship with both the author and her husband. Sexual tension, deep intimacy, power dynamics, jealousy and secrecy are all explored as the threesome get to know each other. The characters all annoyed me in the best way! Toxic friendship stories enrage me but also are my catnip.

This book is a psychological thriller that provides a really relevant discussion on AI, consent, authorship and intellectual property. It would make for a fantastic book club discussion.

#therayburnaffair
#bookrecommendation #canlit #bookreview #newreleasebook taken in BOOKSTA by @bookpimp

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a month ago