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Mayzelle Bookstagram

@comereadwithmay

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mostly books, some bits of life✨
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📚2026: 42/52📍Toronto🇨🇦

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#James is HANDS DOWN the BEST book I’ve read all year and I’ve read some pretty good books this year. My husband asked me to describe the book and I said, “It’s like Django Unchained but 10x better!”.

Do you like an underdog story? Do you like adventure -packed books? Do you read historical fiction? Do you read thought-provoking books with a focus on social justice? Then this book is for you.

This book is much more than the retelling of a beloved classic. It’s a first person narrative told from a perspective of a runaway slave. This book analyzes oppression from varied philosophical vantage points.

📖”I read. I never felt more exposed or vulnerable as I did in the light of day with a book open. What if I had been spotted by one of the local plantation’s overseers? Or a slave who might have been frightened by the sight? Or a slave who simply wanted to ingratiate himself to his master? There were those slaves who claimed a distinction between good masters and cruel masters. Most of us considered such to be distinction without difference.”

The writing is easy to digest, concise but effective. The story is constantly moving. I wish I read this book in one sitting instead of in piecemeal. This is a book I will reread, and will not hesitate to recommend.

As a linguistic nut, one of my favourite parts of this book was the covert codeswitching all throughout, and ultimately, its revelation.

🗣️”Safe movement through the world depended on mastery of language, fluency.”

5⭐️ This is a powerful read on suffering, retribution and redemption. It’s another book I want to see adapted to a film. After reading this, I’ve made a note to check-out Percival Everett’s Erasure, and its movie adaptation “American Fiction”.

💭QOTD: What books would you love to see adapted to a movie? 🎥🍿Or any books that you thought were better than their movie/TV versions or vice versa?📚 taken in Flatiron Building (Toronto, 1988) by @comereadwithmay

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2 years ago

Happy International Women’s Day. This is a repost from yesterday as I found more books in my collection that I wanted to feature.Here are some women authors whose works I love and recommend. Not seen here is Chanel Miller’s Know My Name (a library loan), a notable and very important book that I must mention.

Do you see any favourites here?📚💕 taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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2 years ago

I DEVOURED this book. I was reading a lighthearted fantasy concurrently with #TheVegetarian but I just kept gravitating towards it. It’s a short read of 200ish pages but my oh my, was it a ride!🎢😱🤯

What worked for me:
-Astute depiction of the objectivity of women and unjust societal expectations
-How this book surprisingly is really not about vegetarianism
-Health and bodily autonomy!!! (I work in healthcare and there are discussion gaps about capacity but that’s me being nit-picky)
-Narratives about the redundancy of daily life leading to some pretty extreme fulfilment of taboo fantasies
-The subjectivity of art and boundaries of artistic liberties

What didn’t work for me:
-That lacklustre ending for such a captivating tantalizing read womp womp
-Part 2 was meh didn’t care much for the brother-in-law but I understand that it was needed to move the story along
-Near-absent POV of the main character
-Although the explanation for the main character’s behaviour was noted, I thought it was still vague

I was flip flopping between 4⭐️& 5⭐️ and will settle for a 4.5⭐️. This is one character-driven book that will stay with me for a while. I would love to watch a film adaptation, if one hasn’t been done already. I’m also counting this psychological thriller as my first summerween read!

Please read trigger warnings before picking this up.

🖤”The feeling that she had never really lived in this world caught her by surprise. It was a fact. She had never lived. Even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure.”

👤”It’s your body, you can treat it however you please. The only area where you’re free to do just as you like. And even that doesn’t turn out how you wanted.”

🥀”The sunlight that came splintering through the wide windows, dissolving into grains of sand, and the beauty of that body that, though this was not visible to the eye, was also ceaselessly splintering…the overwhelming inexpressibility of the scene beat against him like a wave breaking on the rocks, alleviating even those terrifyingly unknowable compulsions that had caused him such pain over the past year.”

#ReadAsianAuthors2024 #20BooksByAsianWomen taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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2 years ago

September wrap-up and some snippets of life in between. My favourite books were Land and Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead. I also liked Goodbye, Vitamin.

💭QOTD: I’ve been finding it more and more challenging to read (been on a slump). What books have gotten you out of a slump?📖 taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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a day ago

Happy (belated) Canadian Thanksgiving🍁 I am so thankful for all of you my bookish friends! Also blessed to have spent the long weekend in Canadiana, surrounded by vibrant autumnal foliage in the lake region.

Sorry I’ve been a little MIA as I’ve unlocked the next stage of my full-time working mom era with my kiddo starting kindergarten and not napping anymore🫠

I have started Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino and enjoying it so far. I must say that the DC real estate market is just as competitive as Toronto’s but maybe you get more acreage for the price? I love how unhinged the narrator is.

💭QOTD: Have you read any good books lately?📖What are you thankful for?🤎 taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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3 days ago

If you’re looking for a cozy fall romance, It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard is the perfect read for you. Set in NYC, this second chance romance is swoon-worthy and easily a bingeable read. I read this one back in May (Asian Heritage/ANHPI Month) after finding out that Joss Richard is a Toronto-raised Filipina writer now based in LA.

4⭐️ Adequately spiced slow burn about two young professionals finding their footing in the real world, while navigating their feelings towards each other. Tropes include forced proximity, friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, second chance romance.

💭QOTD: What book is on your fall TBR?📖 taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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11 days ago

Long time no post! Life’s been busy but I’ve been reading. Goodbye Vitamin was the perfect short book to get me out of my reading slump after reading Maggie O’Farrell’s Land. The story is about an adult daughter who returns home to help care for her father with early onset Alzheimer’s. I was touched by the journal entries her father wrote when she was little, commemorating all the milestones and conversations of her childhood.

“What imperfect carriers of love we are, and what imperfect givers. That the reasons we can care for one another can have nothing to do with the person cared for. That it has only to do with who we were around that person—what we felt about that person.”

4⭐️ Tender, short instrospective read on the conditionality of our love. First person narrative by a narrator who was both witty and funny at times, despite the heavy emotional undertone of the story.

💭QOTD: I’ve missed you all! What are you reading right now?📖 taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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14 days ago

5⭐️ read that made me cry🥹 Wow, this is my first @maggieofarrellofficial and it did not disappoint. The story follows the lives of Tomas, Phina, Liam, Enda, Rose and Eugene in 1800s Ireland before and after The Great Hunger. This is breathtaking and truly mesmerizing storytelling, that transported me to the copses, bogs and lush green and unforgiving landscape of the Irish countryside.

For lovers of historical fiction, complex family dynamics, stories of tragedy, resilience and hope, this one’s for you!

💭QOTD: What was your last 5⭐️ read?📖 taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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a month ago

Thank you @sirenbee_readsnthings for tagging me in this September scavenger hunt challenge!

🍂A book on your fall TBR - Land by Maggie O’Farrell. I actually have 80ish pages left to read and it’s shaping up to be a 5⭐️ read for me!

✏️A book set in school - Bunny by Mona Awad. I started this last year so I will aim to finish it this year.

🧌A short story collection or novella - Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu (an engaging short story collection)

🍁A cover with fall colours - It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard. I read this in May and loved it. I just had to check out this Toronto-born Filipina-authored romance book that’s set in NYC.

🍁A title or cover with a name or a person - Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen. I started this and liking it so far. I also just had to check out this @gillerprize longlisted book that’s set in the Beaches neighborhood of Toronto, my home!

🖤A title that begins with S - Stoner by John Williams. This is another classic on my TBR. I’ve read good things, should I read it this year?

Tagging some booksta friends in this challenge!

💭QOTD: Have you read any of these books? taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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a month ago

Just checking out what Torontonians are reading these days! Spot any favourites? Do you see any on your TBR? taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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a month ago

Summer’s winding down and here are some recent romance reads that made my summer enjoyable this year!

💭QOTD: Do you read romance? What’s your favourite romance read recently?💖 taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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a month ago

Finished 9 books in August! Thanks to @readwithgeorginak’s summer bingo for motivating me to read as many books as I can! Also had great discussions with @picture_pretty_books about Minority Feelings, check out her book review!

Not pictured here are some classics I read via @kindleunlimitedbooks

1. White Nights - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
2. Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

I am looking forward to reading more classics this year especially after winning @theevrydayreader’s giveaway, and getting a surprise gift of a very pretty Pride and Prejudice cover that I’ve been wanting. Which classics would you recommend I should read?

💭QOTD: What was your favourite book this summer? Finished 9 books in August! Thanks to @readwithgeorginak’s summer bingo for motivating me to read as many books as I can! Also had great discussions with @picture_pretty_books about Minority Feelings, check out her book review!

Not pictured here are some classics I read via @kindleunlimitedbooks

1. White Nights - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
2. Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

I am looking forward to reading more classics this year especially after winning @theevrydayreader’s giveaway, and getting a surprise gift of a very pretty Pride and Prejudice cover that I’ve been wanting. Which classics would you recommend I should read?

💭QOTD: What was The your favourite book this summer? taken in BOOKSTA by @comereadwithmay

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a month ago