tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29980302024-03-13T23:19:50.256-07:00bookgeeksreveal the bookgeek withinbobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-23295051209562607232022-03-08T17:18:00.001-08:002022-03-08T17:30:30.212-08:00IWD 2022self-isolating day 1Long story that many people have: I am currently self isolating. for this day at least. I could barely work yesterday at work, I was so paranoid. seemed stupid and careless and yes, a little pointless to be there but on the other hand whatever - jesus so many people out there just living there lives and here I am, no symptoms, seething at the moronic idiots on the bus wearing bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-3778726383642028152019-04-27T09:38:00.001-07:002019-04-27T09:38:45.116-07:00Review: Her Body and Other Parties
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Capsule review: #gender norms, body image, societal constraints, #mythological #archetypes of #women - all ripped from their forms and represented with perspective, humour, and scintillating writing that leaves you shaken, maybe unsure, but changed. read it.
View all my reviewsbookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-66804320970707301462018-02-17T11:23:00.001-08:002018-02-17T11:23:41.809-08:00Review: A Different Drummer
A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Capsule Review: I almost couldn't see to read the final pages of this remarkable novel that tells such a moving #resistance tale. My own white tears partly, but also the sheer structural perfection and raw power of plot and characters. A black man writing through white eyes about black struggle. bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-4390571883001334942017-11-19T13:20:00.001-08:002018-02-17T11:26:57.443-08:00Review: Don't Tell Me What to Do
Don't Tell Me What to Do by Dina Del Bucchia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Capsule Review: What other things can be said about a book that sparkles already with shiny women characters like pearls and gems? I love them all through their struggles to be better or worse or different: their life goals radiate with strength through these mistressful stories. Favs: "Miss Supreme", "Under the 'bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-80886673891940115272017-11-18T09:21:00.001-08:002017-11-19T13:02:11.969-08:00Review: We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night
We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night by Joel Thomas Hynes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Capsule Review: Someone [Cliff Jackman?] already made the comparison to Irvine Welsh and Trainspotting - so it is what you imagine: dark & dirty & rotten & full of the barest most base regret; illuminated by moments with Johnny's sister/mother Tanya, Johnny's tainted memories of his bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-8567651452047795352017-11-05T09:29:00.001-08:002017-11-05T09:31:51.639-08:00Review: 4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Capsule Review: Paul Auster, you PoMo MoFo! Worth it just to experience his stylistic command of minutiae. Look your own mortality in the face as Auster does by following Archie Ferguson's New York story(ies) to their end. (Predetermined?: the true question behind the stories we live out).
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bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-20687999620128335082017-09-05T12:29:00.001-07:002017-09-05T13:42:44.050-07:00Review: Nora Webster
Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Capsule Review: Nora Webster is a widow: part hating how it defines her/part uncertain how to define herself. Loving her children/craving solitude. Colm Toibin's storytelling: the minutiae explainsNora Webster the whole. How we get through our most troubling times through our day to day.
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bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-74261753345124475052017-09-04T19:32:00.001-07:002017-09-04T19:38:17.202-07:00Review: The Tiger's Wife
The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Capsule Review: Story wrapped in stories (which I love). Mythological archetypes set in present day. Lyrical writing. Strong Anti-war sentiments with memorable characters - What's not to love?
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bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-8908192504781029312017-08-31T20:20:00.000-07:002017-08-31T20:20:45.314-07:00Review: Ragnarok: The End of the Gods
Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Capsule review: Myth, allegory, real life. Sometimes it all is mixed up ain't it? 3 stars because beautiful writing but only 3 stars because not quite enough of the protagonist (the thin child) to feel connected to the outcome of her story. Loki rocks.
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bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-74547483400744223502017-04-09T16:15:00.001-07:002017-04-11T16:59:01.285-07:00What You Can't See Can Still Hurt You
Eden Robinson - Son of a Trickster
I love listening to Eden Robinson in interviews. Her laugh is infectious. She's funny, smart, down-to-earth. And also, she can write like a demon. Check her out in Dina Del Bucchia and Daniel Zomperelli's Can't Lit episode 043. While you're there, subscribe to their podcast, because you'll love it and it's great. I read a chapter of this quickly beforebookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-10918893789050987692017-03-04T09:47:00.000-08:002017-04-09T16:23:40.484-07:00Feel the Music
Zadie Smith - Swing Time
Swing Time by Zadie Smith was my Christmas read this year (Thanks to Opsonic Index -- Wait. What?! Shit, did I just blow your cover, Dude?). And YEAH IT MADE ME LOVE BOOKS AGAIN. Ok. It's not that throughout all these years that have past with me not blogging haven't been filled with books. There have been stacks and stacks and stacks of books. bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-20212617280940372682012-04-26T11:08:00.000-07:002012-04-26T13:48:57.623-07:00reading decisions
choosing what to read
i've decided not to read fifty shades of grey by e l james.
much like i didn't read the da vinci code.
being a bookseller, i have a lot of biases. it's actually something i have to consciously curb when i'm at work.
people will come up to me and ask me for chicklit or ask me about the best book i've read lately and i'll point to whatever amazing book and they'll bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-59044176731622510032011-03-09T20:50:00.000-08:002011-04-30T21:03:51.336-07:00fairytale angstfractured by joanna karaplis is the kind of book i would have loved when i was YA (and, ok, yes, i'm still very YA at heart). what i love about this book is all the classic elements of fairytale lore intertwined with true-to-life teenage problems:
the main character in the first tale is a teen named yuki white, (yes, that's snow white to you) - and the title is snow white and the seven dorks. bobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-39671213677280777042011-03-06T08:51:00.000-08:002011-03-06T08:51:19.295-08:00eschew the label, girls!i can't tell you how much i appreciate this book. i am so glad that it exists. thanks emily mullock for being a) such a cool and talented illustrator b) for twisting around the girl themes a bit without taking sides.
(also, thanks mckellar & martin for rocking the sparkles)
go away, unicorn! shows us girls everywhere that it's ok to not to like unicorns but it's ok to like them too, and bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-48223514393985362542010-11-03T19:59:00.000-07:002011-03-07T11:58:25.160-08:00march on
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i read the back blurb of this book because it bobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-55748800094089154302010-10-25T19:48:00.000-07:002010-10-25T20:35:05.973-07:00love lostfebruary by lisa moore
i let the cover of this novel fool me for a long time.
and i’m not even sure what I expected from the cover – but it wasn’t this:
hard-living, straight-talking, wonderfully honest lonely helen o’mara trying to emerge from her husband’s death – a victim of the real-life sinking of the oil rig the ocean ranger, a disaster that took the lives of all the crew. but instead bobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-57214090203905862382010-10-21T21:21:00.000-07:002010-10-25T20:41:34.746-07:00a gate at the stairs
you know how some characters in some novels just seem totally get into your head?
tassie keltjin was like that for me. i know that girl so well, I laughed at her jokes before lorrie moore wrote them.
here’s the gist: tassie keltjin, part jewish, part secret gourmet potato farm daughter, needs a job during her first year in college. her first year away from the farm, away from her bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-47122947940363884802010-08-24T18:35:00.000-07:002010-10-25T20:49:24.325-07:00poetry lives
how much i liked this novel, the anthologist, by nicholson baker is equal only to my secret desire to write a good rhyming poem. it's true. i've always wanted to be able to do it.
but oh my god. i remember that first year creative writing poetry class. awful stuff. i didn't get it. i couldn't hear it. couldn't hear the beats. didn't get the iambic pentameter. just was horribly bookgeekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05084815684867685246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-26657994251801931692010-02-08T15:17:00.001-08:002010-03-19T20:30:57.019-07:00the first book i loved by hilary mantelbeyond black was the first book i read by hilary mantel and ms. mantel has not let me down since. i've staff picked it at the bookstore - had to get the buyers to bring in the picador edition from the u.s. because apparently we don't care about it enough in canada. or something. i don't really get how that kind of thing happens in publishing. no offense harpercollins canada but i handsell this bobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-35791533737411201322009-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:002009-12-05T20:49:36.072-08:00let the games begin...
just finished this young adult novel by suzanne collins and after all the twilight insanity, i was very impressed with it. it's actually well-written and compelling. of course, i'm not sure i would let my kid read it. it's extremely violent, bleak and cynical.
but here's why it works: the main character, katniss, a sixteen year old girl forced into adulthood by the death of her father and the bobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-19310597009557276532009-09-25T20:41:00.000-07:002009-09-26T09:36:27.119-07:00small crimes / big heartsthis book sat on my shelf for a little while. and, no, that's not a bad thing. how i purchase books is a little different from a lot of people. i don't just buy a book and then read it. that would kind of ruin it for me. some books i want for months and months and i visit them every day make sure they look good sitting there where they are supposed to be on the shelf. i kind of have to get to bobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-15274411253269804822009-08-03T13:13:00.000-07:002009-10-26T21:18:52.151-07:00so sorry, little booki've just realised that i've lent out one of my favourite books: william goldman's the princess bride. my brother, danny, gave me this book when i was about fourteen years old. it was the best kind of gift. he loved it and knew that i would love it too. i must've read that book 10 times as many years lent it out just as frequently. it always came back to me. dogeared, shelfworn, the cover just bobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-55956268710180092802009-02-19T15:36:00.000-08:002017-01-21T10:02:05.973-08:00The Word Remains: A Short Commentary Regarding Censorship
Every morning as I prepare to meet my customer - I touch the books, covet them a little, slip them back into their spot on the shelf. But most of all I look at them and love them. All of them. I don’t pretend that I will ever in a million years read them all – but each and every book is a marvel to me: the thoughtfulness of a title, the beautiful architecture in an artfully sewn spine, the bobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-76013524586824044222008-07-11T12:55:00.000-07:002008-08-11T15:45:48.614-07:00real uncanny: paul austeri got a reading copy of the book of illusions about ten million years ago and never picked it up. i don't know if it was because the fact that i was engrossed in leviathan on the morning of the bombings on the world trade center on september 11, 2001. probably. i was riding the bus to get to work and as i was lost in a world that paul auster created, i was only vaguely aware of the undercurrents bobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2998030.post-58937109809866661992008-06-09T20:34:00.000-07:002009-09-12T08:59:10.370-07:00short stories rockthe pacific: and other stories by mark helprini'm really extremely tired of all these readers, or "so-called" readers coming in to the bookstore asking me for suggestions. and then i have to ask them if they read short stories. what? do you read fiction? well, then you read short stories!all these people. "no", whiny tone, "...not really, i don't really get short stories." how can you not "get" abobbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02491842647854758161noreply@blogger.com0