what drew me into this book was its premise! I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? …

This was a nice read. I’m writing this past midnight and I don’t really think I can do it justice. In this book, there is ample space, and yet there is spacious intimacy in between the lines. It’s heavily character-driven, with unresolved components and pieces. It reminds me so sharply…

I’ll be candid, for chunks of this autobiography, I zoned out, swimming in my own thoughts and not McConaughey’s narrative. Audiobooks are just like that, built for multitasking. However, the parts that I was fully present for had me hooked on every single syllable. The diction? Exemplar. The contrast? Illuminating…

This book follows Marianne and Connell, who went to school together in Sligo, a small town in rural Ireland. We are updated on the trajectories of their lives, skipping a few months at a time, from 2011 through to 2015. Marianne and Connell wind up in university together, Trinity College…

John Green carries me to an acute consciousness, which I think is very exacting to write. His writing flows. clear, transparent, and so full, simultaneously. Our protagonist Aza Holmes, who has some symptoms of OCD and anxiety, makes it her quest to track down a missing billionaire, who happens to…

I read this on the flight from Keflavík Airport to Vancouver International, so a quick skim of an airplane read (a rec by Unjaded Jade). I don’t think this one is worth any more time or attention than a speedy flip-through, and for me, the contents weren’t wholly relatable, even…

I fiinnallllyy finished Such a Fun Age. For how long it took me to finish it (a month), I surprisingly enjoyed it. I haven’t read a ton of realistic fiction centred around issues of race and racism, so it was more eye-opening for me to take in dynamics and perspectives…

In January 2015, Chanel Miller was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner, a Stanford swimmer. The crux of the issue was not the “effects of alcohol and the promiscuity that comes with it”. This was a problematic, intentional, serious, and agonizing case of sexual violence. Chanel hid behind the name ‘Emily…

I can read a lot of heavy stuff — not that I only like to read about heavy stuff — but because heavy stuff exists, and I want to savour the entire spectrum and intensity of all the world’s experiences can offer through words, one degree sheltered from the luridness…