The Sunday post #7

Hello, everyone! Today we are linking up with

Brief post today!

Olivia Update 🐾

Olivia has been doing very well – such a big appetite and lots of books to read! And we did read two cat books which she and I absolutely loved (more below).

Last night, however, Olivia became quite concerned – somehow, a moth flew into our apartment! Olivia was not impressed. Whatsoever. In fact, it made her so anxious that she was yelling at this moth for quite some time. In an attempt to assist her, we were about to evacuate said moth; however, by the time we went to the lamp where it was situated, the moth had already flown away, nowhere to be found. Because Olivia is terrified of insects (as am I), we snuggled for quite some time afterwards, consoling both her and I. The location of the moth is still unknown, but we’d like to think it happily flew away sometime last evening or this morning. Now our Olivia is all settled – with a little bit of extra catnip to pep her step.

Life Update

A few highlights:

  • My partner and I went for a long walk a few days ago and found a really cool area in the city nearby that we had not visited before! There were lots of stores and even a new bistro that we will visit in the future.
  • We finished Netflix: Keep Breathing. Although I did enjoy some episodes, overall I would rate it around a 6/10. I enjoyed: the survival aspect, the main character, and how the story was revealed. Being from Northern British Columbia, I liked that this was filmed BC and gave an insight into the beauty we are fortunate to be surrounded by in Canada. I did not enjoy: the constant flashbacks, some plot and emotional mechanics used, the romantic element, and some of the overall plot points. I would recommend giving the first 2-3 episodes a shot, and if you like them, it gives a pretty clear indication if you may enjoy the rest of the show. I will say I thought that Yellowjackets was my favourite survival-type show watched this year (also filmed in BC).

Keep Breathing Trailer:

Yellowjackets Trailer:

Reading Update

We are doing the ARCathon, hosted by Marti and Britt! And we are reading our TBR game picks, which overlap. Our NetGalley feedback ratio is something we have been working on and we are happy to say it is currently at 94%.

In general, we’re very conservative with requests, opting to read and review many “read now” titles that we simply don’t want to wait for and get to reading them immediately! We have found so many amazing books this way. Although sometimes the request bug does bite, too!

We currently have two requests pending. A book we’ve requested is A Cat Cafe Christmas – if we receive an eGalley, Olivia and I will be so happy! But we will also happily request from the library if it doesn’t come our way – it looks absolutely purrfect! And I’d love to give our insight from a feline and cat lover purr-spective.

The second book we’ve requested is Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying. It is a YA graphic novel, and it just looks and sounds stunning. It discusses difficult topics, such as disordered eating and mental health. Again, I will need to read this book, regardless of my pending request – very much looking forward to reading and reviewing this one.

Recently Finished

We’ve finished several books this week from NetGalley (see below, thank you to NetGalley for providing review copies). I will discuss these more in future reviews and/or wrap ups; however I do want to say that the manga for Anne of Green Gables, Baker And Tale and the Mystery Cats, A Treacherous Tale, and The Ghosts of Rose Hill were just great! You can see reviews for Anne of Green Gables and The Ghosts of Rose Hill below.

Currently Reading:

We are enjoying and finishing The Kindest Lie tonight and continuing Lore forward!

This Week on the Blog


Next Week on the Blog

  • Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Love That Were Written Over Ten Years Ago
  • Reviews for The Kindest Lie
  • Review for Lore
  • Stacking the Shelves/Sunday Post/Sunday Salon

QOTD: Did you have a good weekend? Let us know!

The Sunday Post #6 & More!

Hello, everyone! Today we are linking up with:

Today’s post will be very brief! Busy day today.

Olivia Update 🐾

Olivia had a wonderful week! One evening, I decided to give her a little treat. So I created a little triangle out of her cat food and called it a “cat food pizza.” There is no pizza – it’s just her soft food that I shape into a triangle. But she really likes it! Somehow, perhaps this makes it more exciting for her.

Life Update

It’s been super busy this week. But here are a few highlights:

  • Went out to eat with my partner last night. It’s a 20 minute walk away, so we decided to get some exercise by walking to and from dinner. I think the walking was super useful!
  • The weather has been cooling. We’ve had some rain, which I adore.
  • Watching a show on Netflix called “Keep Breathing.” Enjoying it so far – have you seen it?

Reading Update

Check out my Friday Reads blog post for a reading update! We are doing the ARCathon, hosted by Marti and Britt

In our August TBR game, you can see which ARCs we are reading this month.

New to our shelf: We were approved this week for an ARC we are looking forward to! It is a YA thriller. Thank you to author Robin Roe, NetGalley, and HarperTeen/HarperCollins Children’s Books.

This Week on the Blog

Next Week on the Blog

  • Weekly memes (hopefully) for TTT and Stacking the Shelves/Sunday Post/Sunday Salon
  • Review | The Ghosts of Rose Hill
  • Review | A Lot Like Adiós
  • ARC/other Reviews

QOTD: Did you have a good weekend? Let us know!

The Sunday Post #5 & More! | Olivia’s purr-spective on “I Am a Cat” by Sōseki Natsume

Hello, everyone! Today we are linking up with:

This past week really got away from us and we are now trying our best to catch up, alas The Sunday Post is being posted on a Monday. Hope you enjoy it!

Olivia Update 🐾

A major update of our week is reading the book, “I am a Cat” by Sōseki Natsume. When we started the book, she was very happy to have found a feline protagonist. As the book went on, unfortunately, there was less and less cat in the book and she had quite a few issues with that. The book instead started to revolve around our cat’s owner and his friends, at times with very little cat insights thrown in.

While we certainly agree that Sōseki is a great writer, we are highly conflicted about this one due to the lack of cat content in the book. We also found the book difficult to read because of some of the content warnings which we should have read beforehand – there was a whole lot of body shaming and misogyny in the book (while we understand that this book was written over a century ago, we were very alarmed by the high volume of this sort of content). Most alarmingly, there was animal cruelty, so you can imagine my dismay reading these portions with Olivia (I was at a loss of how to comfort her – all I could do was provide her with her favourite tuna squeezie treat while I skipped these parts.) The plot was very minimal as well and it could be a bit tiresome to read at times. However, it is not all bad – Sōseki is able to blend silliness with beautifully analytical and philosophical writing. We laughed out loud so many times during this book that we made a thread of some of our favourite quotes!

As well, some of the philosophical questions had Olivia and I deeply invested. Through both our nameless feline protagonist and the various characters, the book discusses a wide range of topics: God, creation, death, Westernization, and existence, to name a few. So I will sit with our thoughts on the book for some before committing to a review and star rating. We are comfortable saying that this book is not for who are looking for cat content since it’s so sparse, or for those who have a difficult time reading literature with any of the issues mentioned above.

In other news, Olivia also had a good time being on bird watch this week! There were quite a few spottings, which she alerted me of with a few cackles and chirps to sound the alarm.

Life Update

What a busy week this was! Our entire week of blogging and booktube went straight out the window, but for a good reason. This month we had a family member visit us so we had a marvellous time eating at cafés, attending some highly important events, visiting the ice cream shop (they have some vegan flavours!), and exploring the city together. With work thrown into the mix, all of our days were full with varying degrees of business. We are so happy to have hosted our family member and the outdoor plants have really enjoyed the sun! Temperatures should be a bit cooler this week – I hope they are going to drop for you all in the hot destinations as well.

A major help this week was ordering some vegan salads from a local shop nearby. Here you can see a few of them: Kale Tabouli Salad, Summer “Pasta” Salad, and Beet Poke Salad. Of these, the Summer Pasta Salad was such a win! And the selection really inspired us to get creative with our salad combinations moving forward.

Reading Update

Recently Finished

As you can see from the Olivia Update, we read I am a Cat by Sōseki Natsume and had a very conflicted feel about the book.

I finished Always Never by Jordi Lafebre, read via my Hoopla app. Last week, I mentioned that I was very lukewarm about this read, and that feeling never went away. My biggest issue with the book again lies within the content warnings (I’m starting to think that I really need to pay a bit more attention to those moving forward) and the illustration style. However, my opinions are not necessarily what the majority of readers thought as the book is very highly rated on Goodreads and Storygraph, so don’t let my review throw you off too much!

We also stacked our NetGalley shelf and read several books, focusing on children’s literature! Look out for reviews this week. We enjoyed and recommend all of them but especially loved With the Right to Fight – Planting Peace, How Science Saved the Eiffel Tower, and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls!
(Galleys are provided via NetGalley – all opinions are my own).

Currently Reading

We started A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria and we are enjoying it so far! It is a second chance romance and is book #2 in the Primas of Power series. I’ve only read the first chapter, but have found it intriguing so far and can’t wait to learn more about Michelle and Gabe.

We are so happy we were approved for A Treacherous Tale by Elizabeth Penney! This is book #2 of the Cambridge Bookshop Series and it follows our protagonist Molly Kimball who runs a bookshop in England. Thrilled because we very much enjoyed book #1, Chapter and Curse. We’ve only read the first chapter but are loving it so far. Olivia especially loves cats Puck and Clarence!

Next Read

Immediately next, we want to finally start Lore by Alexandra Bracken! Our TBR game has been difficult to complete this month, and we are afraid that some books will have to be read in the month of August. We will be doing a TBR game in August as well! Haha but at least it should be fairly quiet this month and so we hope to finish all of our books – crossovers and new additions, alike!

We’ll see … but The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is looking pretty enticing right about now … how can I possibly focus when there are so many great books to read? I supposed you could say we’re overbooked 😹. We are so happy we received this gorgeous book mail earlier this week!

This Week on the Blog

Next Week on the Blog

  • Weekly memes (hopefully) for TTT and Stacking the Shelves/Sunday Post/Sunday Salon
  • ARC reviews for books published on Aug 1st – now live!

QOTD: Did you have a good weekend? Let us know!

The Sunday Post #4 & More!

Hello, everyone! Today we are linking up with:

Update

Olivia Update 🐾

Olivia enjoying her Sunday.

Olivia had a wonderful week! We recently purchased some tuna Smooth & Savory squeezies, which are her absolute favourite treats.

The image above provides evidence of a very rare spontaneous hammock spotting – Olivia has started to spend time on her hammock! I couldn’t believe my eyes but I really did spot her enjoying her hammock two days ago when I came home from work. I was shocked and I very quickly rushed to take a photo, which is not of very good quality. But, I’m so happy I now have some photographic evidence that she, indeed, is enjoying her hammock. Encouraging!

Life Update

This week was a lot of fun. I spent time with family and even had some delicious sushi and salad. My partner’s family lives close to the Farmer’s Market and so all of the veggies are super fresh and very delicious. The sushi rolls were from a local sushi factory and I have to say – the avocado rolls were some of the best I’ve had in a long time!

This weekend I was able to watch my partner play his tennis tournament and sneak in a bit of reading at the same time. The matches were quite long and challenging, and the weather was very hot, but it was just wonderful to watch him have some great tennis this season. He loves the sport and I know it’s a highlight of his to play every summer in the beautiful weather.

Reading Update

Here is where we will insert our stacking the shelves and reading updates!

Recently Finished

Yesterday I finished reading A History of Women in the World by Marilyn French via my Libby app. It was a fascinating read about women and their roles in society throughout history as well as various religions and female roles within them. I thought it was just a marvellous book and I learned so much from it that it was difficult to put down – to be honest, this book wasn’t even on my radar until I saw an interview by Margaret Atwood in which she referenced it. I wanted to read it because I thought, well if Margaret Atwood is referencing this novel then I want a bit of an inside look into reference material she may have drawn inspiration from – and I was pleasantly surprised to see that she had actually provided Forwards for each of the various volumes.

The book can be a bit dense at times, and I think there is still a lot of various issues to cover, so I’m looking forward to reading further volumes. I also want to read more recently published material and see a more expansive and extensive approach that reflects feminism today and how the definition is constantly evolving.

Currently Reading

I am still reading Always Never by Jordi Lafebre via my Hoopla app. Still feeling a bit lukewarm about this read, but I’m hoping to finish it today since I have some time to read this afternoon and evening. It’s a love story of 40 years told in reverse, and I think the art style is just not my favourite – not sure, but I’m hoping it will grow on me and I will just love the book. It does have high ratings, so I hope that is the trajectory moving forward.

Next Reads

I am a Cat by Sōseki Natsume. This is a three volume translated collection of work written from the perspective of a cat – a dialogue on human nature. I’ve heard a lot about Sōseki’s writing and can’t to dig in! Olivia, especially.

A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria. We have mentioned this book before – it is a second chance romance and we think it will be just perfect to read this week.

Lore by Alexandra Bracken. Finally, we can’t wait to finish Lore by Alexandria Bracken! Greek mythology is something we’re especially looking forward to after reading Marilyn French’s book, mentioned earlier, in which she discusses women’s roles in ancient greece as well as after the common era.
Note: all three books were independently purchased via Indigo, Chapters.

New Arrivals

Unfortunately, we have not added anything to our physical or library shelves this week as we’re still chugging along, finishing up our July TBR books. However, I’ll add a few books here we’ve added to our Goodreads and Storygraph TBR shelves recently!

Last Week’s Posts

This Week on the Blog

  • Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday: Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I STILL Haven’t Read
  • Friday: Let’s Talk Bookish – Topic TBD
  • Friday: Reading Sprints Invitation for Saturday Sprints
  • Saturday/Sunday: Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post, The Sunday Salon

Bookstagram

We have been having some fun making reels lately! Here are our latest bookstagram posts:

Booktube

Latest Booktube Videos

Alas! We still have not made all of our mid year booktube videos, but these are to come. Potentials include the mid-year freakout tag, mid-year bookish wrap up OR favourites, and a mid-year reading journal flip through.

QOTD: What are you looking forward to reading this week?
Let us know!

The Sunday Post #3 & more!

Hello, everyone! Today we are linking up with:

Update

Olivia Update

This week has been a very restful week for Olivia, though we did manage to sneak in a few adventures here and there.

We’ve gone on the netted balcony/catio together quite a few times for some fun in the sun. She absolutely loves to sniff all the outdoor smells she possibly can.

The weather has been very sunny with clear skies and warm days. Although I personally may enjoy the summer breeze, Olivia is fearful of the wind, a fear that she bravely manages to conquer by the end of each summer season. She inspires me!

We have also discussed our recent reads and she is quite annoyed at the lack of cat books this week – I just must keep reminding her that we will be starting one soon. Now, this clearly provides little reassurance for her – but we really do have a fantastic Cat book coming up soon. So, hold tight, Olivia! We’re almost there!

Life

Last weekend we had a lot of fun and went to a local cafe. They have delicious vegan muffins that have so much flavour, I often need to get a second helping after finishing muffin #1!

Just typing this out makes me want to have another muffin so badly!

After our muffin and caffeine fixes were complete, we then went to our local garden centre and purchased roses, succulents, and plants for our balcony. The garden centre usually has so many choices, but this late in the season it can be difficult to find exactly what you are looking for. But, better late than never!

Reading

Here is where we will insert our Stacking the Shelves and reading updates!

Recently Finished:

We are happy to report that we finished both Radium Girls and Wildseed Witch! Both will both be given full reviews here on the blog very soon (Note: these are NetGalley reads and all of my NetGalley books are provided in exchange for honest reviews), but we are a bit behind at the moment. We also finished Surviving the City which was quite an emotional read. Quickly, we recommend all books if you are looking for a good nonfiction graphic novel (Radium Girls), a magical middle grade fantasy (Wildseed Witch), and/or a powerful and emotional contemporary graphic novel (Surviving the City).

Currently Reading:

Currently, I am reading A History of Women in the World by Marilyn French and Always Never by Jordi Lafebre, taken out from my library via the Libby and Hoopla apps, respectively.

I am learning so much in Marilyn French’s book, and am about 30% of the way through, so far. The book provides insights into the roles of women in society throughout history in ancient Egypt, China, India, Peru, Mexico, Greece, and Rome (among other places). It is eerie to read this book at this moment in time and I am just devouring the book. The Foreword by Margaret Atwood is just awesome.

Always Never tells a love story in reverse over a span of forty years. I’m not quite sure how I’ll end up enjoying this one – I think the art style is not for me, perhaps? But I think the story has a lot of potential, so we will keep moving forward! And perhaps I’ll end up loving it by the end.

Next Reads

All my next reads are books that are picks from my July TBR game. And, frankly, I’m a bit concerned I may not get through all of my books this month! If we can finish these three by the end of next week, oh gosh, then I’ll be on my way to completing the list and all fears re: not finishing will be alleviated swiftly!

Olivia is most looking forward to I am a Cat by Soseki Natsume, a dialogue of human nature from the perspective of a cat. I am looking forward to all three books but think that A Lot Like Adios might be exactly what I’m looking for after some nonfiction and philosophical reads since it is a contemporary romance with a super intriguing synopsis! And it may just be perfect for this point in the summer. Finally, Lore might be interesting to read after reading my current read: A History of Women in the World since they mention ancient Greece quite a bit in the book.

New Arrivals

NetGalley

We have been approved for two books by NetGalley this week and are happy to give our full review soon! The first book is a cozy mystery and is the second book in the Cambridge Bookshop Series – A Treacherous Tale by Elizabeth Penney. We had so much fun reading the first novel that of course we had to request this title! And we cannot wait to see what new mystery Molly Kimball will fall into this time around!

Additionally, we have been approved to read The Lost Witch by Paige Crutcher. It is a fantasy/romance about a time-travelling witch who loses her memory after waking up in her own home 100 years later. Oh, and there are monsters. We are intrigued and hope this will be a great read before heading into Autumn!

Last Week on the Blog

This Week on the Blog

  • Tuesday – Top Ten Tuesdays: Freebie (Note: What topic would you like to see?)
  • Saturday – Stacking the Shelves
  • Sunday – The Sunday Post and The Sunday Salon
  • TBD: Wildseed Witch Review

We will also be hosting our Caturday Reading Sprints on our booktube channel this week! And, still on the list is a mid-year bullet journal flip through.

Update!

Booktube:
Here is our Recent Reads video which goes over our weekly reading. Enjoy!

QOTD: what are you currently reading this week?

Let us know!

Stacking the shelves #1

This is my first time participating in Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality!

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! And audiobooks. Don’t forget audiobooks! In other words, if you can read it or if it can be read to you – no matter how you got it – it belongs in Stacking the Shelves. The Stacking the Shelves meme was originally hosted at Team Tynga’s Reviews. For the last few years it’s been co-hosted at Team Tynga’s and here at Reading Reality.” (Source)

We have purchased and are adding two new books to our shelves! Let’s takes a lot at our bookish finds.

Purchases

We recently pre-ordered our most anticipated book of the year “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” by one of our favourite authors, Silvia Moreno-Garcia! This was purchased via Indigo, Chapters in hardcover form and we are SO excited welcome this beauty onto our shelves! Just look at it!

We gushed over SMG’s new novel in our Anticipated 2022 Reads blog post and we are happy to gush over it again here! And from reading everyone’s lovely comments, it appears though MANY of us cannot wait to read it!

Let’s take a look at our second purchase from Indigo.

We are so lucky to have found these wonderful Sailor Moon editions! Thus far, I have acquired Eternal Editions 1-5, and now I am happy to continue adding more to the collection. If you’ve previously read this manga, these books are such a treat as they are so large (10.02 x 7.13 x 0.91 inches!) allowing you to really immerse yourself into the story. They also include additional notes at the back of each copy to learn more about the world of Sailor Moon both as you are reading or afterward for review.

Library

Finally, we have shelved and are reading two books from the library!

This book is about Miikwan (Anishinaabe) and Dez (Inninew) who have to face and maneuver various challenges they encounter while growing up Indigenous in the city. I’m already 77% of the way through – it is beautifully illustrated and an emotional read as it deals with grief, loss, and other sensitive topics. Fortunate to have found this in our Libby app and to be reading it this month as part of our July TBR!

Goodreads | The Storygraph

Finally, another book that I’ve put on my July TBR based off of our TBR Game, Fighting Evil by Booklight is Always Never by Jodi LaFebre. We were able to access this book via Hoopla. It tells a 40 year love story in reverse and I’m so curious to see how it will be done! I’ve seen wonderful reviews and I can’t wait to dig in!

QOTD: What books have you
recently placed on your shelves?

Note: I am not sponsored or affiliated with any stores/brands/companies/products mentioned.