BOOKS

When I was in Grade One this little poem won me a prize in the school anthology. Nothing has changed; reading remains my favourite pastime.

Though I spent seven years working in a library, maintaining that I'd stick to my hard-copy books, I've gone back on my word and converted to an ebook enthusiast. I love that ebooks allow me to read in sub-optimal lighting, adjust font size, and not have to hold up a book (lazy, I know). I also really appreciate having instant access to ebooks online. Libraries are buying more and more books in ebook form and generally offer free access through their online catalogues. It's great when you hear about a book and are able to access it right away.

I use Aldiko, a free Android app, to read ebooks on the go, and Adobe Digital Editions (also free) to read at home on my computer. After trying various readers these are the two that I have found to be most user-friendly -- simple, yet offering all of the features that I appreciate. My favourite features on Aldiko are the option of having white text on a black background (reduces screen brightness to prolong battery life) and the ease of adjusting the screen brightness to suit your environment (simply swipe up or down along the left side of the screen).
Aldiko
I enjoy all genres and often check the New York Times Best Sellers list for reading inspiration. Books that I've read recently include:
  • Sept 23, 2013 - Inferno - Dan Brown
  • Nov 10, 2013 - A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra
  • Dec 8, 2013 - Looking for Alaska - John Green
  • Dec 27, 2013 - Cutting For Stone - Abraham Verghese
  • Dec 30, 2013 - The Fault in Our Stars - John Green
  • Dec 31, 2013 - Divergent - Veronica Roth
  • Jan 1, 2014 - This Is How You Lose Her - Junot Diaz
  • Jan 4, 2014 - Ender’s Game - Orson Scott Card
  • Jan 30, 2014 - The Stranger - Albert Camus
  • Mar 2, 2014 - On the Road - Jack Kerouac
  • Mar 2, 2014 - The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
  • May 18, 2014 - The Unwanted - Kien Nguyen
  • June 5, 2014 - The Cuckoo’s Calling - Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
  • June 22, 2014 - The Things They Carried - Tim O’Brien
  • June 24, 2014 - The Citadel - A.J. Cronin
  • Aug 3, 2014 - The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
  • Aug 3, 2014 - If I Stay - Gayle Forman
  • Aug 10, 2014 - American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld
  • Aug 22, 2014 - Brunette Ambition - Lea Michele
  • Oct 12, 2014 - Outlander - Diana Gabaldon
  • Nov 1, 2014 - Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand
  • Nov 8, 2014 - Not That Kind of Girl - Lena Dunham
  • Nov 11, 2014 - Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
  • Dec 7, 2014 - All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
  • Dec 21, 2014 - Where'd You Go, Bernadette - Maria Semple
  • Jan 23, 2015 - Yes Please - Amy Poehler
  • Jan 30, 2015 - The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion
  • Feb 6, 2015 - Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) - Mindy Kaling
  • Mar 2, 2015 - Land of Love and Drowning - Tiphanie Yanique
  • Mar 15, 2015 - The Rosie Effect - Graeme Simsion
  • Apr 3, 2015 - Bossypants - Tina Fey
  • June 10, 2015 - Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty
  • July 11, 2015 - The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo
  • Aug 14, 2015 - The Magicians - Lev Grossman
  • Aug 16, 2015 - Go Set a Watchman - Harper Lee
  • Aug 17, 2015 - The Call of the Wild - Jack London
  • Sept 4, 2015 - The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
  • Jan 2, 2016 - The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah
  • Jan 3, 2016 - My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante
  • Jan 7, 2016 - The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
  • Jan 15, 2016 - The Silver Star - Jeannette Walls
  • Feb 20, 2016 - When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
  • Mar 5, 2016 - The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd
  • Mar 12, 2016 - The Martian - Andy Weir
  • Apr 1, 2016 - The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto - Mitch Albom
  • Apr 9, 2016 - Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
  • May 7, 2016 - I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain - Courtney Robertson
  • May 10, 2016 - Madame Curie - Eve Curie
  • June 3, 2016 - The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
  • July 31, 2016 - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - JK Rowling
  • Sept 3, 2016 - Lily and The Octopus - Steven Rowley
  • Sept 20, 2016 - It's Not Okay - Andi Dorfman
  • Dec 3, 2016 - Patient HM - Luke Dittrich
  • Dec 31, 2016 - Wild - Cheryl Strayed
  • Jan 9, 2017 - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
  • Feb 18, 2017 - The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
  • Apr 8, 2017 - The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
  • Apr 13, 2017 - Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan
  • Sept 4, 2017 - Modern Romance - Aziz Ansari
  • Sept 12, 2017 - The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
  • Sept 27, 2017 - The Thing Around Your Neck - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Dec 23, 2017 - Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
  • Feb 3, 2018 - The Princess Diarist - Carrie Fisher
  • Feb 4, 2018 - Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House - Michael Wolff
  • Apr 21, 2018 - Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
  • July 21, 2018 - Every Note Played - Lisa Genova
  • September 27, 2018 - I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
  • October 14, 2018 - Origin - Dan Brown
  • December 3, 2018 - The Hate You Give - Angie Thomas
  • January 4, 2019 - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman
  • May 30, 2019 - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson
  • Apr 12, 2020 - Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life - Ali Wong
  • June 24, 2020 - Normal People - Sally Rooney
  • June 25, 2020 - Joy at Work - Marie Kondo & Scott Sonenshein
  • June 28, 2020 - Born a Crime - Trevor Noah
  • July 2020 - Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
  • Aug 2020 - Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows - Balli Kaur Jaswal
  • Sept 2020 - Celine - Peter Heller
  • Sept 2020 - Too Much and Never Enough - Mary Trump
  • Sept 2020 - The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah
  • Sept 2020 - The Wedding Date - Jasmine Guillory
  • Nov 2020 - The Library Book - Susan Orlean
  • Nov 2020 - The Alice Network - Kate Quinn
  • Nov 2020 - The Jetsetters: A Novel - Amanda Ward
  • Dec 2020 - The Path to Kitty Islet - Nancy Pekter
  • Dec 2020 - The Proposal - Jasmine Guillory
  • Jan 2021- This Tender Land - William Krueger
  • Feb 2021 - Becoming - Michelle Obama
  • Feb 2021 - Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World - Cal Newport
  • Feb 2021 - Next Year in Havana - Chanel Cleeton
  • Feb 2021 - I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time - Laura Vanderkam
  • Mar 2021 - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab
  • Mar 2021 - Getting Things Done - David Allen
  • Apr 2021 - Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Apr 2021 - Anxious People - Fredrik Backman
  • May 2021 - Daisy Jones & the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • June 2021 - The Four Winds - Kristin Hannah
  • June 2021 - Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
  • June 2021 - Bring Me Back - B.A. Paris
  • July 2021 - Olympus, Texas - Stacey Swann
  • July 2021 - Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner
  • July 2021 - In Order to Live - Yeon-mi Park & Maryanne Vollers
  • Aug 2021 - Commonwealth - Ann Patchett
  • Aug 2021 - The Water Rat of Wanchai - Ian Hamilton
  • Aug 2021 - Essentialism - Greg McKeown
  • Aug 2021 - The Memory Collectors - Kim Neville
  • Sept 2021 - Diary of a Provincial Lady - E.M. Delafield
  • Oct 2021 - The House in the Cerulean Sea - T.J. Klune
  • Oct 2021 - The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
  • Oct 2021 - A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
  • Nov 2021 - Dune - Frank Herbert
  • Dec 2021 - Under the Whispering Door - T.J. Klune
  • Dec 2021 - People We Meet on Vacation - Emily Henry
  • Dec 2021 - Interior Chinatown - Charles Yu
  • Dec 2021 - Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Jan 2022 - Oliver Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout
  • Jan 2022 - Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
  • Jan 2022 - Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell
  • Jan 2022 - The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood
  • Jan 2022 - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Jan 2022 - The Storyteller - Dave Grohl
  • Jan 2022 - The Giver of Stars - Jojo Moyes
  • Feb 2022 - Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer
  • Feb 2022 - The Room on Rue Amelie - Kristin Harmel
  • Feb 2022 - American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins
  • Feb 2022 - The Signature of All Things - Elizabeth Gilbert
  • Mar 2022 - Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
  • Apr 2022 - The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
  • Apr 2022 - Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting - Pamela Druckerman
  • May 2022 - Ina May's Guide to Childbirth - Ina May Gaskin
  • June 2022 - The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett
  • July 2022 - Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
  • July 2022 - Fault Lines - Emily Itami
  • Aug 2022 - Transcription - Kate Atkinson
  • Aug 2022 - Home Fire - Kamila Shamsie
  • Oct 2022 - The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern
  • Jan 2023 - The Dutch House - Ann Patchett
  • Feb 2023 - Spare - Prince Harry
  • Mar 2023 - Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
  • 2023 - How to Become a Straight-A Student - Cal Newport
  • 2023 - Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
  • 2023 - Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver
  • 2023 - The Phone Box at the Edge of the World - Laura Imai Messina
  • 2023 - Wish You Were Here - Jodi Picoult
  • 2023 - The Weight of Feathers - Anna-Marie McLemore
  • Oct 2023 - Firekeeper's Daughter - Angeline Boulley
  • Dec 2023 - The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
  • Jan 2024 - The Great Believers - Rebecca Makkai
  • Jan 2024 - Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up A Wizard - Tom Felton
  • Feb 2024 - A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah Maas
  • Feb 2024 - Book Lovers - Emily Henry
  • Mar 2024 - Love, Pamela - Pamela Anderson

4 comments:

  1. Nice book list! :) I was surprised to see The Citadel by A.J. Cronin on your book list! My dad suggested that book a while ago but I never had a chance to read it. Did you like it?

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    1. Thanks :) The Citadel wasn't my favourite, but I did enjoy it. Our dean said that it was the book that inspired him to go into medicine, so I thought I should check it out! It's a short book and gets you thinking. Worth a read! Let me know if you have any favourite books to recommend :)

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    2. Cool! :) Then I will definitely have to read it before uni starts! Powerful inspiration! :D
      Ugh! I used to be (still am?!) a book nerd, unfortunately now I don’t read that much.. (but trying to improve it!)
      A couple of my favourite books are The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho!
      Most recent books which I read and really enjoyed were for my uni English class - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald about Roaring 20s and American dream and Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese about natives and residential schools! Both books made me think about great topics and educated me about North American culture…
      Also I enjoy sciency books… like Timothy Caulfield (U of A prof) “The cure for everything”, his newest “Is Gwyneth Paltrow wrong about everything?”, and “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking” by Susan Cain
      Have you ever read/heard about any of them? :)

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    3. Oh those are some great recommendations, thanks!! I always feel that I should become better read in classics... I've only read The Great Gatsby and Quiet, but I will definitely be keeping the others in mind! Thanks, Evi!

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