teatimelit

Let’s Talk: How the Kindle Changed my Reading Life

Hi, hello lovely people! I hope you’re having a wonderful week, and you’re reading a good book with a nice cup of tea. If you’ve been following along with our monthly wrap ups, I have currently read 20 books. I am very happy with how my reading progress is going, and I must say, a lot of credit for it goes to my kindle. This post is not sponsored by amazon, or the kindle, and I know there are various other options on the market for the ereader. While I can’t speak on behalf of those alternatives, I imagine they work pretty much the same way!

I impulsively bought a kindle last year when Cossette did, in around August time. My goodness, what a purchase it was! I use it pretty much every day (except for lately – don’t you just love reading slumps?), and it has honestly changed my reading life. It has allowed me to fly through books at a pace I couldn’t even imagine, and in different locations too! Buying books for my kindle has become my go-to method of purchasing books and supporting my favourite authors, and I’m definitely enjoying having so many books in one tiny device, as opposed to having piles of books lining my shelves. Don’t get me wrong, I still love physical books, but ebooks are proving a more efficient and affordable way for me to consume books at the rate that I do. 

So, if you’re thinking about buying one, or you’re hesitant to make the change to e-reading, I’m going to outline some of the things that I love about the Kindle, and what made my reading experience all the more great. 

Read more

Let’s Talk: Mary Reads Books like The Night Circus

Hi, hello! If you didn’t know, I really love The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I can’t really put into words why I love it so much, but it’s my all time favourite book, and I comfort read it a lot: it’s super special to me. The only problem is, I am always looking for a book that feels just as special and magical as this one. While The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern meets the criteria, I’m always on the hunt for other books that are similar. 

Read more

Spotlight: The Loss of All Lost Things by Amina Gautier

The fifteen stories in The Loss of All Lost Things explore the unpredictable ways in which characters negotiate, experience, and manage various forms of loss. These characters lose loved ones; they lose their security and self-worth; they lose children; they lose their ability to hide and shield their emotions; they lose their reputations, their careers, their hometowns, and their life savings. Often depicting the awkward moments when characters are torn between decision and outcome, The Loss of All Lost Things focuses on moments of regret and yearning.

Read more

Review + Blog Tour: Woods of Silver and Light by Victoria McCombs

Ronin’s son is dead, and Maid Marion is gone. But a sorceress banished to the Woods can bring his son back if he and his Silver Raiders are willing to do something for her first. She finds there’s nothing Ronin Hood won’t do for his son…

Anika finds herself drawn to the mystery of the Woods and the thieves who live within, but the cost of associating with the Silver Raiders becomes higher than she’s willing to pay. The darkness of the Woods seeps into the Raider’s hearts, blurring the lines between hero and villain, until Anika’s fight for freedom turns into a fight to survive the magic of the trees that should have never been awoken.

This isn’t the tale of Robin Hood you remember.

Read more

Let’s Talk: Book Series I Haven’t Finished (and Probably Won’t)

I find myself worried to write this post, because I know that, inevitably, it’s going to offend someone. But that’s such a lovely thing about reading, isn’t it? Your favourite book might not be someone else’s and that’s ok! But, I will preface this by saying that I’m not hating on these books – they just weren’t for me, and I could use my time better by reading books I will actually enjoy. But anyway, without further ado, let’s get into the list.

Read more

Review: A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

Love & Gelato meets Don’t Date Rosa Santos in this charming, heartfelt story following a Miami girl who unexpectedly finds love—and herself—in a small English town.

For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart.

Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell.

A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.

Read more

Review: Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

“She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.”

The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa­­–a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.

Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks–alone, except for her fox companion–searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.

But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?

Read more

Review: Home Work: A Memoir of my Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
In this follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir, Home, Julie Andrews shares reflections on her astonishing career, including such classics as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and Victor/Victoria.

In Home, the number one New York Times international bestseller, Julie Andrews recounted her difficult childhood and her emergence as an acclaimed singer and performer on the stage. 
With this second memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, Andrews picks up the story with her arrival in Hollywood and her phenomenal rise to fame in her earliest films–Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Andrews describes her years in the film industry — from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. Not only does she discuss her work in now-classic films and her collaborations with giants of cinema and television, she also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world, dealing with the demands of unimaginable success, being a new mother, the end of her first marriage, embracing two stepchildren, adopting two more children, and falling in love with the brilliant and mercurial Blake Edwards. The pair worked together in numerous films, including Victor/Victoria, the gender-bending comedy that garnered multiple Oscar nominations.

Cowritten with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, and told with Andrews’s trademark charm and candor, Home Work takes us on a rare and intimate journey into an extraordinary life that is funny, heartrending, and inspiring

Read more

Let’s Talk: Bookish Consumerism and the Library System

As a blogger and instagrammer, it’s kind of expected to have lots of books. You need books to make the content needed for those platforms, and the common way in doing that is spending money on books. I’ve recently been thinking about how much I spend as a consumer on books, and how, realistically, it’s not financially viable all the time. 

I’ve recently joined the library nearest to my work, making it the third library I have access to in person and the fourth library I have access to digitally, and I love it. The library is a safe, welcoming space for everyone, and it’s time we give it the hype and attention it deserves.

Read more