Currently reading Kate Torgovnick’s Cheer!

It’s not really a secret that I wanted to be a cheerleader. But one major factor was not attending public school. My school didn’t even have a dance team. So, I’ll pass and probably be that mother who tries to live vicariously through her daughter! The title, Cheer! Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders, was…

Terry Fallis’ unorthodox journey to getting published

A few months ago, I was searching for direction and for about 48 hours, I thought I would complete an Editing Certificate from Simon Fraser University and registered to attend a session to obtain more information about the certificate. I saw amongst the other sessions one featuring Terry Fallis, author of Canada Reads 2011 winner…

Currently reading Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story

I first heard about Gary Shteyngart’s 2010 novel Super Sad True Love Story (SSTLS) through Spark, the CBC technology podcast (abbreviated interview in Episode 120, full 20-minute interview) and hopped onto the library website to place a hold on it. My interest waned and I didn’t pick it up until I recently saw it again at…

Currently Reading: Cathy Erway’s The Art of Eating In

I have been reading Cathy Erway’s memoir, The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love The Stove, in the strangest places. I read about two-thirds of the memoir over several elliptical sessions at the gym and some of the rest while, fittingly, eating out. And since it was the kind…

Currently Reading: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House Series

I like tracing the route by which I find myself reading a certain novel. In the case of embarking this year on reading all nine Little House books, a couple of years ago: NPY and I were visiting a friend and–true to my form–I read the titles off the spines of the volumes on her…

But would I actually buy (Racy) J.C. Davies’ I Got the Fever?

A Smart Canucks post, “Do we take multiculturalism for granted here in Canada?” (warning: a NSFW image is first thing in that post) alerted me to this seemingly surreal book, a recently published exposé by former Wall Street money manager J.C. Davies, I Got the Fever. Her credentials to write this book include, according to…

Currently Reading: Bethanny Frankel’s Naturally Thin

My one-time personal trainer–two sessions came with my gym membership–told me that losing weight is 80% diet changes. That 20% from lifestyle change sounds so minimal it was quite a disincentive for me to go hardcore and hit the gym often. (Yes, I know, physical activity confers bountiful benefits beyond shedding pounds.) I know that…