Review/ The Beauty of the Moment

Posted on by Cindy

Title: The Beauty of the Moment
Author: Tanaz Bhathena
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Pub Date: February 2019
Pages: 368

Susan dreams of being an artist. Malcolm wants to move him and his sister out of a bad living situation. Sparks fly when the two teens meet at a fundraiser for Syrian refugees. A Canadian YA romance for fans of The Sun is Also a Star.

Susan is the new girl — she’s sharp and driven, and strives to meet her parents’ expectations of excellence. Malcolm is the bad boy — he started raising hell at age fifteen, after his mom died of cancer, and has had a reputation ever since. Susan hasn’t told anyone, but she wants to be an artist. Malcolm doesn’t know what he wants — until he meets her. Love is messy and families are messier, but in spite of their burdens, Susan and Malcolm fall for each other. The ways they drift apart and come back together are testaments to family, culture, and being true to who you are.

Before I get into my review I just have to take a quick moment to gush over the cover of the book and the chapter headers. Not sure if anyone else wanted to do this but I felt like I wanted to color the flowers in as I was reading the book. Granted I didn’t actually do that but I really wanted to. This is very fitting considering our main character Susan loves art and wants to study art in university.

Another thing I loved about the book is that it takes place in Mississauga, a city just outside of Toronto. I have been to Mississauga several times over the years because we have family there. So reading about places brings me right back to those places. I love when a book takes place in a city you know about.

This is Tanaz Bhathena’s second book. Her first book is called A Girl Like That, which I currently own and hoping that I can get to before I get to meet the author when she comes to Montreal for the MTL YA FEST in May. She also has a fantasy duology that is coming out called Hunted By The Sky. The first book in that duology will be coming out in the Spring of 2020.

Tanaz was born in India, raised in Saudi Arabia and currently lives in Toronto with her family.

Okay enough rambling lets get into my thoughts about the book. I have to say right off the bat that I truly enjoyed reading this and didn’t want it to end. Its been a few days since I finished it and I am still thinking about Susan and Malcolm.

The main character is Susan. She has just recently moved to Canada with her mom from Jeddah (Saudia Arabia) where her father is still living. Her parents are very much set in their ways and they have her whole life planned out that she will become a doctor or engineer. But for Susan, she doesn’t want that she wants to study art and become an artist.

On the outside it looks like Susan as the typical teenager life but she doesn’t. So many things are going on that she is struggling just to fit in. She is the new girl at school, her parents are fighting and it doesn’t help that they are in Canada and he is in Jeddah and to add to all that she is expected to pass her driver’s course but she just can’t grasp it because the instructor is always discouraging her.

Enter cute boy Malcolm. Malcolm is another one who looks like he is your typical teenager but he is also struggling on the inside and trying to deal with what life has given him. He has earned the reputation of bad boy who loves to party. He has just recently ended a relationship and is heart broken and the ex is nothing but drama. Home life is not ideal because he is still struggling with his mother’s death and the fact of have quickly his father has moved on to another woman. Whom he isn’t the biggest fan of.

The relationship between Susan and Malcolm is a slow sweet one that gradually grows into something more. I loved that it was this way because you got to discover more about them and that it just didn’t happen. It was a hate/love relationship that turned into an almost forbidden romance that wasn’t all smooth sailing they hit many road bumps but in the end it all worked out for them. I love story lines like this because its real and not all rainbows and unicorns like most books make it out to be.

I wish I was a teenager reading this book because I am sure I would have loved it just as much as my adult self did. The Beauty of the Moment tackled so many issues that made it all blend in so well with the story line such as peer pressure, bullying, alcohol abuse, child abuse, etc things that our teens are going through on a daily bases.

I am excited to continue reading Tanaz’s books. She has definitely become an automatic buy for me.

Review/ The Marrow Thieves

Review/ The Marrow Thieves

Posted on by Cindy
Review/ The Marrow ThievesThe Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Published by Dancing Cat Books on September 1, 2017
Pages: 231
Goodreads

In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's Indigenous people, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow, and dreams, means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a fifteen-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones and take refuge from the "recruiters" who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing "factories."

Before I begin my review I should just let you know that all this month I will be posting reviews of all the books I read by the authors that will be appearing at this years Montreal YA Fest that is happening later this month.

Cherie Dimaline is one of the authors that will be here. I am super excited to hear her speak and to meet her afterwards. She is a Canadian author.

About the author: 

Cherie Dimaline is an award-winning Métis author and editor whose award-winning fiction has been published and anthologized internationally. In 2014, she was named the Emerging Artist of the Year at the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and became the first Aboriginal Writer in Residence for the Toronto Public Library. Her fourth book, The Marrow Thieves, is a national bestseller and has won the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Kirkus Prize, the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, the Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Young Adult Literature, and the Sunburst Award. It was also selected for CBC’s Canada Reads in 2018 and has been a finalist for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award, the Trillium Award and the White Pine Award.

I am always excited to discover new books especially ones written by Canadian authors that take place in Canada. The Marrow Thieves takes place in a city that use to be called Toronto.

The Marrow Thieves opens up in a world that is nearly destroyed by global warming.  We discover that non-indigenous people have lost the ability to dream and the only ones who can still dream are the Indigenous people. The Indigenous people are being hunted and captured for this reason because their bone marrow has the ability to have their dreams woven into it. They are being taken to marrow harvesting facilities.

Our main character is Frenchie, who is a young Metis who is on the run from the recruiters who are sent out to capture them. Frenchie bumps into a group of eight kids (Miig, Wab, Zheegwon, Tree, RiRi, Minerva, Chi-Boy, and Slopper) are are doing the same thing with plans on heading North to escape.

As he spends time and years with this group he gradually matures and with that he becomes more confident and resourceful. Growing up he realized he could never protect his family but as he gets older he will do anything to protect his new family. He realizes he would do anything to protect them as they would do the same for him.

Life on the run is not easy for this group but they do anything and everything to stay together to survive from finding food to eat, water to drink, finding shelter and avoiding the recruiters. Will they be able to stay together and make it North?

I have to say that this was such an interesting and powerful read. One that I think more young adults should read. Throughout the history, indigenous people have always been mistreated and continue to be mistreated. I would think that some of the inspiration behind the story line was came from how they were treated in residential schools which has been in the news over the past few years. Abuse and racism still haunts them and as a society so many people tend to ignore it and pretend it never happened.

Can we ever get to the point of treating everyone no matter their skin color like they are human and they matter?

 

 

To Be Read In May 2019

To Be Read In May 2019

Posted on by Cindy

I don’t know if everyone likes seeing these kinds of posts but I like sharing what I am reading in the month. It holds me almost accountable.

I think for myself having a TBR for the month keeps me in check with what I should be reading especially when it comes to books I accept from publishers/authors etc when the come out during the month. Plus lately I have noticed that its very easy for me to feel overwhelmed with my bookcases so seeing a pile of books that I need to read makes things a lot easier.

I like having a selection of books to read in the month but as you can see I don’t usually stick to that pile and end up adding extra and in all honesty I am okay with that because I am not forcing myself to follow a strike TBR for the month its mainly just a guideline.

As you might recall I mentioned this earlier that I would be attending the 2nd annual MTL YA FEST that is happening later this month so this is part 2 of my TBR that I want to tackle before the event. So last month I was able to tackle 7 books from the list and hoping that I can tackle a little more before the event. Wish my luck.

Here is my list so far:

  1. Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian
  2. The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
  3. Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
  4. A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhatena
  5. Chicken Girl by Heather Smith
  6. The Truth About Leaving by Natalie Blitt
  7. Planet Thief by Monique Polak
  8. Don’t Tell The Enemy by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
  9. Just a Normal Tuesday by Kim Turris
  10. Since You Asked By Maurene Goo
  11. I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
  12. The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo
  13. The Last Namasara by Kristen Ciccarelli
  14. Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner
  15. The Love & LIes of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
  16. The Center of the Universe by Ria Voros
  17. Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali

What do you have planned to read this month?

SYNC Summer Audiobook 2019 week 2

SYNC Summer Audiobook 2019 week 2

Posted on by Cindy

I just wanted to take a quick moment to remind you about SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for young adults but you can do this to.  From April 25th to August 1st, SYNC gives away two complete audiobook downloads a week –pairs of high interest titles, based on weekly themes. Sign up for email or text alerts and be first to know when new titles are available to download at www.audiobooksync.com.

I have always wanted to give audio books another chance and what better way then through SYNC Audio Books. These are actually both books I have never read so I am excited to give them a try.

Here is the books available this week: (Week 2: May 2 – May 9)

This production is perfect for both Shakespeare aficionados and newcomers alike. Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Othello conveys the character’s love, sadness, and murderous jealousy as if it were his own, all against a backdrop of Ewan McGregor’s conniving and undeniably creepy Iago, who whispers his treachery into the listener’s ear when all other characters fade from the scene. While Kelly Reilly’s Desdemona seems a little singsongy and unvaried, she does not violate the confines of her character, instead taking a backseat to the stronger forces of fate. The most impressive aspect of this production, however, is that there is absolutely no need for visual accompaniment. The listener not only knows who is speaking and what is transpiring at all times, but is also utterly absorbed. This production packs enough passion and power to leave one thoroughly shaken. A.H.A. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award

Charles Benoit has created a stunner of a debut novel, one of the most anticipated titles of the fall season. Told entirely in the second person, the story quickly immerses us in the world of bright, disaffected Kyle Chase, who once showed great potential but by tenth grade has become a genuine slacker. With uncanny insight, crafting what can only be called YA Noir, Benoit takes us deep inside the mind of a young man on a collision course with catastrophe. Of the print version, Publisher’s Weekly said in a starred review: “Disturbing content blends with skillful, fast-paced writing, adding a thriller spin to the novel’s vicious realism.” Now David Baker – narrator of our highly acclaimed recording of Graceling – offers a reading that captures and builds the sense of loss and dread that makes this novel both disturbing and irresistible.

** I will probably download You because it sounds like its right up my alley. What about you?

April Monthly Reading Stats

Posted on by Cindy

Total books read this month:

  •  5 new reads (new authors)
  •  0 TBR reads
  •  1 publisher reads (arc/eArc)
  •  1 borrowed

Genre of books read:

  • 6 Young Adult
  • 1 Adult
  • 0 Graphic Novels/Mangas
  • 0 Middle Grade
  • 0 Childrens

Format of books read:

  • 5 paperbacks
  • 2 Hardcover
  • 0 ebooks
  • 0 audio book

Total pages read this month: 5180

Total books read in 2019:  42
Total pages read in  2019:  9301

Unhauled Books:

Total books released in 2019: 32

Total books released in 2018: 1,000 (roughly)

Total books released in 2017: 156

Total books released in 2016: 124

Total books released in 2015: 211

Sunday’s In Bed With…

Posted on by Cindy

This is being hosted by two of the sweetest people I have the privilege of knowing in real life, Kate and Kim. Sadly we don’t talk like we use to because you know real life happens but there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of them both.

It’s hard to believe that I am back doing another Sunday’s In Bed With…post. Where did the week go?

Its been a rainy week here in Montreal so you would think that would entice me to want to read right? Nope that’s not the case instead I have been spring cleaning. It was a busy weekend here with wrapping up our hockey season (dispensing refunds to parents, collecting jerseys, purchasing coaches gifts and finally our end of season party that is happening today) and doing our regular chores on top of that.

I started to read Don’t Tell The Enemy but ended up putting it down as its a heavy book that I am not in the mood to read right now.

Don't Tell The Enemy

I am currently listening to Blink & Caution on audio book and I am roughly 1/4 of the way through that. Yes you read that right. I decided to try this on audiobook since it was free this week.

What are you reading today?