Novels by Karin Slaughter

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For the past few weeks, I have been on a crime, thriller, mystery book kick. I listen to one or two audio books a week, and lately, I have been listening to one Karin Slaughter book after another.

They’re awful.

Awful in that the stories are harsh, devastating, scary, gruesome, troubling, worrisome, and gross.

Terrible.

The storytelling is fantastic. The audio narration is wonderful.

Last week, I listened to Pretty Girls. This morning, finished The Good Daughter. This afternoon, I’ll start False Witness.

Then I’ll likely need a light rom-com.

The Friday Five: Things On My Mind

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Here are a few things that are on my mind.

  1. Read. I’m listening to Stanley Tucci’s Taste: My Life Through Food, and I can’t help but think – hey, why haven’t I written such a book? There are so many similarities between my family and his, and the recipes he shares are ones that I grew up with, and that I’m starting to try on my own, too. I’m enjoying the audio book version mostly because he reads it. I also read The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles, which I absolutely enjoyed. It is based on the true story of the librarians of The American Library in Paris during WWII.
  2. Learn. Learn about Inuit facial expressions at Shina Nova.
  3. Act. Looking for ways to help one another, be kind, pay it forward? Read through the posts at Random Acts of Kindness.
  4. Write. Take a few minutes to write your future self an email at FutureMe.org. It’ll be delivered at a future date of your choosing.
  5. Watch. We went to see Chicago at the Stratford Festival a couple of weeks ago, and it was amazing. I’m so glad the Festival has reopened.

The Friday Five: Things on My Mind

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Here is what I have been reading, watching, and thinking about recently.

  1. I read this article, and I laughed out loud.
  2. We watched Belfast while we were in Ireland, and we loved it.
  3. I listened to and watched this video and smiled.
  4. I watched Inventing Anna over the course of a week or so. I liked it. I remember when the story of this fake con-artist socialite originally made the news. As far as acting goes, Julia Garner (as Anna Delvey) and Anna Chlumsky (as Vivienne Kent) were great.
  5. I’ve also watched Pam & Tommy. Oh dear.
  6. I watched half of the Super Bowl, including the half-time show. Like many others, I enjoyed the show. Dr. Dre was my favourite. I polled my students about who their favourite performers were, and most of them liked Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar. I knew very little about Kendrick Lamar, but my students have taught me quite a bit about him this week, which made me do additional research. Did you know Lamar won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his album DAMN.? I didn’t. I have since watched many videos and read many of his lyrics. As I was brainstorming ideas about how to incorporate his writing into my course, I learned that Drs. Christopher Driscoll, Anthony Pinn, and Monica Miller edited the first academic book about him and even developed a course focused on his work at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. I’ve just accessed the book from the university library, and I’m interested in seeing what it covers. Going down the Kendrick Lamar rabbit hole of research wasn’t what I was expecting to do after watching the Super Bowl!
  7. I bought and read Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly after spotting it on Cup of Jo. I laughed out loud reading these very short stories.
  8. This evening clutch made me smile.

Things on My Mind

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Here’s a bit of a review of what’s been on my mind lately, including music, movie, and book recommendations.

1. THE Book. For so many months – and a couple of years, too – my friend/colleague/co-author/mentor and I have called it The Book. Now, The Book has been published, and I am so thrilled. So so so thrilled! Mastering Academic Writing has been one of my most fun and rewarding writing projects thus far, and to have had fun, shared laughs, brainstormed over so many meals with a good friend made the experience that much more positive and memorable. Copies of our book arrived from our publisher, Sage, over the holiday break, and it made for quite a happy mail day!

The book is intended for upper year undergraduate students, graduate students, and professors who are looking for a great writing resource and guide. Now, it’s not a boring academic textbook (if you ask me!); we took an informal, approachable tone as we offered instruction, examples, and notes about academic writing. It’s affordable, too! If you’d like to know more, let me know. The book is available at Sage and Amazon.

Don’t be surprised if you see it pop up again on White Cabana.

2. Music. For the last month or so, I’ve been listening to French radio (89.9 FM – CBC – Ici musique – in Waterloo) and French tunes on Spotify. It’s not only been a needed change from my usual pop/rap/top40 tunes, but also I can brush up on my French listening and comprehension skills (in preparation for my February vacance à Paris!). On Spotify, I’ve had Lisa LeBlanc (Dump the guy ASAP is a hit) and Mackjoffat (Music Face is my current fave, but it’s in English) on repeat.

3. Blogosphere. Remember the good ol’ days of blogging? When people read blogs daily? When bloggers wrote daily? Before Instagram took over everyone’s phones? Before bloggers applied rose-coloured tints over every darn photo? Yeah, me too. I had brunch with Melissa over the break, and we chatted about how things have changed and the approaches we observe from afar from influencers, vloggers, bloggers, and more.

I have barely changed my approach to blogging even though I know the blogging world around me has changed. I blog every day unless I’m on a break. I read blogs daily, too. I like to read about people’s real lives, their Pinterest and DIY fails and successes, and what they do in the spare time. I continuously learn from others, and I’m inspired by a lot of what I see on my daily blog visits. Who’s with me on this?

4. Movies and Netflix. Oh my goodness. I have watched so much Netflix. Too much, in my opinion, but such is life. I guess I’m in post-book, post-MBA relaxation mode. I don’t love being a couch potato, but I didn’t argue with myself about it over the holidays.

So what did I watch? Just about every cheesy Christmas movie set in Belgravia, Genovia, anyotherovia. I don’t recommend any of them unless you’re embracing a cheesy couch potato lifestyle.

I also watched Birdbox. I was scared at first, then I wasn’t. It was okay. I didn’t love it, but it is worth watching on Netflix. And I also watched Theory of Everything. I really enjoyed it.

And in the theatre, I opted to watch The Favorite. It was interesting. Funny but quirky but not too quirky. Great acting, costumes, and set design. Plus, if you’re a fan of Emma Stone, you’re going to enjoy her performance. The movie had the audience laughing. I recommend it.

I also went to see Mary Queen of Scots, and it was excellent. I learned a lot, really enjoyed the acting, and, of course, the costumes were amazing.

5. Books. I’m still listening to Haruki Murakami audiobooks. I love that they’re all set in Japan. I started a collection of his short stories. This is the first time I’ve read (or listened to) a collection of short stories. I like that they’re quick, but I don’t like that there’s no time to develop plot and characters. I also can barely remember any story that I’ve listened to. There was one set in a hotel, there was one about a teenage romance…see, the details escape me! There are too many stories to remember! But do I still enjoy his writing? Yes.

Personal: 6 Things on Mind

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1. Books. I finished another Haruki Murakami novel a couple of weeks ago. It was called Dance Dance Dance, and it was great. I also finished The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham. I’m now onto another Somerset Maugham – Of Human Bondage – and I think it’s going to take me a while to get through as it’s quite long. I’m just about to start Nudge by Richard Thaler to break up the line-up of British and Japanese literature.

2. Christmas Market. It’s Christkindle Market in Kitchener this weekend. It’s a great time to be outdoors, take in the Christmas crafts, and munch on traditional German food (and mulled wine, too)!

3. Holiday dresses. I love that so many bloggers are sharing round-ups of lovely holiday dresses. But why oh why are so many of them $1000+? I’m on the look out for more affordable options. Are you interested in a posts of (affordable) holiday outfits?

4. T&T Supermarket. Oh my goodness. The T&T supermarket (focused on Asian foods and products) opened up in Waterloo yesterday. A friend and I went after work, and we couldn’t believe the chaos. The parking situation was a mess. And there was a massive line up to get in. We were surprised. Needless to say, we had no desire to wait in line for groceries, so we left. I’ll check it out in a few weeks. Has anyone been? Do you have a T&T in your city? Do you like it?

5. End of term. The term is over. My class is done. I have final papers to mark this weekend. My students worked hard, and I look forward to seeing how they translated their ideas into their final writing task.

6. Music. I recently heard Lisa LeBlanc on the radio, and I’m hooked. Lisa is a 27 year old singer songwriter from Montreal. I’ve had her new bilingual album – Why You Wanna Leave, Runaway Queen – on repeat for weeks.

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