BOOKmarkable

A look back at summer and this reader's confessions of reading for escape and how reading fits into my life plus more reading aspirations and hopefully some new titles for you! Here are the books and authors I mention: The Five Invitations: Discovering what death can teach us about living fully by Frank Ostaseski Quicksilver, by Callie Hart  Dreadfulwater by Thomas King Under One Roof, Loathe to L...

I apologize for the delay in getting this summer episode recorded. Hopefully you can find some good lazy-day reading inspiration with this short update.   Here are books and authors I mention:   Rose in Chains by Julie Soto Manacled and Alchemised by SenLinYu Eve: How the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution  by Cat Bohannon Nobody wants your shit: the art of decluttering before...

I am so pleased to be able to share my first-ever interview with a published author here on Bookmarkable. I was delighted to sit down with local North Vancouver writer Frances Peck to discuss her debut novel, The Broken Places — a Globe and Mail best book of 2022, and finalist for the 2023 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.  We had a lot to talk about and time flew by! We learned a bit about her...

Happy One-Year Anniversary to Bookmarkable! On April 26, I went to the Canadian Independent Bookstore Day at Cross & Crows Books on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, BC. There were tables of people selling jewellery, authors promoting their books and a pop-up bookstore for the currently online Perfect Match romance bookstore, with owner Amy Pelletier displaying lots of physical copies of popular...

Hello Bookmarkable listeners: Before I forget, here’s where you can signup for April 26th’s Vancouver Book Crawl - or just drop by Cross & Crows bookstore at 1 pm: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/vancouver-book-crawl-tickets-1322842340049. I hear there will be contests and prizes too, plus a popup of a new local romance bookstore, Perfect Match. Reflections on comfort genre (bliss) reading - my co...

Here are the books I mentioned in this episode: Stolen Focus by Johann Hari Piranesi and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark One Day Everyone Will Have been Against This and American War by Omar Al El Akkad Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter PS: I Hate You by Lauren Connolly First Time Caller by BK Borison Under Your Spell by Laura Wood Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell Deep End by Ali...

Wherein I seek to patch together meaning with the insights, gleaned from my latest reads, that point the way with many signs that might mean something. To sum up: reading might not always give you answers but it helps. Here are books mentioned in this episode: Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes Burn Out: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski...

It's a new year and I'm here and making it through January. Books are always there for comfort, guidance and reflection, showing the way. But you still need to read them (or listen to them). What circumstances help you feel like you can read more challenging titles and in hardcover? It's not just about having enough time. Waiting for tips: I need role models...   Here's books I mention on this sho...

I look back on my year of reading with more gusto, and starting this podcast in May...and share my latest reading adventures from the month of November. Books or authors mentioned or discussed include: Read Dangerously: the Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Time by Azar Nafisi Beneath the Surface of Things by Wade Davis Sarah J. Maas Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Grief is for People, by S...

Claudia is a local (Vancouver) business owner, entrepreneur, community leader, and all round wonderful, fun and caring friend to many. She is also a big reader and shared with me the long impressive list of books she's read with her book club -- but we also delved into some of the many more books she reads and enjoys beyond that list. We followed a list of questions to uncover what she likes and d...

Host of Vancouver Co-op Radio show Why a Duck? (that features classical and jazz music and lighthearted conversation), Kerry Regier, joined me for a book conversation on October 13. My apologies for some uneven audio levels on this recording. Here's what and who we mentioned: Poems of Miroslav Holub, Czech poet and immunologist. Kerry read his poem: “Half a Hedgehog” Solaris and His Master’s Voice...

Do you struggle to read? Is it hard to be a reader these days? Join me for a short check-in about my thoughts of the struggle to do quality reading with a busy life, in a time of many distractions. But fear not: reading can still help you out. Books I mention are: The Wedding People by Alison Espach The Husbands by Holly Gramazio Margo's got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe The Serpent King by Jeff Z...

I had a fun but brief conversation with my good friend and book lover John Vekar on a warm summer evening, focused on the book Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. This is definitely a part-one of our conversation. Other books mentioned: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver Ordinary Monsters by JM Miro This Summer Will be Different and Meet me at the Lake by Carley Fortune The Goblin Emperor by S...

(Title reference to short story writer Raymond Carver and his story collection, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love and Haruki Murakami’s play on that in his memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running).   Books mentioned: Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane Holly, Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers and The Outsider by Stephen King The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer Nettle and Bone by T. Ki...

This was such a fun conversation on a hot summer day with a deep dive into the lure of Irish writing, the need to prune what we read to find what's next (with Karen’s own special formula for choosing what to keep reading), and a bit of an examination of the joy of the reading experience. Here are the books and authors we mention: A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving The Diviners, Margaret Laurence...

Fiona Jackson shares her conversation with Nena Rawdah of East Vancouver's Cross & Crows bookstore and a few updates on her latest reads and whats on her next up TBR list.   Books mentioned on the show include: All the works of Jane Austen Shakespeare's play: Much Ado About Nothing, Othello and The Taming of the Shrew Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem, "Pied Beauty" Authors: E.M. Forster, George Eli...

It's me again with a book report (I did my homework and read Prophet Song!), an update on all my other reads, reflections on reading podcasts I love, and a promise for my conversations! Here are the books I mention: Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch The Maniac, by Benjamin Labatut  Who also wrote the amazing When we cease to understand the world — recommend! Old Babes in the Wood - a short story collect...

Welcome back to this solo session where I chat with you about a few highlights from my 60+ books read since January (plus a few from before). Books mentioned:  A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros Yours Truly and Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake The Hazard and Somerset mysteries by Gregory Ashe We Could Be So Good by...

Welcome to Bookmarkable: adventures in reading. Thank you for joining this podcast journey of discovery into the expanding universe of books. This episode - a conversation with Lorraine Smith - was recorded September 8, 2023. Here are the books we discussed or mentioned:   A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry At Home: A Short History of Private Life, Bill Bryson Babel, Yellowface, and The Poppy War  RF...